"The Cardinal wants to kill you."
Yes, from the scene before his eyes, it was already crystal clear who had been hiring hitmen against him all along.
That unfamiliar Assistant Archivist of the Flesh Archive was far more trustworthy than his childhood friend.
Life truly was ironic.
A piercing police siren suddenly wailed on a street in the distance.
Ye Huan's expression changed, and he cursed loudly, "Damn cops! You said you'd surround them quietly, so why the hell did you turn on the siren?!"
Standing at the very front, the man in black could no longer contain himself and chuckled.
"Those are our people. They're drawing the police away from this area. Stop trying to pull that trick."
Ye Huan's eyes darkened.
Even the police had been lured away, and the district's security forces cleared out—
It seemed their plan was meticulous.
Although he had sent a message to Song Fushan, Song Fushan might not make it in time.
Perhaps...
He could only rely on himself.
"Get him!"
From atop the wall, a man in black leapt down, a short blade in hand, stabbing directly toward Ye Huan's chest.
Ye Huan stepped straight into the short blade, thrusting out a palm aimed right at the man's face.
Clang!
The short blade struck his chest as if hitting wrought iron, sliding harmlessly to the side.
Ye Huan's palm, however, slammed squarely into the man's head.
Iron Cloth Shirt, First Form: Iron Hand Force!
Smack.
Like a watermelon being smashed, the man's head exploded in a spray of blood mist.
"An Qi, the head you wanted."
Ye Huan kicked the body flying toward her.
"Watch out, he's wearing defensive armor," the leader of the men in black said.
The dense, shadowy encirclement began to close in.
The young girl furrowed her brows slightly and spoke:
"Brother Ye Huan, when you were dating me before, you were lying to me all along—you actually knew martial arts and were already In-Rank, weren't you?"
"Lying to you? No, I just didn't care about you," Ye Huan said.
"Why didn't you care about me?" The girl put on a deeply aggrieved expression.
"You're too ugly," Ye Huan told her bluntly.
The girl could no longer keep up her act. She shrieked:
"Kill him! Bring me his head, right now!"
"All of you, attack!" the leading man in black barked in a low voice.
From every direction, the hitmen surged forward.
"Die!"
One man in black roared furiously, kicking toward Ye Huan's neck.
Thud.
Ye Huan stood motionless, blocking the man's foot with his elbow. Testing the force slightly, he shook his head.
"Too weak."
He drove a palm straight through the man's chest, slamming him to the ground.
Dead on the spot.
Clang, clang, thud, clatter, bang—
Attacks rained down from all sides, striking Ye Huan's body with the sound of clashing metal.
Power welled up from his acupoint, coursing through every limb and bone, stirring his vitality and swelling his muscles until his entire body was like steel and iron.
Ye Huan pushed Iron Cloth Shirt to its limit, completely abandoning defense. Suddenly, he threw out his arms, unleashing an array of palm shadows around himself.
Iron Hand Bars the River!
Nine palms in an instant, then nine more!
A dense cascade of snapping bones rang out.
The men in black who had rushed in were sent flying all at once, blood spewing from their mouths, bodies, and heads, splashing streaks of vibrant crimson across the stark white wall.
More men in black froze, not daring to step forward for a moment.
The encirclement widened, then contracted again, penning him tightly in the center.
"Copper Head and Iron Arms, hard body conditioning like steel and iron, capable of nine palms in an instant, Iron Hand Bars the River..."
"That's Iron Hand mastery, opened acupoint, a true adept."
"So your Excellency is a Shidu-rank martial artist," the leading man in black said, a faint note of reproach in his tone.
That reproach was directed at the girl in white on the phone's video screen.
The girl in white froze, shaking her head.
"Impossible! He struggled even to hold me. He was clearly just an ordinary person! How could he possibly—"
"The target does not match the description. We require double the payment," the leading man in black said.
"Deal!" the girl in white replied immediately.
The leading man in black nodded in satisfaction, rolled up his sleeves, and smiled.
"There is no need for your surprise. In this world, there are always people who like to hide a card up their sleeve. We've seen plenty of cases like this."
"I'll summon more men right away. It'll be a bit late, but we should make it in time."
The girl in white listened, her eyes fixed on Ye Huan, silent.
The man in black paced forward slowly, assuming a fighting stance.
"Please."
Ye Huan grinned.
When he cultivated Iron Cloth Shirt, the technique was noted as "lost."
It was only natural that the other man didn't understand it.
Perhaps there was a chance...
"Are you a Shidu martial artist as well?" Ye Huan asked.
"Humble as I am, I have opened six acupoints and made a small name for myself in fist and palm techniques. I imagine that is enough to kill you," the man in black replied.
"Looks like between the two of us today, one must die," Ye Huan said.
"Come. Let me experience the might of Iron Hand mastery," the man in black said.
"You've got guts. Might I ask what you go by?" Ye Huan asked.
"Night Owl," the man in black said.
"Hmph. So you're just an owl."
While speaking, Ye Huan suddenly lowered his shoulder and slammed violently into the perimeter wall beside him—
Crash!
A gaping hole was blown through the wall, and he darted straight inside, attempting to break out of the encirclement!
"Trying to run?"
Several men in black on the outer perimeter sneered and rushed forward, throwing punches and kicks in unison.
Ye Huan let their strikes hit his body, ringing out like clashing metal, as he struck out three consecutive palms.
Iron Hand Force!
Three clouds of blood mist exploded, erupting from their heads.
Taking advantage of the opening, Ye Huan bowled through two more men and burst onto the open street outside in one breath.
What a joke—
I heard you say "I'll summon more men right away. It'll be a bit late, but we should make it in time."
Who would stay put and let you stall?!
"Halt!" Night Owl barked.
"Get lost, get lost! You've opened six acupoints and you still want to fight me? Have you no shame?" Ye Huan shouted back as he ran.
Up ahead—
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Someone was stationed behind a sedan, spraying bursts with an automatic rifle.
Damn it!
This was a bustling street!
As Ye Huan ran, he ripped a car door straight off a nearby vehicle and hurled it with all his might.
Boom!
The gunfire instantly ceased.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Night Owl swooped down from behind, airborne.
His speed was much faster.
He couldn't outrun him!
Ye Huan suddenly halted his momentum. His legs bent slightly, and his vitality drummed through his veins. Opening both hands, he formed them into hammer fists and surged forward to meet his pursuer.
Iron Cloth Shirt, Second Form: Twin Dragon Hammers!
"Die!"
Night Owl bellowed, bringing his arm down with force that whipped up howling gales.
Clang!
Amid a deafening metallic clash, Ye Huan was knocked backward, rolling across the ground like a tumbling gourd for several meters before finally stopping with a dull thud against a wall.
"Ptui."
He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, quickly got to his feet, and casually flexed his hands.
Opening six acupoints truly made a world of difference!
Even in midair, taking the blow hastily, the man had parried his Twin Dragon Hammers with a single arm.
He glanced across and saw that Night Owl, having taken that Twin Dragon Hammers strike, had also been knocked back a few steps, landing atop a car.
"What formidable hard qigong! Is that an external skin technique pushed to its peak? No... the destructive power of that hammer technique is far beyond Iron Hand."
"Your techniques do not belong to Lantie City."
Night Owl gave a fierce roar, his foot crushing the car roof into a dent. Diving forward, he curled his fingers into fists and drove them straight toward Ye Huan's chest.
Ye Huan didn't even dodge. Charging forward to collide head-on, he suddenly slapped a palm onto the man's chest.
Neither of them defended!
Boom!
Ye Huan was sent flying, crashing through three or four cars before tumbling by the roadside, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
Night Owl landed on the ground, his vision swimming for a moment. He slowly raised a hand toward Ye Huan.
The clothing on his back suddenly burst open, blood spraying all over the wall behind him.
Only then did he stagger, leaning sideways against the wall, panting as he said:
"Eighteen palms in an instant... bright jin and dark jin alternating and intertwining, generating and counteracting one another, converging to erupt at a single point..."
"That was definitely not Iron Hand Bars the River."
"Good eye. Of course it's not Iron Hand Bars the River. This is the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms," Ye Huan said through gritted teeth, pushing himself up from the ground.
"Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms..."
Night Owl murmured, mentally scanning through the martial arts of every sect. In the end, his expression grew grave.
He made a hand gesture.
The hitmen all withdrew, swiftly vanishing from the street.
Yet Night Owl barked, "Hold on!"
—Only because Ye Huan was already poised to run!
"We were underprepared this time; please pardon our shortcoming. I guarantee your Excellency that next time, your head will be mine."
Night Owl gave a brief cupped-fist salute and darted away.
—Leaving aside everything else about Ye Huan's martial arts cultivation, his defensive capability was simply astonishing.
He couldn't break through it.
Moreover, the kid had no desire to prolong the fight, fleeing directly onto a bustling street.
Taking him down quickly was impossible.
If Ye Huan ran again and Night Owl gave chase, delaying any longer would ruin the entire operation.
Night Owl bounded into a side alley and vanished.
The street was filled with fleeing pedestrians.
In the distance, piercing sirens were already wailing.
Ye Huan stood where he was, catching his breath.
He had survived.
Iron Cloth Shirt truly was a wonderful lifesaving skill, though he had no idea what tricks the assassination syndicate would pull next.
Just let me live one more day.
—Tomorrow will be different again!
Suddenly, a message surfaced in his mind:
"You preserved the Ritual Fire, preventing the Black Tide Cult's Cardinal from acting in person."
"You escaped from the hitmen's encirclement."
"This was partly due to your grasp of using strength against weakness and avoiding disadvantage, and partly because your opponents had never encountered a martial art like Iron Cloth Shirt."
"Furthermore, you engaged in intense one-on-one combat and were not eliminated despite facing a stronger enemy."
"For these three accomplishments, current evaluation +3."
"Total evaluation: +7."
Plus seven!
Can't things settle down for even a single day?
Ye Huan couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly, two police cruisers came screaming to a halt before him.
Several heavily armed police officers jumped out, shouting:
"Where's the enemy?!"
"Mr. Investigator, who was firing just now?!"
"Where did they go?!"
"They all ran," Ye Huan said, pointing in a direction.
He darted right between them.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Gunfire erupted in a continuous burst.
Ye Huan didn't bother defending at all. His hands moved like lightning, striking the officers in rapid succession, producing a cascade of cracking bones.
One palm shattered a sternum, one palm shattered a skull, one palm shattered a spine.
Iron Hand Force!
In moments, corpses littered the ground.
Ye Huan grabbed a box of tissues from inside a cruiser, pulled out a few sheets, and slowly wiped the blood from his hands.
These men were all dead.
—The instant they appeared, the label "Professional Hitman" had floated above their heads.
If he had let his guard down for a second, dropped his Iron Cloth Shirt, and stood so close to them...
He might very well have capsized in the shallows.
What a vicious counterthrust.
Suddenly, Ye Huan threw down the bloody tissue and bolted.
Two afterimages darted out from a nearby shop, hot on his heels.
—It was Night Owl!
And another martial artist!
At this very moment, waiting until he had completely let his guard down, the enemy struck again, intending to snuff him out on the street once and for all!
"Got you!" Night Owl roared ferociously.
Ahead on the street, two more martial artists appeared.
Ye Huan's escape route was completely cut off. There was nowhere left to run!
At that instant, a message suddenly sprang to mind:
"Throughout history, countless heroes and champions have survived momentous events, yet experts struck down by underhanded plots in their subsequent moments of relaxation are as numerous as carp crossing a river."
"In the enemy's second all-out encirclement, if you die, then you die."
"If you can survive, you will receive another 2 evaluation points."
"Please note:"
"9 is the ultimate number among evaluations. If your total evaluation reaches 9 points, you will reach the pinnacle."
Chapter 19