Chapter 509: Museum Melee

Xiao Chunping paused slightly, then after a moment, she chuckled softly:"Silly child, there are no supermen in this world."

"So, Grandma also thinks it's ridiculous, right?"

"Grandma doesn't understand supermen, but the human spirit is inherently a very mysterious thing. Who can truly explain what potential it holds...?"

Before Xiao Chunping finished speaking, her peripheral vision caught sight of an embroidered painting of a lady on the wall of the embroidery room. It seemed to subtly shift, and her eyes involuntarily narrowed.

Just as Yao Qing was about to say something else, Xiao Chunping lightly patted his shoulder and said,"Good boy, take Zhiwei and Dr. Yang to play in the backyard."

"Huh?"Yao Qing was taken aback, seemingly not understanding why Grandma brought this up.

"A guest is coming, and Grandma needs to receive them personally." Xiao Chunping's tone grew gradually serious, her aged eyes narrowed into slits as she looked towards the front door.

"A guest? Grandma, did you invite a friend? I can help serve tea and water..."

"No need. You go take care of Zhiwei and the others."

Xiao Chunping's tone brooked no refusal. Seeing this, Yao Qing couldn't say anything more. He simply told his grandmother to call him if she needed anything, then opened the door and walked out.

As the embroidery room door closed, Xiao Chunping, leaning on her cane, walked to the embroidery table by the window and slowly sat down.

She lightly picked up the slender embroidery needle, her aged eyes seemingly piercing through the floorboards to gaze at every embroidered piece in the museum, her expression as calm as still water.

"It's been a long time since anyone has seen your true forms... Since we have a guest today, come out and entertain them."

A light drizzle began to fall from the night sky.

Nie Yu, who was about to reach the museum entrance, suddenly stopped, his brows unconsciously furrowing.

"...Something is watching me?" Nie Yu gripped the hilt of his hunting knife with one hand, his gaze quickly sweeping his surroundings. There was nothing suspicious in the desolate wilderness. After a few brief seconds, his eyes fixed on the museum's main entrance.

Under the dark night, two large red lanterns, like the eyes of some colossal beast, stared at Nie Yu at the doorway. Beyond them, Nie Yu could feel an unusual aura emanating from nothingness... It was the unique intuition of a hunter, the inherent nature of a Sirius warning him.

"Something's wrong."Nie Yu stared intently at the museum under the drizzling night, his mind filled with unease and suspicion. "...Besides that man in brown, is there someone else stationed here?"

Seeing Nie Yu stop, the eight assassins following him also halted. One of them asked, puzzled,"Boss, why aren't we going in?"

Nie Yu thought for a moment, then spoke:"Something's not right here... I'll go through the main entrance alone. You all find a side or back entrance. Once you find Su Zhiwei, kill her immediately."

The eight assassins exchanged glances. Although their faces were filled with confusion, they dared not defy Nie Yu's command. They immediately split into several groups, fanning out around the museum to search for other entry points.

As the others departed, Nie Yu was left standing alone in the empty wilderness at the museum entrance, where large red lanterns hung high.

With a hunting rifle on his back and a hunting knife at his waist, he took a deep breath, then slowly pushed open the museum's main door.

*Creak—*

As a low sound echoed, the museum's entrance hall appeared before Nie Yu.

After he stepped over the threshold, he was immediately faced with a massive screen. Embroidered on it was a bare tree branch, with hardly any green leaves. It looked strangely barren and twisted.

Nie Yu merely glanced at the screen before looking away, as he didn't sense anything unusual about the embroidered screen; it seemed like an ordinary exhibit...

But just as he rounded the screen, intending to delve deeper into the museum, a dark shadow shot out from behind it!

Like a long shuttle tearing through the air, it instantly erupted with a piercing shriek. The shadow's speed was even faster than a sniper rifle's bullet, flashing behind Nie Yu's head in the blink of an eye!

A life-or-death crisis surged from the depths of Nie Yu's heart. His hairs stood on end. Without thinking, he dodged to one side. Even so, the shadow grazed his flesh, directly shattering his left ear!

*Whoosh—!!*

Nie Yu narrowly dodged the attack. Before he could regain his balance, a second dark shadow shot out again!

He had no time to feel the agonizing pain of his shattered ear. He instinctively drew the hunting knife from his waist, and a thread so fine it was almost invisible unfurled from the blade, whipping towards the dark shadow!

A sound of metal tearing echoed. The sharp thread sliced the dark shadow in half down the middle, and fine, broken embroidery threads fluttered down from the air. Only then did Nie Yu get a clear look at what the shadow truly was...

"A sparrow??"

Nie Yu froze.

The next moment, over ten embroidered birds, woven from silk threads, simultaneously darted out from behind the screen, shooting towards Nie Yu from all directions. If Chen Ling had been there, he would have recognized these as the birds that originally adorned the screen. However, these birds no longer possessed their former beauty or peacefulness; instead, they were filled with murderous intent!

"What kind of ability is this?!"

Half of Nie Yu's face was already drenched in blood, but the intense pain didn't affect his combat thoughts. He tightly gripped his hunting knife, its long, thin thread dancing wildly with the blade. The black-clad figure engaged in a fierce battle with the multitude of attacking birds!

As the museum's main hall plunged into chaotic battle, the embroidered figures hanging on the surrounding walls began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Whoa, this one's a real assassin!"

"He's a tough one, didn't even flinch when his ear got pecked off... And judging by his aura, he must be Tier 5, right?"

"Don't worry, the Master is Tier 6. Dealing with him shouldn't be a problem."

"How come we haven't seen other Divine Path possessors for so many years, and now so many are suddenly showing up these past two days? Are they all flocking to our museum?"

"But the Master is getting old, and her body isn't what it used to be... What if something goes wrong?"

"Can you just shut your big mouth?! This is the Master's home turf. Are all of us brothers just here for show?!"

"Speaking of which, it really has been a long time since we've stretched our limbs..."

"The Master said we can act freely this time."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Let's get him!!"

Nie Yu slashed over a dozen times, cleaving all the swarming birds in half before finally stopping, panting heavily... His left ear was now just a gaping hole, from which a steady stream of blood flowed. If not for his Iron Armor, half his head would likely have been blown off just now.

However, before Nie Yu could even catch his breath, the lights in the main hall above suddenly flickered violently, and eventually, the bulbs burst, plunging the area into darkness.

The eerie green emergency exit signs provided a faint glimmer, slightly dispelling the surrounding gloom.

Nie Yu seemed to sense something. He spun around sharply and saw that the embroidered pictures covering the walls had all come alive. One by one, bizarre figures were crawling out of their frames, surrounding him...