Bounty

After the Moss Gang members were intercepted by the city patrol, Chen Chuan encountered no further obstacles on his journey. Once he drove out of Hongsheng District and confirmed with Wu Bei that no one was tracking his boundary credential anymore, he contacted Old Qi. "Old Qi, I couldn't save your colleague. When I got there, no one was left alive." Old Qi let out a heavy sigh. "Her husband passed away a few years ago, leaving behind a ten-year-old child. She took on that side gig without telling the company, so none of us had any idea. If we had known, we could have phoned you earlier, Brother Chen, and maybe this could have been avoided." "Old Qi, send over all the anomalies you've gathered recently," Chen Chuan said. Old Qi's spirits lifted. "Right away." He added, "The colleagues at the company pooled together a commission fee for this. It isn't much, and you might not care about such a small amount, Brother Chen, but please accept it." Chen Chuan agreed. A moment later, Old Qi sent over the intelligence on urban legends he had collected over the past few days, along with the commission fee. Right then, an incoming transmission alert popped up, marked as coming from the city patrol team. He connected, and after a brief pause, a gentle female voice spoke: "Reserve Law Enforcement Officer Mr. Chen, we received the message you transmitted at 2:10 p.m. According to your report, the anomaly in that block has been eliminated. We would like to confirm whether this is accurate." "Yes," Chen Chuan said. "I confirm the anomaly there has been taken care of." "Information recorded. Mr. Chen, thank you for your cooperation." With that, the line went dead. Chen Chuan looked ahead. He knew that even with the urban legend dealt with, the people living there would likely face other troubles. The Moss Gang couldn't do anything to him, but they could still prey on those residents. Still, he had done all he could; certain things were simply beyond his power to fix. After returning smoothly to Xuan Palace Building, he took a shower. Coming out, he took out the dropped item and examined it. That bizarre tree was easily one of the most formidable urban legends he had encountered so far, and this remnant was remarkably unusual—there was virtually no record of anything similar in the archives. Perhaps it would prove useful down the line. After a moment's thought, he put it away safely. Sitting on the sofa, he rested his hand on his boundary credential and flipped through the anomalous reports Old Qi had sent over. Old Qi had been very diligent, sorting the anomalies from the past few months by priority and urgency, placing the long-standing ones with greater impact right at the top. This way, Chen Chuan only needed to look through the ones with broader scopes of influence, since clearing every single anomaly was impossible anyway. After browsing for a while, he settled on a target and decided to go investigate when time allowed. Taking out the censer and primary medicine, he lit them and entered a meditative state amid silent chanting. After that, he went out to resolve suspected urban legends, returned to take his medicine, and resumed cultivating. This routine went on for two days before he purchased the sparring service to spar with Hongfu once more, repeating the cycle continuously. Yet he did not encounter an urban legend every time. Once, for instance, he found a crowd of residents gathered to perform an esoteric ritual. Since it wasn't an urban legend, he didn't concern himself with it and left directly. Time flew, and soon it was June 29. After finishing his meditation and cultivation, Chen Chuan felt as though there was something he needed to remember today. Turning the thought over, it hit him, and he looked toward the incubator placed in the corner of the wall. According to Zou Handan, the egg inside would hatch in around thirty days. Counting the time, it should be about ready, yet right now it remained perfectly still. He didn't linger. Picking up the Xuejun Saber, he headed for the private training room, saying as he walked, "Hongfu, I'd like to purchase today's sparring service." Only after he departed did the egg in the incubator give a slight wobble. Three hours later, Chen Chuan walked out of the training room. Setting the Xuejun Saber onto its weapon rack, he glanced at the calendar on his boundary credential. Only one day remained before the semester ended. Afterward, students would have a two-month break, though staying in the academy dormitories was permitted. In previous years, many lower-year students still in their developmental stage chose to stay behind, as Center City was the only place where the greatest concentration of resources could be found. Two months was no short period. If someone fell behind during this window, catching up later would be nearly impossible, so they had to make the most of every day. This year in particular, the academy administration had instituted several new regulations, stipulating that students ranking at the very bottom could be demoted to external students. That made everyone even more hesitant to leave. According to Cao Guixi's estimate, Chen Chuan would likely reach a breakthrough in about one to two months. He could feel his senses growing sharper by the day, his self-control steadily improving in tandem; positive changes were taking place every single day. The upcoming stretch was undoubtedly the most critical, as he was about to enter the breakthrough phase. During this process, the demand for medicine would be massive, and he would need formidable opponents to spar against. He could not afford an interruption, so even if he were to return to Yangzhi, it would have to wait until after he had broken through. He sat down on the sofa, intending to browse the Fringe Channel to unwind. After watching for about half an hour, Tan Zhi's avatar suddenly flashed, and Chen Chuan accepted the call. "Student Chen, vacation starts the day after tomorrow! Do you have any plans? Heading home?" "I'll probably stay at the academy a while longer," Chen Chuan replied. Tan Zhi sighed. "Sigh, that's what I'm planning too. Did you hear? Two students with the lowest evaluation scores were demoted to external students this term." "Oh? That fast?" Chen Chuan asked. "Tell me about it! I thought that rule wouldn't take effect until next semester, but they rolled it out already. Those two really have it rough. They might end up entering the arena tournament. "Still, word is this tournament will be really exciting. Since you're in no rush to leave, Student Chen, why don't we go watch it together when the time comes? We can invite Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin too. Those two have been bored out of their minds lately." "Student Tan, Wei Wusheng is still wandering around out there," Chen Chuan reminded him. "Aren't you worried about running into him if you go out?" Tan Zhi replied breezily, "Wei Wusheng hasn't shown his face in days. He probably wouldn't dare come out anytime soon, because someone put a bounty on him through an underground platform. The backer was likely one of the passengers from that cruise, and they even opened up permission for anyone to add to the bounty pool. I went ahead and chipped in a bit myself..." Chen Chuan listened as Tan Zhi explained further. Because of Wei Wusheng's relentless killing sprees and the Disposal Bureau's failed ambush last time, the remaining fighters weren't about to just sit around waiting to die. Anyone capable of boarding that cruise was either well-connected or extremely wealthy, so someone placed a commission on a platform, putting a price on Wei Wusheng's head. With the payout running so high, many formidable fighters in the underground world had mobilized, scouring the city for Wei Wusheng's trail. Chen Chuan thought to himself that it was no wonder news about Wei Wusheng had been scarce lately, almost to the point of vanishing entirely. He had figured that even if Wei Wusheng was injured last time, it shouldn't have taken him this long to recover. So this was the real reason. Tan Zhi continued, "Word has it that quite a few famous bounty hunters have explicitly accepted the commission—people like the Pei brothers, Left Bayonet, and Old Cat Han. Where would Wei Wusheng find the leisure to come after us? "Besides, Center City has deployed tight security for the arena tournament, and plenty of Wuyi instructors will be attending. No matter how daring Wei Wusheng is, he wouldn't dare cause trouble there. You can rest easy." Chen Chuan pondered for a moment. "I'm afraid I won't have time over the next few days. I feel like I might be on the verge of making progress, so I need to step up my training." "Oh? Have you entered a rapid growth period for your mutated tissue?" Tan Zhi's voice involuntarily rose. Advancing as a fighter was notoriously difficult, normally requiring slow, painstaking grinding. But there was one exception: the rapid growth period of mutated tissue. Once a fighter entered that phase, as long as sufficient resources were invested, they could achieve a relatively swift surge in ability. Talented individuals not only experienced more rapid growth periods than others, but their growth periods lasted longer as well—one of the primary factors that widened the gap between fighters. Still, considering Chen Chuan was nearly two years younger than him, and Tan Zhi had also undergone a rapid growth period at that age, it seemed perfectly normal. "Something like that," Chen Chuan answered. Tan Zhi said earnestly, "If that's the case, you definitely can't miss out, Student Chen. This directly impacts our future. Well, the break is long anyway, and the arena tournament runs until September. Whenever you have free time, we can set up a date." "All right," Chen Chuan agreed. Once the call ended, he browsed the channels for a while longer, deliberately looking up discussions about Wei Wusheng. The consensus seemed to be that Wei Wusheng was unlikely to pose much of a threat anymore; even the bets on him had seen no further additions recently. Yet for some unexplainable reason, Chen Chuan felt things might not turn out that way. *** In Crossroads District, on the rooftop diagonally across from the former anomaly hotel, the young boy was doing a handstand on both palms. Sweat poured from his body, pooling on the concrete below, yet he gritted his teeth and held on. The man stood nearby, watching. He had initially said he would leave after a few days, but for some reason, he had stayed until now. After a long while, he said, "That's enough." The boy dropped his feet and collapsed limply onto the ground. Yet he struggled back up, working hard to regulate his breathing as instructed while moving and thumping his limbs. The man crossed his arms, studying him. "Didn't expect you to have talent. You remind me of a junior martial brother of mine. Kid, what do you plan to do in the future?" Full of hope, the boy asked, "Can I follow you, mister?" "You aren't qualified," the man said. Disappointment immediately washed over the boy's face. The man continued, "I'm leaving soon. If you still want to keep training, go to the Tianshu Gang and look for Yu Hongming. He can teach you. Just say I recommended you." The boy's eyes lit up. "I still don't know your name, mister." "Me?..." Right then, sounds came from the opposite rooftop, followed by a resonant, forceful shout: "Wei Wusheng, we've found you! Come out—you can't run!" Wei Wusheng paused, then said slowly, "The Pei brothers? I've been waiting for you a long time. It took you this long to track me down—far too slow." He rolled his neck, producing a series of sharp cracks. Unhooking the hammer hanging from his waist, he walked toward the sound, muttering as he went, "Kid, if you want to live, get lost."