The date was actually progressing far more smoothly than Wang Ling had imagined.
Generally speaking, he was fairly satisfied with it. All that was left for him to do was to wait for the fireworks display, and then he could go home. He could then be considered to have accomplished this mission with flying colors.
Lotus Sun's thoughts were the complete opposite to Wang Ling's…
This date was even more insipid than she had expected… god! It hadn't been easy for her to go on a date with Classmate Wang Ling! She wasn't going to give up now!
The maiden blinked her beautiful eyes at Wang Ling, and in her heart thought pensively… after the fireworks, should we do… something else?
Like find an isolated, dark spot, two people face to face…
Have a chat or something…
At midnight, a lot of couples gathered at the central fountain of the Xiao Family Compound for the fireworks display.
Cuddling, hugging, wrapped around each other, sitting together on giant flying swords to show off their affection… they took up all kinds of positions to watch the fireworks.
Wang Ling and Lotus Sun picked a relatively secluded place to sit down, and waited obediently for the fireworks to start.
Once again, the situation turned awkward.
Human beings were strange creatures. They were that close, but it was so hard to take that last step.
Lotus Sun felt very awkward. It had not been easy planning this date, but at this moment she felt like an idiot, and she swallowed the words that she had wanted to say earlier.
Wang Ling also had the same feeling as Lotus Sun. His typical way of handling such a situation was to erase the other party's memory, and with this, eliminate their affection for him, so that he could continue living under the radar… the Young Miss of Huaguo Water Curtain Group, a Fortune 500 enterprise, was just too striking for Wang Ling, who was used to a low-key existence.
Staring at the night sky, he was thinking that he needed to find an opportunity to cast the spell, when his right eyelid twitched fiercely.
Wang Ling's heart skipped a beat. A disaster warning? Why would there be a disaster warning at this time?
Whatever the case, because of his twitching eyelid, Wang Ling was instantly on guard!
At that very moment, the fireworks display officially started.
Standing on a high platform, Xiao clansmen fused two clusters of brightly-colored, natural fire together, slowly transforming them into a fire lotus which flew up into the air…
The fire lotus rose slowly like a sky lantern, and the petals of the lotus gradually unfolded in seven colors.
Peng!
Gorgeous rays of light condensed together into a ball, as if pulling in starlight. Then it exploded in the air, and shades of beautiful purples and brilliant reds instantly painted the night sky.
Almost everyone was indulging in the view.
All of a sudden, Wang Ling saw in his peripheral vision two men in black approaching them rapidly.
His instinct told him that they were coming for Lotus Sun.
Lotus Sun did not sense the two men coming up swiftly behind them at all.
By the time she sensed a sharp coldness against her back, it was already too late.
One of the men in black stretched out a hand to restrain her by the shoulder, while the other quickly pushed a cold gun muzzle against Wang Ling's back.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Lotus Sun was a little startled, but overall she was a lot calmer than Wang Ling had expected.
He leisurely raised one eyebrow. After all, Lotus Sun was the future successor nurtured by Huaguo Water Curtain Group. In a critical situation, she didn't lose her composure.
One of the men in black growled, "We don't want to hurt Miss Lotus Sun and her… boyfriend? But I hope Miss Lotus Sun will not resist, and will come with us quietly, otherwise I can't guarantee that this gun won't go off."
Cold sweat dripped down Lotus Sun's forehead.
She understood very clearly that the gun was loaded with enhanced spirit energy bullets, which could easily pierce the bodies of cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage. Lotus Sun had received professional training and guidance from the Group, and knew how to respond in such an emergency situation.
She gritted her teeth. "He's just my classmate, not my boyfriend! Whatever you want, you can go through me. It's fine if I go with you, right? Please let Classmate Wang go."
Through the strength in their hands, Lotus Sun could tell that these two men were masters at the Golden Core stage, and were very likely top-class assassins. There was almost no chance of being able to escape from them.
"Are you from Shadow Stream?"
Almost at first glance, Lotus Sun had recognized the badge on the men's black clothes.
Shadow Stream was a notorious assassin organization in Huaxiu nation which received abduction and assassination requests all year round. They were well-known in the industry for their professional integrity, and wouldn't reveal their clients' names even at the risk of their lives. Those who could afford to hire Shadow Stream to deal with them, at the very least, wouldn't be any less powerful than Huaguo Water Curtain Group!
Huaguo Water Curtain Group had made enemies in the country and abroad — who was it who wanted to harm her? But now wasn't the right time to think about this.
Lotus Sun felt that the best plan right now was to decrease the number of hostages first before thinking of a way to inform someone on the outside.
Meanwhile, Wang Ling was reading Lotus Sun's mind…
Indeed, this was a normal response to an emergency,
But the two cunning men in black appeared well-prepared.
One man took out a black pill from his pants pocket. "This is a fast-working sleeping pill that will cause you to fall asleep quickly after swallowing it. If your classmate eats this, we will let him go." This was to prevent Wang Ling from alerting people of the situation immediately.
With so many people around, to be frank, Wang Ling didn't want to lift a hand against the men. The least eye-catching solution would be to swallow their black pill and fake sleep, then like what Lotus Sun had considered, let Huaguo Water Curtain Group know what had happened.
… Not a bad idea. I can seize this opportunity to end this boring game of playing house, Wang Ling thought.
But just as he stretched out his hand to take the pill, he clearly heard what Lotus Sun was thinking in her heart at that moment: Good, as long as Classmate Wang is safe… as, as long as he can escape!
"…"
At this moment, Wang Ling was stunned, his eyes wide open.
The air turned deathly still. In the middle of a chaotic fireworks display, he lowered his head. His five senses were magnified boundlessly, and he could clearly hear Lotus Sun's frightened breaths.
Even if she had been trained by the Group, in the end, she was still just a delicate girl…
"…"
Wang Ling's face darkened with anger, and he didn't utter a single word.
Then.
As the two men in black watched, Wang Ling pinched the pill and turned it into dust.
Motherf**ker! The men's faces contorted with rage; was he flagrantly provoking them? This f**king sixteen-year-old high school student! Did he think he was a Nascent Soul or Soul Formation cultivator?
Wang Ling got to his feet as he gave them a grim look.
Just as they were about to pull the trigger, Wang Ling moved at the same time. Like electric snakes, his hands moved so swiftly that none of them could follow his movements, and he instantly seized the gun.
The quality wasn't bad… thought Wang Ling, his expression indifferent as if he was playing around with a kids' toy.
Relying on this trash to pierce his godly body was really too naïve.
"You…"
The two Shadow Stream assassins were too slow to react.
A ringing crack filled their ears!
Stunned, their pupils constricted sharply!
They sweated profusely at the scene in front of their eyes!
Wang Ling had actually directly smashed the gun to pieces in his hand!
Picked up by the light wind, the pieces were reduced to powder which drifted off in the air…
"What the hell…" The two men in black stared wide-eyed. That gun had been made out of f**king Ninth Heaven black iron!
Lotus Sun was also dumbstruck, not understanding what on earth was happening. Classmate Wang Ling was only at the Foundation Establishment stage… how could he be so powerful?
"Your Excellency, who are you?" The faces of the two Shadow Stream assassins betrayed their terror.
They tried to escape, but an immense spiritual pressure held them immobile and completely unable to move!
Leisurely brushing dust off his pants, Wang Ling raised his head and looked quietly at them.
It was an ordinary expression, yet the two assassins shuddered uncontrollably.
"Who… who the hell are you?"
The aura which emanated from this sixteen-year-old high school student was ten million times more powerful than that of any person whom they had ever assassinated in their lives.
It was as if they were looking at an archdemon ten thousand feet tall. The sense of death suddenly gripped their throats.
Without saying a word, Wang Ling grabbed their heads with each hand.
After all, even if they died, they wouldn't reveal who their client was.
"… What do you want?"
"Nothing, I'm just sending you to heaven," Wang Ling responded in their minds. He lifted them in each hand as if he was lifting two chickens.
Imitating the posture of the Xiao clansmen on the high platform, in the blink of an eye, Wang Ling reduced them to elemental particles, then slowly rolled them into a tiny ball. With a burst of energy, he turned the ball into light, and sent it up into the beautiful night sky…
Peng!
A moment later, this "Angry Buddha Fire Lotus" exploded in the sky alongside the magnificent fireworks.
Beautiful sparks which dazzled the eye scattered in all directions, then gradually drifted downward, turning into star dust that finally vanished in the air.
Wang Ling quietly watched the fireworks fade, and clapped his hands free of dust. It looked like the true, full use of the legendary lost skill of the Xiao clan, the "Angry Buddha Fire Lotus," wasn't as difficult to pull off as he had imagined.
...
When he had tossed the ball of light into the air, Wang Ling had extracted the assassins' memories in passing. Later that night, he created an image of the information and sent it anonymously to Huaguo Water Curtain Group.
And then, Wang Ling used up his entire weekend removing all effects of the incident that were related to him.