Jiang Nian had realized this way back when he first broke through to the second-rate martial artist level.
As his strength continued to grow,
his senses had become exceptionally sharp.
While he hadn’t reached the point of being able to perceive the subtlest changes in the world like the ancient poets described—
he could always sense danger before anyone else.
Which was precisely why, just moments ago, Jiang Nian had keenly detected a wave of danger heading his way.
He immediately whipped his head around and scanned his surroundings.
“Holy shit!”
At the same time, not far away on the street.
The chubby guy who had been mingling in the crowd, pretending to be on the phone while actually keeping tabs on Jiang Nian, was caught completely off guard when Jiang Nian suddenly turned and looked straight in his direction. Startled by that fierce gaze, he instinctively dropped his phone and let out a yelp.
Hearing the noise, other pedestrians turned to look at him with puzzled expressions.
Scarface, who was closest to the fat guy, furrowed his brow and walked over. Taking advantage of the crosswalk traffic, he sidled up beside him and lowered his voice: “Fatty, the hell’s wrong with you? I told you to keep an eye on him, and you’re over here screaming like a banshee?”
The fat guy snapped back to his senses, swallowed hard, glanced in Jiang Nian’s direction, and steadied his nerves. “Brother Scar, he—he looked over here. I think he noticed us.”
“What did you say?”
Scarface’s brow furrowed even deeper at that.
Not believing it, he turned his head to look through the bustling crowd—and immediately locked eyes with Jiang Nian.
“Damn!”
Even though Scarface had pretty thick skin, the moment their eyes met, he was startled too.
Because Jiang Nian’s gaze was incredibly piercing.
It was as if he could see straight through Scarface’s soul, seeing right through all the dirty deeds he’d committed over the years!
Scarface hastily lowered his head. “Let’s go, move it—now!”
He didn’t dare linger for even a second.
When the two of them returned to the others, the rest crowded around, asking:
“Brother Scar, what happened? Why did Fatty freak out like that?”
“Yeah, that shout nearly gave me a heart attack. What’s going on? And why are you two back? Aren’t we supposed to be keeping watch?”
Listening to their questions,
Scarface didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out his phone and silently sent a text message.
【Tough nut. Pay up.】
And the recipient was saved under the name—Liu Kai.
After putting his phone away, he held up his hand and wiggled his fingers.
Seeing this, the others immediately got the hint. They quickly pulled out a cigarette, handed it to him, and lit it for him.
“Hssss—”
As the harsh smoke filled his lungs, Scarface thought back to what he’d just seen, exhaled a long stream of smoke, and said in a low voice, “Tell the boys—we’ve been made!”
“Huh?”
Everyone was stunned.
Made?
“Brother Scar, that can’t be right,” someone said in disbelief.
Sure, the distance between them and Jiang Nian wasn’t exactly far.
But there were so many people here, so much chaos—how could they possibly have been discovered?
But before he could finish, Scarface shot him a dark, chilling glare. “You questioning me?”
The man stiffened immediately, swallowed hard, and stammered, “N-no, not at all.”
“Good. Then shut the hell up and listen. I’m telling you—that kid Liu Kai gave us incomplete info. This guy’s no ordinary punk; he’s got some skills. So all of you, keep your heads in the game. If anything goes wrong, nobody’s gonna have a good time. Got it?”
“But if we pull this off, we’re making Liu Kai pay extra!”
Scarface growled in a low voice.
Everyone nodded in understanding.
But then someone asked, “Uh, Brother Scar, since we’ve been spotted, should we change up our plan?”
After being discovered, Jiang Nian would definitely be on guard.
Under those circumstances, making a move on him would be a lot harder.
Scarface knew that too. But after a moment’s thought, he shook his head.
“No. Stick to the original plan. Once they leave the busy area, we strike!”
“Oh, and when we do, remember to grab the dead weight with him first.”
Scarface added with special emphasis.
The others exchanged glances, then grinned lecherously. “No problem, Boss. That chick’s a real looker—I’ve had my eye on her for a while. We’ll grab her and then, hehe…”
“Hehe your mother’s head! We’re here to make money—we’re supposed to make it look like an accident. Don’t go starting any extra shit! And I’ve got a bad feeling about that kid. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up capsized in a ditch.”
Scarface snapped at them.
Hearing this, the men sobered up and quickly nodded, saying they understood.
“Teacher Jiang, what are you looking at?”
Back at the milk tea shop, Gao Yuan’er noticed that Jiang Nian kept turning around to stare at something. She followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, which struck her as a bit odd.
Jiang Nian turned back and shook his head. “Nothing. Is the milk tea ready?”
“Yep, here’s yours.”
Gao Yuan’er said, handing him his cup.
If nothing had happened earlier, Jiang Nian might have happily sipped his drink and even cracked a few jokes with Gao Yuan’er to build rapport, maybe asking her about her future plans.
But after sensing that danger, all those thoughts had vanished.
He now had only one question:
What exactly was that sense of danger he’d felt earlier?
Was it those thugs watching him?
Jiang Nian didn’t think so.
Because the danger he’d perceived was the kind that could get him killed.
Those puny thugs—
not to sound arrogant—
even if a hundred of them came at him with knives, they probably wouldn’t even trigger his danger sense.
So if it wasn’t them,
then who?
Lost in thought, Jiang Nian seemed distracted.
Gao Yuan’er, however, didn’t notice at all.
She just sipped her milk tea and excitedly shared her encounter with her girlfriends on WeChat, flooding the group chat with photos of her and Jiang Nian together.
Her friends were filled with envy and jealousy,
lamenting how lucky Gao Yuan’er was and regretting why they hadn’t chosen to vacation in Spring City.
Gao Yuan’er looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
She looked up, wanting to take a few more photos with Jiang Nian—
only to find that he had turned around again, and his gaze was fixed on someone.
“Is it him?”
Jiang Nian narrowed his eyes, studying the man in the distance—dressed in a suit and looking every bit like a sales representative.
Is this the source of the danger?
But one thing puzzled him.
Why did this man give him such a feeling?
After all, he, Jiang Nian, was now a first-rate martial artist.
In today’s world, aside from dangerous large animals, the only things that could kill him were firearms and heavy weaponry.
“How strange…”
Jiang Nian muttered under his breath.
After watching the man enter the restroom, he decided to follow.
The man acted perfectly normal, just stepping into a stall to use the toilet.
But as a martial artist with sharp hearing, Jiang Nian caught something subtle.
Beneath the sound of running water, an almost imperceptible voice drifted out:
“This is A-317. First floor is set. Repeat: First floor is set. Over.”
He was speaking in English. If Jiang Nian hadn’t been an outstanding student back in school, he probably wouldn’t have understood a word.
And anyone else would have missed it entirely, because the voice was so faint.
After the man finished speaking,
a voice came from the other end of the line.
“A-311 copies. All members of Group A are in position. Ready to detonate at any time. A-317, are you prepared to sacrifice yourself for the organization?”
At the word “organization,” the sales-looking man straightened up instantly, as if he’d just received a divine decree.
His voice trembling with fervor, his face filled with fanaticism, he said: “For the organization, I am ready to die at any moment!”
“Good! Now come and rendezvous with me. Together, we shall pray for our leader!”
The voice on the other end seemed very satisfied with his answer.
The man nodded repeatedly. After taking several deep breaths in the stall to calm himself, he stepped out of the restroom.
He noticed Jiang Nian standing at the urinal but paid him no mind. He simply walked to the sink, washed his hands, adjusted his look in the mirror, and then strode out with his head held high.
Leaving Jiang Nian alone, watching his retreating figure with narrowed eyes.
In that brief exchange, Jiang Nian had picked up several key words:
“Set,” “detonate,” “sacrifice,” and “organization.”
He didn’t know what the “organization” referred to.
But “set” and “detonate”…
“Bombs?”
Combined with the sense of mortal danger he’d felt earlier, the word instantly flashed through his mind.
Yes. That makes sense.
If it’s bombs, then that feeling of life-threatening danger checks out perfectly!
And judging by the mention of “sacrifice,”
they were likely planning to detonate very soon!
“Holy shit!”
Realizing this, Jiang Nian’s heart lurched!
If these people were going to detonate after leaving the area,
he could’ve just followed them out, gotten to safety, and then called the cops.
But they were clearly planning to go down with the bombs, dying right here.
Even if he was lucky enough to survive the blast,
if the building collapsed, he’d be done for.
And more importantly, countless innocent lives were at stake.
“Damn it—the border region really is dangerous right now…”
In any other city, this kind of thing would almost never happen. Even if it was 2011, this was a border city.
With lives on the line, Jiang Nian didn’t hesitate. He immediately left the restroom and scanned the crowd for the sales-looking man.
Seeing this, Gao Yuan’er grew even more confused.
Ever since earlier, Jiang Nian had been glancing around nervously.
Especially now—after going to the bathroom, he’d come out looking like a lost soul, completely distracted.
Puzzled, Gao Yuan’er asked, “Teacher Jiang, what’s wrong? Did you lose something?”
But Jiang Nian didn’t answer. He spotted the sales guy in the crowd and hurried after him.
As for the sales guy—
knowing that soon, everyone here would be meeting his beloved “organization” in the afterlife,
he practically skipped along, his mind filled with thoughts of how to praise and glorify the organization’s leader after death. He was completely oblivious to Jiang Nian’s presence.
This made it very easy for Jiang Nian to tail him.
Before long, he followed the man to where the others were gathered.
They were well-disguised, blending in with the crowd.
Some were dressed as migrant workers, others as IT guys, and some looked like backpackers.
They were spread out, each about three meters apart, deliberately looking ordinary to avoid standing out.
If Jiang Nian hadn’t overheard their conversation in the restroom, he would never have guessed that such unremarkable-looking people were planning to blow up this building!
Truly, the human heart is unfathomable.
After observing for a while, Jiang Nian soon spotted a key detail.
Though none of them were speaking,
most of their attention was focused on one man at the far end—a flashily dressed guy wearing sunglasses.
From their gazes, Jiang Nian was certain they weren’t just looking at him because he stood out.
They were waiting for him to do something!
And the sunglass-wearing man kept glancing at his watch, which suggested he was waiting too.
“Could it be…”
“Is he their leader?”
“And are they all staring at him because they’re waiting for him to trigger the detonation?”
As this thought crossed his mind, Jiang Nian’s senses sharpened.
If that was the case…
He glanced around, then lowered his head and began walking swiftly toward the man in sunglasses.
But this time, things didn’t go quite as smoothly.
