Game and Counter-Kill
"You failed right after heading out??"
Vulture froze on the spot.
It turned out that Nie Yu had also just set off... From the looks of it, he shouldn't have found the location of the museum yet.
With just two sentences, Chen Ling teased out two pieces of key information about Nie Yu. He immediately calmed down entirely, and the chill on his face became even more intense.
"I still underestimated them... All the clues have been broken."
Vulture looked at him, and the air suddenly fell silent.
His gaze fell on the wine glass Chen Ling had just been playing with. After a moment of silence, he backhandedly closed the tavern door and walked straight behind the bar counter.
"What would you like to drink?" Vulture casually tossed a glass up, then caught it steadily and began to wash it in the sink nearby.
"I'm in no mood for a drink right now."
"The clues are broken. It's no use being anxious right now." Like a true bartender, Vulture made the wine glass and ice cubes flutter in his hands. He gave him a calm look.
"Tequila as usual?"
"Tequila?" Chen Ling stared into his eyes. "I don't remember drinking tequila frequently."
Vulture fell silent for a moment, his expression finally relaxing slightly.
"...Very good. Since you said that the man in the brown coat has the ability to change his face, I naturally have to be cautious."
As he spoke, he took down another bottle of brandy from the wine rack behind him and started mixing a drink for Chen Ling.
Seeing this scene, the stone in Chen Ling's heart fell.
When they were on the plane, Nie Yu already knew he had the ability to change his face. Since he was closely associated with Vulture, they naturally shared intelligence... Furthermore, appearing so abruptly would definitely arouse Vulture's suspicion. From the moment he suddenly changed the topic and asked "what would you like to drink," Chen Ling was already on alert.
As he expected, drinking was just a front for Vulture to verify his identity... Regarding the tequila answer, Chen Ling also included an element of gambling, but it seemed he bet correctly.
"What about those assassins?" Vulture suddenly asked. "I've already told them to go look for you. Do you need me to call them all back?"
Chen Ling's mind stirred. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden change occurred!
The moment Vulture's words fell, a gun was gripped in his hand. He raised it with lightning speed, aimed it at Chen Ling's head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!
Chen Ling's pupils contracted abruptly!
Bang, bang, bang—!
The pitch-black muzzle continuously burst out three streaks of flame. At such close range, almost no living creature could evade it!
A smear of blood splattered on the old bar counter. Chen Ling's figure rolled up a fierce wind, whistling as he retreated several meters, smashing a patch of tables and chairs to pieces.
Scarlet blood flowed through the cracks of his fingers, dripping onto the ground drop by drop. He slowly raised his mangled face, his eyes locking deadly onto the bartender holding a gun in one hand.
"How... did you find out?"
Everything just now happened too fast. Chen Ling didn't notice the other party was going to shoot at all, so much so that he didn't even have time to activate Scarlet Trick...
Fortunately, his own reaction was extremely fast. In an instant, he dodged the first bullet so it didn't hit a vital spot, only shattering half of his face. The other two bullets were dodged simultaneously by him, leaving two pitch-black bullet holes on the wall behind him.
"First, Nie Yu usually only drinks whiskey. But just now, the second glass I poured for you was brandy, yet you didn't react; second, with Nie Yu's temper, if the tracking really failed, that wine glass just now would have been smashed to pieces long ago, instead of being placed perfectly intact on the table; third..."
Faint smoke drifted from the muzzle. Vulture paused for a moment before continuing, "That guy is very strong... If his clues really broke, he wouldn't think of coming back to admit failure in the first place, but would desperately continue to gather clues until he kills you completely.
"Therefore, your very existence is the biggest flaw."
In the dead silent tavern, Chen Ling silently gazed into Vulture's eyes. A look of complexity flashed across his mangled face.
To be able to cooperate with Nie Yu, a Fifth-Tier Heavenly Wolf, and have Nie Yu comfortably let him hold down the rear, while also being capable of casually summoning dozens of top-tier assassins, he was indeed no simple character... Even without any Divine Path, Vulture's judgment and action capabilities were extremely terrifying existences.
Chen Ling took a deep breath and forcefully dug out the bullet embedded in his face. It clattered to the ground along with fragments of flesh and blood. The pitted face became increasingly startling, like a demon from hell.
"I underestimated you..." Chen Ling slowly raised his head, his gaze as calm as water.
"It's just a pity you couldn't kill me with one shot."
The ceiling lights of the dim tavern suddenly flickered. In the next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.
Vulture's pupils contracted slightly. A figure swept toward his face like a hurricane. He raised his gun to shoot without hesitation, but his fingertips only touched a hard object...
He didn't know when, but the gun in his hand had already turned into a broken table leg.
Thud—!!
Chen Ling's palm grabbed his collar and forcefully threw him to the side. The terrifying power directly smashed him through the bar counter like a bowling ball, knocking another patch of tables and chairs into a mess.
Dust reeking of mildew drifted in the air, accompanied by Vulture's groans as he struggled to climb up from the ground.
A mangled face impassively raised a muzzle under the dim light.
Bang, bang, bang, bang—!
Four gunshots rang out in succession. Sprays of blood burst from Vulture's hands and feet. A miserable scream echoed within the underground tavern as his entire body went limp on the ground like a puddle of mud.
The flickering lights flashed overhead. The bloody face walked slowly to Vulture. His right hand tore forcefully at his chin, and a perfectly intact face coldly looked down at Vulture beneath his feet.
"Besides you, does Nie Yu have other hands?" Chen Ling's deep voice sounded.
"Hehe." Vulture's face was incomparably pale, and that bartender uniform was already covered in blood. He laughed hoarsely, "Guess?"
"Tell me truthfully, and I can let you go."
"Stop joking. We're all desperadoes licking blood off the edge of a knife. Who would believe whose nonsense?"
Chen Ling's eyes grew increasingly cold. His gaze moved away from Vulture and eventually fell on a mobile phone in a pool of blood... He bent down, slowly grasping that phone in his hand. Pressing the lock button lightly, the glimmer of the screen illuminated a corner of his dark face.
Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled faintly.
"Very good, I have no use for you now."
Staring at the phone, he didn't even cast a glance at Vulture before casually raising the gun and pulling the trigger. The spurting muzzle flash illuminated the tavern for a moment.
Bang—!
Vulture's eyes widened, a blood hole hideously apparent right between his brows. Falling into the pool of blood, he was already devoid of breath... He might have known that Chen Ling would kill him, but he never expected the other party to act so decisively.
Chen Ling walked through the mess and pools of blood all over the floor, eventually sitting down on a high chair at the edge of the shattered bar counter...
In the dim and dead silent tavern, only the screen light of Vulture's phone lit up silently.