Chapter 245: Chapter 244: Killing is Easier Than Saving

A white glint flashed through Wu Chen’s eyes, and his vision instantly turned night into day.

He shot up, catching Sun Yuting, who was swaying precariously as if sleepwalking.

"Why is she so hot!"

The moment his palm touched her, a furnace-like heat seared his hand, and he was shocked.

’Is she poisoned?’

"No, that’s not right!"

Wu Chen stared at the faint, flickering light between Sun Yuting’s eyebrows and instantly realized something.

’Is this the work of that guy from the stall during the day?’

’Is he connected to the disappearing townspeople?’

Several thoughts flashed through Wu Chen’s mind, but he had no time to dwell on them. He scooped her up by the waist and placed her on the bed.

’I have to cool her down first...’

Feeling the scorching heat radiating from her body, Wu Chen wasn’t sure what to do.

But he soon remembered the piercingly cold qi he had absorbed in Cold Wind Valley, which had then tempered his very source energy.

Looking at her feverish and haggard appearance, and not knowing if her condition would worsen, he decided to take a shot in the dark.

’I can only give it a try!’

With that thought, he grabbed Sun Yuting’s wrist and mobilized the source energy within him that had been tempered by the cold qi.

At the Armor Forging Realm, the condensed qi in one’s body could already circulate outside of it.

An icy, pure cold qi gathered in Wu Chen’s palm, then extended outward, crawling up her arm in thin tendrils.

This cold qi was extremely violent and frigid.

For killing, it was definitely a Divine Weapon. You didn’t have to think too much—just build it up and unleash it with full force.

But for saving someone... Wu Chen really had no confidence.

He held his breath and focused completely, concentrating on controlling the cold qi as it flowed out from his fingers and palm, not daring to let his attention waver for even a moment.

Fortunately, the cold qi was as obedient as his own limbs, showing no signs of becoming chaotic or violent.

As time passed, second by second, the cold qi slowly climbed up her arm and then traveled throughout her body, gradually lowering the temperature of Sun Yuting’s furnace-like frame.

In the process of this extremely precise manipulation of the cold qi, fine beads of sweat formed on Wu Chen’s forehead.

"Mmm..."

The effect was obvious.

After the cold qi had circulated through her once, Sun Yuting’s consciousness returned. She slowly opened her eyes, which had regained some of their clarity.

Looking at the young man by her bed, her pale lips trembled as she said:

"Wu Chen, the stall owner who drew the mark... something’s not right with him!"

"I’m okay... Hurry, go look for them outside... They might still be... The disappearance of the townspeople might be related to him..."

Sun Yuting’s breath was weak, and her words were fragmented, but Wu Chen understood what she meant.

He let go of her hand, and the cold qi surrounding Sun Yuting completely dissipated.

After a moment, seeing that Sun Yuting’s gaze remained clear and was no longer muddled, and that her temperature showed no signs of rising again, Wu Chen finally felt a bit relieved.

Seeing the young man still standing by her side, Sun Yuting knew he was worried about her, afraid that leaving would be falling for a trick to lure the tiger from the mountain.

She could only speak up again:

"I still have a secret treasure on me... If an enemy really comes... I have a way to protect myself."

"Alright!"

Hearing this, Wu Chen finally nodded. He grabbed the ink-black saber leaning against the head of the bed and was at the door in the blink of an eye.

He opened the door, and a gale mixed with a torrential downpour rushed inside with startling force.

But just as quickly, as the young man dashed into the night, the fierce sound of the wind and rain was shut out once more.

SPLASH! SPLASH! —

It was now the latter half of the night, and the rain outside was as heavy as ever, showing no signs of letting up.

For Wu Chen, this didn’t affect anything.

A layer of dense qi, though only a hair’s breadth thick, enveloped his body, enough to block the fierce wind and rain and keep his clothes from getting wet.

His figure became a black shadow, rushing out of the Liu family’s grand courtyard and beginning to dash through the various parts of Water Town.

’Who are these people? What the hell are they trying to do!’

’What does that mark do? Make people lose control? Make them leave their houses on their own?’

’...’

As Wu Chen ran, his brow was tightly furrowed. His gaze pierced the curtain of rain, scanning the houses of Water Town as he recalled Sun Yuting’s strange behavior from earlier.

But with only what he knew now, he couldn’t reach a complete conclusion.

The enemy was still in the shadows, and he didn’t even know who they were.

’This household...’

Soon, he saw a house with its main gate wide open.

It was still nearly an hour until dawn, and with the heavy rain, this open gate seemed exceptionally strange.

’No sound of breathing!’

Wu Chen had only just stepped into the courtyard when he noticed the main door of the house was also open. At such a close distance, even with the clamor of the rain, he could detect the abnormality.

Knowing the house was empty, he didn’t search any further and turned back to the street.

’So the mark really does control people’s actions!’

’But where are these people being led?’

Wu Chen’s brow furrowed. As he looked into the inky blackness of the night, a white glint flashed in his eyes.

Pulse Severance!

In an instant, countless traces of qi became visible to his eyes.

Unfortunately, these were all just the traces of rainwater falling from the sky; there wasn’t a single wisp of qi from a living person.

Washed away by the endless rain, all the qi signatures had long since vanished.

’...’

In this situation, Wu Chen, though silent, was on the verge of cursing out loud.

The feeling of having the clues right in front of him, of being just one step away from catching the culprit only to miss, left him simmering with frustration.

But it was pointless to say any more at this point.

He savagely unleashed the qi in his body, his figure flitting even faster through every part of town, searching for any possible lingering traces of qi.

Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!

There was absolutely nothing!

All he could see was the endless rain.

And the families from the houses with open gates had all vanished without a trace.

’I’m too late.’

Wu Chen knew he was too late. He remembered the stall owner saying there were a total of twenty spots for the mark.

That meant, besides Sun Yuting, at least twenty other people had fallen victim tonight.

No, counting their families, it was probably over a hundred people!

And these people had just silently vanished right under his nose!

All traces were washed away by the heavy rain!

After a thorough search, he returned with nothing to show for it.

CREAK~

Returning to the residence without a sound, Wu Chen pushed open the door. Sun Yuting was already sitting on the edge of the bed, looking much recovered.

Looking at Wu Chen, who entered the room drenched, Sun Yuting asked weakly, "Did you find anything?"

Wu Chen shook his head, closed the door, and sat down quietly at the desk.

"It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t gone to get that mark drawn, if we had gone out on patrol tonight, maybe things would be different. We might have even caught the mastermind."

Sun Yuting’s pale face was filled with self-blame. She never thought that a moment of fun would almost lead to disaster and, on top of that, cause the clue to their mission, which had fallen right into their laps, to be lost.

Wu Chen shook his head and said lightly:

"It has nothing to do with you. If you hadn’t gotten that mark, no one would know how these people were disappearing. At least now we can be on guard against this sort of thing."

"Besides, their timing was too perfect. This storm not only masked all the sounds tonight, but it also washed away all the tracks."

"As for patrolling, the enemy has the initiative. They could have simply waited until after our patrol was over to activate the mark and take those people away."

"The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. It’s always easier to kill than to save."

Regarding this matter, Wu Chen could only shake his head helplessly.

He took a Nourishing Essence Pill from his storage pouch and tossed it into his mouth, replenishing the qi he had completely exhausted during his all-out search.

As the pill’s medicinal power was absorbed and circulated through his organs, his qi gradually recovered.

Then, white mist rose from his body, and in just a few breaths, his rain-soaked clothes were steamed dry.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with a troubled expression. Listening to the heavy rain outside, he didn’t let the temporary setback affect his state of mind.

Instead, he began thinking about what other methods these people might have and how to deal with them next.

Before he knew it, the sky outside the window began to brighten, and the downpour gradually subsided.

Finally, the clouds dispersed and dawn’s first light fell on the windowsill. Just then, Master Liu’s panicked voice rang out from outside the side courtyard:

"Young Master, Young Hero! People have gone missing in our Water Town too!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.