Chapter 80 – Mutation

This is something that falls within your responsibilities.

Lu Yuan remembered the information Ge Wenjun had hinted at over the phone.

But outwardly, he remained very polite.

“No need… You all help me find its location, and I should be able to handle the rest myself.”

He feared that Zhou Ling and the others would take too long, while he could resolve this trouble sooner if he acted alone.

Zhou Ling, however, just smiled and then turned to look toward the staircase, changing the subject: “Actually, when we came in, we already noticed your presence.”

“Hmm?”

“No.13 went up to bring you down. He probably didn’t expect you to act so decisively and ruthlessly. I guess he didn’t plan on fighting you at first.”

Zhou Ling looked at Lu Yuan and said, “Do you understand what I mean?”

Lu Yuan fell silent.

What Zhou Ling seemed to be implying was that his strength wasn’t as formidable as he thought. The reason No.13 ended up beaten so badly was primarily because No.13 never intended to fight him, while Lu Yuan was out to kill.

One lacked the will to fight, the other had the intent to kill, leading to the resulting outcome.

Lu Yuan didn’t comment on Zhou Ling’s words. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, “Why are you telling me all this?”

He had wanted to ask this question for a while.

Zhou Ling’s current attitude toward him seemed a bit too friendly. Even though, because of the crane cry punch, he was regarded as a core disciple of the Sky Water Stream Crane Style in Zhou Ling’s eyes, he still felt Zhou Ling was talking too much.

Some things seemed completely unnecessary to discuss with him, a senior high school student.

“Indeed, I’ve been talking quite a bit today,” Zhou Ling admitted candidly. “Mainly because we’re quite interested in you.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback by this and instinctively blurted out, “Are you inviting me to join Yellow Bear?”

“That’s part of the idea,” Zhou Ling nodded. “Yellow Bear has always actively recruited elites from all fields, especially fresh blood with talent like yours.”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but think of No.13, whom he had beaten so badly that he needed brain replacement surgery, and said, “I don’t want any kind of body modification.”

“Ha—”

Zhou Ling couldn’t help but laugh at Lu Yuan’s remark.

“I figured you’d say that. Not everyone in Yellow Bear is a cyborg. You could join as a regular martial artist, and there are plenty of benefits. But to be honest, the path of modification is far more legitimate and promising than martial arts practice. You’ll understand that in time.”

Zhou Ling sighed a bit and suddenly stood up from his chair, patting Lu Yuan on the shoulder.

“It’s too early to talk about this now. It’s almost time.”

Zhou Ling turned his head to the side.

It was then that Lu Yuan noticed the men in tight clothing in the living room had all suddenly become serious and solemn.

“Swish—Swish—”

Lu Yuan finally noticed the cacophony of sounds coming from outside the house.

It was the noise of countless birds flapping their wings, creating a sound like heavy rain hitting an awning.

He turned to look outside and saw large flocks of black shadows taking off.

A sense of impending doom inexplicably washed over Lu Yuan.

He quickly stood up from his chair as well.

“Get ready.”

Zhou Ling’s demeanor changed, from relaxed and comfortable to focused and intense.

It was as if a lazy tiger had awoken from its nap.

For a moment, Zhou Ling gave Lu Yuan the same feeling he had when he first saw Qin Feng at the entrance of Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

That overwhelming sense of pressure that unnerved him.

“You get ready too.”

Zhou Ling turned back to Lu Yuan.

“Am I going up too?”

Lu Yuan was stunned and blinked: “Get ready for what? Who are we fighting?”

“You’re not going up!”

Zhou Ling scolded with a laugh, “I mean find a place to hide. Once the fight starts, I might not have time to look after you. As for who we’re fighting…”

Zhou Ling glanced at the group of men in vests piled up in the corner and said calmly:

“You don’t think we’re here just to catch these small fry, do you?”

The Crow Deity sect!

Lu Yuan’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly realized.

Of course, even cultists like the Ratman, whom he could handle, were considered extraordinary.

To alarm the entire city of Jiaoyan and bring Zhou Ling and his team here, there had to be extraordinary members of the Crow Deity sect involved.

He had already anticipated facing the extraordinary when he came in, but after meeting Zhou Ling and his team, he had momentarily forgotten about it.

Lu Yuan quickly began to act, searching for a hiding place.

“The basement is over there.”

A man in tight-fitting clothes helpfully pointed in a direction.

Lu Yuan glanced over but didn’t say anything. Instead, he headed directly towards the staircase to the second floor.

“This kid is smarter than you,” Zhou Ling laughed heartily, then turned his attention away from Lu Yuan.

His expression grew colder as he casually took off his jacket, revealing the same black combat uniform as the others.

The tight fabric accentuated Zhou Ling’s perfectly toned and powerful physique.

On his left chest, an emblem of a white bear roaring with its arm raised gleamed under the incandescent light.

Zhou Ling strode to the living room doorway, squinting in one direction as if waiting for something to arrive.

“Thud•”

A crow, not watching where it was going, crashed through the window at the stairwell.

Struggling to get up, the first thing it did was to furiously flutter towards Lu Yuan, who happened to be passing by.

With a casual flick of his hand, Lu Yuan sent the crow flying like a ping-pong ball hit at high speed. It smacked against the wall with a loud “thwack,” leaving a dark red, foul-smelling bloodstain that slowly slid down.

Without even glancing at it, Lu Yuan dashed up to the fourth floor.

In the leftmost corridor on the fourth floor, he found an opening in the ceiling. He initially planned to climb up to the rooftop to assess the situation.

But as he approached, he saw countless bird droppings falling from the opening, like it was raining.

Lacking the courage to “face the shit head-on,” Lu Yuan abandoned the idea and stood in the corridor on the fourth floor.

By now, the sky above the house was entirely occupied by a black mass of a flock of crows.

The crows that had been perched in the front yard and those pecking at corpses in the septic tank in the backyard had all taken to the air for some unknown reason.

They seemed to be going mad, shrieking as they incessantly circled the house.

In Chinese literature class, when describing someone as noisy, it’s often said they are “as noisy as a crow.”

Lu Yuan had never really felt the weight of that comparison before.

Now he realized just how apt that metaphor was.

Thousands of crows gathered around the house, all cawing at the same time. The noise was ten times louder than a bustling morning market.

Apart from their cawing, he could hardly hear anything else.

The cacophony was maddening, a true assault on the ears.

Lu Yuan noticed that his facial expression had unconsciously become more twisted.

The unbearable noise filled every inch of his surroundings, trying to force its way into his pores. Even the most patient person would find their mood turning irritable.