You Hit People Like You're Acting Cute

Beneath the setting sun, even the primeval forest deep in the mountains had been stained with a layer of red by blood.

The sounds of shouting and killing rang without cease.

Lin Zikai and Black Dog fought their way onward with the Imperial Guards.

But the Imperial Guards were Imperial Guards, after all. A pack of goods who had risen through crooked paths and evil ways were no match for them.

Dozens of corpses lay along the way. Only three belonged to the Imperial Guards; the rest were all evil cultivators.

Lin Zikai wiped the blade of his saber, now riddled with chips.

"How long have we been running?"

Black Dog glanced at the crimson sun that had already sunk halfway behind the mountains.

"I reckon it's been about two hours."

Lin Zikai's expression darkened as he realized the worst-case scenario had already come to pass.

"The distance from Shili Village to Baiyun County is only about an hour. By rights, the carrier pigeons should have arrived long ago."

"But there's still no reinforcements. Those carrier pigeons must have all been intercepted."

All the Imperial Guards fell silent.

As the voices drawing nearer grew clearer, they all understood what that meant.

Lin Zikai spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Damn it, let's fight them to the death. Kill one and break even; kill two and make a profit."

With that, Lin Zikai burst into motion and charged straight at the evil cultivators in the woods.

Just then, a blood-colored figure rushed in at astonishing speed. With a single palm strike, he blasted Lin Zikai's saber aside and sent him flying several meters.

A sinister voice drifted over.

"An Imperial Guard Banner Officer? Not bad."

Two middle-aged men in red robes emerged into the clearing between the trees. They appeared to be brothers.

One of the gaunt-cheeked men in red robes smiled with extreme malice.

Lin Zikai steadied himself, his expression grave. "Houtian Realm?"

"Black Dog, one each."

With that, Black Dog and Lin Zikai raised their sabers and charged the two men from opposite sides.

With a flip of his hand and a powerful throw, Black Dog hurled a black spherical object at one of the men.

Bang!

The black ball exploded violently, blasting out a cloud of white powder that obscured one red-robed man's vision.

In the next instant, Black Dog leaped high into the air and slashed his saber at the red-robed man's head.

But the next moment, a pale hand reached out from the white mist and seized Black Dog by the throat. With a slight squeeze, Black Dog found it hard to breathe.

"Die!"

Lin Zikai shouted and charged at the other red-robed man.

The red-robed man snorted, grabbed Lin Zikai's steel saber, and exerted a little force. Cracks immediately spread across the saber's surface. The next moment—

Bang!

The steel saber shattered into fragments.

Then he punched Lin Zikai in the chest, blasting him away and sending him crashing through several trees in succession.

The fall left him seeing stars.

Lin Zikai struggled to prop himself up and sat leaning against a tree stump. It felt as though every bone in his body had fallen apart.

Still, there was one good thing.

His mouth was as stubborn as ever.

"Evil cultivators really are evil cultivators. Even your punches feel like scratching an itch. Are you a woman?"

"You hit people like you're acting cute."

"Doesn't hurt at all!"

The pale-faced red-robed man who had been mocked darkened further and strode forward.

"Imperial Guard? Let's see just how hard your bones are."

As a fist was about to smash into Lin Zikai, he had already closed his eyes and waited for death.

Suddenly, a black shadow darted through the forest, treading Carefree Steps as it charged in at lightning speed.

Sshk!

Shen Qing's fist punched straight through the red-robed man's chest.

The red-robed man lowered his head in disbelief. "What... happened?"

The next moment, a hand burst out through the other side of his chest as well.

Shen Qing exerted a little force, tearing the red-robed man directly in half.

Blood drenched Lin Zikai from head to toe. While he was still dazed, Shen Qing grabbed his arm with one hand and hauled him to his feet.

"How is it? Are you all right?"

Lin Zikai came back to his senses and felt his eyes sting with moisture.

Looking at Shen Qing, who stood half a head taller beside him, Lin Zikai felt as though endless radiance were spilling from him.

It was as though he saw—

his god.

Lin Zikai wiped at the corner of his eye.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!"

The other red-robed man froze. He casually flung Black Dog aside, his face filled with terror.

"Who are you?"

Shen Qing's figure flashed, and he directly blew away half the red-robed man's head.

"Where did this idiot come from? You don't recognize me, but don't you recognize the clothes I'm wearing?"

Shen Qing could not even be bothered to keep someone like this alive for interrogation. He was too stupid; even if questioned, he would not yield anything useful.

Shouts of battle also rose from the forest. Scholar had led a group of Imperial Guards charging in. With these twenty-some men joining the fight, the tide of battle swiftly turned.

The prey had become the hunters once more.

Lin Zikai limped forward and helped Black Dog up. Black Dog truly lived up to his name—his body was tough enough. After regulating his breathing a few times, he stood steady again.

Shen Qing walked over and flicked out two healing pills.

"Take them first."

"We'll talk afterward."

Black Dog and Lin Zikai did not waste words. They shoved the pills into their mouths whole, then quickly closed their eyes to refine them.

Before long, the two only gave themselves a simple round of treatment. Being able to stand was enough.

Shen Qing had told them to heal because he cared for his subordinates, but they could not be so tactless as to truly take their time recovering and leave Shen Qing waiting.

Lin Zikai opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of congealed blood.

Shen Qing glanced at the two of them. "Done?"

Lin Zikai nodded and wiped the blood from his lips. "Done."

"Then tell me what happened."

Lin Zikai immediately began recounting the events. With Black Dog adding details from the side, Shen Qing quickly grasped the rough outline of the matter.

Recently, people had been vanishing from Shili Village. The local yamen had found no clues, so they reported the case to the Imperial Guards.

Lin Zikai and Black Dog had come to investigate. Their luck had been decent—they caught a live informant and learned the location of these people's hideout. It was a gang operation.

Lin Zikai's group had tracked their way to the hideout, only to discover a band of evil cultivators who had imprisoned quite a few people.

What followed was Lin Zikai and Black Dog being pursued and hunted all the way here.

Lin Zikai asked tentatively, "Sir, what should we do? Should we report this to the Luoshui Town Pacification Department?"

"Request instructions? If you rely on requests for instructions to get things done, you can forget about ever eating a hot meal."

To request instructions from Luoshui City? A carrier pigeon would need two or three days just for the round trip. By the time the report was submitted, the others would have vanished without a trace.

Shen Qing casually tore a clean piece of cloth from the corpse beneath his feet and wiped his hands.

"Lead the way. I want to see what exactly has the nerve to cause trouble on my turf."