Achieving Demon Godhood from Unlocking Talents

Chapter 235: Chapter 148: The Accidental Truth 2

"H-Help me."

Seeing a figure not far ahead in the alley, Li Heng cried out for help, his face pale with panic as he limped along.

His weak voice was like the tearing of old cloth, barely making a sound.

Despair filled his eyes. The wound on his right leg throbbed with increasing pain, and the severely damaged bionic organs in his abdomen left him feeling weaker by the second, on the verge of collapse.

But the two men behind him were closing in fast, their long shadows on the ground threatening to swallow him whole.

Their angry shouts were bone-chilling, striking terror into his heart.

’If I hadn’t come to the Patrol Department to report them, would this all be over?’

’If I hadn’t come looking for Lu Chao to tell him the truth, would those guys have just let me go?’

Li Heng’s mind raced, flashing through scene after scene. He was filled with despair and regret, but more than anything, he was driven by a resolute desire for revenge for his friend.

Ultimately, the distance between them shrank.

He gritted his teeth and spun around, ready to fight for his life, to seize one last chance at survival.

SWISH!!

A blade flashed, trailing a cold glint of light.

The pursuing man had a vicious look on his face and a mocking sneer on his lips as he gripped a dagger and thrust it toward Li Heng’s heart.

It was about to pierce his flesh and kill him.

At the critical moment, a powerful hand shot out and caught the dagger mid-thrust.

Though it was a hand of flesh and blood, the blade failed to cut the skin. Instead, it felt as if it were pinned by a rock, completely immobile.

"You..."

The knife-wielding man hunting Li Heng looked up in shock.

The figure who had been standing dozens of meters away at the alley’s entrance was now, somehow, right in front of him, blocking most of the light from the streetlamp.

The man’s head, with its buzz cut, was lost in shadow. His burly frame stood only a foot shorter than the walls of the apartments on either side.

"Shit, let go, you bastard!"

His partner suddenly cursed. His right hand, hidden in his clothes, shot out, the dark muzzle of a gun pointing at Lu Chao.

He forced himself to be brave, glaring viciously at Lu Chao and threatening, "Or else I’ll fucking shoot!"

"Three."

"Two..."

BAM!!

A figure flew backward. The gunman slammed into a lamppost.

Threads of blood trickled from his head, staining his clothes. He slumped to the ground, his head lolling back. His chest was caved in, and he was already unconscious.

Somehow, the black handgun was now in Lu Chao’s grasp. His expression was exceptionally calm.

They had, after all, been friends at the orphanage. He couldn’t just stand by and watch him die.

Then, he tilted his head slightly.

Lu Chao looked down at the wide-eyed, knife-wielding man before him.

CRACK!

The sharp dagger in his right palm shattered. Fragments of the blade scattered across the ground with a series of clinks and clatters.

The knife-wielding man’s eyes went wide, his face drained of color.

Without Lu Chao having to say another word, the man dropped to the ground, hugging his head.

"B-Boss."

"I..."

THWACK!!

The butt of the gun slammed down.

The man’s eyes rolled back in his head. Blood trickled from his scalp as he collapsed, unconscious.

Both thugs were subdued, but Lu Chao didn’t relax in the slightest.

Instead, he lifted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on the corner at the far end of the alley.

"Come on out."

As his words faded, Li Heng, who had been hiding behind him since the rescue, finally snapped out of his shock.

His face pale, he followed Lu Chao’s gaze, anxious and tense. He braced himself against the lamppost with his right hand to stay upright, his left hand instinctively pressing against his bleeding wound. "Lu... Lu Chao," he warned reflexively.

"Be careful..."

WHOOSH!!

Before he could finish, a sound suddenly came from the far end of the alley.

The person hiding in the shadows didn’t reveal themselves. Instead, they took off at high speed, their escape marked by a whistling sound.

Li Heng froze for a second, confused.

Then, a moment later.

FWOOSH!!

A far more violent rush of wind erupted.

He felt his hair and clothes whip about, as if some beast had just kicked up a terrifying blast of air as it rushed past.

The next instant.

THUD!!

A muffled boom echoed from dozens of meters away.

He couldn’t see what was happening, only sense that two dark figures had collided with shocking force.

It seemed to kick up a shockwave, sending dust and debris swirling.

The next instant.

WHOOSH!

The figure who had vanished reappeared before his eyes.

It was Lu Chao, clad in a gray hoodie, his expression calm as he dangled a person from his right hand.

Li Heng’s eyes widened as he stared intently.

It was a tattooed man in a black jacket. Lu Chao had him in a death grip by the head, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t move.

"Ghk... ghk..."

He coughed up blood, as if trying to explain something.

But.

THUD!!

Lu Chao slammed the man’s head into the apartment wall, the dull impact echoing down half the alley.

The sound-activated lights of the nearby apartments flickered on.

Then, Lu Chao let go.

The fighter, his head covered in blood, crumpled to the ground, just like the other two before him.

It had all happened in just a few seconds. All three thugs were now seriously wounded and unconscious.

Li Heng swallowed hard, his pupils trembling. He found it all hard to believe.

He then looked up at the young man staring down at him.

It was the same familiar face, yet it felt completely alien—inspiring both fear and awe.

"B-Brother Lu..." He subconsciously changed his form of address, as if he’d just seen a ray of hope.

"What’s going on?"

Lu Chao glanced at the blood on his thigh and abdomen.

’No major arteries were severed, but it’s not a light injury, either.’

However, the nearby Patrol Department had already noticed the commotion. Figures could be seen approaching in the distance.

"I..."

Li Heng’s face was ashen. He opened his mouth, as if trying to organize his thoughts and explain.

The veins on his face bulged. He was clearly agitated, an expression hinting at revenge even flashing across his features.

But soon, before he could get the words out.

The world started to spin.

He felt a wave of dizziness and collapsed to the ground.

THUMP!

Another unconscious figure now lay on the ground.

The street fell silent, with only the night wind blowing through.

Lu Chao stared at the four people on the ground and fell silent.

...

"We’ve already looked into it. The three men chasing him were from a small-time gang. They said they took a black-market job to kill him."

"As for the specific reason, they don’t know. They have no idea who the client was, either."

Standing at the entrance of the Patrol Department’s infirmary, Lu Chao took the file handed to him by an officer.

He frowned slightly, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

Drawing on his experience from numerous missions with the Patrol Department, he keenly sensed that something was off.

’Li Heng is just a nobody. Why would someone hire a gang to kill him?’

’A grudge?’

’Or... was this to silence him?’

He mulled it over but came up with no answers.

He then looked into the infirmary.

The man was dressed in a hospital gown. The knife wounds on his abdomen and leg had been bandaged, and he was on an IV drip.

Perhaps due to significant blood loss, combined with the severe damage to his bionic organs, he was still lying motionlessly on the hospital bed.

His face was ghostly pale, and his eyes were shut tight. He remained unconscious. The fact that he’d managed to hold on long enough to escape to District Two was a testament to his incredible willpower—a miracle in the dark.

Watching the scene, Lu Chao thought for a long time.

In the end, he had no answer.

He shook his head to himself. He had to leave soon; there were still many things to do, and he couldn’t stay here forever.

The thought crossed his mind, and Lu Chao left a few instructions.

Seeing that night had deepened, he stepped out of the infirmary and walked back home through the darkness.