Cunning Daoist

Crash—

The Daoist stumbled into the wall, his robes gathering up dust and grass clippings from the floor.

"Cough, cough..."

A rib on his right side had pierced through, shredding half a lung and forcing him to hack up mouthfuls of bright red blood.

"ROAR!"

Seeing the man severely wounded, Chen Guan did not hold back. Instead, he lunged forward, dropping from an upright stance into a sprint, before suddenly raising his forepaw to deliver another bear-paw strike that whistled through the air!

This Daoist was a freak who could see his younger sister.

He could not be spared, nor could he be given any chance to catch his breath.

After all, who knew what kind of abilities he possessed?

From the bandit leader and his men, Chen Guan had learned that one must "cut the weeds and dig up the roots."

"Bear... Master..."

Seeing the black bear pursue him again, the Daoist no longer possessed the high spirits he had when he first entered the temple. He wheezed out a weak plea for mercy while summoning every ounce of strength to roll to the side.

He had barely moved a meter away.

BOOM!

Unable to pull back his strike in time, Chen Guan slammed his paw into the wall where the man had just been, leaving behind a deep crater and a web of spreading cracks.

Rustle—

The dilapidated temple trembled slightly, shaking dust and grit down from the main roof beam.

"Such power... my life is at an end..."

A meter away, the Daoist lay half-propped against the ground. He looked up at Chen Guan, who stood over a meter tall even while hunched over, and noted the bear's eerily human expression of rage.

He became even more convinced that Chen Guan was a demonic beast that had attained sentience!

Otherwise, how could a normal black bear possess such might? Or such human-like intelligence?

Whoosh!

After missing his strike, Chen Guan quickly pivoted his body and lowered his head to glare at him.

Most of the man's face was now stained red with blood.

The rolling motion had shifted his shattered bones, worsening his internal injuries and causing more blood to surge out, masking his deathly pale complexion.

"Black... Black Bear Master..."

When the Daoist saw the bear demon raise its paw once more, he endured the wheezing of his punctured lungs to beg for mercy one last time.

Gurgle...

As the words left his lips, his windpipe flooded with blood, and he slipped into shock and unconsciousness.

Not a second later, his chest stopped rising and falling; his breathing had ceased entirely.

However, Chen Guan could still hear the faint sound of air being drawn in, and he could see Yin energy in the air slowly seeping into the man's nose and mouth.

He was using a technique akin to the breathing exercises of cultivators in myths to replace his natural respiration.

Fortunately, Chen Guan possessed Yin-Yang Eyes, allowing him to see the Yin energy.

He could also use his keen hearing to sense that the hand pressed beneath the man's body seemed to be moving.

Coupled with the gathering Yin energy, it looked as though he were casting a spell.

"ROAR!"

Seeing this, Chen Guan wore an expression that said, Still trying to play dead? He switched paws and brought it down toward the man's head.

Mid-strike, the Daoist suddenly snapped his eyes open, gathered his final breath, and cursed in full: "Damn your ancestors, you cunning beast!"

As he cursed, he thrust his half-formed spell toward Chen Guan's bear paw.

But the spell was incomplete; as he swung his hand, the gathered Yin energy simply dissipated into the air.

Oh no... That was the final thought that flashed through his mind.

Then—

CRACK~

Chen Guan's paw descended like a force of nature. It not only shattered the man's hand and drove it back, but with its momentum unchecked, it slammed down and crushed his skull.

Instantly, blood and the stench of gore splattered across the temple.

A few droplets of blood landed on the lips of the high-and-mighty deity statue, giving it a taste of the fresh kill.

Meanwhile.

From the moment Chen Guan suddenly arrived to the moment he killed the Daoist, it seemed like a long time had passed, but in reality, only a dozen seconds had elapsed.

Only then did Xiao Qing recover from her panic and lingering fear, throwing herself silently onto Chen Guan, completely unbothered by the blood soaking his face and chest.

It was just that Chen Guan's blood energy and yang energy were somewhat heavy.

Xiao Qing hugged Chen Guan for a few seconds before pulling away in pain, asking with concern and anxiety:

"Brother, are you hurt? Did that bad man hurt you?"

"Roar." Chen Guan shook his head and glanced at the headless corpse to the side.

If one had to talk about injuries, the Daoist's injuries were certainly more severe.

"Brother is so amazing!" Hearing that her brother was unhurt, Xiao Qing was instantly overjoyed.

"Roar..." Chen Guan pointed at the Daoist's corpse, signaling Xiao Qing to use her ability to manipulate objects to loot the body.

The vines on his own body were things Xiao Qing had woven for him.

Afterward, Chen Guan pointed toward the backyard, putting on the appearance of a "cool and aloof brother" who intended to go back to sleep.

"Brother, get some rest quickly!" Seeing that her brother wanted to sleep, Xiao Qing bid him a well-behaved farewell.

Chen Guan nodded and slowly returned to his room.

Once inside, he went to the corner of the wall.

Chen Guan lifted the bear paw he had previously slammed against the wall, rubbing, kneading, and shaking it against the ground for a moment.

"Damn it... that hurt like hell..."

Chen Guan's hand was in great pain; he felt he must have sprained it.

After all, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

Especially since the wall was made of stone and he was made of flesh.

That angry strike had certainly been painful.

But his little sister had been right there.

To keep her from worrying and to maintain his image as the big brother.

I am fine.

The night deepened.

Twenty miles away.

The head constable, along with two constables and several martial arts experts, was resting in a cave in the mountains.

Whoosh—

The mountain wind blew, causing the firelight to flicker.

The exhaustion on everyone's faces was evident.

After a moment of silence.

One of the martial arts experts cupped his fists toward the head constable leading them:

"Brother Yan, the brothers have followed you for many days now. Where on earth did that black bear spirit run off to?

Can you actually find it?"

"Exactly!" another person chimed in: "Master Yan, I have always respected you, but wandering around these mountains every day for the past few days is driving us mad. It's incredibly dull."

"Indeed, indeed." A bohemian-looking swordsman sat lazily against the cave wall, "Brother, you should return to town and attend to your official duties.

I don't want the money for hunting the bear and catching the demon anymore.

Consider this time spent as just keeping you company for a stroll outside the mountains."

The group had been searching with "Head Constable Yan" for half a month, and without seeing a single shadow of a bear, their spirits had deflated.

Even so, they were only still persisting out of consideration for their friendship with Head Constable Yan.

In the beginning.

Because of the five-hundred-tael bounty, the "bear-hunting team" had numbered over thirty people.

But as the search dragged on with no results, people had gradually left until only these five remained.

"Rest assured, brothers!"

At this moment.

Seeing that these five brothers were still with him, Head Constable Yan said sincerely:

"I implore you all to stay for another half a month.

By then, regardless of whether we have found the bear spirit, I, as your brother, will take fifty taels of silver from the yamen and split it among you all.

This is a token of my appreciation, not an insult to you."

Chief Constable Yan spoke up to this point, then smiled and said, "I know you brothers are heroes of the pugilistic world who never care for mere wealth.

But this gesture...

You must accept it, right?"

"This..."

"Brother, what are you saying!"

"Since you've put it that way, brother, it would be rude for us to decline!"

"Indeed, indeed, to refuse further would make us look petty..."

Upon hearing that there was a "hardship fee" despite failing to find the black bear, the crowd had nothing more to say.

They were all brothers, and they were all in the silver.

Late at night.

Outside a small village.

Rumble—

A heavy downpour began to fall from the sky.

It was supposed to be an ordinary night of thunderstorms.

But just outside the village, at a nondescript mound of dirt.

The soil shifted, and suddenly, half a human figure emerged.