Chapter 55: Tracking and Counter-Tracking; I Will Take Their Black Cores

Time ticked away, second by second.

The limping eccentric still failed to appear.

Dark Number 2 watched Feng Mu pacing back and forth in the dead-end alley, repeatedly lowering his head to check the time on his phone, which stirred a sense of irritation and doubt deep within his mind.

The waiting time was approaching an hour.

Had the target arrived too early, or was the limping eccentric late?

Dark Number 2’s brain was not particularly sharp, and unable to figure out the reason, he could only lurk in the shadows and wait patiently.

Then, he clearly witnessed the target glance at his phone once more, after which his expression turned visibly ugly. Looking around with a vexed demeanor, he seemed to be searching for someone hiding in the dark.

"Stop hiding and come out. He sees you; he's not coming anymore," Feng Mu shouted into the empty air.

Dark Number 2 froze. As his stiff eyeballs rolled, his expression appeared even more dull-witted.

It took a full half-minute for Dark Number 2 to figure out that the target must be shouting at him, and the "he" in the other's mouth referred to the limping eccentric.

"Have I been exposed?"

"The mission failed, but I was hiding so quietly. I wasn't even playing with ants—how did he find me?"

Dark Number 2 was not good at thinking, but he was exceptionally skilled at concealment and assassination, rarely exposing himself in the past.

Most crucially, the limping eccentric had discovered him, yet he had not discovered the limping eccentric. This felt just like a colony of ants hidden in a hole beneath his sole, which he had failed to notice, letting the colony slip right past him. The frustration gnawed at him like crawling ants.

Feng Mu wondered suspiciously why the stalker in the dark still refused to come out. Frowning, he lowered his voice and shouted, "He doesn't want the black cores in my hand anymore. Do you want them? I'll sell them to you for four hundred each."

"If you're willing, I'll sell you all the future ones as well. Well? If you don't come out now, I'm leaving."

While speaking, Feng Mu opened the handbag, generously revealing the black cores he had painstakingly accumulated.

Dark Number 2 stepped out from the shadow of the corner with a dark face, gripping an ant stick and rubbing his fingers back and forth against it—a habitual gesture he used to relieve the fatigue caused by thinking.

Feng Mu was genuinely startled; he hadn't noticed a person hiding in that cramped corner at all.

"I clearly glanced at that spot just now and didn't see him. Is it because his skin is too dark, or did he conceal his presence entirely? He's practically like an ant hiding in the dark," he thought, his apprehension deepening.

With a gloomy expression, Feng Mu asked, "Are you alone? Where are your two companions? When did you start following me? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Did you bring money? I have a total of seventeen black cores here."

Dark Number 2 looked at Feng Mu, who appeared slightly exasperated yet entirely consumed by greed, and felt a slight ache in his head.

I've been exposed; does that count as a mission failure?

Should I trade with him right now, or simply kill him?

Feng Mu sensed a trace of malice. The ribs beneath the skin of his chest tightened, and the flesh on the five fingers of his right hand, clutching the handbag, felt itchy as if about to split open.

With a displeased tone, he asked, "Do you want them or not? Give me an answer."

Dark Number 2's train of thought was interrupted. Staring fixedly at Feng Mu, his fingernail scraped a layer of ant skin off the wooden stick as he rasped, "Show me your phone."

Reluctantly, Feng Mu displayed his phone screen, which prominently featured a text message from [Limping Eccentric].

—You've been spotted. I don't want the black cores in your hand anymore; sell them to them instead. I'll take them back from their hands later.

Dark Number 2 stared at the sender's remark, [Limping Eccentric], for a full five seconds before shifting his gaze back to Feng Mu's face.

Feng Mu almost thought the other party had grown suspicious and was about to click on the contact number to check.

This number was different from the one provided to them earlier, but there was no helping it—Feng Mu couldn't send a text message to himself right in front of Dark Number 2.

Moreover, the text message lacked a scheduled-sending function, so he had simply given Ma Wei's number a new alias.

Dark Number 2 stared at the phone for a bit too long, causing Feng Mu's heart to sink continuously. His gaze had already quietly drifted toward the other's throat.

This distance was just right for launching a sudden ambush using the [Third Form of the Eagle Claw Technique: Air-Rending Finger] to deliver a vicious blow.

Reaching into his trouser pocket, Dark Number 2 pulled out a leather wallet and, without even counting, took out a stack of paper bills and handed them to Feng Mu.

Feng Mu was momentarily stunned before hurriedly taking the money while handing the handbag over to the other.

Feigning the excitement of a money-grubber as he counted the cash with a beaming smile, Dark Number 2 turned around and strode away.

In the end, he chose not to make a move against Feng Mu. Aside from the temptation of the promise to sell future black cores to them, another reason was that they might still need to rely on him to find the [Limping Eccentric].

Arriving at this conclusion had burned through nearly half of his brain cells.

Carrying the bag, Dark Number 2 walked out of the alley, his mouth still muttering unintelligible words under his breath.

A passerby nearby watched him talk to himself, wearing a strange expression as if looking at a mentally disabled person.

Dark Number 2 was repetitively memorizing the contents of that text message. Since his brain didn't work well, reciting it word for word was the best way to report back to his companions.

Then, at a certain moment, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his voice stuck in his throat.

"The text message said that the [Limping Eccentric] is going to take the black cores from our hands? Could it be that he has discovered the residence where we hide the black cores?"

Dark Number 2's expression changed drastically. The more he thought about it, the more he felt his brain was finally working properly for once, and he hurriedly broke into a wild sprint forward.

And the direction of his sprint, if extended in a straight line, happened to point right toward that striking "black pillar."

Dark Number 2, running for his life, had no idea that along the footprints he left behind, Feng Mu was following unhurriedly, tracking his scent.

The tracker and the tracked, the hunter and the prey, had quietly traded places.

One hour later.

On the outermost outskirts of the West City Food Street, Feng Mu stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Oh? The coordinates of the blood are circling around the 'black pillar,' looking as if they want to sneak inside."

"So, the destination is also in that dilapidated residential area sealed off by the 'black pillar'? Is it a coincidence, or... are these black market merchants also connected to [Destiny]?"

"Could it be that they are the deliverymen I've been waiting for?"

Feng Mu's expression was filled with astonishment. After a moment, he shook his head, dismissing this absurd notion.

It didn't quite feel right.

Most importantly, if they were connected to [Destiny] and lived in this residential block, theoretically they would have been exposed to the police station two weeks ago, meaning they should all be trapped inside the "black pillar" right now.

"So, it's merely a pure coincidence," Feng Mu thought to himself.

As time passed, the majority of the onlookers gradually dispersed, leaving only a few solitary figures lingering outside the food street, waiting for the "black pillar" to dissipate.

Clearly, they were worried about their family and friends living inside the "black pillar," and Wang Xiuli's slender figure was among them.

Feng Mu withdrew his gaze, mingling with the dispersing crowd to cross into the opposite neighborhood. Entering a restaurant, he ordered a bowl of rice and slowly chewed his meal.

The blood sensing lasted for twenty-four hours; he had the patience to wait slowly.

Waiting for the black pillar to dissipate;

Waiting for Dark Number 2 to sneak back to his residence;

Waiting for the marked black cores to return to their "big family."

"I don't exclude the possibility of taking a few risks, but if it succeeds, it'll be a massive score—it might even gather enough materials in one go to absorb the malefic energy and resentful ghost-iron of the Nine Nether Abyss."

Feng Mu chewed his food slowly, feeling the peristalsis in his stomach, and suddenly felt even hungrier.