Chapter 142: [Silencing the Witness] (Two-in-One)
Whoosh!
A cold gleam abruptly flashed through the night sky, striking the zipline dead center and severing the rope.
The man in the midst of his descent instantly lost his point of leverage. Taken completely by surprise, he plunged toward the ground.
"Big Brother!"
"Bastard!"
The four individuals left behind on the rooftop gasped and let out low roars at the sight.
Fortunately, the falling man was a sixth-grade martial artist. Reacting quickly, he tumbled repeatedly in mid-air, channeling his inner qi outward to tread upon the air, and managed to steady his form at the very last second, landing safely on the ground.
Even so, he was left with lingering fear, his face pale and covered in cold sweat.
"Who is it?!"
The man barked in a low voice, snapping his head toward the direction the dart had flown from, murder intent blazing in his eyes.
"Proceed as planned!"
He whipped out a walkie-talkie, his gaze locked tightly onto a building a hundred meters away as he spoke.
"...Understood, Big Brother."
On the rooftop, the four individuals who received the order froze for a moment before casting another rope down.
One of them tied it around his waist and turned to descend.
This time, no flying darts came. The descending figure successfully reached a window outside the top floor of the library.
Anchored by the rope, the man pressed himself against the wall, withdrew a set of tools, and swiftly unlatched the window glass.
Then, he slipped quickly through the window into the library.
Swish! Swish!
Strange sounds echoed as two more figures descended the rope, entering the top floor of the library through the opened window.
One person remained on the rooftop, and one stood on the ground, keeping watch over the sky and the earth respectively.
Hidden away in a corner, Su Jingxing listened to the movements of the five individuals and blinked.
It seemed he was not the only one eyeing the ancient texts on the top floor of the library this past midnight.
There was the five-person faction carrying out the operation, and another person lurking in the building a hundred meters away.
Including Su Jingxing himself, that made three separate teams.
And as luck would have it, all three teams had coincidentally collided.
The crucial part was that despite the appearance of these three groups, the guarding experts of the library's top floor had yet to show themselves.
During his previous reconnaissance, Su Jingxing had sensed his surroundings and found no guards present.
Did the top floor of the Xuantian University library not have experts keeping watch twenty-four hours a day?
Why were they missing at midnight?
Had they forgotten, or had someone lured them away?
Or perhaps, due to some other external factor, they just happened to be absent at this hour?
Su Jingxing pondered silently.
A moment later, he slipped out of his corner without a sound. Instead of approaching the men guarding the rooftop, he moved rapidly along the wall from a different direction, making a wide circle before utilizing the opened window to slip into the reading room.
Inside, the three individuals who had entered ahead of him were rummaging through rows of bookshelves, searching for their target.
Su Jingxing entered silently. Without alerting them in the slightest, he located *Initial Explanations of Formations* and tucked it away into his palm space.
Immediately afterward, he glided out the window like a ghost, took another wide detour, and returned to the rooftop.
Because the building was shaped like an inverted bowl, the person left on the rooftop remained completely oblivious throughout the entire process. The person on the ground was equally unaware.
His speed was simply too fast.
Su Jingxing completed his mission without either team noticing.
The reason he returned to the rooftop was that just as he was about to soar into the sky, he had suddenly spotted a figure standing atop a distant building, gazing toward the library.
This person's aura was restrained to the point of near-nonexistence, but augmented by his dual secret techniques of night vision and farsightedness, Su Jingxing still managed to clearly make out his facial features.
Liang Yiqing!
The director of the Xuantian University library.
The appearance of this director undoubtedly meant that Xuantian University was already aware of the trouble at the library.
Aside from Su Jingxing, who had gone undetected, the other two teams were likely under surveillance.
Among them, three members were still searching for their target on the top floor of the library.
Su Jingxing did not know what grade Liang Yiqing's cultivation was at.
Just to be safe, Su Jingxing decided to return to the rooftop, hide in a dim corner, and wait until Liang Yiqing dealt with the two factions before leaving.
He also wanted to see how Xuantian University handled intruders on the top floor of the library.
Would they kill them outright? Or cripple them?
Killing them was too ruthless, which wouldn't look good for Xuantian University and would easily make enemies.
To what extent would they cripple them? Broken hands and feet? Or destroying their dantian?
Su Jingxing found himself quite interested.
These kinds of things were never leaked online.
As for recognizing Liang Yiqing, the Xuantian University official website had published his photograph along with information about his position.
The director of the Xuantian University library was not just anyone.
Although Liang Yiqing maintained a low profile, his name was also recorded in the official archives of Qinghe City, marking him as a priority target for observation.
Su Jingxing staying behind to watch the spectacle could be said to be a matter of perfect timing.
This wait lasted for more than ten minutes, until the three individuals inside the top floor of the library secured their desired materials and slid directly down the rope to the ground.
The person left on the rooftop also descended to the ground to join them. Just as the five of them gathered and prepared to retreat—
Whoosh!
An icy, chilling gleam suddenly appeared once more, flying out from the building a hundred meters away and heading straight for the clustered group of five.
One of them failed to dodge in time and was pierced through the shoulder on the spot, letting out a miserable shriek.
Although his companion quickly muffled his mouth, that cry still shattered the silence.
Logically speaking, things had escalated to this point, and Liang Yiqing should have made his move.
Yet, he remained standing atop the building, showing no intention of acting whatsoever.
Su Jingxing sensed Liang Yiqing's aura fluctuations, but there was still no abnormality.
How strange!
"Could it be that Liang Yiqing knows both factions? Or is he waiting for the snipe and the clam to fight each other so he can reap the profits as the fisherman?"
Su Jingxing narrowed his eyes, feeling the second guess was much more likely.
Sure enough.
Less than half a minute after the flying dart was thrown, a figure flashed lightning-fast out of the distant building. Employing lightness techniques to tread on the air, the person arrived right in front of the startled and angry group of five.
"Wanting to leave? Drop whatever you found in the library."
The newcomer said in a deep, icy voice.
The person was wrapped in black cloth from head to toe, wearing a half-mask across their face.
To see their face clearly, one would have to take off the mask.
"Robbing us?"
The leading man of the five-person squad sneered upon hearing the threat. "You truly have a death wish, actually trying to snatch things from my hands!"
"Attack! Hurry up and finish him off, cripple him! In another ten minutes, Old Man Liang will be back. Quick resolution!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The three uninjured members drew short blades, their inner qi surging outward as they lunged at the threatening man in black.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
As the man in black retreated, he drew a dagger and effortlessly dismantled the three-pronged assault.
"Die!"
Seeing this, the leader's expression shifted. He charged forward himself to join the fray, the four of them teaming up to surround the man in black.
Instantly, the man in black was driven onto the defensive. With the powerful leader joining the battle, his impact was massive.
It was almost a one-sided beatdown, forcing the man in black to retreat step by step.
Listening to the sounds from the rooftop, Su Jingxing spent very little effort simulating the entire combat scene in his mind.
The man in black was losing the upper hand!
Furthermore, he was increasingly unable to cope, continuously forced backward in the face of the leader's ferocious attacks.
"Looks like he's going to run."
Su Jingxing muttered to himself.
Sure enough, half a minute later, realizing he was outmatched, the man in black decisively broke away to make his escape.
Except—
"Trying to leave now? Too late!"
A deep, aged voice echoed.
Whoosh-boom!
The sound of the wind tearing apart suddenly exploded.
A majestic and overpowering momentum rose from the distant rooftop, hurtling down like lightning directly above the man in black and the squad of five.
Liang Yiqing had made his move!
Hearing the commotion, Su Jingxing emerged from his corner, standing at the edge of the rooftop to overlook the situation on the ground.
The moment Liang Yiqing appeared, the man in black did not run; instead, he closed in on the group of five, the weapon in his hand flashing with a cold glint...
"Pfft!"
A strange sound rang out, accompanied by a spray of blood blooming in mid-air.
It was the already-injured member of the five-person squad, whose throat had been slit by a single blade from the man in black.
Amidst the splashing blood, the man's eyes bulged wide in disbelief as he gazed toward the sky, and then he toppled straight backward onto the ground, losing all breath.
"Third Brother!"
"Ahhh! I'll kill you!"
The leading man and the remaining two members went completely mad at the sight.
"Liang Yiqing! I am a man of Director Lu Chen from Mercy Bank! This bastard killed my Third Brother. If you don't want people dying at Xuantian University, help me catch him!"
The leader roared furiously at Liang Yiqing, who was descending.
With that, he lunged frantically at the man in black.
Liang Yiqing, "..."
Su Jingxing, "..."
Damn, this guy is arrogant!
Not only did he steal the materials from the top floor of the library, but he actually dared to threaten Liang Yiqing!
Mercy Bank?
Lu Chen?
Su Jingxing knew the former; the ancient silver notes in his palm space had been issued by Mercy Bank's predecessor, Mercy Pawnshop.
This bank was a behemoth, a multinational financial institution with operations spanning over a dozen countries.
As for who Lu Chen was, Su Jingxing did not know, but he imagined the background must be massive.
Otherwise, the leader would never have dared to use him as a trump card.
Su Jingxing only knew that the original founder of Mercy Bank was named Lu Cien!
So, was this Lu Chen someone from Mercy Bank's headquarters?
Su Jingxing's eyes flickered.
While marveling at Lu Chen's background, he was also rendered speechless by the man in black playing the pig to eat the tiger.
That's right, the guy previously losing the upper hand and being driven back step by step had been putting on an act the entire time.
What was his purpose? Su Jingxing could guess a thing or two.
To deceive Liang Yiqing!
Unsurprisingly, the man in black clearly knew that Liang Yiqing had already appeared.
His intentional defeat earlier was because he did not want to clash with Liang Yiqing and chose to withdraw instead.
Who would have thought that Liang Yiqing wouldn't let him leave?
Even though he hadn't gotten his hands on the loot, he wasn't allowed to depart.
The man in black decisively stopped hiding and laid his cards on the table!
As soon as he struck, he killed the injured member of the five-person squad.
This forced the leader to expose his identity and threaten Liang Yiqing into helping.
Would Liang Yiqing help?
Su Jingxing watched from afar with keen interest.
Swish, swish!
Whoosh-boom!
The sound of the wind, the tearing of air, and explosive blasts rang out almost simultaneously.
Liang Yiqing moved!
The old man actually decided to help and targeted the man in black!
"Did Xuantian University take out a loan from Mercy Bank?"
Su Jingxing clicked his tongue.
It wasn't that he couldn't accept the fact, but rather that he found Liang Yiqing's swift intervention somewhat surprising.
Xuantian University was, after all, a faction with a heritage spanning thousands of years. Though somewhat scattered and not overwhelmingly powerful as a whole, they were far from weak—a top-tier faction when looking across neighboring countries.
And yet, upon being threatened, they immediately offered help. There had to be some debt of gratitude or obligation between Xuantian University and Mercy Bank.
Even though the man in black had concealed his true strength, but...
"What the hell, what is going on?!"
Suddenly, Su Jingxing's pupils contracted as he stared at the sudden turn of events below.
Indeed, it was a sudden turn of events.
After Liang Yiqing entered the fray, instead of attacking the man in black as initially expected, he approached the four remaining members of the leader's group, struck abruptly, changed targets, and slapped another member of the squad to death with a single palm strike.
This scene startled both the leader and the man in black.
"You..."
Boom!
Liang Yiqing unleashed a palm strike. Terrifying inner qi erupted, releasing a majestic momentum that struck the leader at close range.
With a crisp snap, the leader took the blow to his chest. His entire chest caved in, and he was sent flying backward over a dozen meters before crashing to the ground, dead.
"Big Brother!"
In shock and anger, the remaining two members hurriedly launched hidden weapons and toxic powder at Liang Yiqing, scattering in opposite directions to flee.
That's right, instead of fighting to the death to avenge Liang Yiqing, they chose to run.
The man in black did the exact same thing, picking a direction and fleeing at extreme speed.
The strength Liang Yiqing had displayed was actually fourth-grade!
A fourth-grade expert hunting someone down at full tilt—
With their massive burst of inner qi, neither their speed nor their power was something a sixth-grade martial artist could match.
Liang Yiqing merely closed the distance with a few dashes before catching up to the three of them and executing them.
The very second those three died, Su Jingxing felt his heart skip a beat, sensing an alarm bell of being watched.
Without hesitation, he turned sideways, pivoting his head to look at the rooftop of a building hundreds of meters away, where he spotted someone holding binoculars, gazing right back at him.
When Su Jingxing locked eyes with him, the person jumped in fright and then decisively turned to flee.
"Tsk, things are going to get lively now."
Su Jingxing did not give chase. Though the person had spotted him, he wore a mask and cloak, making it utterly impossible for them to recognize him.
The true destructive impact of this fleeing person was directed at Liang Yiqing and Xuantian University!
Liang Yiqing had killed two factions, one of which consisted of people from Mercy Bank headquarters.
Setting aside the man in black, the mere news that the five-person squad had been annihilated, once discovered by Mercy Bank headquarters, would spell massive trouble for Xuantian University.
As for Liang Yiqing, who had carried out the executions, he would face the biggest trouble of all troubles.
In short, Xuantian University was about to get very lively!
Su Jingxing amused himself inwardly without bothering to warn Liang Yiqing.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but the commotion here had already alerted experts from other corners of Xuantian University, who were rapidly rushing toward the scene.
If Su Jingxing didn't leave now, he would end up having to stay and fight them.
Stepping down hard, he mobilized his inner qi.
Whoosh!
Amidst the sound of parting wind, Su Jingxing shot straight up into the night sky, dropping by the three corpses for a quick card loot pickup before rocketing into the firmament and vanishing into the horizon.
"Damn it!"
...
(PS: Last day of the month, begging for monthly votes.)