Chapter 980: Chase

Chapter 980: The Pursuit

Li Huowang stared at the young man wearing reflective toad-eye sunglasses.

He sported a slicked-back hairstyle, wore a leather jacket over a pair of worn-in jeans, and his plain face was marred by several irregularly sized black moles.

Li Huowang was certain he had never met this man before, yet the stranger stirred a profound sense of familiarity within him.

The feeling was so visceral that he blurted out instinctively, "Dice?"

The man in the sunglasses offered no reply; with a single motion, he reached into his jacket and produced three grenades.

He bit the pins out with his teeth and hurled them toward Li Huowang and the others without a second thought. "Off you go!"

It happened with such terrifying speed that no one could react in time.

Seeing the grenades flying toward him, Li Huowang gritted his teeth, lunged forward, and swung his severed arm with all his might.

To his utter shock, the moment his arm made contact, the grenades burst with a wet thud, erupting into thick, rolling black smoke that instantly swallowed the room, blinding everyone inside.

Li Huowang had been duped; those were not grenades, but smoke bombs—a mere bluff to create a diversion.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Hearing that arrogant laughter fading into the distance, Li Huowang’s heart sank. "Damn it! He was just a decoy to cover Sanqing’s escape!"

As he opened his mouth to curse, the acrid, stinging fumes rushed in, burning his eyes and throat until he couldn't keep them open.

"Sanqing! Don't you dare run!" Li Huowang covered his nose and mouth, charging toward the sound of an engine roaring to life.

Tears streaming down his face, Li Huowang burst out of the black fog just in time to see an open-top jeep with its low beams on, barreling toward him at breakneck speed. The toad-eyed man was at the wheel, with Qing Wanglai in the passenger seat.

Li Huowang gritted his teeth and dove to the side. With a screech of tires, the jeep swerved, tore through the bamboo path, and vanished from the villa grounds.

Wiping his face, Li Huowang caught a glimpse of Qing Wanglai in the back seat and sprinted toward the underground garage.

Seconds later, a roar echoed as Li Huowang burst from the garage on his heavy motorcycle, giving chase to the fleeing jeep.

Just then, he saw Yang Na standing by the roadside, her face streaked with tears and soot. She gripped a combat knife in one hand and gave him a thumbs-up with the other.

As they crossed paths, Li Huowang reached out his severed arm. Yang Na grabbed it with both hands, using the momentum to vault onto the back of the bike, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"Vroom!" With a roar of the engine, Li Huowang pinned the throttle, tearing after the jeep.

On the suburban road, Qing Wanglai led the way, and Li Huowang followed in hot pursuit.

Though Li Huowang was fast, the jeep pulled away at every turn; neither side could gain the upper hand, and the stalemate dragged on.

Watching from the back, Yang Na grew anxious. Estimating the distance, she tucked her knife away and drew a pistol, taking aim.

"Bang!" A miss. "Bang!" Another miss. "Huowang! Stop shaking! I can't get a bead on him!"

"It's a motorcycle! How can I not shake? Don't aim at him, aim for the tires!" After a few more shots, the jeep began to sway violently, its speed dropping sharply.

"Got him!" Li Huowang pushed the throttle harder, pulling the bike parallel to the jeep.

In that split second, Qing Wanglai’s pistol was already pointed at Li Huowang’s bandage-wrapped head.

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out, and Qing Wanglai’s hand and the gun exploded in a spray of blood—Yang Na had fired.

"Nana! Take the bike!" Li Huowang pressed Yang Na’s hands onto the handlebars, then kicked off the bike, launching himself at the jeep.

He slammed into the vehicle, his hands locking around Qing Wanglai’s throat. Within moments, the man’s face turned a bruised purple. "I don't know what you're planning! And I don't care! All I know is that you killed Suisui! It was you! You killed my daughter!"

Li Huowang’s strength was monstrous, his resolve unyielding. Even as the man in sunglasses rained heavy blows upon his back, he refused to let go.

Just as Qing Wanglai’s head seemed on the verge of being crushed, he reached up to grab Li Huowang’s arms, a faint, confident smile playing on his purple-hued lips.

Qing Wanglai parted his mouth, using the last of his breath to whisper, "Brother Li, help me."

In an instant, the world around Li Huowang dissolved back into the carnage of the Great Dano, and he was holding Zhuge Yuan’s severed head once more.

Zhuge Yuan’s features and Qing Wanglai’s face merged into one, and the events of that past moment overlapped perfectly with the present.

Seizing the second of Li Huowang’s distraction, Qing Wanglai drove his knee into Li Huowang’s stomach.

Li Huowang was sent flying, tumbling off the jeep. As he hit the ground, he saw Qing Wanglai leaning against the window, watching him with that signature smile.

"Thud." Li Huowang slammed into the earth, his back hitting the ground with a sickening crunch. The sensation of fractured bones and shifting organs left him pinned, unable to move.

Covered in dust and grime, Li Huowang looked up, his single eye reflecting the jeep as it drifted further and further away.

Yang Na, driving the bike, hesitated, but seeing Li Huowang’s state, she decided he was the priority.

She slammed the brakes, the tires carving a black arc in the dirt before him.

She leaped off the bike and rushed to pull him up. "Huowang, are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

Li Huowang stared at the retreating jeep with eyes full of hatred, roaring, "Qing Wanglai!!"

Half an hour later, a battered Li Huowang, supported by Yang Na, walked back into Qing Wanglai’s villa.

The others were all there, acting as if nothing had happened—some watching TV, some eating, some discussing business.

Li Huowang marched past them to Zhao Shuangdian, swung his severed arm, and smashed her laptop against the wall.

"Why didn't you help? Why!! If your people had moved, Qing Wanglai would never have escaped so easily!!"