86: Chapter 86 The Shadow's Assassination

The third day after returning to the Farmhouse, Chen Mo felt something was off.

The feeling was subtle—not an anomaly in his Time Perception, not a fluctuation in his Pupil of the Sequence, but a pure alertness born from survival instinct.

Someone was watching him.

Chen Mo stood in the yard, pretending to organize supplies, while his 20-second Prediction was running at full capacity.

Within a 500-meter radius, everything was normal.

There were no Ghost Shadows, no Chosen Ones, no moving objects.

But that feeling of being watched remained.

Chen Mo set down the box in his hand and turned to walk back to the Basement.

Lin Wei was eating when she saw him enter, and she paused in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Mo did not speak.

He simply sat on a chair and closed his eyes.

His Pupil of the Sequence was running at full capacity.

Those lines of rules emerged in his mind—the structure of the Farmhouse, the surrounding terrain, and those hidden details that were usually invisible.

Then, he saw it.

Above the Basement, in the shadows of the roof, there was a point.

That point was almost motionless, blending in with the surrounding shadows. If it weren't for the ultimate form of the Pupil of the Sequence, he wouldn't have been able to discover it at all.

【Hidden target detected】

【Target: Shadow (A-rank)】

【Status: Lurking】

【Threat assessment: Fatal】

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

Shadow.

That assassin from the Neon Country.

Back at the Summit, she was E-rank. Now, she had advanced to A-rank.

And she had come to kill him.

Chen Mo stood up.

Lin Wei looked at him.

"What exactly is wrong?"

Chen Mo lowered his voice.

"There is someone outside. Don't move."

He gripped his cleaver tightly and walked toward the stairs.

Halfway there, he activated Infiltrator.

Seven seconds of invisibility.

He vanished into the air.

The moment he rushed out of the Basement, in his 20-second Prediction, a black shadow was pouncing down from the roof.

Too fast.

Faster than any opponent he had ever seen.

The black shadow adjusted her posture in mid-air, a pitch-black short blade stabbing directly at the spot where he had just been standing.

If he hadn't been invisible, this strike would have pierced his chest.

Chen Mo dodged to the side.

The black shadow landed and turned around.

Shadow.

She was wearing a black bodysuit, her face pale, with almost no expression. Her eyes were pitch black with no whites, but her gaze was as sharp as a blade.

She looked at the spot where Chen Mo was invisible.

"I know you are there." Her voice was very soft, like a whisper.

Chen Mo did not speak.

Three seconds of invisibility remained.

He was waiting.

Shadow also stood in place, not moving.

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

One second.

Invisibility ended.

Chen Mo appeared three meters in front of her.

Shadow moved.

Faster than before.

The black shadow reached him almost instantly, the short blade stabbing toward his throat.

Chen Mo's 20-second Prediction caught this strike in advance.

He dodged to the side, the blade passing right by his neck.

But Shadow's second strike had already arrived.

The third strike.

The fourth strike.

Each strike connected seamlessly, without any pause.

Chen Mo could only dodge; he couldn't fight back.

Too fast.

Faster than the Void Sniper.

The fifth strike.

The sixth strike.

The seventh strike.

By the eighth strike, Chen Mo was finally half a beat slow.

The short blade grazed his left arm.

Blood gushed out.

Chen Mo retreated, creating distance.

Shadow did not pursue.

She stood in place, watching him.

In those pitch-black eyes, a glimmer of light appeared for the first time.

"You are injured," she said.

Chen Mo looked down at his left arm.

The wound wasn't deep, but it kept bleeding.

He tore off a piece of clothing and bandaged it simply.

Shadow watched him finish these actions, not attacking while he was distracted.

"You are the first person to dodge my eight strikes," she said.

Chen Mo did not speak.

He was waiting.

In his 20-second Prediction, Shadow would launch a stronger attack next, targeting his chest.

But there was a 0.2-second opening in the wind-up of that attack.

Shadow moved.

As expected.

The black shadow rushed over, the short blade stabbing straight at his chest.

Chen Mo dodged to the side.

At the same time, he slashed a strike toward her left rib.

Shadow tried to dodge, but she was 0.1 seconds too slow.

The blade cut into her clothes.

But it didn't cut in.

Her body became soft like water in that instant.

The blade slid past.

Chen Mo was taken aback.

Shadow had already retreated three meters away.

She looked down at her slashed clothes, then looked back up at Chen Mo.

There was something different in her eyes.

"You can hurt me."

Chen Mo did not speak.

He just gripped his cleaver, staring at her.

In his 20-second Prediction, she would vanish next and then sneak attack from another direction.

But in that moment of vanishing, there was a 0.1-second fluctuation.

If he could seize that fluctuation, he could predict her location in advance.

Shadow moved.

She vanished from where she stood.

In Chen Mo's Prediction, that fluctuation appeared.

Five meters to the right.

He turned around and slashed down.

He hit.

The blade cut into her shoulder.

Blood gushed out.

Shadow's eyes widened.

She hadn't expected someone to be able to predict her vanishing.

Chen Mo did not give her time to react.

The second strike.

Shadow tried to dodge, but her injured shoulder made her slow.

The second strike hit as well.

The third strike.

Shadow finally created distance.

She stood ten meters away, clutching her shoulder, looking at Chen Mo.

In those pitch-black eyes, fear appeared for the first time.

"You..."

Chen Mo did not speak.

He just raised his cleaver.

Shadow turned and ran.

Vanishing into the night.

Chen Mo stood in place, not pursuing.

He looked down at his left arm.

Blood was still flowing.

The wound was deeper than it looked.

He turned and walked back to the Basement.

Lin Wei rushed over and supported him.

"You're injured!"

Chen Mo nodded.

He sat on the chair and let Lin Wei bandage it.

【Repelled A-rank assassin "Shadow"】

【Obtained: Shadow's Short Blade Fragment × 1】

【Obtained: Assassination Intelligence × 1】

【Serialization progress: 1.0%】

Chen Mo looked at that line of text.

It was 1.0%.

It went up by 0.1%.

But it was worth it.

He looked down at the short blade fragment.

It was small, palm-sized, and pitch black.

【Shadow's Short Blade Fragment · A-rank】

【Can be used to craft invisibility-type items】

Chen Mo put it away.

He raised his head and looked at the night outside the window.

Shadow had run away.

But she would come back.

Next time, it wouldn't be so easy.

Chen Mo closed his eyes.

He needed to rest.

He needed to prepare.

He needed to become stronger.

Outside the window, the Ghost Night continued.

Those wails came from afar.

But inside the Farmhouse, there was only the sound of breathing.

And the sound of a heartbeat.