Chapter 112: Pursuit

Sensing the imminent danger, Mu Lin swept Li Xue into his arms and charged toward the direction the steel rebar had come from.

'Mu Lin is insane,' Li Xue thought. "What are you doing? Isn't this even more dangerous?"

Mu Lin said coolly, "As the old saying goes: the darkest place is under the lamp. Besides, their accuracy is lower from a distance."

Li Xue didn't buy Mu Lin's nonsense for a second, but held in his arms as she was, there was nothing she could do.

As Mu Lin ran, several more steel rebars slammed into the ground one after another, kicking up clouds of dust.

Li Xue shrieked in terror, "Oh my god, this can't be happening!"

Mu Lin smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm here."

Mu Lin ran to a concealed spot and set Li Xue down. "Remember, don't come out. He can't hit you here."

It was the attacker's blind spot; he wouldn't be able to see them even if he wanted to attack.

"Stay here and don't move."

With that, Mu Lin yanked a steel rebar from the ground and hurled it straight at the person on top of the scaffolding.

The steel rebar shot upwards like an elongated black bullet.

BOOM!

The impact on the scaffolding was tremendous.

The reporters on the scene scrambled to raise their cameras and capture the moment.

Some had noticed Mu Lin earlier and had been tracking him with their lenses, perfectly capturing the entire sequence.

'This is a guaranteed headline,' they thought. 'It'll fetch a huge sum from the papers.'

The assassin on the scaffolding took a short strap from his waist, hooked it onto the structure, and leaped off, descending slowly.

The strap was essentially a gravity pulley, designed to dissipate the force of the descent.

The assassin landed steadily on the ground, and Mu Lin had no choice but to move forward and confront him.

'Can't let the assassin get away.'

"Your target is me!" Mu Lin shouted.

The assassin turned his head. Seeing Mu Lin's face, he recalled the photo. It was a match.

'It's definitely him!'

"I thought you'd run. I didn't expect you to be so compliant. A real surprise."

"Now, die! My blade is fast."

Mu Lin stood his ground and retorted, "Why slaughter innocents? You clearly had other ways to find me."

The middle-aged man gave a sinister smile. "Killing one isn't enough. Young Master Yang gave the order: not a single member of the Li Family is to be left alive. He wants to leave a clean slate for Yuelong Group."

"Otherwise, how could Chairman Wu be convinced to willingly hand over the compensation money?"

Mu Lin's voice turned icy. "I'd like to see who can kill me!"

The reporters didn't dare get any closer, but they used their telephoto lenses to zoom in, silently snapping photos.

"Not only will I survive, but I'll also make you pay with your life."

"State your name. Otherwise, you'll die a nameless ghost and have only yourself to blame."

The middle-aged man sneered, "Song Qianli!"

With that, the man pushed off his back foot, blurring into a shadow as he shot toward Mu Lin.

But in the next instant, Mu Lin vanished before his eyes.

Having lost his target, the man felt a surge of alarm. He could only stop in place and search for him.

"Die!"

But Mu Lin descended from above, landing on Song Qianli's shoulders and stomping down repeatedly with both feet.

A series of sickening CRACKS and SNAPS was heard.

In moments, Song Qianli's arms were completely crippled.

Mu Lin landed and followed up with a spinning kick to Song Qianli's chest.

Internal organs, ribs—all shattered.

"Who sent you?"

Song Qianli lay on the ground, closing his eyes and waiting for death.

"You're a dead man either way. But if you talk, I can make it quick. Otherwise, I guarantee I can keep you alive for days, and I'll make you experience every form of suffering this world has to offer."

Mu Lin rolled several silver needles between his fingers and flicked them into Song Qianli's body. Instantly, Song Qianli felt as if he were being electrocuted. A tyrannical Qi Force rampaged through him, threatening to destroy his meridians completely.

And yet, just as they were about to shatter, a sliver of healing energy would enter the system, preventing their total collapse.

"My heavens…" A deathly, tragic smile appeared on Song Qianli's lips. "So you're a master of this caliber."

"I was a mantis trying to stop a chariot. I deserve to die… I came on the orders of Young Master Yang's eldest son, Yang Guangming."

Mu Lin made a grasping motion with his hand, and the silver needles flew back into his palm. The Qi Force, now completely unchecked, utterly shredded Song Qianli's meridians.

Song Qianli's breathing stopped. He was dead.

Young Master Yang and Yang Guangming. Tsk, tsk.

Young Master Yang was an old 'friend,' of course. He'd been one of the parties calling in debts when the Li Group was on the verge of collapse.

Today, it was time to settle all scores, new and old.

Mu Lin closed his eyes, forcing his anger down. He couldn't let even a trace of it show, at least not when he was in front of Li Xue.

If she became suspicious, things would get complicated.

He also needed to ask Zhou Qianfan for a favor, to come and clean up this mess. First and foremost, all the photos taken by the media were going to be a huge pain.

He called Zhou Qianfan first, explained the situation, and asked for his help.

"What?! You killed the expert the Yang Family sent?"

Zhou Qianfan truly found it hard to believe. Mu Lin's efficiency was just too high.

'How long has it been since I called to warn him?'

"The scene is a mess and crawling with reporters. I'm calling you to handle them."

Zhou Qianfan took a long, deep breath. Mu Lin's power was likely even greater than he had imagined.

"Handling the media and cleaning up the scene is easy. I'll just have some people take care of it."

Mu Lin hung up and went to find Li Xue.

Li Xue was curled up in a ball, shivering.

Mu Lin walked over to Li Xue and draped his jacket over her shoulders. "It's okay now. He's gone."

He paused, then added, "This wasn't a workplace accident. Someone orchestrated it deliberately… If you really want to hold someone accountable, you'll have to go to the police, not the Work Safety Administration."

Li Xue asked in a daze, "Why? How do you know that?"

"The assassin told me before he died. How could I not believe him?"

'Dead?' Li Xue's eyes went wide. She never imagined that the assassin, who had caused such a huge commotion, would be dead in such a short amount of time.

Mu Lin picked up Li Xue and carried her toward the car.

The driver watched, dumbfounded. He was now absolutely certain that the relationship between these two was anything but ordinary.

'From now on,' he thought, 'if Mu Lin asks me for help, I must agree with the utmost enthusiasm and carry out his request to the best of my ability.'

Li Xue told Mu Lin to put her down, then glared at the driver.

"What are you looking at? Drive! Back to the Li Group."

Scared silent, the driver immediately started the car.

But Mu Lin said, "President Li is exhausted. Let's take her home first."

The driver froze. 'Who should I listen to?'

The car was silent for a moment before Li Xue's voice was heard. "Listen to him…"

Back at the house, Li Xue got out of the car, but her foot missed the step and she almost fell. Mu Lin quickly reached out and caught her.

Seeing how haggard Li Xue looked, Elder Li asked with concern,

"What happened?"

Mu Lin quickly walked over and whispered a few words in the elder's ear.

Elder Li's eyes widened. "Something like that happened?"

"Grandpa, I have to go out again. I should be back before dinner. If I'm not… everyone run for your lives."

After saying this, he ducked into the company car, tapped the back of the driver's seat, and told him to drive.

His words were so grim that even Elder Li, who had weathered many storms in his life, couldn't help but be taken aback.

'Has the situation really escalated this far?'

「Yang Manor」

A handsome young man sat in a garden pavilion.

He was on a call, holding a phone in his hand.

This was none other than Yang Guangming, who had just returned from abroad with plans to make a big name for himself.

"Guangming, what's the situation over there?"

Yang Guangming replied, "I specifically sent a top-tier expert. The intel said Song Qianli is one of the best assassins, so I don't think there should be any problem."

"In a little while, Mu Lin's head will be served up on a platter. Dad, I can't stand the sight of blood. Should I, perhaps, leave first?"

"You fool! Look at you, so spineless. I'm not asking you to do the killing, you can't even stand to look? How are you ever going to accomplish anything great?"

Young Master Yang scolded furiously. His younger son could look at a corpse without batting an eye, but his eldest son was even worse than his little brother. 'How can this be acceptable?'

Yang Guangming flinched. "You're right to scold me, Dad. I do need more tempering!"

But Young Master Yang grew suspicious. "You can't even stand the sight of blood, so how did you plan this assassination? Don't tell me you just let a brute like Song Qianli run wild, did you?"

Yang Guangming laughed. "Of course not! I took human nature into full account. Li Xue is famous for how much she values project quality, so I arranged an 'accident' at the construction site, forcing her to come inspect it in person."

"Once Li Xue is dead, Mu Lin is sure to show up. Then we just lie in wait and kill two birds with one stone. The result is far better than a simple ambush!"

Hearing his son's plan, Young Master Yang smiled in satisfaction.

"Good, very good. You've truly learned a thing or two from your old man. I'll speak to your grandfather later and get some other arrangements made for you."

"Yes! Thank you, Dad!" Yang Guangming was thrilled and thanked him profusely.