Tixianren remained calm in the face of crisis, her petite frame bursting with speed no one could have expected.
The fire staff had barely swept past when she was already in midair.
Look closely, and you’d see something suspending her.
Hei Maliu’s strike had missed.
Just as he prepared to press the attack, the corner of his eye caught a black shadow charging in.
Zhanzhengjiqi surged forward at high speed like a humanoid tank.
The Iron Fist he threw was no different from a fired cannonball.
Hei Maliu abandoned the pursuit, steadied himself, pulled his staff back, and braced to block the Iron Fist.
The next moment, he felt a wave of regret.
A tremendous impact traveled through the staff, sending both him and his weapon flying back 10-plus meters.
At the same time, several Invisible Blades flickered through the air.
Hei Maliu dodged and weaved, his posture utterly disheveled.
Facing two A-rank killers was simply too much to handle.
With a flicker of thought, he chose a strategic retreat.
“Don’t chase. Finding the target matters more.”
Seeing Zhanzhengjiqi about to pursue Hei Maliu, Tixianren immediately spoke up to stop him.
The latter stopped and turned around, no dissatisfaction on his face.
This battle meant nothing to him.
Killing Hei Maliu wouldn’t bring in any money.
If the other hadn’t provoked first, he wouldn’t have bothered.
Scuffles like this unfolded one after another on the West Side of the Urban Village.
Some were fights over interests; others settled new and old grudges at once.
Even so, they all ended quickly, and everyone scattered.
After all, finding Yang Liuqing was the top priority.
Burning through their bullets now would mean losing out to others later.
From here on, it was every hunter for themselves.
“Master, it’s completely dark outside.”
Ke Ling pulled the curtain open a crack to check the situation.
“Yeah. We’ll move a bit later.”
Yang Liuqing took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.
By now, the West Side of the Urban Village had drawn a large crowd.
Even if some Hunters remained in this area, there wouldn’t be many.
“Our Golden Escape Window is roughly 2 hours.”
Ke Li held up two fingers.
“Past that, it’ll get dangerous.
Those Transcendents are no pushovers.”
“True.”
Ke Ling returned from the window.
“With that many people, it won’t take long to sweep the West Side.”
“If only they’d start tearing each other apart right away to thin their numbers.”
Yang Liuqing knew that wasn’t realistic.
But he could still fantasize.
“Before they find Xiao Qingqing, they won’t fight too fiercely.
Casualties won’t be very high.”
Ke Li quickly shattered his fantasy.
It wasn’t entirely impossible for the Hunters to wipe out a batch of their own before the prey even showed its head.
But the probability was certainly very low.
A small number of casualties, though, was possible.
Their main goal was to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
And it had basically been accomplished.
Whether the major forces would fight each other didn’t really matter.
If a batch truly got killed, that would be a pleasant surprise.
If not, so be it.
As long as Yang Liuqing escaped and ran out the clock, the Game would end automatically.
“Master, while the situation hasn’t settled yet, take some time to rest and recover.”
Ke Ling suggested he rest up while he could.
The depletion from earlier in the Spiritual Space had been partially recovered through food and drink.
The rest would need to be restored through rest.
Yang Liuqing was about to nod when his phone vibrated.
All three of them looked at the glowing screen at once.
The screen showed the caller’s name:
[Du Huangfeng].
“Xiao Qingqing, this is an accomplice calling.”
Ke Li signaled for him not to answer.
Too easy to blow their cover.
“Master, don’t do anything. Wait for them to hang up.
If they call a second time, then we’ll plan accordingly.”
Ke Ling vaguely sensed something was wrong.
Not long after they’d sold the Intelligence, an acquaintance of Daoba called.
Clearly something was off.
The vibration lasted a while before stopping.
The screen showed one missed call.
Yang Liuqing breathed a sigh of relief.
This sudden call gave him a bad feeling.
It cast a shadow over the smooth path he had just paved.
They waited 5 minutes.
No second call came.
“Maybe it was just a coincidence.”
Ke Ling wasn’t so sure.
Perhaps the caller had already confirmed something was wrong by making that call.
“How about we leave early?”
Ke Li caught a whiff of danger.
Yang Liuqing thought it over, then slowly shook his head.
“No. At this hour, staying in the office is safer.”
Even though most people had been lured to the West Side, the risk of going out had dropped considerably.
The Hunters who hadn’t caught on yet were no pushovers either.
Even if they couldn’t catch you, wouldn’t they sell your information at a high price?
Ke Ling mused for a moment.
“Mm. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
If this Du Huangfeng truly sensed something wrong and came to check in person, that would actually be easier to handle.
Running out early and getting caught, on the other hand, would undo everything and land them in a very dangerous situation.
“Worrying won’t help. Xiao Qingqing, get some rest.”
Ke Li spread her hands.
Yang Liuqing obediently sat down and closed his eyes to rest.
At this point, everything that could be done had been done.
The rest was up to fate.
Ke Ling drifted to the window and observed the outside through a gap in the curtain.
Ke Li stood guard beside Yang Liuqing, her gaze fixed on the office door.
At the first sign of trouble, she would act swiftly.
As people surged into the West Side of the Urban Village, even a fool would know something big was happening there.
The Hunters who hadn’t bought the Intelligence—who didn’t even know about the Dark Web—immediately sprang into action.
They converged on the West Side.
At this very moment, the three escape routes Yang Liuqing had fabricated were crawling with people.
To escape from here, one would need to sprout wings and fly as high as possible.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Some Hunters began to sense that something was off.
With so many people conducting a dense search in one area, they still couldn’t find a single living person.
No matter how well someone could hide, they couldn’t turn into an inanimate object.
With countless Perceptions probing the area, they should have found him long ago.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered Yang Liuqing being able to conceal his presence.
But the problem was—a living person with flesh and blood had distinct traits.
Under one Perception scan after another, he should have been completely exposed.
Yet this Yang Liuqing was like an ordinary pebble—tossed on the road, he couldn’t even be easily noticed.
“Third Elder, don’t you find this suspicious?”
On a rooftop, Chen Yanran arrived belatedly.
She hadn’t purchased any Intelligence.
She’d simply caught a Transcendent, beaten them up, and forced them to tell her directly.
“So many people, yet they couldn’t find the target. There is indeed a problem.”
Third Elder nodded, perfectly composed.
After all, it was none of their business, so why bother.
“They’re like a flock of sheep led by a bellwether, unable to think for themselves.”
Chen Yanran felt something odd about the situation.
“The traces Xiao Qing left behind aren’t normal.”
“You suspect this is Yang Liuqing’s doing, Miss?”
Third Elder thought she was dreaming.
How could Yang Liuqing—an ordinary person until last night—possibly lead all these Hunters around by the nose?
He didn’t have that kind of resources or ability.