Chapter 29: The Chase Game
Chapter 29: The Chase Game
Ji Xinghuo's first thought wasn't about what she had said, but rather, what a captivating voice!
Then, he became wary.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Mr. Ji, don't be suspicious."
She blinked, and even though her scarf concealed her mouth, he could guess that she was smiling, and it was infectious. "My team is recruiting an archer, but we haven't found a suitable candidate. We happened to run into each other a few times at the recruitment center, so I'm a little interested."
Ji Xinghuo was delighted, but he didn't show it. "Your team?"
He always felt that this woman was not simple. The more beautiful a woman was, the better she was at deception, although he couldn't be sure if she was truly beautiful.
"Yes, I'm the captain of a hunting team, and our team is quite strong." The woman was obviously being modest.
Ji Xinghuo, on the contrary, became suspicious. "You should know that I'm just a novice ranger. If your team is very strong, why would you be interested in me?"
"Rank is not important. My requirements are different from those of other teams."
The woman stood up and walked past him.
Ji Xinghuo caught a whiff of a refreshing and soothing fragrance, a unique blend of peach blossoms, gardenias, and magnolias, among other flowers. It was fresh and elegant, very subtle, almost imperceptible, but once smelled, it would probably be unforgettable.
He was still in a daze when she had already reached the restaurant door. She turned around and asked, "Don't you have confidence in yourself, Mr. Ji?"
"Coming."
Ji Xinghuo put down his half-eaten dinner, wiped his mouth, and followed her.
The two of them left the restaurant and walked down the street.
Ji Xinghuo walked beside her and suddenly remembered to ask, "I didn't catch your name."
"My name is Ren Mian." She turned to reply, then seemed to worry that he wouldn't know which characters, so she proactively explained, "Ren as in willful, and Mian as in cotton."
"Isn't the pronunciation of the character 'Ren' as a surname 'ren'?" Ji Xinghuo was puzzled.
"For me, it's willful 'ren,'" Ren Mian emphasized willfully. "If you successfully join my team, you can call me Sister Ren from then on."
Willful sister?
Ji Xinghuo mocked her in his mind, but he replied, "Okay, Sister Ren."
After that, the two of them fell silent.
After walking for several hundred meters without stopping, Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but ask, "Sister Ren, where are we going?"
"You said your strength is above that of an intermediate ranger, and your archery skills are excellent, but I haven't seen it. So, I'm taking you to a test." Ren Mian said indifferently, "Although my requirements are different from those of other teams, as a ranger, your basic skills should be solid."
Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Thank you, Sister Ren, for giving me this opportunity."
"Don't be too happy yet. Archery is just the first test. The difficult parts are yet to come. You can thank me after you join my team."
Ren Mian pointed forward, "We're here."
It was an archery range on the street. After the two of them entered, Ren Mian directly asked the front desk to arrange a private indoor range, the kind that didn't allow others to watch.
When the staff left, Ren Mian pointed to the farthest target.
"You have ten seconds to prepare."
"Between the tenth and twentieth seconds, complete ten shots, and each arrow must hit the bullseye." After speaking, she raised her wrist and pushed up her sleeve, revealing a mechanical watch, and started timing.
Without hesitation, Ji Xinghuo drew the compound hunting bow that had been on his back with his free hand, while lowering the quiver to his right waist.
During this process, he was also observing the target.
The target that Ren Mian had specified was a standard 80-centimeter diameter target, but at a distance of 150 meters, this was already far beyond the range that a novice ranger could handle, and even an intermediate ranger would find it challenging.
Although it was a fixed target, the requirement to hit ten bullseyes in one breath within ten seconds was something that most advanced rangers couldn't achieve.
If it were another novice ranger, they might not even be able to see the bullseye on the target.
However, Ji Xinghuo didn't complain.
Ren Mian continued timing. When it reached the tenth second, she raised her right index finger as a signal.
Pa!
Ji Xinghuo almost simultaneously shot the first arrow, which turned into a black line and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Without looking at the result, his Thousand Spirit Dexterous Hands technique was pushed to the limit as he nocked the second arrow, drew the bow, and shot again.
Pa pa pa pa pa!
Six arrows were fired in succession, their trajectories forming a raised parabola, each one hitting the bullseye without fail.
This took about five seconds.
Ji Xinghuo had already used up the five arrows he had pinched in his palm. His gaze remained locked on the bullseye, his posture unchanged, but his right hand reached into the quiver at his waist, skillfully grabbing four arrows.
The seventh arrow was nocked.
Just as he was about to shoot, Ren Mian, who was standing beside him, suddenly snapped her fingers. Pa, the lights of the crystal chandeliers installed all around were instantly attracted to her fingertip, and the lighting in the range suddenly dimmed, becoming almost pitch-black.
Ji Xinghuo still shot the seventh arrow and turned to Ren Mian with a smile, "Sister Ren, it's not nice to ambush me like this."
As he spoke, he shot another arrow in the darkness, as if the change in lighting had no effect on him at all.
The indoor shooting range brightened once more, and Ren Mian looked towards the target 150 meters away. All ten arrows were densely packed, their points clustered in the bullseye.
"It took you eight seconds."
Ren Mian glanced at her mechanical watch, unable to conceal the surprise in her eyes. She exclaimed, "That was faster than I expected. With this shooting skill alone, even the Olympia teams would be vying for you."
Not to mention, he had accomplished this despite her interference.
Ji Xinghuo exhaled, as if venting the frustration of the past two days, and said self-deprecatingly, "They would only despise me."
"Hehe..." Ren Mian chuckled lightly, "Looks like I've struck gold."
"So, have I passed?" Ji Xinghuo asked.
Ren Mian shook her head slightly, causing the light veil at the edge of her wide-brimmed hat to sway like waves. She said meaningfully, "The upcoming trials are what I value more. However, shooting ten bullseyes in the dark should be effortless for you."
"Please, Sister Ren, give me the next challenge." Ji Xinghuo remained calm and collected.
"This trial will test your perception." Ren Mian looked at the target filled with arrows. "Go retrieve your arrows, then leave after three minutes. Don't lose sight of me."
After finishing her sentence, she turned and walked away, leaving Ji Xinghuo alone.
Ji Xinghuo was taken aback for a moment.
However, he immediately ran over, pulled out all the arrows, and returned them to his quiver. He glanced at the time on his mechanical watch, his face devoid of any sign of worry.
His magnetic field perception had already locked onto Ren Mian.
As soon as she left the archery range, she quickened her pace, moving swiftly and turning into an alley a few hundred meters away. She then stood still.
It was a blind spot that was difficult for ordinary people to notice.
However, in the magnetic field perception, it stood out like a lighthouse in the night.
As soon as the three minutes were up, Ji Xinghuo walked out of the archery range, pretending to look around at his surroundings several times before approaching the direction where Ren Mian was located.
When they were halfway there, Ren Mian immediately took action.
She continued deeper into the alley where she had been hiding, flipped over a wall, and darted through the gaps between buildings and rooftops, changing directions from time to time.
Ji Xinghuo did not pursue her into the alley but merely quickened his pace slightly, trailing behind Ren Mian from a distance while ensuring she remained within his magnetic field perception range.
Ren Mian possessed strong perception and seemed to have a way to sense Ji Xinghuo's location as well.
Thus, she increased her speed even more.
Often, she would directly jump onto rooftops to take shortcuts, attempting to shake off Ji Xinghuo's pursuit. Ji Xinghuo had no choice but to speed up as well.
However, Ren Mian was evidently faster, and the distance between them gradually widened.
A few minutes later, she exceeded the range of his magnetic field perception.
Ji Xinghuo lost sight of Ren Mian, but he remained calm. He turned his head towards an unseen corner of the wall, and the iris of his right eye flashed. He unleashed the power of the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil with full force.
Instantly, countless illusory lines and lights flowed before his eyes, evolving into numerous possible futures.
Myriad Phenomenon Forest!
Since the last time he had desperately activated the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupil's ability to foresee the future, Ji Xinghuo had experimented several times and finally gained control over it. He named this ability "Myriad Phenomenon Forest."
Activating the Myriad Phenomenon Forest required the consumption of stellar power and could be sustained for a maximum of three seconds.
However, he didn't need that long this time.
Ji Xinghuo only activated it for a brief moment, less than half a second, before he obtained the directional guidance he needed. He then immediately deactivated the Myriad Phenomenon Forest.
He sprinted in a certain direction, and after about ten seconds, Ren Mian reappeared within his magnetic field perception.
Ren Mian stood at a street corner, seemingly unaware that she had been caught up to.
When the distance between them shortened to about a hundred meters, Ren Mian finally became alert.
Once again, she swiftly moved away.
A moment later.
Ji Xinghuo lost her for the second time, not because his magnetic field perception failed but because his speed couldn't keep up. Being only a novice ranger, he was at a disadvantage in this aspect.
So, he activated the Myriad Phenomenon Forest for half a second once more and managed to catch up with Ren Mian.
This pattern repeated itself three times.
After running and chasing for over an hour, they had traversed half of the East Summer Zone.
Ji Xinghuo had never been to this area before. This part of the city had fewer people, stricter patrols, and the passing superhumans were evidently more powerful. It was evidently one of the upper-class areas of Olympia City.
Suddenly, Ren Mian's movement trajectory changed.
Unlike before, when she would become alert and move away in the most advantageous direction as he drew closer, her movements now seemed more random.
Ji Xinghuo pondered for a moment and understood.
Ren Mian had lost the ability to sense his location. He lowered his head and sniffed his body, a smile appearing on his face. "So that's how it is."
Ji Xinghuo boldly closed the distance with Ren Mian and found that she had stopped moving.
As he approached, he realized it was a bar.
Ren Mian stood at the entrance of the bar, and when she saw Ji Xinghuo walking casually from the distant street, a mix of surprise, resignation, and curiosity flashed in her beautiful eyes, but she ultimately didn't voice her thoughts.
"Sister Ren."
Ji Xinghuo called out as he approached.
Ren Mian nodded slightly, extending her delicate, fair hand. "Welcome to my team."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
