Chapter 20：Five Minutes and Fifty Seconds (1)

"Leave?"

Huai Shi stared at Liu Dongli, stunned.

Although they were in the middle of a performance, Liu Dongli was still smiling dazzlingly. He winked at the old ladies in the audience, looking so flirtatious even as he grabbed a phone and read a text.

The next moment, his smile stiffened on his face.

Amidst the celebratory hillbilly Yangge, his face turned extremely pale. Ignoring the fact that he was halfway through a show, he grabbed Huai Shi by the arm, turned around, and left.

At first they were jogging, but soon it was a full sprint.

"Of course we'll leave. What'd you do if we don't? Stay for the new year celebrations?"

Liu Dongli was livid, murmuring things like how could that stupid woman, heartless witch, and so on. He shoved everyone out of his way and paid no attention to the chaos he left in his wake, heading straight for the back door and trying to open it.

The door moved but immediately stopped again.

It was locked.

From the outside.

"F*ck, let's take the front door…"

Liu Dongli pulled his gun out of his pocket, furious and anxious, aiming it at the two people who had given chase. "Go away! Go! Scram!"

Bang!

Bang!

The bullets hit the wall and embedded themselves in the brick, dust flying everywhere.

Still, once the others knew that Liu Dongli was not armed with a toy, they screamed and turned around to run.

"Was that necessary?" Huai Shi was shocked.

Just then, his phone vibrated again with another text from Ai Qing.

"—Closed 4"

"Do you have any idea what this means?" Liu Dongli looked livid as he pointed at the words on the screen. "Closed— That means a lockdown!

"That's how the Astronomical Association most often deals with dangerous objects. The 4 there is the countdown, which means we have four minutes left! After four minutes, the entire area will be cut off from the world… When that happens, we'll be locked in the same cage as the stuff they're trying to lock down!"

This was the last chance Ai Qing was giving them.

'The plan is canceled.

'We don't have time to let you retreat.

'Try to run as far as you can…'

"Is she really so heartless?!"

Huai Shi was so scared that his face turned transparent, and he was suddenly feeling a little dizzy. His vision was flickering as he stumbled behind Liu Dongli. They went down a corridor, but because they were walking so quickly, Huai Shi bumped into an employee carrying a ton of things.

"Sorry, sorry."

Huai Shi hurriedly scrambled to his feet. He wanted to help the man pick up his things, but he had no time whatsoever, so he apologized repeatedly before turning around to chase after Liu Dongli.

The introverted man did not say anything. He just gave Huai Shi a glance before mechanically picking the things up from the floor.

The instant he raised his head, however, Huai Shi saw… something on the plain face. Behind his eyes, Huai Shi thought he saw a red-gold figure swim past slowly…

It looked like… a goldfish in an aquarium?

That thought occurred to Huai Shi randomly. 

…

Five minutes ago.

"Cancel all the programs after this."

In the waiting room, Wang Hai paced back and forth, waiting out the opening acts before the sermon. For some reason, however, he kept having this bad feeling.

All of his escape routes were ready, and he could make a run for it as soon as he completed this haul, but there was still an irrepressible panic filling his chest.

Something was not right…

He instinctively bit his finger, tearing apart the newly-healed skin and flesh. The uneasiness in his heart only grew further.

"Start the sermon right now!"

Finally, he could not wait any longer. He stomped his foot abruptly and picked up the box on the table, instructing his disciple, "Don't bother with the meaningless performances anymore. In any case, we have to take more this time. There's no need to liven up the atmosphere!"

After his disciple left hastily, Wang Hai tried to suppress the panic in his chest, wearing the smile that had long since become muscle memory for him.

All of a sudden, he felt a vibration in his pocket.

It was his phone.

He had received a mysterious text from an unknown number, but the contents of the message made his face turn instantly pale.

"Tu Tai has been arrested, and the Astronomical Association is on its way. Run, Wang Hai. You have one minute left."

In an instant, the piercing chill made his scream out loud.

Although he did not know who the sender of the text was, and how they found out about this number he only gave his most trusted subordinates, it was far too late to care about things like that.

This was the straw to break the camel's back. 

Leave.

He had to leave right now.

He could not stay here in New Ocean anymore!

The intense terror gave him the urge to scream again. Carrying the box, he pushed open the waiting room door and sprinted madly forward. Kicking open the door there, he grabbed a key and ran straight toward the back door.

When he turned the corner, he heard the voices in front of him.

"Why are you leaving, Lil Bro? Didn't we make a promise?" The first old lady Liu Dongli had approached was holding his arm warmly, trying to make him stay. "After the sermon, Big Sis will make you doughball noodles."

"Sorry, Big Sis, but I'm in a rush. I really have to go."

Liu Dongli struggled, raising his head and looking ahead.

He saw Wang Hai.

Wang Hai saw him too.

They stared at each other as though there was a deep abyss between them. Both of their expressions froze, and the next instant, they looked determined and ruthless. 

Immediately after that, there was a gunshot. 

It came from behind Liu Dongli.

The gun in the young man's hand was smoking.

It was Huai Shi.

In that instant, he had quickly reached out his hand to grab Liu Dongli's gun from behind. Without hesitation, he aimed and shot.

However, he did not aim at Wang Hai. Instead, he aimed at… the old 'big sister' next to Liu Dongli.

"She wants to kill someone!"

The Premonition of Death skill was reacting violently, and it told Huai Shi without a doubt that this seemingly friendly old lady was brimming with killing intent.

Enough killing intent to tear Huai Shi and Liu Dongli to pieces.

He had shot that bullet in haste, so Huai Shi almost lost his grip on the gun. The bullet that was aiming for the old lady's body went way off, and it only hit her hand on Liu Dongli's, blowing a large hole in her wrist. Liu Dongli was nearly caught in it too.

There was a silence.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Liu Dongli instinctively tried to duck away, and he saw the old hand that had been gripping him gradually turn a metallic grey. Long and sharp metallic grey nails extended from her hand.

As her flesh and blood slowly came together again, a squashed bullet was pushed out of her wound.

"So I was seen through, huh?"

The old lady raised her head slowly, and her old face gradually twisted. Her eyes turned a familiar blood-red, but bit by bit, her face morphed into that of a beast, giving them a hungry grin.

"F*ck, it's the nue!"

Liu Dongli wailed.

—Closed 3.5

There were three minutes and thirty seconds left before Old Pond Town was sealed off, and the situation was taking a turn for the worst. Just like the East Xia soccer team, Huai Shi and Liu Dongli did not have much time left either.

Since everyone had reunited under such sudden and awkward consequences, it was natural that they could not sit down for a chat over drinks.

The fastest to react was Liu Dongli.

Or rather, this flirt just sincerely wanted to show off his so-called breathtaking beauty at every minute of every day.

"Whatchu looking at?!"

After that vicious bark, the Nue who had instinctively glanced over at Liu Dongli stiffened on the spot. On the other hand, Liu Dongli hurriedly grabbed the gun from Huai Shi's numb hand and shot wildly at his old Big Sis.

Of course, amidst the gunfire, their earlier lovey-dovey age-transcending romance in the village was now nowhere to be seen.

In a second, he had shot off half of his clip, but the gun did not have a big barrel or significant destructive power. To someone who had reached the third level, an Ascender whose organs were already Etherizing, a handgun's effect was almost negligible.

The Nue-shaped old woman had already closed her eyes.

The tables were turning.

Next to Liu Dongli, Huai Shi did not just stand there either. Gathering his courage, he rolled up his sleeves and rushed right at Wang Hai, giving him a sudden flying kick. "Leave the box here!"

Wang Hai had been about to turn and run, but Huai Shi's kick landed right on his old waist, and it sent him sprawling face-first into the ground. However, he still did not let go of the box in his arms. 

Huai Shi immediately followed up with a pounce and some military boxing right in his old face.

Since Huai Shi did not know if Wang Hai had any special abilities, he did not hold back in the slightest. He hit the old man so hard that even his fingers hurt.

The poor Wang Hai was only prized by the Lords for his talent in spreading the gospel. Even though he was a con artist, he only ever used his words for his work, so he had never been involved with such an ugly fight before.

He was actually a normal guy!

Right now, the numero uno of the Church, the old lady Nue was engaged in a fight with Liu Dongli, and Wang Hai's disciples-cum-bodyguards could not make it here in time either. As a result, he suffered his initiation at the hands of Huai Shi's military boxing.

"Ho! Ho! Ha! Heh!" Huai Shi used almost half of his military boxing skills, and it made his entire body feel great. Every pore on his skin was wonderfully tingly, and when he saw that the old man could not put up a fight at all, he instantly relaxed considerably. Immediately after that, he grew even angrier.

"You're the b*stard who hired people to go after me! I'll teach you to try and kill your witnesses! I'll punish you for your crimes! I'll make you pay for trafficking drugs! This is what you get for harming society!"

"You little son of a gun, where the heck did you come from? Die!"

Wang Hai was completely mad with rage now, and he swung his arms wildly. Huai Shi felt a pain in his arm, and a bloody cut soon blossomed underneath his tattered clothing.

He had been cut with a knife!

After Wang Hai had taken the dagger out of his shoe when Huai Shi was not looking, the old man had been waiting for his chance. Holding the box close, he suddenly opened it and shoved it at Huai Shi's direction. All of a sudden, a fog-like powder shot out from the box and pounced onto Huai Shi's face. 

As he expected, that crazy thing reacted extremely quickly. As soon as he breathed it in, Huai Shi's entire body turned weak, and all sorts of illusions appeared in his mind. It felt so good, like he was in heaven. That was when he knew that he had fallen for the old man's trap.

"F*ck, you take a whiff too!"

He grabbed Wang Hai's collar and with a clench of his fist, he produced a handful of Disastrous Dust, stuffing it blindly into Wang Hai's face and really pressing it in.

Wang Hai's face immediately turned bright red, his tears and snot cascading down. He began to wail like a demon.

Huai Shi found a chance to put some into his own mouth as well, and the crazy ecstasy in his heart was neutralized by the sudden surge of sorrow. His mind had been floating somewhere high up in the sky, but now it was rapidly brought back down to earth, as though someone had poured dirty toilet water onto his heart.

The two of them oscillated abruptly between joy and sorrow, laughing like mad with tears and snot streaming down their faces. They brawled like inmates at the asylum, tangled up in a mess of limbs.

In a way, they made a great combination.

However, they had not been pecking at each other for too long. Only twenty-five seconds had passed since the start.

Just then, they were jolted from their dazed illusions by a loud noise.

It came from behind them.

Only twenty-odd seconds had passed, but Liu Dongli's face was already covered in blood. His bespoke suit had also been reduced to a beggar's rags, and the deep cut in his chest nearly gutted him.

The gun was in the Nue's hands now, and she tossed it aside.

To Liu Dongli, the past twenty-five seconds felt like hell.

Even though the Nue had her eyes closed, she could still beat him up easily.

When he fell backward, Liu Dongli had finally found a window of opportunity… He pulled something from the hidden holster in the crotch of his suit, his trump card, and aimed it at the old woman leaping through the air at him.

It was another gun, made even shorter this time.

He had prepared this especially for the Nue.

The opportunity only lasted for an instant.

There were two bullets, but only one instant.

The moment that instant passed, the terrifyingly agile Nue would activate her skill and glide through the air, snatching the barrel of the gun and tearing his arm right off.

Now, however, the victor was decided.