Chapter 514: Encounter in a Dead End

The moment Ling Chen was about to push the door, his hand stiffened, and his eyes grew solemn. The Tianling Blade was already drawn halfway from his waist.

Although the door to the private room wasn’t opened yet, Ling Chen could sense that the person inside had also grasped the door handle at the same time. Moreover, not only did Ling Chen feel the presence of the other party, but the person inside must have also become aware of his presence. For a moment, both parties silently held onto the door handle, neither making a rash move.

Ling Chen clenched the Tianling Blade tightly, his breathing evening out as he listened intently to the sounds coming from behind the door.

Despite the barrier of a door, Ling Chen could faintly hear breathing.

Jiang Xinwu!

It must be him behind the door.

Just as Ling Chen was silently contemplating his next move, a waiter delivering food happened to pass by. Seeing Ling Chen standing quietly at the door, motionless and with a grave expression, the waiter asked with concern, "Sir, do you need any help?"

Ling Chen opened his mouth, about to send the waiter away. However, before he could speak, he suddenly heard a loud ’bang’ next to his ear, as a fist punched straight through the door panel, aiming a blow toward the outside.

This sudden change caused Ling Chen’s complexion to shift slightly as he hastily retreated two steps to avoid the punch. Immediately after, without waiting for Jiang Xinwu to rush out from the private room, Ling Chen swiftly closed in with a forceful kick to the door, kicking it open, and then charged in wielding the Tianling Blade.

Eh?

After entering the private room, Ling Chen was surprised to discover that it was empty. On the left side, the anti-theft net outside the window had been broken, revealing a large opening—Jiang Xinwu must have escaped through there.

Without a moment to spare, Ling Chen crawled out through the anti-theft net and leaped, jumping directly from the second floor to the ground.

This was an alley located behind the Western restaurant, with two streets connected to its left and right sides. At this moment, Jiang Xinwu had long since vanished without a trace, and it was unclear which street he had fled down.

Ling Chen frowned slightly; the concrete alley offered no way to determine the direction based on footprints. After pondering for a moment, Ling Chen took out his cell phone and dialed Hu Fei’s number.

"Fatty, Jiang Xinwu has escaped. He should be nearby; help me look for him."

"Received!"

After hanging up, Ling Chen randomly chose a direction and went from the alley onto the street, observing the pedestrians, hoping to spot Jiang Xinwu.

Several minutes passed, and there was still no news from Hu Fei, indicating that he was unable to find Jiang Xinwu on the surveillance cameras either.

What a pity!

Ling Chen sighed inwardly; it wasn’t easy to locate the target, only to let him escape.

With no other choice, Ling Chen took out his cell phone, ready to tell Hu Fei to withdraw. But at that moment, a strong sense of crisis suddenly surged in his heart.

Almost instinctively, Ling Chen swiftly turned his head. At that instant, he saw a dagger with a cold gleam thrusting straight at him, its speed incredibly fast.

Not good!

Ling Chen’s pupils contracted as his body quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the dagger’s attack. Had he been a second slower, his waist might have been pierced.

Seeing Ling Chen evade the sneak attack, the man wielding the knife was slightly taken aback. Without any hesitation, he immediately turned and sprinted toward an adjacent alley.

Watching the silhouette of the fleeing figure, Ling Chen’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he let out a soft chuckle.

Let’s see where you can run!

With that, Ling Chen stretched his legs and quickly pursued Jiang Xinwu.

The small paths in the alley were intricate and crisscrossing. Ling Chen closely followed behind Jiang Xinwu, maintaining a distance of more than ten meters. Jiang Xinwu’s choice of escape routes indicated that he was not familiar with this area and was blindly choosing his path.

Several minutes passed, and Jiang Xinwu, who was in flight, suddenly stopped in his tracks, slightly furrowing his brow at the high wall in front of him.

A dead end!

Ling Chen, who was chasing from behind, saw this and immediately smirked.

"Jiang Xinwu, surrender, you can’t run away."

Hearing Ling Chen’s voice, Jiang Xinwu slowly turned around, facing Ling Chen with a calm demeanor and said deliberately, "Don’t celebrate too soon. You should speak after you manage to defeat me."

Ling Chen drew out the Tianling Blade, leisurely saying, "Jiang Xinwu, I know you’re now working for the God Organization. If you’re willing to cooperate with us and provide intel about the God Organization, I can plead on your behalf to lessen your sentence."

"Thanks for the kind offer, but I don’t need it. I advise you to worry about yourself instead—whether you can walk out of here alive is still an uncertainty."

Seeing Jiang Xinwu’s composed and fearless appearance, Ling Chen felt a surge of doubt. This guy was not at all scared; either he had enough confidence in his own skills, or he had some backup.

Thinking this, Ling Chen’s expression suddenly changed, and he cursed inwardly.

He had been so focused on finding Jiang Xinwu that he had overlooked something very important.

If he remembered correctly, when he burst into the private room, there seemed to be three sets of tableware on the round table.

Could it be... there wasn’t just Jiang Xinwu in the private room at that time?

As thoughts flashed through his mind, a series of footsteps approached from behind.

Ling Chen turned his head just in time to see two unfamiliar men walking toward him from the left and right, forming a triangular pincer with Jiang Xinwu.

Just as he suspected!

Ling Chen frowned slightly, realizing that there wasn’t just one person, but three.

Jiang Xinwu spoke with an indifferent tone, "Did you think I would face you alone? You’re different from Kaelina; at best, she’s just an assassin with some mediocre skills. But you’re the top expert on the Newcomer List; I naturally can’t treat you the same way—that would be far too disrespectful."

Ling Chen smiled faintly, "So, should I thank you for taking me so seriously?"

"Jiang Xinwu, stop wasting time with him; let’s kill him quickly. The higher-ups are waiting for our report," urged a middle-aged man.

Ling Chen sized up the two men and asked, "I haven’t had the pleasure of knowing your names."

"He Chen."

"Huang He."

Hearing these two names, Ling Chen immediately recalled the missing persons list Hu Fei had given him. He Chen and Huang He—these two names were indeed on the list; they were the people who had disappeared at the same time as Jiang Xinwu.

Thinking this, Ling Chen glanced at his phone. It was already 7:40, and Nanrong Wanqing’s birthday dinner would start in twenty minutes.

Time was of the essence. He needed a quick resolution.

Accompanied by a streak of cold light, the blade of the Tianling Blade flashed out.

"The three of you, I’m in a hurry. Let’s all fight together."

As those words fell, Jiang Xinwu and the others exchanged glances, each drawing their weapons and slowly advancing towards Ling Chen.

Sensing the palpable intent to kill emanating from them, Ling Chen stood still, his gaze sweeping over each of the three before finally locking onto Huang He.

Among the three, only Huang He carried the most peculiar weapon—a large pair of scissors as long as an arm with very sharp blades. Moreover, among the three of them, Huang He was the most oppressive, likely being the strongest.