Guo Jiuxiao and his three companions rushed toward the house where something unusual was happening.
Four figures moved swiftly through the night, leaving behind afterimages wherever they passed.
"Ma Shi, immediately destroy the stones for the Contract Circle traps. Don't let Li Tianming escape."
"Got it."
A light screen rose from the watch on Ma Shi's wrist. He tapped it twice. Dozens of button-sized orbs flew out from his backpack and scattered in all directions.
However, after a while, nothing happened.
The entire ranch remained silent.
Ma Shi frowned, "All the Contract Circle traps have been disabled."
After hearing this, Guo Jiuxiao paused for a moment, then continued forward.
He merely responded with a faint "Mm."
"As expected," Ma Shi glanced at Guo Jiuxiao. His face remained calm, and the downward-angled brows maintained that ever-present scrutinizing look.
It seemed Li Tianming dismantling the Contract Circle traps was also within Guo Jiuxiao's control.
'Could it be that Guo Jiuxiao has another trick up his sleeve?'
Guo Jiuxiao then said to Ren Changyu, "Old Ren, did you find anything?"
"Over there!"
Ren Changyu smiled faintly, pulled out a pistol, and raised his hand to fire several shots toward the distant ranch.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pink smoke exploded not far away.
It enveloped the entire ranch area within several dozen meters.
Moments later, the smoke gradually dissipated.
Within the smoke, a slightly plump figure was revealed.
Ren Changyu smiled faintly, "Li Tianming, found you."
"Your Shape-Erasing Paint Potion might've been impressive two years ago. But nowadays, it doesn't impress me."
As the smoke cleared, a person wearing a crimson mask appeared in front of Guo Jiuxiao and the others.
Guo Jiuxiao chuckled, "Old Li, why are you still a shaman? Haven't improved one bit over the years?"
Li Tianming stared coldly at the four of them.
He couldn't beat Guo Jiuxiao even one-on-one.
Let alone now, with three top professors from Central Glory University standing by his side.
These people had grown much stronger during the years he'd been exiled to the frontier.
He had come here harboring a glimmer of hope that he could avoid a fight, turns out that was a miscalculation.
Under the mask, the corners of his mouth twisted into a bitter smile.
'Looks like there is no escape after all.'
Guo Jiuxiao said, "Li Tianming, you knew you couldn't beat me, yet you ran straight toward a crowd. I really don't get what you were thinking."
Unbothered, Li Tianming pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and slipped it under the mask to puff gently.
A stream of smoke sprayed from the crimson mask, quiet and peaceful.
The air of calmness he exuded made it seem as though he was the one with the upper hand.
"Guo Jiuxiao, you weren't planning to kill me anyway, so why should I be afraid to come? Coming gives me a chance to kill Ye Hongqing. If I didn't come, I'd just be at your mercy."
Guo Jiuxiao's eyes narrowed, "How do you know I won't kill you?"
"If you planned to kill me, you wouldn't have used Ye Hongqing as bait. Since you're putting on a show for Zhao Longfei, you wouldn't tear down your own stage, would you? Besides, I'm tied to multiple Crimson Crystals. If you kill me, how are you going to explain to all the parties involved?"
"Then do you know why I'm looking for you?"
"Not exactly. But probably to verify the success of your experiment, right? Maybe you want to control me like you controlled Hao Liang last time, or maybe something else. Either way, it's something like that."
Guo Jiuxiao rubbed the corner of his eye with irritation, "Long time no see, Old Li, you're still so troublesome. Cautious yet decisive, careful but bold. Truly worthy of being my rival."
"In such a short time, you dismantled all the traps Ma Shi set in the ranch. Still as sharp as ever."
At this, Li Tianming's fingers holding the cigarette suddenly trembled.
Then he casually flicked the ash, "Right back at you."
"But you still got careless."
Guo Jiuxiao smiled slightly, "Even if you brought Zhu Haifeng and Zhong Dingming here, you still wouldn't be able to escape!"
As he spoke, a mask appeared on Guo Jiuxiao's face.
A multicolored mask.
Seeing the shaman mask on Guo Jiuxiao's face, Li Tianming's brow furrowed.
Guo Jiuxiao clasped his hands together, and behind him suddenly appeared dozens of strange crows with four wings each.
Caw! Caw!
The hoarse cries echoed across Xingye Ranch.
The flock of strange crows seemed to receive some command, scattering and flying straight upward.
Li Tianming didn't know what Guo Jiuxiao was up to.
But he knew he must not let him succeed.
He also clasped his hands together.
Thump! Thump! Thump—
From the ground suddenly burst more than a dozen thick vines, twisting and lashing about, aiming to kill all the crows in the air.
Li Tianming himself stood atop a giant vine.
The vine climbed rapidly, carrying Li Tianming toward the room from which Guo Jiuxiao and the others had come.
He was going to stop Guo Jiuxiao.
And kill Ye Hongqing.
Guo Jiuxiao said calmly, "Give me a hand."
A thin figure behind Guo Jiuxiao suddenly disappeared from the spot.
Ren Changyu glanced over, "Old Hu's chasing after Li Tianming. Old Ma, give me a hand first, I need to get ready."
As he spoke, he pulled out a magazine and reloaded his pistol.
Ma Shi pulled a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his armor-clad suit. With a twist, it instantly turned into a millstone-sized spinning blade, gleaming with a chilling light.
Moments later, the spinning blade flew into the air, quickly slicing through the vines and cutting them all in half.
Over a dozen giant vines immediately fell around them.
Li Tianming, still clasping his hands, stood atop the vines, though the color of his mask had darkened slightly.
Next, even thicker vines emerged from the cut surfaces, growing like towering trees and directly blocking the crows' path.
All the crows flying among them disappeared from sight.
At this moment, Ren Changyu, having changed the magazine, fired several shots at the roots of the newly emerged vines.
The roots withered immediately, and the massive vines trying to kill the crows collapsed with a crash.
The crows flapped their wings and flew even higher, slowing only when they were about to hit the anti-air glass.
Ma Shi frowned, "Old Guo, what's the plan with your crows? Why didn't you mention this before?"
"Just a plan to trap Li Tianming. I just added a backup. Oh, and when I trigger the trap, I'll need you guys to bring both me and Li Tianming back…"
Before he could finish, Guo Jiuxiao's smile suddenly vanished.
His eyes widened, disbelief written all over his face as he looked up.
Those strange crows were perched next to the light fixtures on the anti-air glass, looking around aimlessly, big eyes staring blankly.
All of them wore confused expressions.
Guo Jiuxiao exclaimed, "How is this possible? How is everything gone?"
"Li Tianming's only been at Xingye Ranch for just over half an hour, yet he managed to clear out all the traps? He doesn't even have any detection-type skills!!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.