Chapter 63: Nightfall Overture

"Delivering a message?"

Han Zhan withdrew his fist.

The white mist around his body, as if possessing a life of its own, receded from all directions and disappeared back into his body.

On the ground, the so-called "Li Family Genius" Li Changhao had actually regained consciousness; never underestimate the resilience of a pure Martial Artist.

Feeling it too embarrassing, he decided it was better to be dragged away by his two companions than to get up, so he continued to play dead.

At this moment, Yi Fan also emerged from the side, coming out of his Immortal state.

"What do we do with these Li Family members?"

Hearing Han Zhan’s inquiry, Yi Fan shrugged.

"What else can we do? Let them go. You’ve got someone backing you up, but I don’t want the Deep Blue City pilot area to become a shooting range for the Li Family."

"Let’s go, drink up, drink up."

Indeed, what’s more fun than drinking? Fighting isn’t my thing at all... Yi Fan rubbed his slightly sore stomach, thinking.

This was just a minor interlude.

After returning to the Breeze Tavern, the four of them drank for a while before leaving in high spirits.

...

An inconspicuous alley in Deep Blue City.

Several gray-furred rats emerged from a manhole cover. Their intelligent-looking eyes scanned the surroundings like humans, only fully emerging afterward.

One of the rats suddenly spoke.

"I still don’t understand. Why doesn’t the company just approach Han Zhan directly if they want to find him?"

"Foolish. He’s now living with the Great Xia War God. If you want to mess with that guy, I’m not stopping you."

"Why exactly have we infiltrated Deep Blue City this time? Why did the company assign us this secret mission?"

At this question, a brief silence filled the alley.

Then, one of the larger gray rats slowly uttered three words, "Shennong Cauldron."

"That Han Zhan just returned from the front line; he’ll definitely need some time to recuperate. While he’s off guard, we seize the chance to negotiate with him alone and try not to alert anyone, especially that guy!"

They all feared Li Shutong profoundly.

But as they spoke, none noticed a calico cat crouching up on the nearby gray brick wall, eyes tightly fixed on those rats.

Soon after, chaos erupted within the alley.

"Meow!"

"Squeak squeak!"

"Meow meow meow!"

"Damn!"

...

Deep Blue City, near the seaside beach.

Despite the insect apocalypse, many still lingered near the beach, enjoying the endless ocean view.

As dusk fell, the setting sun cast a golden hue over the entire sea surface.

In late autumn, the seaside became especially chilly in the evening, and the scattered travelers began to return to Deep Blue City.

The last person to leave the beach was a photography enthusiast.

He constantly adjusted his camera to capture the sunset’s glow reflecting over the shimmering water.

Just then, he noticed through his zoomed-in camera lens a small insect.

The insect was small and black.

It seemed to fly from beyond the sea, but the sea on the horizon was vast; from where could it possibly have come?

As he pondered this, the insect in his lens suddenly grew larger, larger, and even larger.

What seemed miles away from the sea’s surface appeared before him in an instant!

"Ah!" he exclaimed instinctively.

On the coast, a City Guardian patrolling on a shared bike immediately headed to the source of the shout upon hearing it.

"Hey, are you okay?" He parked his bike on the seawall, running down to the beach, and asked.

The photographer, with a wooden expression, looked at him and shook his head.

"Really okay? Really... okay?"

A pure black beam of light suddenly flashed in the photographer’s eyes, and the City Guardian standing opposite him quickly became sluggish in speech. In just a few seconds, his pupils turned pitch black too.

"Shall we go?"

"Sure."

"We’re in a hurry, mind if we take your bike?"

"Sure."

...

Han Zhan’s residence, Li Shutong’s villa.

Watching Li Fengchun devouring food, Han Zhan and Xia Youwei exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.

Is this really someone from the Jinghai Li Family? Are we sure he’s not a wandering beggar?

"Eat, why aren’t you eating? Hurry up and eat."

Li Fengchun said as he forked a piece of lamb into his plate, urging everyone.

"Mr. Li...? Today, I beat up someone with the last name Li on the street."

Han Zhan still wasn’t sure how to address Li Fengchun; seeing Li Shutong’s lack of intention to introduce the two, he decided to speak first.

He expected Li Fengchun to slam the table after hearing this, but instead, he nonchalantly waved it off.

"Oh, you’re talking about Li Changhao. It’s fine, it’s fine. That boy’s used to being arrogant in the family, looks down on everyone."

"Go ahead, beat him hard. If you beat him lightly, I’ll be upset with you."

With his mouth full, Li Fengchun mumbled, but Han Zhan managed to hear him clearly.

"Don’t look at me like that; I’ll be leaving after this meal."

Li Fengchun swallowed his food with effort, took a few gulps of water, and turned to Li Shutong.

"Uncle, you sure you won’t come back to help, right?"

"My mind is made up."

Li Fengchun wiped his mouth with a napkin, nodding knowingly.

Just as he was about to leave, the doorbell of the villa rang.

"Is it butler Ah Fu returning?"

Han Zhan stood, opened the door, and found an unfamiliar person standing outside.

But he was wearing a City Guardian uniform.

"Hello, there’s a headquarters task that needs to be personally handed to Elder Li."

City Guardian Organization Headquarters? Han Zhan raised an eyebrow, stepping aside to make way.

The City Guardian entering nodded to Han Zhan, then quickly proceeded to the dining table.

Suddenly, Li Shutong, who was previously seated, seemed to sense something. He immediately opened his eyes, wordlessly pushing Li Lingzhen and Xia Youwei to Han Zhan’s side with controlled force.

"Old War God, your sixth sense is still as sharp as ever."

Though he didn’t see the Guardian step forward, the figure rapidly approached the table.

"Tier Nine Insect Emperor, Nightmare!"

Li Shutong cautiously looked across, simultaneously extending his left hand, intending to repeat old tricks by pushing Li Fengchun away.

As he placed his hand on Li Fengchun, Li Fengchun suddenly hugged his left hand tightly!

In the next moment,

With a bang, the entire "person" of Li Fengchun exploded, but without the anticipated blood splatter.

He transformed into a mass of meat-like creature, starting from Li Shutong’s left hand, gradually spreading to his whole body.

Li Shutong’s gaze turned cold, understanding as he looked toward the Tier Nine Insect Emperor—Nightmare across from him.

"You actually conspired with the Li Family to kill me?"

"Kill you? No, no, no. We can’t kill you, but before we wipe out everyone else, you’ll peacefully stay in this flesh and blood barrier we’ve specially designed for you."

As he spoke, an endless darkness spread from beneath his feet.

Quickly, it enveloped a large portion of Deep Blue City.

Han Zhan and the others looked up,

only to see a Crimson Blood Moon!