Fang Cheng raised his left hand in surprise. His middle finger looked as if it had been sliced off by a sharp blade. The cut was clean, and blood gushed out.
"Holy shit, what kind of ability is this? Is it 'speak it and it happens'?"
Still stunned, Fang Cheng immediately used Short-Range Dash to charge at the young man.
But to his even greater surprise, Short-Range Dash failed. He couldn't activate it at all.
Even his incredible physical strength was gone. He could only run on two legs like an ordinary high school student.
At that speed, he was no threat whatsoever. No matter how fast Fang Cheng ran, the young man standing motionless ahead of him always remained a certain distance away.
The young man still wore a smile as he said to the running Fang Cheng, "Your right ear will be cut off."
Fang Cheng's right ear immediately fell away. The wound was smooth, and the blood that sprayed out stained half his face and shoulder red.
The intense pain made Fang Cheng frown slightly. What was more, neither wound showed any sign of healing.
Had his immortality stopped working? Or was his Self-Healing ability being suppressed?
A jumble of thoughts flashed through Fang Cheng's mind. In the past, he might have panicked, but now he could still think calmly.
"Who are you?"
Fang Cheng stopped trying to chase him and asked instead.
As he spoke, he secretly tried to activate Steel Blood. That had failed too.
It seemed all his abilities had stopped working. At that moment, he had become an ordinary person again.
The young man produced a cigarette from between his fingers as if performing a magic trick and put it in his mouth. A flame flickered at his fingertip and lit it.
He took a deep drag, then exhaled a cloud of secondhand smoke.
The smoke turned into a little bird and happily circled around him.
After finishing his little tricks, the young man finally smiled. "You can call me Takeshi Takeyama. Nice to meet you. I'm a magician."
Fang Cheng asked, puzzled, "Do we have a grudge?"
"Of course not."
Takeshi Takeyama shook his head. "We didn't even know each other before this."
Fang Cheng thought for a moment, then asked, "Then did I accidentally sleep with your mom, and now you're here to give me trouble?"
Takeshi Takeyama's expression froze for a moment, and his eyes turned cold. "In a moment, you'll experience having your hands and feet cut off, being beheaded, being cut in half at the waist, and all sorts of other things you'd rarely experience in a lifetime. These are all complimentary attractions. Look forward to them."
"How generous of you. Then I'll have to give you a free show too."
Fang Cheng smiled. "For example, I could sleep with your mom in front of you and your dad. I'm pretty good at that."
Takeshi Takeyama sneered. "You'll regret making me angry, because it'll make your suffering last longer."
He pointed at Fang Cheng. "Your right arm will be torn off at the shoulder."
It was as if an invisible force had ripped Fang Cheng's right arm away. Bone, muscle, and fascia tore apart, and the whole arm dropped to the ground with a slap. Blood splattered everywhere.
The pain only made Fang Cheng's face turn ashen. He frowned slightly, frantically searching his mind for a way out.
Takeshi Takeyama continued loudly, "Your left leg will be cut off at the knee."
As if an invisible blade had swept across him, Fang Cheng's left lower leg broke off at the knee. Blood poured out like water from an open tap.
Balancing on his right leg, Fang Cheng even had the nerve to rub his chin with his remaining left hand, his eyes fixed on Takeshi Takeyama.
"Why exactly are you trying to kill me? Before I die, can you at least let me die knowing why?"
Seeing how calmly Fang Cheng could still ask questions, a flicker of surprise passed through Takeshi Takeyama's eyes.
He smiled. "I almost forgot. My employer asked me to pass on a message. I heard you and Asaka Akie are pretty close. After you die, I'll take good care of her."
At those words, a name immediately flashed through Fang Cheng's mind.
Takeshi Takeyama didn't give him time to think. He spoke again. "Your right leg will be cut off at the knee."
Fang Cheng's right leg flew away. He fell into the pool of blood, raised his remaining left hand, and gave Takeshi Takeyama the middle finger.
"Your left arm will be twisted off at the shoulder."
Fang Cheng's left arm twisted into a pretzel and rolled away with the middle finger still raised.
Reduced to a human stump, Fang Cheng lay on the ground and laughed loudly. "Even without my arms and legs, as long as my little buddy's still there, I can easily make your mother happy and satisfied."
Takeshi Takeyama's face turned livid. He had killed countless people, but he had never seen anyone with Fang Cheng's nerve—someone who could joke around even after being reduced to a human stump.
The pain of having his arms and legs cut off was real. It should have been enough to make anyone pass out or go mad.
Takeshi Takeyama steadied himself and shouted, "Your neck will be cut through the middle!"
Fang Cheng's neck was cut through in an instant, and his head rolled away.
Looking at the mangled corpse on the ground, Takeshi Takeyama finally relaxed his tense expression.
"Done..."
He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat that had unknowingly beaded on his forehead, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
He'd only come to kill a high school student who was a bit of a fighter, but the other guy had acted like a fearless madman, making him work far harder than expected.
He'd have to ask for more money when he got back.
"That's it?"
The sudden voice made Takeshi Takeyama freeze.
He slowly raised his head. His pupils shrank abruptly. Fang Cheng stood there completely unharmed, and all the severed limbs and blood on the ground had vanished.
Fang Cheng was also surprised, because the number in his field of vision still read: 2.
Takeshi Takeyama had beheaded him, but after he came back to life, the number of times he could revive hadn't decreased.
That meant... either a bug had occurred, or everything that had just happened was fake. He hadn't actually died.
To test his theory, Fang Cheng strode toward Takeshi Takeyama, whose face now showed obvious panic. "I thought you were really that amazing. Turns out it was all fake. Was it an illusion? Some kind of trick? Or hypnosis?"
Takeshi Takeyama snapped out of his shock and shouted, "Your legs will be cut off! Your heart will be torn to pieces!"
Fang Cheng's legs were cut off, and he fell to the ground. Inside his chest, his heart was torn to pieces as well.
But time seemed to rewind. His shattered heart came back together, and his severed legs flew back and reattached themselves.
Fang Cheng came back to life once more, and the number of revivals he had left still remained at 2.
Looking at Takeshi Takeyama's horrified face, Fang Cheng laughed.
Now he understood what was going on.
Takeshi Takeyama's ability must have had extremely strict conditions. If those conditions weren't met, Fang Cheng wouldn't truly die, and his damaged body would be restored.
Even the clothes damaged on his body had returned to normal. Ordinary resurrection couldn't do that.
Seeing Fang Cheng approach again, Takeshi Takeyama screamed himself hoarse. "Your hand will be cut off, your leg will be twisted off, and you'll be cut in half at the waist!"
His words still came true. Fang Cheng was easily killed, but quickly restored again.
As Fang Cheng died and came back to life again and again in new ways, Takeshi Takeyama grew paler and paler. Sweat poured down his face, nearly soaking his shirt.
The power of his words was also weakening without him realizing it. Fang Cheng's severed arm was still hanging on by a thread, and the cut that was supposed to split him in half at the waist only went halfway through.
More importantly, the distance between them had shrunk considerably. Takeshi Takeyama stumbled backward, but Fang Cheng easily caught up with him.
"Don't come any closer!"
He seemed to be on the verge of breaking down. When Fang Cheng reached him, he shrieked, "Why aren't you afraid?! Why aren't you afraid?! Why?!"
Fang Cheng's left arm was still attached to his shoulder by a tiny strip of skin. Grabbing it by the wrist with his right hand, he ripped it off and swung it like a club.
"Why? Because I'm your father!"
His biceps hit like a hammer, slamming into Takeshi Takeyama's face and sending him flying.
As he flew through the air, the darkness around them receded like a tide.
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