Chapter 420 - Running away & Racing against Time
Schenker gawked at Li Tianlan, who had mysteriously shown up there.
Li Tianlan was staring at him, too.
Li Tianlan calmly asked the question with a smile, “How about I hand your head to Jiang Qiansong?”
...
Schenker could not answer that.
Like the deepest darkness, the dense shadow of Death slowly diffused over and penetrated through his pores. The depression prevented him from breathing properly and taking any action.
Schenker never expected that Li Tianlan could get in there so effortlessly, even in his wildest dreams.
He deceived everyone’s eyes with that shadow, while the real person sneaked into where he should be.
The Li Tianlan in that state was definitely the most horrible assassin and killer.
A proverb from Zhongzhou State suddenly occurred to Schenker.
“The most frightening enemy is the one who is nearest to you.”
Schenker was the patriarch of the Rekvia family.
The Rekvia family was one of the four superpowers in Eastern Europe.
In just a few hours, his words could influence the national policies of Wulan State and several countries nearby.
Wulan State had fiercely declared war on Zhongzhou State.
The Ross State and the Oga State had announced at the same time that Zhongzhou State had been listed as a hostile state.
All that was due to the orders of Schenker and the Rekvia family.
If necessary, Schenker could continue to toss more chips to turn the other two countries in the vicinity of Wulan State against Zhongzhou State.
He possessed absolute power, uppermost wealth, and supreme status.
He had been raising winds and waves in Eastern Europe. He was capable of doing things that those in the Invincible Realm, on the Divine List, or even at the peak of the Invincible Realm could not achieve.
That was the stunning charm of wealth and power.
But that was utterly meaningless in front of Li Tianlan.
Because Li Tianlan was standing so close to him. At such a short distance, the absolute violence was even more formidable than the strength of a state.
That was the kind of power that was truly lethally menacing to him.
“You... You...”
Schenker forced himself to calm down. He held up a finger and pointed it at Li Tianlan while trying to formulate his reply.
Opposite him, Li Tianlan tilted his head and continued to laugh. “Schenker...”
He adopted a casual and unhurried tone. “I’m here to kill you. Don’t you want to run?”
“Run?”
Schenker was dazed for a moment.
When his mind was still frozen, a faint blue beam unexpectedly burst through the hall.
Overwhelming thunderbolts spattered feverishly. The entire space was twisted by the spread of thunder. Flashes of wild lightning completely enveloped Li Tianlan in an instant.
There was a roar of helicopter rotors outside the window.
Further afield, the heavy explosions were still blaring in the sky over the gate of the manor.
In the chaos, Schenker was yanked toward the exit of the hall. Vaguely, he heard someone yelling “Protect Mr. Schenker” beside his ears.
“Boom!”
The thunderbolts raging in the hall blew up everything.
The moment the thunderbolts gathered around the target, Li Tianlan slammed his fist.
The thunderbolts were still surging.
But all the space around Li Tianlan was directly smashed by that punch.
The shattered space spread in all directions. The faint blue thunderbolts were immediately swept back by the distorted, transparent space. The whole villa quaked under the violent force before finally collapsing with a thunderous noise.
Schenker’s mind went blank.
He was picked up by a bodyguard, who then galloped out of the manor towards the helicopter that had begun to descend. But Schenker’s eyes were fixed in the direction of the manor the whole time.
In the whirling dust, the two bodyguards who risked their lives to earn a few seconds for Schenker to escape did not show up again. The only one that came after him was the young man in shredded white clothing. He was strolling out of the dust in no haste. Then, Schenker saw Li Tianlan continue to amble toward his escaping way with great ease.
He was just walking.
Unhurriedly.
He did not employ any seemingly slow but actually swift body movement.
Time ticked by as he walked.
His pace was almost leisure.
The distance between the two began to get remote.
Still, Li Tianlan watched all that quietly.
His pace neither stopped nor accelerated.
...
Feeling somewhat ridiculous, Schenker distinctly captured the sound of the helicopter landing on the ground.
He suddenly thought of an issue. In a trice, he started thrashing like a crazy man.
He did send for Wulan State’s helicopter when Li Tianlan blazed his path in.
But it had been only minutes since he issued that order, hadn’t it?
How could the helicopter come so fast?
“Let me go, all of you...”
“Silence, Mr. Schenker. Look, this is my helicopter!”
A husky voice sounded, “Get up here. This thing can guarantee our safety.”
The bodyguard rushed into the cabin with a furiously flailing Schenker on his shoulder.
Schenker stopped struggling a bit and finally saw the old man sitting in the cabin.
He was Senator Joseph, the owner of that estate, another great figure in Wulan State.
The old man was obviously more decisive than Schenker. Having learned that Li Tianlan was approaching there, he mobilized the helicopter in advance and started to work on the retreat plan.
Schenker forced a few deep inhalations and peeked out the window subconsciously.
Outside, Li Tianlan had shrunk into a small white dot, but he was still moving forward. Faintly, Schenker felt that Li Tianlan’s movements got a little faster.
“Take off! Good heavens! Quick, take off and get out of this place now!”
Schenker abruptly sprang to his feet, flung his arms, and growled the order.
The helicopter began to slowly lift off. The whirling of the rotors was getting sharper and sharper.
Schenker’s view was also rising. Through the window of the cabin, his eyes were still locked on Li Tianlan.
In his sight, Li Tianlan was becoming steadily smaller.
Schenker gradually eased his tension. Suddenly, he found the whole thing a bit funny.
At that moment, he sincerely reckoned that the young Highness from Zhongzhou State called Li Tianlan was a fool.
The young man had once stood so close to him. He could kill him if he raised a hand.
However, perhaps out of the so-called grace or something, Li Tianlan let him escape.
“Did he really believe that the victory was already in his hand?”
“Did he really think I would die for sure?”
Schenker burst into a round of wild laughter. Although the young Highness below was a fool, Schenker was quite grateful toward him because that fool just saved his life with his stupidity. The entire Rekvia family ought to thank him.
Schenker still looked out the window. But hardly had he started laughing before his voice froze in the air.
As the helicopter kept climbing up, the little white dot below seemed to grow distinct all of a sudden.
Racing!
On the flat lawn of the manor, Li Tianlan’s unhurried pace suddenly quickened.
The helicopter was still rising.
Yet, Li Tianlan caught up at full speed.
The speed that the Dual Wind and Thunder Veins granted him was almost beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. As he sprinted forward, the whole world seemed to be turned upside down and bear upon the helicopter.
That was a dreadful impact that could frighten the life of Schenker.
At that moment, Li Tianlan was just like a beast swooping down upon his prey in the wild.
Like a lion or a tiger.
“Quick! Hurry up...”
Schenker’s laughter instantly turned into a squeal. But before the squeal faded, that white point he saw in a distance became clear again.
Schenker’s pupils thoroughly contracted.
Almost at the same time, Li Tianlan stamped on the ground and instantly leaped off like an arrow off the string.
The white figure was getting closer and closer to the helicopter.
Li Tianlan’s limbs stretched out with ease.
He was flying like an eagle.
The eagle shot to the sky.
The exclamation of disbelief had not yet died away, but the helicopter began to tremble savagely.
An enormous force beyond imagination appeared to be pulling the helicopter downward.
A jet of sword intent that seemed distant but also concrete emerged in midair.
The sword intent swirled counterclockwise and wrapped itself around the rotors.
“Bang, bang, bang...”
In a series of dull crashes, the helicopter’s rapidly rotating rotors were completely shredded by the sword intent. Its massive cabin instantly lost its balance and plummeted to the ground.
The broken rotors were flung far away in the air. With the engines still roaring, the helicopter dropped right on the ground. A large amount of black smoke and sparks rose from the wreckage of the aircraft, which then evolved into a fire before triggering a full-scale explosion.
Li Tianlan looked as faint as a shadow. The airflow and flames from the explosion simply passed through him as he marched on in silence.
Schenker and Senator Joseph’s bodyguards had taken them off the helicopter before it crashed. They were still running desperately as if hoping to speed in the direction of the 3,000 soldiers outside the gate of the manor. However, since Li Tianlan was in the way, they had to keep running forward.
The soldiers in the distance came to realize what had happened. A large number of soldiers received orders and flooded toward Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan, however, was gathering his speed.
Senator Joseph’s figure began to become distinct in his eyes.
Li Tianlan, yet, did not bother to look at him.
But Joseph, who was running desperately, suddenly skidded to a halt, spun around, and glowered at Li Tianlan. “That’s enough, I’m Joseph, the Sena...”
He was talking in a heated voice.
But Li Tianlan had already pelted past him.
He and his sword light swept past the old senator at the same time. Both Joseph and the bodyguard next to him lost their voices. Their heads, with both eyes wide as saucers, were tossed to the air by the squirting blood. Before he lost all his consciousness, the old senator heard Li Tianlan’s voice.
“Where are you now?”
His voice was calm and steady.
“Wham!”
With a subtle and muffled noise, the heads landed on the blood-sprayed lawn.
Fire Man’s voice rang from the other end of the communicator.
“About 10 kilometers from you.”
Fire Man and the two sword masters were tailing Jiang Qiansong.
Now that they were 10 kilometers away from Li Tianlan, Jiang Qiansong must be within 10 kilometers, too.
“What about Cool Breeze and Drifting Cloud?”
Li Tianlan added as an afterthought.
“We’ve arrived at the headquarters of the Rekvia family. Everything will be settled in half an hour.”
Cool Breeze’s voice sounded from the communicator.
Li Tianlan looked up and glanced at Schenker, who was dashing to the distance.
Then, he drew out his mobile phone and sent a text message to determine where he would meet with the ally he had not met yet.
“Old man, tell Jiang Qiansong to slow down a bit,” Li Tianlan muttered to the communicator.
He needed Fire Man, Cool Breeze, and Drifting Cloud to cooperate with him in perfect timing.
Every second was extremely important to them.
They were racing against time.
“Leave it to me.”
Fire Man’s voice sounded steady and unperturbed.
Li Tianlan, who was completely relieved, resolutely charged at Schenker again.
He had no idea if Schenker had been communicating with Jiang Qiansong.
But there was one thing he was sure of—as Schenker was the strongest ally the Jiang family of South America had in Eastern Europe, on no account would Jiang Qiansong let Schenker be assassinated. Otherwise, the base of their cooperation would be pointless.
Therefore, even though Li Tianlan knew that he must kill Schenker, he was in no hurry.
For the time being, Schenker served as a bait that Jiang Qiansong would snap at.
Although Li Tianlan couldn’t control Jiang Qiansong, as Schenker was in his vicinity, he would totally control Schenker’s whereabouts.
Having grasped Jiang Qiansong’s movements, then the only thing he needed to do was to cut off all the possible ways that would allow Schenker and Jiang Qiansong to join each other.
Without Jiang Qiansong, where would the helpless Schenker go?
Certainly, he could only return to the headquarters of the Rekvia family.
But Cool Breeze and Drifting Cloud were already waiting there.
Li Tianlan would chase Schenker into the headquarters of the Rekvia family.
Jiang Qiansong, too, would hurry to the headquarters of the Rekvia family in Li Tianlan’s wake.
But Li Tianlan had made preparations. When that time came, it would be hard to say whether the headquarters of the Rekvia family was the home venue of the Rekvia family or Li Tianlan himself.