He saw firelight, then caught a fragrant smell.
Lian Youming's mind tightened. Lowering himself as far as he could, he crawled forward on his hands and feet.
Only when the firelight drew nearer, some thirty paces away, did he tuck himself behind a birch tree.
The moon had risen in the east. Looking toward the firelight, he saw one of the three hanging upside down from a branch four or five meters above the ground, like an ape swinging through the trees. His arms were folded across his chest, and his body swayed from side to side, as though he were asleep.
The other two sat beside the fire beneath the tree.
One glance made Lian Youming's eyes nearly split with rage. A village woman in tattered clothes lay at the Russians' feet, all four limbs broken. Yet her chest still rose and fell; clearly, she was alive. Whimpers came from her mouth—even her tongue had been cut out.
Perhaps irritated by the noise, the Russian raised his foot with a cold look and stamped down. With a wet pop, the village woman's head burst apart.
The sight was horribly bloody.
And not far away, two children of eleven or twelve were tied up, a boy and a girl. Their hands and feet were bound, and both had long since passed out.
Judging by their clothing, they seemed to be Oroqen.
Killing the village woman with a stomp was not enough for the Russian. He turned to grab the half-grown girl, only for Third Brother Xie to snap, "What are you doing? Didn't we agree to spare their lives when we left?"
The Russian gave a strange laugh. "Spare their lives? So they can bring people to catch us? Xie Tianhong, you've roamed the martial world all this time, yet you don't even know to cut the grass and pull out the roots? Have all your years gone to the dogs?"
Third Brother Xie's face turned livid, his voice icy. "They're just ordinary people."
The Russian's green eyes widened slightly, chilling and cruel. "What I hate most are your damned rules. If you hadn't dragged us into this, why would those White Lotus Sect experts be hunting us? Now we're holed up in this godforsaken place, never seeing daylight. What's wrong with me finding a few women to have some fun?"
Third Brother Xie sneered. "Lei Hu, when all's said and done, you brothers just want that map of the Kwantung Army Underground Fortress. If you want it, behave yourselves. Since we're all in the same boat, you'll naturally get your share once the job is done. But if you insist on doing whatever you please and slaughtering innocents, we go our separate ways."
Hidden in the darkness, Lian Youming heard this exchange, and a thought stirred. So these three were not of one mind.
And from what the two were saying, they seemed to be on the run from White Lotus Sect experts.
No wonder they had nowhere to go and could only hide deep in these mountain forests.
At those words, the Russian called Lei Hu's cheek twitched, and he slowly withdrew his outstretched right hand.
But as an onlooker, Lian Youming saw everything clearly. At some point, the short man hanging upside down had opened his eyes. Murder lurked in them, and he seemed to be exchanging meaningful looks with Lei Hu.
What were they planning?
Dog eat dog? Fighting among themselves?
Lian Youming took it all in.
But a savage fury also rose within him, coursing through his limbs and stirring a fierce urge to kill. Whatever happened, he had to slaughter that Russian today.
He was a little too far away to tell how Lei Hu reacted. The short young man in the tree closed his eyes again, but spoke. "I heard Gong Wuer and Xue Hen both went to Mount Lu."
Third Brother Xie lowered his gaze to his crippled leg. "Then they must have found some traces or clues."
Lei Hu asked, "Why exactly did the White Lotus Sect make you conceal your identity for all these years?"
Without even raising his eyes, Third Brother Xie said, "There are things that, if I keep silent, will only get me killed. If I talk, all my descendants will die."
Lei Hu's shoulders suddenly shook as he laughed meaningfully. "Old devil, tell us the truth. Do you actually have the map of the Kwantung Army's underground fortress?"
"Ah, to think I'd fall this far."
Third Brother Xie suddenly heaved a long sigh. He was no fool; his years had made him shrewd as could be. How could he fail to sense the killing intent closing in from every direction?
He had known from the start that these two were no decent men, but in the past, his abilities had been enough to keep them in check. Now that one leg was crippled, these two bastards were already stirring, impatiently testing him in every way, just as he had done to the Mountain-Guarding Old Man.
Hearing Third Brother Xie sigh, Lei Hu grinned broadly, his eyes gleaming viciously, his killing intent laid bare. "Could you have been lying to us?"
Third Brother Xie chuckled softly. "They all say a martial artist needs to gather a breath of viciousness within him, but I disagree. Martial skill is a contest of fists and feet, but also a clash of spirit. If you're going to gather anything, it ought to be the pride that says no enemy can stand before me, that I'm the greatest. I've swallowed humiliation for so many years. Suddenly, I don't want to swallow it anymore."
He looked at Lei Hu, who was slowly rising before him, and said lightly, "Never mind whether I have that map. Even if I did, I'd rather burn it than hand it to you two bastards... White Ape, you come down too."
"Then you die today!"
With a sudden cold snort, the short man flipped down from the tree.
He still seemed human when he spoke, but once he landed, he suddenly sank into a crouch, his feet braced against the ground. He bared his teeth, scratched his ears and cheeks, and squeaked, his eyes blazing with ferocity. He looked exactly like a crazed monkey that had become a spirit.
Wariness showed in Third Brother Xie's eyes. "Monkey-Form Fist."
Lei Hu was loosening his muscles and joints as well. After a few steps, he suddenly sank down, turning both palms outward, the webs between thumbs and forefingers loosely meeting before his chest. Strange as the posture was, his clothes tore apart with a ripping sound, revealing a powerfully imposing physique.
Third Brother Xie paced in a limping circle. Seeing Lei Hu's stance, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that the leopard form from Shaolin Five Elements Fist? A rare sight indeed."
Even as he spoke, the short man named White Ape was already tumbling and pouncing across the ground like an ape, his hands clawing and hooking in succession as he attacked Third Brother Xie's lower body.
Third Brother Xie retreated repeatedly. Though one leg was crippled, he pushed off with his good foot, and his dodges and shifts were by no means slow.
But as the short man flipped over, he unexpectedly flung a handful of fine sand at Third Brother Xie's face. Then he kicked off the ground and sprang a meter into the air, his body tucked in. Hands and feet attacked together, a fist smashing toward the face and a foot kicking at the chest, his features hideously contorted.
The Russian also used both hands and feet, flipping up in a Black Dragon Coils Around the Pillar. He lunged close, likewise attacking Third Brother Xie's lower body.
Third Brother Xie's face was as still as water. He swept a sleeve up to block the sand while extending a clawed hand to parry, his one leg forced to keep pivoting and shifting. From the very first exchange, he was at a disadvantage.
Too ruthless.
They were targeting the cripple's one good leg.
Watching the infighting before him, Lian Youming's expression was unreadable as he rapidly considered whether to intervene.
Third Brother Xie deserved death, but the other two deserved it even more.
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and he rose, seemingly having made a decision. Suddenly, he turned and ran, deliberately snapping a dead branch underfoot as he went. "Murder!"
The moment he ran, all three battling men noticed him.
Lei Hu watched the figure stumbling through the forest and frowned slightly. "Second Brother, go deal with him."
The short man called White Ape answered and immediately sprang into pursuit. Catching branches with his hands, he swung through the air like a wild monkey in the mountains, chasing the figure through the trees.
Third Brother Xie had seen him too, of course. Not only had he seen the retreating figure, he had also recognized that voice he hated enough to grind his teeth. His wrinkled old face twitched, his eyes filled with suspicion and astonishment. Then he glanced at White Ape's completely unguarded posture, and a strange smile suddenly creased his face.
In the White Birch Grove, Lian Youming shouted as he ran, his expression panicked. He darted about as though lost, like a headless fly. Before he had gone far, a sharp whistle suddenly rushed toward the back of his head. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his legs buckled as though he had tripped over a root. He tumbled and rolled some distance.
Almost at the same moment, a pebble grazed Lian Youming's scalp by a hair's breadth and buried itself in a tree trunk in the darkness with a thunk.
Watching the figure scramble up in panic among the trees, the short man named White Ape leaped down from the air and thrust out a foot.
The figure beneath the moon pitched forward and lay still.
Moonlight spilled over the earth like water.
White Ape could not help sneering. "Unlucky bastard."
With that, he stepped forward to deliver another kick.
But the instant his right foot moved, a large hand shot out, swift as lightning, and clamped tightly around his ankle.
As terror swept over the short man's face as though he had seen a ghost, an indescribably immense force, mixed with a strange spiraling power, suddenly surged through his ankle. In an instant, he lost his balance and was hoisted upside down.
Whoosh!
Fallen leaves whirled through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the two seemed to have traded places. A mighty figure rose from the ground, and a pair of narrowed, smiling eyes, laced with cruel malice, looked straight down into White Ape's.
"Haven't you eaten?"
Having caught him, Lian Youming did not hesitate for an instant. The five fingers of his right hand tightened sharply, his feet planted firmly, and he drew a fierce breath. Like a wrathful vajra guardian, he gripped the short man's right leg and began swinging and smashing him down like mad.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
(End of chapter)
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