Chapter 313: Genius

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

This old-style building lacked an elevator, so the three of them had to climb the stairs.

Gu Shiyan watched as Lu Miao, with her swift and light steps, took the lead. He

lifted his long legs and effortlessly skipped over three steps, reaching out to grasp her wrist.

Thinking he had something to discuss, Lu Miao turned back and looked at him questioningly.

Without a word, Gu Shiyan moved quickly ahead, positioning himself in front of Lu Miao, effectively shielding her behind him.

Ji Nanchen, trailing behind, rolled his eyes at his action. Lu Miao was at the pinnacle of the food chain, a heavyweight individual who could easily subdue them both. Only Gu Shiyan seemed to think that she might be vulnerable and was trying to protect her.

The building had a total of eleven floors, and the suspect was in the eastern unit on the top floor.

Just as the trio arrived at the doorway, a gust of cold wind swept through the hallway, and the door was pushed open with a creak.

Ji Nanchen immediately withdrew his gun from his waist and cautiously approached the door.

Inside the house was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything.

Could it be that the suspect wasn’t here?

Ji Nanchen was puzzled when he suddenly caught a whiff of a metallic, bloody scent on the wind.

His expression changed, and he prepared to enter the room.

“Don’t move,” Lu Miao’s words hadn’t even finished echoing before Ji Nanchen had entered the room with his gun raised. As soon as he stepped across the threshold, the door “bang” shut behind him.

Frowning, Gu Shiyan tried to pull the door closed, but it wouldn’t budge.

Lu Miao turned to survey her surroundings and then took a fire axe from the fire hydrant on the hallway wall. She walked up to the door and swung the axe at the lock.

If she wasn’t mistaken, at this moment, even if the heavens were to strike, no one in the family compound would wake up.

Gu Shiyan was momentarily stunned by Lu Miao’s rare display of violence.

“This is known as ‘overcoming tens of thousands with a single force’ , ” Lu Miao calmly explained before opening the door.

As the light flicked on, Ji Nanchen and Gu Shiyan had disappeared without a trace.

Before them was a small living room. The furniture and decor had a slightly aged appearance, casting a faint yellow hue. The living room was neat and tidy, with several fresh fruits placed on the table. It seemed to be a typical household.

An illusion?

Well, she’d played with illusions and formations since her master introduced her to them at the age of three.

Unperturbed, Lu Miao walked to the table and casually picked up an apple, tossing it in her hand a couple of times.

Suddenly, with a forceful swing of her hand, she flung an axe at the wall to her right.

The scene in the room immediately shifted. Within the dim, cramped space, there were concentric circles of burning candles placed on the floor.

In the center, an emaciated adult man with a deathly pale face sat cross-legged. He had been the one who had abducted the victims in the alley. Everything she had seen before was an illusion, except for the apple in her hand.

As the axe hurtled toward his head, the man swiftly tilted his head to evade.

The sharp edge of the axe grazed his cheek, leaving a bloodied mark on his ashen face. Then, with a “thud,” the axe embedded itself into the wall behind him.

The man wiped away the blood from his face and looked at Lu Miao with a gloomy smile. “It seems the police have been somewhat useful this time, bringing along an assistant. My formation still lacks a good sacrifice as its core.

That person from earlier was too useless, however you fit the bill perfectly.”

As he spoke, he tossed out several talismans. Instantly, a thick fog enveloped Lu Miao, obscuring everything from view.

Within the gray mist, faint breaking sounds could be heard as several indiscernible objects attacked Lu Miao from behind.

Standing in place, Lu Miao casually tossed a few copper coins. With a series of crisp clinks, the coins accurately intercepted the attacks, causing the objects to change direction and fall to the ground.

The lingering mist dissipated, revealing a cliff before her.

Lu Miao stood at the edge of the precipice, one step away from a bottomless abyss. Deep within the dense forest behind her, the roars of wild beasts echoed faintly.

Combining formations and illusions, the boundary between reality and illusion blurred. No one could determine what the cliff and the beasts actually were. Each change in the illusion corresponded to a change in the formation. Within the formation lay a web of lethal traps—one wrong step could lead to a deadly end.

In this era of decline, with various magical tools and secrets lost, possessing such abilities marked one as a genius. It wasn’t surprising that Ji Nanchen wasn’t her match.

However, it was unfortunate that such abilities were not being used for righteous purposes.

Lu Miao took a step forward, causing pebbles to cascade down the cliff. She could even feel the cold wind blowing up from below.

The roars of the ferocious beasts behind her grew closer. Suddenly, a large and menacing wild wolf, its sharp teeth bared, leaped from behind, pouncing directly at her.

With the gaping maw about to engulf her, Lu Miao remained calm, standing her ground. She swiftly extended her hand and seized the wolf’s neck. Then, with a forceful twist, she abruptly turned around, and with a swift movement of her foot, she sent the wolf soaring.

A beam of light flashed by, and all the illusions receded like a tide.

The object she had grasped was the fire axe she had thrown earlier. Behind her was an open floor-to-ceiling window. If she had taken one more step forward within the formation, she would have plummeted from this eleventh-floor height.

Not far away, the suspect held a gun against Gu Shiyan’s and Ji Nanchen’s heads.

His gaze was avaricious as he looked at Lu Miao, as though a famished person eyeing a delectable cake. “To break through my illusion formation, your strength is indeed commendable. You’re most suitable as a sacrifice to empower my formation.”

Lu Miao responded nonchalantly, “Thank you for the praise. Your taste is quite discerning.”

The man sneered, “You have three seconds. Stand at the center of the formation, cut off your left hand, and fill the groove on the ground with your blood. Hesitate for a second, and I’ll kill one of them.”

Both Gu Shiyan and Ji Nanchen remained remarkably composed. Exchanging a disdainful glance, they simultaneously voiced their thoughts.

“Kill him first.”

“Kill him first.”

The man was taken aback. Did these two even realize they were being held hostage?

He forcefully pressed the barrels of his guns against their heads. “Both of you, shut up.”

Lu Miao raised an eyebrow in annoyance and glanced over. “You’ve exceeded the promised three seconds by ten seconds. Have you decided whom to kill first? If you can’t decide, I’ll make the choice for you—both of them together..”