Chapter 983: Chasing

Li Huowang watched the young man wearing reflective aviator sunglasses. He had a slicked-back hairstyle, wore a leather jacket over a pair of worn jeans, and his ordinary face was dotted with a few irregularly sized dark moles.

Li Huowang was certain he had never seen this person before, yet the man gave him a strong sense of familiarity. That feeling made him blurt out instinctively, "Dice?"

However, the man with the aviator sunglasses didn't reply. With one hand, he pulled three grenades from his pocket. Then, he bit down on something, and without hesitation, hurled them directly at Li Huowang and the others, shouting, "Time to go!"

The scene unfolded too quickly; almost everyone failed to react in time. Seeing the grenades flying towards him, Li Huowang immediately gritted his teeth, lunged forward, and forcefully swung his severed arm at them.

To Li Huowang's surprise, the moment his severed arm connected with the grenades, they burst open with a hissing sound. Thick black smoke instantly enveloped the entire room, blinding everyone inside. Li Huowang had been fooled. The three objects were not grenades at all, but smoke bombs designed to create a diversion.

"Hahaha!" As he heard the extremely arrogant laughter fade into the distance, Li Huowang's heart sank. "Damn it! This guy is here to cover Sanqing's escape!" The moment he opened his mouth, the pungent, spicy odor instantly filled it. The smoke was not only blindingly dark but also extremely acrid and eye-stinging, preventing him from opening his eyes.

"Sanqing! Don't even think about running!" Li Huowang covered his nose and mouth and charged towards the sound of a car engine starting. Just as Li Huowang, tears streaming down his face, burst out of the black smoke, he saw an open-top jeep speeding towards him with its low beams on. The man with the aviator sunglasses was driving, and Qing Wanglai was in the backseat.

Li Huowang gritted his teeth and lunged to the side. A screech of brakes followed as the jeep swerved, cutting through a path in the bamboo grove, and rapidly left the villa area. Wiping his face vigorously, Li Huowang saw Qing Wanglai in the jeep's backseat, and he immediately turned and sprinted towards the underground garage.

A few short seconds later, a roar erupted as Li Huowang burst out of the garage on his heavy motorcycle, giving chase to the jeep. Just then, Li Huowang saw Yang Na, choked and teary-eyed, standing by the roadside. She clutched a military knife in one hand and gave him a thumbs-up with the other. The moment they intersected, Li Huowang extended his severed arm towards her. Yang Na, using both hands, embraced him tightly, leveraging the momentum to leap directly onto the motorcycle's back seat and tightly hug his waist.

"Vroom!" With the engine's roar, Li Huowang accelerated the motorcycle to its maximum speed, pursuing the jeep ahead.

On the suburban road, Qing Wanglai sped ahead while Li Huowang chased from behind. Although Li Huowang was fast, the jeep always managed to pull ahead at every turn. For a while, neither side could gain an advantage, resulting in a continuous stalemate.

Yang Na, sitting anxiously in the back seat, quickly estimated the distance between them. She tucked her military knife behind her back, pulled a pistol from her waist, and aimed it at the jeep. "Bang!" she fired, missing. "Bang!" she fired again, missing again. "Huowang! Stop swaying! I can't aim!"

"This is a motorcycle, how can it not sway! Don't aim at them, aim for the wheels!" After a few more shots, the jeep in the distance lurched violently, its speed instantly plummeting. "This is it!" Li Huowang once again increased the throttle, surging forward. The motorcycle's speed was incredible, instantly bringing it parallel to the jeep.

At that very instant, Qing Wanglai's pistol was aimed at Li Huowang's bandaged head. "Bang!" a gunshot rang out. Qing Wanglai's hand holding the gun, and the gun itself, instantly exploded. Yang Na had fired.

"Nana! Take the wheel!" Li Huowang grabbed Yang Na's hands and pressed them onto the motorcycle's handlebars. Then, he pushed off the bike with force, leaping directly towards the adjacent jeep.

Li Huowang crashed onto the jeep, his hands clamping tightly around Qing Wanglai's neck. In moments, Qing Wanglai's face turned purplish-blue. "I don't know what you're doing! And I don't care! The only thing I know is this: You killed Suisui! You! You killed my daughter!"

Li Huowang's strength was immense, and his grip was incredibly tenacious. Even after taking several heavy blows to his back from the man with the glasses, he showed no intention of letting go. Just as Qing Wanglai's head was about to be crushed by Li Huowang's grip, Qing Wanglai reached out and grabbed Li Huowang's arm, a faint, confident smile appearing on his purplish face. Then, Qing Wanglai slightly parted his lips and, with the last whisper of air from his throat, said, "Brother Li, help me."

In that instant, Li Huowang's surroundings reverted to the ravaged world of the Great Nuo ritual, and in his hands was Zhuge Yuan's severed head. At that moment, Zhuge Yuan's appearance completely merged with Qing Wanglai's, and the events of that past moment now overlapped with the present.

Seizing the moment Li Huowang was disoriented, Qing Wanglai immediately took the opportunity to bend his right knee and forcefully kick Li Huowang in the stomach. The kick sent Li Huowang flying into the air, away from the jeep. The moment he landed, he saw Qing Wanglai leaning by the car window, looking at him with his characteristic smile.

"Thud!" Li Huowang landed hard on his back. The immediate sensation of fractured bones and organ displacement left him sprawled on the ground, unable to move. Li Huowang, dusty and dishevelled, lay on the ground. When he lifted his head, the jeep, reflected in his single eye, was already fading into the distance.

Yang Na, still on the motorcycle, initially intended to pursue, but seeing Li Huowang on the ground, she ultimately decided he was more important. As Yang Na squeezed the brake, the motorcycle's tires instantly screeched, leaving a black arc on the pavement in front of Li Huowang. After quickly bringing the bike to a stop, Yang Na urgently dismounted and hastily helped Li Huowang up from the ground. "Huowang, are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

Li Huowang glared with intense hatred at the receding jeep and roared, "Qing Wanglai!!"

Half an hour later, a bruised and battered Li Huowang, supported by Yang Na, re-entered Qing Wanglai's villa. Everyone else was there, acting as if nothing had happened: some watched TV, others ate, and some discussed matters.

Li Huowang walked past them and approached Zhao Shuangdian. With a sweep of his severed arm, he slammed her laptop directly against the wall. "Why didn't you help? Why!! If your people had acted just now! Qing Wanglai absolutely wouldn't have escaped so easily!!"