"Hold on tight."
Evan Lin spoke coolly, his tone indifferent.
The Mini's sunroof slowly slid open against the rain-soaked night, cold wind pouring through the gap as icy raindrops splashed across Yvonne Zhu's face, the bone-chilling water making her squint instinctively.
"What are you doing?"
Yvonne Zhu's expression changed slightly as she looked at Evan beside her, heart pounding wildly.
At that moment, the Mini hit the straightaway, its speed climbing to one hundred eighty kilometers per hour. Outside the window, the mountain cliffs flashed by in a blur, and the body of the Mini sliced through the air with a rapid, howling wind.
"To kill."
Evan spat out two simple words, then rose from his seat, grabbed the edge of the sunroof with one hand, and with a slight exertion, vaulted from the driver's seat to stand steadily atop the Mini.
Yvonne tilted her head up, catching only Evan's indifferent profile. The wild wind whipped his clothes as he stared straight ahead, his entire bearing radiating fearlessness.
Ahead, Butcher Tu fixed his sharp, aging eyes on Evan, who now stood atop the speeding Mini.
"I haven't killed in years. I wanted to challenge Morgan Yang and avenge my old defeat, but Morgan is dead. Tonight, you'll be the first soul I've claimed in all these years!"
Butcher Tu gave a sinister laugh, reaching into the curtain of rain before him and plucking out eighteen water-colored silver needles, each one lined up tip to tail in front of him.
Then, with a flick of his finger, the eighteen silver needles burst out with explosive sonic booms, slicing through the air straight at the speeding Mini.
The eighteen needles split into eighteen directions, each one slicing through the water curtain and severing the falling raindrops, leaving behind water-colored channels in the air. These condensed into miniature water tornadoes, their power immense.
Inside the car, Yvonne instinctively looked ahead and saw wave after wave of miniature cyclones hurtling toward them. The roaring water in her ears made her face pale with fear.
The eighteen silver needles, each forming a miniature water tornado, were about to reach them, the overwhelming pressure making the Mini's windshield creak.
Seeing the tornadoes about to hit, Yvonne could already imagine the disaster that was about to unfold.
But before she could react, she suddenly realized the water tornadoes ahead had frozen in midair, and as the Mini sped forward, the tornadoes seemed to slide backward.
She could even make out the water-colored silver needles swirling inside each tornado.
"What... just happened?"
Yvonne Zhu stared in disbelief, turning to look around. Suddenly, everything felt quieter than before.
The roar of wind mixed with water seemed to become clean and pure all at once.
Before her eyes, under the oppressive darkness, the rain that had been raging along the mountain road was now eerily frozen in place.
All around, rows upon rows of raindrops hung suspended in midair.
The raindrops even kept their falling posture, but they were condensed into a rain-night painting, frozen in midair, shattered bit by bit by the Mini, turning into finer, smaller droplets.
For a moment, it was as if the rain had stopped. If not for the Mini tearing through the night with its howling wind and roaring engine, Yvonne might have thought even time itself had frozen.
In Yvonne's view, Butcher Tu let out a soft 'hmph,' then reached out and plucked ninety-nine water-colored longswords from the air in quick succession.
He grabbed one water sword by the hilt, bent low, and with a single hand on the blade, charged straight toward the speeding Mini.
Every step he took splashed up a spray of water, but each burst instantly froze in midair, looking like a blossoming flower.
He emerged from the darkness, his figure moving at extreme speed.
"No matter what tricks you use, you die tonight!"
Butcher Tu strode forward, eighty water swords swirling around him like a tidal wave.
Yvonne's heart skipped a beat as she glanced at the car roof.
In her line of sight, Evan, who had been motionless atop the Mini, began to walk forward, taking his first step.
His foot landed squarely on one of the miniature tornadoes.
With each step, the tornadoes surged even wilder, like the tide rising.
Each footfall landed like crashing waves against the rocks, sending ripples through the miniature tornadoes.
Each step bloomed like a lotus.
In the next moment, after Evan had taken eighteen steps, treading over every miniature tornado...
Butcher Tu, surrounded by eighty water swords and holding one in his hand, was now right in front of them.
He sprang upward with one foot, soaring into the air. The water sword in his hand and the eighty swords behind him gleamed as they slashed down on Evan.
As the eighty water swords reached Evan, they paused for a split second.
But soon, all the swords regained their momentum and fell with deadly force!
"Such petty tricks, and you dare show them off?"
Butcher Tu gave a cold snort, his face growing even more vicious.
In the next instant, the sword-light grew fiercer, bearing down with enough force to cut the speeding Mini clean in half!
Evan raised his head, hands clasped behind his back, his tone cold and face even more severe.
"Even Morgan Yang was nothing before me, let alone you."
"A mere eunuch dares to talk Vajra in front of me?"
As Evan's icy words fell, he lightly stomped his right foot, pressing down on the miniature water tornado beneath him.
In the span of a breath.
Butcher Tu, who had been arrogant, suddenly felt a chill in his heart, sensing a strange shift in the air.
Before he could react, he heard a wild, thunderous dragon roar.
One roar, then another, rising in succession.
The dragon roars surged like waves, even making the cold rain around them feel strangely hot.
"What is that!?"
Hovering in midair, Butcher Tu's eyes went wide in disbelief as he looked down.
The eighty-one water swords hadn't even struck yet.
But the eighteen water tornadoes he had launched suddenly transformed into eighteen water dragons!
The eighteen water dragons, though not large, opened their jaws and effortlessly swallowed the surrounding water swords one after another!
"These dragons... these dragons!"
"Could it be... you are..."
"Master Lin from Seacrest!"
Realizing the possibility, Butcher Tu's vicious face twisted with shock.
Before he could strike, he exploded with wild energy, trying to blast himself away in retreat using the recoil.
"Trying to run now? Too late."