chsdbacks Chapter 41 This old Taoist priest really can kill!
Chapter 41 This old Taoist priest really can kill!
After bidding farewell to Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Jin, Zhang Yulei picked up his blood-stained black sword and turned to step into the dense forest deep within Longhu Mountain.
The sun was already setting in the west, its dim light filtering through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The mountain breeze, instead of the usual fresh scent of grass and trees, carried the heavy stench of blood and gunpowder. The battle that had just swept across Longhu Mountain had left behind only devastation.
He walked slowly along the mountain path, his steps steady, his Qi completely concealed. Unless one looked closely, he would simply be mistaken for an ordinary old Taoist priest guarding the mountain. Along the path, one could occasionally see groups of two or three people dressed in uniform black armor, escorting dejected, bound-hands-and-feet Quanxing demons down the mountain. Zhang Yulei was familiar with the three characters "Na Du Tong" embroidered on those uniforms—he had heard of this organization, which specialized in handling troublesome matters in the world of supernatural beings, before he secluded himself at Jingxin Cliff.
The escorting procession moved in silence, save for the occasional whimpers of the Quanxing demons, which echoed the scattered fragments of weapons along the mountain path. Zhang Yulei's gaze swept over the demons being escorted, his eyes calm and unwavering. He knew these were nothing more than ants of Quanxing; the true core members had long since been slain by his sword.
Further on, a different scene unfolded. Several young disciples from Longhu Mountain were carefully carrying a stretcher down the mountain. The stretcher was covered with a white sheet, and the outline of the person beneath was vaguely discernible. Occasionally, dark red bloodstains seeped from the gaps in the sheet, leaving long trails on the mountain path. Each time Zhang Yulei passed such a stretcher, he would pause, and a chilling killing intent would grow in his usually calm eyes.
These young disciples, who should have been the future hope of Longhu Mountain, have now become victims of the sword. This debt will ultimately be settled with the Quanxing Sect.
He walked along, observing everything. The disciples and staff of Na Du Tong around him were all in a hurry, and no one noticed the old Taoist priest hidden in the shade of the trees. Fortunately, no one noticed him, otherwise, given his murderous aura and the undried blood on his sword, he would have been stopped and questioned. After all, apart from the old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei, no one on Longhu Mountain knew that the fierce god who had been dormant on Jingxin Cliff for thirty years had descended the mountain.
Zhang Yulei didn't care about this. His purpose was not to exchange pleasantries with others, but to completely eliminate the remaining members of the Quanxing sect who were lurking deep in Longhu Mountain.
Just as he reached the edge of a dense bamboo forest, a heart-wrenching cry, mixed with intermittent cries for help, was carried by the wind and clearly reached his ears.
The cries were piercing and desperate, trembling with anguish that sent a chill down one's spine. The plea for help was so faint it was almost inaudible, yet every word was stained with blood, revealing a chilling malice.
Zhang Yulei's brows furrowed instantly into a deep frown.
His pace suddenly quickened.
He gripped the hilt of his black sword tightly in his palm, the icy touch spreading from his fingertips, suppressing the sudden surge of ferocity in his chest. His figure was like a ghost, his feet moving with the lightness footwork secretly passed down from Longhu Mountain, silently sweeping across the bamboo forest, rushing away in the direction from which the sound came.
At the end of the bamboo forest was a wide open space. The open space was surrounded by jagged rocks and withered grass and trees, clearly a desolate place that had been neglected after the recent battle.
Zhang Yulei did not reveal himself rashly. Instead, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and landed silently on a tall ancient pine tree beside the open space, like a falling leaf. He hid among the dense foliage, his gaze sweeping coldly across the area through the gaps in the branches.
Even after decades of cultivation at the Tranquil Cliff, which had smoothed out most of his violent tendencies, he couldn't help but feel a surge of murderous intent at that glance.
In the open space, a girl dressed in a pale yellow dress stood staggering in the center. She was slender, her face was as pale as paper, and there was a shocking amount of blood at the corner of her mouth. Her dress was torn in several places, and blood was gushing out from her waist, abdomen and calves, staining the soil beneath her red.
Zhang Yulei vaguely recognized that face.
It's Lu Linglong.
Back when he hadn't yet secluded himself at Jingxin Cliff, Lu Jin had taken this granddaughter there a few times. At that time, Lu Linglong was a lively little girl with her hair in two buns, always calling him "Grandpa Zhang" sweetly. Now, she had grown into a graceful young woman, her features still bearing a faint resemblance to Lu Jin. However, her bright eyes were now bloodshot, fixed intently on the person before her, revealing an unyielding stubbornness.
Five people were standing in front of and behind Lu Linglong.
The five men were all dressed in tattered clothes, bearing various injuries, yet their faces wore ferocious smiles. Their eyes, like those of hungry wolves, were fixed on Lu Linglong, revealing undisguised greed and malice.
They are the remnants of Quanxing!
There were two people in front of him, a man and a woman. The woman also had bloodstains on the corner of her mouth, and her left eye was slightly closed, with dark red blood seeping from the slit of her eye. It was clear that she had been injured in the eye when she fought with Lu Linglong.
Behind Lu Linglong stood three burly men, all broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, staring intently at her back, clearly guarding against her escape.
What enraged Zhang Yulei the most was a scene in the far corner of the arena.
A girl lay face down on the cold, muddy ground. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and her exposed arms and calves were covered in bruises. Her right hand was pinned to the ground by a long, black steel needle! The needle pierced her palm, embedding itself several inches into the soil, and blood gushed out from the gaps in the needle, staining half of her hand red.
The heart-wrenching cries and pleas for help came from this girl's mouth.
"Waaah... Linglong... save me..."
"It hurts... my hand hurts so much..."
"Please... let me go... I'll never do it again..."
The girl cried so hard that her whole body trembled, her voice so hoarse that it was almost inaudible. Her once clear eyes were now filled with fear, and tears mixed with dirt covered her face.
On the girl's back sat an obese man!
The man weighed about 300 pounds, his body a mass of fat, with a lewd smile on his face. He sat on the little girl's back, his legs swinging idly. With each swing, the girl's body would tremble violently, and her cries would rise several octaves, making one's teeth ache.
"Lu Linglong," the fat man sitting on the girl's back licked his chapped lips, his voice greasy and nauseating, "Go ahead and be stubborn! Aren't you so tough? Why aren't you fighting back?"
These five people had clearly escaped the pursuit of the Old Celestial Master and Zhang Yulei during the battle just now, becoming the ones who slipped through the net.
In order to force Lu Linglong to submit, they actually set their sights on that girl!
Lu Linglong's body trembled violently. She looked at the girl on the ground, barely alive, and at her eyes filled with fear and pleading. Her heart felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, and she felt so painful that she couldn't breathe.
"Well? Have you thought it through?" The scarred man in front of him brandished the short dagger in his hand, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "We Quanxing people don't have much patience. I'll give you three more breaths. If you don't agree after three breaths, this little girl can forget about living!"
"one--!"
The scarred man's voice, like a death knell, echoed across the open space.
Lu Linglong closed her eyes, and a tear slid down her cheek.
"two--!"
The scarred man's voice rang out again.
The fat man's smile grew increasingly sinister. He slowly raised his hand, as if to grab the girl's neck.
The girl's cries had become so faint they were almost inaudible. She stared intently at Lu Linglong with unfocused eyes, murmuring, "Linglong...save me..."
Lu Linglong suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with despair. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a cold voice, as if from the deepest hell, suddenly resound across the open space.
"Three breaths?"
"I think you don't even have a breath left."
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling aura that instantly froze the five Quanxing demons in place.
The fat man's hand, which was reaching for the little girl's neck, froze in mid-air. He abruptly turned his head, his狰狞 smile instantly freezing, replaced by deep terror.
"Who?!" the fat man shouted angrily, "Who's playing tricks there?!"
The other four people also instantly became alert and turned their heads to look in the direction from which the sound came.
A figure slowly emerged from among the branches and leaves of the ancient pine tree.
Zhang Yulei stood with his hands behind his back, his coarse Taoist robe fluttering in the mountain wind, his gray beard and hair billowing in the breeze. In his hand, he held a black sword, the bloodstains on its blade gleaming eerily in the dim sunlight.
Those eyes were blood-red and icy cold, exuding a killing intent powerful enough to freeze the soul.
His gaze slowly swept over the five Quanxing demons in the arena, his eyes devoid of any warmth, as if he were looking at five long-dead corpses.
"Who...who are you?!" The scarred man looked at the suffocating pressure emanating from Zhang Yulei, his throat went dry, and his voice trembled.
Zhang Yulei did not answer.
His gaze fell on the girl on the ground whose hands were nailed shut, and on her eyes filled with fear.
decades.
They're scum of the Quanxing gang, a bunch of inhuman beasts!
Anger erupted from Zhang Yulei's chest like a volcano. The Qi around him could no longer be suppressed and exploded violently!
The branches and leaves of the ancient pine tree rustled and fell under the pressure of his powerful energy. The soil on the ground surged and churned in all directions like a tide.
He slowly raised his hand and grasped the hilt of the black sword.
Golden lightning instantly surged from the scabbard, coiling around the blade and crackling loudly.
The sword's cry, like a dragon's roar, resounded throughout the open space!
The five Quanxing demons, looking at the sword blade crackling with lightning and at Zhang Yulei's crimson eyes, felt a chill run from their feet to their heads, instantly engulfing their entire bodies.
Their faces were filled with terror.
They could sense that the murderous aura emanating from this old Taoist priest was far more intense than that of anyone they had ever met in their lives!
"run!"
Someone shouted, and the five Quanxing demons instantly snapped out of their daze and turned to flee into the depths of the bamboo forest.
They were not afraid of the Celestial Master—although the Celestial Master was powerful, he would mostly only destroy their Qi channels, not take their lives.
But they were afraid of this old Taoist priest in front of them!
I was afraid of the murderous intent in his eyes!
I'm afraid of his sword, which is wreathed in lightning!
This old Taoist priest really can kill!
Unfortunately, they ran too late.
Zhang Yulei's figure vanished from the ancient pine tree in an instant, like a ghost.
The next second, he appeared behind the fat man.
There were no fancy moves.
He simply raised his hand and slashed down with his sword.
Golden lightning, like a bolt of silk, sliced across the fat man's neck.
"Pfft—"
A soft sound.
The fat man's head shot skyward.
Hot blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering all over the ground. His obese body, still in a fleeing posture, staggered a couple of steps before collapsing heavily to the ground, twitching a few times before falling silent.
The girl sitting beneath him was finally free. She lay limply on the ground, looking at the head that had rolled in front of her, at the unseeing eyes, trembling with fear, but she didn't even have the strength to cry.
The other four Quanxing demons, hearing the sound behind them, were terrified and quickened their pace.
But Zhang Yulei was faster than them.
He moved across the open ground like the Grim Reaper.
Swords flashed, and lightning crackled.
"Pfft!"
Another soft sound.
The three burly men behind him didn't even see Zhang Yulei's movements before they were sliced in half at the waist by a bolt of lightning. Blood and entrails sprayed all over the ground, emitting a nauseating stench.
Only the scarred man and the one-eyed woman remained in front of him.
The two were terrified and didn't even have the courage to run away. They collapsed to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly and begging for mercy in despair.
"Master, spare me! Master, spare me!"
"We were forced into this! We'll never do it again!"
"Please, Taoist priest, spare our lives!"
Zhang Yulei, carrying his sword, walked towards them step by step.
With each step taken, the golden lightning flashed a little more.
With each step he took, the murderous aura around him intensified.
His gaze fell on their faces, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth.
"Spare her life?" A cold, mocking smile curled at the corner of Zhang Yulei's lips. "When you were bullying that child, did you ever think of sparing her life?"
The scarred man and the one-eyed woman trembled violently, speechless.
"The rules of Longhu Mountain," Zhang Yulei's voice was resolute and carried an unquestionable authority, "are that those who indiscriminately kill the innocent shall die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sword flashed again.
Two golden bolts of lightning, like flashes of lightning, slashed across the necks of the two men.
Two heads shot into the sky.
The open space finally returned to calm.
Only the heavy smell of blood remained, permeating the air.
Zhang Yulei slowly sheathed his sword, the lightning on its blade gradually fading. He turned around, looking at Lu Linglong, who stood there dumbfounded, then at the girl lying on the ground, the killing intent in his eyes finally waning.
He quickly walked to the girl's side, squatted down, and carefully grasped the steel needle pinned to her palm. He circulated his internal energy, and a gentle force slowly enveloped the needle before gently pulling it out.
"hiss--"
The girl gasped in pain, and tears welled up in her eyes again.
Zhang Yulei didn't speak, but instead took out a small porcelain bottle from inside his Taoist robe. Inside the bottle was a secret wound medicine from Longhu Mountain. He poured out some powder and carefully sprinkled it on the girl's hand wound.
The moment the powder touched the wound, the little girl's body stopped trembling, and the pain on her face lessened considerably.
After doing all this, Zhang Yulei raised his head and looked at Lu Linglong.
Lu Linglong looked at the old Taoist priest with gray hair and beard in front of her, and at his eyes that had become much gentler. She was stunned for a moment, and then her pupils suddenly contracted as if she remembered something.
"You...you are...Grandpa Zhang from Jingxin Cliff?" Lu Linglong's voice trembled with disbelief.
Zhang Yulei looked at her, nodded slowly, and said in a much gentler voice, "Linglong, it's been a long time."
Lu Linglong looked at him, at the blood-dripping sword in his hand, and then at the five headless corpses on the ground. Her eyes instantly reddened. She could no longer hold back, squatted down, hugged her knees, and burst into tears.
Fear, resentment, and anger all erupted at this moment.