Chapter 895: Hat-trick

"Divination of Fate: Fortune's Embrace."

Sun Bumian's voice rang out from behind Jian Changsheng, and a domain had already enveloped the entire battlefield!

All the black 'ominous' energy his eyes perceived began to spin like a vortex, gradually repelling outwards; conversely, all the golden 'propitious' energy surged wildly into his body. Colorful flames erupted from Sun Bumian's form.

The crackling of firecrackers echoed around him, and unseen forces of destiny seemed to favor his body. He resembled a burning, humanoid lion, stepping forward!

"Cloud Step."

In this state, all of Sun Bumian's abilities were amplified beyond their usual limits. His Cloud Step was so fast it became imperceptible to the naked eye, and the colorful flames streaked across the entire street like lightning!

Mo Lian and Bai Ye were locked in battle amidst a chaotic barrage of weapons. As if sensing something, Mo Lian turned his head, but his gaze could no longer follow the lightning-fast, colorful figure...

A fierce wind swept past, and Sun Bumian, wreathed in colorful flames, appeared like a phantom behind Mo Lian!

His hand reached for the black bowler hat.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the brim, Sun Bumian's body convulsed violently. A mouthful of fresh blood erupted from his throat, and he seemed to lose all strength, collapsing limply to the ground...

Sun Bumian lay sprawled on his back on the ground, his face even paler than Jian Changsheng's. He instinctively clutched at a spot on his abdomen, his breathing heavy and labored!

"Huh... I was aiming for his heart. How did I end up taking out his liver?" Mo Lian looked at the bloody liver in his hand, a hint of surprise in his expression.

But Sun Bumian, lying on the ground, knew well that the 'propitious energy' gathered around him had saved his life, causing Mo Lian's hand to falter. Had his heart been directly stolen by that move, he would have likely died instantly...

"That's a seventh-tier Thief Saint! Don't underestimate him!"

Seeing Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian both severely wounded, Bai Ye felt immense guilt. They were merely a group of fourth-tier youngsters; it was impossible for them to emerge from this battle unscathed... Bai Ye had, in fact, realized this, but he truly had no other options.

Mo Lian's hat, which bore the lingering mark of the Silver King, allowed him to resist theft. If Bai Ye fought alone, it would be almost impossible to defeat Mo Lian.

Nevertheless, Jian Changsheng's severe injuries ignited Bai Ye's fury. He abandoned his conservative defensive strategy and began to actively attack Mo Lian!

As the white radiance around him gradually expanded, the weapons originally threatening him were all stolen away, then launched from all directions at Mo Lian's figure, forcing him to gradually distance himself from Jian Changsheng and preventing him from having an opportunity to deliver a finishing blow to Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian.

"The Way of the Thief God: first-tier steals objects, second-tier steals faces, third-tier steals light... From the fourth-tier domain, one can achieve wide-ranging, unrestricted theft."

"At the fifth-tier, one can achieve 'segmented theft' of matter—that is, stealing a part from a complete object... for instance, stealing a heart."

"It's not until the sixth-tier that skills on different paths begin to diverge, but now that I've stolen your abilities, all our current skills are identical..."

"We could fight like this for three days and three nights." Mo Lian pointed to Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian nearby. "But they don't seem like they can last that long."

Bai Ye's heart sank.

Mo Lian was right. With identical skills and tiers, it was nearly impossible for them to determine a victor, especially since the opponent still had that hat... Furthermore, Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian could hardly inflict damage on Mo Lian. If they continued to prolong the fight, their disadvantage would only grow.

Wait...

Where was Chen Ling?

As if realizing something, Bai Ye began to look around, trying to find Chen Ling.

"Go to hell, you idiotic Thief Saint!" Jian Changsheng, pinned to the tree, spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, "You think you can threaten Senior Bai Ye with us? Do you really believe we can't deal with you?"

"Oh? And how exactly can you 'deal with me'?" Mo Lian scoffed, glancing at him dismissively.

"The time's about right... Red Heart should have found it by now, right?" Sun Bumian clutched his stomach, looking around with a pained expression.

Crunch—

A soft crunch of footsteps on accumulated snow echoed from an adjacent alleyway.

Mo Lian turned his head and saw a figure in a large red opera robe emerging from a nearby general store, their calm gaze fixed on the scene... Their eyes met.

Only then did Mo Lian remember that he hadn't seen Chen Ling since his fight with Bai Ye began. It seemed Chen Ling had gone to find something.

Mo Lian's gaze gradually dropped...

He saw that Chen Ling now held a straw hat.

The straw hat had an ancient design, looking as if it had just been found within the city. It wasn't a ritual artifact, nor did it possess any special properties... It was truly just an ordinary straw hat.

"Finally found it..." Chen Ling patted the dust off the hat, then casually raised his hand and slowly placed it on his head.

Mo Lian, witnessing this, seemed somewhat puzzled, yet he still sneered, "You disappeared for all that time just for this ugly hat?"

"Ugly hat?" The large red opera robe billowed in the wind. Chen Ling slightly lowered his head, the black bowler hat on his head exuding an exceptional elegance, like a famous performer from the Republic of China era...

He raised a hand, pressing the brim, and smiled faintly, "It does look quite ugly on your head."

Seeing the incredibly familiar bowler hat on Chen Ling's head, Mo Lian first froze, then instinctively raised a hand to touch his own head... A rough straw hat had, at some point, replaced his original bowler hat.

Scarlet Trick.

The Way of the Thief God was powerless against the Silver King's mark, but the trickery of the Way of Distortion was an exception.

As soon as he decided to deal with that hat, Chen Ling immediately began searching for a suitable item, as the Scarlet Trick required the two items to be similar in appearance for replacement... Fortunately, finding a hat in this city wasn't too difficult.

Mo Lian's pupils suddenly constricted, his heart sinking to rock bottom. He immediately raised his hand, intending to steal back the hat from Chen Ling's head, but a hand had already preempted him, quietly pressing against the back of his skull...

"Your hat doesn't seem to fit so well," Bai Ye's eyes narrowed slightly in the wind and snow.

The next moment, the stout Heart Serpent bit down on Mo Lian's head!

Bai Ye's 'Heart Serpent' furiously tore at Mo Lian's memories, devouring them in huge gulps. Mo Lian's body bore no wounds, but he stood blankly in the snow, the confusion in his eyes growing ever deeper...