Chapter 75 The Shadows of New York
The dawn light was slightly intoxicating, as Xu Yi and Lisa walked one after another along the tree-lined paths surrounding Chinatown, the swaying shadows of the trees cast upon them.
"We still haven't found it!" Lisa pouted, a bit disheartened.
They had come here early in the morning to look for the Black Carp, scouring all of the cat's usual haunts, but unfortunately, they came up empty-handed.
"Could it be that the Black Carp has left this place?" Xu Yi wondered to himself.
Although they were quite familiar with the Black Carp, after all, it was a stray cat with no fixed abode. It wasn't impossible that, having grown tired of Chinatown, it might move to an area with more attractive male cats... The Black Carp was a female cat.
Xu Yi looked around, the time was still early, and they were in a quiet grove, silent and deserted.
"It's time!" Xu Yi silently said to himself, then called a halt to Lisa.
Lisa turned around, facing Xu Yi, her pale green pupils like turquoise, reflecting the swaying tree shadows, a faint daylight veil on her fair face.
"Close your eyes and feel with your heart!" Xu Yi said in a low voice. Read latest chapters at empire
Lisa's body trembled slightly, her cheeks turning visibly red at an observable pace, then she closed her eyes, her head tilted back slightly, lips pouted, and eyelashes trembling.
Wait a minute! Could there be some misunderstanding here?
Xu Yi thought that wasn't his original intention, but seeing Lisa's tender lips and her exquisite little face, he was suddenly tempted.
Who could resist such a test? Xu Yi decisively kissed her.
Their lips met as if touching warm, soft jade, and he smelled a light fragrance, like rain-soaked leaves mixed with a faint scent of flowers.
Xu Yi and Lisa both seemed spellbound, lost in their embrace.
"Meow!" A cat's meow suddenly sounded; Lisa was startled and broke free from Xu Yi's arms, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Xu Yi turned his head and gave a stern look to the cat in the bushes; it wasn't the Black Carp, this area was frequented by many feral cats.
With such an interruption, Xu Yi felt it wasn't right to continue. He suddenly slapped his forehead, "I almost forgot about the matter at hand!"
"Focus!" Xu Yi said, pressing his finger to Lisa's brow.
["Boxing" entry gifting in progress, gift successful!]
Gifting an entry required physical contact. When he asked Lisa to close her eyes, it was to help her experience the entry fully, but it led to a misunderstanding.
Lisa's fighting talent was pitiful. Without the help of an entry, she might barely get to the beginner's level with several more years of practice.
But Lisa's talent for entry also included body enhancement effects. It would be a waste not to practice fighting.
Lisa slowly opened her eyes, feeling something indescribable, as if something had been added to her body, yet on closer inspection, it seemed like nothing at all.
"In a couple of days, I'll find a boxing coach for you," Xu Yi said softly.
Who says witches must always be glass cannons? Can't they learn to punch and shatter the heads of evil spirits?
Witches' ultra-evolution! Violent witch! Xu Yi was suddenly overcome by a surge of adolescent spirit.
Lisa nodded obediently, knowing Xu Yi meant well.
"By the way, we'll change the training location this afternoon. I'll take you and Maria to experience something fun."
......
Jona's Shooting Range.
The sound of gunfire was deafening, and spent shells tinkled as they fell to the floor. Red targets in the distance sporadically sprouted new bullet holes.
The shooting instructor's eyes widened in disbelief at the scene before him.
A few hours ago, a group of four people arrived at their shooting range, wanting to experience the charm of firearms and also looking for a shooting instructor.
As a veteran employee of the shop, he initially thought it would be business as usual, playing the role of a "nanny."
In the eyes of rich kids, firearms are like some kind of fun toy.
He didn't think these people would be able to learn any profound marksmanship, as long as they could learn how to shoot and not make the embarrassing mistake of not knowing where the safety is, that would suffice.
But he quickly realized he was wrong, and egregiously so.
There were three students learning to shoot: two women and one man. He was certain that before they had entered, all of them were complete novices with wrong gun-holding postures and aiming skills that were close to nonexistent.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
But in just a short one or two hours, the male student had grasped what he taught and could easily hit within the eight circles at a hundred meters.
This talent, if he joined the national team and trained well, undoubtedly had the potential to vie for gold and silver in the competition.
If the boy was just talented, then the girl with the stern look was a monster.
In a short span of time, she had advanced from a hundred-meter target to three hundred meters, five hundred meters, and even moving targets...
The coach, looking at the girl's lovely profile, suspected that she might be a professional athlete from the national team, who had come to tease him on purpose.
She had only asked him a few questions at the beginning, then she progressed on her own, hitting the nine ring was the norm, and the ten ring was no surprise.
"What kind of monsters are these!" the coach wailed inwardly.
He felt that his whole life spent practicing shooting had gone to the dogs.
The people in question were none other than Xu Yi and company. If Lisa knew what the coach was thinking, she would probably weakly ask, "Coach, what about me?"
With average marksmanship and ordinary learning speed, Lisa had already been overlooked by the coach.
Xu Yi put down the revolver in his hand and shook his slightly aching hand.
[Marksmanship experience +2, Current Progress 20/100.]
He hadn't expected his talent in marksmanship to be quite decent, enough to get him started.
Of course, his major would be the revolver since his future weapon would be the Alchemical Revolver Messiah.
Xu Yi turned to glance at Ailan next to him; truly, a white Item couldn't compare with a green one, Ailan's learning speed was astonishing.
Lisa wasn't without her strengths, at least she had strong stamina and good strength, holding the gun steady. If there was a critical moment that required using a gun, she would at least not fail them.
As they left the Shooting Range, Xu Yi casually bought four handguns, one for each person, to have on hand just in case. He also purchased quite a few bullets for the revolvers.
The owner was all smiles and even threw in free holsters for them.
He had to be enthusiastic, what with them shooting, seeking coaching, and buying guns. They had spent a significant amount; they were big customers now.
As the car drove on the road, Ailent suddenly remembered something, "Boss, the information you asked me to collect is on the back seat."
Xu Yi found a paper bag and after opening it, began to look through the contents.
Asking Ailent to organize information was just an offhand request, but the more Xu Yi read, the more furrowed his brow became.
"Have a lot of people gone missing in New York recently? And what's this about mysterious creatures in the sewers?"
"Everyone at school has been talking about it lately. Some say they've seen huge Ratman creatures in the sewers," Lisa suddenly chimed in.
"Is it the Ratman creatures that are abducting people?" Xu Yi inquired curiously.
Ailent shook his head, "There's no conclusion yet, but the government has sent people to investigate and has enlisted the help of quite a few exorcists."
"They didn't invite our Holy Flame Studio?" Xu Yi asked softly.
Ailent looked a bit embarrassed, "Boss, our Exorcism Studio is new, after all. The government is reaching out to those established exorcists."
"That's their loss!" Lisa retorted indignantly. She was now a member of the studio and naturally shared their grievances.
"We have a long way to go," Xu Yi sighed.
He was actually a bit envious, considering that the government contracts for exorcism tasks paid quite handsomely.