บท 10: Slaying Longhe
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
The rain fell in crazy chaotic drops from a velvet white sky.
At the same time, the thunder seemed to crack the air, rumbling as if it was going to split the gray sky apart to let the light return.
"You aren't dead yet, Longhe?" Wutian raised his head and swept the wet hair on his forehead to the side. His eyes were as dark as black tourmaline, filled with endless grief. A strong desire to murder rose within him as he spoke in a bitter, bone-piercing voice.
If it had not been for this person, his grandfather and the villagers would not have died. The village would not have been decimated too. This person was responsible for everything.
Longhe said nothing since Huoshi had taken control of him. He was merely a lifeless puppet with an absent consciousness. All that was left of him was a shell. He would not feel a thing even if Wutian cut his flesh and crushed his bones.
"What kind of benefits did Huoshi promise you? How could you betray the villagers whom you've lived with for over ten years? All of them were mutilated and killed! They didn't deserve that! Have you lost your conscience?"
Anger got the better of Wutian right then, and he did not notice the anomaly in Longhe. Seeing Longhe step toward him with a stony expression, Wutian thought selfishness and stubbornness had consumed him. He would not think twice to kill Longhe now.
Wutian gently placed the skeleton on the ground in the same way a mother would coax her baby to sleep. The bones were the only thing left of his grandfather and the sole proof of his existence. They were so important that they could not be damaged.
"Longhe will be the first person, Grandpa. I'll kill him and bury him with you. No, he doesn't deserve to be buried with you. He is only fit to be fed to the beasts!" Wutian inspected the bones and carefully wiped away the rainwater, as well as black ash, on them. He was going to kill the heartless person.
Little Tian rested on his head and glared at Longhe with its narrow eyes. There were filled with hatred and a thirst for blood as it was ready to pounce for a kill. It still remembered how Longhe forced Wutian down the cliff last time; this person had to die.
However, Wutian stopped it. He did not want it to interfere because this was his fight. He wanted to fight for his grandfather and the villagers of Dragon Village. Killing this person would allow him to avenge their deaths.
Boom!
Wutian stepped forward, splashing muddy water under his feet as the rainwater-washed ground cracked. Using his momentum as leverage, Wutian sprang into the air. The Essence energy within him swelled, and as he clenched his fists, while light pervaded his cracking knuckles.
Wutian had summoned his Essence energy. Cupped in his palms, the energy only grew stronger.
He had no choice but to do that because Longhe possessed higher attainment in cultivation. Longhe might have lost an arm, but Wutian was still no match for him in terms of actual combat experience. Hence, Wutian was wary of him. Besides, his grandfather's death and the dreadful scene in the village had caused him to lose his senses. He just knew that he had to use all his might to kill the person in front of him.
His fist glowed like a little moon and emitted a terrifying burst of energy as he dived in a rage. He was using his power to the maximum, which vaporized the rain in the area.
Longhe stood on the spot without any emotion or a heartbeat. He appeared dead with no signs of life, and his hollow eyes were comparable to a pair of horrible black holes.
The next second, he moved. He was as quick as a phantom, approaching Wutian in a flash. He raised his hand, which was large and greenish, but there was no Essence energy coming from it. Longhe was just using his physical strength to meet the incoming fist.
There was no terrifying shock wave, but Wutian was forced several steps back, leaving behind a trail of inch-deep footprints. His body shook as he gathered his energy and planted his legs in the ground to counter the backward momentum.
Wutian was silently stunned; the gap between the different stages of cultivation was not something that external forces could remedy. Longhe had lost an arm, yet he was still so powerful, and he had not even summoned his Essence energy yet. He could parry Wutian's punch without budging an inch. That was scary.
He only has one arm left. No fear!
Wutian moved again and charged forward. His legs did not even touch the ground. When he used his hand as a blade, it glowed as though lunar energy had possessed him, and it made him look incredibly divine.
Having struggled with many monster beasts during the past one month, running for his life was an everyday affair. Therefore, he had gained tremendous speed in terms of movement, which proved useful in the current situation.
Longhe's appearance was reminiscent of a Grim Reaper, and his eyes were deadly cold. "Capture alive!" Longhe uttered in an unnatural voice as he saw the fast approaching figure.
"Capture alive? You want to capture me alive? Just because Huoshi said so? You-You've lost your mind, and you're beyond redemption!" Wutian was furious, and the Essence energy in his Sea of Qi surged in the same fashion as the tide.
His raging hand was aimed straight at Longhe's face. Wutian's Essence energy gushed out brilliantly, and it seemed like a thousand heavenly troops were running past them. The place had turned into a void, causing the falling rain to stop in midair.
Longhe took a step back by crossing his legs, and his move left a trail. He easily dodged Wutian's attack. Spreading his fingers like the claws of an eagle, he headed straight for Wutian's skull with speed and ferocity.
"The lord has instructed me to capture him alive," he mumbled to himself before he changed his direction to aim at Wutian's shoulder. He wanted to seize Wutian alive.
Those who had been turned into puppets no longer possessed their own will. So Longhe would only follow his master's instruction. However, that had somehow given Wutian time to get away and retaliate too.
In that split second, Wutian turned his body sideways and dodged Longhe's attack just in time. Concurrently, he struck out his hand, which was filled with penetrating Essence energy.
A loud bang ensued, and Wutian staggered a few steps back. He had hit Longhe's axilla. His plan was to cripple the remaining arm so that Longhe would lose his combat strength. Then, killing him would be as simple as snapping his fingers.
Shrouded in Essence energy, Wutian's hand could pierce through metal and rock. Be that as it may, Longhe's arm was as strong as stainless steel, and Wutian could not even make a dent in it. Not only that, it felt cold to the touch.
Such coldness was unlike that of the winter rain. It felt more similar to frost, and it hit right at the heart. There was even a creepy vibe from it.
This sensation only comes from the dead. Could Longhe be dead?
Wutian brushed aside the wet hair that was blocking his forehead and carefully observed Longhe's physical condition. At last, his expression changed when he detected something. Longhe's eyes appeared hollow, and his face was expressionless. His chest was not heaving from breathing either, hence that could only mean that this person was dead. His soul was gone, and what remained was a mere vessel.
Is he being controlled like a puppet?
Wutian's parchment had a record of marionette art. One could use a mighty power of cultivation to wipe out a person's soul, leaving behind a shell that was basically no different from the dead.
It was a cruel technique. There were few who would ever do such a thing unless they were extremely evil and savage.
The technique was very similar to the one Wutian used to control the Gobbler, but there was a key difference between the two; one still kept its will, as well as its soul, and lived normally while the other was a zombie. Reincarnation would no longer be possible even if that person died.
Wutian had little time to think as Longhe was roaring like a beast. A strange light flashed in Longhe's hollow eyes as he vaulted into the air with his arm extended, resembling an eagle spreading its wings. He arrived before Wutian in a split second and struck out his hand.
There was no dazzling glow or oppressive air. Everything was normal except the fact that their surroundings had frozen in time.
Wutian's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly felt a strong sense of danger. Longhe's seemingly unremarkable hand had put one thousand tons of pressure on him.
At that moment, he finally understood why Longhe never used his Essence energy. Longhe was a marionette with no intelligence. He could only use his bodily strength and automatic reflexes to attack.
The thought, however, did not slow Wutian down. As Longhe's hand approached, he bent his knees and arched his body backward, dodging the attack.
While that happened, Wutian drew his black dagger from around his waist, producing a loud clunk. His Essence energy gushed out with a bright light.
He aimed the dagger at Longhe's axilla, just like before. He knew that the only way to defeat Longhe was to cripple his remaining arm.
Another clank rang out, and Wutian was forced back by a powerful force. Nonetheless, there was light in his dark eyes as dark blood dripped from the tip of his dagger, making it look even more hideous.
His attack had not entirely failed. At least, Wutian had been able to slice open Longhe's tough skin and make him bleed.
He is indeed a marionette!
Wutian stared at Longhe unpleasantly. The armpit was a vulnerable spot on the human body. Once wounded, the pain would be unbearable. Yet, Longhe showed no reaction, not even batting an eyelid. He had lost his bodily senses.
Wutian felt sad because the reward for Longhe's betrayal of the villagers was to become a marionette. Man proposed, but God disposed... Longhe must have never realized that he had been a lamb for slaughter all along.
Wutian moved at once and made his way behind Longhe, thrusting his glinting dagger into the wound in Longhe's armpit. Dark blood spurted out instantly.
Longhe screamed and shook his head as his dark hair swung around like that of the Demon King of Confusion. He looked extremely fierce and terrifying. Disregarding his injury, he grabbed Wutian's arm and snapped his bones with a loud crack.
Wutian sucked through his teeth in agony. Enduring the nerve-wracking pain, he gathered the Essence energy in his left hand while blue veins bulged on his skin. Following that, he struck his hand down like a hammer.
Half of his dagger pierced into Longhe's shoulder. Wutian made use of his momentum by gripping the dagger's hilt firmly and twisting it. He severed Longhe's arm as a result, and dark blood sprayed out of his shoulder uncontrollably, not much different from a fountain.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Wutian had finally cut off Longhe's other arm. Although he had fractured bones in his arm and lost his combat ability, he had achieved his aim. The dagger could not take the brutal force, though, and it snapped in half.
Longhe roared in a frenzy, and his face was heinous. It was not because he could feel the pain but because he had failed to complete his mission after such a long time and had become impatient. He kicked up his severed arm from the ground and swung it as a weapon.
"Damn you!" Wutian snapped coldly.
Instead of dodging, he curled his left hand into a fist and lunged forward to meet the attack. The arm shattered upon impact, and Wutian was now within three paces of Longhe. His fist glowed so brilliantly that it illuminated that entire part of the sky.
This time, his target was Longhe's eyes. He still could not kill Longhe at the drop of a hat, so he aimed for his vulnerable spots. Without eyes, one would lose his target, thus killing Longhe would become much easier.
The eyes were the most vulnerable organ. Wutian used all of his strength and hit Longhe's right eye precisely. Dark blood splattered as the eyeball burst. He then pulled his hand back and aimed for the left eye.
On his second run, he smashed the entire eye socket. Taking advantage of his advancement, Wutian straightened his fingers and rammed them into Longhe's ears, as though they were a pair of peerless swords. Again, blood shot out like geysers.
Despite both eyes and ears, Longhe still felt no pain as if nothing had happened. However, without those organs, he was no longer a threat. Wutian stood aside and caught his breath.
His series of attacks might have seemed simple, but only Wutian knew how difficult it was to execute those moves in such a brief amount of time. If it had not been for his training over the past month, he knew that he could not have pulled it off.
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