Chapter 104: I Nearly Died

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, two more days had gone by.

On this day, Chen Meng had gone to the shooting range. When he left, it was already half past six in the evening.

Sitting in the taxi heading home, Chen Meng casually struck up a conversation with the driver.

“Driver, how much do experienced drivers like you make in a month?”

“Experienced driver? What are you talking about? I’m just a regular driver. As for income, it’s not much—around ten thousand a month.”

“Oh, that’s not bad. How many taxis are there in Jiangzhou now?”

“About three hundred thousand.”

Chen Meng nodded; that was quite a number. After all, Jiangzhou had grown so large that the demand for taxis had increased significantly.

As they talked, the taxi approached a traffic light.

Chen Meng glanced absentmindedly out the window, then suddenly froze.

He saw a familiar figure—or rather, just the back of one. It was a woman dressed in black, wearing sunglasses, sitting in the back seat. She hadn’t noticed him yet.

Chen Meng immediately held his breath, pretending nothing had happened.

“Jiang Lan. It has to be Jiang Lan.”

For the woman who had nearly killed him, even just a silhouette was unmistakable.

He had heard from Han Hao before that Jiang Lan hadn’t left Jiangzhou and had become a true disciple of the new Moon Sect’s Protector. But he hadn’t expected to run into her here by such coincidence.

The light turned green, and the driver started moving again.

Chen Meng pondered for a moment, then quietly said, “Driver, follow that black car with the license plate ending in 748.”

The driver was taken aback, still unsure.

Chen Meng then showed his credentials—just a temporary enforcement bureau ID that Han Hao had arranged for him recently, stamped with the bureau’s seal.

“I’m an enforcement officer with the bureau. I’m sorry to inform you that this vehicle has been requisitioned.”

Chen Meng spoke calmly, and the driver glanced at the ID, hardly believing it.

“Young man, you’re so young to be an enforcement officer?”

“I’m already a divine-level life form, and I’m not that young—I’m about to enter university.”

Chen Meng answered casually as the driver began to follow the black car. He also pulled out his phone to call Han Hao.

This had to be handled carefully; ideally, they could eliminate Jiang Lan once and for all.

“So you’re still in high school…”

“Yes.”

The call connected.

Chen Meng briefly explained the situation to Han Hao, who was somewhat surprised.

“You really are the Moon Sect’s bane, running into her like this.”

Chen Meng was speechless—who had given him that nickname? Was it because they wished he’d be killed sooner?

“Driver, do you think the people ahead are bad guys? If a fight breaks out, will they mistake me for one of you enforcement officers?”

“No, you look like a regular person. Enforcement officers don’t look ordinary.”

“Won’t they damage my car?”

“The bureau will handle that. If it breaks, someone will compensate you.”

“Oh, will the replacement be better?”

“Sir, what do you think? Even if it’s better, we can’t just damage cars on purpose.”

…

They continued talking as they passed under an overpass; the traffic began to thin out.

There was a fork in the road beneath the overpass that led to the West District.

Unlike the other three districts, the West District was home to most of the industrial parks, abandoned factories, and unfinished buildings. Its crime rate was the highest among all districts.

The Moon Sect was most active in the West District.

Chen Meng frowned. He wasn’t sure if Han Hao was already rushing over. If he charged headlong into the Moon Sect’s stronghold, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

At that moment, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror.

“Sister Lan, there’s a taxi following us closely.”

“Are you sure it’s tailing us?”

Jiang Lan lifted her head; the injuries on her face and body had completely healed.

She stared into the mirror, deep in thought.

“Could it be the Huang family?”

“Although you got the better of the Huang family last time, I doubt they have the guts to do this.”

“They’re just following us. Their strength must be limited, or they would have acted already. Let’s see who this is.”

“Alright. There’s a sharp turn ahead. I’ll stop the car there.”

…

Chen Meng was unaware of all this. The driver noticed the upcoming sharp turn.

“We can’t see their car anymore. If they stop to block us here, we’ll be exposed the moment we reach them.”

Chen Meng nodded, but he was determined to follow Jiang Lan. He couldn’t just give up.

“Keep following!”

As they rounded the bend, both Chen Meng and the driver jolted.

The other car had indeed stopped, clearly waiting for them.

“Jinx,” Chen Meng muttered.

“Stop quickly. No, turn around fast! If you go forward now, you’re walking into a death trap.”

The driver understood. He saw the two people in the car ahead holding guns.

But turning around at sixty or seventy kilometers an hour was difficult. Flustered, he crashed into the guardrail. Fortunately, the car stopped but stalled.

Chen Meng was speechless, looking at how they were less than a hundred meters from Jiang Lan’s vehicle.

“It’s him!”

Jiang Lan spotted Chen Meng and her eyes filled with murderous intent.

“A Wei, kill him. He’s the one they call the Moon Sect’s bane in the enforcement bureau.”

A Wei—her driver—immediately drew his gun and started shooting at Chen Meng.

Startled, Chen Meng dove behind the car. Seeing the driver fumbling to start the engine, Chen Meng yanked him out of the vehicle.

“Hide, don’t show yourself.”

Gunshots rang out from the other car.

“Damn, they’re really shooting,” the driver whimpered, clutching his head and trembling.

Chen Meng said nothing. There were two opponents, and only one of him—but both were only first-stage divine-level life forms.

The gunfire ceased.

Chen Meng heard faint footsteps approaching. It must be A Wei closing in.

He thought quickly, grabbed his backpack, and threw it into the air just as a gunshot sounded.

“Now!”

Chen Meng sneered, leapt up, and unleashed his Instant Gun Technique on the still-firing A Wei.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several shots hit A Wei’s chest, but no blood appeared. Chen Meng guessed he was wearing combat armor.

At that moment, Chen Meng sensed danger; every hair on his body stood on end.

His consciousness, his entire focus, snapped toward Jiang Lan.

A dark muzzle was pointed straight at him.

Bang!

The shot rang out. Chen Meng didn’t have time to dodge or react. He was frozen.

Yet, his body moved before his mind could catch up, twisting his head skillfully.

He felt a fiery pain on his nose as the bullet passed just inches from it.

His soul seemed to tremble as he quickly crouched back behind the car.

“I almost died…”

Chen Meng whispered. Had he not moved, he felt his head would have been blown apart.

Amid the fear, an unexpected wave of relief swept over him. The bottle-neck limiting the potency of his elixirs—one that had taken two or three days to break through—suddenly shattered.