Killing, on the surface, is simple, but in practice, it is no easy feat. From childhood to adulthood, I've never killed anyone, let alone a chicken.
It was unexpected that Wang Defa spoke of killing as easily as drinking water. Yue'er beside me showed little reaction, merely sipping her drink and listening to music, completely immersed in her own world. I wondered why she liked listening to music so much; wasn't she afraid of going deaf from listening too much?
Zhang Dabiao, from somewhere, produced a bottle of white wine and began to eat heartily with the dishes on the table. I couldn't fathom where he got such a good appetite; he was either eating or on his way to eat. He showed no reaction to Wang Defa's intention to kill Hu Sixi, even agreeing with him when he spoke of murder. It was quite a blow to my worldview.
"Brother Zhang, is the food good?"
"Not bad! Want to try?" As he spoke, he offered me a spicy duck foot.
I turned away and refused, "How can I eat with this mood! Wang Defa needs an answer tomorrow, whether he agrees or disagrees. Why don't you give me an opinion?"
Zhang Dabiao popped the duck foot into his mouth, rolled it around a couple of times, and then spat out the clean bones. After taking a sip of wine, he said, "You can't ask me about everything, can you? Little brother, people have to grow up, don't they? You already have the answer in your heart, you're just not sure if doing it this way is okay. Just do what you feel is right!" With that, he patted my shoulder, let out a burp, and went back to the car to sleep.
As I was about to turn and ask Yue'er for her opinion, I noticed she had already made her way to the car at some point. She yawned, waved at me, and got into the car.
"I..."
Evading danger, casting divination, and finding bodies – these are my specialties. But this business of killing, my master never taught me! Nor did we ever practice it. How should one kill a person?
Moreover, Hu Sixi is no pushover. He's an old fox who can't be manipulated as one pleases. To contend with him, one wrong move could lead to capsizing.
My mind was a mess. One moment I thought about the consequences of killing Hu Sixi, whether the Hu family would retaliate, and what the attitudes of Longhu Mountain and Maoshan would be. The next, I thought about not killing him and ending up crippled by him halfway.
A chaotic stream of thoughts surged through my mind, only to be swept away with a wave of my hand. I wouldn't and couldn't kill. Although Hu Yuan had wronged me, his death was an undeniable fact, and it had resolved the karma. One could say that this vengeance had been repaid.
As for Hu Sixi, I could only say that he had issues with his character and lacked the demeanor of a true master. Was he wrong? He was certainly wrong, and gravely so. But his mistakes did not warrant death. Su Dan Novel Network
I hated him to the bone, but I never considered killing him. Perhaps crippling his cultivation might be even better than killing him.
With my mind made up, I felt the sky had brightened and the air had cleared, and I felt refreshed. I checked my phone; it was already two in the morning. I glanced at the pitch-black Qingfeng Mountain, which lay across the land like a gluttonous behemoth. I hoped those old fellows would find some amusement in the mountain, otherwise, it would be troublesome if they questioned me upon their return.
I yawned, preparing to find a car to sleep in. Staying up late was bad for the body. I didn't even have a girlfriend yet, and I planned to get married and have children. I couldn't die of exhaustion and leave too early; that would be a huge loss.
I found a car, curled up inside, and quickly fell asleep. The fatigue of my body, coupled with the extensive use of my mind, soon sent me into dreamland.
In my dream, I was getting married. The wedding was grand and magnificent. Just as I was about to lift her veil to see her face.
Boom—
A deafening roar echoed, followed by the vehicle shaking as if it were an earthquake.
"What was that? An earthquake?"
The tremendous noise startled me, and I jumped up, my head making intimate contact with the car roof. The pain brought tears to my eyes. The SUV, built for sturdiness, had very few parts that weren't made of iron.
Rumble—
The immense rumbling didn't stop; instead, it intensified, as if the sound was approaching the campsite.
"Could it really be an earthquake?" I thought, knowing we were deep in the mountains. If an earthquake struck, there would be nowhere to run. Surrounded by high mountains, if they collapsed, we'd be buried like dumplings.
As I got out of the car, Zhang Dabiao, Yue'er, and Wang Defa were already standing in the open space, their gazes fixed on the direction of Qingfeng Mountain. Following their line of sight, I saw streaks of lightning descending from the sky like rain. Within the lightning, there were two dark specks, conspicuously visible against the white bolts. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be two people. Due to the distance, their identities were unclear.
"Who is so powerful that they can ascend into the sky and fight?" I asked, looking at Wang Defa, who was holding a pair of infrared binoculars.
"It's Elder Master Fang. The other person is completely enveloped in Yin energy, making it impossible to see clearly," Wang Defa replied with a grave expression.
Elder Master Fang? I hadn't expected him to have reached the Heavenly Ascent realm, as only those in that realm could fly. But who was the other person, capable of fighting Elder Master Fang, who was in the Heavenly Ascent realm, to a standstill?
I snatched the infrared binoculars from Wang Defa's hand and pressed them to my eyes, ignoring his comment about others being present.
I saw two figures standing in mid-air. One was clearly Elder Master Fang, his green robe fluttering in the wind. With every movement of his hands, talismans appeared, and streaks of lightning generated from his hands struck the dark figure opposite him.
The dark figure, enveloped in black energy, dared not be careless against the lightning strikes. He mostly dodged, and when evasion was impossible, he gathered Yin energy into a black palm to retaliate.
However, under the might of the heavenly lightning, any Yin or evil energy was completely incapable of resisting the bolts. Upon being struck, it would instantly dissipate into smoke. Thus, a rather comical scene unfolded in the sky: Elder Master Fang attacked like the God of Thunder with rolling lightning, while the dark figure opposite him fled like a mouse, occasionally retaliating but never directly confronting Elder Master Fang.
Watching them fight to a stalemate, seemingly unable to determine a victor in the short term, I lowered the binoculars, a look of worry on my face.
Zhang Dabiao, who also lowered his binoculars, appeared somewhat excited. "I wonder when I'll reach the Heavenly Ascent realm. Look at them fighting so fiercely, that lightning... tsk tsk. If it struck me, wouldn't I be cooked directly?"
Seeing my slightly unnatural expression, Zhang Dabiao nudged me, asking if I was feeling unwell.
I shook my head, indicating I was fine, just worried that Elder Master Fang might be at a disadvantage fighting like this.
"You're worrying for nothing. He's a Heavenly Ascent realm expert; he's not worried, so why should you be?" Zhang Dabiao looked at me with disdain. It was true; Elder Master Fang, as one of the five Heavenly Masters of Longhu Mountain, had experienced more battles than I had ever seen. He certainly had his own methods for dealing with enemies.
Yet, for some reason, after observing the dark figure's fighting style, I was still convinced that Elder Master Fang would lose this battle. This thought was very strange, as if it had sprung into my mind from nowhere.
"Holy crap, how... how did Elder Master Fang fall from the sky?"