But even if he knew they were hiding other secrets, what could he do about it? The situation now seemed overwhelmingly unfavorable to him!
Every one of Chu Tian’s fierce attacks drained their energy. Meanwhile, although only two people remained on the other side, they were still gaining the upper hand.
Chu Tian and his companions were gaining an increasingly decisive advantage, while Su Muxu’s state of mind was undergoing a dramatic change.
At the beginning, he had arrived with a carefully laid plan and absolute confidence in victory. Everything had gone smoothly. He had approached them without making a sound and successfully trapped them inside the house. Su Muxu had been imagining the pleasure of capturing them and torturing them to death.
Even after they had broken through the door, his side still held a considerable advantage. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, his confidence had begun to waver.
Now, he had gone from being overwhelmingly favored to showing unmistakable signs of defeat!
He could not let things continue like this! Once Chu Tian broke through the mental barrier, he would be no match for him. He absolutely could not die here. He still had grand ambitions to fulfill in the future!
Su Muxu gritted his teeth. After issuing an irrevocable order through his mental power, he withdrew his ability and immediately turned to flee from the estate.
On Chu Tian’s side, he felt the mental barrier suppressing him suddenly loosen. Then he saw Su Muxu running away.
I can’t let him escape again!
Chu Tian launched another mental attack, simultaneously increasing the force with which he threw himself against the barrier.
BOOM!
A loud explosion rang through the air. The three potato-headed creatures lined up together suddenly toppled backward. Their eyes opened, revealing nothing but blood-red pupils.
The mental barrier had been broken!
Unfortunately, Chu Tian’s mental attack aimed at Su Muxu was intercepted in midair. The three potato-headed creatures had exhausted their strength to block that devastating blow on Su Muxu’s behalf.
Chu Tian launched a second mental attack, this time targeting the three creatures lying on the ground.
He might as well give them a final send-off!
This time, the attack encountered no resistance whatsoever. Clearly, all three potato-headed creatures had exhausted their abilities.
After finishing them off, Chu Tian did not pursue Su Muxu. He knew that Su Muxu had not been injured and was far more familiar with the area than Chu Tian himself. Once he escaped, if all he wanted to do was hide with his current abilities, even Chu Tian might not be able to find him.
Chu Tian turned and joined Quan Xiaoyu and Xie Mingxuan’s battle.
Without the mental suppression, the three of them worked together, and the fight ended quickly.
Once the mental barrier disappeared, the people outside were finally alerted by the commotion inside the estate. Before long, a group of people who appeared to be members of a patrol team came running toward the scene.
The patrol team’s ability users all knew that this was the residence of Chief Gu, the base’s administrative head. At first, they did not dare approach recklessly. But when they finally mustered the courage to investigate, they discovered that the estate’s normally heavily guarded gates stood wide open, with guards strewn across the ground.
They stepped forward to check.
Dead. Every single one of them was completely dead.
From the second courtyard came the continuous sounds of battle.
The patrol team dared not delay any longer. They dispatched some members to report the situation to their superiors, blew their whistles to summon nearby personnel, and only then cautiously advanced into the courtyard.
The once-beautiful garden had been utterly destroyed. Debris and wreckage lay everywhere.
As they ventured deeper inside, a flash of cold light suddenly appeared. A gigantic creature crashed to the ground, and then a cloud of black mist spread across the sky.
Three figures suddenly leaped out of the black mist. They landed not far from the patrol team, and the man leading the group was so startled that he nearly wet himself…
Meanwhile, Chief Gu had been in the middle of a heated debate at a meeting when he received the news. He abandoned the entire group and hurried back. The horrific state of his residence nearly made him faint from rage!
Inside the courtyard, a group of patrol officers stood cautiously blocking the exit, yet they looked as though they were ready to flee at any moment.
The three tall, imposing figures standing in the courtyard looked somewhat battered after their battle, but they stood there like three gods of slaughter, coldly staring at everyone around them.
No wonder the patrol officers looked ready to run for their lives.
It took Chief Gu a full minute of deep breathing to steady himself. Only then did he clearly recognize the three people standing in the courtyard.
They were Chu Tian and his companions.
And Chu Tian, who had been all smiles and laughter before, was now looking at him with an extraordinarily icy gaze.
Chief Gu’s heart lurched. Nevertheless, he forced himself to remain calm, took several steps forward, and asked with a strained smile, “Young Friend Chu, what… what happened here?”
Chu Tian let out a cold laugh.
“Chief Gu, I was about to ask you the very same thing! Why were we attacked by monsters in the middle of the night while staying in the residence you arranged for us? And how very convenient that you happened to be away! The commotion was so great, yet no one showed up until after every last monster had been killed! I must say, I’ve truly broadened my horizons. Who would have thought that the residence of the administrative head of a major base could be so unsafe?”
A rapid-fire barrage of questions mixed with biting sarcasm. Getting the upper hand in a psychological battle had always been one of Chu Tian’s greatest strengths.
Of course, Chu Tian knew perfectly well that Chief Gu had nothing to do with tonight’s attack. He had been away because he was busy engaging in political maneuvering.
As for why no one had heard the commotion, that was obviously because of the mental barrier.
Nevertheless, in a situation like this, it was absolutely necessary to strike first and place all the blame and questions squarely on the other party! Especially when the person standing opposite him was such a seasoned and calculating old fox.
As expected, Chief Gu froze.
The three men before him had clothes that were almost completely torn to shreds from the battle. The cold-faced man who had killed someone earlier that day was covered in red and black blood. Behind them lay the corpses of enormous monsters, each nearly as large as a small hill.
Chu Tian advanced toward Chief Gu one step at a time. Chief Gu instinctively took a step backward before forcing himself to stand his ground.
The patrol officers behind him, however, did not have the courage to hold their positions. They all retreated through the gate in unison.
“Young Friend Chu, this must be a misunderstanding! I have no idea where these monsters came from. Perhaps they were targeting me and accidentally injured you all instead.”
In truth, Chief Gu had come to the same conclusion himself. When he discovered monsters inside his residence, his first thought had been that someone was trying to assassinate him. But how could such enormous creatures have appeared inside his estate without making a sound?
The very questions Chu Tian was throwing at him were questions Chief Gu had been asking himself!
“A misunderstanding?” Chu Tian said, sounding almost nonchalant, though the chill and pressure in his voice only intensified. “Fine. Let’s say it was a misunderstanding. But my companions were swallowed by those monsters. Chief Gu, what exactly are you going to give me as an explanation for that?”
Chief Gu froze again. Only then did he notice that the building originally assigned to Chu Tian and his companions had been almost completely destroyed. Bai Mingxi and the Beast Tamer were nowhere to be seen, and even the ferocious mutant tiger had disappeared.
Chief Gu’s head began to pound.
He had spent nearly an entire day engaged in political maneuvering, trying to strengthen his position. To do so, he had elevated the importance of the method for improving ability levels to an unprecedented height.
The more important that method became, the more important Chu Tian became.
As a result, he could hardly resort to the usual tricks politicians used when cornered—blatantly arguing in bad faith, twisting the facts with his silver tongue, or simply shifting the blame onto the other party!
A complete falling-out would bring him no benefits whatsoever.
But if Chu Tian and his companions had emerged unscathed, the situation might still have been manageable. Unfortunately, they had apparently lost two ability users and two mutant beasts. That was not something he could resolve with a few explanations.
While Chief Gu was struggling with the situation, the guards who had accompanied him out of the residence earlier—and thus escaped the disaster—had finished taking stock of the casualties. They returned with the survivors and immediately reported to him.
“Chief, the entire guard unit we left at the residence has been wiped out!” the reporting officer said sorrowfully. “Only the people staying in the rear courtyard survived.”
“Where’s the steward?!” Chief Gu roared.
The frustration he had been forced to suppress in front of Chu Tian finally found an outlet.
Chu Tian watched them coldly without pressing the matter any further.
“The steward…” The reporting officer lowered his head. “He’s dead, too… Only these people survived…”
He stepped aside, revealing seven or eight people standing behind him.
The reporting officer knew perfectly well that the survivors were the least important people in the entire residence. He could only wait for his master’s second wave of fury.
Sure enough, the moment Chief Gu got a good look at the survivors, his anger reached its peak!
What was in the rear courtyard, anyway? Servants and the pretty young things he kept around to warm his bed! If they died, he could simply replace them with another batch. But somehow, even the steward had died, while these people had survived!
There were both men and women among the seven or eight survivors. Only two wore servants’ uniforms; the rest were all young and exceptionally good-looking.
At that moment, they trembled in fear, not daring to speak or even raise their heads.
Chief Gu was so furious that he suddenly seemed unable to summon the strength even to curse. After a long pause, he finally said coldly, “Drag them back to the rear courtyard and bury them!”
His voice was filled with resentment, as though these people themselves were his enemies.
The guards were just about to seize the survivors when Chu Tian let out a mocking laugh from the side.
“Chief, if you kill a few people who have nothing to do with this incident, are you giving me an explanation—or trying to give yourself one?”
Chu Tian’s sarcastic remark was so cutting that the guards no longer dared to act. They all turned to look at Chief Gu.
With Chu Tian calling him out in front of so many people, Chief Gu could no longer insist on having them killed. After all, the patrol team outside did not belong to him.
He feared Chu Tian, yet resented him for being so tactless and pressing the matter at every turn. But there was nothing he could do.
The conflicting emotions made his head spin.
Seeing that things had gone far enough, Chu Tian decided not to push any further. After all, Bai Mingxi and Li Nan had not actually been eaten.
Earlier, Quan Xiaoyu had communicated with them inside his space. Although the poisonous mist was formidable, it was no match for the fruit growing inside the space. They were already fine and were simply resting.
Chu Tian was about to ease off verbally and give Chief Gu some time to deal with the situation when one of the seven or eight people from the rear courtyard suddenly spoke up.