Chapter 488: The Villain

Late at night,

Chen Ling and Yang Xiao walked out of the airport gate side by side.

"Why are we leaving? Didn't the airline arrange a special bus to take us to Gusu?" Yang Xiao looked at the quiet road around them and asked in confusion.

Because the flight’s destination was forcibly changed, the airline compensated every passenger, but Chen Ling didn't take the bus they arranged. Instead, he took Yang Xiao and left directly. At this time, there were no vehicles or pedestrians at the airport entrance, only a few taxis or ride-hailing cars waiting on the side. Further away was the pitch-black night.

"The bus is too slow," Chen Ling said calmly. "Although we temporarily stalled the 【Sky Wolf】, with his strength, escaping is easy for him... He will catch up to us sooner or later, so every minute and every second is precious and cannot be wasted."

"There are no planes or high-speed trains at this hour. If we don't take the bus, how else can we get to Gusu?"

"I’ll drive."

Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment. "Where are we getting a car?"

Chen Ling smiled slightly. He walked straight to the nearest taxi and knocked on the driver’s window.

The driver, who was dozing off, saw someone and immediately rolled down the window, asking sleepily: "Where to?"

"I’ll transfer you 300,000. Lend me the car for two days."

"...What the hell???"

Three minutes later.

Chen Ling fastened his seatbelt and floored the accelerator. The yellow taxi roared away!

At the desolate airport entrance, only the taxi driver remained, sitting on the side of the road in a daze, looking at the 300,000 balance that had just appeared in his account, his hands shaking...

A while later, he dialed a number with trembling hands and muttered as if in a dream:

"Mom, I’m rich~!"

……

*Vroom—!*

The yellow taxi sped across the road like lightning.

The whistling wind rushed into the car. Yang Xiao struggled with the window for a long time before it finally closed, his hair blown into a messy nest.

"300,000, just to borrow it for a few days?" Yang Xiao couldn't help but say. "Even if this car were brand new, it wouldn't be worth 300,000, right?"

"Doesn't matter. Money in this era is just a number to you and me. Consider it robbing the rich to help the poor."

Chen Ling said nonchalantly.

Chen Ling pressed his foot harder on the accelerator, the engine’s hum like a beast’s roar. As the needle on the dashboard climbed, Yang Xiao instinctively gripped the door handle.

"Are you speeding?"

"Yes, but the speed cameras won't catch us."

"...Black accounts, robbing money, fare evasion, hijacking, carjacking, speeding... Why do I feel like we’re the villains?"

"To be precise, it’s cracking down on illegal transactions, earning reasonable commissions, protecting passenger safety, expanding the second-hand car market, and... um... speeding is just speeding. Compared to the lives of the Nine Lords, what are a few traffic tickets?"

Yang Xiao: ...

With Chen Ling’s current observation and reaction speed, there was no safety risk even when driving at high speeds. He rested one hand on the window and the other on the steering wheel, speeding along the dark highway. At this rate, they would definitely reach Gusu within an hour and a half.

"Speaking of which, what’s the deal with that person on the plane?" Yang Xiao asked in confusion. "I thought the Fourteen God Paths you mentioned only existed in the future."

"Not at all. God Paths are the embodiment of 'professions' in human civilization. They have existed since the moment human civilization was born," Chen Ling answered unhurriedly. "For example, Ying Fu and Bai Qi found the God Paths in ancient times and became part of the God Path Ancient Vaults after their deaths... So theoretically, this era also has God Path holders, just in very small numbers."

Chen Ling took the flip phone out of his pocket and handed it to Yang Xiao in the passenger seat. "Take a look at the video in the album."

Although Yang Xiao was puzzled, he opened the flip phone.

The first thing that caught his eye was a wallpaper of Chen Ling making a peace sign. Yang Xiao’s expression turned strange.

"You like using selfies as your wallpaper?"

"...No, that was just an accident."

Yang Xiao opened the album. There was only one video. In the footage, it was a casino abroad. A figure in a floral shirt won a bet against another man, and the next moment, the man began to age visibly, as if something had drained his life away.

If it were before, Yang Xiao would definitely have thought this video was edited, but after experiencing some things himself, his perception had changed.

"Is the person in the video also a God Path holder?"

"Yes," Chen Ling said thoughtfully. "As I said, God Paths are the embodiment of 'professions.' The characteristics of 'professions' vary in different eras, so perhaps in our era, there are also God Path paths belonging to this era...

But with the rapid development of material civilization, the spiritual civilization brought by 'professions' is constantly flattening. People are losing the spirit of their professions, or rather, professional faith, and are gradually becoming mechanized tools... Such a spiritual civilization cannot gain the recognition of the God Paths, so God Path holders in this era are extremely rare.

Conversely, when the Red Star crossed and human material civilization began to regress, spiritual civilization was gradually rebuilt in the disaster. Therefore, in the era of the Nine Great Realms, there were far more God Path holders than there are now."

Yang Xiao thought seriously for a long time and roughly understood Chen Ling’s idea.

"According to you, that 【Sky Wolf】 on the plane should be considered extremely rare?"

"Exactly... He must have experienced things that ordinary people couldn't, and combined with his own innate talent, he was able to step onto this God Path." Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly. "In this era, there aren't many God Path holders, which means the 【Emperor’s】 power is significantly limited... That’s a good thing for us."

"It’s a pity we can't retrieve information about that 【Sky Wolf】," Yang Xiao sighed. "If we could understand a bit more, maybe we could grasp his weaknesses, and we wouldn't be so passive."

This sentence served as a reminder to Chen Ling, and his eyes lit up slightly.

That’s right. This era is different from the era of the Nine Great Realms. In a society full of information networks, everyone leaves traces to some extent... And there is one place that might store what they want to see.

"Who said we can't retrieve his information?" Chen Ling smiled slightly. "Don't forget, that guy... should still be in the police station being interrogated."

"Are you going to hack into the poli..." Yang Xiao stopped halfway.

"No, just copying a file while I’m at it."

Chen Ling reached out and tapped the flip phone. An electronic file began to download automatically, and within seconds, it showed as complete.

Yang Xiao looked at the secret file on the phone that should have been locked in the local area network and smiled bitterly.

"Great... Now we really are the villains."