Chapter 37: Infamous Little Bandit
Editor: Nou
As it turned out, before Fang Xing could be proud of himself for too long, Lyu had quietly caught up to him as well; although Lyu’s speed might not be as fast as Hou Qing’s, he was not slower by much. He was at stumped at first by the sight of Hou Qing being coiled up by the giant serpent before Hou Qing commanded him to continue on, “Don’t worry about me, it’s just a tier two serpent and I’ll catch up with you once I kill it. Do not let the kid get away again!”
“Sh*t!” Cursing, Fang Xing ran at his top speed.
Fang Xing knew that someone at the peak of tier three like Hou Qing would not even have to break a sweat for a tier two beast, but it was far less stressful when the person chasing after him became Lyu instead. Although both men were in the third tier of the Spirit Stage, Lyu was just at the beginning of tier three—only a small step ahead of Fang Xing—and most importantly did not have expertise in physical movements. Lyu was slowed down when faced with the curious plants and entangled vines, and Fang Xing took advantage of his small stature to zigzag through the woods.
Seeing the distance between the two begin to widen, Lyu’s pupils focused and he made up his mind. ‘The speed of this kid is faster than what I’d imagined, but I can’t let him get away again.’ As Lyu was thinking, he took out a jade talisman from his pockets.
All outer court disciples would have at least one Spirit Tool they would only use on very rare occasions, and this was Lyu’s. It was mysterious and rarely shown to others in the daylight, and as Lyu chased after Fang Xing, he also frantically sent large amounts of Qi into the jade talisman until it began to shine.
‘Good, as long as I can get rid of him, I’ll be safe….’ Fang Xing raised a hopeful thought as he saw a thorny forest ahead of him.
It was at this exact moment that Lyu let out a deep howl and his figure disappeared into a gust of sudden wind. Within a blink of an eye, he had reappeared less than ten yards behind Fang Xing, and in another, he had grabbed hold of Fang Xing’s arm from behind and had already pushed him firmly to the ground.
“You can’t run anymore, little Shidi Fang….” Lyu exclaimed, still gasping for breath. Lyu’s right hand held Fang Xing tightly as his left hand clutched onto the jade talisman, its light gradually fading. Lyu’s arms were slightly shaking as he caught his breath: a sign that he had used up nearly all of his Qi.
‘How did he suddenly catch up to me in such a short time?’ Fang Xing wondered in surprise as he felt his arm locked from behind and his mind descended into sudden chaos.
Lyu felt a sense of relief; if he hadn’t had this item, the kid would likely have really gotten away.
No one knew that Lyu had this item. It was a gift given to him by an elder of the Qing-Yun Sect after Lyu had helped him before joining the sect, and this jade talisman was called the [Talisman of Shrinking Earth]. When it was filled with enough Qi, the user would be able to skip up to forty yards of distance in a heartbeat, and the only downside was that it not only consumed a substantial amount of Qi, but that there was also a time limit to use it once it had been activated.
Lyu had used this talisman to get close to Fang Xing and take him by surprise and—despite having used up almost all of his stored Qi—Lyu was able to successfully capture the boy. All Lyu had to do now was wait until Hou Qing caught up with him after sorting it out with the serpent.
Lyu thought it through and let out a long shout. The sound of his voice would let Hou Qing locate his whereabouts and also let him know that Lyu had already captured their target.
“Shixiong Lyu, are you really going to use me as bait?” Amazingly, Fang Xing had calmed down. Since his arm was locked from behind, he could only speak to Lyu with his back to him.
Lyu seemed to be slightly remorseful, but he quickly covered it up. “I’m sorry, but if we don’t catch you, Shixiong Hou will be using Qian for the bait. Qian might have a bad temper, but I am in debt to him.”
Fang Xing laughed. “So you’re going to kill me? How about before coming to this stupid place? Why did you force me to come?”
“This is what sects are like. There’s no use saying such things now!” Lyu replied after a few moments of silence.
Fang Xing shook his tiny head. “Yes there is!”
Startled, Lyu question in return, “How?”
With a deep breath, Fang Xing forcibly turned his body around.
Fang Xing’s left arm was tightly held by Lyu. It was a technique used often in martial arts, and it was also one that Lyu had always used during his time as a bailiff; once a prisoner was captured in this position, there was no method of escape. Fang Xing, however, had forced Lyu to change his understanding, as he managed to forcefully turn his entire body around with his left arm still locked in the same exact location.
CRACKKK
As Fang Xing turned, his left arm immediately snapped with hair-raising crackles.
Lyu was dumbstruck. He looked at Fang Xing’s tiny arm twisted like a pretzel in his hands. The sensation of holding on to something like that was beyond strange.
Breaking one’s own arm, how cruel did one have to be to do such a thing to themselves? Lyu might have seized numerous infamous bandits in the past, but none of them had shown such brutality.
While Lyu was still frozen in shock, Fang Xing turned to face him completely, and a faint smile emerged from his tiny pale face. He had his right hand holding on to a small dagger and—like a venomous snake—he plunged it straight into Lyu’s abdomen.
SLLLLLP
In went the dagger’s blade.
Lyu was astounded as he looked down at his wound, his face painted with a complex emotion comprised of horror, amazement, and pain. Fang Xing, on the other hand, wasted no time and pulled the dagger out for a second stab right into Lyu’s chest.
Without much Qi remaining, Lyu had no method of retaliation, especially since it was a surprise attack.
Fang Xing then took a leap followed by a kick to send Lyu flat on the ground. When he leapt, it was a strange sight: his left arm was like a stringed marionette thrown into the air.
“I’m sorry, Shixiong Lyu. I know you must have known that I wasn’t completely asleep that night next to the bonfire. You intentionally wanted me to know what might happen to me so that I could run away….” Fang Xing kneeled down towards Lyu, gazing directly into Lyu’s terrified gaze as he muttered, “You know, for a moment, I thought you were good. I was going to keep you alive after killing everyone else.”
As if Lyu wanted to say something, both of his lips and Adam’s apple moved slightly.
“I don’t know why you changed your mind, though. To wholeheartedly track me down. But of course, none of that matters now.” Fang Xing did not want to hear Lyu’s explanation. With a sleek movement devoid of hesitation, he slit Lyu’s throat.
Fresh blood erupted like a fountain.
Lyu looked on with nothing more than despair and regret. He was a third-tiered cultivator, yet he had no way of retaliating against a child, Fang Xing.
But was this really a child?
In his misery, Lyu had realized that Fang Xing was perhaps more ruthless and cunning than any bandit he had ever seen, yet this entire trip he had treated him like a child. This was perhaps the biggest failure as a bailiff in his entire life.
Fang Xing no longer paid him any further attention. He picked up Lyu’s jade talisman while holding on to his limp left arm before running deeper into the forest.
He could not afford to waste any more time here.
—
Within minutes, Hou Qing had hurriedly arrived at the exact same location only to be greeted with the unpleasant sight of Lyu’s dead body.
Despite not having any visible wounds, Hou Qing and his sword were covered in blood; it clearly belonged to that of the giant serpent. As Hou Qing focused on the scene in front of him, his pupils dilated as though he had been stabbed by the wide-open eyes of Lyu’s corpse. It took only a few moments before he came back to his senses and swept past it all while coldly muttering, “Useless!”
Looking back up, he could see a clear path leading to Fang Xing’s escape route, as the branches were freshly broken and there was also a clear sign of footprints. Shaking the serpent blood off of his sword, Hou Qing followed onward.
It did not take long before he felt a sharp wind blowing towards him. Before he was able to take his Flying Sword out of his waist sack, his [Qin’fen Sword] in his hands flew up automatically. Crisp noises could be heard coming from tens of needles fended off by the [Qin’fen Sword], followed by a dazzling ray of silver light.
With a cold laugh, Hou Qing curled all five of his fingers in mid-air to form an invisible shield around him with his Qi. After being blocked by the barrier, the silver light lost its force and fell loudly to the ground.
Hou Qing began to slowly walk forward with a smile. “This was the Flying Sword I gifted to you, and now you want to kill me with it?”
In front of Hou Qing stood a great banyan tree, its size so great that it would take two grown men to surround it completely. Fang Xing’s tiny body was leaning against the branches of the tree as he looked at Hou Qing with a wide grin. His right hand held an empty metal tube while his left hand hung limply next to his body, as though it had already given up on life.
Hou Qing checked Fang Xing from head to toe. “I admit, you’re a lot more difficult than I imagined you would be. If I had known, I would not have done more than was required to capture you at the Recruitment Ceremony. I mean, it would be easier to just wait in the line a bit longer than to have a tough little cookie like you as an enemy. And if I had known, I would have slapped Liu stupid when he recommended using you as bait.”
As Hou Qing spoke, he extended all five of his fingers and commanded his Flying Sword from his waist sack into the air.
“But since we’re already here, I may as well give you a clean end. To be honest, I’m scared of what you might grow up into….” Hou Qing’s murderous intent was very clear. His Flying Sword was also waving lightly in the air like a snake, the blade eagerly waiting for the command to take the head of a helpless Fang Xing.
“You’re going to kill me just like that?” Fang Xing broke out into an abrupt laugh before using his right arm as a pillow, making himself comfortable between the branches. “I thought you said you wanted to teach me how to spell ‘misery’ ”?
Not suspecting anything, Hou Qing’s expression had also changed as he ordered his Flying Sword to return to his waist sack. Then, he grabbed hold of his smaller [Qin’fen Sword].
“You are right.”
With one step at a time, Hou Qing closed in on the banyan tree. Simultaneously, Fang Xing clutched tightly on the storage ring he had tied into his ponytail.
Chapter 38: Python Toad
Editor: Nou
After Lyu’s death, using Fang Xing as toad bait had ceased to have meaning.
Even with the perfect lure, Hou Qing was not reckless enough to face the Python Toad by himself; it was, after all, a fourth-tier beast equivalent to cultivators in the fourth tier of Spirit Stage. In his original plan, they would use Fang Xing as bait to lure the Python Toad into their pre-arranged trap, and even then there would still be quite some risk in killing the toad with the third-tier Lyu and Qian and the second-tier Zhao working together.
Yet both Lyu and Zhao were now dead, while Qian was poisoned and had no more than a third of his strength length on top of a new hatred towards Hou Qing. There was no choice but to forfeit this talisman mission; thus to Hou Qing, Fang Xing was as good as dead.
But with a single phrase, Fang Xing had once again managed to trigger Hou Qing’s wrath, and so Hou Qing decided he would first torture the boy before sending him to his demise. Although Hou Qing was wildly furious, he never once let down his guard, and he held on to his [Qin’fen Sword] as he moved closer to Fang Xing with every footstep.
Fang Xing still maintained his smile, his right hand held onto his storage ring behind his head. Whether or not he’d be able to live would now depend upon this single blow!
Impending steps, murderous intent, frosty cold air...
RIBBIT
As both were about to deliver their final strike, an earthshaking sound abruptly came from the forest. As the sound faded, a dark silhouette the size of a small hill leapt up into the chilled air from the northwest. A terrifying shadow was cast over the entire Mount Miasma as it covered what little light there was from the moon.
Within a few breaths, the dark silhouette fell like a falling star towards the exact location Fang Xing and Hou Qing were standing.
Following a loud ‘bang’, winds whirled about in all directions while trees and branches broke off. Both Fang Xing and Hou Qing had to activate their Qi shields for protection before looking almost in unison towards where it had landed.
A toad one hundred feet tall squat itself upon the ground. Two blood-red eyes looked at them grimly.
‘Python Toad. Tier four beast. Mixed blood with Giant Serpent and Mutated Asiatic Toad. Can release toxic smog, has python-like armor that can only be damaged using spiritual weapons…’ Lines of information began to pour into Fang Xing’s brain as he opened his mouth, startled.
It was the sole tier four beast of the outer Mount Miasma and the target of Hou Qing’s current mission. Who would have thought that they didn’t even need to search for it, that it would choose to appear in front of them voluntarily?
“Must be Lyu….” Hou Qing immediately knew the reason for its visit. The night was the Python Toad’s hunting period, and Fang Xing had just so happened to kill Lyu by stabbing him several times around this exact time. To the toad, large quantities of fresh blood mixed with Qi was like a ready-made braised pork waiting to be gorged down.
The only thing he didn’t consider was how fast the toad had arrived, and that it would be at the exact moment he had been about to kill Fang Xing.
Both were stunned by the sheer size and fierceness of the Python Toad. Even at the peak of tier three, Hou Qing did not dare to move recklessly, and Fang Xing even more so as he sat stiffly on his tree branch.
No one dared to move in the face of such a powerful beast.
“Hrm?” At this moment, Fang Xing thought of something. Without any delay, he looked terrified and—as if he was about to sob—he gathered his courage and let out a cry, “Shixiong H— Hou! I beg you, pl— please take me away with you….”
The sound was as soft as a bee’s buzzing and he indeed looked as though he was extremely scared. The toad was not alarmed at the small sound at all.
Surprised, Hou Qing took notice Fang Xing’s expression: it was indeed that of an extremely terrified child, and he soon smiled. ‘The kid is still just a kid after all. He might be daring and cruel, but just the thought of becoming toad dinner has sent him shivering like that…. But then again, it’s normal that kids get scared by monsters.’
As Hou Qing was thinking to himself, he suddenly noticed that Fang Xing was frantically rubbing traces of blood off his body and clothes despite the danger of being seen by the toad. Fang Xing rubbed as he looked at the toad in terror, as if praying not to be seen.
‘Bloodstains….’ Hou Qing cursed at his own stupidity after realizing he had not reacted as quickly as the boy. Although the toad must have been attracted by Lyu’s blood, now that it was between him and Fang Xing, whoever had the least amount of blood on them was less likely to become the next target. With this, Hou Qing also began to rub the stains off from his face.
Hou Qing’s bloodstains were far greater than those on Fang Xing since he had killed the serpent not so long ago. Furthermore, all of that blood had already soaked into his robe; it was impossible to get rid of it all.
Smirking, Hou Qing gave a quiet exclamation, “Kid, I’ll teach you how to spell ‘misery’ today!” Then, he could be seen taking a small glazed vase from his waist sack before throwing it right at Fang Xing with a flick of his finger.
SWOOSH
The glazed vase that was aimed at Fang Xing’s head had caught the Python Toad’s attention. With a quick movement of his head, Fang Xing narrowly escaped the vase’s path. The vase hit the branch behind Fang Xing with a loud explosion and a thick layer of blood covered the branch and dyed the nearby leaves red. Fang Xing was also not spared by the splash.
It was a Valor Pill, used to feed and revitalize their Dragon Horses when they were tired during rushed journeys. These pills were made from the flesh and blood of low-tiered beasts mixed together with some scented panaceas, and it was considered a favorite item for many beasts. The shape of the pill was just like that of a meatball.
The Python Toad appeared to grow attracted by the smell, as the lantern-sized eyeballs locked on to Fang Xing.
At that exact moment, Hou Qing smiled as he shaped his mouth, as though to say ‘So long, kid!’ With two quiet steps, Hou Qing turned around before dashing off in the opposite direction at an incredible speed.
It was in situations like these that running away had a higher priority. In Hou Qing’s plans, the Valor Pill would have attracted the attention of the Python Toad towards Fang Xing and he would use the opportunity to run. Even if the toad was not fully satisfied after its first meal and came after him, Hou Qing still had five Dragon Horses inside his pockets; he could simply kill them and leave them for the toad to feast upon in order to earn him extra time for an escape.
Hou Qing had thought through his entire plan in a split second. He was confident that nothing could go wrong now.
However, something unexpected happened.
Just as he turned for the dash of his life, the Python Toad—which had appeared to be completely attracted to Fang Xing—immediately rolled its eyes in a different direction. With another ‘ribbit’, its mouth opened wide before it fired its silky red tongue towards a new target: Hou Qing.
Surprised, Hou Qing curled his body mid-air into a beautiful arc, dodging the attack by only a narrow margin; even Fang Xing could not help but praise Hou Qing’s evasive abilities. Fang Xing was certain that even if Hou Qing did not have any cultivation in him, he would still be a martial arts master. Regardless of whether it was his swordplay or his acrobatics, there was no doubt that he could make a name for himself in the mortal world.
However, no matter how great Hou Qing’s contortions were, it could not be as fast as the toad’s tongue. Although the fourth-tier beast appeared to be as large and round as a small hill, its tongue was conversely extremely nimble like that of a snake. Immediately after it failed the first attempt, a second attack was sent out before Hou Qing had even landed on the ground. Unfortunately, Hou Qing had yet to learn levitation and was unable to make a turn mid-air; without any other options, he waved his sword.
Tchhhh
The sword was intended to cut the toad tongue, but even a chop filled with his full strength only managed to indent its tongue with a very light wound. Even then, the toad became furious, and with the sound of another low-pitched roar, it kicked its hind legs and leapt right towards Hou Qing. At the same time, its wheel-barrel sized forelegs swept across the air in front of it, also slamming towards Hou Qing.
‘What did the brat do? Why is the toad attacking me?’ Hou Qing was completely terrified, as he could not understand what had gone wrong. How was it that he had ended up walking right into Fang Xing’s trick? Fang Xing clearly didn’t even do anything.
No matter how hard Hou Qing thought, he did not understand what Fang Xing had done to force him into such dire straits.
Fang Xing, on the other hand, was so pleased that even his eyebrows seemed to be smiling. He endured the sharp pains from trying to adjust his shattered left arm all while feeling a rush of excitement watching Hou Qing fighting for his life with the Python Toad. The feeling of the contrasting sensations of pain and joy: such was pleasure!
Perhaps Hou Qing would never have guessed that the only thing Fang Xing did was to hint for him to run away.
The first time Fang Xing had seen the Python Toad, his [Book of Revelation] had already told him the habits and characteristics of the beast, and one that had caught Fang Xing’s attention was that—unless its cultivation levels had reached high enough for it to transform itself into human form—there was a large flaw in its eyesight.
Python Toads were unable to see still objects whereas anything moving could be seen clearly and precisely even from afar. Thus, when it had been attracted to the location by Lyu’s corpse, he was able to see both Fang Xing and Hou Qing while leaping into the air, but as soon as it had landed the pair had frozen up in panic and temporarily left the toad’s view.
If it weren’t for this, how would Fang Xing find time to play out the chain of events to pretend to be terrified, wipe off the bloodstains, all followed by Hou Qing and his Valor Pill?
Originally, Hou Qing flicking the vase towards Fang Xing had indeed captured the toad’s attention and the strong scent of reeking blood then gave it a sense of direction. It was only when Hou Qing made the next move—the move Fang Xing had been waiting for—that he had made a huge mistake, and it had been to dash away with extreme speed.
As soon as Hou Qing had made that motion, the toad changed its target to him without delay.
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