Chapter 59

Chapter 33: Street Battle

Someone attacked me!

I quickly dodged behind a stone sculpture, curling my body slightly and crouching down, ears perked up to listen intently for any unusual sounds.

Apart from the sound of wind and snow, I heard nothing else.

The attacker was highly skilled at concealing themselves. The arrow that had just appeared seemed to have come out of nowhere, and it was clearly aimed at my head… Did they want to kill me?

Why?

I had only been in the Winter City for one day. Who could I have offended?

No, the target is Peylo.

Three years ago, she was mistakenly killed. Now, with me suddenly returning in this body, perhaps someone is worried that something might be exposed… At least, that Edward fellow would surely panic if he knew I was back.

Who exactly is he?

My thoughts raced as I scanned the shadows around the square, trying to find any trace of the enemy.

The houses, closely packed together, looked particularly quiet under the night sky. Between the houses were narrow alleyways, with dim streetlights hanging on both sides, turning everything pitch-black further in.

The attacker seemed to have some way to remain unseen. My usual keen senses suddenly failed me, unable to tell how many there were or where they were. I dared not make any rash moves.

The atmosphere remained tense for quite some time. Just as I thought the enemy had fled after failing their attack, I was about to get up and leave when the whistling sound came again.

My heart skipped a beat. I quickly lowered my head as the crossbow bolt whizzed past above me, disappearing into the darkness behind me.

Still no sign of them!

The direction the bolt came from was roughly to the upper right of my right hand. The enemy must be nearby. Instead of hiding here like a sitting duck, I should take the initiative and charge forward!

With my mind made up, I ran out from behind the stone sculpture, moving rapidly along a zigzag path. After dodging another bolt, I rushed into the alley.

The enemy must be close by.

I pressed my back against the wall, hiding beneath an eave, closing my eyes to listen carefully.

Ignoring the noisy wind—

“Click.”

There was a faint sound of a crossbow being cocked from the roof of a nearby low-rise building.

Hmph, I found you.

Crack—

Ice spears erupted beneath my feet. My body bounced twice on the ground before leaping over ten meters high, tracing an icy blue arc through the air and landing on the roof.

Then I saw a ghostly figure dressed in leather armor.

Where do you think you can hide!

It seemed the figure didn’t expect me to spot them. Seeing me jump up directly, they froze for a moment before hastily raising their light crossbow, aiming at me.

I immediately jumped to the side, easily dodging the bolt. At the same time, a blue glow flashed in my hand as five sharp ice spears shot toward the enemy.

The figure reacted very quickly, rolling aside the instant the ice spears appeared, causing the attack to miss and hit the ground with a clear sound.

The figure quickly got up, turned, and jumped to the opposite roof, then ran forward without looking back.

Trying to run? You won’t get away!

My footsteps flew as I leaned forward and sprinted. Starting my jump when I was still four or five meters away from the roof, I swung my hand again, releasing more ice spears.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh—

The figure seemed to hear the sound behind them and immediately moved to dodge, but due to the haste, they couldn’t fully avoid it. One of the ice spears struck their upper arm, causing them to stagger.

“Gah!”

The figure groaned, clutching their arm and struggling to the edge of the roof, jumping down without hesitation.

I can’t let them escape!

After landing steadily, I hurried to the spot where the figure had jumped down, peering down.

A gust of wind blew, and I squinted. Then I saw a face masked in an odd manner.

The face was inches away from mine, the hollows of the mask’s eyes glowing eerily, staring straight at me.

My heart jolted.

In the next moment, the figure raised their arm.

Click click click—

With a series of metallic scraping sounds, a multi-segment whip glinting with cold light whipped towards me.

I quickly tilted my head backward, barely dodging the whip’s strike, then quickly stepped back two steps.

Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.

Whip! A sinister weapon!?

What’s going on!?

This low-rise building was at least seven or eight meters high. I was sure there was no place around the building for anyone to stand, yet the figure had clearly jumped down. How did they manage to stand there and ambush me?

As I pondered the enemy’s methods, the masked figure charged back onto the roof. Their movements were now nimble, like a bird spreading its wings.

Were they just pretending earlier, you despicable fellow?

After coming up, the masked figure didn’t launch an immediate attack but instead watched me warily, constantly swinging the multi-segment whip, seemingly searching for the right moment to strike. The tension was palpable.

I stared at the enemy, who was clearly ready to attack, my expression grim.

This was definitely not an ordinary assassin. He was very smart.

Ming was very experienced in combat and had a keen intuition; otherwise, I would have knocked him down in one move.

But so what? No matter how powerful you are, I’ll freeze you first.

I raised my right hand to release the frost mist, but at that moment, a sudden gust of wind sounded behind me.

What?

Is there a second enemy?

I was startled, not even bothering to turn around. The hand originally raised forward quickly turned backward, releasing the frost mist instantly, then I jumped aside immediately.

There was no movement behind me, and the imagined second enemy did not appear. At this time, the masked person suddenly moved.

His figure was incredibly agile, and he drifted to my front amidst the thin wind, leaving no footprints on the snow.

The multi-jointed whip in his hand was raised high.

…Do you think you can succeed like this!

I immediately wanted to dodge sideways. Just as I stepped out with my foot, a fierce wind suddenly blew, making my dress flutter loudly.

The snowflakes were thrown onto my body and face, my eyes involuntarily closed, and the dodging action paused for an instant.

I was suddenly panic-stricken.

This person could actually use the wind to block my movements!

What kind of operation is this!?

The astonishment in my heart vanished in an instant, and the multi-jointed whip flashed with cold light, already falling with a shrill roar.

Crack-crack-crack—

Clang—

At the critical moment, a huge ice block rose from under my feet, forming a semicircular ice wall that enveloped me. The multi-jointed whip struck the ice wall, scattering ice shards, protecting me from the dangerous blow.

Damn!

The two close calls stirred up a bit of anger in me. I frowned, and a hint of icy blue flashed in my eyes.

In the next moment, the frost mist exploded.

This time, I hardly held back. The frost mist instantly covered a range of more than ten meters, and the temperature suddenly became extremely cold.

Now, where can you hide!

My figure flashed out of the protection of the ice wall, and I condensed an ice spear in my hand, just about to attack when I suddenly noticed that the masked person had used the airflow generated by the explosion of the frost mist to lightly drift out of the attack range.

After flying several meters away, he left the roof and fell to the ground.

Trying to run again, or still cheating?

This time, I learned a bit smarter. I didn’t charge blindly as before but instead, my feet flickered with blue light, and I leaped up again with a “thud.”

My petite body soared into the air, and I saw that the masked person had already landed steadily on the ground, giving me the back of his head as he turned to run away.

It seems he’s really planning to run.

Why be afraid? Come and face me directly!

I quickly adjusted my posture in mid-air, jumped several times to the ground, and glanced at the masked person who had just turned into a small alley. I kicked off and chased after him.

Chasing through several streets and alleys.

“Stop running!”

“I’ll kill you!”

“You bastard!”

The masked person seemed to have wings on his feet, his steps were light and fast. Seeing the distance growing wider, I was so angry that my nose was almost smoking. I kept cursing as I ran, and ice pillars rose beneath my feet, pushing me high into the air again. I swung out several ice spears, but they all missed.

When I landed again, the distance between us had narrowed slightly.

Just as I was about to condense another ice spear for another attack, the masked person turned into a narrow alley again. Seeing this, I gritted my teeth and quickened my pace.

This alley was relatively narrow, which was a good opportunity for an attack.

As I approached the entrance of the alley, a fierce wind suddenly hit me from behind. My speed, already quite fast, was blown off balance, and I stumbled forward.

The multi-jointed whip extended from the alley mouth.

Damn guy, always playing dirty, and slippery like an eel.

If not for the surrounding residents, do you think you’d still be alive!

Daring to ambush me!

I built another ice wall to block the attack, quickly regained my footing, gripped the ice spear with my right hand, and lunged at the masked person with a dive.

Crack-crack-crack—

Suddenly, the multi-jointed whip in the masked person’s hand quickly closed into a fine blade, and he neither dodged nor blocked, but instead charged straight at my head.

Want to trade injuries with me? Who do you think you are…

The ice spear in my hand turned and deflected the attack of the fine blade.

At the same time, I clenched my fist and punched the masked person’s lower abdomen.

Bang—

The masked person’s body instantly curled up like a shrimp. The immense force sent him flying, and he tumbled several times on the ground before lying face down, motionless.

“Pant— pant—”

After the series of chases, I was slightly out of breath. Wiping the sweat on my forehead, I walked toward the masked person.

“Are you a hunter? Why did you attack me?”

The masked person remained motionless.

I frowned.

Fainted? So weak?

“Hey, you—”

Just as I was speaking, a muffled explosion sounded from under the masked person.

Boom—

A light gray smoke burst open, enveloping my figure.

“Cough-cough—”

A pungent smell entered my nostrils, causing my eyes to burn and water uncontrollably. My whole face felt scorching hot.

What is this!!