chsdbacks Chapter 181: The Old Man
Chapter 181: The Old Man
"What do you mean by that, young man? I don't understand." Li Qing looked puzzled.
Zhang Ping didn't explain, but instead walked away.
As night deepened, his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.
The woman who had just come out of the house looked at Zhang Ping's blurry back with a struggle on her face. She opened her mouth to call out, but suddenly something blocked her throat, and she could not make a sound.
Li Qing, who was sitting at the table on the tree stump, suddenly turned around, his eyes devoid of any human warmth, and stared coldly at the woman.
The woman turned pale instantly when he looked at her like that, and dared not struggle.
The night breeze was cool, and the howls of wolves echoed through the mountains and forests.
The sound reached the courtyard but was drowned out by the clanging of wood being chopped. The old man's face was serious, his aged hands gripping the wooden axe tightly, and his words gradually became clearer:
"Chop down the demon tree...chop it down...to save Qing'er..."
"save..."
Unfortunately, Zhang Ping had already disappeared.
The moonlight was shrouded in dark clouds, and in the boundless darkness, only the faint glow of the oil lamps in the houses shone through the cracks in the paper windows into the courtyard.
Inside the room, Li Qing grinned wickedly as he pressed the woman's slender neck from behind, pinning her firmly to the bed.
The woman struggled, her eyes brimming with tears. She bit her lip lightly, her teeth not so white.
Xiuqing's face was filled with fear and humiliation.
Sensing the woman's resistance, Li Qing showed displeasure, slapped her, and scolded, "What are you pretending for? How many times have I told you not to listen to me?"
He suddenly leaned down and pressed his face against the woman's pretty face.
The woman immediately turned her face away, and Li Qing chuckled wickedly, "You want that person from today to save you? Impossible! He's just a lowly martial artist; he can't see the secrets of this mountain. Besides, it's only natural for husband and wife to act this way!"
"Haha, madam, just enjoy it!"
The word "madam" seemed to pierce the woman's heart; she actually broke free from Li Qing's hand on her neck, her eyes glaring at him with resentment.
"You demon! You stole my husband's body, possessed my body, and even turned my father into this state! You will die a horrible death!"
Snapped!
Li Qing slapped the woman hard across the face, his expression darkening as he looked at her lying on the bed.
"You'll suffer a terrible death? I'll make you die of pleasure right here first!"
hiss--
The woman's clothes were torn in the middle, revealing her white breasts.
The oil lamp was dim, and the child standing in the corner of the room swayed from side to side like a wooden stake, his eyes lifeless.
In the small courtyard outside, amidst the woman's weeping and Li Qing's low growls and curses, the old man swung his wooden axe with even greater force.
A banging sound entered the room.
Li Qing frowned and cursed, "That damned old man! If it weren't for the master's orders, he would have been killed half a year ago!"
suddenly,
The banging sounds coming from outside the courtyard disappeared.
The howls of wolves in the mountains fell silent at that moment.
Li Qing was unaware as he leaned over the dazed woman.
Just then, a loud bang!
The room's doors were broken and scattered all over the floor.
Before Li Qing could turn around, he felt his flesh and blood being pulled by a force, and he was instantly thrown off the bed and crashed to the ground.
"Ah, who is it?"
He looked towards the door and saw the young man who had visited him during the day.
"It's you!"
Zhang Ping glanced at Li Qing, who had fallen to the ground in a disheveled state, and then at the woman who, after hearing the commotion, regained her senses and scrambled to her feet, still covered in filth.
He said coldly to Li Qing, "Have you ever seen a ghost tree?"
Upon hearing the words "ghost tree," a strange light flashed in Li Qing's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Young man, I don't know what you're talking about. My wife and I are just doing our own thing; why have you ever bothered us?"
On the bed, the woman saw Zhang Ping display immense strength, pinning Li Qing to the ground, rendering him unable to move. He didn't even bother to put on his clothes, struggling to try and say something.
But at that moment, her throat felt blocked again, and her little face turned red from holding it in.
Zhang Ping didn't look in that direction, his face remaining expressionless.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
Li Qing's face stiffened.
Zhang Ping continued, "It seems you are very loyal to your master, believing he can save you? Or do you think I won't kill you?"
He stretched out his right hand and gave Li Qing on the ground a slight jolt!
Instantly, Li Qing's skin cracked and crumbled, revealing the flesh and blood beneath, which was parasitized and entangled by countless fine tree roots.
"Ah..." The intense pain caused Li Qing to let out an uncontrollable scream.
"It really is the Ghost Tree." A trace of solemnity flashed in Zhang Ping's eyes as he recalled the Ghost Tree that disappeared from Ghost Cloud Mountain, and Wen Gaoyang who had left.
With a flick of her finger, the naked woman rolled off the bed and lay face down on the floor, spitting out a mouthful of green seeds.
Finally able to catch her breath, her face flushed red, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes:
"My lord, save me! This demon has taken my husband's body and made my father stupid! It's unbearable... Waaah..."
Zhang Ping was not affected by the woman. Instead, he used the power of the Water God to continuously disintegrate Li Qing's body. With screams of agony, he finally found a bluish-black seed in the location of Li Qing's heart.
Along with the seed the woman on the ground spat out, the two seeds floated in mid-air in front of Zhang Ping.
Its surface emitted a faint black aura, completely different from the aura of a martial artist, but somewhat similar to the level of power I had felt on Ruan Qiuhe before.
"The power of the Divine Realm?"
Zhang Ping's expression grew even more serious.
As I stepped outside, the clouds parted just as the crescent moon was about to disappear.
The pale moonlight spilled into the courtyard, where the old man sat dejectedly in a chair, his hands hanging limply at his sides.
Upon seeing Zhang Ping emerge, he knelt down on the ground, supporting himself.
"Thank you, sir, for killing that demon and avenging my children and grandchildren!"
Zhang Ping nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He asked:
Do you know the name of this mountain?
The old man replied, "My lord, this place is called Zhantai Mountain, and there is a saying that immortals are slain on Zhantai Mountain. Strange beasts roam the mountain, and my family and I are forced to live here."
"Tell me about it." Seeing the woman vomiting as she crawled out of the house, Zhang Ping turned to the old man and asked him to continue.
The old man spoke:
"My ancestors were the Li family, guardians of the land, dating back to countless ages ago. Our family once produced great figures with extraordinary cultivation. But they all left Zhantai Mountain."
"In each generation, only one person will remain to guard this place, as per the ancestral precept."
"To guard?" Zhang Ping raised an eyebrow.
The old man paused for a moment, and seeing that Zhang Ping did not continue speaking, he then spoke:
"I don't know what guarding the area means, but I know it's a tough job. The person in charge of guarding the area can't leave Zhantai Mountain. That's why no one wants to stay here."
"When the garrison commander reaches a certain age, people from outside will send in young women of marriageable age to marry and have children, and then select the next garrison commander. This cycle has continued for countless generations."
Zhang Ping interrupted him: "Do you know why the strange beasts aren't approaching this place? And how did this incident happen?"
The old man replied, "Why the strange beasts dare not approach, I do not know either. The ancestral teachings only state that this place is a protected area, and demons and strange beasts dare not enter. As for the unforeseen events..."
At this point, the old man's eyes were filled with regret: "Half a year ago, an old man came and lingered outside for several days, but did not approach the place he was guarding."
"After I noticed him, I went up to ask him, but the old man insisted that I invite him in a third time. Seeing that he was quite old and had dry, white hair, I didn't think much of it and invited him in a third time."
"But after I did as he asked, that person actually..."