"Life-Bound Blood Bone! It's a Life-Bound Blood Bone!"
Li Shuangcheng knelt on the ground, his hair disheveled as he cried out.
Chu He slowly released Li Shuangcheng's finger and pressed down on his head. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell me? Why drag it out for so long?"
"I... I'll tell you now. Can you let me go?"
Li Shuangcheng looked up hopefully.
"You've lived for decades already. How can you still harbor such childish fantasies?"
Expressionless, Chu He suddenly clenched the hand pinning Li Shuangcheng's head. Before Li Shuangcheng could react, waves of fierce force surged into his skull like tidal swells, wildly churning within.
"You..."
Li Shuangcheng realized something was wrong and was just about to resist when his brain jolted. Blood streamed from his seven orifices, and his tenacious life force seemed to be snuffed out in an instant.
"In your next life, try not to be so blind."
Chu He slowly rose to his feet. A speck of reddish-gold flame emerged from his fingertip, swaying gracefully as it radiated heat fierce enough to warp the air.
With a flick of his finger, he tossed the spark onto Li Shuangcheng. It caught the instant it touched him. With a whoosh, flames enveloped his entire body and burned fiercely.
The blazing fire burned for a long while before melting Li Shuangcheng's skin bit by bit and consuming him completely, until he was reduced to a pile of ash.
Chu He nodded inwardly, rating Iron Shirt even more highly.
After carefully cleaning up the battlefield and erasing every trace of himself, he let out a breath, clapped his hands, and turned to leave.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
The abrupt sound of hoofbeats suddenly rang out.
"Hero! Hero, please wait!"
A shrill, hoarse voice like a duck's came from a