Chapter 48: A Familiar Face in the Forest

Without deactivating the shadow stealth ability, Tang Mu walked out of the building's shadow and started following the mysterious intruder.

He maintained a distance of about 500 meters between them as he tracked the man through the dark morning streets, a few dark alleys, a narrow and unpaved footpath, and eventually to a relatively big artificial forest some 6 km away from the hostel.

Environmental conservation was paramount in the intergalactic era, and many such artificial forests existed in all urban areas around Mother Earth. Their uses ranged from regulating the climate and sequestering carbon to functioning as a habitat for endangered species and acting as aesthetic spots where people could relax and find their inner selves away from the boisterous happenings in the ever-busy metropolises.

There was nothing like lights in the forest, so everything turned darker when Tang Mu followed the mysterious intruder into the extensive stand of trees. His surroundings seemed to blur together, and he couldn't see five meters ahead of him even after reinforcing his eyes with his psionic energy.

For other rank one psionics, the only option would have been to light a torch before making their way through the forest if they found themselves in such circumstances. But what about Tang Mu? His perception ability was the true definition of overpowered. Its functionality didn't need light as a prerequisite, and he could still scan details from the surroundings, even in darkness.

He triggered his spiritual sense to its limit and continued tracking the mysterious man through the trees. His ears persistently picked up the sounds made by small animals, like squirrels, birds, and insects, and his nose constantly took in the refreshing scent of the jungle as he moved deeper into the forest.

In the meantime, the man had speeded up after entering the forest. But Tang Mu remained calm and used his Mentifery to manifest the shadow stealth array around him again while quickening his steps to continue his silent pursuit. He still maintained a distance of roughly 500 meters between them and persistently followed the man for about ten more minutes until the person reached a clearing beside a small stream flowing in the forest.

There was a black van-shaped aeromobil parked in the clearing. Beside it was another mysterious man wearing a black hat and an overcoat of the same color. He appeared to have been waiting for the person who intruded into Tang Mu's residence. They soon met up beside the stream and started talking.

Tang Mu couldn't tell what they were discussing since he was still 300 meters away. He just hid in the shadow of a tree and activated his spiritual sense to catch the facial details of the other mysterious individual wearing the hat and overcoat.

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But the next moment, his heart jumped. Feelings of anguish and panic threatened to overwhelm him as his spiritual sense detected the barely visible details under the hat of the other mysterious individual. He flinched with disbelief after realizing that the person in question was the same plain guy he had previously witnessed kissing Gong Qing in one of the alleys close to the hostel.

Could Gong Qing be behind all this?

Could she be a student agent of an underworld organization? And could she have sent this guy to harm me?

Many thoughts flashed in Tang Mu's head within a second, forcing him to lose his composure for just a moment. He stepped back as he tried to calm himself down and regain his wits. But just as abruptly, his foot landed on a dry twig, which immediately broke with a snap under the pressure of his combat boot.

The subsequent disturbance was barely audible, even in the tranquility of the forest before dawn. However, that snapping sound was enough to catch the sharp attention of the other mysterious man donning the black hat. His plain brown eyes immediately turned to the source, and he fished an abnormally long pistol weapon from the inside pocket of his overcoat.

A bizarrely cold chill suddenly sprung up in Tang Mu's mind when he saw the weapon in the man's hand. He felt danger creeping up towards him as if the pistol was already pointed straight towards his face. Without hesitation, he rolled toward his right side with all the haste he could muster and hid behind another tree.

BOOM!

An explosion went off in the position where Tang Mu had been only a second ago. His ears keenly caught the sound of the tree exploding into splinters. But since the situation was urgent, he dared not stop and check. He hastily extended his spiritual sense in the shadow of another tree 400 meters away and teleported away from the dangerous spot under the cover of the darkness.

That was close!

He breathed a sigh of relief after flickering into existence within the target shadow. He was still in shock, and his face had already turned pale. His breathing was heavy, and cold sweat had already soaked his body.

If he hadn't dodged and rolled to the side at the right time, the bullet from the man's strange pistol would have blasted his head into smithereens. He would already be on his way to meet his maker, and today's date would have been the anniversary of his death next year.

Shit, should I escape?

He was still panicking, and his heart was still jumping up and down with unusual intensity within his rib cage.

He triggered his spiritual sense and noticed that the man in the hat and overcoat was still scanning the surroundings with his strange pistol in a ready-to-shoot pose. Most likely, he was still keenly searching for his traces before unleashing another supersonic bullet towards him.

Strangely enough, the man's actions allowed Tang Mu to calm down to a certain extent. He had finally confirmed that the man didn't possess a perception ability as abnormal as his spiritual sense. Otherwise, he would have already zeroed in on his new hiding spot and launched another attack.

"Calm, calm, calm..." He repeated the word dozens of times in his mind and felt his body gradually relaxing. He used his Mentifery to reinforce his stealth ability again before summoning his death's whisper longbow and a special arrow from the Star Orb storage space.

Taking another deep breath, he nocked the arrow onto the bowstring and fed his dwindling psionic energy into the runic weapon. He silently completed all the actions without making any noise and started waiting.

He wanted to retaliate with the hope of unearthing more information about the two mysterious individuals who had threatened his safety.