Chapter 365 - 196: Eruption of Opportunity! The Night Walker

Wan Ze's gaze lingered on the paper for a few seconds before he turned to the next page.

Zhao Henian stood beside him, leaning forward slightly, and began to explain in a hushed voice, "Xiao Ya will appear with her people at Hengjiang Bridge tonight. The time will be approximately 9:47 PM, with a margin of error of no more than two minutes. Hengjiang Bridge isn't far from here, about twelve kilometers east, on the road that connects the outskirts to An City. It's an old bridge. Ever since the new one was built, fewer people use it. Barely any cars pass through at night, making it a good place to make a move."

Wan Ze looked up, a hint of teasing in his tone. "She's that young? So, Old Zhao, you've been on edge all this time over an opponent so much younger than you?"

Zhao Henian was at a loss for words.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his old face flushed red.

He said irritably, "Don't underestimate this woman. She loves to put on an act. You see her, you think she's weak and easy to bully, but in reality, she's like a leech."

Zhao Henian's voice suddenly grew much darker. "Do you know what a leech is? That blackish-brown, soft, flimsy thing that looks completely harmless. You don't even feel it when it attaches to you because it secretes an anesthetic that numbs your skin.

Then, it just quietly sucks your blood. One day, two days, a month, two months. You watch it swell from the size of a noodle into a ball, but you can't do anything about it. It latches on too tightly. If you try to pull it off, it'll break off inside your body. The broken piece will keep sucking your blood and cause an infection.

Xiao Ya is exactly that kind of person. She'll latch onto you, looking completely harmless, even treating you with the utmost respect. You think she's one of your own. You think she's on your side. You think she's no threat to you. But she'll keep gnawing away at you. By the time you realize it, you're covered in your own blood, and she's still standing in front of you, smiling as she calls you Brother Zhao."

When he spoke of Xiao Ya, his tone was filled with a deep-seated hatred.

Wan Ze listened quietly, not saying a word.

He could read a lot from Zhao Henian's tone, but he didn't waste time with unnecessary words.

'That's not my business.'

"So, if she just disappears, that will be enough? Are you sure it will help you?" Wan Ze asked.

Zhao Henian looked at Wan Ze and paused for a second.

"Yes," he nodded in confirmation.

There was no hesitation.

Wan Ze nodded, not pressing for details.

Streetlights glowed in the distance, their orange light sliced into pieces by pillars and walls.

The two of them stood in the shadows, as if in a forgotten corner of the world. Only the occasional car horn and the sound of laughter from a distant plaza served as a reminder that the city was still alive.

Zhao Henian glanced at the figures under the distant lights, then looked back and said seriously, "Your men must be careful of the person with Xiao Ya."

Wan Ze turned to the second page.

A man with a face full of brutish flesh appeared in the photograph.

The man had a narrow forehead, thick eyebrows, and a high brow ridge that formed two prominent angles above his eyes. His eyes weren't large, but they showed a lot of white, and his pupils were small.

In the photo, the man wore a black tank top. His exposed arms were covered in scars and tattoos, making it impossible to distinguish which were for decoration and which were marks left from battle.

Next to the photo was a name... [Zhang Chong].

Zhao Henian said in a low voice, "That's Zhang Chong, Xiao Ya's Death Warrior—the kind of man who would willingly die for her. I had someone test him before. Sent three men, all skilled fighters in the early stage of Refining Viscera. And the result? All three of them... in less than two minutes, two had broken arms, and one had a rib pierce his lung. He almost didn't make it back. So, a conservative estimate puts him at the Middle to Late Stage of Refining Viscera at least. Oh, and he practices Horizontal Training. His skin is thick, his flesh is hard, and his bones are like rebar."

Wan Ze's expression remained unchanged.

Zhao Henian continued, pointing to his own head, "And he's not just a good fighter. His reaction speed is absurd. Someone tried to shoot him at close range once. He just tilted his head. The bullet went right past here, grazed his scalp, and missed. What's the speed of a bullet? Three to four hundred meters per second. He had already taken evasive action before he could have seen the muzzle flash or heard the gunshot. That means his body's reaction isn't based on sight or hearing, but on..."

"Perception of Killing Intent," Wan Ze finished for him.

Zhao Henian nodded. "Exactly. When Horizontal Training is cultivated to his level, the Perception of danger reaches an almost beast-like state. Before you even make a move, he already knows where you're going to strike. That's why even close-range gunfire can't break his defense. You have to be extremely careful."

Wan Ze nodded, his face betraying no emotion.

'Middle to Late Stage of Refining Viscera, Horizontal Training, Perception of Killing Intent.'

'Interesting.'

"How many people on their side, roughly?" Wan Ze asked.

"A small team. Including Xiao Ya and Zhang Chong, it's six people in total," Zhao Henian said gravely. "This is a covert operation for her; she doesn't want to alert anyone, so she's not bringing many people. Her plan is to cross Hengjiang Bridge before 10 PM tonight, then head east, arriving in An City around 2 AM. Someone is set to receive her in An City. I haven't found out who yet, but they're definitely her people. Once she reaches An City and enters their territory, making a move will be much more difficult."

"So, it's best if your men can finish the fight within twenty minutes. Xiao Ya will have certainly arranged a contact time with her people in An City before setting out. If she doesn't send a signal by a certain time, her backup will be deployed. The drive from An City to Hengjiang Bridge is about forty minutes, but they'll set out early, so you have a twenty-minute safe window at most."

Wan Ze frowned. "You said she'll be at Hengjiang Bridge at 9:47 PM tonight. In that case..."

He glanced down at his communicator.

It was less than an hour until 9:47 PM.

"Yes, I know the timing is tight." Zhao Henian seemed to want to say something, perhaps an apology, but the words died on his lips when he saw Wan Ze's expression, and he swallowed them back down.

Wan Ze's expression was calm; he paid no mind to Zhao Henian's hesitation.

He lowered his head and flipped through all the documents, page by page.

A dozen or so pages, accompanied by a dozen or so photos, filled with dense text.

Xiao Ya's route, vehicle model, license plate number, the physical descriptions of her entourage, their weapons and equipment, possible backup plans... Each piece of information was marked with its source and credibility. Some were labeled "Verified," some "To Be Confirmed," and some "Provided by Informant A, for reference only."

'Professional enough.'

Wan Ze read quickly. It took him less than three minutes to go through the dozen or so pages of information. After finishing, he closed his eyes for two seconds to confirm he had memorized all the key details before opening them again.

He organized the documents and handed them back to Zhao Henian.

"No more wasting words. Wait for my signal," Wan Ze said, turning to leave.

Zhao Henian suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Brother."

Wan Ze stopped and turned his head.

Zhao Henian stood his ground, his face hidden from the light, looking as if he had something to say but didn't know how.

"Let me be blunt. If any of your men are captured, they absolutely cannot reveal anything about our arrangement. Otherwise... I will execute them for you."

Wan Ze looked at him.

Zhao Henian's face was also expressionless. On this matter, there was no room for negotiation.

If Wan Ze's men were captured and gave him up, his fate would be a hundred times worse than Xiao Ya's.

Not death, but a fate worse than death.

That was why he would act first.

Before they could talk, before any valuable intelligence could be interrogated out of them, he would end it all.

Wan Ze was silent for a second before speaking. "That won't happen."

With that, he turned and strode away, his figure disappearing into the night.

Zhao Henian remained where he was, watching the direction in which Wan Ze had disappeared, motionless.

The night wind blew in from the direction of the plaza, rattling a loose piece of sheet metal on the warehouse's iron roof. It made a CLANG, CLANG sound that was especially jarring in the quiet night.

Zhao Henian let out a soft breath and muttered to himself, "I'll be waiting for your good news."

Then he turned, stepped out from the shadow of the pillar, and glanced up at the sky.

The sky was filled with thick clouds that obscured most of the moon. Only a few of the brightest stars peeked through the gaps, shining with a faint light.

Zhao Henian zipped up his jacket, lowered his head, and walked toward the other side of the plaza.

His figure grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing at the far end of the plaza as well.