Why aren't you dead yet!

"Oh? You aren't choosing to run, but are choosing to attack me instead?"

Watching Chen Jing charge toward him, Zhao Zonglin let out a scoff, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer. "It seems you have quite a bit of confidence in your own strength, kid!"

As the words left his lips, the blood and qi within Zhao Zonglin's body surged with a roar, causing his skin to bulge slightly.

He then raised his blade and slashed downward, the steel carving a cold, white arc through the dark night with the force of a collapsing mountain!

In Zhao Zonglin's mind, Chen Jing would be cleaved in two the very next instant, eyes bulging wide as a final, dying wheeze escaped his throat.

However, just as the two were about to collide.

Chen Jing's clenched fist suddenly splayed open.

Swoosh!

A handful of snow-white powder flew straight into Zhao Zonglin's face.

Because the night was dim, the distance was minimal, and Chen Jing's timing was incredibly cunning.

Zhao Zonglin had no time to react and took the full brunt of the lime directly to his face!

"Ah...!!!"

Zhao Zonglin felt as if his eyes were being seared by fire; they instantly swelled red and twitched, tears streaming uncontrollably as he couldn't help but shriek.

Yet, even so, the instincts of a First Blood Martial Artist remained. Zhao Zonglin did not retreat but instead pressed forward, his blade work becoming even more frenzied.

"You damn bastard, you're dead!!!"

Squinting his eyes and relying on instinct, Zhao Zonglin swung his long blade in wild, sweeping arcs. Every strike carried a murderous intent so intense that the composure he had shown while toying with his prey was completely gone.

If Zhao Zonglin had been playing with his food just a moment ago...

Then now, his mind was filled with only one thought: how to hack Chen Jing into a pulp!

Facing the ferocious onslaught, Chen Jing did not hesitate in the slightest. He took a deep breath, violently drove the blood and qi in his dantian, and unleashed the Five Harms Technique to its limit!

The next moment, blood and qi surged throughout Chen Jing's body; the blood beneath his skin felt as if it were burning. A pale red mist steamed off him, as if he had draped himself in a veil woven from fresh blood.

The moment the Five Harms Technique erupted, Chen Jing's speed and power skyrocketed, making him look like a wild beast broken free from its cage.

Taking advantage of a gap in Zhao Zonglin's swing, Chen Jing shifted his feet to dodge the blade and countered with a punch aimed straight at his chest.

"This... is... the Five Harms Technique?!"

Looking at the Chen Jing before him, Zhao Zonglin felt his heart tighten.

As a constable of Red Rock County, he naturally knew of the cruelty and ferocity of the Five Harms Technique, as well as the price it demanded.

Seeing the thick, blood-like mist surrounding Chen Jing, Zhao Zonglin realized instantly that the man before him was no beginner.

He was a madman who had pushed the Five Harms Technique to its peak and had accumulated a massive amount of blood and qi!

"Going all out right from the start?!"

Zhao Zonglin's heart sank. He retreated two steps, blurting out, "You lunatic... you are a complete and utter madman!"

Zhao Zonglin was now regretting his actions so deeply he could taste the bile. He scrambled backward.

He never imagined that he had simply picked a target who looked like a soft persimmon to shut Hu Duanzhuo up.

He hadn't expected to run into a madman like Chen Jing, who practiced the Five Harms Technique and unleashed his entire reserve of blood and qi the moment the fight began!

If he could do it all over again, Zhao Zonglin would never have set his sights on Chen Jing.

Now, with lime in his eyes, his own blood and qi having been in decline for years, and Chen Jing coming at him with a lethal move right out of the gate.

With the tides turning against him, Zhao Zonglin knew that in his current state, he was absolutely no match for Chen Jing.

Thus, Zhao Zonglin began to retreat while swinging his long blade, desperate to put some distance between himself and Chen Jing.

But Chen Jing gave him no room to breathe.

In the frenzied state of the Five Harms Technique, every one of Chen Jing's punches landed like a hammer blow.

Furthermore, Chen Jing had iron nails bound to his fists; every time he struck, he tore a bloody hole into Zhao Zonglin's body!

"Hiss...!!!"

"Are those... iron nails?"

Accompanied by the bone-deep pain, Zhao Zonglin gasped, his mind suddenly becoming crystal clear. He realized a terrifying truth and blurted out, "You are the murderer who killed Xie Chong!"

Zhao Zonglin never imagined that he had stumbled, by pure accident, upon the very killer who had murdered Xie Chong.

It was just that, given the current situation, it was unlikely he would be able to report this information.

But suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Zhao Zonglin!

The Five Harms Technique... had a price!

Every time the Five Harms Technique was activated, it damaged the internal organs.

Now that Chen Jing was burning his blood and qi at full capacity, he would surely suffer from exhaustion and die from organ failure before long!

All he had to do now was hold on!

The longer he could drag this out, the more likely it was that he would be the one to survive!

Thinking of this, a flash of ecstatic ferocity crossed Zhao Zonglin's eyes. He turned and sprinted, attempting to put distance between himself and Chen Jing.

Clinging to the thought that "if I drag this out a little longer, Chen Jing will drop dead from the Five Harms Technique," Zhao Zonglin ran like a madman.

Yet, the more he ran, the more panicked he became.

Because the footsteps behind him were like the Grim Reaper stepping onto the back of his neck—heavy, steady, and showing not the slightest sign of weakening.

Bang!

Chen Jing slammed another punch into Zhao Zonglin's back; the iron nail tore through skin and flesh, leaving a mangled mess.

Throughout this, blood from Zhao Zonglin's back streamed down his clothes, splattering everywhere with his frantic strides, his face turning deathly pale from excessive blood loss.

The two ran all the way from the wasteland to the edge of the graveyard.

Under the dim moonlight, Zhao Zonglin looked like a dog driven into a corner, his breathing sounding like a broken bellows.

"Ha... ha... ha..."

Zhao Zonglin gasped frantically, his feet unable to drag any further, his legs feeling as if they were filled with lead.

"Why aren't you running anymore?"

Chen Jing's voice drifted leisurely from behind, like a cold blade piercing Zhao Zonglin's heart.

The next second.

Bang!!!

Chen Jing's punch landed squarely on Zhao Zonglin's shoulder; the iron nail drove deep and was ripped out, causing a bloody hole to explode open instantly.

Zhao Zonglin was sent flying, rolling several times before crashing heavily onto the edge of the Mass Grave, his mouth filled with blood and mud.

"You... why can your Five Harms Technique last so long?"

"By all logic... your internal organs should have rotted into a puddle by now... how... how are you still not dead!"

Lying on the ground, Zhao Zonglin looked at the incredibly healthy Chen Jing and shouted the question in a hoarse voice.

Hearing Zhao Zonglin's interrogation, Chen Jing laughed instead of getting angry: "So you were running so hard because you wanted to drag it out until I was killed by the backlash of the Five Harms Technique?"

"It's a pity I forgot to tell you, the Five Harms Technique I practice... has long been improved by myself."

"No matter how much I urge it, my internal organs will never be destroyed."

Boom!

These words struck Zhao Zonglin's mind like a thunderbolt.

"You... you..."

Zhao Zonglin's eyes bulged, gasping for air, as if he might choke to death the very next second.

The next instant, with a pfft sound.

Zhao Zonglin spat out a mouthful of blood and lay limply on the ground.

Watching Zhao Zonglin's state, Chen Jing pulled the iron nail from his fist, gripped it tight to gather strength, concentrated his entire body's energy and blood to the absolute limit, and then flung it out with a violent force!

The sharp whistle of the iron nail piercing the wind was ear-piercing, as if it were tearing the air itself apart, shooting straight out with howling killing intent.

Squelch!

A dull thud erupted as the iron nail pierced through Zhao Zonglin's head without resistance, scalding blood mixed with brain matter spraying out instantly.

Zhao Zonglin's body stiffened in place, his eyes wide open, his pupils still holding the remnants of extreme shock and disbelief, but there was no longer a shred of life left; his breath was completely extinguished.