087 The True Effect of the Coiling Dragon Silk

“Uh—”

Paka opened his mouth, yet not a single word came out.

Du Ruo drew back the steel wire and, at the same time, stepped left, avoiding the white, red, and black fluid spurting from the man’s eyes.

In an instant, Paka’s body went limp as if all its bones had vanished, and he crumpled to the ground.

Whoosh—bang!

Grabbing the front of Paka’s shirt with one hand, Du Ruo hurled him into the alley with all his strength. At the same time, he sprang upward and, without the slightest sound, landed on the roofline beside the alley.

Bang bang bang bang!!!

A burst of gunfire erupted in the narrow alley. The instant Paka’s corpse hit the ground, bullets tore into it.

When the shooting stopped, silence fell over the alley once more. The sounds from the surrounding households had also vanished the moment the shots rang out. No one dared come out to look.

Stepping along the edge of the roof, Du Ruo moved swiftly forward, nimble as a cat and utterly silent.

In the middle of the cramped alley, two gunmen hid behind a pile of debris. They exchanged a glance. One stayed back to cover while the other crouched and edged out slowly, intending to inspect the body they had just shot. The alley was dark, and the corpse lay about two meters away, so he could only creep closer in a squat.

After taking a few cautious steps, he finally made out that the fallen figure’s clothes belonged to Paka. Then he felt a slight chill at his neck. Instinctively he wanted to reach up and touch it, but before his hand could get there, he only felt his throat cinched once—

and then there was nothing.

Standing behind him, Du Ruo tightened both hands. The faintly red steel wire, infused with qi, severed the man’s neck in a single twist. His head dropped to the ground, the impact making only a soft sound.

Yet though the head came off quietly, the blood erupting from the jagged neck of the headless body was another matter entirely. It burst out in a great spray, like a small fountain, making a shockingly large commotion.

Behind Du Ruo lay the covering gunman, already collapsed limply to the ground, one eye still streaming with fluids of various colors.

“Hm?”

He truly had not expected cutting off a man’s head with steel wire to make such a racket. He had only just stepped back a few paces when the hairs on his back suddenly rose. There was no time to think. He stamped down hard, his body shooting upward from level ground, then seized the edge of the roof with both hands and vaulted up at once.

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang!!

A fresh barrage of shots thundered through the alley. This time it was no pistol, but the harsher report of a semi-automatic rifle.

Bang bang bang bang!!

The gunfire did not stop. As Du Ruo moved, bullets struck one after another behind him.

But Du Ruo was simply too fast, and the overhanging roof gave him cover. The sustained rifle fire could not keep pace with his movement.

Click click—

The sound of an emptied magazine rang out. At the end of the alley, a gunman holding a semi-automatic rifle found his magazine spent. He had just snatched a fresh one from the back of his waist to reload when a steel needle glowing with a reddish sheen shot from the rooftop, entered through his eye, and burst out the back of his head.

A string of wild, gibbering cries rang out.

Behind the cover of the alley wall, two men saw the rifleman drop dead in an instant. Letting out monkey-like yelps, they clutched their pistols and ran for the car nearby.

Whoosh, whoosh—

So long as they stayed behind cover, Du Ruo could not reach them. But now they had left their hiding place and turned to flee, and he showed no mercy. With a flick of his hidden weapon from the positive hand, immense force drove the red-glinting steel needles in through the backs of their heads and out through their faces.

They had scarcely taken a few steps before they too fell dead.

Crack—crack—

Still crouched on the roof, Du Ruo listened carefully. Only after confirming there was no one else around did he leap down, walk over to the three gunmen, and kick each one in the neck, snapping the cervical bones. Only then did he turn and leave.

That was the weakness of steel needles. Even after piercing straight through the skull, one of the men still had a faint breath left in him when Du Ruo checked, forcing him to go over and finish the job.

Paka’s behavior these past few days had already been rather strange. In two full days, all he had done was bring Du Ruo to glimpse the Garcia family compound once from afar. The rest of the time he merely wandered near various Garcia properties, yet never once did they encounter a single actual member of the family.

And ever since leaving the country, Du Ruo had kept qi continuously circulating through the acupoints of his eyes and ears. Though not to the point of seeing in every direction and hearing all around at every moment, it was close enough.

Before they had even entered the alley, Paka’s heartbeat had already quickened sharply. The two of them had not been far apart, and with Du Ruo’s hearing strengthened, he heard it clearly. That was why he had spoken those probing words.

Just as expected, not only had Paka’s heartbeat grown even faster, he had also tried to offer Du Ruo a cigarette. That was why Du Ruo struck without hesitation.

Ever since going abroad, he had neither smoked nor drunk. Even water he bought himself at random, and as for food, he would not touch a bite until Paka had eaten first.

“The essence, qi, and spirit truly are useful. Once qi is added, even the cutting power and control of the Coiling Dragon Thread improve greatly. Its performance even surpasses the original version I knew.”

After leaving the alley, Du Ruo rubbed the Coiling Dragon Thread between his fingers, a smile appearing on his face. The thread was forged from steel wire to begin with, and because it was infused with qi when used, it did not pick up bloodstains. That pleased him greatly. Otherwise, after only a few uses, no matter how carefully it was cleaned, it would surely begin to stink.

“Tch. Still, garroting someone’s neck does make for a striking sight. It just soils your clothes too easily.”

Walking down the street, Du Ruo idly toyed with a ring of keys in his hand. Looking down at the blood spattered across his shoes, he could not help muttering to himself.

Then he quickened his pace and left the street. He needed to find somewhere to wash up.

Du Ruo felt little in the way of negative emotion over his first kill. After training in martial arts, his heart had already grown much firmer, and he had spent a long time preparing himself mentally. Moreover, after the fight he had kept carefully reviewing everything he had learned from that moment of real combat, leaving him no time to feel disgust or nausea.

In that clash just now, his essence, qi, and spirit had all been driven to their utmost.

The vital essence in his lower dantian had burned fiercely, making his movements swifter, more agile, and far more precise.

Qi surged through the middle dantian, enhancing his five senses, empowering the Coiling Dragon Thread, and empowering the steel needles. Though it made those weapons seem almost to carry special effects, the increase in power was entirely real.

Spirit flowed through his mind, sharpening his sixth sense and greatly heightening his perception of danger.

But essence, qi, and spirit were never meant to be used separately. Only by reinforcing one another could they produce their best effect.

“I never thought they’d strike before I made my move. Since that’s how it is, I’d be discourteous not to return the favor. I’ve already figured out the situation in the area over these past two days. It’s time for me to begin.”

As he walked on, Du Ruo calculated silently in his heart. For now, he needed to leave the territory controlled by the Garcia family and sneak back in later. Otherwise, he was afraid he would not get a moment’s sleep tonight.