Volume 1, Chapter 287 – Unexpected Change

Because there were surveillance cameras everywhere, Shi Lan carefully concealed herself the entire way, moving between buildings. It took her nearly an hour to reach the police station.

After cautiously surveying the surroundings, Shi Lan was just about to make her move when she saw more than ten figures charge into the police station one after another.

“Who goes there?!”

Bang bang!

Boom!

A few short bursts of gunfire rang out, followed immediately by several loud explosions, and then there was no more sound.

Woooo—

A shrill alarm suddenly tore across the night sky.

A few minutes later, more than ten figures rushed back out of the police station. Three of them each had a corpse slung over one shoulder, and in an instant they vanished into the night.

After that group left, another four or five groups appeared in quick succession and, without any prior agreement, all pursued the ten-odd people who had fled.

Shi Lan’s nose twitched. Catching the scent of blood drifting on the night wind, she stared at the police station for a moment before turning to chase after the group that had fled into the distance.

Whether it was the ten-odd people who had broken into the police station to seize the corpses, or the several groups following behind them, even the weakest among them was not far inferior to the two men who had died by her hand the night before.

She wanted to see exactly who these people were and whether they had any connection to the Wuji Sect.

The group that had stolen the corpses had clearly scouted the area in advance. They seemed very familiar with the surroundings and soon shook off the people tailing them.

Shi Lan was the exception. Though it was deep night, to her soul-sense, those dozen or so figures brimming with blood and qi were as conspicuous as bright lamps.

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Shi Lan suppressed all sound and stepped into a lightness technique, following close behind.

After running for nearly two hours, leaving the city behind and entering a stretch of wild woodland on the outskirts, the group finally came to a slow stop.

“This is getting troublesome. I didn’t expect National Security to move so fast.”

“We hid our appearances, and we didn’t use any martial arts uniquely passed down by our sect. There shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“We can’t get careless. I’m worried they may have done something to these corpses. Check them here.”

Before the words had even fully fallen, several of them started dealing with the corpses on the spot. They cut them open, examined the five viscera, six bowels, and seven orifices, and did not miss a single corner.

As martial artists, their hands were swift and practiced. In less than a quarter of an hour, the three corpses had been reduced to pieces.

“The item isn’t here, but there are two trackers!”

After finding nothing, one of them took a jade bottle from his robe, tipped the mouth, and poured out a shower of gray powder. The moment the powder touched the corpses, wisps of green smoke rose. A few minutes later, even the bones had been corroded completely away.

“Withdraw!”

Just as they were about to leave, several blinding beams of light shone down from the air.

Buzz buzz buzz—

The whir of helicopter blades swept in with tremendous wind pressure. Two hours was more than enough for the National Security Bureau to mobilize armed helicopters from a nearby military district.

Hidden not far away, Shi Lan’s sense of danger suddenly flared. Without the slightest hesitation, she turned and ran.

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Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat…

The instant the searchlights locked on, blazing streams of gunfire erupted without the slightest pause. Clearly, they had no intention of negotiating.

Using martial power to violate the law had obviously crossed one of a state’s red lines.

The overwhelming storm of metal formed an interlocking web of fire so dense it nearly covered the entire forest.

The more than ten people gathered in the woods had not even had time to react before seven or eight of them were blown apart in an instant, their bodies exploding into clouds of blood mist.

The strongest among them darted through the gaps in the barrage, fleeing for their lives through the hail of bullets, but under thermal imaging and a wall of all-encompassing firepower, that kind of evasion could only delay death.

So this was all martial artists amounted to.

Watching the sea of flames gradually ignite below, the officers piloting the helicopters all showed a trace of disdain in their eyes. The dense web of gunfire gradually eased, pausing for a brief instant.

The moment the barrage paused, a huge man leapt out of the fire, stepping on treetops like an eagle spreading its wings. He soared upward, leaping nearly a hundred meters into the air, then flung out two black threads from his outstretched arms, hooking them onto the two armed helicopters hovering above!

“Die!”

A furious roar split the sky. It was as if some terrifying force had bitten down on the two helicopters, robbing them of all direction. Like kites with their strings cut, they collided in midair as the big man fell, erupting into a blinding fireball.

Boom!

The big man dropped back into the forest, but before he could even get up, a grenade screamed in and melted him instantly.

Shi Lan turned her head and stopped looking behind her. Suppressing her blood and qi, she used the acuity of her soul-sense to avoid the sheets of metal raining down and silently slipped away.

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That big man’s strength had not been weak. His blood and qi had been astonishingly vigorous. But against heavy modern weapons, it was still far from enough.

All the way back home, the instant she landed on the windowsill, Shi Lan inexplicably felt a chill on her back, as though someone were watching her.

After scanning the surroundings with a frown and finding nothing, she could only temporarily suppress that unease.

After practicing the Vajra Divine Fist once more as usual, Shi Lan got into bed and closed her eyes.

She could be said to have gained nothing from this trip. She had not obtained a single useful piece of information. The only consolation was that those corpses had now completely disappeared.

The only trouble she still had to deal with was the Wuji Sect, somewhere out there beyond sight. That was something she could not avoid.

Relying on cultivation alone was too slow. Shi Lan needed to begin preparing some cultivation resources. Body Tempering could not be separated from flesh and blood, as well as medicinal materials that nourished blood and qi.

Flesh and blood would not be too hard to come by. Those herbs, however, would probably be difficult to find in the present day.

…

The next morning.

Shi Lan did not return control of the body to Ning An. Instead, over breakfast, she rejected Qin Yinhua’s suggestion that she take Ning An out for a couple of days.

Qin Yinhua wanting to take Ning An away to avoid the storm was understandable, but Shi Lan could not leave now.

For one thing, there was Lin Mo. The people from Cube Space still had not completed their mission. For another, if the two of them left, Ning Kangping might be put in danger.

…

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…

“Did the things arrive?”

“Mm.”

“We’re getting ready to start making contact with Lin Mo in the next couple of days.”

“Need any help?”

“No. Lin Mo shouldn’t have much guard up against us.”

“Good.”

Shi Lan hung up the call with Liang Yunnan, took a box of black pills from a nearby cabinet, popped a few into her mouth, and sank back into cultivation.

These pills did not yet count as true pills. They were only pellets made by mixing together medicinal materials that nourished blood and qi, but they were expensive.

Liang Yunnan and the others had gotten all of them for her. The people they had possessed all had fairly strong family backgrounds, just enough to support Shi Lan’s cultivation expenses.

…

The instant Shi Lan ended the call, inside a hotel not far from Ning An’s home, Lin Mo took off his headphones, his expression unreadable.

He seemed to have overheard something interesting.