Chapter 128: Assassination! Heituo Priest?
“One clash, and he killed three same-rank professionals…”
From beneath that deep rift, a figure gradually floated out, like a ghostly shadow. His withered white hair nearly covered half his face, and his throat sounded like stones rubbing together, hoarse and unpleasant:
“This is just after promotion, truly deserving of a core seed, Ink Jade Talent.”
Yang Yan, standing at the edge of the rift, was startled and quickly assumed a combat stance.
Wu Yang’s expression was grave, his brows tightly furrowed as he stared at him. Zhang Yunqing beside Su Chen had a flicker of shock and doubt in her beautiful eyes, “You’re… Pang Family’s third elder, Pang Yongliang!?”
“Oh?” The old man’s withered white hair before his face parted, revealing a pair of scarlet eyes deeply sunken into their sockets. His face skin was piled together like a dry corpse, showing a sickly smile: “I’ve fallen ill to this extent, yet someone still recognizes me…”
Seeing the opponent so ferocious and terrifying, Zhang Yunqing’s mind jolted, and she couldn’t help but retreat two steps.
“You’re that remnant of the Pang Family who’s been fleeing?” Su Chen looked at the old man. A few days ago, while drinking heavily, he had heard Ming Lin mention him.
This guy had been handling Pang Family business outside and wasn’t in Ying Feng on the day of the destruction. He snuck back later, and the Court of Justice had been searching for him.
“Remnant…” Pang Yongliang’s emaciated face skin twitched, his eyes dead fixed on Su Chen, “My Pang Family served the Court of Justice diligently for generations. Even without merit, we had our toils.”
“Only Pang Hui colluded with the Cult of the Strange God. We didn’t even know about it, yet the Court of Justice wants to exterminate us all, not even giving a chance to defend ourselves. Erasing the memories of the clan’s children wasn’t enough; they were sent to lower tier cities to become refugees!”
“Court of Justice, heartless and ungrateful!”
After the clan’s destruction, Su Chen truly didn’t know the follow-up situation, but hearing Pang Yongliang say this, he couldn’t help but ask:
“Since previously only Pang Hui colluded with the Cult of the Strange God, then what’s your situation now? Don’t say this place is just your lair.”
Pang Yongliang’s expression froze, and he said gravely: “I’m here for revenge.”
Su Chen shrugged, “What if other Pang Family members also want revenge and learn from you to contact the Cult of the Strange God?”
“Sophistry!” Pang Yongliang snarled: “I planned to lie low in Ying Feng and give you a big surprise, but unfortunately, you discovered me. Today, I’ll collect some interest.”
“A core seed, and Xia Hanshi’s student. Good, truly too good!”
“Ignorant fool!” Wu Yang blocked in front of Pang Yongliang, one hand behind his back making a gesture, signaling the surrounding judges to withdraw.
At the same time, he shouted sternly: “The Court of Justice destroyed the Pang Family not just for accountability, but as a warning to everyone—this is the consequence!”
“Even if your relatives and friends didn’t know, they would still be guilty, even unto death, because of your collusion with the Cult of the Strange God!”
Punishing only the prime evil is too civilized. The family enjoyed the benefits of colluding with the Strange God, so they naturally had to pay the price.
Su Chen also retreated toward the main door with the other judges.
“Come pay with your life!” Pang Yongliang’s features twisted ferociously, grayish-white mist surging from his seven orifices.
His spine arched, his figure turning into a blurry afterimage amid the mist. The air exploded with crackling sounds, his wide robe tearing into strips during the rapid charge, revealing the grayish-white skin beneath.
The grayish-white mist swirling around him condensed into fang-shaped air vortices during the charge. His ten fingernails extended into ten bone blades, whistling through the air as they aimed straight for Wu Yang’s throat.
Wu Yang’s reaction wasn’t slow. Crimson flame ripples instantly exploded around him, fire dragons coiling about, even condensing into a massive crimson flame mouth to swallow the grayish-white air vortices.
However, in the instant they crossed, Wu Yang’s expression changed drastically. Those seemingly ferocious fang mists suddenly dispersed, as if they had no killing power, drifting past his body on both sides.
“Not good!”
His face changed drastically as he sensed something, turning his head in a flash.
Sure enough, the mist reformed behind him, momentum undiminished, target straight for Su Chen!
“Kill!”
Pang Yongliang’s face was full of the pleasure of revenge. Xia Hanshi was one of the main instigators of the Pang Family’s destruction. Killing Su Chen
would not only make the Court of Justice grieve, but also make Xia Hanshi regret it immensely!
Killing this one person was far more useful than killing a hundred or a thousand judges.
Crackle-pop!
Blazing electric arcs had already exploded around Su Chen, dazzling thunder light engulfing him. The violent wind-thunder momentum even sent the nearby judges flying.
“Useless, useless!” Pang Yongliang’s emaciated face skin, in high-speed movement, was as terrifying as wriggling earthworms.
In the instant the ten finger bone blades were about to strike, the floor beneath Su Chen’s feet shattered. An arc of light shot toward the distance at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Boom!
The thunder cluster in front exploded, scattering in all directions. Pang Yongliang hit nothing, his horrifying gaze turning toward the direction the arc light fled, a flicker of disbelief in his eyes: “How… so fast?”
In just a moment, Su Chen’s figure was nowhere to be seen here.
“What kind of ghostly speed is this?” Wu Yang was also dumbfounded, his gaze toward the direction the arc light vanished, “No movement trajectory, not even a shadow visible. Is this guy really third order?”
Zhang Yunqing, who had been flung away, just landed now, not even minding the pain in her body, her gaze dazed. Run… he ran so fast.
“How can it be this fast! Damn it, damn it!” Pang Yongliang appeared manic, suddenly turning, his sinister gaze toward the nearby other judges, especially Zhang Yunqing.
“Little girl, it was you who recognized me just now, right.”
Zhang Yunqing’s face paled in shock, and Wu Yang’s expression was ugly. This Pang Yongliang’s profession was special, skilled in assassination. If his target locked onto these on-site judges,
for a moment, he probably really couldn’t stop him.
He hadn’t expected this blind cat to stumble on a dead mouse this time, but unfortunately, he hadn’t brought more people.
Just then, Pang Yongliang’s brow twitched, his body chilling as he sensed a threat. Instinctively, grayish-white mist spread and dispersed.
But suddenly, his brain felt like it was pricked by a needle, dazed for an instant.
And in that instant, behind him, thunder exploded!
Rumble!
Su Chen’s figure appeared like a shocking thunderbolt, wielding a dark cyan giant hammer wrapped in violent thunder light, smashing down abruptly without any wind-up sign, as if prepared elsewhere for a long time.
Azure-red electric serpents on the hammer’s surface frenziedly darted about, the air-tearing explosive sounds intertwining with rolling thunder.
Before the hammer head arrived, the violent thunder pressure had already torn the surrounding air. The lightning chains coiled on the handle twisted like living things, the erupting plasma illuminating everything ghostly white.
His appearance position was extremely tricky, nearly body-to-body with Pang Yongliang, all abilities compressed into the giant hammer in his hand.
This strike was his current strongest attack!
Boom!
In the instant the hammer head touched Pang Yongliang’s back, the accumulated power poured out like a breached flood. In the dazzling flash, a mountain-collapsing roar transmitted.
The majestic shockwave spread in a ring shape. Pang Yongliang’s cheeks twisted—this guy hadn’t run at all; he had hidden nearby, and he hadn’t noticed!
The terrifying force from his back shocked him even more. Was this really a professional who had just advanced to third order?
Bang!
Like hitting a ball, Pang Yongliang’s body suddenly shot out.
“Wu Yang!” Su Chen shouted sternly.
Wu Yang, shocked by Su Chen’s sudden appearance, snapped awake abruptly. His body moved faster than thought; years of combat experience made him choose the best option.
Arms extended forward, rolling crimson flames on both sides condensed into fire dragons, roaring out!
Front and back, the attack linkage was perfect!
Boom!
The fire dragon exploded, turning into a sky full of fire rain, splashing in all directions.
Splash!
Accompanying the fall was a nearly charred black body—it was Pang Yongliang.
“Cough… cough…” Pang Yongliang wasn’t dead yet, his skin charred brown, electric arcs still sputtering from his wounds occasionally.
“He’s still alive after this; his vitality is truly tenacious.” Su Chen shook his arm, his figure swaying. The extreme burst left him with a sense of emptiness.
When Pang Yongliang had assaulted just now, he hadn’t truly fled far; in that instant, he had entered the spatial layer while firing an electric arc to create the illusion of escape.
Then, when Pang Yongliang shifted targets, he charged his strike in the spatial layer for a close-body sneak attack, and barely used the gaze of Heituo to create a brief opening.
But the opponent was a fourth order professional after all, so it took Wu Yang’s cooperation to heavily injure him. That’s why he used the heavy hammer to smash him toward Wu Yang.
If he had used a sharp weapon, it probably wouldn’t have worked.
Wu Yang stared at him like he was a ghost. This was hard to kill?
Without Su Chen’s support, catching the opponent would have been a problem for him. Their specialties were completely different; his overall strength might even be inferior to Pang Yongliang’s.
But precisely because of that, Pang Yongliang, skilled in sneak attacks, was heavily injured after taking a frontal assault.
“Freak… freak…” Yang Yan swallowed, his throat bobbing. Su Chen… how was he this perverse.
“You………” Pang Yongliang struggled to flip over, his charred-shell skin cracking inch by inch, revealing blood-red muscles beneath.
“…how… possible…” His throat could only produce a few syllables.
“Take him out…” Wu Yang raised his hand, and nearby judges quickly came forward, first stabilizing his breath before carrying him out.
Zhang Yunqing and the others limped out too, leaving only a few third order judges behind.
“I didn’t expect he was hiding here.” Wu Yang walked to the cave entrance, saying coldly: “He actually dug such a big hole.”
“This place was originally a mall, later bought by the Zhou Family for renovation. Could the Zhou Family also be colluding with the Cult of the Strange God?” Yang Yan couldn’t help but say.
“Watch your words…” Wu Yang frowned, “Perhaps the Zhou Family didn’t know; this place might have been built even longer ago.”
The Zhou Family’s Zhou and Security Department Director Zhou Yanwu were from the same Zhou.
“Is there anything else below?” Yang Yan realized his slip and changed the topic.
“Don’t know, best if…” Wu Yang wasn’t sure either, “Pang Yongliang hiding here is already shocking enough; if there’s more…”
Su Chen’s eyes flickered. The Pang Yongliang just now clearly wasn’t a Heituo Follower.
What he could sense should all be things like strange artifacts. Heituo Followers wouldn’t let an outsider guard that stuff, right.
“How about we wait first…” Before Wu Yang finished speaking, a wisp of black mist floated up from the cave below. His heart felt gripped by a giant hand, pupils contracting as he immediately shouted:
“Run!!”
Su Chen’s eyelids twitched, reacting fastest. This time it was a real escape; electric light exploded underfoot, Azure Thunder Divine Movement boosted by wind boots. Thunder boomed, and he shot out like a released arrow.
This was Su Chen’s first time fully testing his speed. He only felt the scene blur, face stinging from the wind, explosive sounds behind as the wall was already smashed through.
“What thing ran out?” Wu Yang was stunned. He hadn’t even rushed out of the hall, and Su Chen was gone.
Though not as eerie as before, this was genuine extreme speed.
His profession, advanced all the way, basically had no speed specialty; speed was only average, but at least he was a fourth order professional.
“Can run, can fight—this is too all-rounded. This is the intensity of a top tier profession…”
Even in a critical escape moment, Wu Yang couldn’t help thinking, envy rising in his heart.
“Since you found us, then stay!”
A ghostly shout came from behind. Su Chen felt his feet chill; black mist spreading from who-knows-where was actually faster than his escape speed.
“Big one, stronger than Pang Yongliang! Heituo Priest?” Su Chen realized this. His speed was fast, but now he was getting closer to the building instead.
This nearby area seemed trapped in a quagmire.
“Using us as bait; where’s the protector?” Su Chen’s brows locked. He could transform into a Heituo Priest and preserve his life at the last moment.
But if someone noticed something amiss, that would be trouble.
In the distance, Zhu Peng and the other Inspector Guards who sensed the commotion and returned looked horrified at Yunhai Jian already wrapped in black mist, their expressions dazed, murmuring lowly:
“Done for, done for…”
“Priest, Heituo Priest. This place actually has a priest?”
Yang Yan, running slowest, couldn’t help looking back at the figure rising from the cave. Its pupils were pitch black, devouring surrounding light. His liver and gallbladder nearly split, “What kind of ghostly luck is mine?”
He still thought it was his report that made Su Chen decide to investigate here.
“There really is a big ghost…”
A shocked voice suddenly rang out around him. Yang Yan shuddered all over; this voice sounded familiar.
Countless light threads emerged from the void, drawn by some invisible force, rapidly weaving around the Heituo Priest.
These lights weren’t gentle flows but carried some cold rule power, shuttling to outline an oval shape, each trajectory precisely embedding into others.
The entire magic array slowly rotated like a living thing. The Heituo Priest’s dark power made fine sparks burst continuously at the edges.
“Saint Inscription Master… Second Chief Judge…” The Heituo Priest’s face darkened.
He couldn’t figure out how, after they had restrained external activities for over a month, the Court of Justice could still inexplicably find this place.
He didn’t give up resisting, but it was all futile. When the last rune connected, the magic array suddenly solidified into entity.
The light turned from flowing state to hard crystal texture, surface floating with faint patterns, forming a hexagonal prism centered on the Heituo Priest.
The surrounding darkness seemed to lose control, gradually retracting until completely vanishing.
“Chief Judge…” Yang Yan collapsed to the ground, looking at the woman in platinum robe appearing before him—she was You Shan.
