I kept moving my scope from one cultivator to another, making sure to check up on their build stature and height. That's the only way for me to determine the difference between the thermal silhouettes.
And when one of the cultivators was out of the shade or was in clear sight, I switched to normal view and was able to zoom all the way to their chests, once I realized that their tag isn't one of my targets I changed targets. The detail in my scope was impressive, allowing me to see the intricate details of their clothing and accessories. It was as if I was right there with them.
"Not my target," I sighed as I crossed off one more cultivator from the list of potential targets. It was as if I was getting farther away from my goal.
I've been doing this for the past six hours, and funny thing is, my target changed three times in this last hour. It was frustrating, to say the least. I had planned and prepared for weeks, only to have my plan thrown off course by someone else's actions.
Apparently, someone had killed my target, and the one I was assigned after that. It was a setback, but I refused to let it deter me.
I've seen several cultivators walking near the area I was in, some tried to get into the Temple I was hiding in too, but the moment they saw one of my puppets standing inside the temple, they all decided to backtrack quietly before they are spotted. It was a simple act of misdirection, the fact that this puppet I placed under is unknown to all the cultivators, anyone who sees it would think it is a guard of the Forbidden City. Thus they move away without inspecting further.
I had the thought of going down and looking for the Serpent Temple since it would allow me a hint about my next target as the Scroll had mentioned, but I decided against it. The number of cultivators still alive was pretty damn high, a fight in this darkness is bound to get me or my location exposed. So I was better off waiting at least until the last moments. Instead, I leaned back against the cold stone wall and closed my eyes, trying to relax my mind and body.
So, as any sniper worth their salt, I waited patiently, and made sure to keep vigilance and my eyes peeled. So peeled that I smiled when I said, "You know, you really need a shower," I said. It was a habit of mine to talk to myself when I was alone, it helped me keep focused and alert.
"Ohoo, you actually realized I was here," someone spoke. I almost jumped at the sudden voice, but thankfully I didn't. I slowly turned my head and immediately recognized who it was. It was obvious even with the mask and robes.
"Dao Shen," I said, acknowledging his presence.
"Funny, you're the second person to recognize me," he said with a smirk.
"Nope, still the same person," I said with a hint of sarcasm.
The man tilted his head and said, "Interesting, and they say I'm the Devourer. Possession?" he asked.
"No, something different, it's more like forcefully implementing a Soul in another body," I said.
"That's possession," he said.
"Not when it's only a part of my soul, not the whole thing," I said.
"And how do you even manage that? A soul cannot be split, it has to be whole, otherwise, this body would have its own sentience," he said.
"That's why I said forcefully implementing a soul, it's like I'm using this body as an extension of my main body," I said.
"Very interesting," he said. "Did you find your target yet?" he asked.
"Nope, still haven't found any of them," I replied sighing.
"Is that so, who are you looking for?" he asked, "I hope it's not me," he said sarcastically.
"I'm looking for number 69," I said. "And if it was you, I'd probably find a way to give up, you're not someone I can kill at this current stage," I replied calmly.
"Most cultivators are arrogant, thinking they can get the drop on another even if they are stronger. But you, you gauge and understand your opponent before you act, I like that, as for your target, he is there," he said as he pointed with his finger.
I traced his finger and used the thermal scope, I found a man hidden behind a wall, he was inside a house he didn't seem to be wanting to move. He looked to be about a couple hundred meters away. Pretty good distance but not far from my reach.
"How did you know, even from here, I cannot read his tag, I say you just chose a person in random," I said.
He then pulled three plates, "I already killed my targets, it's up to you to trust my words or not," he said.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked "If what you're saying is true," I said.
"Because you're interesting, I've already met the rest of the Poison God cultivators, they're all trash, but you, you don't even have a Battling Book, and you still managed to injure me. That' talent," he said.
"I do have a battling book, it's just that I don't like using it, as for my talent I've been told that I have no talent root," I said.
"Talent Root is for regular cultivators, we're Poison God cultivators, we don't need that," he said.
"Are those your words or the Purple Skull's words," I said.
"I already killed my Purple Skull, same as you did," he smiled.
I sighed and said, "You really don't want to help me, but you want to see how this thing works, right?" I asked as I looked at the rifle in my hand.
"Indeed, it's a tool I never saw anything like before, show me how it works, you've been looking at the scope of that thing for the past hour, and I'm now intrigued. The craftsmanship looks like a work of art," he said.
"I would have refused to show you how this works, but since you said it's a work of art, I'll show you how it works, but make sure to ready up, because this thing is loud," I said.
"Show me then," he said.
Just as he finished his words, I locked on my target and called upon the four robotic arms.
The arms were a surprise to Dao Shen because he didn't expect them to come out.
Two of the arms grabbed tightly at the ground in front of me. And the other two grabbed at the gun.
One arm at the barrel, and the other to support the stock from nuking my own shoulder to kingdom come.
I peeked one last time at the scope, making sure that the rifle was completely stable.
And then I squeezed the trigger.
Qi, so much of it gathered at the chamber at the bottom of the barrel, it was so pure and concentrated that you could see the cultivators while in thermal vision all snap their faces towards my location.
And almost a fraction of a second later, the world turned blinding white.
A ray of light shot from the mouth of the rifle, and went at a speed so far higher than the speed of sound that it already reached, its target before the explosion of the bullet was even heard.
The explosion of the barrel alone was enough to rip apart the top of the tower I was on, that was only the wind impact. As for the point of impact, it had ripped into the cultivator so hard that it went through and out of the cultivator and then slammed into the ground.
A muffled explosion happened, where the very house the cultivator was in seemed to roil and coil upon itself, imploding as if a miniature black hole materialized inside the house. Then an explosion of epic proportions echoed afterward as the houses around the target were ripped out of their base, turning to dust in seconds.
"Oh my...that's... deadly," said the cultivator next to me.
"I don't think this is enough to take you out though," I spoke sarcastically as I stood up and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"My location has been revealed, gotta change location," I said as I jumped from the top of the tower.
Seeing that nothing like a skull appeared on my chest after taking that person out, I suppose that he was my target.
Dao Shen's tip was true, I still don't understand how he did it though, but I guess he has his ways. Now with one target down, I need to go and find the second target.
Just as I fell to the ground, I dove into the shadows and began walking using the Traceless Steps, moving away from the location where I was in and entering a different part of the city altogether.
'I need to lay off for the day, there is no point in going for the second target right now, everyone must have realized what happened, and if I were to take another shot soon, I'll be revealed and they'll be ready.'
Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are published on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶