Chapter 311 Scent of Murder

• Watching Timothy Lavette walk away, Xiao Ruoling fell into deep thought, not realizing danger was inching closer. As Timothy stepped out of the park, his sharp senses caught a surge of killing intent. It hadn’t been there a moment ago, but now it pressed in, thick and cold, snapping him to full alert. His eyes went razor-sharp as he scanned the area. Yet the murderous aura seemed to be drifting farther from him. He thought it might be a fluke, then suddenly remembered Xiao Ruoling still in the park. This late, few people came here—maybe that fading killing intent was heading straight for her. Damn it. Timothy’s gaze hardened. He sprang forward like a shot, sprinting for Xiao Ruoling’s location. Xiao Ruoling had been replaying tonight in her head when she sensed someone close in. She turned—and a blade flashed cold under the dim streetlight, stabbing straight for her. She jolted in shock. Training kicked in. She slid back fast. The deadly strike missed, but fire lanced across her arm. She glanced down—blood was pouring from a gash. Gritting her teeth, she spat, “Bastard, who the hell are you?” Seven or eight men in black robes drifted out of the shadows, each gripping a knife. Under the weak lamps, their faces were just darkness. “You die,” one of them said flatly, lunging at her. Xiao Ruoling could fight, but the man hitting her was clearly a martial artist. Against that, a regular person might as well be paper. Still, she refused to just fold. Clutching her arm, she backed away, searching for a gap to run. No chance. They’d boxed her in tight. The blade angled toward her chest, and she felt helpless against it. Am I really dying here tonight? At that split-second, a dark figure blurred in from afar, ghostlike under the dim lights. Whoosh. The shadow snapped to her side, an arm wrapping her slim waist. He pivoted, then unleashed a brutal spinning kick that hammered the black-robed attacker square in the chest. The man flew more than thirty feet, his sternum caving deep. He hit the ground, froth and blood bubbling at his lips, twitched a few times, and went limp. The others froze. One kick, dead. What kind of monster strength was that? Xiao Ruoling stared, stunned, at the man holding her. The speed, the clean hit—exactly like the mysterious savior from before. Back then, the silhouette felt familiar, but she couldn’t place him. She’d only dug up a few scraps from the cops on scene. While she was piecing it together, Timothy let go and charged the group. His speed spiked to the max. Everywhere he moved, blood sprayed. In five seconds flat, seven men were down, bodies painting the ground, with one survivor flopping on the pavement, barely clinging to life. Timothy stomped down hard on his chest. His voice went cold. “You from the Holy Sect?” The man hacked and wheezed, trembling as he nodded. “Why kill her?” He hesitated. Say it and die. Stay silent and die. Either way, dead. “Not talking?” Timothy snatched up the fallen knife and flicked his arm. A deep gash opened across the man’s chest. “Ah—yes! We’re Holy Sect. We’re here because she might have evidence on us. Orders were to take her out—” A wet slice cut him off. Timothy’s blade ended him. Whether they talked or not, they weren’t walking away. Xiao Ruoling was stunned speechless. Timothy’s ruthlessness, his decisiveness—it blew past everything she’d imagined. And he was insanely strong. Pain forgotten, she rushed to him. She grabbed his left hand and looked closely. Sure enough, a strange-looking ring sat on his index finger. “It was you. Then…the one who saved me back then—that was you too…” She’d learned from the officers that only one person had approached the scene, and a flashbang had gone missing. Handsome, with that odd ring on his index finger, terrifyingly skilled, killing with a single step—put it all together, and the mystery man could only be Timothy Lavette. Timothy didn’t have time to answer. He scooped her up and bolted for the car. Her wound was bad. If she hadn’t pulled back when she did, the result could’ve been ugly. First priority: stop the bleeding, then stitch it. Held tight against him, Xiao Ruoling watched him sprint, urgency burning off him, and something in her chest stirred. They reached the car. Timothy tore a jacket from the back seat and wrapped her arm tight, then fired up the engine and punched it. In the speeding car, Xiao Ruoling still seemed dazed. After a long moment, she asked, “Was it you who saved me last time?” Timothy shot her a look and sighed. “Seriously? Now? Hands still. Don’t move. We’ll be at the hospital in no time.” He slammed the gas. The car streaked down the street like a red lightning bolt, drifting hard around every corner. Minutes later, they screeched into the hospital. Timothy carried Xiao Ruoling straight to the ER. The doctors moved fast and rushed her into sutures.