Counterkill

In the small grove.

The servant kept closing in, on the verge of catching up again.

But Jiang Che could feel that his figure was no longer as fast as before.

"The poison is about to take effect..."

Jiang Che thought to himself.

Just as the man was about to catch up, Jiang Che seized the timing and turned around, scattering another handful of quicklime powder!

"Aahhh!!"

Another handful of lime powder got into the servant's eyes, instantly blinding him again.

Enduring the agonizing pain, he caught the fleeting opening Jiang Che exposed when he turned and threw a punch.

Though the poison had drained much of his strength and he was wounded as well,

it was still a full-force strike from a Stone Skin Realm fighter.

Jiang Che found it difficult to evade and had no choice but to meet his fist head-on.

All the Qi-Blood in his dantian poured into his right fist.

At the same time, layers of force traveled upward from his ankles, ultimately gathering in his fist.

This was the fifth move of the Layered Cloud Fist, Mountain Crushing!

It was also Jiang Che's most powerful move yet.

If even this move could not block it, he would lose his life here today!

"Pfft!"

The sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh rang out.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

The servant let out a scream ten times more miserable than before.

Half of his middle finger had been severed, left hanging by only skin and flesh, while a bloody hole had appeared in his palm.

"I blocked it!"

Jiang Che's right fist trembled faintly as well.

"Good thing I had this..."

A short blade protruded clearly from between the fingers of his clenched fist!

It was the Refined Steel Hand Spike he had forged earlier.

Before exchanging punches, he had already secretly gripped it in his hand!

The servant endured the pain and wiped his eyes, his twisted face like a demon's.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you, aaahhh!!!"

His eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and he could only vaguely make out a black shadow.

Jiang Che did not want to clash head-on with him, so he decisively turned and fled.

The two raced after one another.

The servant's speed grew slower and slower.

Jiang Che sensed that the poison would fully take effect soon.

"Hold on a little longer..."

Jiang Che ran with all his might, but he could feel that his Flow State would not last much longer!

Though the servant was far slower than before, the foundation of a Stone Skin Realm fighter was still deep.

He drew ever closer, nearly catching up!

Jiang Che's mind spun at high speed, constantly searching for a way to deal with him.

"Stay calm, stay calm..."

Suddenly, he spotted the abandoned well he had encountered earlier on the left ahead.

A bold idea surfaced in his mind.

He abruptly forced himself to change direction and ran straight toward the abandoned well!

The servant saw the blurry figure turn and hurriedly used his lightness skill to pursue him!

In his current state, he was like a vicious ghost.

Blood streamed from his eyes, and both his hands were nearly useless.

Animal-like roars kept spilling from his mouth as he chased Jiang Che like a madman.

When they were almost at the abandoned well,

Jiang Che suddenly lowered his body and crouched down.

The servant vaguely saw Jiang Che crouch and assumed he was about to counterattack, so he used his lightness skill and leaped into the air.

But then, he suddenly discovered that there was no ground ahead—he was falling!

"Not good!"

Alarmed, he hurriedly began using a method to borrow force in midair.

Ordinarily, even after beginning to fall, he could have leaped back out of this well.

But the poison was taking effect now. His movements were sluggish, his legs stiff, and no matter what he did, he could not summon any strength.

"Aah—"

"Splash!"

With a dull, thunderous crash and water spraying everywhere, the servant slammed heavily into the murky well water!

"Cough, cough... Save... Glug glug..."

The icy, fetid well water poured into his mouth as the servant repeatedly clawed at the well wall, trying to climb upward.

But the wall was covered in moss and slick beyond measure. He slipped again and again.

Suddenly, he felt a protruding section of stone wall.

He used his last bit of strength to seize it tightly, refusing to let himself sink any farther.

Just then, he suddenly felt something fall from above his head.

He unconsciously looked up.

But his eyes had been badly damaged, and he could only sense a shadow rapidly closing in.

"Splash!"

A huge rock smashed into the servant's face, knocking him completely underwater before sinking into the deep well.

"No!!!"

A desperate howl rose from the bottom of the well.

Still uneasy, Jiang Che carried over another huge stone and continued throwing rocks inside.

"Splash!"

"Splash!"

Jiang Che had nearly carried away every large stone nearby.

There was no longer any movement from the bottom of the well.

Feeling that the servant had to be dead beyond death, Jiang Che dropped onto the ground and panted heavily.

"A Stone Skin Realm Martial Artist is actually this terrifying!"

A wave of lingering fear washed over Jiang Che.

If he had not been fully equipped, and if not for the poison Zhang Xiong had given him,

and if there had not happened to be a well nearby,

he might have died long ago!

"I'm still far too weak..."

Thinking that even a mere gatekeeping servant possessed such strength, he gained a direct sense of just how terrifying Li Estate was.

"No, I need to leave quickly!"

Thinking that others might come chasing after him, he hurriedly got to his feet.

Just as he turned to leave, he suddenly spotted something on the ground.

He stepped closer and saw that it was a small ox-hide booklet.

"It must have been dropped by that servant!"

Jiang Che's heart stirred.

He looked toward Li Estate but saw no one pursuing him.

So he crouched down and used the Hand Spike to flip open the booklet.

He did not dare touch it carelessly, fearing poison or some other harmful thing.

It was filled with densely packed tiny writing, along with diagrams of the human meridians!

"This is... a lightness skill!"

Jiang Che was startled.

He recalled the movement technique the servant had displayed earlier. It was exactly the same as the little figures drawn inside, confirming that this was the martial art he practiced!

Jiang Che's heart pounded. This was absolutely a huge gain!

He had the Proficiency Panel.

Moreover, meditating in the Flow State did not require the secret medicine corresponding to the martial art to suppress his Qi-Blood.

Therefore, he could keep training it until it reached perfection!

With that thought, he hurriedly used the Hand Spike to pick up the manual and toss it into his bundle, then turned to leave.

Suddenly, he saw that the area was a complete mess.

"No, I need to clean up the scene!"

So he found a branch and erased all the footprints.

There were already many leaves here. A light sweep was all it took to make the footprints vanish completely.

Next, he gathered a large amount of dry branches and fallen leaves and kept throwing them into the well.

Only when the well water was covered in leaves, making it impossible to see what lay beneath, did he stop.

"That should be about enough. This world doesn't have surveillance cameras or fingerprints anyway..."

Jiang Che steadied himself and quickly left.

About half an incense stick later.

A middle-aged man dressed in tight black clothes, with upturned eyes, arrived at the small grove.

"Where is he?"

He inspected the area carefully and found signs of a fight nearby.

But the footprints were hard to distinguish, and he could not tell at all where the person had gone.

Suddenly, he noticed a well ahead. His heart stirred, and he walked over to take a look.

Yet thick fallen leaves floated on the water, with nothing else to be seen.

"Could he have chased him out and gone far away? Or... was he counterkilled?"

But he swiftly dismissed the thought.

How could a Stone Skin Realm expert skilled in lightness skills be counterkilled by a brat who had only just broken through to the Ox-Hide Realm?

He found the notion utterly absurd and laughable.

"Could it be... another expert came and took him away?"

he muttered.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"To effortlessly abduct a Stone Skin Realm expert skilled in lightness skills..."

"The other party must be at the Iron Skin Realm. No... perhaps even a Force-Entering Realm expert!"

"Who could it be... the Seven Star Gang? Yes, it must be the Seven Star Gang!"

At that thought, unease immediately filled the man's heart.

"No, I must hurry back and report this!"

He decisively turned around and sped toward Li Estate.