At that moment, Xia Tian's sharp eyes caught sight of a faint, familiar trail in the air.
"This is… a bullet mark. So, who's the target?"
Following the trajectory, Xia Tian immediately noticed Zeng Rou standing in the line of fire. In a flash, he moved. Within a heartbeat, he appeared in front of Zeng Rou and shoved her to the ground. As she fell, Xia Tian twisted his body so that he hit the floor first, cushioning her fall.
This way, Zeng Rou wouldn't be hurt.
A split second later, the bullet tore through the space where she had just been standing, shattering the glass behind her.
"Take cover! It's a sniper!" Lin Bingbing shouted urgently. But before anyone could react, a second shot rang out. This time, the target wasn't Zeng Rou—it was Team Xu.
The bullet pierced his arm.
"Team Xu!" someone cried, and everyone immediately ducked for cover.
"Sister Rou, stay here and don't move. I hate people who shoot from behind. I'll find him." Xia Tian pushed Zeng Rou behind a pillar for safety, while the others scrambled to hide wherever they could.
This was no joke. Those were real guns and live rounds. Seeing Team Xu wounded and lying on the ground terrified everyone. Just moments ago, he had been full of arrogance, and now a single bullet had taken him down.
His injury was a clear warning.
No one dared to show themselves. These bullets weren't for intimidation—they were meant to kill.
As tension filled the air, Xia Tian suddenly stood up, eyes fixed on the rooftop of a tall building opposite them.
"Damn it, he's gone."
He picked up Zeng Rou from the ground. The sniper's intentions were obvious: the shots were aimed at Zeng Rou and Team Xu, one each, before retreating swiftly, hit or miss.
That level of precision and decisiveness was far beyond the capability of a third-tier killer. This was the work of a second-tier assassin.
And such a killer was much harder to deal with than Xia Tian had expected. In their first encounter, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of the shooter's face.
"Xia Tian, what are you doing?" Lin Bingbing called out, alarmed as she saw him standing in the open.
"He's already gone."
Aside from Xia Tian and Zeng Rou, everyone else remained crouched behind cover. The police scanned the surrounding buildings for any sign of the sniper, but even after hearing Xia Tian's words, they didn't dare lower their guard.
Just then, Xia Tian's phone rang.
"You are me, my big apple."
"Xia Tian, come to Jianghai University later."
"Cousin? What happened?"
"Tang Yan is challenging again, and this time the entire regular basketball team is here."
"That has nothing to do with me."
"The captain of the basketball team is the vice president's son. If you don't accept the challenge, he's threatening to have his father shut down the Literature and Arts Department."
"Fine. I'll be there soon."
Xia Tian ended the call.
Seeing that the call had gone on for a while, those still hiding behind cover finally stood up.
"Mrs. Zeng, we'll make sure to give you an explanation for what happened today," Lin Bingbing said as she approached Zeng Rou.
"Do you know Xia Tian?" Zeng Rou's intuition was sharp.
"Yes," Lin Bingbing replied with a nod.
"Let's put what happened today behind us. If you need anything for your investigation, contact my lawyer."
Her meaning was clear: since Lin Bingbing knew Xia Tian, she was willing to let the matter go out of respect for him.
Otherwise, what Team Xu had done could have caused serious trouble for the Police Bureau.
Zeng Rou was a public figure in Jianghai City. The Zeng Group paid hundreds of millions in taxes each year and was a legitimate enterprise under government protection. Yet today, she had narrowly escaped assassination.
If the authorities failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, every entrepreneur in the city would lose their sense of security.
It was a serious issue.
But Zeng Rou's words had effectively closed the case, purely because Lin Bingbing knew Xia Tian. In doing so, she had given Xia Tian considerable face.
Lin Bingbing didn't realize it then, but because of Zeng Rou's statement, she would later be promoted. Solving the Zeng Rou incident would earn her Team Xu Xiaodu's position.
As for Team Xu, his wife and daughter would later go missing.
That was all to come. For now, Xia Tian had already eliminated the five elders of the Zeng family's hired men and taken care of those from Liusha. If the five elders didn't increase their payment, Liusha likely wouldn't send more assassins.
Although Liusha always carried out a job once it was accepted, they weren't philanthropists and wouldn't keep dispatching killers without sufficient payment. In this case, the Zeng family's elders had only paid for a third-tier assassin, assuming that would be enough to eliminate Zeng Rou.
However, when the third-tier killers failed, Liusha had to continue sending more. That required additional payment. Because the elders hadn't mentioned Xia Tian's involvement, Liusha had already lost a third-tier killer in the process.
Normally, Liusha deployed two third-tier assassins to strike separately, ensuring that if one failed, the other could complete the mission—without either knowing when the other would act.
The five elders of the Zeng family had spent heavily on this assassination. They had not only hired two third-tier killers but also a second-tier one.
Xia Tian had already dealt with the two third-tier killers. Only the second-tier assassin remained. Once he eliminated that one, the assassination attempt by Liusha would finally be over.
Unless the five elders somehow injected more capital. But now, they had already surrendered. Their funds were frozen, and they would spend the rest of their lives in prison.