Chapter 115: Not a Prank
Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Not a Prank
「Half an hour later.」
Lin Yi and Qin Zhaoxue walked out of the shop.
They had both put their masks back on.
When Lin Yi saw the crowds on the first and second floors, he noticed they hadn’t thinned out at all.
In fact, there were far more people than when he had first arrived.
Now he truly believed what Kong Mingcheng had said.
These Martial Artists were buying up elixirs everywhere as if they’d gone mad.
As a result, the price of materials had skyrocketed.
At this rate, the price of those Demon Cores might even double by tomorrow.
"Now that you’ve sold all the Demon Cores, shouldn’t you be heading back?"
Qin Zhaoxue urged him the moment they walked down from the second floor.
Lin Yi had actually wanted to browse around on the first floor for a bit.
He wanted to see if there was anything he needed.
He was especially looking for a long spear. Ever since he’d bought the Brahma Heaven Luo Jin Spear Technique manual from that old beggar, Lin Yi had been practicing with it frequently at the Martial Arts Hall.
Although he had only just reached the Minor Success stage with this martial technique, for Lin Yi, that was already incredibly fast progress.
After all, the Brahma Heaven Luo Jin Spear Technique was a Top-grade Martial Technique.
Its cultivation difficulty was far greater than that of any mid- or low-grade technique.
Moreover, it contained many obscure and profound aspects that had to be comprehended one by one.
It was only thanks to Lin Yi’s exceptional aptitude that he was able to cultivate this spear technique to the Minor Success stage in just a few short days.
For anyone else, it would be considered impressive just to reach the entry level in two or three years.
And it would take another three to five years after that to reach Minor Success.
It wasn’t even an exaggeration to say that some people could spend their entire lives and never manage to cultivate a martial technique to the Great Success stage.
Usually, mastering a single Top-grade Martial Technique was enough to benefit a person for their entire life.
With monstrous talent like Lin Yi’s, cultivating a Top-grade Spear Technique to Minor Success in just a few days... how many people would be left speechless if they heard about it?
"Sister Xue, how about we look around a little more?" Lin Yi said with a smile.
He wanted to see if he could find a long spear that was to his liking.
He wasn’t short on money anymore.
With over two million in his possession, buying a decent long spear shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Qin Zhaoxue shot him a look, then glanced around at their surroundings.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she gently shook her head. "No. It’s too late. I’ll come back with you another day, but you have to go home and rest today!"
"Don’t forget, you’ve only just recovered from your injuries..."
Seeing Qin Zhaoxue’s insistence, Lin Yi could only nod.
"Alright then, Sister Xue. About tonight... can you not mention it to Sister Qingru?"
"Hm? Why not?"
Qin Zhaoxue asked, puzzled.
"Why else? If Sister Qingru finds out I snuck out at night to visit the black market, what do you think she’ll do?" Lin Yi said with a soft sigh.
Ever since he was injured,
Tang Qinru seemed to truly treat Lin Yi like her own younger brother.
She was very strict with him and had even forbidden him from going out at night.
If she were to find out that Lin Yi hadn’t even gone home—that he first went to the Martial Arts Police Station with Chu Zhengxiong and then snuck over to the Ancient Tower Black Market...
...wouldn’t Tang Qinru fly into a rage?
Qin Zhaoxue looked at him with a smile in her eyes.
"I never thought I’d see the day. There’s actually someone you’re afraid of?"
"Fine. I’ll help you keep this a secret, but I have one condition!"
"Oh? What condition?" Lin Yi asked.
Qin Zhaoxue thought for a moment, then continued, "From now on, no matter what you’re doing, you don’t have to tell anyone else, but you must tell me!"
"Like tonight, for example. If you’re going to sneak off to the black market by yourself, you have to tell me beforehand!"
Lin Yi: "..."
"It’s bad enough having Sister Qingru watching over me at home, and now I have you out here..."
"What? You don’t want to? In that case, I’ll just give Sister Qingru a call!"
Qin Zhaoxue immediately pulled out her phone.
Lin Yi hurriedly said, "Don’t, don’t call! Fine, I promise. From now on I’ll report my every move, down to my bathroom schedule. Is that good enough for you?"
"Pfft... you’re the one who said it!"
Qin Zhaoxue couldn’t help but laugh.
Although her mask hid her smile,
her eyes were still captivatingly beautiful.
’No wonder Shen Mengyi’s brother acts like such a simp around Qin Zhaoxue, even treating me as a love rival.’
’With looks like Qin Zhaoxue’s, it isn’t just Shen Yuzhe; any man would probably be completely mesmerized by her.’
In that moment, Lin Yi finally understood why Qin Zhaoxue had chosen a completely plain, patternless mask.
Any mask would pale in comparison to her beauty.
There wasn’t a mask in the world worthy of covering a face like hers...
After leaving the Ancient Tower Black Market, Qin Zhaoxue accompanied Lin Yi all the way back to his residential complex.
"Sister Xue, want to come upstairs for a bit? Sister Qingru isn’t home!"
Lin Yi was just about to enter the complex when he turned back and said with a grin.
In response, Qin Zhaoxue lowered her head slightly.
Her eyes seemed to dart away from his. "I’ll visit when Sister Qingru is back. You should get going!"
Although he couldn’t see her expression,
Lin Yi could feel that, in that brief moment,
Qin Zhaoxue had just blushed...
Lin Yi stopped teasing her and adopted a serious expression.
"Sister Xue, be careful on your way back. Goodnight..."
After he spoke, Lin Yi didn’t linger and walked straight into the residential complex.
His figure soon merged with the night.
Qin Zhaoxue remained standing there, not leaving for a long time.
An unusual light flickered in her eyes as she stared in the direction Lin Yi had vanished.
At that moment, she had an indescribable feeling in her heart.
It made her cheeks grow warm.
A long while later, a cool breeze snapped her back to her senses.
She gently touched her flushed cheeks.
If anyone had been there with her, they would have noticed
that it wasn’t just her face that was red.
Even her ears and neck were flushed.
Then, she quickly turned and walked into the darkness.
Her steps were hurried, and she left the place as if she were ’fleeing’.
...
「Late at night.」
「In a certain residential complex.」
A group of figures in black robes, each with a crimson Blood Drop emblazoned on their back,
hurried into one of the apartment buildings.
When they made their way up to the third floor,
they skillfully and effortlessly picked the lock on one of the apartment doors.
Inside, the apartment was silent. The family who lived there was already fast asleep.
But in the next moment,
a series of horrific screams echoed out, followed by the thick, coppery smell of blood.
In less than five minutes, the black-robed figures departed as quickly as they had come.
...
「Xingwu Martial Arts Hall.」
The building was three stories tall.
At this moment, the lights on the third floor were still on.
A dozen or so students were training, sweat flying with every move.
The coach’s shouts and the students’ kiai with every punch were especially clear in the quiet night.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Suddenly, someone knocked on the training room door.
The coach glanced back, but the hallway outside was pitch-black.
"Who is it?"
Puzzled, the coach walked to the door.
He looked out and saw no one.
"Who on earth is it? What kind of joke is this in the middle of the night?"
Even as he spoke, the coach didn’t let down his guard.
’It’s the middle of the night,’ he thought. ’The night watchman is probably asleep by now. And the Martial Arts Hall is locked. Who could be coming upstairs at this hour?’
Although he felt uneasy, he waited a moment longer. After confirming that no one was outside, he turned to walk away.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Suddenly, the knocking came again.
’This isn’t a prank.’
The coach’s heart skipped a beat. He whipped his head around to look outside again.
Through the glass pane in the door, he saw a figure in a black robe standing right outside, their head slightly bowed.
The coach approached the door cautiously, studying the person through the glass.
"Who are you?"
Obviously, he didn’t recognize the man in the black robe.
Just as he asked the question, the black-robed man slowly raised his head.
His face was covered in bulging, green veins.
And his eyes glowed with an eerie red light.
The sight made the coach cry out in terror.
He scrambled backward in a panic.
The coach’s strange reaction caught the attention of the dozen or so students in the training room.
They all turned to see what was happening.
But before they could understand what was going on,
BOOM—
With a tremendous bang, the door to the training room was smashed open.
The students cried out in alarm.
The next moment,
figures in black robes began to file into the room.
Without a word, they launched an indiscriminate slaughter, attacking both the coach and the students.
In an instant,
the students barely had time to fight back before they were cut down, collapsing onto the training room floor.
Fresh blood seeped through the cracks in the floorboards, dripping to the level below.
In less than ten minutes, everyone, including the coach,
was left alive...
Then, the black-robed figures departed in an orderly fashion,
already on their way to the next target.