Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Han Chan ignored Qin Lan’s questioning stare and turned toward the bus behind them.
“Oh? He got off too.”
“Why don’t we ask him?”
The “he” Han Chan referred to was the passenger who had screamed that everyone was dead.
The man crawled through the shattered bus window and tumbled awkwardly to the ground. Without pausing for even a moment, he scrambled up and sprinted back the way they had come.
Whenever he passed another vehicle, he pounded on its windows and screamed for the occupants to leave.
“Get out of here!”
“If you wait any longer, it’ll be too late…”
“I saw it! I saw everything!”
As he fled, he glanced back and happened to sweep his gaze over Qin Lan’s group.
Horror appeared on his face.
Qin Lan clearly saw the man open his mouth, about to shout something.
At that same moment, the construction crew nearby was repairing a shallow depression in the bridge’s road surface.
A school bus filled with students had stopped close by. The driver was playing cartoons while the children sang and danced merrily.
The steel suspension cables groaned feebly beneath the cold wind and torrential rain.
A family of three had set out on a trip. Their daughter sat in the back seat, playing with the kitten in her arms.
In another car, an office worker in a suit explained the traffic jam to his wife over the phone while impatiently sounding his horn.
The piercing horn startled the timid kitten.
Its claws flailed. The girl cried out.
The car’s child lock had been left disengaged. The panicked kitten accidentally pushed the door open and darted into the rain.
The office worker, still complaining over the phone, suddenly saw a drenched kitten land on his windshield.
Panic ignited his already frustrated temper. He tried to step on the brake but hit the wrong pedal.
His car surged forward and knocked the parked school bus askew, then barreled straight toward the construction workers.
A chain of seemingly random coincidences–each with a clear cause–unfolded one after another.
At last, the suspension cable that had already developed a fault snapped.
Crack.
Released from the strain on the metal, the broken cable cracked like a whip with a sonic boom. It arrived before its own sound and struck the fleeing passenger directly in front of Qin Lan.
The man exploded into a cloud of blood.
An actual cloud of blood.
As Qin Lan watched it all unfold, a suffocating chill seemed to freeze the blood in his veins.
Every link had fitted perfectly into the next, like exquisitely crafted gears turning together to assemble a portrait of death.
Death, which had written this script, resembled a true god. A single thought from it was enough to decide who lived and who died.
This was the first time Qin Lan had faced such a terrifying anomaly.
Or rather… was what he faced truly still an anomaly?
“What a shame. I don’t think he’s in any condition to answer our questions now.”
Han Chan delivered the brutally dark remark from beside him.
Qin Lan’s expression was grim. Before he could respond, a commotion erupted behind him.
He looked back and saw that the school bus had smashed through the bridge barrier, leaving most of its front end hanging over the river.
The depression that the crew had meant to repair had also split open into a vicious crack.
Countless drivers leaned out of their vehicles to stare.
The gloomy sky grew darker, and the rain fell more densely.
A chill crawled up Qin Lan’s back. An ominous premonition hung over his heart like a black cloud.
He thought he knew what would happen next.
Crack.
A second cable snapped.
This time, its target was Qin Lan.
Whoosh!
Clang!
The deafening impact of metal against metal stabbed pain through Qin Lan’s eardrums.
Luan Zimo had appeared in front of him without his noticing and caught the lethal blow with one hand.
Golden flames burned in her pupils, and an armor like white bone covered her hand.
She had stopped a blow powerful enough to reduce a person to bloody mist through sheer force.
“I told you already. When it comes to fighting, Ms. Luan is extremely dependable.”
Han Chan helped Qin Lan to his feet with a faint smile. “Well? Doesn’t she look impressive?”
“She has parasitic cursed artifacts implanted all over her body, so she can use their powers without any windup…”
“As for those eyes–”
Luan Zimo looked over coldly in warning, golden flames dancing in her eyes.
“Why are you telling him so much? Are you planning to reveal every card I have?”
“I never realized people from Shanhai Pavilion were such gossips.”
Han Chan looked embarrassed.
“Haha, sorry. I just thought we should understand one another better. It will make coordinating our next moves easier…”
Then he lowered his voice and leaned close to Qin Lan’s ear.
“Those eyes can perceive every change in her surroundings and predict an opponent’s actions. That makes her nearly invincible in close combat, unless a higher-ranked curse suppresses the eyes’ effects…”
Qin Lan’s mouth twitched.
“Han, you’re standing so close that she can still hear you even if you whisper… Are you sure this is a good idea?”
From Qin Lan’s perspective, Luan Zimo’s bone-armored right hand had already curled into a fist, as though she were fighting the urge to punch someone.
Han Chan chuckled, revealing a trace of the same sleazy air as Xue Chuan.
“It’s fine. I’m from Shanhai Pavilion, so she won’t dare hit me. At worst, she’ll beat you up instead.”
“Just shamelessly hang around her and make sure she remembers your face. If she saves you a few more times, it’ll spare me some effort.”
“Girls are softhearted. Compliment her pretty face, big chest, tiny waist, nice ass–things like that always make them happy.”
Qin Lan did not know whether Luan Zimo would be happy.
But judging by her rising fist, he knew his skull was nowhere near as tough as the steel cable.
“She can hear all of that too, can’t she…?”
“Stop talking, Han. If I hear any more, I might not live through this. Even if Death doesn’t kill me, she will…”
Rumble!
The bridge suddenly shook beneath their feet.
Qin Lan’s expression changed.
“Run!”
“If I’m right, this bridge is about to–”
Luan Zimo cut him off.
“Collapse. I know. I can see it.”
The golden fire in her pupils surged. Cryptic lights flowed within them, as though every object in the surrounding area had been drawn into her sight.
“I can get away. You two are on your own.”
A pair of crystalline butterfly wings unfurled behind her.
Under Qin Lan’s stunned gaze, she soared into the air and disappeared into the curtain of rain.
“She can fly?”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
Han Chan remained perfectly calm. “Of course she can. Did you think I was exaggerating when I said she had cursed artifacts everywhere?”
“Those old fellows at Tianming Academy treasure her like the apple of their eye. They’ve piled every secret cursed artifact they possess onto her. Add the enhancement from her Talent…”
“If you ever fight her, you’ll learn what it means to despair beneath overwhelming firepower.”
After recovering from his brief shock, Qin Lan rubbed his hands together and looked expectantly at Han Chan.
“Then… Han, since you’re so incredible, you must have a pile of cursed artifacts too, right?”
“Why not toss me a few 4-Star or 5-Star ones to make do with? I’m not picky.”
Han Chan gave him a confident smile.
“Haha… I don’t have any cursed artifacts.”
“My Talent prevents me from using them.”
Qin Lan froze. “Then what are we supposed to–”
Before he could finish, Han Chan had already turned and begun sprinting for his life.
“What else? Run!”