Chapter 509: Chapter 509: How Can They Blame Us When They Can’t Catch It Themselves?

Outside a gorge.

Leng Yi suddenly stopped and said to Ning Xuan, "Brother Ning, we need to take a detour."

"Why?"

Leng Yi was both amused and frustrated. "Don’t play dumb with me. You must have noticed them long ago."

Ning Xuan glanced at the two men behind them. "You mean them? They haven’t bothered to hide their presence, so of course I know they’re there. Are you saying there’s something wrong with them?"

Leng Yi couldn’t tell if Ning Xuan genuinely hadn’t realized or was just pretending. But that didn’t matter.

He quickly said, "They’re probably Law Enforcement Officers heading to the Realm Capital for the assessment, just like us. But it’s not normal for there to be only two of them."

"Well, there are only two of us," Ning Xuan countered, seeing no issue.

The corner of Leng Yi’s mouth twitched. How could their situation be the same as ours? Law Enforcement Officer teams from other cities wouldn’t have undergone such drastic changes so quickly. Normally, a team of four would stick together peacefully.

Just as Leng Yi was about to explain, Ning Xuan spoke again. "Hang on, I’ll go ask them what’s going on."

With that, Ning Xuan walked directly toward the two men behind them. Startled, Leng Yi hurriedly followed.

The two men exchanged panicked voice transmissions, quickly reaching an agreement. "Damn it, what’s with this guy? Why is he coming straight over here?"

"I don’t know! What do we do?"

"Don’t panic. Let’s just wait and see what he’s trying to do."

"Gentlemen, my brother here says you’re also Law Enforcement Officers?" Ning Xuan called out warmly before he even got close.

"Yes, that’s right. We’re also heading to the Realm Capital."

Ning Xuan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately extended an invitation. "Then let’s travel together!"

The two men backed away cautiously. "Sir," one of them asked, "you must have only recently become a Law Enforcement Officer, haven’t you?"

Ning Xuan was curious. "How did you know?"

The two were speechless. "It is strictly forbidden for Law Enforcement Officers from different cities to interact! You can’t possibly not know that, right?"

"Is that really a rule? I don’t see it written anywhere in here!" As he spoke, Ning Xuan took out the booklet Zhou Nian had given him and began flipping through it.

The two men’s eyes widened.

"Ahem, my apologies." Leng Yi rushed over, pulling Ning Xuan aside. "As you’ve guessed, my brother is still new to many things, so please forgive us." He then gestured for the other two to go ahead.

The two men, who had something to hide, were hardly inclined to do so. "No need, you were ahead of us. We wouldn’t dare overstep." As they spoke, they continued to retreat.

Leng Yi was about to insist, but Ning Xuan had already grabbed him and started walking. "They’ve already said as much. It would be pretentious of us to refuse. Let’s go."

Watching Ning Xuan and Leng Yi walk on, the two men finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to follow.

"Brother Ning, there’s definitely something wrong with those two!" Leng Yi said via voice transmission. "If I’m not mistaken, their other two companions must be lying in ambush in the gorge up ahead!"

"I know."

"If you knew, then why did you..."

"I have some good news for you," Ning Xuan transmitted back. "Just listen, and don’t let them notice anything."

"Alright, I’m ready. Go ahead."

As the two continued forward, communicating via voice transmission, Leng Yi suddenly shouted, "Holy crap!"

The exclamation gave the two men following behind, who were already harboring guilty consciences, a terrible fright.

Just as they were looking at each other in confusion, they heard Leng Yi say, "What a perfectly round stone!"

The two men were left utterly speechless.

These two are a bit nuts! Still, considering what they did last night, it makes perfect sense. If they weren’t crazy, how could they have colluded with outsiders to harm their own comrades? After all, they haven’t even reached the Realm Capital yet. Having two more people to share the risk would have significantly increased their chances of making it through the later stages. But those two actually strangled that opportunity with their own hands!

"Stay close! Don’t let them get away!" one of the followers transmitted to the other.

The other man immediately nodded.

Soon, the four of them entered the gorge, with one pair following the other.

At that moment, a voice suddenly boomed, "You in the front, halt!"

Ning Xuan and Leng Yi stopped in unison and turned around.

Ning Xuan asked in confusion, "Are you calling us?"

"Your Excellency has gone too far!" the man barked, ignoring Ning Xuan’s question.

Leng Yi’s expression turned icy. "What’s wrong with you?!"

"Be careful what you say," Ning Xuan chimed in, still smiling.

"Be careful?! You know perfectly well what you’ve done!"

"Oh?" Ning Xuan said with mock surprise. "Don’t tell me you’ve lost something?"

The man immediately seized the opening. "So it was you! You stole our treasure!"

Beside Ning Xuan, the corner of Leng Yi’s mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh. These two pitiful fools were trying to frame Ning Xuan, not knowing that he had indeed taken something of theirs—their most precious possession. Just moments before, Ning Xuan had informed him that they had acquired two Tokens.

"That’s slander! Look, do I have any of your treasure on me?!" As Ning Xuan spoke, he began pulling things from his clothes to show them.

The two men, who had been looking pleased, suddenly froze. They frantically patted themselves down.

Then, the color drained from their faces. Their Tokens were gone! 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Big Brother, Second Brother, come out, quick!" one of them shrieked in a tearful, panicked voice upon seeing Ning Xuan’s smile.

Immediately, two more men appeared behind Ning Xuan and Leng Yi. Their eyes narrowed, and their expressions changed drastically.

"Don’t do anything reckless!" one of the newcomers said, his tone still condescending.

"We apologize on their behalf," the other added, his attitude much softer. "Let’s discuss this calmly."

"If you want the Tokens back, that’s fine. Hand over everything you have!" Ning Xuan didn’t waste words, moving straight to robbing them in broad daylight.

"Deal!"

The situation resolved much more smoothly than Ning Xuan had expected. The leader was the first to comply, setting an example. The remaining three immediately followed suit without hesitation.

Once Leng Yi had secured all their items, one of them said, "Now it’s time to keep your promise, isn’t it?"

Ning Xuan nodded. "Catch!"

As he spoke, he tossed the items toward them. The only problem was that the throw had just a *little* too much force behind it.

The two Tokens flew right past their outstretched hands. The smiles on their faces froze.

The next moment...

BANG!

BANG!

Two explosive sounds echoed as the men’s bodies burst into a fine mist of blood.

The two remaining men were stunned. They never expected Ning Xuan would dare to break the rules.

"You..."

Before the man could finish, Ning Xuan spun around and said in a very serious tone, "Hold on! You can’t blame me for this!"

"Exactly!" Leng Yi chimed in. "It’s their own fault for not being able to catch the Tokens. How can you blame us?"

With two of their four opponents gone, they were now evenly matched. If a fight were to break out, they wouldn’t necessarily be at a disadvantage. Their newfound confidence stemmed from the bounty of miraculous elixirs they had just acquired.

"Very well! Do you dare leave your names? Our brothers will surely repay this debt in the future!"

A wave of malice washed over the two men, but then they suddenly caved.