"Ah!"
At that heart-rending scream, Third Brother Xie went mad. His hair hung loose, and he looked like a vengeful ghost, his lone hand darting left and right as he clawed and snatched at Lei Hu, grabbing for his ears and eyes, every attack aimed at a vital spot.
Lei Hu's remaining eye bulged wide. Under the agony, he too seemed to descend into madness. Sensing the vicious attacks above his head, he simply abandoned Lian Youming in front of him and swung both fists wildly, smashing at Third Brother Xie's elusive clawing hand.
But how could Lian Youming let such a perfect opportunity slip away? He had just seen Third Brother Xie's vicious groin-snatching tactics, and remembering how hard Lei Hu was to hurt with punches and kicks, he immediately seized the opening as the man withdrew his fists. He feinted with his hands while pouring all his strength into his right foot, drawing the instep taut before hooking it toward him.
With one eye clawed blind, Lei Hu was already in utter disarray. Now he also had to fend off the deadly threat overhead. His fists swung, and Third Brother Xie was floundering, seemingly about to die beneath his blows, when an unexpected chill below his crotch sent a shudder of alarm through him.
Lian Youming's hooking kick was not after his private parts-it was after his life.
But he was, after all, a desperado who licked blood from a knife's edge. Even in such peril, Lei Hu managed to react. Rather than retreating, he advanced, his legs coiling around Lian Youming's right foot like two monstrous pythons as he toppled sideways.
With his right leg locked, Lian Youming's movements were restricted. Dragged by the other man's force, he felt searing pain through his muscles and bones, as though they were about to snap, and fell helplessly as well.
Third Brother Xie, who was wrapped around Lei Hu's neck, went down with them.
As they fell, fearing that Lian Youming would strike, Lei Hu drove through his waist and rolled with both men. Like gourds tumbling across the ground, the three of them rolled and flipped, crashing this way and that through the mountain woods.
Between that fierce, overbearing force and the rocks battering him, Third Brother Xie felt as if his whole body were about to fall apart. His face turned white as paper.
With his right leg locked, Lian Youming could not break free for the moment either. He could only tumble with their momentum, battered until his head spun.
Seizing the opportunity, Lei Hu's lone eye turned bloodshot. One hand clamped tightly around Third Brother Xie's left wrist, while the other formed a tiger claw and shot upward like lightning. Turning his wrist, he seized Third Brother Xie around the waist and abdomen, driving force into his bones.
"Ugh!"
Caught at his vulnerable ribs, Third Brother Xie gave a muffled groan of agony. As the Qi in his dantian escaped, eighty or ninety percent of his strength drained away, and his whole body seemed to go limp.
"You old bastard!"
Lei Hu grinned cruelly. Veins bulged along his arms as his muscles swelled with exertion, and in an exceedingly strange posture, he seemed ready to tear Third Brother Xie apart on the spot.
The sound of tearing cloth rang clearly in their ears, accompanied by Third Brother Xie's screams.
During their struggle, Lei Hu had already swept Lian Youming away with a kick.
"Die!"
His legs now free, Lei Hu drew a breath and steadied himself, hoisting Third Brother Xie high before slamming him toward his raised right knee.
With Death Tribulation before him, Third Brother Xie's heart brimmed with unwillingness, his old eyes blood-red.
If only his Qi and blood had not declined, and his body were not crippled-otherwise, how could he have fallen to such a state?
"Ah..."
That soft sigh released both his breath and his strength.
As for Lian Youming, he would have to fend for himself.
At death's door, Third Brother Xie still instinctively glanced toward the figure who had tumbled away.
He had fallen for that brat's nonsense. Had he known, he would have run far, far away.
Just as his eyes shifted, Third Brother Xie suddenly felt heat splash against his cheek. Lei Hu's other eye burst with a pop, blood spraying out, and time seemed to stand still.
Several meters away, Lian Youming had risen to one knee, his face covered in dirt, a slingshot in his hand as he panted heavily.
Lei Hu's lifting motion faltered. Before he could scream, Third Brother Xie seized the opening to escape his grip and dropped from midair. His feet turned and circled behind the man, his left hand darting beneath his crotch like lightning. He squeezed, then released.
"Urgh..."
In an instant, Lei Hu's entire face visibly flushed crimson with blood, veins bulging in his neck. His whole body shot bolt upright, and amid a suppressed groan of soul-piercing agony, he swept a kick into Third Brother Xie's chest.
Third Brother Xie immediately spat blood and fell backward, his fate unknown.
But as Third Brother Xie retreated, a burly figure strode forward.
Lian Youming clenched his right fist in midair, marshaled his strength and lifted it lightly, then drew his right arm back into an exaggerated arc, like drawing a bow and nocking an arrow, before driving it into Lei Hu's belly.
"Go down!"
As that tremendous force struck him, Lei Hu's limbs shook, and his massive body flew two or three meters before crashing into an old tree.
After a moment of rigid stillness, he slid down the trunk and landed on his backside. Blood filled his mouth and nose, and he urinated blood as well. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he spat out a mist of blood. Then his head drooped, and he died on the spot.
Lian Youming wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes flashed as he walked up to Lei Hu and delivered another vicious kick to his head. Only after confirming that he was thoroughly dead did he retreat a few steps and look toward Third Brother Xie, who was struggling to rise from the ground.
Lei Hu was dead, and this man seemed unlikely to survive either.
Lian Youming swept his gaze over him. A quick look revealed that Third Brother Xie was not only lame but had also lost an arm. His chest had caved in, and he was coughing up great mouthfuls of blood, his face ashen as earth. His lamp had burned through its last drop of oil.
Their eyes met. Third Brother Xie struggled upright, bracing himself on the ground with one hand, and said weakly, "Boy, if you want to kill me, do it. Once I regain my strength, you won't get another chance."
Lian Youming's gaze was complicated. Call the man evil, and yet he had his limits and honored loyalty and righteousness. But call him anything else, and he was steeped in slaughter and had made an enemy of him.
"Save your breath. In your state, taking a few more breaths matters more than anything."
Remembering how they had just fought together, and how the man had traded a hand for an eye, he suddenly felt much of his hatred fade. He even felt a faint impulse to save him.
As he had before, Lian Youming teased him with a cheeky grin. "How about surrendering?"
Third Brother Xie stared straight at the young man before him and said mockingly, "One roll of your eyes, brat, and I know what you're thinking. You want the map to that underground Kwantung Army fortress, don't you?"
Lian Youming did not conceal it. "Of course. Who wouldn't want something good?"
"Heh, heh... cough, cough..."
Third Brother Xie laughed at that, but after two chuckles, he began coughing blood incessantly, a miserable sight.
Lian Youming watched in silence. After thinking it over, he stepped forward and propped the old man up, then fished a slice of Yellow Essence from his pocket. Looking deeply pained, he said, "I only have a few pieces of this left. Usually, I slice it thin to eat it."
Third Brother Xie bit into it without the slightest ceremony, then curled his lip. "Stingy little thing."
While eating the Yellow Essence, his other hand also fumbled around his waist, as though searching for something.
Lian Youming turned to look. Seeing that the old devil was feeling for his tobacco pipe, he picked it up for him, then took some tobacco from the tobacco pouch and packed it inside.
The old man accepted it with a smile. Only after biting down on the mouthpiece did he pick up a half-burned piece of charcoal from the ground, hold it to the bowl, and draw deeply.
Lian Youming seemed utterly exhausted too. Driving his Inner Strength really did consume too much essence and Qi. He sank down beside Third Brother Xie.
"Say, why did you come back? Weren't you supposed to flee abroad?"
Third Brother Xie exhaled a mouthful of smoke and remained silent for a long while. "I spent half my life here and never left. Where could I run? Besides, the White Lotus Sect is hunting me all over the world. At the very end, surely I shouldn't die in a foreign land. I used to scoff at all that talk about fallen leaves returning to their roots. Now that death is upon me, I find myself wanting somewhere to come home to."
Lian Youming raised an eyebrow. "Because you botched the job?"
Third Brother Xie shook his head. "Because of the map in my possession. It's no small matter. There's an earth-shaking secret hidden in it. I came by it by chance."
Seeing Lian Youming's dirt-covered face, Third Brother Xie could not help smiling. "How does the jianghu taste?"
"Mm," Lian Youming said. "Not bad. Very fresh!"
At that, Third Brother Xie was filled with emotion. "Ever since you started sounding me out with those roundabout questions on the mountain, I knew you were made for the jianghu... I just never expected it to happen so quickly."
As he spoke, his chest and abdomen began heaving violently. His breathing was heavy, yet he kept twitching like a leaky bellows.
"I can give you the map. There's also an old Seven-Leaf ginseng root beneath that old tree over there. You can have that too, but you must promise me one thing."
Third Brother Xie spoke between gasps, his breathing frighteningly rapid.
Lian Youming nodded. "Tell me."
Third Brother Xie sighed. "I've done plenty of wrong in my life. My hands are covered in blood. I've long been prepared to die, and I've never regretted it. But one regret has haunted me all these years. I have a granddaughter in Cangzhou, Hebei..."
Lian Youming frowned. "You don't want me to protect her, do you?"
"No." Third Brother Xie shook his head, his gaze wandering as he stared into the night sky. "She was born deaf and mute. Don't disturb her life. If you have time, just take a look at her from afar for me. If there's any gold, silver, or treasure in that underground fortress, don't be stingy, brat. It needn't be much, just enough for her to live out her life in peace... She was only six or seven when I went to see her back then. She should be in her early twenties now, grown into a graceful young woman... Her photograph and address are inside..."
As he spoke, the old man pressed something into his hands. It felt smooth and warm, seemingly a jade case.
Lian Youming listened, a hundred feelings mingling within him.
Third Brother Xie added rapidly, "You must be careful. Most of those White Lotus Sect experts are proficient in Bone-Shrinking and Shape-Shifting and Disguise and Alter Appearance. They've infiltrated everywhere. If you notice anything wrong, make sure you strike first... You're fine material for martial arts, brat. Don't practice only 'Hua Jin.' Manifest, hidden, and transforming strength are merely methods of training. Beyond those methods lies a whole new world, and it also concerns the secret guarded by the Mountain-Guarding Old Man..."
His voice grew softer and softer, until it was almost a murmur, and the rise and fall of his chest and abdomen slowed.
"Once you enter the jianghu, you always return empty-handed. Burn me in a great fire. Whatever you do, don't hand me over to anyone else. I don't want to be humiliated after death... let it... let it all be clean..."
Lian Youming too lifted his eyes to the sky and sighed softly. Beside him, the old man gradually fell still.
(End of chapter)
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