Without any warning, a bullet fell from the sky.

Chen Yubo lay flat on the ground, his vision darkening, his heart turning cold. But Ji Jue’s heart felt an even colder chill; it was ice-cold, exactly like the double-door refrigerator he had just bought a few days ago.

He instinctively analyzed the impact point and the trajectory between the shooter and the target, only to realize that among everyone present, the only person that line of fire had been locked onto was Chen Yubo, who had been laughing foolishly just moments ago.

It’s over. They’re coming for the boss!

The roar of engines still echoed through the mountains overhead. Just as the two had hit the ground, even before Chen Yubo could fully react, the previously quiet Kunpeng erupted once again with a deafening clamor.

The engine roared at high speed, spinning the wheels in place and burning rubber wildly. Under Ji Jue’s command, the Kunpeng kicked up dust and mud from the ground, spewing thick smoke caused by incomplete fuel combustion.

The very moment Ji Jue slammed his palm onto the ground, all the surrounding streetlights suddenly went out.

The abrupt shift between light and darkness caused the distant shooter to freeze for a split second, but when he leaned back into his scope, he discovered that the two people who had been lying on the ground had vanished without a trace.

The scope swept across the chaotic scene and the scattered crowd. Soon, it locked onto a vehicle hastily reversing and speeding away.

Two more loud blasts followed, and the empty sports car flipped onto its side. It exploded, burning fiercely, but no one ever crawled out of it.

Meanwhile, in the drainage ditch filled with dead leaves and mud, Chen Yubo was wedged into a narrow gap, gasping frantically, held down tightly by Ji Jue and unable to move at all.

Thank goodness the drainage ditch doesn’t have a cover! Bless the road maintenance department!

Ji Jue’s other hand reached into his backpack and dialed a number. Near the increasingly quiet DJ stage at the race starting point, a bell rang repeatedly from the cargo bed of a scooter, like an alarm clock going off.

The moment the signal was given, the heavily loaded Horsey opened its eyes. Blinding headlights pierced through the darkness, and a thunderous bellow far surpassing all sports cars erupted from its engine!

Before anyone could react, it had already shot forward, speeding onto the road. With a ferocity that surpassed even Kunpeng’s, it weaved effortlessly between racing cars. After easily leaving a group of confused rich heirs behind, it smashed through a guardrail, crossed a ravine, crushed bricks and stones, and climbed upward against gravity through mountains and dense forest straight toward Ji Jue’s position!

Three minutes. In no more than three minutes, Horsey would arrive carrying its long guns and heavy artillery.

Sensing the rapidly closing distance between them, Ji Jue finally let out a breath of relief. The Ember Path was indeed best at utilizing external tools. However, once deprived of such tools, its abilities would be reduced by ninety-nine percent.

If An Ran or Wen Wen were here, even if they were in the same realm as Ji Jue, they would never be forced into such a passive situation. One had maxed-out mobility and evasion, while the other had absolute defensive dominance. Just charging straight in and punching the bullet to shreds would be enough.

In contrast, Ji Jue didn’t even dare expose the drone in the air. He even actively sent it farther away, using extreme zoom to peek at faint traces from afar.

Only then did he realize that after repeatedly aiming at several locations, the sniper lying at a high vantage point had actually and decisively shifted his rifle toward the direction of their drainage ditch.

Wall hacks, huh? Aim assist? Or... is there an accomplice among the panicked crowd at the scene?

Ji Jue glared at Chen Yubo, who was clearly panicking, unable to hold back his questioning. “How big exactly was your bet?! They lose and immediately call in reinforcements, fine. But sending a sniper to blow your head off? What kind of nonsense is this?!”

Chen Yubo shook his head firmly. “Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Seeing that Ji Jue didn’t believe him, he hurriedly explained, “Even if Mu Jiang lost everything on the bet, at worst he’d go home and get beaten up, maybe even pay it back with interest. Sure, you might say he’s into drugs, drinking, crashing cars and all that, maybe he is. But hiring a hitman to kill me? He doesn’t have the guts! If even a single hair on me is harmed, he wouldn’t even make it out of Cliff City alive!”

Ji Jue was stunned. Had he underestimated just how rich these second-generation heirs were?

“Then who the hell wants to kill you?”

That familiar, innocent look surfaced in Chen Yubo’s eyes again. He looked so clueless and stupid. “I don’t know!”

“You don’t even know who you offended?!”

“Well, as long as you’re alive, you end up offending people. Sometimes even breathing is a sin. When you have money, the more friends you have, the more enemies you make...”

After the initial panic, Chen Yubo calmed down in a strange way, as if he had already gotten used to the idea of being assassinated.

“They... they’re probably coming for my family,” he said.

“What the hell does your family even do?!” Ji Jue completely lost it. Was running an import-export business really enough to attract enemies like this?

“Huh? You don’t know?” Chen Yubo actually looked even more shocked than him, as if not knowing what his family did while associating with him was extremely bizarre. “My brother is Chen Xingzhou[1].”

Ji Jue was utterly mindblown. “Fuck!”

Chen Xingzhou!!!

Two months ago, if Ji Jue had heard this name, he might have even asked, Who the hell is that idiot? Why does it sound so familiar?

But after becoming a Chosen One and gradually coming into contact with the darker side of Cliff City, he finally understood just how terrifyingly heavy that name was in the city’s underworld.

On his business cards, one would usually see titles like industrialist, financier, or vice president of the Spring City Hometown Association, all to highlight his respectable and radiant public image. In reality, those were nothing more than a luxurious outer shell.

He was one of the major figures in Cliff City’s underground world, a senior figure in the Wasteland Assembly. In his early years, he rose from illegal betting shops and gambling dens, working as a henchman and enforcer. Six years later, he founded Cliff City’s largest gambling syndicate and instantly became a guest of honor among various high-level figures.

Besides controlling an unknown number of thugs under him, he also managed many of the businesses distributed by the Wasteland Assembly. He was the city’s largest intelligence dealer, broker, and middleman.

And among his many clients was one very special person—Ji Jue’s dear teacher, the master craftsman who ran Tidesound Workshop, Ye Xian.

Ji Jue realized something. Maybe tonight’s entire race was a trap. Just thinking about what kind of storm he could get dragged into by getting involved with someone like this made Ji Jue’s skin crawl. At worst, he might not even leave this place in one piece.

“You should’ve said so earlier!”

“I didn’t want it to sound bad. A status like mine isn’t exactly something you casually bring up.” Chen Yubo awkwardly rubbed his hands together. “Besides, I started my business on my own... and also with all the effort my brother put in over the years...”

He grabbed Ji Jue’s hand, eyes tearing up. “I’m a legitimate entrepreneur, bro! I don’t do anything shady. You can’t just ignore my plight!”

Don’t call me bro!

If there wasn’t still a sniper aiming outside, Ji Jue would’ve probably already performed the Hua Tuo Triple Combo[2] and fled immediately.

Years ago, Ji Jue had heard a saying: fate has already marked the price of every gift. He had always believed it deeply. He just never expected this time the price would be written so plainly on the face of it. Earning money through dirty means was never going to be easy. And now, he had to deal with the backlash.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “Double the reward!”

“I’ll double it! No, triple it! Wait, no, I don’t have that much liquidity right now... can equity work?!” Chen Yubo looked like he was grabbing onto a lifeline. “Can I pay in virtual currency? Stocks? Futures contract?”

“Shut the hell up!” Ji Jue pressed a hand over his face and glared. “Don’t say another word!”

The sound of an approaching vehicle drew nearer as it entered the venue. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Horsey, which was still speeding through the mountains. It was a van with no license plate.

The vehicle braked hard and came to a stop. Then the doors opened, and five masked men jumped out. They paid no attention to the scattered crowd fleeing in panic, the people hiding in corners, or even to the luxury bags and valuables strewn across the ground.

They walked straight toward Ji Jue and Chen Yubo.

Their heights and body types varied; the only thing they had in common was what they were holding in their hands—objects wrapped in black plastic bags, yet still clearly outlining something Ji Jue was all too familiar with. They were handguns!

What, you think you’re the only ones with guns?!

Leaning in the drainage ditch, Ji Jue expressionlessly drew out the Deer Hunter. From the aerial view of Sky Eye, he silently counted down.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

The moment a stranger appeared at the edge of the ditch, he pulled the trigger without hesitation. The target hadn’t even clearly seen where Ji Jue and Chen Yubo were before he was sent collapsing backward.

As the remaining attackers instinctively retreated, they suddenly heard the roar of engines right beside them. Several sports cars, previously parked in disorder across the venue, abruptly lit up their headlights. Then, in full display, they demonstrated what a sub-three-second 0 to 100 km/h acceleration truly meant.

In an instant, one man was directly sent flying head-on. Two others were caught in the violent drift of intersecting cars, dragged under the tires, and turned into bloodied wrecks rolling across the ground.

Amid the screams, the last surviving attacker, who had fallen to the ground, froze in place. He instinctively turned and ran. Cold headlights cast shadows from behind him on the road. A sports car accelerated. Within a hundred meters, it turned into a shooting star, launching the man straight into the air.

There was a heavy thud as he hit the ground. Only the echoing engine roars from the mountains could still be heard in the silence.

The sniper fired again. The bullet grazed Ji Jue’s hair, embedding into the soil and disappearing. Ji Jue lay back on the ground, breathing heavily.

Just moments ago, he had tried to take advantage of the chaos to leap out of the drainage ditch, but he had not expected that the sniper had never wavered even after seeing his comrades die. The sniper had simply and coldly kept aiming at their position, cutting off any possibility of escape.

Under the coverage of that gun line, the Grim Reaper waited patiently outside the drainage ditch to claim their lives.

“So we’re blocked in,” Ji Jue murmured.

He raised his eyes toward the night sky. Between the scattered stars, Sky Eye hovered overhead, gazing down at the figure hidden within the mountains.

In this deathly silence, they stared at each other, like they were confronting each other. Neither moved, as if they had turned into stone, able to remain locked in stalemate until the end of time.

From the distant mountains, Horsey, accompanied by the thunderous roar of its engine, was speeding in.

1. “陈” is a common surname that feels steady and traditional. “行舟” literally means “to travel by boat” or “a boat in motion.” It reminds me of the imagery of drifting or sailing along rivers and waters, associated with life journeys, transition, and going with the flow. It carries a sense of movement, direction, and quiet perseverance rather than forceful ambition.

To me, the name “陈行舟” gives the impression of a person who moves steadily through life, adaptable yet composed, like a boat navigating currents. It feels gentle, poetic, and slightly introspective. ☜

2. The “Hua Tuo Triple Combo” is an internet meme that became popular in October 2017. It uses an image of Hua Tuo, a figure from the Three Kingdoms period, as the background. The caption follows a fixed three-line format made up of the phrases “Oh~”, “This head”, and “Needs to be opened up.”

The variations are:

“Denial Triple Combo”: I’m not, I didn’t, don’t talk nonsense.

“Backing Down Triple Combo”: I was wrong, don’t hit me, please.

“Cutting Ties Triple Combo”: Who are you, I don’t know you, stay away from me. (probably the triple combo the author is referencing)

It forms part of a meme series from the same period, together with the “Cao Cao Triple Combo” (with captions like “Nonsense,” “Drag them out,” and “Execute them”).

Here is a reference image. ☜