Chapter 426 - Untitled
Atlas Studios
Atlas Studios
Mo Jue, keeping to his axiom of silence is gold, looked at Ye Wei quietly. For some reason, he slightly frowned and seemed extremely displeased. If Ye Wei did not see him wrongly, a slight rage flashed through his eyes so gently that it seemed that one had seen things wrongly.
As he looked at her from top to bottom with a casual gaze, he frowned even more, his lips forming a straight line. It was Ye Wei who was warning herself not to second-guess his emotions, and she could clearly feel Mo Jue’s rage.
Why?
He was always calm and his emotions rarely fluctuated. While she was able to often send him into a rage, did she have to be proud about it? Ye Wei mocked herself but quietly took a few steps back. The woman in black was also suspicious but was stopped by Eleven. She looked at them, aghast.
Mo Jue’s arrival was already a surprise, and the other person was a surprise in the surprise. He was half a head shorter than Mo Jue, was extremely skinny, and wore a half-face silver mask that covered a large part of his face. He seemed to have a secret that people wanted to look into and had the decisive coldness of a killer that was not shown. He was extremely different from the blatantly cold and decisive Silver Face she saw two years ago.
“Mo Jue, what are you doing here?” Eleven coldly asked. The situation was not looking good for both of them, and people could not step into that delicate tension between Ye Wei and Mo Jue. While Ye Wei would not admit it, she would show some measure of face. Mo Jue, however, was always vicious toward her, but at least, he would not take Wei Wei’s life. Eleven made a quick judgment and realized she had to take on Silver Face.
And this woman… While he looked at her, Eleven was in deep thought. The woman gave her a mocking look. She was slightly angry.
“Leave that painting behind!” Mo Jue coldly ordered as he pointed to the painting on Eleven’s back. Mo Jue had almost become one with the sinister atmosphere in the room whilst Silver Face stood next to him and coldly looked at Eleven and Ye Wei. He was emotionless and seemed to be ready to rip his prey apart once Mo Jue gave the order.
“Why are there so many people after this painting?” Ye Wei raised her eyebrows. Even if they were famous paintings, they shouldn’t be this popular since there were many other paintings that were priceless and more expensive than said painting. Why was everyone so hard-up on that particular painting?
Somebody deliberately hired several people to duke it out for this painting? Why? To eliminate by proxy? Ye Wei’s mind whirred but could not come to an answer. She would not hand over the painting.
“This is the only painting that the Mafia lacks,” Mo Jue curtly replied, his lips curling into a smile. “I received word that somebody had offered a huge sum for this painting, to think that it was you.”
“Dear Gorgeous Mo Jue, are you so poor to the point you are smuggling artifacts? Big Boss Mo is not the nicest of all to have you do this every time.” Ye Wei smiled candidly, and she was even more attractive when she clicked with the other person. While she wore the same mask as Eleven, she was several hints more lively, elegant, and properly charming. “Since London is our turf, whether you can get it through customs even if you get it is still a question.”
“That’s none of your concern!” Mo Jue squinted and punctuated his words. “Give me the painting!”
He ordered.
Eleven and Ye Wei looked each other in the eye and Eleven let the woman go. She flatly asked, “Whose side are you on?”
The woman coldly smiled and Eleven, seeing what happened, knocked her out and she limply collapsed to a side. Her smile was the answer to whose side she was on. While keeping her alive did not mean that they would be caught between an anvil and hammer, they could do without her as well.
Eleven said, “How about we fight it out over one round?”
“You set the rules then.” Mo Jue was, in contrast, oddly agreeable. Although he was talking to Eleven, his eyes were on Ye Wei all the while. However, Ye Wei did not look at him and treated him as though he was completely invisible. She was much more curious about Silver Face.
How capable was he after two years?
Eleven plainly said, “You and Silver Face each chooses any one of us to take on. Whoever goes down first, whether alive or dead, loses. No regrets.”
“Humph, do you think that people could win a one-on-one fight with pure luck?” Silver Face’s voice was as hoarse as an old man. What was different from his hidden prowess was how his voice sounded much provocative and carried with it disrespect and disdain.
It seemed as though he was certain he would be the top killer.
“Self-confidence is a good thing, but it may not always be accurate,” Eleven coldly said. She asked Mo Jue, “Mo Jue, so how?”
Mo Jue coldly harrumphed and had an extremely vicious look that showed no warmth. “Why should I have such an unfair fight with you just because she is wounded?”
He pointed at Ye Wei, specifically her left hand. Ye Wei’s face slightly changed and tried not to betray her presence. While she had concealed it extremely well, she had no way of escaping Mo Jue’s eyes.
The woman was so strong that she was not too different from any other men. She figured out that if she had taken her on blow for blow, her entire arm would have been numb and hurting. Her tendons were certainly shot.
Any movement would hurt excruciatingly and she was trying her best to hold it in.
If a perfect her was already one step behind Mo Jue, her winning with a shot-up arm would be even more challenging.
“I guess this is the best possible solution out? What do you think?” Eleven was not one to typically laugh, and her laughter was apparently much more loaded. Silver Face looked at Mo Jue, and Ye Wei gently smiled without speaking.
Mo Jue coldly harrumphed and said, “Silver Face, get that drawing.”
“On it!”
Eleven reached out and removed the painting before throwing it to Ye Wei. She coldly said, “If you win against me, the painting belongs to you.”
Once she passed the painting to Ye Wei, Eleven and Silver Face dealt blows at each other almost simultaneously. Silver Face had been waiting for this opportunity for two years. Once he struck, he kicked up a gust of cold wind.
Eleven was best at hand-to-hand combat, and Silver Face happened to be best at hand-to-hand combat too. As the two of them fought, Ye Wei quickly retreated to a side and took a glance at Mo Jue silently. She focused on watching Eleven and Silver Face fight it out.
In terms of speed and strength, both of them were comparable to each other. They exchanged fists and kicks and used the limited space in the room to vault up the walls. They fought very intensely and there was no clear victor in sight. It was a shame that several artifacts in the room were destroyed.
Ye Wei was secretly shocked at how Silver Face had improved so quickly. His moves were at a wholly different level from two years ago.
After thirty-over moves, Eleven was slightly confused by him. Thankfully for her, she had a lot of improvisation experience to fall back on and did not seem too out of place. However…
“Afraid?” Mo Jue gently said. Ye Wei did not respond and focused on Eleven and Silver Face exchanging blows with each other. While she felt that the moves were a tad familiar, she could not recall where she had seen them before.
She must have seen them somewhere as the footwork and palm moves were somewhat familiar. Cold sweat trickled down Ye Wei’s back. Silver Face seemed to have seen through Eleven’s moves and could accurately intercept her each move and deal Eleven deadly blows in between the moves.
The experts exchanged blows, each blow lethal and quick as lightning. Those in the fight could not see as clearly as those watching them fight. As they fought, they could end up overthinking and could only rely on instinct and experience to win.
Ye Wei frowned and said, “Eleven, blend your moves. Do not stay the same as before.”
When Eleven heard it, she knew what was going on and immediately changed her moves and flipped. As she did away with her old habits, Silver Face could not keep up and took several punches from Eleven.
The stalemate resumed a few minutes later, but Silver Face had a slight edge.
Mo Jue’s gaze deepened and he gripped Ye Wei’s injured arm. As her tendons were injured, any movement sent a dull pain through her like steel hacking against bone. Whether intentionally or not, he happened to grip her where she hurt the most.
Ye Wei was in such pain she gritted her teeth and stared at him angrily.
Mo Jue did not seem to care and coldly laughed. “A true gentleman does not interfere in the match, so shut up!”
“Dear Gorgeous Mo Jue, you can directly tell me that you want to feel me. Stop using such a bad excuse for that.” Ye Wei smiled and leaned into his embrace to reduce the tension on her arm.
This man did not seem to care the slightest about her injury. Had he pulled on it further, her left arm would not recover in a month.
Mo Jue looked at her coldly and deeply with his purple eyes. “What’s with you? Can’t even overcome a female killer?”
Ye Wei laughed without regard, knowing that Mo Jue was mocking her. She could not deny that she had an overbearing self-confidence when she fought against the woman in black to the point she made an error in judgment that caused her left arm to be seriously wounded.
Her self-confidence had caused her to reap the fruits of her indiscretion.
“Eleven and I have been all-powerful for almost ten years. We should make way to a new generation so that they will be able to fully develop their potential.” Ye Wei mused. The woman in black was quite capable, but her overall performance was some distance away from hers. Said woman only won Ye Wei in terms of her immense strength that guaranteed injury on contact.
Mo Jue had a cold and vicious look as he said, “Seems like your position as the top killer is untenable.”
He was referring to Silver Face, and Ye Wei knew Mo Jue was telling the truth. Silver Face’s ability was already above Eleven’s and hers. When it came to one-on-one fighting, they were not his match and defeat was only a matter of when.
But how could she be so stupid to take him on alone? She and Eleven always fought as one.
“If he kills me, he will naturally become the top killer. Until I am dead, he can dream on! Of course, that said, Gorgeous Mo Jue will never care about whether I live or die.” Ye Wei gently laughed.
While he was about to loosen his grip, he suddenly tightened his grip and an unbearable pain surged through Ye Wei’s arm. Ye Wei’s stomach hollowed out from the pain. It felt as though her nerves were torn at by someone for dear life.
‘It hurts!’
She was able to tolerate a lot of pain, and she did not even bat her eyelids whilst stubbornly looking at Mo Jue, who applied more force instead. He knew that if he used that bit more force or tugged that bit more, her elbow would never recover.
Would Ye Wei still be Ye Wei if she lost an arm?
Would Ye Wei whose wings were clipped still be her? He was not too sure, and his eyes became even more sinister. His purple eyes were dark and vicious.
He just had to be that bit more vicious to utterly destroy her.
Sweat built up on Ye Wei’s forehead, but she smiled even more gorgeous as she saw through Mo Jue despite her not knowing how she felt about it. She coldly laughed and said, “Unless you have the confidence to totally mess me up, you can waste my elbow. Bai Ye will still be able to attach someone else’s elbow onto me and business will still be as usual for me.”
Ye Wei regretted saying that. Damn it, Ye Wei, you’re too genius—or so she wanted to say, but she could not bring herself to say it. Mo Jue’s anger burst open and he seemed exasperated and angry. “Do you think that I do not dare to?”
“No, what else do you not dare to?” Ye Wei chuckled and did not seem to care about the sharp pain in her arm and looked to Eleven and Silver Face again.
There was suddenly a loud bang and Silver Face’s fist landed on the stone statue of the lion and smashed its head. As rocks of various sizes fell, they created a commotion. Ye Wei was a little worried. Were they running to Popeyes coked on spinach today?
She looked toward Eleven and Silver Face and ignored Mo Jue, even more so the warmth that came from his embrace.
“Wei Wei, sometimes, I really feel like strangling you,” Mo Jue suddenly spoke harshly and coldly.
Ye Wei gently laughed and said, “Likewise!”
By killing the other person, they would become their original selves and would not worry about each other nor make things difficult for the other person. Wouldn’t that be good? ‘Mo Jue, do you think you are the only person who feels that way?’
In the blink of an eye, Silver Face and Eleven were in the middle. As she wanted a clearer look, she pushed Mo Jue away and slowly walked toward them. Mo Jue looked at her carefree silhouette sinisterly and felt the anger in his heart become more intense.
She was extremely worried about Eleven. Silver Face only sustained a few minor chest injuries. Eleven, on the other hand, was obviously much slower and she was extremely worried. She knew that Eleven would not be doing herself any favors if she kept the battle going.
When Silver Face leaped up, she shot silver needles at Silver Face. Silver Face managed to avoid the first two but not the third. Eleven was slashed in her arm by his small knife.
Blood dripped and Eleven frowned. Silver Face was shot in an acupoint on his arm and he could not feel his arm. He, however, smiled and said, “The blade of the knife is covered in poison. You lose.”
Eleven arrogantly laughed as she lunged at him with open arms. She had no intention to tell him that she was immune to poisons.
Silver Face did not expect Eleven to have no reaction and had to fight with Eleven again. Silver Face was immobilized in an arm. Ye Wei was relieved since he had lost a third of his potency.
Silver Face was clearly disadvantaged. He ducked Eleven’s flying kick and leaped up, grabbing the scepter of the goddess statue and agilely attacking Eleven with a high-difficulty move. He suddenly ran his finger over the night pearl on top of the scepter.
The two tiles Ye Wei was on suddenly gave way, and Ye Wei suddenly felt her center of gravity drop as she fell.
Mo Jue was shocked and he suddenly lurched forward like a leopard. “Wei Wei…”
He could only grab Ye Wei’s sleeve but not her arm. Mo Jue’s face changed and he leaped down without hesitation.
The floor suddenly closed. Eleven was in shock…