Chapter 58: True Despair
Seconds felt like years to Tang Mu as he waited for the dispatched police combat detectives to arrive at the hostel and deal with the looming dangers.
He hadn't relaxed even after calling the emergency hotline. His heart continued racing as he monitored the dubious groups of enemies hiding in the darker alleys with his spiritual sense. He maintained a state of alertness until his perception picked up a sudden change he couldn't understand.
Now, why are they withdrawing?
Without rhyme or reason, the three groups of masked and cloaked individuals suddenly started withdrawing from the alleys around the hostel. They moved quickly, racing past startled pedestrians still on the streets as they headed towards the distance. Before Tang Mu could make heads or tails of what was happening, they were already kilometers away from the hostel.
Could they have gotten cold feet?
Tang Mu was more alarmed than relieved as he observed the withdrawal of the suspected enemies. His enhanced instincts were still ringing alarm bells within his mind, meaning that the departure of the three groups of individuals hadn't lessened the looming threats towards him in any way.
What could I have missed?
Tang Mu's eyes constricted as his mind went into overdrive. He expertly manipulated his spiritual sense and withdrew it from the retreating enemies before zeroing it on his immediate surroundings. His instincts rang true once again, and he quickly focused on a lone silhouette that had at one point appeared close to the hostel's perimeter fence without drawing his notice.
The lone silhouette belonged to an emaciated aged man with many wrinkles and moles forming grotesque maps over his skin.
What was alarming was that the old man's dreary eyes flashed with mysterious symbols when Tang Mu's spiritual sense focused on him. Then, without any warning whatsoever, a hideous smile manifested on his face, and he floated off the ground and flew straight toward Tang Mu's room on the top floor of the hostel. His speed was beyond incredible, and he even caused a sonic boom to explode in the air.
Fuck! It is a powerhouse that can fly. He should be at rank three or above.
Tang Mu let out a few inward curses as a feeling of terror stabbed deep into his heart. He breathed deeply to calm his chaotic mind while extending his spiritual sense toward the shadow of a building a kilometer away. He hoped to use his Mentifery to activate his shadow teleportation and avoid the predicament.
But could his ability allow him to escape the clutches of a rank three powerhouse, who had already unlocked three chakras? Could his shadow teleportation work wonders and qualify him to avoid the attack of a person who could cover 62 meters in only a second?
The answer was a big no. The flying elder accelerated and approached, his red robe causing him to appear like a lightning bolt cutting through the darkness. Before Tang Mu could finish visualizing the shadow teleportation rune, the elder's emaciated body blasted through the walls with a bang of exploding debris before appearing in the dark room.
"Interesting! So, you're Tang Mu? I'm Elder Weeping Ghost from the Crimson Brotherhood, by the way. Nice to make your acquaintance." The elder uttered with a callous look in his eyes as he spread out a kind of dominion that seemed to freeze the entire place.
"You should stop with your futile attempts. You won't escape. I have already frozen your body with my concept." He spoke softly and at an unhurried pace. But his words seemed to ring with power that immediately interrupted Tang Mu's efforts of swiftly constructing a shadow teleportation rune.
Tang Mu's fear spiked after he heard the elder's words.
Conceptualization was a loftier stage of mastering superpowers that one could achieve after reaching the higher ranks of psionic powers. High-ranked psionics could overpower those below their level with minimal effort by relying on a concept such as a darkness intent. That was mainly why the elder had successfully hindered Tang Mu from quickly activating his shadow teleportation and fleeing the place.
"There's something I find hard to understand," the enemy, who called himself Elder Weeping Ghost, continued speaking while giving Tang Mu a once over. "How can a bean sprout like you possess an uncatalogued and obscene power like teleportation at rank one? Aside from that, you also possess a mutated perception ability that can escape my notice. Interesting!"
A hint of greed manifested in the elder's gaze, and he started looking at Tang Mu like some prey he was about to devour.
Tang Mu, on his part, didn't bother to answer. He didn't like talking to anyone who wished him harm.
He suppressed all the negative feelings of dread and anxiety within his heart while continuing to visualize the shadow teleportation array using his spiritual sense and Mentifery powers. He took advantage of the time that the elder was utilizing to speak to expend almost all his psionic energy and overpower the enemy's concept authority before finally constructing the runic arrangement in the shadow of the building about a kilometer away.
"Please humor me..." The elder was still going at his own pace, seemingly as if doing some routine and effortless activity. He also appeared to love talking a lot. "I can tell that your powers should be at the rank one level. Could you be the same vigilante psionic who took out some of our men?" He looked at Tang Mu with a hideous smile, his wrinkles becoming more pronounced.
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Once again, Tang Mu remained silent while perfecting the shadow teleportation array with his spiritual sense and imagination manifestation. All that was on his mind was to escape from the place before the powerful elder decided to attack.
It was at that point that another development took place. Before the elder could continue his blubbering, a buff man suddenly climbed into the room through the 'very' gap he formerly made.
The new entrant was one of the two police combat psionics responsible for guarding the hostel who had long noticed the commotion in the room. He swiftly rolled into the room like the trained commando he was while drawing his psionic pistol. He pointed it at the elder and said, "Kneel down, put your hands behind your head, and shut your trap. Don't do anything stupid if you don't want me to blast your head with this bad boy."
On hearing the threat, Elder Weeping Ghost inclined his head and glanced at the new entrant as if looking at a clown. Without any needless words, he acted quickly without giving the opponent a chance to react. He opened his grotesque mouth slightly and let out a scratchy weeping sound.
You read right! He didn't do anything else but let out a ghostly sound that was a blend of a bizarre bestial howl and a woman crying towards the combat psionic who had just arrived.
What followed was something out of a horror movie that caused Tang Mu's body to shudder with trepidation. The passing of time seemed to stall as the ghostly sound impacted the target, causing the combat detective's body to tremble intensively before exploding into smithereens like a watermelon subjected to increased internal pressure.
One moment, the combat detective had confidently been pointing his psionic pistol at Elder Weeping Ghost, but the next, he was a gory of blood and body parts splashing all over Tang Mu's room. The ending of the rank two combat psionic responsible for guarding the hostel was just that tragic, and every part of him now resembled some vegetables squashed by a giant blending machine and spread all over the place.
Tang Mu swallowed hard as he watched the result. The color drained from his face as his eyes took in the remainder of the grisly body pieces and scattered blood raining down in his room.
"I guess I'll have to wrap this up before more stupid interruptions arrive. Now, where were we?" Elder Weeping Ghost turned around to face Tang Mu again with a calm smile.
In turn, Tang Mu swallowed hard as he stared back at this terrifying enemy he couldn't hope to overcome. Adrenaline pumped through his body, and without thinking, he subconsciously triggered the teleportation array he had already constructed in the shadow of a building a kilometer away. Within two seconds, the ability worked its magic, and his body started flickering out of existence from his still-dark room.
"Now, now, now..." Elder Weeping Ghost's scratchy voice sounded again. "We're just getting to know each other! Why are you already running away?"
He was still speaking unhurriedly without exuding any hint of impatience or panic. But even then, his words or voice contained the same mysterious power that again interrupted Tang Mu's attempt at teleportation.
Fuck!
Tang Mu felt nothing but blind terror when the enemy's power cut off his connection with the shadow teleportation array he had constructed with his spiritual sense a kilometer away. Anxiety eclipsed his thoughts as he realized that all his prized abilities couldn't help him escape the current predicament.
Prior to this, he had never understood the concept of true despair. He had always thought of himself as a bold and astute individual who could overcome any hardship that came his way. But as he quietly watched the enemy toying with him at his own leisure, all his courage seemed to escape him. His thoughts became more chaotic until he recalled one item that might allow him to flee the clutches of Elder Weeping Ghost.
It was the Star Orb storage space. As long as he teleported into the mysterious dimension, he would hide there until the police reinforcements arrived. It seemed to be his only hope of escaping the current predicament.
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Elder Weeping Ghost had one hobby and habit he couldn't get past. He enjoyed toying with his enemies and slowly making them lose hope until they fell into endless despair. Even more so, he relished watching his weaker foes making fruitless struggles before he totally squashed them under his feet.
That time was no different. Elder Weeping Ghost wanted to break the youngster's spirit before capturing him and taking him back to his base, where he would extract more answers about his abilities.
"I can see that glint of hope in your eyes again," Elder Weeping Ghost said unhurriedly. "But no matter what you do, you won't escape my hands. Just be a good boy and return with me to the base. I'll ensure that you get the..."
The elder suddenly stopped midsentence as Tang Mu's body started flickering out of existence again. In a matter of milliseconds, he tried exerting his authority to constrict the space and hinder any use of escape abilities. But his eyes widened as he realized that his concept could no longer stop the enemy from fleeing.
"Damn..."
The wrinkles on his face became more pronounced, and he acted almost immediately. Within a few more milliseconds, he opened his mouth and activated his sound manipulation ability.
He used his mutated vocal codes in conjunction with his psionic energy to send lethal sound waves towards the enemy, who was 'just' about to overcome all odds and escape his clutches. Everything happened almost instantaneously, and just like during hundreds of previous instances, Elder Weeping Ghost watched his weak victim explode into a gory of blood and bones.
The enemy had tried to escape, but he had acted with haste and still ended him. It wasn't the best result, as he had missed out on the opportunity to unearth the victim's secrets. But he could still accept the outcome of his hunt that night as it had given him another sense of satisfaction.
He took a moment to admire the bloody fireworks, which signified the death of another unfortunate enemy. Then, after sweeping his perception through the residence and finding nothing consequential, he jumped out of the gap in the wall he had previously made before taking off towards the distance.
By then, the commotion he had caused had already attracted many students from the other rooms in the hostel and many other busybodies around the neighborhood. They had all started crowding around the place, hoping to understand what had transpired.
Elder Weeping Ghost watched all those curious faces below him with a sparkle in his eyes. He yearned to send a lethal blast wave towards the crowd to add another achievement to his name. He wanted to smash them into smithereens to establish his dominance again.
But after thinking about the current situation, he resisted his nature and continued speeding towards the distance at an ever-increasing velocity. He couldn't lose any more time as he wanted to help Crimson Blade, his young miss, to flee from the place before the other police reinforcements arrived.
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