The Creditors Come Knocking
"... Eh?"
Seeing the Asura arena filled with corpses in front of him, a flash of surprise crossed the Assassin's eyes.
His initial location was not far from here. After the competition began, he casually slaughtered a few small fry nearby. Hearing the loud commotion coming from this side, he wanted to come over and check the situation. He didn't expect that such a tragic chaotic battle had already taken place not long after the start.
He glanced at the corpses on the ground and knew that the deaths of these people were all done by one person. He couldn't help but carefully ponder in his heart, among those top experts he knew, who exactly was so impatient and so cruel.
He saw people rustling and standing up in the darkness around him. They all seemed to be spectating participants who were frightened silly, so he silently walked up.
"Who was it that killed these people just now?" The Assassin spoke suddenly, frightening the unprepared participant so much that he shivered.
The other party came back to his senses. Unable to see the Assassin's appearance and attire clearly, he thought it was just a passerby who didn't understand the situation, and spoke casually:
"I don't know... When I came, he had already killed three people in a row. Then I watched him get stronger the more he killed, and at the very end, he instantly killed a Fourth Order."
"Right, I just remembered someone mentioned it earlier... What was his name again, Jian Wubing?"
Way of the Soldier God, Jian Wubing?
Hearing these two words, the Assassin's eyes immediately narrowed. He glanced in the direction where Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian had just left, and murmured to himself:
"So it was him..."
The Assassin recalled in his mind the young man who pressed the muzzle of a gun against his forehead at the Comet Restaurant. With the other party's personality and strength, he indeed would kill so many people consecutively right at the start.
As the only [Assassin] of this era, in assassinations below the Sixth Stage, he had almost never missed, let alone the other party was only Fourth Order... He actually wanted to see exactly how much ability this Jian Wubing had, to be able to withstand how many of his assassinations?
He coldly snorted, and his figure gradually faded into the darkness. With a flash, he chased in the direction Jian Changsheng left.
...
[Audience Expectation Value +2]
[Current Expectation Value: 56%]
As Chen Ling raised and dropped his knife to kill another participant he caught up to, he finally saw a new line of prompt floating in front of his eyes.
Chen Ling finally discovered that apart from the first two at the very beginning, when he killed others, the Audience Expectation Value almost didn't increase. Perhaps it was because the plot was too homogenized, causing the Audience's sense of novelty to gradually decline...
He had already killed nine people consecutively now, and the growth of Audience Expectation Value had also fallen into a bottleneck. It was just unknown why the Audience Expectation Value seemed to have increased again just now.
It shouldn't be because of him killing people, right?
Could it be...
It's related to Little Jian's side?
Ever since he threw out the name "Jian Wubing" to the Assassin, Chen Ling had guessed that the subsequent developments should increase some Audience Expectation Value... The seed he planted back then finally ushered in a return at this moment. Thinking of this, Chen Ling's expression became somewhat subtle.
"Sorry about that..."
Regarding this matter of diverting trouble to others, Chen Ling felt somewhat guilty in his heart, but it was only "somewhat". After all, ever since Jian Changsheng arrived in the Tianshu Domain, he hadn't brought him any less trouble. He might as well use this Assassin to give Little Jian some intensity.
As for whether Jian Changsheng would fall into a life-and-death crisis because of this... Chen Ling had also thought about it, but he just smiled it off.
He recalled in his mind again the scene in the Gray World when Jian Changsheng lost control and used his Domain for the first time, that black Killing Intent surrounding him... At that time, Jian Changsheng had already lost consciousness, but Chen Ling had truly felt the power of that Domain.
Just those few short seconds, recalling it now, Chen Ling still felt a suffocating sensation of being throttled by the throat!
There weren't many people who could make him and the Audience inside him feel uncomfortable, but Little Jian was one of them... Whether it was that Killing Intent from the deepest part of the Ancient Vault of the Military Path, or that ancient existence hidden inside his body, they were absolutely not ordinary.
Little Jian suffered setbacks all the way, in a wretched state all the way, only because he was Fraught with Misfortune, too unlucky...
But if someone really thought he was easy to bully, they would definitely pay the price for it.
"The Expectation Value has hit a bottleneck. This is troublesome now..." Chen Ling looked at the Expectation Value that wasn't moving anymore, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter. "Perhaps, I need to change my line of thought..."
Just as Chen Ling was still distressed over the Expectation Value, an emaciated figure carrying a rake slowly walked over from the dim street.
Perceiving someone approaching, a flash of surprise crossed Chen Ling's eyes.
He had consecutively hunted down so many people. Most people ran away as soon as they saw him. The few who had the guts to stay and fight him were all ultimately beheaded by him... He didn't expect that at this time, someone would actually take the initiative to seek him out?
No, that's not right...
With that person's approach, a Fifth-Tier Aura abruptly descended, like a high mountain towering in the dimness, directly sealing off the path in front of Chen Ling!
"You, are that Lin Yan that Fourth Master mentioned?" A cold voice slowly sounded.
Chen Ling: ?
Who is Fourth Master?
Chen Ling frowned tightly. He was just about to say something when a second Fifth-Tier Aura erupted from behind him. He only saw a similarly emaciated figure carrying a long staff, walking towards here with a fierce glare.
One in front and one behind, the two directly besieged Chen Ling in the middle of the street.
"Daring to run wild at Third Master's funeral, I see you're tired of living!" The figure carrying the long staff spoke menacingly. "If the two of us weren't absent at the time, you wouldn't have been able to walk out of the funeral venue at all!"
Hearing the two people's words, even Chen Ling, who had seen much of the world, was completely bewildered.
He looked at the two of them again in puzzlement. After confirming that he fundamentally didn't know the other party, he spoke doubtfully:
"What Third Master? Did you guys mistake me for someone else?"
"Stop playing dumb here. At Third Master's funeral, it was you holding an iron rod, swaggering in riding a red lion! Fourth Master said your name is Lin Yan, you are of the Way of the Soldier God, and you also know the Blood Escape Technique!"
"We followed you all the way just now, and have already confirmed that you are indeed of the Way of the Soldier God... In this Old District, could there be a second Way of the Soldier God named Lin Yan?"
Chen Ling: ???
Riding a red lion, Way of the Soldier God, Blood Escape Technique... and named Lin Yan??
At this moment, Chen Ling suddenly remembered in his mind Jian Changsheng returning looking completely disgraced after going to chase Sun Bumian... and when filling out the registration form, that obviously sneaky sentence "Be careful, safety first~".
Chen Ling's expression instantly became incredibly wonderful!
Good, very good...
Truly no one leaves anyone behind. You eliminate calamity for me, and I block a tribulation for you, right?
Chen Ling originally thought this was a unilateral backstab against his conscience... But in the end, it was a two-way journey??
Both being Fifth-Tier, I only tossed one to you, and you tossed two to me in one breath? Director Chen had scammed so many people, he didn't expect that this time, he would actually be taken advantage of by Little Jian!
The slight guilt Chen Ling originally had towards Little Jian completely vanished. He silently clenched his fists...
Jian Changsheng, just you wait.