"What a show-off!"
As a man himself, Lu Mingxuan was embarrassed to have been outshone.
Seeing Su Jin make no move toward him, he turned on Du Wenyan. "Du Wenyan, you had a fine future ahead of you. Why join these criminals? Surrender and return with me. I can keep you alive."
"And her? Can you keep her safe?" Du Wenyan held Yunlian tighter and gave him a mocking look.
"Her? She's just a Suzai. Why risk your life for her? The court can give you anything these rebels have offered."
"She's my sister."
"Your sister?" Lu Mingxuan's eyes changed, and he nodded slowly. "I see. I understand now. Even if she is a Suzai, you're a man with some backbone."
"I'll make an exception and spare you. I'll pretend I never saw your sister. But while I fight him, you mustn't—"
Before Lu Mingxuan could finish trying to sway her, Su Jin moved.
He had taken back and activated Multiplication. At noon, his strength was at its peak.
He kicked out, sending a shower of loose stones across the riverbank toward Lu Mingxuan like bullets.
Su Jin pushed off after them, raising his silver gun and firing.
"Despicable!" Lu Mingxuan cursed and sprang back.
The stones stopped in midair as if they had struck an invisible wall, then fell away.
Only the pistol shots pierced the barrier and struck Lu Mingxuan in the chest.
But powerful as the silver gun was, passing through the barrier had weakened it too much to get through his armor.
Watching where the stones bounced away, Su Jin darted past the edge of the barrier and swept his leg low.
An even larger wave of stones flew at Lu Mingxuan.
Unsure what the gun could do, Lu Mingxuan retreated again. His barrier easily stopped the stones.
"Is that all? You're no match for me. I thought you had some skill, but it's only those weapons that let you fight me!"
Lu Mingxuan raised a hand and chopped downward.
Su Jin instinctively dodged the direction of the blow.
The ground where he had stood erupted. A gust of force cut a deep trench through the stones.
Su Jin's heart tightened at the sight.
This had to be the arts Du Wenyan had spoken of, and he knew nothing about them.
He could just make out the invisible shield, but Lu Mingxuan's attacks came too quickly for him to see.
Lu Mingxuan relaxed when he saw how Su Jin dodged.
This man had little experience in a fight.
An ordinary martial expert could sense attacks made with this kind of energy. Su Jin was watching his hands instead.
Where on earth had he learned to fight?
"Three moves are all I'll need to kill you!" Lu Mingxuan pointed at him, his confidence rising.
He struck out with both hands, slashing across high and low in rapid succession.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Su Jin crouched. A heavy impact knocked him three meters back.
Even after he steadied himself, his arms still vibrated from the blow.
"What is that? Where did you get it?" Lu Mingxuan shouted, retreating in shock.
He had been certain the strike would wound Su Jin, but it had been blocked.
Blocking it was one thing. Where had the shield come from?
Something that large had appeared in Su Jin's hand out of nowhere.
Su Jin drew a sharp breath and glanced at his riot shield.
An entire row of ballistic plates attached to it had shattered, and the shield itself was cracked.
Lu Mingxuan was frighteningly strong. At least he seemed weaker and slower in body than Su Jin: a caster rather than a close-range fighter.
Su Jin couldn't beat him, and even getting close would be hard. He needed to unsettle him and drive him farther away.
At this distance, he still couldn't be sure they'd escape on the raft.
Holding his shield forward, Su Jin advanced and hurled a bag of flour at him.
Lu Mingxuan slashed at the flying bag without thinking.
It burst, scattering flour through the air like mist.
The flour revealed the shape of the invisible shield in front of Lu Mingxuan.
It was slightly smaller than Su Jin's riot shield. His defense wasn't as complete as Su Jin had feared.
Su Jin took one look, dropped his shield, and charged low toward him.
The flour was dispersing quickly. He had to press his attack while he could see the invisible strikes.
"Impudent criminal!"
Lu Mingxuan understood what Su Jin was doing as soon as he saw the flour.
Furious, he slashed again and again.
Blades of force cut through the powder toward Su Jin.
Su Jin had anticipated the attack. He leapt high, then landed on a small trampoline that had appeared on the rocky shore.
Boing!
Lu Mingxuan stared as Su Jin bounced high into the air.
Su Jin drew up his legs, held a spare riot shield in one hand,
and threw two cans of pepper spray with the other.
Lu Mingxuan didn't know what they were. They flew at him from different angles.
At the last moment, he struck one can apart. The other flew past him.
Su Jin shot that can. The irritating liquid sprayed over Lu Mingxuan.
Lu Mingxuan instinctively narrowed his eyes. Su Jin landed and shouted,
"Brother Du! Use the death-dealing chant!"
Du Wenyan immediately pressed the button on the megaphone and aimed it at him.
Oh no!
Alarmed, Lu Mingxuan fired a finger strike at Su Jin, then retreated as quickly as he could with his eyes half shut, relying on his hearing.
Whoosh!
The strike pierced Su Jin's shoulder in a spray of blood.
Fighting the pain, Su Jin took a silicone doll from storage and quickly propped it behind the shield. Then he ran toward Du Wenyan and Yunlian without looking back.
Du Wenyan brought Yunlian to meet him.
At the riverbank, Su Jin raised a hand and summoned the raft onto it.
He tossed it down and pulled both sisters aboard.
Put-put-put...
The raft started up. Lu Mingxuan had already recovered, veins standing out on his forehead.
"Don't run, criminals!"
Roaring, he vaulted over the riot shield to pursue them.
But after only a couple of steps, a chill ran through him.
Was there a fifth person here?
Without hesitation, he turned and slashed.
The smiling silicone Tifa behind the shield was cut in two, exposing its insides.
"This isn't a person?" Lu Mingxuan's eyebrows twitched.
"Lu Mingxuan, is that all you've got? Hahaha!" Su Jin called from the departing raft, clutching his wounded shoulder.
Lu Mingxuan's eyes reddened, and his expression turned fierce.
He was certain now that Su Jin was a weakling relying on tricks, even if those tricks were mysterious.
He could still catch them.
He spotted a dead log on the bank and kicked it out over the water.
He struck it in midair, splitting it in two. The first piece fell into the river, and the second sailed farther on.
Lu Mingxuan landed on the first piece and leapt for the second.
At that speed, one more leap could bring him to the raft.
Su Jin calmly raised his pistol and aimed.
He fired twice. Lu Mingxuan landed on the log and didn't dare move.
The raft sped away, and the megaphone's voice echoed over the river.
"Come and take a look! Everything's two yuan, all of it! Two yuan won't leave you cheated! Two yuan won't leave you shortchanged! Don't miss out as you pass by!"
Alone on the river, Lu Mingxuan's face turned green, then white.
At last he gritted his teeth, lay flat on the log, and slapped the water with a cry.
"Aah! You damned criminals! I swear I'll kill you!"
Then he paddled with both arms, heading alone for the opposite bank.
.....
(Friends, something came up at home. The next two chapters will be a little late, but I won't miss the updates.)