Kill

Fu Shaoping lay motionless in ambush in the grass.

Ten paces away from him was Zhou Pan'er's hiding place.

Overhead.

The Stable-Horse Beast beat its wings, searching for Fu Shaoping.

Just then.

Whoosh!

A series of sounds sliced through the air.

Arrows shot out of the grass, swift as lightning, reaching the Stable-Horse Beast in an instant.

Roar!

The Stable-Horse Beast was ready.

It swept a claw.

A shield formed from Origin Energy blocked the arrows with a series of metallic clinks, shattering them on impact.

These were not Fu Shaoping's last remaining Darklight Arrow, but ordinary arrows forged from martial iron.

The Stable-Horse Beast was only a demonic beast.

Naturally, it could not tell the difference.

Roar!

After blocking a dozen or so ordinary arrows.

The Stable-Horse Beast decided that even if one or two struck its body, they would not hurt it as the earlier arrow had.

And so.

It stopped merely defending.

It immediately beat its wings and dived toward the grass. As its claws swept out, wind blades formed from demon essence sliced toward the concealed Fu Shaoping, swift as lightning.

Just then.

A muffled twang rang out!

A Darklight Arrow shot forth, streaking toward the Stable-Horse Beast's right wing like lightning.

The Stable-Horse Beast assumed it was another ordinary arrow.

It casually swept a claw.

However.

As though it could anticipate the movement, the Darklight Arrow veered away at an uncanny angle.

Only then.

Did the Stable-Horse Beast realize that this Darklight Arrow was exactly like the one that had pierced its left head!

The Stable-Horse Beast panicked.

It tried to beat its wings and evade the Darklight Arrow.

But it was too late.

With a faint tearing sound.

The Darklight Arrow ripped straight through its right wing.

Thrown off balance.

The Stable-Horse Beast stumbled and crashed to the ground.

At the same time.

From the grass on the other side.

Ten Blood Flying Needles shot forth before thunder could reach the ears, all whistling into the hole in the Stable-Horse Beast's left head.

Roar!!

The Stable-Horse Beast let out a furious roar of fear and defiance.

It felt its blood essence rapidly draining away. Without a second thought, it raised a claw and slashed toward its left head, clearly intending to sever it and stop the loss.

At that moment.

An angry shout rang out.

Having rolled through the grass to evade the Stable-Horse Beast's wind blade, Fu Shaoping had already drawn his Martial Suppression Saber. He leaped into the air and severed its claw with a ringing slash.

Roar!!

The Stable-Horse Beast let out a defiant roar.

Its aura rapidly weakened.

In the blink of an eye, it dissolved into a pool of thick fluid.

Fu Shaoping wasted no time and immediately retraced his steps.

On this trip.

Their objective was the Hawthorn Fruit.

He could not let Chen Shichao pluck the peach after all their work!

Moving at tremendous speed.

Fu Shaoping returned to the Heaven-Supporting Tree outside the Water-Curtain Cave in an instant. He nocked the Darklight Arrow he had retrieved and fixed his gaze on the cave's exit.

All this might have seemed slow.

But in fact, it had happened in mere moments.

And so.

When Chen Shichao emerged from the Water-Curtain Cave, his face alight with joy.

Suddenly.

His ears twitched.

The woods were far too quiet.

Could the Stable-Horse Beast have already killed Fu Shaoping and that bitch?

Then where was the Stable-Horse Beast?

It should have rushed back immediately.

Chen Shichao's thoughts turned, and his eyes brightened slightly as realization dawned.

"Looks like that bastard and bitch had some ability after all. They managed to seriously wound the Stable-Horse Beast."

In his view.

Without his Darklight Arrows, Fu Shaoping was like a tiger without its teeth. Moreover, back on Pale Ridge Mountain, he had seen that both of them were only at the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm. To have seriously wounded the Stable-Horse Beast before dying, despite such a disadvantage, showed considerable ability.

"Well, that works out nicely for me."

Chen Shichao chuckled.

He intended to hunt down the gravely wounded Stable-Horse Beast.

That way.

He would also gain a reputation for risking his life to slay a late first tier Stable-Horse Beast above his own realm to avenge his dead wife, leaving Junior Banner Zhuo little grounds to criticize him.

With that thought.

Chen Shichao used the lightness technique Water Skimming to glide across the pool.

After reaching the bank.

He paused briefly before Lady Zhuo's corpse.

"Pah!"

Chen Shichao spat out a glob of thick phlegm, his eyes filled with disgust.

Suddenly.

His heart skipped a beat.

A surge of murderous intent instantly locked onto him.

By the time he reacted.

A Darklight Arrow had already pierced through his forehead with a sharp hum.

Chen Shichao's eyes bulged wide!

He died with his eyes open, unable to accept his fate!!

How was this possible?

That bastard and bitch were only at the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm, and they had clearly run out of Darklight Arrows. How could they have survived the Stable-Horse Beast's jaws? And how could they even have had time to lie in ambush on the Heaven-Supporting Tree?

Thud!

Chen Shichao's corpse hit the ground heavily.

He could not have been any deader.

At the same time.

Fu Shaoping was just about to leap down from the Heaven-Supporting Tree.

His sea of consciousness suddenly trembled with a hum.

He saw wisps of pale red energy float up from Chen Shichao's corpse and settle upon him.

The Treasure Mirror flashed faintly.

The Attribute value, which had been cleared, changed from "0" back to "1."

Fu Shaoping froze for a moment.

Chen Shichao had dragged Lady Zhuo into harm's way to save himself, but he had not killed her personally. Yet the energy coming from him this time was the red of a condemned criminal.

His thoughts turned.

Fu Shaoping looked down at Chen Shichao's corpse in disbelief.

Picking the Hawthorn Fruit had been a pretense.

Chen Shichao's true intent had been to murder his wife.

This had been a murder with a very specific purpose.

Earlier, on the Heaven-Supporting Tree, Chen Shichao could clearly have dodged the Stable-Horse Beast's fatal strike, yet he had deliberately moved half a step too slowly. Obviously, he had been waiting for this chance to kill with a borrowed blade and get rid of Lady Zhuo. In his eyes, Fu Shaoping and Sister Pan'er were merely at the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm and could never escape alive from the enraged Stable-Horse Beast's claws!

Chen Shichao had truly proven that saying.

A man without ruthlessness was no man at all.

By then.

Zhou Pan'er had also emerged.

She briskly stepped forward and took a wooden box from Chen Shichao's corpse. Opening it, she found the Hawthorn Fruit inside.

Fu Shaoping leaped lightly from the Heaven-Supporting Tree and landed on the ground.

Zhou Pan'er kicked Chen Shichao's corpse.

"Shaoping, what should we do with this faithless man's body?"

"Use your Blood Flying Needles."

"All right!"

A measure of satisfaction appeared in Zhou Pan'er's eyes.

Seeing him drag his own wife into harm's way earlier had sent a chill down her spine. This was the wife who shared his bed-how could he bring himself to do it?

Fortunately, her Shaoping was not that kind of man.

The Blood Flying Needles soon devoured Chen Shichao's corpse, dissolving it into a pool of pus.

"Shaoping, what about Lady Zhuo's body?"

Lady Zhuo was Junior Banner Zhuo's only daughter.

Even a cursory investigation.

Would reveal that the four of them had gone hunting together.

With only the two of them returning safely.

People could hardly help wondering.

Fu Shaoping furrowed his brow and said.

"Bring Lady Zhuo's body back."

Rather than conceal things, it was better to throw open the window and speak plainly. At least it was evident that a demonic beast had smashed Lady Zhuo's head; they had not killed her. As for Chen Shichao, Fu Shaoping naturally would not be foolish enough to admit killing him. He could only say that when the two of them fled back to the Water-Curtain Cave, Chen Shichao was already nowhere to be seen.