Free Web NovelChapter 1166: Chapter 1165: Launching the Attack
So, the thug ran ahead, and Ba Lv was chasing behind. In no time, the two of them veered off the main road and entered a series of alleyways.
Ba Lv might not have been fully aware of the terrain, but in her mind, even ten or eight more thugs like this would only be there to get a beating.
Not to mention, the guy running ahead was cursing and swearing incessantly, and Ba Lv found it extremely hard to endure.
At a corner in the alley, the guy’s silhouette flickered and disappeared from Ba Lv’s sight.
When Ba Lv reached that corner, a stick suddenly swung at her face.
Faced with danger, Ba Lv’s years of training kicked in; the sudden attack didn’t faze her. As that horizontal strike from the stick came, Ba Lv, in the midst of running, bent backward dramatically, evading this deadly attack.
When Ba Lv stood upright, she realized she was surrounded.
In front and behind her, there were about seventeen or eighteen thugs, seemingly part of the same gang as the ones before.
Their faces wore threatening expressions as they waved their sticks, daggers, and chains, slowly closing in.
A few steps away from Ba Lv, they stopped, and for a moment there was no sound at all.
Ba Lv knew she had fallen into an enemy trap, but as a battle-hardened former member of the Dark World, she felt no panic.
She knew that meaningless panic would only lead to a loss of composure, thereby giving the enemy more chances.
Ba Lv assumed a defensive stance, silently calculating the strength of these thugs and contemplating how to break through.
Out of nowhere, someone shouted, "Take her down!"
The thugs charged like dogs.
Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng was puzzled about why Ba Lv had been out so long, "Why hasn’t she come back yet?" he asked Ruoran.
"She said she was going out to get some food. Maybe she went far?" Ruoran replied, "But by this time, she should have returned."
Shi Su pondered for a moment and then said to Ruoran, "Alright, you take the Flaming Firebird outside for reconnaissance and see where Ba Lv went."
"Okay, I’m heading out now," Ruoran put on her coat and signaled to the Flaming Firebird, "Alice, let’s go."
The Flaming Firebird squawked joyfully and left the hotel with Yanran.
The night was deep, and around the hotel where Yanran and the others were staying, there were very few people.
Many stalls and shops had already closed, and the few that were still open, barely had any customers.
Ruoran kept asking the vendors and passersby, eventually learning from a night vendor that about half an hour ago, he saw a girl being harassed by a thug, then that girl chased the thugs away.
Apparently, one thug was unsatisfied, hurled insults at the girl, and she went chasing after him. Then, both of them disappeared.
Ruoran’s heart sank. Based on what she heard, she was quite sure that the girl was Ba Lv, and what kind of thugs could keep Ba Lv busy for so long?
Ba Lv had gone out to get some food for Yanran, and yet, she hadn’t returned for so long. Jiang Cheng felt uneasy, but he hadn’t expected Ba Lv to encounter anything unimaginable. Maybe Ba Lv simply got lost; after all, it was night, and Ba Lv was new to the area, so not knowing her way around was plausible.
So, he had Yanran take the Flaming Firebird outside for a look-see, to also check where Ba Lv had gone.
When Yanran learned from a passerby that about half an hour earlier, a girl had an altercation with local thugs, and then chased after one who insulted her.
Yanran sensed something amiss.
There’s no regular thug that Ba Lv couldn’t handle, but if she left over half an hour ago and hadn’t returned, it meant she wasn’t dealing with ordinary thugs.
"Alice!" Yanran said to the Flaming Firebird, "Go, find where Ba Lv is, then come back and tell me."
Yanran’s voice was urgent. As a spiritually intelligent bird, the Flaming Firebird understood Yanran’s intention. With a loud cry, it soared into the sky and began circling over Zhou Country, where Ba Lv was engaged in a fierce struggle.
At that moment, she was covered in dirt; it seemed that while dodging the enemy’s sticks and knives, she had exerted every skill she had, even forced to roll on the ground.
Her hair was a bit messy, and her breathing had become uneven.
How many enemies had she taken down already? While darting around the alleyway, Ba Lv thought perhaps ten or eight?
She gave a bitter smile; by now, she still couldn’t completely handle the enemies. These alleyways crisscrossed, some even leading to dead ends, forcing her to turn back.
Such running was pointless and also wasted a significant amount of her stamina.
But she had no choice. There were too many enemies; the seventeen or eighteen she had just seen were only part of them.
Furthermore, as she encountered the enemy more, she realized that among the thugs there were some with decent skills. Although she couldn’t see their faces in the dark, their movements indicated they weren’t just ordinary thugs.
Emerging silently from an alley entrance was a silhouette, and even in the darkness, the blade in his hand gleamed coldly.
The person blocked Ba Lvluo’s path, already taking an offensive stance.
Ba Lvluo halted her footsteps; at this point, she had no choice but to fearlessly engage with this daunting foe before her, even though she knew the pursuers behind her were not far away.
Ba Lvluo began the attack; she couldn’t afford to fall into a situation where she was attacked from both sides.
She feigned to the left with a deceptive move.
The enemy wasn’t fooled; his dagger swiftly and viciously stabbed towards Ba Lvluo’s lower side.
Ba Lv stepped back a pace, avoiding the attack, and simultaneously darted to the enemy’s right.
This was a well-trained opponent; none of Ba Lv’s feints threw him off initially.
This enemy understood that his companions would soon show up behind this woman. At this moment, she ought to be more anxious, not him.
Undoubtedly, the enemy’s judgment was correct, as he could faintly hear the footsteps of the approaching enemies.
Ba Lv had no choice but to launch another attack.
In a series of whirling motions, Ba Lv managed to create a gap in the enemy’s defense. Not wasting a moment, she struck towards the enemy’s neck with the edge of her palm, silently, while her left foot aimed a kick at his lower body.
The enemy had no means to counter this attack and could only take a step back. Seizing the opportunity, Ba Lv charged forward.
Her left foot pushed off from the alley wall, propelling her high into the air, aiming a kick at the enemy’s shoulder.
Unable to dodge, the enemy took the full force of Ba Lv’s kick.
With a muffled groan, the enemy rolled across the ground, barely dodging Ba Lv’s follow-up attack.
