Chapter 167: Lin Nuo vs. Poison Bee

Chapter 167: Lin Nuo vs. Poison Bee

“That’s surprisingly close.”

Lin Nuo had barely taken a few steps when he arrived. This beautiful boss wasn’t lying to me at all.

Speaking of which, why didn’t I ask earlier? If I had known I could eat the seasonal canned Meat Floss Cake every day, why bother nibbling on stuff from other shops? As a major villain, I should be enjoying high-quality Meat Floss Cake!

Alright, I’ll grab a big bag of Meat Floss Cake and some other snacks to prepare for leaving the city.

But then he spotted a sketchy character.

That punk from before.

What the heck? How am I running into this loser again?

Lin Nuo recalled the guy’s tense, rabid expression from the last encounter at the inn—looking like he was about to explode with rabies or something. Scary!

But things weren’t looking any better now. This creep had a glare as if I’d just killed his horse.

Lin Nuo used to scoff at superstition, but now he had his doubts. Ever since arriving in Zhou Ling City, luck had been downright awful. I must have crossed paths with some petty villain.

And who’s that petty villain? Isn’t it this loser?

In a vast place like Zhou Ling City, what are the odds of bumping into you three times? What, you planning to stick to my back like a bad rash?

Lin Nuo ignored him. What’s he gonna do, throw down right here?

He pulled out his coin purse, ready to sweep up all the Meat Floss Cake in the shop. A villain might not be well-off, but I still gotta have some presence!

At that moment, the Poison Bee was approaching Lin Nuo, casually raising his right hand.

“Hey there, you dropped something.”

Just as the Poison Bee was about to place his hand on Lin Nuo’s shoulder, Lin Nuo swiftly grabbed his arm.

“That thing isn’t mine, and don’t touch my shoulder.”

Lin Nuo shot him a sharp glance and replied coldly.

As a major villain, he hated being patted on the shoulder, especially by this loathed loser. Did this dirty hand think it was worthy?

The Poison Bee realized his first attempt hadn’t gone well; it seemed the opponent came prepared.

“Hah, you knew it wasn’t yours without even looking?”

The Poison Bee hid one hand, and immediately a hidden needle dart shot out from his sleeve. At this close range, no one could dodge it.

However, an invisible barrier erupted from Lin Nuo’s ring, blocking the needle.

Lin Nuo also fired several needles from his sleeve, countering the Poison Bee.

The Poison Bee was surprisingly sharp as well; he activated his Spirit Shield to fend off Lin Nuo’s flying needles and promptly shook off Lin Nuo’s grip, retreating a couple of steps.

In just two seconds, both sides exchanged secret weapons. Yet, due to their remarkable agility and quick reflexes, neither gained an advantage.

For now, it was a deadlock, both of them standing close, staring each other down with fury.

This brief clash ignited Lin Nuo’s anger.

Just a moment ago, the opponent had aimed to take his life. Clearly, this was no ordinary punk.

Lin Nuo didn’t understand why the other wanted him dead—perhaps he had made enemies in the Black Market, or maybe he stirred up some disciples from the Refining Demon Sect. But he couldn’t be bothered to disentangle who it was. If they wanted to kill him, he would play along to the end.

“Hah, not bad. That was just an appetizer,” the Poison Bee sneered coldly.

“Want to fight, huh?”

Lin Nuo cracked his knuckles, shrugging with the urge to smash the Poison Bee.

“You’re too arrogant. This matter has nothing to do with you, but you had to stick your nose in. Of course, you must have anticipated this outcome,” the Poison Bee continued.

“What a bunch of nonsense.”

“Hah.”

After sneering, the Poison Bee suddenly threw a few shurikens. Lin Nuo dodged at lightning speed, but the shurikens quickly reversed and came at him from behind.

The pastry shop customers were dumbfounded. They came to buy cakes but ended up witnessing a life-and-death conflict?

At that moment, the wealthy patron, poisoned slowly, succumbed to agony, clutching his chest, foaming at the mouth, and collapsed.

He’s dead! He’s really dead!

“Somebody died!!”

Guests screamed upon seeing the wealthy patron suddenly drop dead. With Lin Nuo and the others tossing hidden weapons, panic escalated, and people began to flee as if a riot had broken out.

In an instant, chaos erupted. Cries echoed endlessly, bodies crashed into one another, some were trampled, and a tragedy unfolded, with others falling victim to the Poison Bee’s traps.

“Nice, nice! Bring it on, bring it on!”

The Poison Bee already unleashed more than ten shurikens, effortlessly maneuvering them around Lin Nuo. Clearly, his weapons were more advanced; those shurikens followed the user’s command, meaning he was a skilled master, and the shurikens? They had to cost a pretty penny in the Black Market.

So this loser, even though he looked sketchy, turned out to be a secret rich guy.

Snatching his stuff would be quite the score.

Lin Nuo jumped to the rooftop, the shurikens hot on his trail. Instantly, he unleashed multiple illusions, scattering in different directions.

“Gonna use that trick again? Not this time!”

Last time, he was too hasty and fell for the illusions; the Poison Bee had learned his lesson. When illusions appeared, he could simply use his illusion-breaking technique to disable them.

“Just a trivial trick.”

The Poison Bee chuckled confidently, channeling his energy, and a blue light suddenly flared.

Breaking the Illusions, as the name implies, specifically counters deceptive illusions like the Illusions and so forth.

As a seasoned assassin, this kind of illusion was easy to deal with.

Lin Nuo noticed that his illusions were all dispelled. He recognized the opponent’s technique and adjusted his estimation of the enemy’s strength—this guy means business, no doubt about it.

But Lin Nuo didn’t panic or feel like being led around like a fool by the Poison Bee’s shurikens. He kept leaping between buildings, trying to put some distance between them. As long as he got far enough away, the shurikens would become harder to control.

However, the Poison Bee caught on to Lin Nuo’s plan, relentlessly trailing him and maintaining a steady distance for casting spells, continuously sending shurikens after him.

“What a nuisance.”

Seeing that the opponent was experienced and recognized his intentions, Lin Nuo felt the heat as he constantly kept his distance, being worn down by the barrage of shurikens.

This is getting really annoying.

Suddenly, Lin Nuo slammed to a halt, tossing a gray ball to the ground. An explosion erupted, generating a cloud of smoke that obscured everything in sight.

“That won’t do you any good.”

The Poison Bee sneered, dismissing the smoke as weak. He didn’t even need to see Lin Nuo; he could completely sense his location based on his energy.

A seasoned expert should be able to do this.

“Haha, what’s that old shed gonna protect you from?”

Sensing Lin Nuo hiding behind a building, the Poison Bee quickly closed in, skillfully maneuvering his ten-plus shurikens to apply pressure on Lin Nuo while finding cover from Lin Nuo’s secret weapons. In this exchange, he undoubtedly had the upper hand, constantly depleting Lin Nuo’s stamina and forcing him to make a fatal mistake.

But suddenly, an inexplicable energy wave surged through the buildings and obstacles, crashing into the Poison Bee.

Bang!

The Poison Bee was slammed against the wall, creating a large hole.

“What’s this…”

He had no idea what was happening, just that waves of energy kept crashing through every obstacle toward him, yet everything intact.

Bang!

He got hit a few more times, sending him flying dozens of meters away.