Chapter 156: [Someone Is Really Trying to Harm Me!] (Combined Edition)

Growing over a dozen years was compressed into just two months.

Su Jingxing's bustling efforts had not been in vain.

As expected.

Heavenly treasures like energy-gathering stones were mostly collected by major factions.

If he had to rely on purchasing them from rogue martial artists, it would be impossible to tell how long it would take to gather so many.

Let alone a dozen years, Su Jingxing would find even a year or two too slow.

Now, however, things were different.

The energy-gathering stones exchanged from the Li, Zhou, and Qi families successfully resolved his predicament.

Within two months, he would be able to consume a large number of Meditation Fruits, increase his soul power, and visualize the solid, tangible Stepping-Heaven Demonic Elephant.

Once the Stepping-Heaven Demonic Elephant was successfully visualized and could run and roar within his sea of consciousness, Su Jingxing would have the confidence to go toe-to-toe with Martial Will.

Martial Will was a mental interference with reality, a strike and suppression targeting the soul level.

The demonic elephant's trampling was likewise an attack targeting the soul and the mental realm.

Once his soul power grew strong enough, the terrifying pressure of Martial Will would essentially become useless decoration, ineffective against Su Jingxing.

Therefore.

Over the next two months, Su Jingxing patiently waited.

Once he successfully visualized the Stepping-Heaven Demonic Elephant, it would not be too late to turn his attention to the four-hundred-year-old He family.

……

And so.

In the days that followed, Su Jingxing went to work at the crematorium every day, arriving early and leaving late.

In the eyes of the others, no one had anything more to say.

Although Su Jingxing had been nowhere to be found on his very first day as a supervisor, over the past few days, he arrived earlier than anyone else and left later than anyone else.

With his professional attitude on full display, no one could find any fault with him.

They couldn't possibly tell Su Jingxing not to work so hard, could they?

The duties of the deputy security captain were actually quite relaxed, requiring only occasional appearances and patrols around the grounds.

Su Jingxing, on the other hand, went on patrol almost every two hours, forcing the rest of the security team to follow his example.

Of course, after Wu Shouhan's disciplinary overhaul of the security team, all the guards were much more serious now—at least far better than before.

Su Jingxing took all of this in, but said nothing.

Spending most of his time at the crematorium meant he naturally collected almost all the dropped cards.

Inner force cards, strength-boosting cards, and vital energy cards accumulated continuously.

When he went out with Kong Dabao, Feng Tiejian, and the others, he would also pick up true qi cards.

Five consecutive days of this yielded a bountiful harvest.

The only thing that left him somewhat speechless was the sight of Feng Tiejian every time they crossed paths, looking paranoid and absent-minded.

For over a week, Feng Tiejian still believed someone was out to get him.

The consequence of excessive tension was that he could neither eat nor sleep well, visibly losing weight day by day, with dark circles permanently etched under his eyes.

His state of weakness, trance, and paranoia gave Gu Bo, who had just returned to duty, a massive headache. Gu Bo personally intervened, approving Feng Tiejian for paid leave to rest and suggesting he visit a hospital.

As a result, Feng Tiejian stubbornly resisted to the end, refusing to leave the crematorium under any circumstances.

Who knew what kind of logic he was running on, but he genuinely believed that hiding in the crematorium would keep him safe.

Given his condition, he not only suffered from persecutory delusions, but also possessed an uncanny ability to foresee impending danger in advance.

But what nonsense was that?

In any case, Su Jingxing didn't believe it—until that fateful night.

It was close to midnight that night. Su Jingxing had just finished his final patrol and was preparing to go home when he ran into Kong Dabao and his new partner playing video games during a lull. Kong Dabao was cursing at the top of his lungs after losing a match, and Su Jingxing walked over to glance at the game screen.

At that exact moment, Su Jingxing, whose spiritual perception covered the entire crematorium, sensed two figures quietly scaling the perimeter wall and entering the grounds.

Refusing to use the main gate and instead climbing over the wall clearly meant trouble.

Su Jingxing decisively activated the "Voice Entangled in the Ear" secret technique, locking onto the two intruders.

Since his soul power had increased, the listening range of this secret technique had also expanded, exceeding a radius of two hundred and fifty meters.

As it happened, the spot where Kong Dabao was playing games was located in the middle-back courtyard of the crematorium.

Standing right beside him, Su Jingxing found the activity of the entire area falling well within his listening range.

After scaling the wall and entering the crematorium, the two intruders made a beeline for the morgue. Su Jingxing followed the sound of their heartbeats as they moved rapidly, closing in on Feng Tiejian, who was half-asleep and leaning against a wall.

Feng Tiejian's partner was also sitting beside him, playing games while waiting to get off work.

Through his heightened hearing, Su Jingxing detected that the moment the two wall-climbers rushed toward Feng Tiejian, their breathing abruptly stopped and momentarily vanished.

Though he didn't witness it with his own eyes, Su Jingxing was ninety-nine percent certain that these two individuals intended to harm Feng Tiejian!

Therefore.

Su Jingxing did not hesitate. Making a prompt decision, he kept his right hand behind his back, channeled the "Cleaving Air Palm," and silently delivered two palm strikes through the air.

Kong Dabao and his new partner standing right beside him remained completely oblivious.

Yet Feng Tiejian and his partner, seventy or eighty meters away, suddenly heard a muffled sound.

"Bang! Bang~"

It was like a sudden clap of thunder on flat ground.

The very instant Feng Tiejian and his partner snapped awake in shock, they saw two figures dressed in black, each wielding a gleaming short blade, rushing right in front of them.

Then, struck by two abrupt, formless palm prints materializing out of thin air, the two assailants were sent flying at high speed—one backward, the other to the right.

The one sent flying backward crashed into a pillar, vomiting blood.

The one sent flying to the right smashed into the wall, shaking the entire structure so hard that debris fell. When he slid down to the ground, he too was vomiting blood, his hands and feet twitching uncontrollably.

Yet these two were remarkably tough. Despite being heavily injured and in excruciating pain, they immediately scrambled to their feet and began retreating at top speed.

However, while they wanted to run, Su Jingxing had other plans.

"Bang~"

"Bang!"

With palms still cast in silence yet striking like thunderous blows, he delivered two more distant strikes, hitting the fleeing pair mid-escape.

They were sent flying and vomiting blood once more, crashing to the ground in agonizing pain.

The only reason Su Jingxing hadn't killed them outright was that he wanted to capture them alive for interrogation.

To his surprise, the two lying on the ground seemed to realize they had been targeted and could no longer escape, quickly committing suicide with their short blades by driving the edges straight into their hearts.

As Su Jingxing heard their heartbeats vanish, he picked up two cards.

Assassins!

The decisive and prompt suicide of the two dead men reminded Su Jingxing of their identity: there was an extremely high probability they were elite assassins groomed from childhood!

Such assassins were cultivated exclusively by major factions possessing the resources to train them.

Why would an ordinary crematorium worker like Feng Tiejian be targeted by them?

Doubt filled Su Jingxing's mind.

"Murder!!"

A piercing scream broke the silence right on cue.

It was Feng Tiejian's partner, who had finally regained his wits and let out a terrified shriek.

The entire crematorium was jolted awake in an instant.

"What's going on?"

Kong Dabao put down his phone, looked up toward the direction of the sound, and muttered, "Did someone just scream about murder over there?"
"Probably a corpse acting up?" his partner suggested with nervous doubt.

"It's a murder," Su Jingxing said, quietly withdrawing his energy and frowning. "I'll go take a look."

"Wait, I'm coming too," Kong Dabao followed.

"Me too," his partner trailed behind at the rear.

The three of them hurried toward the corner where Feng Tiejian and his partner were stationed.

Along the way, others who heard the screams quickly rushed out as well.

Gathering into a crowd, they arrived at the scene with maximum speed.

"What's going on? Feng Tiejian, what happened to you guys... Holy shit, who killed them?"

The first to arrive wanted to ask questions, but upon catching sight of the two corpses, they were instantly startled.

"Who are they? What kind of people are these?"

"Dressed all in black, you can tell at a glance they're no good."

"Feng Tiejian, did the two of you kill them?"

"..."

The arriving crowd murmured in shock, bewilderment, and confusion.

Yet Feng Tiejian remained frozen in place, utterly unresponsive.

It was his partner who managed to recover a shred of composure, trembling as he stammered in reply, "It was... them... they wanted to kill... to kill us! But then... we were... we were saved..."

Stopping and starting, he recounted the events that had just taken place.

Upon hearing this, Kong Dabao and his group were left in absolute astonishment, their eyes filled with wonder.

Someone really was trying to harm Feng Tiejian!

The guy's paranoia over the past few days hadn't been fake at all—it was entirely real.

He had been tracked and targeted for assassination!

"Old Feng, what on earth did you get yourself into?"

After a brief moment of shock, Kong Dabao couldn't help asking.

"Right, what did you do outside to have people dogging your footsteps like this, wanting your life?"

Wu Shouhan, having received the news, strode over with a group of people, calling out from afar.

"Feng Tiejian! Snap out of it!"

*Thwack.*

Seeing this, Kong Dabao delivered a heavy slap to Feng Tiejian's shoulder, using enough force to violently jolt Feng Tiejian back to his senses.

"Ah, ah! Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

Awakening with a start, Feng Tiejian shrieked repeatedly, backing away in terror.

"The people who wanted to kill you are already dead."

Kong Dabao said with exasperation, "Why don't you explain what you did to get targeted?"

Feng Tiejian stared blankly upon hearing this.

Su Jingxing, meanwhile, patted down the two dead assassins but found nothing of value.

Pulling off their masks to check their faces, he did not recognize them.

"Without a doubt, they're assassins."

Wu Shouhan glanced at the two corpses and said in a deep voice, "To dispatch assassins specifically targeting Feng Tiejian proves that the other party holds considerable background. Feng Tiejian, you'd better speak honestly. What on earth did you do!"

*Thwack.*

Kong Dabao struck Feng Tiejian's shoulder once more, snapping him out of his daze again.

"I... I don't know." Feng Tiejian recovered, shivering and on the verge of tears. "I didn't do anything! Believe me, I really didn't do anything! I have no idea why they targeted me!"

"Tsk~"

Kong Dabao gave a look of disdain. "Things have reached this point, and you're still hiding it."

"It's really not, I truly don't know!" Feng Tiejian cried out frantically. "What I did a week ago was no different from usual! I ate the same good food, played the same fun games, and visited the exact same places. I didn't run into any bad guys, nor did I have any conflicts with anyone. I have no clue why they were tracking me and trying to kill me!"

"Then why were you hiding in the crematorium?"

Su Jingxing cut in ahead of the others, questioning him. "You say you don't know—that is indeed possible. Perhaps you inadvertently saw something you shouldn't have, causing you to be targeted for silencing. Let's put that question aside for now. What I want to know is, why did you hide in the crematorium, knowing that staying here would allow you to escape disaster?"

This was the crucial question.

That's right, Su Jingxing had saved him this time.

But that was because Su Jingxing had a good relationship with Feng Tiejian, and Feng Tiejian had helped him out before.

Knowing someone wanted to harm him, Su Jingxing couldn't just sit by and watch.

However, this didn't mean Su Jingxing was willing to be used as someone else's pawn.

Because looking at it from this angle, the mastermind hiding in the shadows knew of Su Jingxing's existence!

Su Jingxing had previously used the alias Erlang Shen, and recently operated as "Consultant Lin."

He had always believed his true identity had never been leaked.

Yet the people targeting Feng Tiejian knew about him?

Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine!

……

"Ah, well about that."

Feng Tiejian was stunned. "Can... can I say it was... intuition?"

"Intuition told you that staying in the crematorium would bring someone to your rescue?" Wu Shouhan asked, deeply skeptical and disbelieving.

"Right, being able to escape a calamity purely on intuition—Old Feng, are you that amazing?" Kong Dabao widened his eyes.
"Could it be that Feng Tiejian is a genius? A hidden genius?"

"Maybe some kind of mental awakening caused him to grow overnight."

"Stop joking around, this is serious. Feng Tiejian's intuition? I think it's fake."

"Hey, what makes you say it's fake? I feel like Old Feng is telling the truth!"

"I think it's real too, because I've experienced similar gut feelings myself in the past."

"..."

Others chimed in, tossing out comments and starting a discussion over Feng Tiejian's words.

Su Jingxing listened to all of it, frowning slightly.

Intuition?

If Feng Tiejian's intuition was really that accurate, perhaps his spiritual power truly possessed some extraordinary aspect.

A sudden premonition wasn't exclusive to martial artists.

Ordinary people experienced it too, suddenly feeling an intense sense of panic over certain matters out of the blue.

Calling it telepathy might be an exaggeration, but a subtle, invisible connection of this sort certainly existed.

For a moment, Su Jingxing found it hard to judge.

However, he could be certain of one thing: Feng Tiejian was not lying.

Compared to Feng Tiejian, Su Jingxing's soul power was vastly superior, making his predictive instincts even sharper.

……

"Um, you guys keep asking why Feng Tiejian was targeted and assassinated, but aren't you curious about who the person that saved him was?"

A supervisor suddenly spoke up, breaking the noisy chatter and plunging everyone into startled silence.

"That's right. Who saved Old Feng? Did any of you see?"

Kong Dabao also looked curious, turning his gaze toward Feng Tiejian and his partner.

"No."

Feng Tiejian's partner shook his head. "We only saw those two guys rushing straight at us. Then, before their blades could cut us down, they were sent flying by sudden palm prints that materialized out of nowhere."

"Right, the person who saved us is incredible! It only took four palm strikes to strip those two fellows of their mobility!"

His face was full of excitement.

The others wore expressions of wonder as well.

"Tsk tsk, those two fellows were probably rank seven, yet they were injured without even laying eyes on their attacker. The person who saved you must be at least rank six!"

"Needless to say, if they weren't rank six, could they unleash palm force through the air?"

"Striking from a distance... could it be the Cleaving Air Palm?"

"It has to be the Cleaving Air Palm!"

Wu Shouhan cast the final verdict, glancing at the palm prints left on the two corpses as he analyzed, "The expert who saved the two of them used the Cleaving Air Palm. Judging from the wounds, the opponent has cultivated the Cleaving Air Palm to at least the realm of perfection!"

"Amazing!"

"Yeah, truly formidable."

"Um... when did our crematorium get a rank six expert?"

"Maybe higher than rank six, maybe rank five!"

"Why not rank four while you're at it?"

"..."