Chapter 84: Keep Talking

Chapter 84: Stay on the Line

Entering the villa's main hall, Zhang Yuanqing quickly swept his gaze around, then dashed towards the second floor.

He stopped at the staircase on the second floor. The door to the room at the far end of the corridor was tightly shut.

Standing at the door was a burly middle-aged man in a black vest, his muscles knotted, his face fierce, just like a thug or bodyguard in a movie.

The villa was silent. Apart from the burly man guarding the door, there was no one else.

"Wang Qian's sister should be in there. Xiahou Tianyuan brought her here. Tsk, if I could have her with me, caught red-handed, I could directly call Fu Qingyang..."

He poked his head out to observe the layout of the second floor. In his direction, there was a surveillance camera aimed directly at the room where the burly man stood.

If I were Xiahou Tianyuan, I'd have someone watch the surveillance feed 24/7, and if anything unusual happened, they'd come support immediately... Zhang Yuanqing silently withdrew his head.

At this moment, his Nightwalking time ended. He leaned against the stairwell wall, recovering his stamina while thinking.

In the present situation, he had two options.

One: Leave silently and notify Fu Qingyang to send someone to rescue the "hostage."

Two: Kill these bandits and take Wang Qian's sister away.

The first option seemed safer, but once the official Walkers intervened, it would inevitably expose his involvement in this matter.

Xiahou Tianyuan would know that the great Primordial Celestial Venerable had ruined his plan.

In the past, Zhang Yuanqing wouldn't have been afraid, with merits to his name and many hidden cards. But with Wang Qian's sister as an example, he had to consider whether the unscrupulous Xiahou Tianyuan would investigate his identity and then go after his family.

Car accidents, sudden deaths—these methods couldn't be dealt with through procedural justice.

And he hadn't yet formulated a safe plan to assassinate Xiahou Tianyuan.

In comparison, the second plan was more reliable, provided he could end it quickly without revealing his identity. Xiahou Tianyuan would first suspect the people from the Zhishagong, not the great Primordial Celestial Venerable.

Zhang Yuanqing carefully considered the feasibility of the second plan:

"Xiahou Tianyuan wouldn't send a Saint-level Walker to guard an ordinary person. Walkers of that level wouldn't do such rough work. At the very most, there would be one Level 3 Walker overseeing things. The Xiahou family is a 'Scholar' occupation family, not lacking in artifacts. Among these people, there must be one person controlling an artifact, at least one.

"The middle-aged burly man at the door feels to me like a Fire Master, with a deep aura, while the outside ones have weaker auras. This man should be the strongest."

After weighing it, he decided to take the risk: first take out the three outside as fast as possible, then kill the burly man at the door before Xiahou Tianyuan's men could come.

A Level 3 Fire Master controlling an artifact was very strong in combat; it would be a challenge for him.

"If it really doesn't work, I'll use the Red Veil. But then I'll need to destroy the evidence..." Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself: "After all, she's the mother of my child."

He chose to rescue alone, not for Wang Qian, but half out of the anger in his heart and revenge against the Xiahou family, and half for Little Dumbass.

Having trained someone else's son as his spirit servant, let this be repaying that favor.

With his thoughts clear, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and took out the Disguise Ring.

He had long since figured out the functions and limitations of this ring. After putting it on, by visualizing someone's face in his mind, he could transform into that person.

The limitation: he couldn't change gender, nor could he become more handsome than his original appearance.

[Note: You know what you look like, don't you?]

That was the idea.

Putting on the ring, Zhang Yuanqing visualized Xiahou Tianyuan's face in his mind. Seconds later, his features twisted like ripples, and when the ripples settled, he had become Xiahou Tianyuan.

Entering Nightwalking state, he quietly went downstairs.

In the backyard, three middle-aged men sat around a round table, basking in the late spring sun, drinking beer or eating food, chatting idly.

"Come to think of it, that woman isn't bad looking." The potbellied man facing the living room stroked his belly and grinned at his companions:

"How about we have some fun? Young Master Tianyuan only needs her as a bargaining chip. As long as she doesn't die, he won't care."

The two companions didn't take the bait. One was eating barbecue, the other drinking beer, and said:

"Sure, you give him a call and ask. If Young Master Tianyuan doesn't mind, then we'll go in and take care of her."

The potbellied man chuckled sheepishly: "I was just feeling bored, looking for a little fun..."

His expression suddenly froze, his eyes staring straight at the living room. On the thick carpet, at the living room entrance, a pair of brand-new red dancing shoes rising and falling.

The scene was eerie and terrifying.

The potbellied man's pupils contracted, and he quickly warned: "Behind, behind you..."

The two middle-aged men startled and whirled around.

While the three were distracted by the red dancing shoes, Zhang Yuanqing appeared behind the potbellied man, covering his mouth with his left hand and gently slitting his carotid artery with the Bloodthirsty Blade in his right hand.

The two middle-aged men heard a muffled "uh-uh" sound and immediately turned back. They saw the potbellied man's terrified face, the fountain of blood from his neck, and the young man with blood splattered on the side of his face.

"Young Master Tianyuan?" The two were shocked.

In their shock, they wasted too much time. Zhang Yuanqing swung his knife towards the left middle-aged man's chest.

The man instinctively reached out to grab, but caught only air. The thrusting willow blade shattered like a bubble.

An illusion.

The next moment, his back went cold, and blood gushed out.

"N-Nightwalker?" He spat out these words in anger and unwillingness, slowly collapsing to the ground.

On the other side, the last kidnapper was about to react when he saw the eerie red dancing shoes pattering towards him.

He instinctively threw a punch, but with a crack, bones pierced through his wrist, and his fist dangled at the end.

Thud thud thud!

The red dancing shoes, at great speed, continuously and heavily stomped on the kidnapper's chest.

The middle-aged kidnapper flew backwards and never got up.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.

Zhang Yuanqing walked over and stabbed the Bloodthirsty Blade into the last kidnapper's chest, letting this weapon of the Glamour Demon absorb enough essence blood.

Holding the hilt, he felt a scorching and vast power surge into his body.

The slight fatigue from using Nightwalking continuously dissipated, and his physical state even surpassed his usual peak.

The Glamour Demon's passive ability—Bloodthirst.

Zhang Yuanqing, holding the Bloodthirsty Blade, strode openly into the living room. As soon as he stepped onto the soft carpet, a swift flash of fire burst from the doorway, blasting his head apart.

But this was just an illusion.

The black-vested man's fists were now wearing red fingerless gloves. When his punch hit only air, his expression showed a momentary startlement.

At that moment, the real Zhang Yuanqing appeared like a ghost behind the burly man, stabbing at his back.

The Nightwalker's strike was silent and unavoidable, but the moment the blade tip pierced skin and entered muscle, the Fire Master threw himself forward with astonishing reflexes.

"Nightwalker..." The black-vested man rolled to his feet and raised an eyebrow. "You're not Young Master Tianyuan. Who are you?"

At least I've broken his defense; he'll keep bleeding... Zhang Yuanqing ignored the man's words, closed the living room door, then concealed himself, waiting for an opportunity.

At the same time, he quietly took out the Heaven Toad Furnace, kicked it under the sofa, and gave the red dancing shoes the command to pursue.

Pat pat pat... The red dancing shoes took brisk steps and charged towards the middle-aged burly man. Zhang Yuanqing took the opportunity to circle around from the left, attempting to pincer the Fire Master with the red dancing shoes.

Here is the literary English translation of the text, preserving the exact line structure and formatting.