Best Young Master
Chapter 452 - 401: A Matter of Life and Death, Breaking the Shackles

Chapter 452: Chapter 401: A Matter of Life and Death, Breaking the Shackles

"What should I do?"

Ye Fan pushed his speed to the limits, darting through the forest, constantly changing directions only to find that his pursuer stubbornly followed behind, the distance between them steadily closing, leaving him as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

His anxiety stemmed from the knowledge that defeating a Half-step Gang Qi realm master with his own skills was a daunting task, let alone escaping with his life.

Being hunted by three Half-step Gang Qi realm masters only had one outcome: death!

Suddenly, before Ye Fan could figure out a solution, he noticed a faint glow emanating from the Ghost Ring on his right hand.

"Could it be because the enemy can sense the Ghost Ring?"

Seeing this, Ye Fan had a thought, and without hesitation, he withdrew his Telekinesis from the Ghost Ring.

Hmm?

As Ye Fan ceased activating the Ghost Ring, the other Ghost Ring in Zorro’s possession immediately lost its connection, although it could still sense Ye Fan’s aura.

"It seems he has figured out that I was using the Ghost Ring to lock onto his position. However, he certainly doesn’t realize that there are a pair of Ghost Rings, and I can continue to use its feature to sense and lock onto his location!"

With this realization, Zorro sneered inwardly, also noting that Liu Chuanjun and Rock were still following behind him, maintaining a distance.

"These two bastards, do they think I am incapable of killing a mere Level 7 Cultivator?"

Zorro cursed under his breath, then had another thought: No! Previously in the mansion, they were okay with me taking action, but now they are closely following, likely because they think that bastard driven by a Magic Artifact earlier was using it to operate a Formation, wanting to seize the Magic Artifact!

With this thought, Zorro suddenly stopped, turned, and looked at Liu Chuanjun and Rock.

"What’s wrong?"

Upon seeing this, Liu Chuanjun, and Rock simultaneously halted, with Rock stepping forward and asking in a deep voice.

"I can’t sense that kid’s aura anymore." Zorro deliberately furrowed his brows, displaying an annoyed expression, "Can you sense him?"

Without responding, Rock and Liu Chuanjun shook their heads in unison.

"How were you sensing his aura before? Why can’t you sense it now?" Liu Chuanjun coldly stared at Zorro and pointedly asked.

"I practiced a special martial art specifically for sensing auras. Although he escaped while we were breaking the formation, I could sense his aura. Now, he must have realized we are pursuing him, so he’s concealed his aura," Zorro explained.

"Oh?" Rock responded, somewhat puzzled, "How did he conceal his aura?"

"Hunter has a Mid-level Magic Artifact, the Ghost Ring, which, when activated, can conceal one’s aura. I suspect that scum fostered by a bitch used the Ghost Ring,"

Zorro analytically posed, while internally he understood that Ye Fan must have other Magic Artifacts; otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to still hide his aura after the connection between the Ghost Rings was lost.

Upon hearing about the Mid-level Magical Artifact, both Liu Chuanjun and Rock’s eyes lit up.

Although both were powerful in their own right and held prominent positions within their respective organizations, they were not yet at the level to disregard a Mid-level Magical Artifact.

"So what should we do?"

While tempted, Rock also understood that the immediate priority was to pinpoint Ye Fan’s location before considering the act of killing Ye Fan and seizing the Magical Artifact.

Liu Chuanjun said nothing, just coldly staring at Zorro, waiting for his response.

"Since we promised to cooperate with Chen Feilian, we must kill this bastard raised by a bitch, otherwise it’s a minor issue to break our word to Chen Feilian, but a major one to lose face—if that bastard raised by a bitch successfully escapes, the three of us might as well not bother mingling in the future, better to just buy a block of tofu and smash ourselves dead with it!" Zorro spoke coldly.

Hearing Zorro’s words, Rock and Liu Chuanjun remained silent.

Because, what Zorro said was exactly what they were thinking.

They might not care about the benefits garnered from cooperating with Chen Feilian, but they cared about their reputations!

"My personal opinion is, that bastard raised by a bitch is not fast enough, he won’t have gotten too far in such a short time. If the three of us split up and move in three different directions, we can definitely catch him!" Seeing that Rock and Liu Chuanjun remained silent, Zorro made a suggestion.

"Okay."

Rock pondered briefly, then agreed.

"Shoo—"

Liu Chuanjun said nothing further, directly dashing forward, not only agreeing to Zorro’s suggestion with his actions but also choosing to chase after Ye Fan from the west.

And the west, that was the direction Ye Fan was running!

"This bastard!"

Seeing Liu Chuanjun making the first move, Zorro’s face darkened, cursing inwardly in frustration—he had originally planned to pursue Ye Fan from the west himself!

"I’ll head south."

Rock, unaware of Zorro’s irritation and unable to guess his thoughts, chose a direction at random.

Zorro, with a grim expression, nodded, then turned to head north, secretly injecting more Telekinesis into the Ghost Ring, fully activating it and immediately increasing its sensing range.

Hmm?

Upon sensing, Zorro suddenly discovered that Ye Fan had changed his escape route, now veering from west to north!

"Praise the Lord!"

This discovery brought joy to Zorro’s heart, and he immediately pushed his speed to the fullest, chasing after Ye Fan once again.

...

"Could one of the three of them possess a magical artifact similar to the Ghost Ring?"

In the forest to the northwest, Ye Fan continued to weave through the trees, his mind filled with doubts.

Since he stopped using the Ghost Ring, he could only sense Liu Chuanjun and Rock’s presence and was unable to sense Zorro’s presence.

Beyond that, he clearly detected Liu Chuanjun’s and Rock’s presence in two different directions, which bred suspicion that the other presence’s owner might be using a sensory type magical artifact like the Ghost Ring to lock onto his location.

"If the opponent’s artifact functions like the Ghost Ring, then even using the Ghostly Gourd wouldn’t allow me to mask my presence!" Amid his suspicions, Ye Fan thought of the worst outcome.

This outcome made Ye Fan realize the crisis had not yet passed, so he continued moving at high speed while remaining highly vigilant.

Like many villas, the Tiger Gang’s headquarters was built against the mountain, lush with green trees that stretched down to the road at the mountain’s base.

A moment later, just as Ye Fan saw the road leading down the mountain ahead, he suddenly heard a swooshing sound coming from behind.

Although the sound was faint, it clearly reached his ears!

Danger!

Though he didn’t detect a Martial Artist’s presence behind him, Ye Fan’s years of living in the mountains allowed him to instantly judge that it was the sound of someone moving through the forest.

This realization tightened his heart, yet he did not blindly flee but instead dove into a dense patch of grass ahead.

Ye Fan did this partly as a gamble, betting that the other party had not pinpointed his location and just coincidentally intersected with his escape route.

If that truly was the case, hiding in the grass would be safer than running blindly.

After all, blind running would make noise and could lead to being discovered by the opponent!

Furthermore, if the opponent indeed possessed an artifact like the Ghost Ring, capable of determining his location, then given the opponent’s speed, it would only be a matter of time before he caught up, making further fleeing pointless.

"Why aren’t you running?"

Just as Ye Fan hid in the dense grass, Zorro, via the Ghost Ring, had a clear lock on Ye Fan’s presence, feeling somewhat surprised.

"Could this bastard have heard the commotion and hidden himself?" Following his surprise, a guess surged in Zorro’s mind.

"Yes!"

"It must be so!"

"Because, this bastard doesn’t know I can pinpoint his presence!"

Soon, Zorro believed his own guess and couldn’t help but laugh, a gleam of deep anticipation in his eyes, "The leader once said that the Ghost Rings are naturally a pair and gaining a new function when used together—what could that function be?"

At this moment, Ye Fan was already as good as dead in Zorro’s eyes.

Of all this, Ye Fan knew nothing.

Now, he concealed his presence, remaining motionless in the grass, using Fetal Breathing to blend perfectly into the surroundings.

Beyond that, he pricked up his ears, attentively listening to the sounds of the enemy moving through the forest, estimating his distance from the enemy, while firmly watching the enemy’s approaching direction through the gaps in the grass.

Gradually, as the swooshing sounds became clearer, Zorro, clad in black, appeared in Ye Fan’s line of sight, walking toward the patch of grass where Ye Fan was hidden.

Seeing this scene, Ye Fan’s heart jumped to his throat, his body tensed, ready to fight at any moment.

"Are you going to come out and die yourself, or shall I assist you?"

Zorro stopped thirty meters away from Ye Fan, his gaze sharp as a knife, focusing on Ye Fan’s hiding spot, and chuckled coldly.

Without answering, from within the grass, Ye Fan’s expression was more grave than ever—through Zorro’s gaze and words, Ye Fan could confirm that his presence had not been discovered by chance but had been definitely locked onto by Zorro!

"There’s an old saying in Huaxia, ’no tears until the coffin is in sight.’ It seems you want me to help you!"

Seeing Ye Fan unmoved, Zorro’s smile deepened, and as he spoke, he took steps toward Ye Fan.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Perhaps to put pressure on Ye Fan, Zorro deliberately made a lot of noise with each steady, powerful step, creating an earth-shattering sensation that sent a horrifying killing intent rolling toward Ye Fan like a tide.

In that instant, Ye Fan felt enveloped by the aura of death, cold sweat pouring from his pores, instantly soaking his clothes.

"With my current strength, I simply cannot fight against a Half-step Gang Qi realm master, am I going to die here today?"

A fearful thought surged in Ye Fan’s mind, feeling as if he faced Death itself coming to claim him, despite his rock-solid will, he still felt an unprecedented terror.

"No!"

"I promised Ruoshui to help her eliminate Nanqinghong! I promised my master to win the Qing bang tournament and avenge him! I also vowed to help my father reach the peak of power—I cannot die here!"

After the fear, a defiant roar burst from Ye Fan’s heart, his eyes flashing with firm resolve, "Fight, let me see just how powerful a Half-step Gang Qi realm master really is!"

Whoosh!

As Ye Fan unleashed his defiant roar internally, the fear inside him instantly vanished without a trace!

At this moment.

He broke the shackles of fear, his will becoming exceptionally strong, indomitable!

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) and recommend it for Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)