Chapter 88: The Hunt Begins

A message spread quickly through the City of Chaos.

The one and only son of the Blood Axe Gang’s chief, the tyrant of the northwest, Hu Shun.

Crippled.

Killed.

The Blood Axe Gang was already going mad.

Their chief in particular looked at everyone as though he meant to devour them whole, frightening many to the point of soiling themselves or fainting on the spot.

His four great lieutenants were hunting the culprit.

“Nonsense!”

Not far from the weapon shop, Fang Qingyun curled his lip. “When did I kill anyone? I clearly only crippled him. Who killed that trash? Are they trying to frame me?”

“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ve already achieved my goal of enraging the Blood Axe Gang’s chief. Time for the next step.”

He strolled into a ruined house, loaded a round into his sniper rifle, and waited in silence.

By now, the rifle in his hands had changed from a level-two weapon to the level-one rifle given to him by Fang Zhiheng.

In his current condition, using a level-two rifle was still too much of a strain.

Even with the bullets prepared in advance, firing still drew heavily on his spiritual power.

At his present level, he could not fire many shots.

“This is where the weakness of having low spiritual power becomes obvious.”

Fang Qingyun sighed.

He had once considered focusing solely on bodily cultivation, but now it was clear that was impossible.

All kinds of high-powered weapons required spiritual power to control.

Even operating a floating warship consumed a vast amount of spiritual power.

If one relied only on the body, how could one contend with martial artists?

For example, Fang Qingyun’s body had already reached the rank of a general.

But a general-rank martial artist could use level-two weapons, even higher.

With those weapons enhancing them, their strength would more than double. How could one possibly fight them?

Unless he struck first and caught them completely off guard, failure was almost inevitable.

And yet, his talent in spiritual power could only be described as abysmal.

Thinking of the source points required to advance even one rank made Fang Qingyun’s scalp tingle.

He might as well drink poison and refuse any attempt to save himself.

The future seemed filled with despair.

His status panel was excellent by any standard, except for spiritual power, which looked awkward no matter how he examined it.

“Faster! Faster!”

A roar sounded. “Move it, don’t let that bastard get away, hurry up!”

Fang Qingyun came back to himself, his gaze sharpening.

Earlier, he had deliberately left a few clues, run beyond the city, then after changing guns, slipped back in.

His purpose had been to change weapons.

How the Blood Axe Gang interpreted events had nothing to do with him.

At that moment, a squad appeared in Fang Qingyun’s line of sight.

Each wore the mark of a bleeding axe on their chest.

“They’re here.”

Fang Qingyun aimed the rifle at them.

Blood Bird led a squad forward, his expression stern.

Yet his mood was actually quite good.

The gang chief’s son was dead, but if that little beast had not died, where would his own chance have come from?

As one of the four great lieutenants under the Blood Axe Gang’s chief, he stood second only to the chief himself.

They all knew the chief could no longer father children. Now that the sole heir was also dead, the next chief would have to be chosen from among the four of them.

Conveniently, he was the one the chief trusted most, and his strength was no weak thing either.

If he put in just a little effort, then the next chief of the Blood Axe Gang...

At the thought, a smile crept into Blood Bird’s lips.

Bang.

A dull shot rang out.

A bullet appeared before Blood Bird, filling his entire field of vision.

His expression went blank as he stared at the projectile flying toward him, his mouth parting slightly, stripped of all reaction.

Splat.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

A headless corpse slowly toppled to the ground.

The people around him were stunned for a moment, then broke into screams.

They fled in panic, including Blood Bird’s subordinates.

Blood Bird had been killed.

First the son of the Blood Axe Gang’s chief, and now one of the four great lieutenants. This was open war against the Blood Axe Gang.

Was war about to break out?

And this was no mere rumor now; everyone had actually seen it. A bullet had blown the man’s head apart in one shot.

Bang bang.

Two more gunshots.

Two of the men following Blood Bird were shot dead on the spot.

The crowd ran even faster, and in the blink of an eye, the entire street had emptied.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Fang Qingyun lowered his rifle and clicked his tongue. “As expected of the City of Chaos. The moment fighting starts, everyone vanishes without a trace. Not even a crowd to watch the spectacle.”

He turned and left at a brisk pace.

Shortly after he was gone, Hu Guang arrived with the remaining three great lieutenants.

Seeing Blood Bird’s corpse, they stood frozen for a long while.

“Something is wrong.”

Blood Lion, one of the four great lieutenants, said in a grave voice, “Young Master Hu’s death was no accident. It was deliberate murder. Their true target is our Blood Axe Gang!”

“That may not be so.”

Another of the four, Blood Shark, said calmly, “Perhaps Blood Bird merely discovered something by chance.”

“Enough talk.”

Hu Guang fixed the two with a cold stare. “Whatever their reason, they must be killed. The three of you, be careful when you move. Don’t get shot in the back.”

“Yes.”

The three responded in a low voice and led their men off to search for clues.

Hu Guang still stared at Blood Bird’s body, his eyes cold.

First his son had died, and now the general-level martial artist who supported him most had also been killed. His foundations within the Blood Axe Gang were no longer steady.

Who was it?

For the first time, Hu Guang began to think seriously.

Who exactly was trying to deal with me?

Meanwhile, the remaining three great lieutenants became much more cautious.

Blood Bird’s strength had been either first or second among them.

They had all seen the corpse just now. Blood Bird had barely had any ability to resist.

What if it had been them?

A chill rose in their hearts.

In the end, the three discussed it and simply chose to act together.

“You’re sure there was only one person?”

Blood Lion glared with bloodshot eyes, staring fixedly at the person before him.

“Yes, yes!”

The man nodded frantically.

He was responsible for tracking the culprit. After examining the weapon shop’s surveillance and then the house where Blood Bird had been shot, he was absolutely certain it was Fang Qingyun.

And there had been only one of him.

The three lieutenants exchanged glances and murmured, “Only one person, and it was that kid? How is that possible?”

Too young.

He looked like nothing more than a student.

A student?

Suddenly Blood Shark’s expression flickered. “Do you still remember the secret letter we received?”

“The secret letter?”

Blood Lion frowned. “The one from the Northwest Military Academy... hmph!”

His eyes widened.

The remaining lieutenant, Blood Hawk, cried out, “That’s our target?”

“Damn it!”

Blood Lion said in sudden fury, “That bastard said he was giving us a feast, and promised us so many benefits. This is the feast he meant?”

This was a death god.

To kill Blood Bird with a single shot was not something that could be done merely by having a spiritual weapon rifle and spiritual bullets.

Blood Bird was not stupid. Wouldn’t he try to dodge?

Clearly, the other side also possessed shooting skill at the level of a rifle king.

The three looked at one another.

Blood Shark asked helplessly, “What do we do now?”

“How should I... hmph!”

Bang.

A gunshot rang out.

Under the eyes of Blood Lion and Blood Hawk, a bullet pierced Blood Shark’s skull.

Bang.

It was as if a watermelon had been smashed to the ground by tremendous force.

Roaring, Blood Lion and Blood Hawk forgot fear and hurled themselves toward the place from which the shot had come.

This time Fang Qingyun did not linger.

After firing once, he turned and ran.

“You can’t get away!”

Blood Lion shouted after Fang Qingyun’s retreating back.

Fear and rage tormented him.

The other side had attacked Blood Shark.

If it had been him?

Would the one with the shattered head have been him instead?

For the first time, Blood Lion and Blood Hawk realized how close they were to death.

So they went mad, pursuing Fang Qingyun with utter recklessness.

“Heh.”

Fang Qingyun gave a low, cold laugh and accelerated further.

Blood Lion and Blood Hawk were undoubtedly general-rank martial artists, probably at first rank and definitely not yet second rank.

This alone had already surprised Fang Qingyun.

According to the information that Zhang Mei had given him, the Blood Axe Gang had only one general-rank martial artist, Hu Guang, the chief.

Now, however, even the four great war generals were generals, and the chief of the Blood Axe Gang had surpassed first rank, likely reaching the level of second-rank or even third-rank martial artist.

The information Zhang Mei had given him was probably flawed as well.

The Blood Axe Gang was one eye of the Northwest Military Academy in the City of Chaos, though not the only one.

When one has an eye, one naturally keeps an eye on it.

The difference between one general-rank fighter and five was simply too great.

Unless the Blood Axe Gang had already slipped completely out of control, how could they not have noticed?

One powerful aura after another surfaced faintly.

Clearly, the battle here had already drawn the attention of many. Their gazes were turning this way.

General-rank martial artists were considered top-tier combat power in the City of Chaos.

With a disturbance of this scale, it was hard for anyone to ignore.

As for this, the others pretended not to have noticed.

At a time like this, who would want to invite trouble?

The distance between them gradually widened.

“What is going on?”

Blood Lion roared in anger.

The other’s aura was clearly not strong, so why was his speed so terrifying?

“Now I see.”

Fang Qingyun’s eyes flashed with understanding.

Spiritual power had its strengths, and the body had its own.

Just like him: he could not use spiritual power to enhance himself, but his physical endurance exceeded even spiritual power.

Strength, speed, and constitution all worked together to give him power.

A spiritual-power martial artist had only spiritual power.

“Goodbye.”

Fang Qingyun waved back at them and accelerated once more.

Bang.

Seeing this, Blood Lion and Blood Hawk stopped chasing and instead drew their weapons, opening fire at Fang Qingyun’s retreating figure.

Having learned from the lesson of the youth in the weapon shop, Fang Qingyun was already prepared.

He ran in a zigzag pattern, dodging every bullet.

“Let me leave you with one last thing: your marksmanship is truly awful.”

The words Fang Qingyun shouted before disappearing made the two shake with fury.

“What do we do?”

Blood Lion roared, “That damned bastard will come back. He definitely will.”

Then what would they do?

If this fellow shot at them from hiding, could they dodge it?

Uncertain.

Fear began to spread.

He was afraid.

“How should I know!” Blood Hawk’s expression was also somewhat dazed. He opened his mouth to speak, but just then—

Bang.

A bullet came flying.

Instinct screamed in warning.

By reflex, Blood Hawk snapped his head aside. The bullet scraped past his skin, leaving a deep streak of blood across his face.

In an instant, sweat drenched Blood Hawk’s body.

The two looked up.

Fang Qingyun was just over three hundred meters away.

With their eyesight, they could clearly see him sitting on the ground, unhurriedly pushing a bullet into the chamber.

Not a bullet generated by spiritual power.

But one handcrafted with spiritual power, and its grade was very likely second-rank.

Even if it were only first-rank, they still could not hope to withstand such a shot with their bodies alone.

Neither these newly risen generals, nor even those at the peak of general-rank, could do it.

Once the bullet was chambered, Fang Qingyun even made a taunting gesture toward the two.

How arrogant.

“Bastard!” Blood Lion howled to the sky and charged once more toward Fang Qingyun.

“Don’t...”

Blood Hawk cried out.

If it were any other time, he would have loved to see Blood Lion die.

Not now.

If Blood Lion died, then alone he would have no chance at all.

So, however unwilling he might be, he could only follow.

To their shock, Fang Qingyun did not run this time. Instead, he aimed the rifle directly at them.

The cold muzzle gleamed with a sharp, icy light.

Blood Hawk froze, then instinctively looked around.

Only then did he realize in shock that, at some point, they had already run out of the city and were now in the wilderness.

The underlings who had been with them had long since been left far behind, nowhere in sight.

Only the two of them remained.

“Was this his purpose?”

The thought had only just arisen when gunfire sounded again.

Bang.

Blood Lion let out a lion’s roar and raised his great blade to block in front of himself.

Bang.

The bullet struck the blade.

Not only was Blood Lion’s charge broken, a dent also appeared in the metal.

Crack.

Fang Qingyun loaded another bullet and took aim at Blood Lion once more.

A general’s speed was astonishing. Three hundred meters could be crossed in only a few seconds.

But Blood Lion, having had his charge interrupted, had become nothing more than a target.

Bang.

Another bullet flew.

Blood Lion panicked and again lifted his great blade to shield himself.

Pow.

A massive force struck him, and he staggered back several steps.

The strength he had just gathered for a charge was gone.

Fang Qingyun took another bullet from his pack and fed it into the chamber.

Bang.

The third bullet flew.

This time, Blood Lion’s blade broke.

He stared dumbly.

His weapon was a spiritual weapon, even if only level one. How could several bullets split it in two?

Could it be that every bullet the other fired was level-two ammunition?

At that moment, Blood Hawk had already rushed up close. One look made his expression change violently, and he cried out in alarm, “Go. Hurry, go.”

“But...”

“Now!”

Without another word, Blood Hawk grabbed Blood Lion and ran.

Were they idiots?

The other side had placed all three bullets on exactly the same point; otherwise, how could three shots possibly have broken a spiritual weapon?

The speed of the two generals was too great. By the time Fang Qingyun raised his rifle again, they had already covered two hundred meters.

Beyond five hundred meters in a straight line, Fang Qingyun’s aim became unreliable.

So he lowered the rifle.

“Next time. Next time, you definitely won’t escape.”

“My little darlings, wait for me. I’ll be back again.”

On the final line, Fang Qingyun infused his voice with spiritual power, sending it rolling into the distance.

The two generals in the distance paused for an instant. Then, in the next moment, they ran even faster, vanishing from Fang Qingyun’s sight in the blink of an eye.