17: Chapter 17 Symphony in the Dark Alley

Chapter Seventeen: Symphony in the Dark Alley

The night was like a giant sponge soaked in ink, absorbing the last of the city's light and heat.

The secluded alley connecting the university's back street to the campus looked like the mouth of a giant beast waiting to devour someone under the dim streetlights, deep and silent.

The air was filled with the sour stench of rotting garbage and the musty smell of aged grime; occasionally, the night wind blew through, swirling a few withered leaves with a 'rustle' like ghostly whispers.

I, Mo Wen, was perched on the mottled wall of a residential building above the alley entrance, perfectly blending myself into a patch of shadow.

My six senses covered the entire alley with unprecedented clarity.

Within the vision of [Heat Perception], four humanoid heat sources emitting a dark red glow, filled with malice and anxiety, were lurking behind trash cans and in dark recesses on both sides of the alley.

Their body temperatures were slightly higher than a normal person's, and their heartbeats were faster—physiological reactions born from the intertwining of tension, excitement, and tyranny.

Moreover, [Vibration Perception] stripped away their status, leaving it completely exposed.

I could 'hear' their deliberately suppressed breathing, the friction of stones being restlessly ground under their feet, and I could even distinguish the slight stiffness and trembling in their muscles from lurking for a long time.

They were like four clumsy spiders on a web they had woven that was full of holes, waiting for a 'fragile butterfly' of their own imagination.

Finally, that 'butterfly' arrived.

Lin Qingzhi's figure appeared at the alley entrance.

She carried that small backpack, white earphones plugged into her ears, and the moonlight cast a holy silver edge onto her simple and elegant dress.

She walked at an unhurried pace with an indifferent expression, looking just like an ordinary female college student taking a shortcut back to her dormitory, completely unaware of the impending danger.

Acting: full marks.

I knew that beneath her calm and wave-less exterior was an Ice Phoenix that had long since awakened, having retracted all its claws and fangs.

The reason she walked into this trap wasn't out of stupidity, but originated from the Empress's bone-deep, non-provocable pride.

She wanted to use the most direct method to tell these ants exactly how vast the gap was between them and her.

When she reached the center of the alley—the very core of the encirclement—those four figures moved.

Zhang Meng and his two lackeys lunged out from the shadows on the left and right, blocking the path forward.

And the culprit, the venomous-faced Zhang Wei, flanked her from behind, blocking Lin Qingzhi's retreat.

"Hehehe, Lin Qingzhi, you didn't expect this, did you?" Zhang Wei's voice sounded somewhat shrill due to his resentment; as he looked at Lin Qingzhi's unperturbed face, hatred and a twisted sense of pleasure intertwined in his heart.

"Aren't you great at acting all noble and aloof? Today, let's see how you keep up that act!"

Lin Qingzhi slowly took off one earphone, her cold gaze sweeping over these four creatures who seemed like clowns to her; there wasn't even disgust in her eyes, only a pure indifference as if looking at dead objects.

"Just you few bedbugs?" Her voice was very light and faint, yet it carried a chill that seemed capable of freezing the soul. "You think you're worthy of blocking My path?"

"My?"

Zhang Meng froze for a moment, then, as if hearing a huge joke, he burst into wild laughter along with his two lackeys.

"Hahaha! Brother, did you hear that?

Has this chick gone crazy from reading too many novels, calling herself 'Zhen'? I'm dying of laughter!"

"Damn, she really thinks she's a queen? In a bit, your brothers will let you know who the real emperor is around here!"

Filthy words rang out incessantly.

Lin Qingzhi didn't speak again, but within those cold phoenix eyes, the last trace of emotion belonging to a human girl faded away, leaving only the endless indifference and killing intent of the Ice Phoenix Empress.

"Go! Grab her for me! Just don't damage that pretty face!" Zhang Meng grinned hideously and waved his hand.

The two weakest ones, ordinary thugs who weren't even Awakened Ones, immediately rubbed their hands together and approached Lin Qingzhi with lecherous smiles.

In their eyes, Lin Qingzhi was just a tall, weak woman with no strength to truss a chicken—a plaything they could knead at will.

They were even calculating whether to touch her smooth face first or squeeze her slender waist first.

However, they had stepped into the domain of death.

Lin Qingzhi moved.

Her movements weren't fast; one could even say they were elegant.

Facing the yellow-haired thug pouncing from the left, she merely tilted her body slightly, her right hand transforming into a palm blade. With an extremely tricky angle and without a hint of effort, she lightly chopped at the opponent's wrist joint.

*Crack!*

A crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out.

Before the yellow-haired thug's scream could escape his mouth, he felt a piercing pain from his wrist, and his entire arm instantly lost sensation.

Lin Qingzhi's movements didn't pause for a second; her body turned with the momentum, and a seemingly light elbow strike accurately slammed into the soft spot under his ribs.

"Ugh!"

The yellow-haired thug's eyes bulged, and his whole body arched like a cooked shrimp. A spray of white foam mixed with stomach acid erupted from his mouth as he slumped softly to the ground, completely losing his ability to fight.

At the same time, before the dirty hand of the other thug attacking from the right could even touch the corner of her clothes, she had grabbed his wrist with a backhand.

Lin Qingzhi's jade-like fingers flew, and using a sophisticated technique that was almost like an art form, she tapped several times in succession on the thug's arm.

The thug's body suddenly stiffened, and then like a puppet on strings, he turned uncontrollably, swung his fist, and smashed it hard into the face of his accomplice, Zhang Wei!

*Bang!*

"Ow!"

Zhang Wei let out a pig-slaughtering scream, seeing stars from the sudden punch. Blood flowed from his nose as he staggered back several steps.

As for the thug who threw the punch, after Lin Qingzhi released her grip, he collapsed to the ground twitching and foaming at the mouth—evidently, his nervous system had been temporarily disrupted by her special technique.

The entire process happened in the blink of an eye.

In just two short seconds, two aggressive thugs had completely lost their combat capability in an extremely farcical manner.

Lin Qingzhi stood in place; even the hem of her dress wasn't ruffled.

This was the Empress's way of fighting—no redundant movements, not a single shred of wasted strength. Every strike was precise, efficient, and aimed directly at vital points. This was the art of combat honed through thousands of years of life-and-death struggle, long since turned into instinct!

The alley fell into an eerie silence.

The wild laughter on Zhang Meng's face froze. He looked in disbelief at his two lackeys who were instantly taken out; a trace of terror finally appeared in his eyes.

He knew that this time... he had kicked a steel plate!

And Zhang Wei, clutching his nose, was scared out of his wits.

But, the good show had only just begun.

As the conductor of this symphony, it was my turn to play the first discordant note.

My target wasn't the strongest, Zhang Meng, but the weakest one whose mental state was currently the most unstable... Zhang Wei.

Pick the soft persimmons to squeeze.

While everyone's attention was on Lin Qingzhi, I vibrated my wings and, at a terrifying speed exceeding the speed of sound, transformed into a silent black phantom invisible to the naked eye. I instantly crossed the distance of dozens of meters and appeared behind Zhang Wei.

He was gasping for air due to fear and the sharp pain in his nose; the back of his neck was completely exposed within my attack range.

A cold light flashed in my eyes. I aimed my mouthparts—which had evolved to an intermediate level and were capable of piercing through sheet metal—at a key nerve node behind his neck and stabbed in hard and without mercy!

*Psh!*

The sensation of the mouthparts piercing into flesh came through.

[Nerve Paralysis (Beginner)] toxin, full dose injected!

"Ugh... ah..."

Zhang Wei's body suddenly stiffened. He felt as if the back of his neck had been stabbed hard by a red-hot steel needle.

Immediately after, an eerie, cold sensation of paralysis spread rapidly from his spine to his entire body like a tide!

His mouth was open, but he couldn't make any sound. His limbs wanted to move, but they completely refused to obey.

His eyeballs rolled in terror as he watched his own body fall like a chopped-down log, hitting the sewage-covered ground face-first with a 'thud'.

This sudden scene left the only 'audience' in the alley, Zhang Meng, completely bewildered.

"Xiao Wei?!"

He cried out in alarm. Seeing his brother fall to the ground in an extremely bizarre posture, motionless and with his life or death unknown, his mind instantly went blank.

What happened?

That woman... she clearly hadn't moved from where she stood!

Could it be... a ghost?!

A fear originating from the unknown instantly gripped his heart.

As for me, I had already flown back into the high-altitude shadows the moment I completed the attack, coldly watching it all.

The first act of the movement had concluded perfectly.

Next, it was time for the main course to appear.