Xie Yuyan's Escape for Life

After Su Wanli left, no one else came. Ye Feng, looking at the several missed calls on his phone, began to grow anxious.

Logically speaking, even if Xie Yuyan was asleep, she should have woken up by now. Why hasn’t there been any movement? Could something have happened to her?

Ye Feng really wanted to go back and check on her. After all, Xie Yuyan was being targeted by the Dark Palace and was in constant danger. However, his body was too weak to even get out of bed, leaving him feeling utterly helpless.

Wait, didn’t the system give me an emergency task to rescue Li Mucheng? I think I completed it. Let’s see what rewards I got.

Thinking this, Ye Feng quickly summoned the system. Sure enough, upon opening the panel, he received two rewards. Upon closer inspection, he found that one was for completing the emergency task of rescuing Li Mucheng, and the other was for Li Mucheng’s progress breaking through 89% to reach 90%. It had been a long time since he was stuck at 89%.

Great, finally some payoff.

Ye Feng breathed a sigh of relief. At least now he had completed a few tasks. Although things had been peaceful before, watching his life timer decrease day by day had been weighing heavily on him.

Without delay, Ye Feng accepted the rewards for rescuing Li Mucheng.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the emergency task. Rewards are being distributed...]

[Congratulations, host, on receiving 1 month of life time, unlocking the hidden permissions of the illustrated guide, and obtaining a radar detector.]

Huh? New stuff again?

Ye Feng was quite satisfied with the additional month of life time, but he was puzzled by the latter two items, which he had never seen before.

Well, I’ll just take all the rewards first and check them out one by one.

With that thought, Ye Feng skipped the detailed descriptions of the items and proceeded to claim the reward for reaching 90% progress with Li Mucheng.

[90% progress completed. Rewards are being distributed.]

[Congratulations, host, on receiving half a month of life time, a universal key, and the skill "Rest and Recuperation."]

Hmm... that’s it? Still, not bad.

Seeing that he had gained nearly two months of life time, Ye Feng felt somewhat relieved. As for the other rewards, he had acquired a new skill and a new item. He quickly opened his status panel to check out the new items.

[Radar Detector: Displays the specific structure of the surrounding terrain, making it easier to understand the environment around you. However, it does not detect the presence of living beings (range: 100 meters).]

So, it’s just a terrain scanner? And it’s a one-time-use item at that. Feels a bit useless, honestly. Besides, I don’t really need this thing right now.

Still, it was a reward from the system, so Ye Feng reluctantly stored it away, thinking it might come in handy someday.

Oh, right. I also unlocked some kind of permission for the illustrated guide.

Thinking this, Ye Feng quickly navigated to the illustrated guide interface. Sure enough, he found a separate section labeled "Exploration Panel." According to the guide, it seemed like he needed to uncover something significant, though for some reason, Ye Feng felt a slight unease looking at the exploration panel. He wasn’t sure what the system meant by "exploration."

Finally, the last reward was a skill called "Rest and Recuperation." Upon opening it, he found that the skill allowed him to recover his physical condition faster, similar to the concept of "expelling the old and absorbing the new" in cultivation. It seemed like a skill for restoring his body.

Hmm, this skill isn’t bad. Even though I have the "Strengthen Body" skill, that only increases my physical limits. If my recovery can’t keep up, I’ll still end up exhausted. This skill will help replenish my energy steadily.

What a great skill!

Ye Feng thought to himself that since his current physical condition wasn’t great, this skill would help him recover faster. It was like the system had read his mind—quite considerate, really.

Afterward, Ye Feng quickly reviewed everything to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Once he was satisfied, he closed his eyes to rest for a while.

I hope Xie Yuyan is alright.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside Ye Feng’s apartment building, a person dressed in heavy clothing and wearing a baseball cap glanced back at the entrance of the building. Their eyes were filled with endless sorrow and anger. Then, they turned and disappeared into the night. A short while later, several more people arrived at the same spot. After inspecting the area, they followed in the direction the first person had gone.

* * *

"Shh—"

A blade flashed, cutting the arm of a Dark Palace member. At the same time, a bullet whizzed past Xie Yuyan’s cheek. Had she been even a second slower, the bullet would have pierced her skull.

"Stop! Didn’t you hear the boss’s orders?!"

Shan Yang barked at one of his subordinates.

"The boss said we need her alive. Why are you shooting at her vital points?"

"S-sorry, sir," the Dark Palace member quickly apologized, though he was visibly shaken by Xie Yuyan’s lightning-fast reflexes.

So this is the skill of Cold Snake, the top assassin. Truly terrifying.

Shan Yang, however, looked at Xie Yuyan, who was surrounded, and sneered. "Cold Snake, you’ve grown old. A bullet grazed your face—something that would never have happened in your prime."

"Tch..."

Xie Yuyan didn’t respond to Shan Yang’s taunts. She knew he wasn’t attacking because he wanted her to exhaust her energy on his underlings. Only then would he feel confident enough to capture her alive. If things continued like this, she would fall right into his trap. Besides, she had no idea how Ye Feng was doing. She couldn’t afford to let anything happen to herself.

No... I can’t lose him... I can’t lose anything else!

"Ha!"

Xie Yuyan found an opening and launched a fierce attack on one of the members. Just as she slashed the man’s abdomen, a square-shaped object landed at Shan Yang’s feet.

"Huh? A smoke grenade? How does she have something like this? Could it be those mercenaries? Useless idiots!"

By the time Shan Yang realized Xie Yuyan had a backup plan, it was too late. She had already disappeared. The other members wanted to chase after her, but Shan Yang stopped them.

"Let her go. All Dark Palace members are converging here. She won’t get far. Erase our tracks and prepare to retreat."

"Yes, sir!"

"Run, Cold Snake. Let’s see how long you can keep running. No one’s coming to save you."