Chapter 83: The Girl with a Wild Imagination
Puchi.
A blade aura sliced through the Indian man's waist, its speed undiminished as it cut through the villa's wall and vanished into the night sky.
The Indian man's upper body crashed to the ground, blood and intestines spilling across the floor.
"Ahh!!"
The Indian man let out a prolonged scream, leaving Bach and the black-clad youth holding an M16A4 automatic rifle stunned.
"Sword... sword aura."
The black-clad youth swallowed hard, even forgetting to pull the trigger. He knew what it meant to unleash a sword aura—it was an ability that only appeared when swordsmanship or blademanship reached Lv.20.
The Indian man's wails echoed far into the distance. Su Xiao stepped forward and planted his foot on the man's head.
Crack.
The Indian man's skull was crushed. Su Xiao looked up at the other two.
"Run!"
Bach shouted, turning to flee.
Rat-tat-tat-tat...
The black-clad youth holding the M16A4 automatic rifle pulled the trigger, bullets flying from the muzzle.
Hearing the gunfire, Bach slowed his pace.
Su Xiao swung his long blade, deflecting bullets one after another. Sparks flew as he gradually closed in on the black-clad youth.
Amid the gunfire, the black-clad youth nodded at Bach.
"You saved me once. This is payback."
The black-clad youth grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. Though he and Bach often argued, their relationship was solid—they were comrades willing to die for each other.
Bach's facial muscles twitched. He turned and continued fleeing, not uttering words about staying to share life and death with the black-clad youth.
Bach crashed through the villa's back door, escaping in a panic. At the same moment, the gunfire ceased.
The three relied too heavily on equipment and active skills—a common problem among most contractors. In the real world, they could crush ordinary people, but against someone like Su Xiao, who stacked passive skills, they had no answer.
The moment the gunfire stopped, Bach knew the black-clad youth was dead. There was no suspense.
Clang!
A blade aura shot out from the villa, a pale blue streak dazzling in the night sky.
The nearby Scavenger members were stunned. Some had their mouths slightly open, as if unable to believe what they were seeing.
Clang, clang.
Two more blade auras burst from the villa. Bach threw himself to the ground, barely dodging one.
"This guy must be third rank. First or second rank couldn't be this strong in the real world."
Bach quickly scrambled to his feet. Just as he prepared to flee again, a dark figure rushed out of the villa.
A howling wind sound came. Bach instinctively turned and raised his Nepalese kukri knife in front of him.
Ding.
Sparks flew. Tang Hong wasn't as sharp as Dragon-Slaying Flash, but with the boost from Blade Master Lv.21, the long blade deeply embedded itself into the Nepalese kukri, nearly cutting it in half.
Bach gripped the knife with both hands. In the real world, his strength attribute was 45 points, but with equipment bonuses, it reached 56 points in Reincarnation Paradise.
This was the difference between Su Xiao and Bach. Bach typically chose equipment that increased attributes, while Su Xiao favored functional gear.
Now, without equipment bonuses and with active skills disabled, Bach's strength was equivalent to a first-rank contractor in Reincarnation Paradise—at best, a strong first-rank.
Su Xiao pressed down with his long blade. Bach's knees bent, his face turning a deep purple.
The two began a contest of strength, with Bach clearly at a disadvantage.
The blade gradually approached Bach's neck. Knowing he would die if this continued, Bach resorted to an emergency measure.
A grenade rolled out from Bach's clothing, its pin already pulled.
"Die."
Bach clenched his teeth. Su Xiao's strength and agility were both high, and Bach assumed his stamina attribute must be low—an assassin-type enemy.
As the grenade rolled down, Su Xiao's force eased slightly, and Bach was about to collapse to his knees.
Su Xiao lifted one foot and kicked straight forward, planting it into Bach's abdomen.
Bach's body curled up like a shrimp, spewing sour liquid from his mouth as he flew backward uncontrollably.
Boom.
The grenade exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere, clattering against the villa's outer wall.
Bang.
Bach crashed through the wall of the neighboring villa. Dust billowed, and Bach's fate was unknown.
The firelight from the explosion faded. Su Xiao walked past the crater in the lawn and slowly approached the villa with a large hole in its wall.
Amid the dust, Bach was just getting to his feet when a figure burst through the haze and appeared before him.
The long blade descended, thrusting straight at Bach's head.
Ding.
Bach dodged the strike. The blade pierced the expensive marble floor, sending stone chips flying.
Su Xiao stomped on Bach's back. Crack—several of Bach's ribs broke, his body pressed flat against the ground.
"What did they offer you? I'll give you ten times."
Bach spoke rapidly, but his answer was the blade's edge.
Puchi. A head flew up, blood staining the clearly veined marble.
"Ah~"
A short scream came from the villa's bedroom, followed by the sound of a table and chair toppling.
Su Xiao frowned. In the real world, except for dedicated perception-type contractors, most contractors' perception was suppressed to some degree. The air in the real world was too thin in elements, and an unknown energy was also sparse, preventing perception from spreading far.
Su Xiao could only clearly sense within a few meters—like incoming bullets—but beyond that, everything was blurry.
Picking up a towel from the living room coffee table, Su Xiao wiped the blood off Tang Hong and slowly walked toward the bedroom.
Pushing open the bedroom door, a faint rustling came from a nearby wardrobe.
Su Xiao stood before the wardrobe. Inside, a girl was hiding.
She was the villa owner's daughter, named Li Murui, 17 years old, a rebellious teenager.
Li Murui was both scared and excited. She had always wanted to be extraordinary, deeply loving supernatural-themed movies and anime. Though the daughter of a wealthy family, she was also a homebody.
Ten seconds ago, she had witnessed a man in a black trench coat wielding a long blade cut off another man's head. For the first time, she realized that decapitation caused blood to spray several meters, and that the headless body would instinctively twitch before dying.
Her first thought was that she had encountered superpowered individuals—two opposing ones at that.
But neither side used flames, ice, or other supernatural abilities. In Li Murui's mind, the battle shifted from superpowered combat to a martial arts film. One had to admire this girl's imagination.
Now, the man with the long blade stood outside the wardrobe. Li Murui heard his footsteps.
'This is an opportunity. Maybe I can become extraordinary too.'
Witnessing a murder scene made Li Murui's legs weak, but her longing for the mysterious reduced her fear.
Summoning her courage, she shrank deeper into the wardrobe.
There were dead people outside. No matter how much she craved the supernatural, she was still a 17-year-old girl. Fear was inevitable.
Su Xiao opened the wardrobe. Their eyes met.
"Take me as your disciple! I can endure hardship. Maybe I have great talent."
Li Murui, dressed in silk pajamas, knelt before Su Xiao with a thud, her forehead touching the ground.
Su Xiao's face visibly twitched.
Two minutes later, Li Murui, with her hands and feet bound and a towel stuffed in her mouth, writhed on the bed, tears in her eyes.
Su Xiao pressed his earpiece.
"There's a witness."
"What!"
A startled voice came through the earpiece.
"I'm considering whether to silence her."
Su Xiao looked at Li Murui. Her eyes widened, and she stopped struggling.
"Mmmph—mmph—"
Li Murui's struggles intensified.