Pest Extermination, Shooting Down the Sun!

"At this moment, although I had only broken through the sinew and blood of the six External Arts gates, whether it was True Dragon Sinew or Supreme Yang Blood, both were of the highest grade."

The former symbolized strength; the latter symbolized explosive power.

Combined, perhaps I fell short of an External Arts Perfection martial artist in defense, endurance under pressure, and stamina, but my attack power should not have been inferior.

It might even have been stronger!

"Where is Chen Haoyan?" Wang Ping looked around.

Under the torrential rain, every scent, sound, and line of sight was cut off. Finding someone in the rain was no different from fishing for a needle in the sea.

"But that was only for ordinary people."

Wang Ping calmed his mind, then simply closed his eyes, abandoning his five senses. His subtle Spirit Sense swiftly spread outward, expanding in every direction like a spiderweb.

"No matter what he did at the Spirit Wandering Temple, he would definitely return to the county yamen in the end. Since that is the case, I will set the web woven from Spirit Sense over these surrounding blocks, encompassing every shortest and fastest unavoidable route from the Spirit Wandering Temple back to the county yamen within my Spirit Sense."

Wang Ping was certain Chen Haoyan had no other path to take.

"He could not possibly leave the Spirit Wandering Temple unscathed. He was most likely seriously injured."

"In that state, he could only return to the county yamen, because there was still an expert there... Longxing County's magistrate! Only that man could protect him."

About a quarter of an hour later, Wang Ping's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Found you...!"

It was as though a butterfly had flown into the great web of Spirit Sense, stirring its perception. The newcomer's features were swiftly outlined—it was none other than a bedraggled Chen Haoyan.

The next second, Wang Ping hesitated not at all. While continuing to sense the direction of Chen Haoyan's escape and predict his position, he took a shortcut to get ahead of him. Then he curled himself up within the curtain of rain, hiding in the shadows by the street, his ten fingers lightly pressing against his abdomen.

Fire-Born Lotus Seal!

This was an entry-level technique of the White Lotus Sect. The palm Shouchong had struck at him with before had also been part of this seal art, and now Wang Ping replicated it through Spirit Sense.

"Force cannot be unleashed from only one part of the body."

"Calves, thighs, liver and gallbladder, intestines and stomach, abdominal muscles, waist and back, spine—use the entire body to unleash force, twisting all the body's blood, qi, and strength into a single strand."

As Wang Ping recalled Shouchong's palm strike, he raised his ten fingers and pressed them to his lower abdomen, at the dantian, intercepting his blood and qi and gradually gathering all his vital energies.

The entire process was like a flower bud gradually closing, suppressing all of Wang Ping's vitality, blood circulation, heartbeat, breathing, even the writhing of his organs. Or perhaps they had entered a state of "accumulation." Beneath the seemingly tranquil surface, surging waves and raging tides lay concealed.

"Chen Haoyan... it is time we settled old scores."

With things having come to this, Wang Ping instead relaxed his mind. His Spirit Sense locked tightly onto the ever-nearing Chen Haoyan as he silently counted the number of steps between them.

The rain poured down in sheets.

Beneath the rain curtain, every household had its doors and windows tightly shut. Sight and sound alike were sealed away by the downpour, providing the perfect shelter for those with ulterior motives.

"That black snake... one day, I will catch it and stew it into soup!"

Chen Haoyan walked through the rain-soaked streets and alleys. With the storm washing away his scent and his familiarity with Longxing County, he had finally shaken off his pursuers.

His breathing, pulse, even his footsteps carried an inexplicable rhythm at this moment, faintly blending into the sounds and movements of the surrounding environment. Even if someone had been staring intently, they would have been unable to discover that a person was actually hidden in the curtain of rain. This was an extremely advanced concealment technique.

That was why he had chosen today to act.

Not only because Shouchong had appeared and barged into the county town, but also because the heavens were unpredictable. The torrential rain originally forecast to arrive had suddenly come two days early.

"Fortunately... I did not disgrace my mission."

Thinking this, Chen Haoyan clutched the cloth bundle on his body. Inside were all the pills from the Spirit Wandering Temple's alchemy chamber, each one a rare and precious treasure.

The elixir of immortality had to be among them as well.

"That Liansheng Bodhisattva may have come for this too. I just do not know why she suddenly halted when she was about to kill me..."

Recalling what had just happened, Chen Haoyan could not help but feel lingering fear. He had no doubt that Liansheng Bodhisattva could have killed him then and there. Her bizarre methods completely surpassed his understanding of martial arts, yet for some reason, she had clearly paused at the end.

Only then had he jolted awake and taken the chance to flee.

But misfortunes never came singly. The moment he escaped the Spirit Wandering Temple, he ran into the returning Wandering God True Person, and even that old bastard Shouchong was there.

A wolf ahead, a tiger behind.

He had not dared to linger in battle. To throw everyone off as swiftly as possible, he could only damage his own cultivation, nearly exhausting all his Inner Force before escaping alive.

Heavenly Demon Disintegration consumed far too much.

"Besides, to be safe, I liberated more than half my cultivation in one go. My body's foundation has nearly collapsed, my Inner Force has scattered, and even my internal organs have been injured..."

Thinking of this, Chen Haoyan's resentment grew even deeper. Even by the most optimistic estimate, these injuries would take three to five years to slowly recover from. It was even possible that he would never fully recover. The only thing that gave him any comfort was that this mission had not failed. He had still obtained the goods.

"To prevent complications from arising after a long night... I must deliver these things to the county yamen as soon as possible!"

Chen Haoyan quickened his pace, but the instant he passed an alley entrance, he abruptly narrowed his eyes. His feet came to a halt as he looked toward the shadow around the corner.

"Who is there?!"

Almost at the same moment, Wang Ping opened his eyes as well.

"...What a pity."

In the end, the gap between them was too great. Even though he had hidden himself with all his strength, to an Inner Force Martial Master like Chen Haoyan, he was still like a firefly in the night.

"Since that is the case, there is no need to hide."

With that thought, Wang Ping immediately released the seal pressed against his lower abdomen. The blood and qi he had accumulated for so long erupted at this moment like floodwaters bursting through a dike.

Boom!

With this single burst of force, though he still could not twist it into one strand as Shouchong had, he had gathered more than half of it together. Its momentum was equally terrifying.

The overwhelming curtain of rain exploded apart in an instant!

Immediately after, Wang Ping's figure shot forward. His boiling blood and qi made his body temperature soar, so that rainwater striking him even rose into mist.

"Roaaar—!"

Within Wang Ping's body, his springing great sinews shook the air. Stretched taut in his high-speed sprint and mixed with the sound of rain, they transformed once more into a long, resonant dragon's roar.

Wang Ping had pushed this instant of explosive power to the utmost limit. With the advantages of Supreme Yang Blood and True Dragon Sinew, combined with the power he had accumulated in advance, he had every confidence that if Xie Shi from that night appeared here now, he would not even need a saber—he could punch straight through his heart!

Before him, Chen Haoyan's first reaction was astonishment.

His first thought was: Who the hell is this?

Such monstrous blood and qi, such terrifying explosive force, and he had even intercepted him with such precision. Since when had Longxing County gained such an expert, and how had he not known?

"No, it is that young constable."

"His name seems to be... Wang Ping?"

Only the next second did he recognize the man's identity.

An even greater shock then filled his mind, because in his expectations, Wang Ping should have already been a corpse by now!

Why had this happened?

Yet Chen Haoyan swiftly calmed all his emotions. The massive bow in his hands rose high, its string quivered, and an arrow tore through the rain curtain.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The arrows flew like dragons, displaying Chen Haoyan's profound foundation. And driven by some ominous premonition, he dared not be the slightest bit careless at this moment.

Thus, after firing the first arrow, Chen Haoyan did not pause in the slightest. He drew the bow left and right, arrow after arrow nocked to the string and fired. In the blink of an eye, he emptied his quiver. An arrow storm denser than the rain itself, carrying the radiant glow of Inner Force, instantly swallowed Wang Ping!

Lower abdomen, heart, brow!

Hands, feet, groin!

At this moment, Wang Ping's Spirit Sense sounded its warning. Every vital point on his body seemed to have fallen into an ice pit, and the intense sense of danger nearly drowned his reason.

At the same time, Chen Haoyan revealed a cold smile.

"Clown jumping on a beam!"

Seeing this, with his martial skill and experience, he had already reached his conclusion: this brat could not evade his arrows. At most, he could protect one or two parts of his body.

But what use was that?

Brow, groin, heart—there were three fatal weak points alone, not to mention the other vital areas. Even if they were not fatal, they would be enough to rob someone of their fighting strength.

"This brat probably discovered that I had treated him as an expendable pawn, so he bore a grudge. He was lucky enough to intercept me... but in the end, he is just a young man, possessed only of hot-blooded courage. As naïve as that Lin Sheng. Did he not stop to think that even if he intercepted me, could he possibly be my match?"

To put it bluntly.

If he were at peak condition right now, even with his hands and feet tied and no weapon in hand, he could stare the other man to death with a pair of eyes alone!

Filled with powerful confidence, Chen Haoyan relaxed his muscles and bones, preparing to catch his breath. Once Wang Ping fell after taking the arrows, he would continue racing for the county yamen.

Yet the next second, his expression froze.

Boom!

Facing the incoming arrow storm, Wang Ping showed no intention whatsoever of stopping his charge. He even stomped against the ground, accelerating further!

With the aid of Spirit Sense, he precisely grasped the arrows' speed, positions, and timing. He tilted his head slightly, evading the arrow aimed at his brow, then leaped, raising his body and avoiding the arrow shot at his groin. Yet he did not block the arrows aimed at the rest of his body at all.

Pfft!

Arrows pierced through flesh. Blood sprayed forth, a dazzling crimson.

Bowl-sized wounds instantly appeared in Wang Ping's heart, hands, feet, and lower-abdomen dantian. His blazing Supreme Yang Blood seemed to ignite a fire beneath the rain curtain.

Yet he still did not stop.

Then, under Chen Haoyan's astonished, bewildered, shocked gaze, Wang Ping rushed all the way before him, drew his saber, and slashed horizontally in one fluid motion.

Yama's Three Demon Sabers, battle art Yama's Death Writ!

In an instant, the icy killing intent on the blade—like Yama delivering a writ and Wuchang claiming a life—barged into Chen Haoyan's heart, nearly freezing his limbs.

"...Courting death!"

Chen Haoyan roared furiously, utterly fearless. He could see clearly that the young man before him had already suffered grievous injuries and was now nothing more than a paper tiger.

Such huge wounds, spread across so many vital points—the blood loss alone was enough to take a person's life within a few breaths. This young man would certainly be no exception. The reason he could still display such momentum was merely a final flash before death. And did he think getting close to him would let him turn defeat into victory?

What a wild fantasy!

Although the martial art Chen Haoyan mainly cultivated was the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, and all his skill lay in archery, that did not mean he was not adept at close-quarters combat.

After all, with the strength to draw a bow full as the moon, how could his close combat be weak?

With that thought, Chen Haoyan decisively discarded his bow, drew an Ox-Tail Saber from his waist as well, and likewise used the battle art Yama's Death Writ, sending forth a cold saber flash.

Clang! Clang!

The two sabers crossed, and another blossom of blood bloomed beneath the rain curtain. Then an arm tightly gripping an Ox-Tail Saber flew high into the sky.

"Overestimating yourself!"

Chen Haoyan's face was dark, the hand gripping his saber still steady. The arm that had flown into the air belonged, astonishingly, to Wang Ping, who had charged in and swung desperately.

External Arts martial artists and Inner Force Martial Masters.

There was a qualitative gulf between them at the level of life itself. Even though Chen Haoyan was actually in extremely poor condition, Wang Ping was still no match for even a single move from him!

However—this had also been within Wang Ping's expectations.

The rain abruptly stopped.

Not only that. The wind, thunder, lightning, Chen Haoyan's face—every sight froze at this very moment. Time stopped in its tracks.

The scripture scroll activated: Perish with the Sun!

Wang Ping's figure instantly vanished from the spot. Together with his severed arm, he entered the space of the Peace Scripture, then dropped to his knees.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Blood and vitality flowed swiftly from his body, yet as though guided, they gathered toward the towering tome before him.

One wound on his lower abdomen, one on his heart, one each on his hands and feet, his right arm severed—every injury Chen Haoyan had inflicted on him was clearly recorded upon the scripture scroll of Perish with the Sun at this moment. Every word was shocking to behold, every word incomparably crimson.

They would grant Chen Haoyan his full retribution.

As for Wang Ping...

"Just a few fatal wounds, that is all."

Wang Ping bared his teeth, enduring the agonizing pain. He grabbed the arm that had fallen beside him and pressed it against the wound, then drew a deep breath.

Spell: Qi Suppression!

Vast True Qi flowed through his limbs and bones, stopping the bleeding, regenerating flesh, reconnecting bones and sinews. After only a few breaths, Wang Ping stood up as though nothing had happened!

"I still have to cultivate immortality."

Moving the reattached arm, Wang Ping sighed from the heart. Injuries that would certainly kill a martial artist were not worth mentioning to an immortal cultivator at all.

This was not even the limit of Qi Suppression. After cultivating bitterly for so long, he had only barely raised the spell's effect to the second level, the stage of reconnecting bones and sinews. If he could advance further and reach the realm of being impervious to blades and spears, Chen Haoyan's slash just now would not have harmed him at all!

"...Let me see just how powerful this scripture scroll truly is."

The next second, the familiar sensation of the world spinning around him surfaced in his heart. Wang Ping immediately gathered his thoughts and rallied his spirit, returning to the same spot in reality in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, only one ten-thousandth of a second had passed in reality.

The retribution of Perish with the Sun would never be late. Therefore, the time for all the injuries Wang Ping had recorded would be accelerated to the utmost limit and compressed into a single instant.

Bang!

Chen Haoyan stood there dumbly, while visible wounds and blood instantly burst forth across his lower abdomen, heart, hands, feet, and arm!

"...Huh?" Chen Haoyan had not even reacted.

What had happened?

How was he injured?

His thoughts halted at that instant. The pain from all the vital points across his body, especially the sensation in his arm as though his sinews and bones had been torn apart, left him completely bewildered.

Yet Wang Ping's movements would not stop.

Shing!

The cold saber flash was like slaughtering pigs and dogs. This time, it was Chen Haoyan's arm that flew into the air, blood spraying everywhere and finally jolting his mind awake.

"My hand...?!"

At this very moment, Chen Haoyan could not even feel the pain. But he clearly realized something else: he had lost, lost in a muddled, inexplicable manner!

From beginning to end, the other man had not even spoken a single word to him. He had not shouted so much as a single "kill," much less hurled insults. There had only been silent, resolute killing intent.

Why go this far?

Even if I really did treat you as an expendable pawn before, and I was in the wrong, did you not survive? Since that was the case, what could we not discuss?

At worst, I could find a way to compensate you!

In that instant, Chen Haoyan had a thousand words he wanted to say—not because he had realized his error, but because he sensed death's breath drawing near.

"I have to run... run as far away as possible."

He did not want to die!

Chen Haoyan decisively abandoned his dignity. Stomping hard beneath his feet, he no longer confronted Wang Ping head-on and instead tried to widen the distance, fleeing into the rain-soaked streets and alleys.

As long as he could survive!

After such hardship, after such hardship, he had finally come this far. Surveying fields, checking household registers, collecting autumn taxes... he had achieved so many dazzling accomplishments.

Now that he had completed his lord's task, regaining his freedom was no longer a distant dream.

By then, he would be able to leave this tiny Longxing County, display all he had learned in the prefectural capital, protect the land and its people, and not have come into this world for nothing.

A bright future was waiting for him.

How could he die here for no reason, at the hands of a lowborn wretch with neither family pedigree nor backing? This was absolutely not the ending he deserved...

"Roar—!"

The deep roar of a hornless dragon snuffed out all of Chen Haoyan's unwilling thoughts. He instinctively turned around, only to see Wang Ping drawing his bow and nocking an arrow.

Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, drawn full as the moon!

As the bowstring was pulled back inch by inch, the two hornless dragons coiled around the bow suddenly opened their eyes. Their claws twitched as though they had come alive.

That bow was the one I gave him... Chen Haoyan's mind went blank.

At that moment, as he looked again at Wang Ping's face, twisted with ruthless ferocity, a patch of fog in his memories finally began to clear, allowing him to remember.

"...It was him?"

Damn it! How had he not remembered?

He was no constable at all. He was that mud-legged peasant Chen Haoyan had personally sent into the White Lotus Sect as an undercover agent, only to burn the bridge after crossing it and kill him to claim the credit!

He wasn't dead!?

In that instant, countless questions erupted in Chen Haoyan's mind. Yet no matter how many thoughts he had, they all met their end in the next moment.

Wang Ping drew the bow full as the moon. The long arrow glimmered faintly, its point aimed directly at Chen Haoyan. Though he desperately twisted and dodged, he could not escape the lock of Spirit Sense.

The next second, Wang Ping released the string.

BOOM!

The arrow of Stone-Splitting Fist hacked forth with savage force, striking Chen Haoyan in the blink of an eye as he was still struggling to evade it. The matchless divine power gathered within the arrow exploded, the shockwave like a bomb buried inside his body. After a deafening blast, all that remained was a blossoming flower of blood.

"Whew!"

Stepping through the blood, Wang Ping let out a long breath. Yet he did not linger, forcing his aching body onward as he picked up a bundle and vanished into the curtain of rain.

Only after he had left did the sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground begin to ring out one after another.

"Splash, splash."

Arms, legs, torso, internal organs... the shattered remains of the body carpeted the streets of Longxing County, while the rain washed away the splattered blood.

Longxing County's chief constable, Inner Force Martial Master Chen Haoyan.

Dead!