Although it’s a small fish, after all, it is still a fish.
Only those who have experienced assassination understand this feeling, the assassinations lurking in the darkness, over and over again, ceaseless, until the target dies, and only then will it truly end.
Then, please, let it be you.
In the dead of night, the quiet alley was deserted.
Shi Li, walking with his head down, suddenly sneezed loudly.
He pulled his cap down low and frowned, not knowing why, but a sense of foreboding emerged in his heart.
Shi Li silently reviewed his path and realized he hadn’t attracted anyone’s attention. He had walked only through blind spots of surveillance, and there was no one following him... So this must be an illusion. Just a bit further ahead and he would reach the residence of the person who had summoned him After leaving the secluded alley, he walked into an abandoned factory in the old city district, where the dilapidated iron doors, thinning paint peeling off, rattled loudly with even a slight breeze, and unfortunately, today was windy.
On a moonless, windy night, the iron gate’s surface was swept with a series of crackling sounds.
He bent his body to enter through the iron gate and slowly approached the interior of the factory. The moment he looked up, his expression faltered.
The muzzle of a hunting shotgun with a dim glow was pressed against his forehead, the man holding the gun, an old cowboy, barely exerting any force, but the oppression emanating from inside the barrel caused him to raise his hands and lean them against the wall.
"12-gauge, red silver alloy bullet."
The man casually said, "Don’t move, or I’ll blow your brains out with a single shot."
Shi Li’s expression darkened, finally understanding where that earlier sneeze had come from... It really seemed to be the Goddess of Destiny’s friendly reminder that nothing good was about to happen.
His forehead’s vein throbbed uncontrollably, the crushing pressure from the large gun so strong, he almost thought he could hear the roaring of the red silver bolstered by Extraordinary Essence... A bullet made of Strong Logic Material could cause irreversible damage to the Extraordinary Essence system in his body.
When disorder meets order, only one can survive.
And even if he were to be the survivor, the most likely outcome would be "loss of control".
Although he didn’t care about dying or losing control... his life currently had a more important purpose.
"Mr. Zhao, this man is mine."
A light laugh came from across the factory.
In the vast abandoned factory, apart from a few load-bearing columns, there was almost no other furnishing, so the two people sitting ten meters apart in the open space stood out remarkably.
Zhao Qi waved his hand.
The cowboy with the cigar, upon hearing this, narrowed his eyes and slowly released the barrel of the gun.
The terrifying oppressive sensation finally disappeared... Shi Li wisely tilted his head and moved aside, proceeding in silence. As he passed by, he still glanced fearfully at the hunting shotgun.
What level of Transcendent was this old guy? Seventh Floor or Eighth Floor?
That "Mr. Zhao," who sat cross-legged, negotiating, had several Transcendents of varying power levels standing by his side, while the other side of the negotiation seemed quite lonely and frail by comparison.
The man who came alone for the negotiation, his face shrouded in shadows, neither the bright muzzle nor the glow of a pipe could reveal his face, and except for Zhao Qi... no one knew who this man was.
Shi Li stood properly behind the man, bravely explaining, "My lord, I was tied up with something... and was delayed a bit."
"As long as you’re here."
The man’s demeanor was surprisingly gentle; he wasn’t annoyed at all but just smiled and waved his hand, signaling Shi Li to step back.
At that moment, all of Shi Li’s uneasiness and anxiety melted away. He respectfully stepped back as if a towering mountain was erected in front of him, blocking off all the pressure released by the High Order Transcendents on the other side of the "negotiation table".
The man laughed softly, "Mr. Zhao, our casual contact... is not a good thing."
"It’s about something important."
Zhao Qi said softly: "The Spiritual Imprint on Lu Nanzhi has been removed."
"Oh?" the man continued to smile. "Have any Titled Level Spiritual Transcendents visited Da Du recently?"
"No," Zhao Qi replied coldly. "That’s why I’m here to see you... Your assurance to me was that once the imprint was placed, no one but a Titled would notice it. But the situation now is not as you said."
The man’s shadowed face seemed to sink into contemplation.
"Actually... to remove an imprint, one doesn’t necessarily need the power of a Titled..."
After a moment of silence, he slowly smiled and said: "Generally, only after passing the trials of the Deep Sea 12th Floor, do Spiritual Transcendents undergo a qualitative change... An immense volume of spiritual power starts to finely permeate. Before that, the anomalies that Spiritual could detect were limited. But in reality, removing an imprint is something that a few talented geniuses, born with more delicate traits, can achieve. In a place as big as Dadu District, it is within reason to have such an exception."
"I’m not here to listen to you explain reasons or boast about geniuses..."