Killing Fish

"Deacon Tianxiong, when I entered the city today, I seemed to hear firecrackers and gongs beating. It sounded like some household was holding a wedding.

I deliberately sent a spirit bug to follow them and recorded the address.

Deacon Tianxiong, shall we have the junior brothers accompany you tonight to practice some Dao techniques?"

A Black Mountain Sect disciple said fawningly.

Chu Tianxiong revealed a satisfied smile.

"Liu Wei, was it? You know how to get things done. I'll remember you.

When we practice tonight, I'll let you be the first to taste that bride."

The crowd burst into laughter.

But as he recalled something, a vicious expression appeared on Chu Tianxiong's face.

"That Qi Yuan, the chief disciple of Seven Colors Peak, was truly pushing people too far today!

If not for his good master, I would definitely make him understand what a Sign of Bloody Calamity and a Human Hell truly are!"

"Deacon Tianxiong, I heard that Qi Yuan has something wrong with his head. Why should Senior Brother bother arguing with a fool?

Once we unify Great Shang's immortal cultivation world, Senior Brother can do whatever he wants to that fool."

The night gradually deepened.

Then, a series of strangely rhythmic knocks suddenly came from the front gate.

Everyone from the Black Mountain Sect in the courtyard stopped talking.

Chu Tianxiong looked toward the gate. "Liu Wei, go take a look."

Liu Wei rose and headed for the gate.

The gate opened, and a masked man appeared before everyone.

The mask was crude, without even the contours of facial features, flat and even.

When Liu Wei saw the visitor, a mocking look rose in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

The Masked Man took out a Kitchen Knife. He slowly spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse. "I'm a little hungry. I came to kill some fish to eat."

"A fool?" Liu Wei froze for a moment.

Chu Tianxiong noticed the commotion at the gate and called out, "There are fish in the pond. Let him in."

Liu Wei smiled. "Deacon Tianxiong is kind-hearted. He'll reward you with a fish."

Someone in the courtyard asked, "Deacon Tianxiong, why let him in?"

Chu Tianxiong answered, "It's boring sitting here. Let's find some entertainment.

That man is crazy, but his skin... is quite fair."

They were bold and powerful, so they did not fear running into any trouble they could not resolve.

Besides, they had detected no dangerous aura on the Masked Man.

The Masked Man entered the courtyard with the Kitchen Knife in hand.

Chicken Worshipping Ancestor was cultivating in the inner courtyard. The others looked at the Masked Man with mocking expressions.

When the Masked Man approached, Chu Tianxiong suddenly stopped him. "Take off your mask. Let me see what you look like."

The Masked Man paused. After a long while, he spoke, seemingly hesitant. "Do you really want to see?"

"Haha, what, you won't let us see? Are you hideously ugly?"

"If you're ugly, I'll give you a new face!"

The Black Mountain Sect disciples laughed loudly. Moonlight shone across their faces, making them look incomparably savage.

"Sigh. Before I put this mask on today, I said that anyone who saw my face would come to no good end."

"What bad end? Tell me about it!" Chu Tianxiong said.

Yet at that moment, something happened that no one had expected.

The Masked Man raised his Kitchen Knife.

A flash of white light streaked past. No one had time to react.

Chu Tianxiong's enormous head dropped straight to the ground.

The smile from earlier remained on his face, frozen there in that instant.

Everyone present was stunned.

It had happened too quickly, too suddenly.

The Masked Man looked at Chu Tianxiong's fine head and said thoughtfully, "So your Sign of Bloody Calamity fell upon me.

Meeting me was your tribulation.

If there's a next life, be reborn as an ant. I'm kind-hearted—I never use boiling water to scald ant nests."

The others were bewildered, furious, and shocked.

"Deacon Tianxiong!"

"How dare you!"

"Villain!"

Though these disciples were terrified within, they recovered and attacked the Masked Man one after another.

The Masked Man saw this and smiled easily. "The monsters in games don't have health bars, and neither do you. What's the difference between you and monsters?"

"Oh, no, there is still some difference."

"You can scream. I don't need to provide the voice acting myself."

"Sure enough, Heaven gave me talents for a purpose—you all know how to cry out in pain!"

"That rhymed. I really am a genius!"

As everyone stood baffled, confused, terrified, and consumed by towering rage,

he held the Kitchen Knife like the most elegant dancer.

The blade rose and fell.

Summer Eight Slashes.

"Ah!"

"Run!"

"Who are you?!"

In an instant, more than half of the Black Mountain Sect disciples present had died.

Only four or five remained, trembling like leaves.

At that moment, an exasperated voice came from the inner courtyard.

"You insolent whelp, how dare you!"

Chicken Worshipping Ancestor, who had been cultivating, finally awakened and made his move.

Seeing this, the remaining Black Mountain Sect disciples showed delighted expressions, as if they had survived a great disaster.

This Masked Man might be terrifying, but he definitely was not at the Origin Core realm!

With Chicken Worshipping Ancestor's furious roar, a beam of core light shot toward the Masked Man.

The Masked Man raised his Kitchen Knife and roared, "Heaven Severing Sword Drawing Technique!"

This was his first time using this ultimate skill in reality!

The opponent was tough—he had to unleash his ultimate move.

He leaped into the air, moonlight pouring over his white robes.

The outlines tracing his body emitted a faint white glow.

His entire figure seemed incomparably illusory, while only those outlines were utterly solid.

In Chicken Worshipping Ancestor's eyes, it was as though a Kitchen Knife had slashed down from the moon.

An incomparably surging, unimaginable blade light hurtled straight at Chicken Worshipping Ancestor.

For some reason, fear appeared on Chicken Worshipping Ancestor's face.

He was an Origin Core cultivator.

His opponent... was certainly not yet at the Origin Core realm.

The blade light swept through everything like withered wood and rotten weeds, instantly swallowing Chicken Worshipping Ancestor's core light.

The next moment, that blade light cleaved through and shattered Chicken Worshipping Ancestor's Protective Core Light as well.

Chicken Worshipping Ancestor, who had emerged with such imposing grandeur, was killed by a single slash.

That round golden core also turned into a shattered little sphere, riddled with holes.

The Masked Man paused. "That's it?"

He knew he would win, but he had not expected to win so easily.

Perhaps he was too powerful.

Perhaps his knife was also quite good.

Or perhaps...

He looked at the tiny golden core on the ground and judged, "His golden core was too small, and his core light was no good either. It couldn't even take one slash from me.

Looks like when I form a core in the future, I'll need to form a larger golden core. And I'll need more core light too."

As he spoke, the Masked Man raised his head toward the moon in the sky.

"At the very least, the core light should be as abundant as moonlight, right?"

By then, the remaining scattered stragglers were shaking uncontrollably, while some fled outright.

Seeing this, the Masked Man recited, "I am the Fatherland Man, and I love killing whole families most of all!"

With that, he slashed out. Those scattered stragglers died beyond all doubt.

The Masked Man looked at the corpses on the ground, then slowly walked toward the pond.

"Time to catch a fish and take it home to eat."

As he spoke, he rolled up his trouser legs, washed the Kitchen Knife clean by the pond, then caught a black fish.