Guding saw no one else but the imposter Ailee teacher who had asked him questions in class today.
The Red Light District was not a place for ordinary people, let alone a teacher who taught cultural courses at the military academy. The real Ailee, like most teachers who taught cultural courses, was an ordinary person with a Cell Comprehensive Index of only about 1 and no combat power whatsoever.
The moment Guding saw Teacher Ailee, he confirmed that Reid's previous speculation was entirely correct. When he saw Teacher Ailee dart into a small alley at a speed even faster than his own, he quickly followed.
The alley was deep and dark. His footsteps were light, but his speed was not slow.
Not long after Guding disappeared, a tall man wrapped in a cloak suddenly appeared at the entrance of the alley. He paused only briefly before following into the alley.
The end of the alley was an empty street. Guding stuck his head out and looked around, but saw no one. At that moment, a chilling Killing Intent rose from behind him. Before he could react, a hand came from behind and gripped his neck, nearly choking him. Simultaneously, a faint fragrance wafted from behind, and Guding distinctly remembered that this perfume was the one Teacher Ailee usually wore.
"Speak, who sent you to follow me?" A voice sounded in Guding's ear. It sounded like Teacher Ailee's, but was much colder, giving an impression of dangerous menace.
"Teacher Ailee, I..." Guding was about to explain something, but was interrupted.
"You even brought help. Don't come any closer. Move again, and I'll kill him." The woman dragged Guding to stand in front of her, using him as a shield.
In the alley, a tall man stood not far from the two, wrapped in a black cloak, his face obscured by the hood, making it hard to see clearly. Although Guding couldn't make out the man's appearance, his instinctive sense of danger told him this man was extremely dangerous, countless times more than the "Ailee teacher" gripping his throat. He could clearly feel that the man's target was not him, but the "Ailee teacher" behind him. However, he also knew well that the man wouldn't refrain from targeting the "Ailee teacher" just because of him.
Sure enough, after the woman spoke, the man in the cloak merely paused for a moment before stepping forward again, ignoring the woman's threat.
The woman immediately slew her hand into a chop, striking Guding's neck, then pushed him away forcefully. Clearly, she intended to use him to escape.
Guding felt a sharp pain in his neck, then his consciousness blurred. A surge of force came from behind, sending his body flying, and he lost consciousness.
He didn't know how much time passed before he slowly awoke, his sight restored to a horrifying scene.
Not far away, the "Ailee teacher" had been pierced through the chest by a rod grown from the man's hand. Even more bizarre, the "Ailee teacher's" face began to blur, like a Human Skin Mask being gradually peeled away, revealing her true appearance. She was a woman even more beautiful than Ailee, with a hint of fox-like charm. But no matter how attractive, she was already dead. The rod pinned her firmly to the wall, and she had completely stopped struggling.
The man in the cloak reached into the woman's close-fitting pocket and retrieved an item. Even with Guding's remarkable eye power, he couldn't see what the man had taken in the dim light.
At that moment, the cloaked man suddenly turned, his gaze falling upon Guding. In that instant of eye contact, Guding felt as if an icy scythe of the Death God was poised at his neck, the intense crisis freezing him in place. His intuition screamed that any movement would bring an instant death sentence.
"Target found, scan!"
"Scan complete, target: Guding, Sea Blue Star basic military academy student. Kill?" The cloaked man muttered to himself, and while Guding couldn't clearly hear what he was saying, he guessed the guy was communicating with someone, but the strong sense of danger persisted, leaving him unable to move.
"Military academy student? Ignore him; the woman's body will be found sooner or later. How's the mission going?" From the other end came a deep, robust male voice.
After receiving the directive, the cloaked man turned to the already cold corpse.
"Target: Multi-faced Fox, Lin Na"
"Fourth-order Gene Body"
"Special Ability: Disguise"
"Cell Comprehensive Index: 181"
"Pirate Group: the Judge of Pirates"
"Reward amount: 7 million Star Coins"
"Target deceased, item acquired. Mission complete, awaiting instructions."
"Since the mission is complete, retreat." The deep voice gave another directive.
Upon receiving the instruction, the cloaked man turned to leave. As he turned, a gust of wind blew through, lifting his cloak and revealing his left hand.
Guding, with his extraordinary eye power, clearly saw the white number - 108 - printed on the man's left sleeve, even if just for a glimpse.
"108? What does it mean? A code name? Or the name of some organization?" Guding wondered absent-mindedly.
When he regained his senses, the man had disappeared. He looked around; the street remained empty before he walked toward the corpse.
The body was pierced through the chest by a strangely material black rod, its other end nailed into the wall. In this Red Light District, criminal cases happened daily, and Guding had seen similar death scenes at least twenty times before, having no fear. He simply wanted to confirm if this woman was really Teacher Ailee.
Upon close inspection, Guding was confident that this woman, as Reid had said, was a fake. Aside from her face, her frame was larger than the real Teacher Ailee's. Teacher Ailee was not short, about one meter sixty-eight, but after the disguise wore off, this woman was at least one meter seventy-five. Her fingers were slender, with scarlet nail polish, while Teacher Ailee never wore any nail polish...
As Guding studied her closely, a metal wristwatch fell from the woman's wrist, rolling to Guding's feet.