The instant his arms emptied, Lian Youming knew something was wrong.
Blood blinded him, and his enemy had broken free. With no time to wipe the blood from his face, he hurriedly searched for the short man, but there was nothing before him-not so much as a ghost of a shadow.
The next second, a figure flipped through the air and dropped, landing on Lian Youming's shoulders like lightning.
White Ape's face was dark, his expression vicious. The moment his feet found purchase, he sank into a crouch, both legs coiling around Lian Youming's neck like black dragons entwining a pillar. All ten fingers hooked inward, and without a thought, he clawed at the boy's eyes beneath him.
"Die, you bastard!"
If those claws landed, they would gouge out his eyes, and White Ape could follow through with twin fists to the ears to take his life.
In fact, the instant his shoulders sank, Lian Youming shuddered. His face went deathly pale, and his eyes reddened. Sensing the killing intent descending from overhead, he could think of no way to break the move. But with life and death before him, how could he bare his neck for slaughter?
With his life hanging by a hair, watching those ape-like hands claw toward him, he suddenly reached up and locked his hands around the legs wound about his neck. Then he leaped with all his strength. The instant he left the ground, he ducked his head and curled inward, hurling himself desperately toward a boulder a few paces away.
"Heh heh, let's... die together!"
White Ape's killing move was already underway, success almost within reach. He had never expected Lian Youming to resort to such a mutually destructive tactic. Worse, he was perched high up and held fast. As the wind struck his face and the boulder rushed closer, a chill climbed from his tailbone to the crown of his head.
"Ah!"
He let out a shrill, bizarre cry, whether in fright or fury was unclear, and withdrew his attack through gritted teeth, hurriedly curling up and leaning back.
Lian Youming had held nothing back in that charge. He was about to smash his brains out and die on the spot. Yet it was as though he had been waiting for White Ape to change his move. The moment his opponent withdrew his killing strike, their forward hurtle subtly shifted, turning sideways to slam into the rock with shoulder and elbow.
In a flash, a dull thud rang out. Lian Youming staggered back four or five paces like a drunkard, half his body numb. The clothes over his left shoulder were torn to shreds, and the Qi and blood in his chest and abdomen churned violently. A hot stream slipped from his mouth and nose, staining his vision red.
But he was injured; White Ape was crippled.
The man tumbled to the ground, his left leg bent unnaturally to one side, broken bone jutting out and hot blood spurting wildly. He coughed up great mouthfuls of blood as well, staring at Lian Youming with pain and hatred written across his face.
"Kill!"
Even in this state, White Ape could still move. Pressing both palms against the ground, he launched himself up and lunged at Lian Youming while his Qi and blood were still unsettled, his intent to kill unchanged.
Lian Youming curled his tongue and spat out a mouthful of surging blood, his face pale. He reached back and drew, and a flash of snowy blade light appeared in the air.
The cattle-slaughtering knife.
Almost forgot about this thing.
Watching the figure pounce toward him, Lian Youming gripped the knife, his own killing intent blazing, his anger truly kindled. Neither dodging nor retreating, he held the blade crosswise and strode forward to meet him.
Swish!
Beneath the clear moonlight, the two figures crossed.
At the very instant they passed each other, a bloody fist mark appeared on Lian Youming's chest, while White Ape's airborne body abruptly parted at the waist, spilling his guts as a rain of blood met the wind.
Lian Youming's expression was calm, yet flames seemed to rise in his eyes. He flicked the steel blade in his hand, shaking off a stream of hot blood, and turned to look.
"Hhh... hhh... hhh..."
White Ape lay on the ground. Even severed at the waist, he was not quite dead. His blood-filled eyes fixed on the boy approaching step by step, and he seemed still to be trying to crawl up.
Lian Youming stopped and lowered his gaze. Looking at the half-body before him, still twitching and steeped in malice, he said lightly, "At death's door and still brimming with malice. Evil that pure takes some guts... White Ape, was it? In that case, I won't leave you an intact corpse. Consider it vengeance for that corpse in the woods."
With that, he raised his eyelids slightly and slowly lifted the knife, then hacked and chopped downward again and again, almost as though wielding a hammer.
Sparks flew, and the blade's edge rolled.
Under the frenzied, ruthless flashes of the knife, flesh and blood flew everywhere. Only when that half-body had become a puddle of shattered bone and mangled flesh did Lian Youming stop, drenched in blood.
The body was shattered; the head remained intact.
"Whew!"
Looking at the dismembered corpse on the ground, Lian Youming stood rigid for a long while before letting out a long breath. But as he smelled the thick stench of blood, though his taut expression relaxed, his face grew paler still. Even his knife hand was unsteady, faintly trembling.
Yet at the very moment that breath ran out, between one breath and the next, his right hand steadied around the knife again.
Very steady.
The night was already deep.
The moon stood at the zenith, the clouds drawn back over myriad peaks.
Looking up at the moon overhead, Lian Youming carried his knife over the corpse before him in a great stride and plunged into the White Birch Grove.
Yet when he reached the other battle, the situation caught him off guard.
A figure flew backward and slammed heavily into the still-burning fire.
Sparks filled the air, rising on the wind before swiftly dimming.
Lian Youming's eyes swept over the scene like cold lightning, and only then did he see that the one sent flying was Third Brother Xie.
The man seemed to have suffered badly. Not only was he covered in soot and dirt, but blood was seeping from his mouth.
Lei Hu pursued him in great strides, his hands changing moves again and again, every opening a grip, a lock, or a hold. The fire scattered in his wake as he pressed straight in, unstoppable as a blade splitting bamboo, forcing Third Brother Xie back again and again.
Suddenly.
"Heh!"
A quiet laugh drifted into the fray.
Third Brother Xie and Lei Hu both stopped moving.
Lian Youming raised his eyebrows, walking out of the woods as he mocked without mercy, "Uncle Xie, you're not up to much, are you? Where did all that vigor you had when you tried to kill me go?"
Third Brother Xie was the same as ever, a savage gleam in his eyes as he snarled, "Damn it, if I hadn't lost the use of one leg, I'd have dealt with trash like this long ago... Why the hell did you come out instead of staying hidden? Looking to die?"
"Oh, come on, what kind of thing is that to say? I'm here to save you, of course. I care about you. If someone beats you to death, who am I supposed to take revenge on? I'm stubborn by nature. Revenge only satisfies me if I do it myself. Otherwise, how could it count as revenge?"
Lian Youming answered with a cheeky grin, but his gaze turned straight toward the Russian named Lei Hu, his intent to kill surging.
Seeing that Lian Youming was the first to return, Lei Hu had already guessed the gist of it. His expression turned sinister, as though he might pick someone to devour. "What did you do to White Ape?"
Lian Youming hefted the cattle-slaughtering knife in his hand and said without concealing a thing, "Isn't that a stupid question? I hacked him into pieces, naturally."
Then he pointed at the village woman's corpse. "Whatever else, you people violated her, and now she's dead. I can't very well let you leave alive, can I?"
Finally, Youming lifted his chin toward Third Brother Xie, his gaze shadowed and his expression almost a smile. "Uncle Xie, you had no part in this, did you?"
Third Brother Xie's eyes were cold. At that, he snorted and spat into the snow, cursing irritably, "Bullshit, you brat. I wouldn't stoop to something that filthy."
Lian Youming nodded. "Then that makes things simple."
Though Third Brother Xie's face remained calm, inwardly he could scarcely suppress his shock and doubt. The boy before him had changed far too much.
And he had even beaten a desperado like White Ape-a ruthless man who killed without blinking, dead just like that, without a sound, in these remote mountain woods.
A thought stirred, and Third Brother Xie could not help asking, "You're not hurt, are you?"
Lian Youming shook his head. "Enough chatter. Let's deal with him first, then settle our old scores. Can you manage?"
Third Brother Xie chuckled softly. "Heh heh, I really did judge you right, and so did the Mountain-Guarding Old Man. You're still full of surprises, brat. Fine, then let's slaughter this bastard first!"
(End of chapter)
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