Chapter 507: Game and Counter-Kill

"You failed just after leaving?"

Vulture stood there, stunned.

So Nie Yu had only just set off... It seemed he hadn't found the location of the museum yet.

Chen Ling had extracted two key pieces of information from Nie Yu with just two sentences. He calmed down instantly, the chill on his face deepening:

"I underestimated them... The trail went cold."

Vulture looked at him, and the air suddenly fell silent.

His gaze fell on the wine glass Chen Ling had been toying with. After a moment of silence, he closed the tavern door and walked straight behind the bar.

"What would you like to drink?" Vulture tossed the glass into the air, caught it steadily, and began washing it in the sink.

Chen Ling's brow furrowed instinctively.

"I'm not in the mood for a drink right now."

"The trail is cold; there's no point in being anxious now." Vulture acted like a true bartender, flipping the glass and ice in his hands, and looked at him calmly.

"The usual, tequila?"

"Tequila?" Chen Ling stared into his eyes. "I don't recall drinking tequila often."

Vulture was silent for a moment, his expression finally relaxing slightly.

"...Good. Because you said that man in the brown coat has the ability to change his face, I have to be cautious."

As he spoke, he took a new bottle of brandy from the shelf behind him and began to mix a drink for Chen Ling.

Seeing this, the stone in Chen Ling's heart dropped.

On the plane, Nie Yu knew he had the ability to change his face. Since he and Vulture were close, intelligence was naturally shared... And his sudden appearance would inevitably arouse Vulture's suspicion. From the moment he suddenly changed the subject to ask "What would you like to drink?", Chen Ling had already started to be on guard.

Sure enough, as he expected, the drink was just a ruse for Vulture to verify his identity... Chen Ling had taken a gamble with his answer about the tequila, but it seemed he had guessed correctly.

"What about those assassins?" Vulture asked suddenly. "I already had them go look for you. Should I call them all back?"

Chen Ling's mind stirred, and just as he was about to say something, a sudden change occurred!

The moment Vulture finished speaking, a gun was gripped in his hand. He raised it like lightning, aimed it at Chen Ling's head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Chen Ling's pupils contracted sharply!

Bang, bang, bang—!

The pitch-black muzzle erupted with three flames in succession. At such close range, almost no living creature could avoid it!

A splash of blood splattered onto the old bar counter. Chen Ling's figure rolled with the wind, retreating several meters with a whistle, smashing a table and chairs into pieces.

Scarlet blood flowed through his fingers, dripping onto the ground. He slowly raised his blood-blurred face, his eyes locked onto the bartender holding the gun with one hand.

"How... did you find out?"

Everything that had just happened occurred too quickly. Chen Ling hadn't sensed that the other party would fire at all, to the point that he hadn't even had time to activate [Scarlet Trick]...

Fortunately, his own reaction was extremely fast. In an instant, he avoided the first bullet, which didn't hit a vital spot, only shattering half his face. He dodged the other two bullets, which left two black bullet marks on the wall behind him.

"First, Nie Yu usually only drinks whiskey, but the second glass I poured you was brandy, and you didn't react. Second, with Nie Yu's temper, if the trail had really gone cold, that glass would have been smashed into pieces, not left intact on the table. Third..."

Thin smoke drifted from the muzzle. Vulture paused for a moment, then said, "That guy is strong... If his trail really went cold, he wouldn't think about coming back to admit failure; he would continue to collect clues at all costs until he killed you completely.

So, your very existence is the biggest flaw."

In the dead-silent tavern, Chen Ling stared silently into Vulture's eyes, a complex look flashing across his blood-blurred face.

Being able to cooperate with Nie Yu, a Tier 5 [Sky Wolf], and having him feel secure enough to leave him in charge of the rear, while also being able to summon dozens of top-tier assassins at will—this person was certainly no simple character... Even without any Divine Path, Vulture's judgment and decisiveness were terrifying.

Chen Ling took a deep breath and forcibly pulled out the bullet embedded in his face. It fell to the ground with a clink, mixed with fragments of flesh. His pitted face became even more shocking, like a demon from hell.

"I underestimated you..." Chen Ling slowly raised his head, his gaze calm as water.

"It's just a pity you didn't manage to kill me with one shot."

The overhead light in the dim tavern flickered, and the next moment, his figure vanished from where he stood.

Vulture's pupils contracted slightly. A figure rolled toward his face like a gale. He raised his gun to fire without hesitation, but his fingertips only touched something hard...

Before he knew it, the gun in his hand had turned into a broken table leg.

Thud—!!

Chen Ling grabbed his collar and threw him to the side with force. The terrifying power smashed him into the bar like a bowling ball, sending another set of tables and chairs flying in disarray.

Musty dust drifted in the air, accompanied by Vulture's groans as he struggled to climb up from the ground.

A blood-blurred face raised a muzzle indifferently under the dim light.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Four gunshots rang out in succession. Blood sprayed from Vulture's hands and feet. A scream echoed through the underground tavern, and he collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.

The flickering light pulsed overhead. The blood-stained face walked slowly to Vulture, tore hard at the chin with the right hand, and an intact face looked down indifferently at Vulture at his feet.

"Besides you, does Nie Yu have any other men?" Chen Ling's low voice sounded.

"Heh." Vulture's face was deathly pale, his bartender uniform soaked in blood. He laughed hoarsely, "You guess?"

"Tell me the truth, and I can let you go."

"Don't joke. We're all desperate people licking blood off the edge of a knife; who would believe anyone's nonsense?"

Chen Ling's eyes grew colder. He moved his gaze away from Vulture and finally landed on a phone in a pool of blood... He bent down, slowly gripped the phone, and pressed the lock button. The faint light of the screen illuminated a corner of his dark face.

Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled slightly.

"Very good. I don't need you anymore."

He stared at the phone, not even looking at Vulture, and casually raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash illuminated the tavern for an instant.

Bang—!

Vulture's eyes widened, a gruesome blood hole in the center of his forehead. He collapsed into the pool of blood, already breathless... He might have known Chen Ling would kill him, but he never expected the other party to act so decisively.

Chen Ling walked through the mess and blood on the floor and finally sat down on a barstool at the edge of the broken bar...

In the dim, dead-silent tavern, only the light of Vulture's phone screen remained, shining silently.