Pfft!
The sharp steel sword pierced through Xi Renjie’s shoulder in an instant, blood soaking his clothes. But at this moment, he paid no attention to the pain—instead, he stared at Chen Ling in shock.
“It’s you?!! That red-clothed person was you?!”
This bizarre trick was all too familiar to Xi Renjie. Back then, in front of that warehouse, the red-clothed man had used this very skill to toy with all of them effortlessly.
“You’re from the Twilight Society?!”
In that split second, Xi Renjie connected everything. The red-clothed man had appeared just as Chen Ling claimed to be tired and needed rest. Then came the diversion of all the shadow centipedes, the devouring of the calamity, entering the Gray Realm, and incidentally saving Han Meng…
Although Chen Ling’s current appearance didn’t match that of the red-clothed man, when combined with those details, his identity was all but confirmed.
“Seems like Aurora City really didn’t give you the specifics.”
Chen Ling spoke indifferently before delivering a whip-like kick straight into Xi Renjie’s chest, sending him flying backward like a ragdoll. He soared over ten meters before crashing into the broken train carriage, leaving a deep dent in the metal.
With one shoulder injured, he effectively lost the use of one arm. His other hand gripped the control rod, but without any sharp edges, he couldn’t activate [Razor Threads]. He had no choice but to discard it into the snow.
As he watched Chen Ling, sword in hand, closing in rapidly, Xi Renjie’s fingers brushed against a hidden compartment at his waist. Four or five razor blades slipped between his fingers.
“Chaotic Dance of Threads.”
Holding the blades in one hand, Xi Renjie’s nimble fingers sent them spinning rapidly between his fingertips. Thin black threads shot out like nearly imperceptible serpents slithering through the snow, homing in on Chen Ling!
These black threads were so fine that they blended seamlessly into the snowy night, making them nearly impossible to detect. Deadly intent lurked in the unseen corners, already encircling Chen Ling.
Chen Ling narrowed his eyes, a faint glimmer lighting up their depths. The terrifying observational power granted by [Secret Eyes] allowed him to clearly distinguish every black thread. His figure flitted through them like a dancing butterfly, the threads grazing his cheeks but failing to leave even a scratch.
“…How is this possible?” Xi Renjie muttered in disbelief as he manipulated the threads, watching Chen Ling close the distance with terrifying speed.
“The skills of the [Heavenly Wolf] path are indeed vicious.” Chen Ling pulled a few copper coins from his pocket and spoke calmly,
“Too bad you picked the wrong opponent.”
Clink!
He flicked the coins into the air with his fingers, and in the next moment, they transformed into gleaming razor blades mid-flight.
Xi Renjie’s pupils contracted. He immediately looked down and realized the blades between his fingers had been replaced with smooth, rounded coins—without edges, his skill was useless. The black threads capable of severing anything vanished instantly.
The moment he raised his head again, the icy glint of a steel sword streaked through the air like a meteor. The terrifying force carried his body backward, pinning him ruthlessly against the train carriage!
A gust of wind blasted against Xi Renjie’s face as Chen Ling’s calm visage reappeared before him.
Xi Renjie stared wide-eyed at Chen Ling, but he no longer had the strength to fight back. Defeat was written plainly across his face—he hadn’t expected the gap between their strength to be this vast. With just two sleight-of-hand tricks, Chen Ling had dismantled his deadliest technique.
In mere dozens of seconds, the duel between the two judges of District Three had been decided.
Chen Ling stood before him and spoke slowly, “Chief Xi… what exactly did Aurora City tell you in that message?”
After Xi Renjie had drugged him, he’d mentioned the word “heretic.” Chen Ling knew his cover was blown, but the specifics of how remained a knot in his heart. He believed everything he’d done so far had been flawless.
“Cough… cough cough…” Xi Renjie’s shoulder blade was pinned to the train’s metal shell by the steel sword. His face twisted in agony, but after taking a few deep breaths, he rasped out,
“I don’t know… They didn’t say anything… just that you were a heretic and that I had to eliminate you by any means necessary…”
Chen Ling’s brow furrowed slightly. Instinctively, he felt something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
As he pondered, Xi Renjie spoke again.
“Chen Ling, I don’t understand…”
Xi Renjie lifted his pale face, meeting Chen Ling’s eyes. “You’re from the Twilight Society… Why infiltrate District Three? Why save me and Brother Meng? What’s your real goal?”
Chen Ling didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed the steel sword deeper into the metal before slowly releasing the hilt.
“You don’t need to know… Right now, all you have to do is stay here and watch.”
His voice was ice-cold.
“Watch how I kill.”
In the next moment, his figure vanished into the night.
---
While Chen Ling had been overwhelming Xi Renjie, over a dozen law enforcers had fled in all directions, their figures disappearing into the haze and fog. But to Chen Ling, a few hundred meters meant nothing.
A bloodied shadow streaked across the land at an inhuman speed, a predator in the night. Wherever he passed, the fleeing figures collapsed like rotten meat.
---
Meanwhile.
Three figures sprinted desperately along the railway tracks.
Zuo Tong glanced back. The thick fog made it impossible to see where Chen Ling had gone—perhaps he’d chased after law enforcers in the opposite direction. Finally, he let out a slight sigh of relief.
“We should… should be safe now?”
He slowed to a stop on the tracks, hands on his knees as he gasped for air.
“Keep running if you want to live!” Jing Ge hissed. “Chen Ling’s a judge of the [Asura] path! At his speed, catching up to us would be child’s play. Did you not see how he nailed Xi Renjie to the train?!”
“But how?! Chen Ling’s just a rookie who recently stepped onto the divine path—how could he defeat Chief Xi?” another law enforcer asked in disbelief.
“How the hell should I know?! Even if the [Asura] path is strong, it shouldn’t be this strong!”
“Yeah, Chief Xi barely even fought back…”
“That useless Xi Renjie! And he calls himself a second-tier judge! All he’s good for is intimidating us—completely worthless in a real fight!”
“Now the train’s split in two… How are we supposed to get to Aurora City?”
“Worry about staying alive first!”
The three of them sprinted onward. As the fog churned, a figure running in the opposite direction suddenly emerged ahead on the tracks…