Chapter 72

As they passed through a small village, Luo Tai felt a bit thirsty. He greeted Stephen Chow and prepared to go to a small store at the village entrance to buy something to drink.

Stephen Chow plopped down on a large blue stone bench by the village, rubbing his ankle and said, "Get me a bottle too, I’m exhausted. What a godforsaken place, not even a taxi in sight. If we keep walking, my feet will be blistered."

Luo Tai smiled and looked at Stephen Chow, shaking his head involuntarily. Stephen Chow had grown up in luxury, always wearing fine clothes and riding in luxury cars, and it was clear he had never endured such hardship. For Luo Tai, who had worked as an electrician, walking a bit was nothing. In such a large school, electrical faults could appear anywhere, and walking around the campus seventeen or eighteen times a day was considered light work. Now, walking a few steps was not even a warm-up for Luo Tai.

He casually threw his backpack onto Stephen Chow and walked towards the small store, completely ignoring Stephen Chow’s frantic efforts to catch the backpack and prevent it from falling to the ground.

After taking only a few steps, Luo Tai suddenly felt his back muscles tense. This strange feeling was very familiar to Luo Tai, but it was odd for it to appear now, as it was the feeling of a killer approaching. Since leaving the movie "Assassin's League," Luo Tai thought he would never feel it again.

He quickly turned around and saw Stephen Chow giving him the middle finger. Luo Tai suddenly remembered the assassination plot in the movie.

In the movie, Stephen Chow had come to the foot of Shaolin Temple alone, unable to find the Chinese Culinary Training Academy. He encountered Turkey, who had come to the mainland to find him. They were entangled in a relationship issue when a hitman hired by Black Mouth Dog suddenly appeared. Turkey stepped in to protect Stephen Chow, taking a bullet and leading Stephen Chow to mistakenly believe that Turkey had died.

Due to Luo Tai’s enhanced strength, he did not take ordinary hitmen seriously. Moreover, the bond between him and Stephen Chow had grown stronger during their journey, and they had been chatting and walking, causing Luo Tai to forget about the assassination.

Fortunately, Luo Tai’s training in the Assassin's League had made him extremely sensitive to the presence of killers. Otherwise, Stephen Chow might not have survived the assassination while Luo Tai was buying drinks.

Luo Tai scanned his surroundings with a cautious gaze, and a man on a bicycle caught his eye.

Luo Tai had forgotten what the hitman in the movie looked like, as who would remember a minor character who only appeared once? However, he clearly remembered that the hitman had arrived on a bicycle, so the approaching man was likely the hitman.

Without saying more to Stephen Chow, Luo Tai pushed off with his foot and darted between the man on the bicycle and Stephen Chow, reaching out to grab the bicycle’s handlebars.

The man on the bicycle, seeing Luo Tai’s hand on the handlebars, instantly realized he had been exposed.

He kicked the pedals hard, leaped into the air, and pulled out a gun from behind his back, aiming it at Luo Tai.

To Luo Tai, the hitman’s movements were almost in slow motion. If Luo Tai had wanted, he could have killed the hitman with a throwing knife before the hitman even drew his gun. However, Luo Tai did not do so, not because he was overconfident, but because his sense of danger was pointing not at the man on the bicycle but at Stephen Chow.

This feeling made Luo Tai’s actions a bit slower, but as the man on the bicycle pulled out his gun, Luo Tai, while turning to look at the source of the danger, casually flicked a throwing knife from his fingertips, which pierced the hitman’s throat like lightning.

After the knife left his hand, Luo Tai did not even look at the hitman on the bicycle, as he had great confidence in his Level 8 throwing knife. Even the top killers in the Assassin's League had fallen to his knives, so this minor hitman was not even worth his attention.

When Luo Tai turned to look at Stephen Chow, what he saw made him almost doubt if he was dreaming.

Behind Stephen Chow, a huge Tibetan Mastiff, as big as a calf, suddenly burst out of the woods. It was a massive dog, its body black as coal, its eyes as large as bulls, radiating a terrifying ferocity. Its mouth, filled with gleaming white teeth, reflected the sunlight, blinding the eyes. Drool dripped from its mouth, splattering in the wind. Even the well-traveled Luo Tai felt a chill down his spine at the sight.

If it weren’t for the single head, Luo Tai would have mistaken it for the legendary three-headed hellhound. The sudden appearance of this black, monstrous dog from the woods was more terrifying and demonic than anything a madman could dream up.

Stephen Chow, however, had not yet noticed the danger behind him. He was puzzled by Luo Tai’s sudden confrontation and was pointing at Luo Tai, shouting something. But Luo Tai’s attention was completely focused on the dog, and he did not hear what Stephen Chow was shouting.

Luo Tai’s focus was unprecedentedly sharp, and all external distractions had vanished. In his eyes, there was nothing but the ferocious Tibetan Mastiff. Although the dog was about forty to fifty meters away, Luo Tai felt as if he was face-to-face with it, able to hear its heavy breathing, smell its foul breath, and even hear its heartbeat clearly.

Luo Tai did not know what state this was, but he was clear that in this state, there was almost no target his throwing knife could not hit.

In what seemed like a slow but was actually lightning-fast moment, Luo Tai’s throwing knife moved as if through space, disappearing from his fingertips and accurately nailing the Tibetan Mastiff’s forehead.

The four-inch-long, one-inch-wide throwing knife pierced the Tibetan Mastiff’s head like it was tofu, making a soft sound as it disappeared into the dog’s skull. It then emerged from the back of the head, flashing in the sunlight before vanishing.

The Tibetan Mastiff lost its life almost instantly, but its body, driven by inertia, continued to charge towards Stephen Chow’s back. However, due to the impact of Luo Tai’s throwing knife, its head twisted to the side, and it ended up hitting Stephen Chow with its back.

The massive impact knocked Stephen Chow to the ground with a scream. The Tibetan Mastiff’s body then fell on top of him. Stephen Chow, caught off guard, had no idea what had happened. Turning his head, he came face-to-face with the dog, its tongue hanging to one side.

"Ghost! ~~~"

The sight of the massive dog’s face, the splattered blood, and the brain matter made Stephen Chow feel as if he had fallen into hell. He trembled, trying to shake the dog off his back, but the dog’s weight, nearly 90 kilograms, made it impossible for him to move.

"Ah Tai, Ah Tai, come and save me! Save me! What the hell is this, Ah Tai, save me!"

Stephen Chow was so frightened that he was in tears, only able to cry for help.

After throwing the knife, Luo Tai noticed that the feeling of time slowing down had disappeared, and everything around him returned to normal. The clear image that had been in front of him instantly moved back to a distance, and Luo Tai had to blink a few times to adjust to the normal state.

It was only when he heard Stephen Chow’s desperate cries for help that Luo Tai fully returned to his normal state.

Without dwelling on the strange experience, Luo Tai ran to Stephen Chow’s side. Although the Tibetan Mastiff had been killed by his throwing knife and could no longer harm Stephen Chow, Luo Tai was unsure if the final, fierce impact had injured him.