Chapter 16: The Frenzied Strongman

Seeing the middle-aged strong man treat the wall as if it were nothing, Yan Fei's eyelids twitched wildly, knowing full well how sturdy the walls of the villa were. Yet beneath this man's feet, the wall was like flour, creating a large hole with a single kick, easily torn down by hand.

This middle-aged strong man's strength was extraordinary, just like Xiao Kong, who was killed by Yan Fei; he was definitely a true martial arts master. And now this person had entered the villa with Zhang Baocheng's motorcade. Seeing how respectfully Zhang Baocheng treated him, could it be that he was the assistant Zhang Baocheng had called for help?

In an instant, Yan Fei thought of many things. However, his movements didn't slow down—he dodged the strong man's sneak attack and darted into the forest behind him. The strong man sneered, misstepped, and also followed him into the chase.

As soon as he entered the forest, Yan Fei immediately utilized a footwork technique taught by Wang Yong, nimbly sprinting through the trees. Unexpectedly, the strong man's movements were even faster than his; in the blink of an eye, he caught up to Yan Fei.

The strong man kicked at Yan Fei, who crossed his arms to block it, only to feel an enormous force hit him, numbing his arm and nearly causing him to lose consciousness. His body, propelled by the massive force, flew four or five meters away and violently struck a tree.

The first exchange of blows, and Yan Fei was at a significant disadvantage in terms of strength. Alarmed, he realized that the strong man was even more powerful than Xiao Kong, sending him flying with just one move. He had thought that after learning some Kung Fu routines and power techniques, he might be able to shake off the strong man in the complex forest terrain and perhaps even turn the tables, but he never expected the strong man's strength to be so formidable, giving him a tough lesson from the very first exchange.

Although Yan Fei took a hit from the strong man, he went with the momentum; even after being flung four or five meters, he managed to dissipate most of the force while in midair, so his body didn't take much damage. Having tested the strong man's strength and knowing he couldn't match it, he flipped back to his feet and started running again.

The strong man, seeing that his kick hadn't injured Yan Fei, uttered a surprised "Huh," and then continued the pursuit.

Yan Fei wasn't as fast as the strong man and could only use the tree trunks to block his pursuit. The hulking man, seeing Yan Fei escaping from desperate situations again and again without being caught, became enraged. He suddenly stopped, let out a furious roar to the sky, his muscles began to swell, and his clothes were even burst by the expanding muscles.

Then, the strong man charged again toward Yan Fei. Whenever he encountered a large tree, he would shoulder it aside, ramming the large trees with his body which then broke with a "crack" upon impact.

Yan Fei, who had been planning to duck behind that large tree for cover, was startled and barely avoided being crushed by the falling tree. He quickly regained his composure and dashed off again. The strong man, unharmed by breaking the trees, chased after Yan Fei once more. Whenever he encountered a large tree blocking his path, he simply knocked it down, advancing like a bulldozer, his speed even surpassing that of Yan Fei.

While Yan Fei ran for his life, the strong man caught up and rammed him, sending him flying. Yan Fei felt a tremendous force and then found himself airborne, flung more than ten meters away, until he hit the ground and rolled several times before scrambling up to continue running. Although he was still running fast, his body had begun to tremble slightly, indicating that the recent impact had indeed injured him.

The strong man sneered and caught up to Yan Fei again, aiming a kick at Yan Fei's back. Yan Fei sidestepped, avoiding a hit to his back, but his shoulder was struck and he was flung far away, crashing into a large tree and breaking it. This attack severely injured Yan Fei, who was utterly astounded; he had thought his strength had improved rapidly and considered himself very formidable, yet he had no ability to fight back against this strong man, who seemed as outmatched as a rookie village newcomer facing a Super Boss in a game.

The strong man, seeing Yan Fei's shocked face, burst into mocking laughter and quickly closed in. And just then, the Drone Avatar in the sky finally arrived and, under Yan Fei's control, the muzzle of the Steel Ball Gun rapidly spun, targeting the strong man on the ground, and started firing Steel Ball Bullets.

The strong man was approaching Yan Fei, intending to strike the final blow, but he didn't expect an assault from the sky. For a moment, he was struck repeatedly by Steel Ball Bullets, inflicting unbearable pain and eliciting involuntary grunts of pain from his mouth.

Yan Fei was once again astonished. Even under his full control, the power of the Steel Ball Bullets was immense, nearly as potent as real bullets, and entirely capable of killing someone. Yet those bullets, fired at the strong man, merely pierced his clothes and left red marks on his body without actually causing any harm. What kind of Kung Fu was this strong man practicing? How could his skin be so tough? Or was he not a monster after all?

While the Drone's attack failed to kill the strong man, it did cause him pain and halted his advance. Yan Fei, suppressing the injuries within his body, ran once more and quickly widened the distance from the strong man.

As Yan Fei raced desperately, he saw the strong man on the ground sidestep to break a large tree, pick up the tree trunk, and hurl it toward the Drone Avatar in the sky, nearly knocking it down from midair.

Yan Fei was taken aback. Although the Drone had descended to an altitude of about fifty meters during the attack, he didn't expect that the tree trunk could reach the Drone. The tree trunk was untrimmed, laden with branches and leaves creating considerable air resistance, and with the trunk's girth and weight of at least five or six hundred jin, how could the strong man have thrown such a heavy object up to an altitude of over fifty meters? How immense must his strength be?

The burly man demonstrated his ability to attack the drone, and although he failed to hit it, he had posed a significant threat to the drone. Therefore, for the safety of the drone, Yan Fei could only raise its altitude, not daring to let it fly too close. As a result, the steel ball bullets from the drone couldn't accurately strike the burly man, and even if they hit, their power was greatly reduced, unable to penetrate his defense.

With the drone no longer hounding him, the burly man's speed suddenly increased, quickly closing the distance between him and Yan Fei.

Seeing the burly man catching up again, Yan Fei inwardly lamented. With the help of the drone above, he was already aware of the terrain ahead. He was about to cross this forest, and beyond it lay a cliff, pitch-black and bottomless below, with no other way out around. In other words, he had carelessly run into a dead end, while the burly man, unaware of what lay ahead, continued the relentless pursuit.

With no choice left, Yan Fei could only race forward. Suddenly, his spirits lifted as he finally emerged from the forest, finding himself on a platform with the sheer cliff behind him, with no escape possible. The burly man chased out of the woods and immediately realized Yan Fei was trapped. He relaxed slightly, keeping an eye on the drone above while slowly closing in on Yan Fei.

The drone continued to attack the burly man, but a faint white light appeared on the surface of his body whenever a steel ball bullet struck him, causing pain but not inflicting any real harm. Unless the steel ball bullets struck vital areas such as the eyes, the burly man wouldn't be truly injured, and whenever the bullets targeted such sensitive areas, he would shield them with his arms.

With the drone's attacks rendered ineffective for the first time, Yan Fei had lost his biggest trump card. Seeing the fruitless assault, he simply recalled the drone, letting it circle overhead, surveying the nearby terrain.

As the drone flew away, the burly man lowered the arms that had been protecting his eyes. He looked at Yan Fei and said in imperfect Mandarin, "I don't know who you are, but since you're here and you have a certain strength, then it must be related to Xiao Kong's disappearance."

A chill went through Yan Fei's heart; the burly man was indeed from the organization behind Xiao Kong, and they had tracked him down. He hadn't expected them to arrive so swiftly and to be so formidable. Yan Fei responded, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The burly man replied, "Don't try to bluff. Zhang Baocheng told me, lots of steel balls were found at the site of Xiao Kong's disappearance; those must have been fired from your drone. Coupled with your skills, it's possible that you ambushed Xiao Kong successfully when he was off guard. By the way, Xiao Kong is my brother."

Yan Fei inwardly cursed his luck; Xiao Kong was the brother of this burly man, so the situation definitely couldn't end well. At the same time, he couldn't help admiring the burly man's deductive reasoning, which had brought him so close to the truth. He answered, "You're just trying to accuse me first. You attacked me as soon as you saw me. I have no idea what's going on."

The burly man continued, "I noticed you when the villa caught fire. When you scaled the wall to escape, I suspected you had something to hide. Catching up and seeing your strength and the drone, I could be sure that my brother's disappearance was related to you, so your excuses are useless."

Yan Fei stopped talking and began to think of a way to extricate himself from the situation.

The burly man spoke again, "I came here to investigate my brother's disappearance on Zhang Baocheng's behalf, and I don't mind telling you: my brother had something very important on him. Just give me back my brother and the items he carried, and I can promise you a swift death."

After Yan Fei had killed Xiao Kong, he had placed Xiao Kong's body in the Universal Space without having the time to deal with it or check what the body had on it. Now seeing how much the burly man cared about the items on Xiao Kong, it seemed he might have missed something important.

Just then, the drone, using its advanced imaging system, had finished mapping the entire cliff and the terrain below. Analyzing the structure of the cliff in his mind, Yan Fei suddenly had a stratagem.

So the drone flying above suddenly started to move erratically, imitating a malfunction. It then began to fall in a precarious manner into the cliff below, followed by a series of noises as it collided with the cliff face.

The burly man, not knowing the reason, thought the drone had lost control and crashed, and let his guard down. After all, even though the drone's steel ball bullets couldn't harm him, they were still a significant threat that had prevented him from dealing with Yan Fei without worry.

Seeing the drone crash, Yan Fei feigned disappointment, pulled off the plastic mask on his face, and revealed his true appearance, saying, "With things as they are, there's no need for me to keep hiding from you. Yes, your brother's disappearance has to do with me. But he hasn't just disappeared, he was killed by me."