Chapter 294: 294

His trip to the Imperial Capital today was purely spontaneous, so no one could have known about it . Why was he being followed?

Yan Liqiang strolled around the main street acting as though nothing had happened while thoughts started running through his mind .

Over this period of time, he had been cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing . After progressing into a Supreme Martial Warrior, his spiritual perception, eyesight, and hearing ability improved greatly . Therefore, he knew he definitely wasn’t imagining things .

The first thing that crossed Yan Liqiang’s mind was Xu Lang’s gang .

The last time he returned to the Imperial City was the day Liang Yijie and Xu Lang had their duel on the Arena of Life and Death . The other party had probably noticed him when he supported Liang Yijie . In addition to the time when someone provoked him in the servant quarters, he was probably already on their watchlist . It wouldn’t be surprising if the other party was aware of his job at Deer Villa right now . Even without knowing when he would return to the city, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that they would have arranged someone to guard the western gate of the Imperial City to watch when he’d return .

Yan Liqiang kept thinking and found that this was the only logical conclusion he could draw . Apart from Xu Lang and the people who stood with him, he had never really gotten into any other conflicts with anyone else in the Imperial Capital . Furthermore, Sun Bingchen wouldn’t pull tricks like this if he wanted to find him .

While thinking, Yan Liqiang took a whiff of the marigolds he was holding . A cold smile slowly broke across his face .

Yan Liqiang didn’t turn around despite feeling a pair of eyes on his back . He just kept on walking . Ten minutes later and after crossing two streets, he noticed a secluded alley at the side of the road . He turned into the narrow alley and sped up his pace . When he accelerated, he could clearly hear the other set of footsteps trailing behind him moving faster .

Several meters into the narrow alley, there was a corner . Yan Liqiang went there and waited by the wall . He then concentrated with his ears and slowly counted the footsteps in the alley .

Before Yan Liqiang could count to ten, the running footsteps had reached the alley’s corner .

Yan Liqiang wasn’t sure why, but while he was listening to the footsteps, a figure running toward the corner of the alley emerged in his mind . It was as though Yan Liqiang could see the figure’s stride length, arm swing angle, as well his height and physique . It felt so strange . Yan Liqiang wasn’t aware of when he had gained such an ability . However, the situation at hand didn’t allow him to think too deeply because the footsteps were approaching…

Without thinking, Yan Liqiang suddenly rushed out from the corner and rammed his shoulder hard against the other person’s . It looked as though they had gotten into an ‘accident’ after turning the corner .

With Yan Liqiang’s physical resistance from the Iron Shoulder technique, his extraordinary strength, powerful footwork and body techniques, ramming someone’s shoulder was not inferior to an ordinary person swinging a huge hammer from the corner of this narrow alley . If an ordinary person took this hit, he would end up with serious injuries or a broken shoulder or arm .

The person who was tailing Yan Liqiang didn’t seem to expect his ambush at the corner of the narrow alley . However, his reaction speed was fast enough . As soon as Yan Liqiang’s shoulder touched his clothes, he abruptly slid backward like a mudfish at lightning speed . In terms of speed, he wasn’t slower than Yan Liqiang . On the contrary, he was even slightly faster than him .

At that split moment, Yan Liqiang’s shoulder felt as though it had collided into a greased spring . The force from his shoulder was undone before it could even travel to his opponent through the collision . The reaction, speed, and abilities of that person were beyond Yan Liqiang’s expectations . Perhaps not even Liang Yijie could react to his ambush with such ease .

With just that, Yan Liqiang was able to determine that his opponent was an expert . He initially thought the person who followed him was a mere nobody . Little did he expect for the other party to actually use a sledgehammer to crack a nut

by assigning an expert to wait for him by the city gates . Could it be that their objective was not only to follow him, but also be prepared to strike at any moment?

The thought flashed across Yan Liqiang’s mind . Following the principle of ‘to strike first is to gain the upper hand’, Yan Liqiang’s feet moved without hesitation . He propelled himself forward like an arrow at the retreating figure . At the same time, he jabbed his fist into his opponent’s lower abdomen .

With his terrifying enhanced strength, Yan Liqiang’s fist flew at that person like an artillery shell .

The force of his fist far exceeded the force from his shoulder from earlier . His fist shrieked through the air . Explosive noises rang out in the narrow alley . Even the airflow around Yan Liqiang was subtly disrupted .

The countenance of that person who evaded Yan Liqiang’s ambush immediately contorted right at this moment .

That person growled and put his palms out to resist Yan Liqiang’s fist in an attempt to stop his attack . However, the man had obviously underestimated the power behind Yan Liqiang’s fist . His palms didn’t manage to absorb the impact of Yan Liqiang’s punch . His arms involuntarily bent from the impact instead . His hands were pushed back against his body and his whole body collided into the wall behind him heavily .

However, the opponent’s body techniques were simply too nimble . The moment his body collided into the alley wall, he kicked it with his foot . A few bricks on the alley wall instantly cracked, revealing a spider web pattern on the surface . Leveraging himself, he did a beautiful spin, flipping over the top of Yan Liqiang’s head .

As soon as he landed, one of Yan Liqiang’s hands was already making a grab for his throat like a tiger claw .

The funny thing was that the person didn’t even move after he landed . He just allowed Yan Liqiang to grab his throat and let himself fall into his grasp .

That person was a middle-aged priest in his forties, sporting a long beard while dressed in a gray robe . His slanted eyebrows extended toward his temples and beneath them was a pair of beautiful upturned almond eyes, a feature rarely seen on men . He was actually a decent-looking man . The man was looking at Yan Liqiang calmly . As he swept his glance over Yan Liqiang’s long green gown and his other hand that was still holding the marigolds, an enigmatic smile broke across his face .

Yan Liqiang narrowed his eyes as he coldly demanded, “Who are you? Why are you following me?”

“My name is Fang Beidou . I followed you because I wish to see what is so special about the person who will save the world from its impending doom…”