Xiao Fei's Death

At the end of the street.

Xiao Fei spewed out thick clouds of green smoke, shrouding everything within ten meters of him.

The dense green smoke refused to disperse, remaining unmoved even by fierce winds.

Nalan, Flower Boss, and Ming King stood outside the smoke, none daring to act rashly.

Xiao Fei's smoke belonged to the rare elemental type and was bizarre beyond belief.

Without understanding his abilities, anyone who charged inside would pay dearly.

Flower Boss stood outside the smoke, pressing his palms together to form a seal.

An enormous magic circle lit up.

Whoosh!

A scarlet flower stalk five meters tall emerged from the circle.

The flower was red from top to bottom, with a stalk four or five meters long and only two leaves.

Its bud slowly opened, like a monstrous beast spreading its jaws.

Toothlike barbs covered its petals, and foul-smelling slime kept dripping onto the ground.

"Summoning Type-Man-Eating Flower!"

"Corrosive Fluid!" Flower Boss roared.

The Man-Eating Flower sprayed yellow, putrid liquid into the smoke.

Ssssss!

The liquid actually ate small holes into the frozen ground.

"Smoke Beast!"

Within the smoke, Xiao Fei began his counterattack.

The green smoke swiftly gathered around Xiao Fei, forming three ferocious beasts that lunged at the three men.

"Don't touch them!"

Flower Boss also worked with poison and knew all too well how terrifying the green smoke was.

"That stuff can kill people above his awakening level."

"Thousandfold Fist-Triple Boom!" Ming King planted his feet in a horse stance.

The air along the entire street was instantly sucked dry as Ming King unleashed a punch.

Three thunderous booms shook the whole street.

Ming King's punches were brutally overpowering. His fist struck the air with a terrifying boom, compressing the air around him into cannonball-like blasts that smashed into the beasts.

One punch scattered a green smoke beast, then continued on without losing any force and demolished a low building behind Xiao Fei.

Nalan seized the opening as well, darting around a beast with nimble steps and reaching out to grab Xiao Fei's arm.

Five silver threads coiled around Xiao Fei's left arm like slithering snakes.

"Rend!"

Nalan let out a strange cry, and blood splattered everywhere.

Xiao Fei's entire arm was sliced into countless chunks of flesh.

The sight of blood excited Nalan so much that tears streamed down his face. "Hahaha! I'm going to cut you into ten thousand pieces..."

"You..."

Before Nalan could savor his triumph, a mass of green smoke gathered at Xiao Fei's left arm, forming an enormous hand as thick as a thigh.

Boom!

The giant hand of green smoke punched Nalan dozens of meters away.

Xiao Fei's willingness to trade injuries had cost Nalan dearly.

After rolling several times across the ground, Nalan rose with a livid face and a cruel, savage grin.

"Good thing, good thing. If I'd come alone today, I might not have been able to take you down."

"A fourth awakening injuring a fifth awakening. Smoke Fiend certainly lives up to his name."

Ming King nodded gravely.

"His smoke is too strange. It can actually launch physical attacks."

Flower Boss wholeheartedly agreed. Had any of them come alone to take Xiao Fei down, victory would have come at a terrible cost.

Until they understood Xiao Fei's abilities, no one could get the better of him.

Xiao Fei calmly lit a cigarette. "Give me another ten years, and there won't be any place for you in Ice Prefecture. Count yourselves lucky. But... two brats even more freakish than me will be coming for your lives soon."

"Whew."

Xiao Fei slowly exhaled a mouthful of smoke, which expanded again to shield him.

For the moment, none of them had a good way to deal with Xiao Fei's smoke domain.

Ming King threw several punches from a distance, blasting holes through the smoke, but they quickly filled in again.

"He's stalling."

Flower Boss saw through Xiao Fei's plan. "He's waiting for reinforcements."

Reinforcements from outside the city.

"He's waiting for Overlord."

Apprehension appeared on Flower Boss's and Nalan's faces.

Hidden within the smoke, Xiao Fei sneered. "So much for the fifth awakening."

He was only stalling to give the people of Black Mountain Town a chance to survive.

But soon, a sight appeared that shattered Xiao Fei's composure.

Nalan Xiao stepped forward, carrying a child of seven or eight.

"Big brother, I brought him."

With his voice low, Nalan Xiao tossed the child onto the ground.

"Third Uncle!"

Xiao Fei cried out involuntarily.

The captive was Earthworm's Third Uncle. By family seniority, Xiao Fei also had to call him Third Uncle.

Third Uncle sat on the ground, a grown-up attitude in his tiny body. He patted the dust off himself and waved grandly. "Nephew, keep fighting! Kill those bastards!"

"You little bastard!"

Nalan snapped, sending the silver threads in his hand twisting toward Third Uncle.

Bang!

Ming King acted first, throwing a punch whose gust blew the silver threads away.

"What are you doing?"

Nalan's shrill voice sounded like a eunuch from ancient times.

Ming King said with displeasure, "You can kill Smoke Fiend, but you can't kill a child."

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Nalan roared with a twisted face, "All my children are dead! Why can't I kill his?"

"Smoke Fiend, come out, or I'll shred him right now!" Nalan held Third Uncle aloft, nearly mad.

"I said, put him down!"

Ming King was furious too, his resolute face filled with murderous intent.

He turned his burly frame toward Nalan, locking him in an intense killing aura.

The confrontation reached a stalemate. Bristling with rage, Ming King glared at him. "I can pretend not to see the crimes you commit behind my back, but when I see them, I have to intervene."

That was the helplessness of living in the apocalypse.

Ming King knew humanity had been lost in the apocalypse, but he did not share Zhang Yang's lofty ideals.

He only saved the vulnerable people before him so he could live with a clear conscience.

At the critical moment, Flower Boss stepped forward to stop Ming King.

"Our sons were people too! Smoke Fiend must die today. Do you insist on dragging this out until Overlord arrives?"

Overlord, the true ruler outside the city.

Though the people outside the city seemed like a loose heap of sand, killing and robbing one another,

They all acknowledged him as their king.

To mock the so-called Ice Prefecture Five Overlords, he had deliberately named himself Overlord.

"Nalan, do it!"

Seeing that they could not overcome Smoke Fiend anytime soon, Master Hua roared.

Nalan raised his hand to chop down at Third Uncle.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Gripping the little pistol hanging around his neck, Third Uncle landed a precise shot on Nalan's head.

The bullet fell to the ground, leaving Nalan completely unharmed.

Such was the physique of someone at the fifth awakening.

"You little wolf cub! I can't let you live!" Nalan angrily hoisted Third Uncle high into the air.

"Nephew, don't come out! My dad said Black Mountain Town has no cowards!"

Third Uncle looked anxiously toward the green cloud.

These were the bonds of family. How could Xiao Fei possibly hold himself back?

The green smoke dispersed, and Xiao Fei leaped out.

"You despicable bastard!"

Xiao Fei rammed into Nalan headfirst, knocking him back, then grabbed Third Uncle and sheltered him in his arms.

Wild delight appeared on both Nalan's and Flower Boss's faces.

While Xiao Fei was shielding Third Uncle, both men attacked at once.

Nalan's silver threads wrapped around Xiao Fei's legs.

Flower Boss spat venom from his mouth, instantly corroding Xiao Fei's back until his bones were exposed.

Nalan tightened his fingers, and the silver threads severed Xiao Fei's legs.

"Let's see where you run now!"

Nalan withdrew his silver threads, licking them with his scarlet tongue.

"Pfft!"

Gravely wounded, Xiao Fei lay facedown on the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

"Uncle..."

Once Xiao Fei confirmed Third Uncle was unharmed, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"Motherfucker!"

Third Uncle climbed out of Xiao Fei's arms. Without caring whether he could hurt his opponent, he lunged forward and bit Nalan's leg.

"You're asking for death!" Nalan wrapped silver threads around his hand and straightened it into a blade.

Ming King acted again, darting forward first and gathering Third Uncle protectively into his arms.

This time, Nalan did not stop him, because Xiao Fei was already on the verge of death.

Nalan strode forward and lifted Xiao Fei's mutilated body. "Go down there and give my son a proper apology."

Barely clinging to life, Xiao Fei gave a scornful smile, his eyes filled with contempt.

He rested his only remaining hand on Nalan's shoulder. "Ask your sons if they dare face me. Once I get down there, I'll destroy their souls."

Nalan's ecstatic expression suddenly changed, and Nalan Xiao, who had been following him, hurried forward to stop him.

"Big brother, let me say something to him."

With a sinister grin, Nalan Xiao leaned in and whispered into Xiao Fei's ear, "I was the one who killed Hua Yougui and framed you. And I'm going to kill every last person in your Black Mountain Town. Heh heh."

"Hahaha!"

The two brothers of the Nalan Family covered their faces and laughed like madmen, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Do you hate us?"

The younger Nalan brother grinned smugly.

But both men soon stopped laughing. Xiao Fei was watching them without expression.

They had expected Xiao Fei to be furious, to roar and rage in bitter defiance.

Instead, Xiao Fei said mildly, "Thanks."

"I have a secret to tell you too." Xiao Fei grinned.

Curious, the two Nalan brothers leaned closer to hear Xiao Fei's last words.

The instant Xiao Fei drew close to them, black smoke erupted from his mouth.

Far thicker than the green smoke, the black smoke clung like maggots burrowing into bone and could not be shaken off.

"Aaah..."

The two Nalan brothers clutched their faces in agony.

Within a few breaths, Nalan Xiao's entire face had been eaten away, and he passed out from the pain.

Nalan himself fared little better. Half his face had been stripped down to bare bone.

"Hahahaha! You ball-less bastards! Now you've lost your faces too!" Xiao Fei laughed with fierce satisfaction, utterly resolved to die.

"You're asking for death!"

Nalan sent Xiao Fei flying with a palm strike.

"I'll send you on your way."

Knowing Nalan's methods all too well, Ming King refused to let Xiao Fei suffer further humiliation. He rushed forward and punched straight through Xiao Fei's chest.