More Extortion

Before he had gone far, Hui Ye narrowed his eyes.

Someone was following him!

Who was it?

Since enrolling at Shrek Academy, he hadn't offended anyone.

Hui Ye ran through the possibilities.

Wang Dong? Bei Bei? Zhou Yi? Or Lu Tian and his father, Lu Feng, from when I enrolled?

It wouldn't be Huo Yuhao. He has no need to follow me; he could just come straight at me.

Judging by the footsteps and presence, the person following me isn't very strong. Their method of concealing Soul Power is rather clumsy.

Lu Tian is the most likely!

He's a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster, and his control over Soul Power is pretty lousy.

If Lu Tian is here, Lu Feng should be here too.

If I remember right, Lu Feng is a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. I definitely can't beat him.

Hui Ye's eyes darted around, and a plan came to mind.

He used a fingernail to cut his hand, then flicked the droplets of blood into the dense woods beside him.

He turned and swept his gaze around, pretending to panic, then took to his heels, his steps unsteady and stumbling.

Behind him, Lu Feng cursed at Lu Tian. "That's what you get for not mastering your skills. You let your presence show. Hurry up and chase him."

Lu Tian's mouth turned down, and he seemed a little aggrieved. He grumbled inwardly:

Isn't it because your genes are so lousy that my Innate Soul Power was only level four? Otherwise, I'd have broken through to level thirty long ago.

Seeing how slowly Lu Tian was moving, Lu Feng felt bitter. I gave birth to a useless son. As if making trouble for his father weren't enough, he has to drop the ball at a critical moment!

"I'll go first. Follow behind me. Any slower and he'll disappear."

Lu Feng left Lu Tian behind, circulated his Soul Power, and went full throttle.

Hui Ye darted through the dense woods, keeping an occasional ear out for movement behind him.

Huh? He hasn't caught up yet? Is a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor that lousy?

"Stop!"

A figure jumped down from a tree, blocking Hui Ye's path.

Seeing who it was, Hui Ye thought, It really is the two of them. Lu Tian hasn't caught up yet? In that case...

"Teacher Lu Feng, it's been a while."

Before Lu Feng could speak, Hui Ye hunched over and slammed straight into him.

Who could have expected the boy to advance instead of retreat? Caught off guard, Lu Feng took the full impact.

Yet Lu Feng didn't budge an inch. His legs seemed rooted to the ground.

"Heh, boy, is that all you've got? Too weak. If that's the extent of your tricks, prepare to die."

Lu Feng raised his palm...

"As you wish."

Hui Ye's body suddenly swelled and exploded on the spot with a boom.

Lu Feng let out a muffled grunt as the shock wave sent him flying into a tree.

"Cough, cough!"

Fortunately, he had his Martial Soul active at the time. Otherwise, he would definitely have been injured.

Lu Feng got to his feet, too preoccupied to brush the dust off himself, countless question marks floating above his head.

What the hell?

He blew himself up!

Lu Feng couldn't make any sense of Hui Ye's thinking.

He looked up at the treetops. A leg hung from one of the branches, blood dripping from it.

A cool breeze blew past, rustling the leaves.

Plop!

The leg fell from the treetop onto the ground.

"This..."

Lu Feng's eyes widened like bronze bells.

He died just like that?

That's far too hasty. I haven't even made a move yet.

Unwilling to believe it, he kicked the head lying beside him.

Rumble-

The head rolled a few times, turning its face toward Lu Feng.

There wasn't a trace of the fear of death on that face. Instead, it was smiling, giving the impression that it had gotten its way.

Lu Feng's scalp prickled, and his mind raced.

"Damn! It was some kind of Soul Skill, or a Soul Bone Skill. He escaped."

As Lu Feng was thinking this, a familiar sound of self-detonation suddenly reached his ears, followed by a scream.

"Tian'er!"

For all his complaints about Lu Tian, he was still his own son, his only bloodline.

He raced back the way he had come, searching everywhere for signs of Lu Tian.

Three minutes passed, and sweat beaded on Lu Feng's forehead. Fear of the unknown was the most tormenting of all.

Was he injured, or...

Lu Feng didn't dare think any further.

Tian'er is a Two-Ring Soul Master. He shouldn't be defeated so easily.

But when he thought of Hui Ye's bizarre self-detonation, he lost his confidence.

"Where is he?"

"Damn it, where is he?"

"Tian'er!" Lu Feng called out again and again. He stumbled and fell, pitching forward.

Looking up, he saw a large pool of blood on the ground ahead. A crow stood in it, pecking away. "Caw, caw, caw!" it cried joyfully.

Lu Feng's mouth hung open, and his head swayed twice. For a long while, he couldn't speak.

"What a sorry sight."

Lu Feng jerked his head up. Hui Ye was standing on a branch more than ten meters above the ground, holding Lu Tian by the collar in one hand and a severed arm in the other.

"You're courting death!"

Lu Tian's eyes nearly split with rage, and four Soul Rings pulsed in unison around him.

"Those who humiliate others will always be humiliated in turn; those who kill others will always be killed in turn.

"Do I really have to teach you something so simple, Teacher Lu Feng?"

Hui Ye spoke as though instructing a student who didn't know better.

Lu Feng's face darkened, and the fourth Soul Ring around him shone.

"Don't be so quick to attack. Your son isn't quite dead yet. See how thoughtful I am? I'm even holding his arm for you.

"If he's treated in time, this severed arm can still be reattached.

"You wouldn't want your son to become disabled, would you?"

"Don't even think about bargaining with me."

Lu Tian raised his hand, and a ball of lightning gathered in his palm. He made to hurl it at Hui Ye.

Hui Ye pulled Lu Tian in front of him as a shield and gave a sinister laugh. "Hehehe, I can't die anyway. I can even survive blowing myself up. The only one who'll die is your son."

Lu Feng's hand trembled. The lightning ball grazed past the pair on their left and struck the top of a towering tree in the distance, blasting its crown apart.

The wind picked up the torn leaves drifting down from the tree and whipped Lu Feng's robes into disarray.

"Your terms."

Hui Ye smiled warmly. "Hand over your Gold Soul Coins, Soul Bones, whatever you've got that's valuable."

Lu Feng stared at him suspiciously, trying to discern his purpose, but couldn't make anything of it.

"That's all?"

"That's right, that's all. It's not as if there's some deep-seated grudge between us, is there?

"You and your son were expelled because of your own conduct, when it comes down to it.

"Now you've come to hunt me down, and I've beaten your son half to death. I've vented my anger.

"Of course, if you want your son to live, hand over the money."

Hui Ye grabbed Lu Tian by the hair. The latter's eyelids lifted slightly, and he seemed about to draw his last breath at any moment.

"Dad... save me..."

"All right, I'll give it to you. Don't hurt Tian'er."

Lu Feng held back his anger and tossed his Soul Tool Ring to Hui Ye.

"There are three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in there. I don't have any Soul Bones or any other treasures. Even if I did, I wouldn't have brought them with me."

Hui Ye caught the Soul Tool Ring and sent his Soul Power inside to inspect it. His eyes lit up at once. This made money much faster than Huo Yuhao selling grilled fish.

"That'll do."

Killing Lu Tian would be easy, but trying to kill Lu Feng could easily go wrong. He would leave them alive for now; there would be plenty of time to deal with the father and son later.

Hui Ye tossed Lu Tian's severed arm into the dense woods on the right, then threw his mangled body into the dense woods on the left.

"You bastard!"

Furious, Lu Feng quickly hurled a lightning ball at Hui Ye, blasting half his body apart.

"Until we meet again, if fate allows. You can have this half of my body..."

Hui Ye's half-mouth opened and closed. His mangled body fell, hitting the ground with a thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Without so much as a glance at Hui Ye, Lu Feng turned and raced into the dense woods on the left.

It took him half an hour to find Lu Tian's mangled body and severed arm.

Seeing his son on the brink of death, he felt as though a knife were cutting into his heart.

"Dad!" Lu Tian forced out the word.

In that instant, Lu Feng aged considerably.

On the way back, a thought rose in Lu Feng's mind.

Hui Ye's Soul Power was far too bloody and bizarre. There was only one explanation: an Evil Soul Master.

He must be an Evil Soul Master!

Only an Evil Soul Master could use such bizarre methods of resurrection and self-detonation.

How could a normal Soul Master possess methods like these?

I'll report him to Shrek Academy!

I might even have a chance to return to the academy!