I Was Terrified

Qin Xiaopang opened his eyes, the sounds of fighting still ringing in his ears.

He turned his head and saw Old Smoke Cannon still locked in a deadly struggle with Gold Rimmed Glasses, his body covered in bloody wounds.

Old Smoke Cannon's movements had become sluggish. Behind him, Hu Gaozi was waiting for an opening.

No, he had to hurry over and help. Old Smoke Cannon could not hold on much longer.

Qin Xiaopang picked up his axe and had just climbed to his feet when he saw Gold Rimmed Glasses circle behind Old Smoke Cannon and grab him by the hair.

Old Smoke Cannon's head was pulled back, and Hu Gaozi stepped forward, cutting his throat with a dagger.

Blood gushed out. Old Smoke Cannon's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Hu Gaozi looked at the blood and burst into excited laughter, coughing several times amid his laughter.

He had been corroded by the poisonous mist and poisoned by Old Smoke Cannon's smoke. He was not in very good condition now.

But Gold Rimmed Glasses was in excellent condition.

As a Poison Cultivator, he had an extremely high resistance to poisonous mist.

Of course, that did not mean he could remain on Bitter Mist Mountain forever. With his current cultivation, he still could not withstand prolonged exposure to the poisonous mist.

But a single day was not particularly long for him, and it had almost no effect on him.

He took out a handkerchief, wiped the blood from his hands, and walked over to Qin Xiaopang.

"You should have heard what I said earlier. I hate talking to idiots. I do not want to waste even one extra word.

"Compared to that old fellow, you should not be an idiot. At least you are young and not so stubborn.

"Give me all the flowers, and I will let you leave."

"No!" Xiaopang clutched his pocket tightly.

"Why put yourself through this?" Hu Gaozi laughed. "I counted them for you. You only picked twenty flowers in total. Sell them at the foot of the mountain, and they would only fetch a little over a thousand yuan. Is it worth losing your life over a little more than a thousand yuan?"

"I'm not giving them to you!" Xiaopang gripped his axe tightly. He knew his life was definitely worth more than a thousand yuan, but he would not let anyone take what belonged to him so easily.

"You really refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" Hu Gaozi stepped forward and kicked Xiaopang in the chest.

This time, Xiaopang was prepared. He blocked the kick with his axe handle, then spun around and chopped at Hu Gaozi with his axe.

Hu Gaozi dodged the axe, but only barely. After being poisoned by the smoke, he might not have been Xiaopang's match in a one-on-one fight.

But he did not need to fight alone, because Gold Rimmed Glasses was standing beside him.

Gold Rimmed Glasses walked up to Qin Xiaopang, waving his Folding Fan as he said, "Brother, let me advise you. Leave the flowers behind and hurry down the mountain."

"Dream on, you bastard!" Xiaopang spat. "I actually trusted you! You vicious bastard, you were lying to me all along!"

"Vicious?" Gold Rimmed Glasses shook his head. "I think I have been quite open and aboveboard."

"Bullshit!" Xiaopang spat again. "Running into a bastard like you means I'm just cursed with bad luck!"

"This is not bad luck. Even if you had not run into me, you would have run into someone else." Gold Rimmed Glasses smiled. "You brought such a huge axe up the mountain. Anyone could tell it was your first time here. From the moment you left the inn, quite a few people had their eyes on you."

Xiaopang froze, remembering Steward Feng from the general store.

No wonder he had said he could not bring the Azure Dragon Blade up the mountain.

Gold Rimmed Glasses continued, "I know you feel unwilling. You risked your life for an entire day and picked twenty flowers, only for them to be gone just like that. Anyone would feel miserable in your place.

"But think about it. Do those twenty flowers really belong to you? Are you worthy of them?

"It is your first time on Bitter Mist Mountain, and you already want to make money. Do you have the qualifications?

"You understand nothing. You do not know the roads, you do not know the rules, and you do not even know what Snake Spot Chrysanthemum looks like.

"I taught you many things. At the very least, the next time you come, you will know where to pick flowers, what kind of flowers to pick, how many you can pick, how many you can carry away, what kind of people can be trusted, and what kind cannot.

"You learned so much and even got your life back. It only cost you a little over a thousand yuan. Do you really think it was not worth it?"

After hearing this, Xiaopang took a piece of dry rations from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth.

This was his last piece of food, and also his last bit of capital.

No matter what they said, Xiaopang could not possibly hand over the Snake Spot Chrysanthemums.

Gold Rimmed Glasses was very disappointed. He had wanted to wait until Xiaopang gave up resisting, then take his life with ease.

But since Xiaopang insisted on resisting to the bitter end, he could only use another method.

"Little brother, I will give you five minutes. Think it over carefully." Gold Rimmed Glasses took out his Folding Fan and slowly fanned it. The fragrance inside the fan gradually began to seep out through the mechanism in its ribs.

The scent drifted out, but Xiaopang noticed nothing, because he did not know Gold Rimmed Glasses was a Poison Cultivator.

When Old Smoke Cannon discovered that Gold Rimmed Glasses was a Poison Cultivator, Xiaopang had been unconscious.

"I'll say it again. Talking to idiots, every extra word is a waste of effort. I believe you are not an idiot." Gold Rimmed Glasses continued releasing poison when he suddenly saw someone running over from afar.

"Brother Xiaopang, friends, I found a good place! There are lots of Snake Spot Chrysanthemums there!"

Xiaopang turned around and saw Li Banfeng running over.

Gold Rimmed Glasses was startled and took two steps back. Hu Gaozi hurriedly raised his dagger.

Why had he come back? Had he not gone down the mountain?

Li Banfeng rushed over and said to Xiaopang, "We've struck it rich! There's a patch of bamboo not far ahead, and Snake Spot Chrysanthemums are growing all beneath it. Hurry and take a look!"

Xiaopang grabbed Li Banfeng. "Brother, something happened."

"What happened?"

"Old Smoke Cannon is dead."

"Dead? How did he die?"

"They killed him!" Xiaopang pointed at the corpse in the distance.

Li Banfeng saw the blood all over the ground and Old Smoke Cannon's body, and his legs immediately went weak.

"Th-this, what happened? Y-you, what are you trying to do? Didn't we form a group? Weren't we supposed to look out for each other?" Li Banfeng was so frightened that he could barely speak properly.

Qin Xiaopang grabbed Li Banfeng and said, "Brother, there's no point saying that now. They wanted to rob us from the start. Let's fight them!"

"F-fight them..." Li Banfeng trembled from head to toe.

Hu Gaozi laughed. "Big brother, you said we had to watch out for this guy. Take a look at what kind of thing he is."

Gold Rimmed Glasses sighed. "Looks like I misjudged him. Say, your name is Bai Sha, right? You found a good place?"

"I-I found one..." Tears were nearly spilling from Li Banfeng's eyes.

"You really found one?"

"I really did. I'm not lying to you." Li Banfeng untied the sack at his waist. It was bulging with a huge pile of things. "I picked all of these over there."

Gold Rimmed Glasses smiled. "You have rendered great service. Squat here for now. You can lead us there in a while."

"O-okay..." Li Banfeng stood there blankly.

Hu Gaozi stepped forward and kicked Li Banfeng. "I told you to squat. Didn't you hear me?"

Li Banfeng hurriedly squatted down.

Gold Rimmed Glasses smiled at Qin Xiaopang. "What now? Your friend is useless!"

"You cowardly bastard!" Seeing Li Banfeng squatting on the ground and wiping away tears, Xiaopang knew he could not rely on him. He gripped his axe and prepared to fight Gold Rimmed Glasses to the death.

Hu Gaozi rolled up his sleeves, preparing to deal with Xiaopang together with Gold Rimmed Glasses.

Li Banfeng was still sobbing on the ground. "Didn't we form a group? We said we would look out for each other. How could you still kill people? Why do you have to kill people?"

Whoosh!

Hu Gaozi suddenly felt a chill at his ankle. Before he could feel pain, a warm liquid began flowing from it.

He was bleeding. Someone had slashed him.

The cut was deep, as though it had severed his ankle tendon. His foot would not move.

Hu Gaozi lowered his head and looked at Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng was still squatting on the ground, wiping away tears.

"Don't you just want Snake Spot Chrysanthemums? There are plenty over there. I'll give them all to you, okay? Just don't kill me."

As he spoke, Li Banfeng took out the sack, seemingly intending to hand it to Gold Rimmed Glasses.

Gold Rimmed Glasses was briefly stunned, then saw Li Banfeng directly throw the sack at him.

The sack was not flying toward Gold Rimmed Glasses' hand.

It was flying toward his head.

Within five meters, he never missed.

Just as the cloth sack flew into his face, Gold Rimmed Glasses raised a hand to block it. The sack's opening was open, and an entire sackful of vomit splashed over Gold Rimmed Glasses' face.

It was sour and sticky.

Gold Rimmed Glasses could not open his eyes for the moment.

"I gave you all the flowers. Please spare me." Still crying, Li Banfeng rose to his feet, revealing the small sickle hidden in his sleeve. With a flick of his hand, he slit Hu Gaozi's throat.

Hu Gaozi did not react in the slightest.

Travel Cultivators were very fast.

And as a House Cultivator, Li Banfeng was extremely easy to overlook.

He had just emerged from the house, and his combat power was at its peak.

Moreover, the poisonous mist of Bitter Mist Mountain had basically worn off. Li Banfeng's physical condition was far superior to Hu Gaozi's.

More importantly, Li Banfeng's mental state was something Hu Gaozi could not understand.

Not only could Hu Gaozi not understand it, even Qin Xiaopang could not understand it.

He was crying. He was begging for mercy.

He was swinging his blade. He was killing people.

His actions did not fit normal human understanding.

Hu Gaozi clutched his throat and fell to the ground.

Gold Rimmed Glasses had just wiped the vomit from his eyes and had not yet realized what had happened when everything before him suddenly went black.

Li Banfeng had put the cloth sack over Gold Rimmed Glasses' head again.

"I'm begging you not to kill me. I'll give you all the flowers!" Li Banfeng cried miserably as he casually swung the sickle.

"Let go of me. I won't kill you. I really won't kill you!"

Gold Rimmed Glasses struggled with all his strength, but Li Banfeng gripped the sack tightly. With the sack over Gold Rimmed Glasses' head, he could not break free.

"I'll really give you the flowers. Don't kill me." Li Banfeng's sobs never ceased as the sickle came down, piercing through the sack and hooking into Gold Rimmed Glasses' skull.

"I won't kill you. I definitely won't kill you!" Gold Rimmed Glasses could not break free. With his brain damaged, his limbs began to disobey him.

Li Banfeng yanked out the sickle with force, then hooked it in again. "I already said I would give you the flowers. Why do you still want to kill me?"

"I really never wanted to kill you! I definitely won't kill you!" Gold Rimmed Glasses screamed himself hoarse.

What exactly had happened?

Gold Rimmed Glasses could not figure it out.

His badly injured brain had lost the ability to think as well.

"Do you just have to kill me?" Li Banfeng was still crying, but the sickle did not stop. It went in and out of Gold Rimmed Glasses' skull once again.

"I really didn't want to kill you!" Gold Rimmed Glasses' voice had changed.

"Can't you just not kill me?" Splurt! The sickle entered Gold Rimmed Glasses' skull again.

"I definitely won't kill you!"

"I'm begging you not to kill me!" Crack! Li Banfeng pulled out the sickle as he cried.

"I, I..." Gold Rimmed Glasses could no longer speak.

Gold Rimmed Glasses tried to wave his fan. The fan rose into the air, then began trembling erratically.

Li Banfeng hooked the sickle into Gold Rimmed Glasses' skull six times in succession.

Red stained the cloth sack red.

White flowed out of the cloth sack.

Gold Rimmed Glasses' entire body convulsed.

Li Banfeng sobbed. "I'm so scared. Why do you have to kill me?"

Qin Xiaopang was dumbstruck. He did not know what to say.

Li Banfeng was very thin and did not look like someone who could fight.

Even Old Chen of the Dark Star Bureau could not understand how Li Banfeng had managed to win one against five and severely injure his opponents.

If he could see this scene, perhaps he would understand.

Watching Li Banfeng slash again and again until he lifted off Gold Rimmed Glasses' skullcap, Qin Xiaopang hurriedly advised, "Brother Li, I think he's already dead."

"Dead?" Li Banfeng blinked. He stopped crying, his expression returned to normal, and his voice became normal too.

It was as though nothing had happened just now.

He looked at Qin Xiaopang and said with utter seriousness, "You know, brother, I was terrified just now."

He said he had been terrified.

He said it very seriously. He had been terrified.

Qin Xiaopang felt dazed and carefully asked, "Brother Li, have you gone mad?"

Li Banfeng firmly shook his head. "I haven't. I went to the hospital before. The doctor said I wasn't mad."

PS: Banfeng was terrified. Everyone, come comfort Banfeng.

(End of Chapter)