The God of Slaughter

Zhang Zhihe was happily eating a bowl of mutton noodles.

At long last, he had a legitimate excuse to slack off because of his injuries. He, Zhang Zhihe, wasn't about to deprive himself.

Knock, knock, knock—knock, knock, knock—

A hurried knocking sounded from outside the door.

Hearing it, Zhang Zhihe set down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed. "Too soon!"

As he ordered his family to open the door, he wound the bandages he had only just taken off back around himself and lay down again.

Before long, a group of constables came rushing to Zhang Zhihe's bedside, nearly tripping over one another. Every face was stricken with fear.

Before the constables could speak, Zhang Zhihe scolded them first. "What sort of conduct is this, rushing about in such a panic? Has someone rebelled?"

Zhang Zhihe had long commanded awe, and his scolding calmed the constables somewhat.

"Chief Constable, Yang Yuchun was assassinated at the River-Viewing Tower!" said a constable who was usually on good terms with Zhang Zhihe. "Li Changgeng—Li Changgeng was also killed at Daya Hall!"

Zhang Zhihe shot upright in bed. He was genuinely shocked.

He had known the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower was planning to make a big splash, but he hadn't expected anything so astonishing. One was at the Concentrated Spirit Realm, the other at the Mystic Realm, and both had been killed.

He immediately questioned them closely about the details. When he learned that Chen Wu had killed them both, he was even more shocked.

"Chief Constable, what should we do?" one constable asked, frantic and at a loss.

Zhang Zhihe froze, then suddenly began coughing and lay back down.

Someone immediately caught on. "Just look at the Chief Constable's injuries. How could he possibly handle this? How about this, Chief Constable: appoint someone to lead the brothers in investigating!"

Zhang Zhihe nodded and pointed. "You. Take my token!"

The man he pointed to had a county magistrate for a brother-in-law and had always paid lip service to Zhang Zhihe while defying him in practice. Now that he had the chance, Zhang Zhihe was ready to load him down with responsibility.

Knowing he was being sent to deal with a killer like Chen Wu, the chosen man went deathly pale, but he had no choice but to accept the token.

Chen Wu, the God of Slaughter in the eyes of outsiders, had no sense of being one at all.

He was hiding in a mountain hollow, quietly waiting for his borrowed time in the Mystic Realm to run out.

Before long, the spiritual force that had allowed him to commune with heaven and earth faded. The martial mastery that had flowed so freely through him during the battle began to peel away, little by little.

In less than an hour, he would be downgraded from his bargain-basement Mystic Realm state. Good thing he hadn't actually believed the Heaven-Intercepting Dao-Exposition Method's nonsense about lasting an hour. Its author really couldn't be trusted.

The sensation of his realm slipping backward was agonizing. It was like a drowning man who had finally managed to draw a breath being shoved back under the water.

In less than fifteen minutes, every trace of the power of heaven and earth had vanished from Chen Wu.

The feeling of gaining something only to lose it made Chen Wu wonder whether the martial realm he had just attained had been an illusion. It even gave him the sense that life itself was but a great dream.

Chen Wu shook his head, casting those thoughts aside. He knew it was because he couldn't control the Mystic Realm, and the communion with heaven and earth had affected his state of mind in turn.

Only after that disorientation had completely faded did a thought stir within him. His true qi naturally surged up along his sword.

He had reached the Pulse-Opening Realm!

Without further delay, he set off with his lightness skill, racing toward the meeting place they had arranged in advance.

At Old Jin's grave.

Wu Chengyi respectfully offered Old Jin three sticks of incense. Beside him, Monk Zhongcheng stood with palms pressed together, reciting the Rebirth Mantra, his expression solemn.

"Namo Amitabha, Tathagata... Chita Kali, Svaha."

After reciting the Rebirth Mantra three times, Monk Zhongcheng fell silent, and Wu Chengyi spoke.

"Old Master Jin, we avenged you! Little Brother Chen and I sent Li Changgeng and Yang Yuchun down to join you. I wonder if you've seen them yet."

"Many thanks to Cloud-Grasping Iron Hand for lending us a hand out of righteousness!" Old Ma bowed to Wu Chengyi.

"We're all from the Yongjiu School. Why be so polite?" Wu Chengyi scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't do much. It was all Little Brother Chen's work. Even Master Zhongcheng did more than I did!"

"Amitabha!" Monk Zhongcheng said. "Zhang Iron Ruler was already considering withdrawing. I merely went with the flow."

"Ah, all in all, Little Brother Chen was the impressive one!" Wu Chengyi said.

"The killer was Chen Wu of the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower—" Wu Chengyi said, getting carried away again. "I heard it from far away. What a bold declaration! It shook the four directions!"

"What were you saying about me behind my back?"

Chen Wu had just arrived and heard Wu Chengyi boasting about him. He broke out in goosebumps and quickly interrupted.

"Ah, Little Brother Chen is here!" Wu Chengyi cried with delight. He hurried over, took Chen Wu's hand, and looked him up and down. "Incredible! You killed one at the Concentrated Spirit Realm and another at the Mystic Realm, yet you weren't injured at all!"

"Truly a genius even more formidable than Emperor Taizong!"

Who the hell had said that? Had Old Ma been spreading nonsense?

But the others seemed to take it for granted. Not only did no one object, but even Monk Zhongcheng nodded.

Afraid those fellows would make the tale more and more outrageous, Chen Wu hurried to explain. "I'm not that impressive. It was all thanks to Old Jin."

Then he gave them a detailed account of the assassinations of Yang Yuchun and Li Changgeng. He especially stressed that Li Changgeng had died because he had combined the Nine Evolutions Dragon-Expelling Art with the Sound Transmission Soul-Searching Technique, detonating the true qi Old Jin had left inside Li Changgeng's body.

"Amitabha! Every cause has its effect; all is predestined." Monk Zhongcheng pressed his palms together.

"You've even learned the Sound Transmission Soul-Searching Technique?" Old Ma's attention was caught by that. "I remember you got that manual only a few days ago."

Chen Wu froze. After getting the Sound Transmission Soul-Searching Technique, he had only read it once, grasped the principle, and tried it out a little. He hadn't actually mastered it yet. Who would have thought that, with the power of heaven and earth bolstering him, he would somehow manage to use one of its techniques?

Thinking about it now, Chen Wu felt his talent for martial arts was frighteningly strong.

Seeing the admiration on Wu Chengyi's and Monk Zhongcheng's faces, Chen Wu knew he had cemented his reputation as a martial arts genius. He decided to leave it alone and move on to other matters.

"Old Ma, we've caused a huge scandal. Is the Great Shun court going to do everything it can to make trouble for us now?"

"It's the Crown Prince's Mansion and the School of Heavenly Principle!" Old Ma stressed. "The School of Heavenly Principle doesn't dominate the court alone. There are plenty of factions eager to see the Crown Prince's Mansion take a fall!"

"Even so, this'll be tough!" Wu Chengyi said.

"What worthwhile thing isn't tough?" Chen Wu said. "We'll just meet soldiers with generals and dam the water with earth."

"Those are bold words, Benefactor Chen. You're nothing like when I first met you," Monk Zhongcheng said. "Back then, you seemed rather inclined to avoid a fight."

The monk really had seen through him.

"Master, that was then and this is now." Chen Wu smiled. "Over this period, I've truly come to understand. Life is a race of a hundred boats against the current. Some forge ahead, some fall behind, and some may even capsize. But whatever happens, as long as we're fighting our way through the current, we must press forward with all our might. Only then can we live up to the life we've been given."

Not long after Chen Wu had crossed into this world, the pressure on him had been immense. He had always let himself drift with the current.

But Old Jin's death that day had shaken him deeply. Before passing away, Old Jin hadn't mourned his own life for even a moment. Instead, he had sung of the world's injustices, his tune vast and unrestrained as he recounted the turbulent, magnificent life he had lived.

How could Chen Wu not be moved by such a bold departure?

In the depths of his heart, he had also felt a desire to follow Old Jin's example. If, when he eventually returned to the dust, he could possess even a third of Old Jin's boldness, his life would not have been in vain.

That was why he had decided to avenge Old Jin.

Only at the instant he made that decision had Chen Wu truly embraced this world in his heart.

Having lived two lives and crossed into a world so dazzling, so strange and unpredictable, Chen Wu felt he had to fight his way through this sea of life and behold its wondrous sights: towering mountains, treacherous waters, and jagged, rocky peaks!