Crippled Blade

Lu Chen walked slowly, occasionally pretending to raise a hand to wipe away his sweat.

At his current level of strength, the heat of this weather was nowhere near enough to make him sweat.

He was putting on an act for the person hiding in the shadows.

As for whether anyone really was watching him from the shadows, he wasn't sure, but it never hurt to be careful.

In a patch of woods behind Lu Chen, a small, thin man dressed in something resembling camouflage crouched in a tree, watching Lu Chen slowly leave Qingshan Village and reach the main road.

The corners of his mouth curled up.

He had been fretting over the problem. Taking someone alive from the village wouldn't be difficult for him, but he would still have to wait until midnight.

If he dared do it in broad daylight, even if everyone in the village was an ordinary person, it wouldn't be easy to make his move.

He hadn't expected Lu Chen to come out on his own!

When I looked at him earlier, I wonder if he really noticed me or if it was just a coincidence. Crippled Blade held a strip of dried meat and chewed slowly.

The instant Lu Chen turned his head, Crippled Blade had almost thought he'd been discovered and hurriedly looked away.

He knew that some people were exceptionally perceptive and unusually sensitive to others' gazes. If someone stared straight at them, they could sense it even with their backs turned.

He had been careless this time, failing to exercise due caution.

Before coming, he had carefully studied Lu Chen's information. He knew Lu Chen was just an ordinary country boy whose parents had died, leaving three siblings to depend on one another. They were very poor.

Later, Li Feng had beaten him and seriously injured him. While he was recovering at home, his injuries had healed very quickly for some unknown reason, and he seemed to have some kind of secret. Everyone who had it in for him, such as those people from the Green Bamboo Gang, had died for no apparent reason.

But no matter how Crippled Blade looked at it, Lu Chen had neither the means to obtain a martial arts Cultivation Method nor the time.

No matter how capable he is, there's no faking his first fifteen years. Even if he's had some fortuitous opportunity lately, it's been a month or two at most. Starting martial arts from scratch, he couldn't possibly have gone beyond the Organ Tempering Realm.

Crippled Blade was fairly relaxed on this trip.

Although at first he had thought little of Elder Ning sending him to carry out this task, and had even been dissatisfied.

He was a Marrow Washing Realm expert, after all, yet he'd been sent to capture a child!

But on second thought, the task was simple, so he could take the chance to rest.

Seeing Lu Chen walking so slowly, he was already getting annoyed.

All right, I've watched him for ages and haven't noticed anything worth noting. I'll just take him away. This is a waste of time!

Crippled Blade leaped down from the tree and adjusted his clothes a little. His appearance changed completely, and he looked like an ordinary country farmer carrying luggage, apparently on his way to visit relatives.

He took a shortcut and ran ahead of Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was still putting on his act.

Since he had started, he would keep it up to the end.

He looked up at the sun.

The blazing sun hung high overhead.

I hope the weather stays like this for the next few days. The rice still needs to be dried after it's cut. Don't let it rain.

With that thought, Lu Chen arrived at a fork in the road.

A man came hurrying down the other road, looking somewhat anxious. His eyes lit up when he saw Lu Chen, and he hurriedly called out, "Young man, sorry to trouble you, but which way is it to the county town? I'm from neighboring Yuncheng County. I came here to visit relatives, but I've lost my way."

Seeing that the newcomer was asking for directions, Lu Chen said kindly, "Just follow this road straight ahead and you'll get there. You're from Yuncheng, uncle? Then you've come quite a long way. It must be tiring in this heat, right?"

"Ah, I'm used to it."

The middle-aged man's face was tanned dark, and his forehead was lined with deep wrinkles. One look told Lu Chen he was someone who spent his years facing the yellow earth with his back to the sky.

"What kind of work do you do in Yuncheng County, uncle?"

Lu Chen walked alongside the man, with only a step between them.

Crippled Blade said with a chuckle, "I'm a farmer. What else could a farming family do?"

Lu Chen smiled. "Farming's good. It's safe. You wouldn't know it, uncle, but a lot of people died in Shahu County a while back!"

"Oh? What happened? Who died?"

"They were all beasts who deserved a thousand cuts, bastards who trafficked children. It seems someone wiped them all out in one sweep. I don't know the details, but everyone's clapping their hands in delight."

"They deserved to die!"

"Right? That's what I think too!"

Smiling, Lu Chen suddenly asked, "Uncle, it doesn't look like you brought any water. Aren't you thirsty in this heat? I've got some!"

Lu Chen reached into his robes with perfect ease.

Crippled Blade paid it no mind and waved a hand. "No need to trouble yourself, young man. We're nearly at the county town anyway. No need, no need, hehe."

Lu Chen was extremely hospitable. He pulled out a packet and tossed it to Crippled Blade.

At the same time, Crippled Blade flicked his arm, and a broken blade attached to an iron chain shot out from who knew where. Like a venomous five-step snake, it slashed at the packet.

Lu Chen had moved quickly, but Crippled Blade's reaction was no slower. He knew he must have been exposed.

Even so, he wasn't flustered in the least.

What was there to fear? He was in the Marrow Washing Realm. Was he supposed to be afraid of this child?

He smiled disdainfully and charged at Lu Chen.

"Playing with lime? Child's pla—argh!"

Lu Chen had brought two packets of lime. He had used one, and the other was already following close behind.

The throwing knife in his hand had also left it, driving hard into Crippled Blade's thigh like a bullet from a gun.

Crippled Blade was hit by the lime powder. Even though he reacted extremely quickly, swiftly shielding his eyes with his hand and closing them, he still breathed some in through his nose and mouth, and his throat burned.

He screamed, a vicious light blazing in his eyes as he glared fiercely at Lu Chen. With a flick of his wrist, the broken blade nimbly changed direction, whipping around a bend and heading straight for Lu Chen.

Startled, Lu Chen hurriedly retreated and dodged the lightning-fast counterattack. He had already grabbed several Iron Pellets, and he threw them all at once.

At such a short distance, with such a large target, there was no chance he could miss.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

Crippled Blade caught every last one.

His skin split and flesh tore, and his internal organs were violently shaken. He couldn't help vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Damn it, what the hell is this? How is it so powerful!

Things were looking bad for him.

His internal organs seemed to have split open!

This man wasn't at Organ Refining at all, nor even Blood Exchange.

He was at Marrow Cleansing!

Was this really a boy of fifteen or sixteen?

Damn it, even if he'd started training in his mother's womb, he'd still be a genius to break through to Marrow Cleansing at this age!

Was the fucking information fake?

Had his own people set him up?

Crippled Blade had no time to think it through. His instinct was to run.

His gaze sharpened, and he flicked his arm. The sharp broken blade at the end of the chain swept across as readily as if it were part of his arm, as though it meant to cut Lu Chen in half at the waist.

Lu Chen drew his dagger and blocked the strike.

A tremendous force struck his hand, nearly knocking the dagger away.

Crippled Blade swung his arm in another great arc, sending the chained broken blade slashing at Lu Chen's arm again, looking as though he were fighting for his life.

Lu Chen quickly backed away rather than take the blow head-on, but suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Damn it, he's going to run!

Sure enough, after forcing Lu Chen back, Crippled Blade flung the luggage he had been carrying at him and vanished into the small woods beside the road.

Lu Chen's gaze turned cold. He pushed off the ground with both feet, his thigh muscles instantly tensing as force traveled up from the earth.

Using Eight Directions Step, he dodged the jumbled luggage and darted in after him.

He had already gripped several throwing knives in his hand.

Ahead, a gray figure flashed past. Without thinking, Lu Chen sent a throwing knife whistling after it.

"Puff!"

Perfect-level Throwing was enough to let him hit his target every time within a hundred paces.

"Pfft!"

The sound of the throwing knife cutting into flesh told Lu Chen he had hit.

The figure fleeing ahead grunted, then continued running forward as though his face were paralyzed.

Run, run, run!

If he didn't run now, he really would die here.

"Uncle, you said you were a farmer. You don't plant people in your fields, do you?"

Lu Chen called out, his feet never stopping, without following Crippled Blade's original route.

He was also afraid of stepping on or touching some kind of trap. They were impossible to guard against.

Crippled Blade's speed ahead seemed unaffected by the knife in his thigh or the damage to his internal organs from being struck by so many Iron Pellets.

He ran swiftly, branches and thorns whipping against him along the way.

Damn it, I knew there was something wrong with this assignment! Otherwise, why send a four-star killer like me after someone the information said was no higher than the Organ Tempering Realm? Fuck!

Crippled Blade cursed Elder Ning furiously in his heart.

He really was close to his limit.

Blood was already seeping from the corners of his mouth.

Behind him, the harmless-looking boy was almost upon him.

The sounds were drawing closer and closer.

The oppressive pressure was growing stronger and stronger!

He couldn't go on like this, or the only road left to him would be death!

"Stop running. Let's talk. Why did you come looking for me?"

Lu Chen rapidly closed in on Crippled Blade, aiming the throwing knife in his hand at the back of his knee.