Chapter 519: Service Area in the Rain

It had only been a few dozen seconds since Chen Ling arrived at the museum.

He had witnessed the Domain battle between Xiao Chunping and Nie Yu. During this process, it wasn't that he didn't want to help Xiao Chunping, but that he couldn't.

After all, he hadn't mastered a Domain yet, and forcibly intervening in their battle would only increase the burden on Xiao Chunping. Once their Domains disappeared, he entered the battlefield immediately to catch the weak Xiao Chunping falling from the sky.

"Are you going to hunt him down?" Xiao Chunping coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood and shook her head immediately.

"It’s too dangerous... Even in a same-rank battle, the probability of the Play Divine Path winning against the Soldier Divine Path is not high. Even if he is sealed by me, he is still a Fourth-Order and can mobilize part of his Domain... Let him go."

"If I let him go, he will eventually kill his way back."

Chen Ling stood up slowly, looking in the direction of Nie Yu’s escape, cold glints flashing in his eyes. "He already knows this location and knows your ability, Senior... No matter what, I cannot let him leave alive."

Rumble—!

Low thunder flashed across the clouds, and the continuous night rain seemed to be turning into a thunderstorm.

After settling Xiao Chunping and the others, Chen Ling quickly stepped onto the clouds. A touch of apricot red bloomed at the corner of his eyes, gazing from beneath the thunderclouds in the direction of Nie Yu’s escape. The bloody footprints on the ground were clearly reflected in his pupils.

With a sway of his figure, he pursued at full speed beneath the pitch-black thunderclouds.

……

"Cough, cough, cough... Ugh..."

Bloody footprints spread along the road. Nie Yu suddenly bent over, and large mouthfuls of black blood splashed onto the ground. After a long while, he slowly straightened his back.

A hunting knife was stuck in his chest, and blood dripped continuously along the handle... Even so, Nie Yu didn't pull it out, but walked forward staggeringly with the knife still stuck in him.

This wasn't to stop the bleeding, but only with the blade left in his body could he continue to precisely manipulate the sharp threads to clear the [Demon-Subduing Blood Picture] inside him.

"How could there be such an ability..."

Nie Yu had never imagined that this assassination would be so pathetic. In Shennongjia, he had thought this was an effortless task, but first, a Chen Ling popped out of nowhere and played him around, and then an old lady with terrifying strength appeared. If he hadn't been ruthless enough to himself, he would likely have died in that museum already.

However, he had already memorized the scent of Su Zhiwei and the others. Once his injuries recovered, he could continue the hunt... As for that old lady, she must have consumed a lot this time. At her age, it wouldn't be easy for her to recover to her peak state.

Nie Yu breathed heavily. The cold thunderstorm grew heavier, hitting his body and washing away the blood, which flowed down to the sides of the road...

"No... this can't go on."

Nie Yu suddenly seemed to remember something and looked back sharply. He saw a path covered in bloodstains extending all the way to his feet—that was the blood he had shed along the way.

Su Zhiwei and the other man were unconscious, and the old lady was exhausted, so they couldn't pursue... But Nie Yu clearly remembered that when he opened the [Field of Vision Hunting Ground], he saw Chen Ling also arriving at the museum!

If Chen Ling wanted to kill him, now was definitely the best time. He might even have become Chen Ling’s "prey" already... But even if Nie Yu knew this, there was nothing he could do. He was too badly injured to escape at full speed, and every capillary on his body was oozing blood, making it impossible not to leave a trail.

Nie Yu staggered forward while his brain raced. His eyes scanned the surroundings, as if searching for something.

"I can't keep moving blindly like this... If he really pursues me, I definitely don't have the advantage in speed. Instead of being hunted and exhausted to death in the wilderness, it’s better to find a suitable location for a desperate counterattack..."

Nie Yu was a "hunter" himself; no one knew better than him how to kill wounded prey. For a wounded, dying wolf, the best way to hunt was to shoot from afar with a rifle, forcing it to keep running for its life and continuing to exhaust it, especially in this vast wilderness. As long as the hunter was patient enough, he could completely exhaust it without a life-or-death struggle.

Nie Yu naturally couldn't let himself become a "prey" toyed with by others. He wanted to hold his fate in his own hands... He had to find a place full of cover and have a life-or-death struggle with the pursuer!

Finally, Nie Yu’s gaze pierced through the curtain of rain and landed on a highway service area not far away that appeared to have ceased operations.

This was the only place in the vicinity of this road with a large amount of cover and a complex, intricate layout. Since it had been abandoned, not a single light shone from within; from afar, it looked like a ghost town amidst the night rain.

Without hesitation, Nie Yu dragged his blood-stained body, inching his way toward the service area.

A minute later,

A figure stepped through the air beneath the clouds.

"Hid in the service area, huh... Has he already realized I'm tracking him?" Chen Ling’s apricot-red eyes stared at the blood on the ground, which extended all the way into the service area, his eyes narrowing slightly.

【Audience Expectation +2】

【Current Expectation: 54%】

As the blood on the ground intertwined into two lines of characters, Chen Ling became more certain of this thought. He gazed at the abandoned service area shrouded in darkness, lost in thought.

This service area occupied a large space. Viewed from above, in addition to the gas station and the main building, there was even a commercial street, a food street, dozens of shops of various sizes, and complete infrastructure... but Nie Yu’s blood trail vanished completely after entering the commercial street.

He was observing the service area from the air, and Nie Yu was undoubtedly in some corner of it, staring back at him.

At this moment, there was no longer any distinction between hunter and prey; he and Nie Yu were both hunters... or rather, they were each other's prey.

"Another fierce battle, then..." Chen Ling sighed inwardly, and then, as if thinking of something, a glimmer flashed in his eyes.

A fierce battle... hunter and prey... a cross-tier fight... a cornered beast's struggle...

Could it be...

【Complete a thrilling murder performance in the presence of at least 2,000 witnesses】

Chen Ling suddenly remembered his unfinished performance. For him, this was a risky battle of a Tier 3 fighting a Tier 4; for Nie Yu, it was a life-or-death desperate counterattack... The two had been entangled until now, and today, only one was destined to walk out of here alive. In a sense, this should be the most difficult battle Chen Ling had faced to date.

From this perspective, it should satisfy the "thrilling" condition... but what about the 2,000 witnesses?

Chen Ling frowned in the rain, pondering. He didn't want to miss this excellent performance opportunity; after all, such life-and-death struggles weren't something one encountered every day, and he couldn't guarantee he would win... But right now, let alone 2,000 people, there wasn't even an extra shadow nearby. It was impossible to satisfy the performance requirements.

No... wait!

Chen Ling seemed to think of something. He pulled a flip phone from his pocket, his gaze sweeping over the service area, which was filled with abandoned surveillance cameras, and his eyes gradually brightened.

He had almost forgotten: in this era, the audience... didn't necessarily have to be on-site.