The sudden emptiness in his arms told Lian Youming things had gone wrong.
Blood blinded his eyes, and his opponent had broken free. With no time to wipe away the blood on his face, he frantically searched for the short man, but found only empty space before him—not a ghost of a figure remained.
A second later, a figure tumbled down from above, landing like lightning squarely atop Lian Youming's shoulders.
Bai Yuan's face was dark, his expression vicious. The moment his feet settled, he dropped into a crouch, his legs clamping around Lian Youming's neck like a black dragon coiling around a pillar. His ten fingers hooked inward, and without a second thought, he clawed straight toward the eyes of the youth beneath him.
"Die for me!"
If this claw landed true, it would gouge out the boy's eyes, and he could seize the momentum to smash both temples and finish him off.
In truth, the instant his shoulders sank under the weight, a shiver ran through Lian Youming. His face turned pale, his eyes shot red, and feeling the murderous intent descending from above, he could think of no technique to counter it. Yet facing life and death, how could he simply stretch out his neck for the slaughter?
In the nick of time, watching the pair of ape-like hands clawing down at him, he suddenly reached up and clamped down hard on the legs wrapped around his neck. Then, leaping with all his might, he tucked his head and shrank his body midair, hurtling himself recklessly toward a boulder a few paces away.
"Heh heh... we die together!"
Bai Yuan had already launched his lethal strike and was on the verge of success, never expecting Lian Youming to resort to such a suicidal tactic. Perched up high and pinned in place, feeling the violent wind buffet his face as the boulder rushed toward them, a chill shot up straight from his tailbone to the crown of his skull.
"Ah!"
With a shrill, bizarre screech of shock and fury, the man ground his teeth, aborted his attack, and frantically pulled his body back.
Lian Youming had held nothing back in his charge, looking poised to dash his brains out and die on the spot. But it was as if he had been waiting all along for Bai Yuan to change moves. The moment his lethal strike was withdrawn, their forward momentum shifted subtly; twisting sideways, Lian Youming slammed in with his shoulder and elbow.
In the spark of a flint, a dull thud rang out. Lian Youming stumbled backward four or five paces as if drunk. Half his body was numb, the clothes on his left shoulder were torn to shreds, and the qi and blood in his chest and abdomen roiled wildly. A warm trickle quietly surged from his mouth and nose, tinting his vision with crimson.
Yet he was merely injured, while Bai Yuan was ruined.
Rolling onto the ground, Bai Yuan had his left leg twisted aside at an unnatural angle, sharp bone fragments jutting out amidst gushing blood. Coughing up mouthfuls of blood, his face was contorted in agony and malice as he stared at Lian Youming.
"Kill!"
Even reduced to such a state, Bai Yuan could still move. Pushing off the ground with both palms, taking advantage of Lian Youming's roiling qi and blood, his murderous resolve unyielding, he lunged forward.
Lian Youming curled his tongue, spat out a mouthful of clotted blood with a pale face, and drew with a backhand motion. A flash of snow-bright blade light burst into the air.
The ox-butchering knife.
He had almost forgotten about this thing.
Watching the figure lunging straight at him, Lian Youming gripped the knife. Murderous intent blazed hot within him as genuine fury ignited. Without dodging or evading, he leveled the blade and strode forward to meet him.
Shink!
Under the bright moonlight, two silhouettes crossed paths.
At the very moment they brushed past, a bloody fist print appeared on Lian Youming's chest, while Bai Yuan's airborne body was severed cleanly at the waist, spilling entrails into a windblown shower of blood.
Lian Youming looked calm, though flames seemed to rise in his eyes. Flicking the steel blade in his hand to shed a stream of hot blood, he turned back to look.
"Khhh... khhh... khhh..."
Bai Yuan lay on the ground. Even cut in half on the spot, he had not yet breathed his last. A pair of blood-soaked eyes glared venomously at the youth walking toward him step by step, as if he still wanted to crawl back up.
Lian Youming came to a halt. Lowering his gaze, he looked down at the twitching half-body before him, still dripping with malice, and said nonchalantly, "Facing death and still full of malice—to be so purely evil takes some nerve... Bai Yuan, was it? In that case, I won't be leaving your corpse intact. Consider it my vengeance for the body in the woods."
With that, he lifted his eyelids slightly, slowly raised the knife, and brought it hacking and chopping down again and again in a manner almost like pounding with a hammer.
Sparks flew; the blade's edge curled.
Under the wild, merciless gleam of the blade, flesh and blood flew until that half of a body was reduced entirely to a puddle of shattered bone and mangled meat. Only then did Lian Youming stop, drenched in blood.
The torso was pulverized, but the head remained intact.
"Phew!"
Looking down at the mangled remains strewn over the ground, Lian Youming stood frozen for quite a while before finally exhaling a long breath. Inhaling the thick stench of blood, though his tense expression softened, his face turned even paler, and the hand gripping the knife trembled faintly, unsteady.
Yet the moment that breath was spent, between an inhalation and an exhalation, his right hand gripping the knife steadied once more.
Rock steady.
The night had grown deep.
The moon hung at mid-sky; clouds retreated from ten thousand peaks.
Glancing up at the moon overhead, Lian Youming carried his knife, strode over the mangled corpse before him, and plunged into the birch woods.
However, when he reached the other combat ground, the situation caught him off guard.
A figure flew backward, crashing heavily into the still-blazing campfire.
Countless sparks rose with the wind, then quickly dimmed.
Lian Youming's eyes flashed like cold lightning, sweeping across the scene, only to find that the one sent flying was Xie Laosan.
The man seemed to have suffered badly—not only covered in dirt and soot, but with blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.
Meanwhile, Lei Hu pursued in great strides, shifting his stances continuously, opening with grapples, catches, and locks. Wherever he passed, the embers of the campfire scattered as he drove straight in with crushing force, forcing Xie Laosan back step after step.
Suddenly.
"Heh!"
A light laugh drifted into the clearing.
Both Xie Laosan and Lei Hu froze in their tracks.
Lian Youming raised an eyebrow as he walked out from the woods, sneering mercilessly, "Third Uncle Xie, you're not doing so well, are you? Where's all that vigor you had when you were trying to kill me?"
Xie Laosan was still his usual self, a fierce gleam in his eyes as he spat viciously, "Dammit, if I hadn't lost a leg, I'd have dealt with scum like this long ago... What the hell are you crawling out for instead of staying hidden? Looking to die?"
"Aiya, look what you're saying. To save you, of course! My heart bleeds for you. If someone beats you to death, whom would I take revenge on? I was born stubborn—revenge only feels good if I do it with my own hands. Otherwise, how could you call it revenge?"
Lian Youming replied with a cheeky grin, but his eyes shifted straight to the Russian named Lei Hu, his murderous intent flaring up fiercely.
Seeing that it was Lian Youming who returned first, Lei Hu had already guessed most of it. His brows turned dark and sinister, as if ready to devour someone alive. "What did you do to Bai Yuan?"
Lian Youming hefted the ox-butchering knife in his hand and said without hiding anything, "Isn't that obvious? Chopped him into eight pieces, of course."
With that, he pointed toward the village woman's corpse. "No matter what, you ruined this person and took her life. I can't very well let you walk away alive."
At last, Lian Youming jerked his chin toward Xie Laosan, his eyes deep, wearing a faint, ambiguous smile. "Uncle Xie, you didn't have a hand in this, did you?"
Xie Laosan's gaze turned frosty. Hearing this, he scoffed and spat into the snow, cursing irritably, "Quit your dog-fart nonsense! I wouldn't stoop to such filthy business."
Lian Youming nodded. "Then that's settled."
Though Xie Laosan appeared calm on the surface, he could hardly conceal his shock and suspicion inside. The youth before him had changed simply too much.
And he had actually defeated a desperado like Bai Yuan—a ruthless killer who didn't bat an eye, now dead without a sound in these deep, ancient woods.
Stirred by this thought, Xie Laosan couldn't help asking, "You're not hurt, are you?"
Lian Youming shook his head. "Less talk. Let's finish this man first, then settle our old score—how about it?"
Xie Laosan chuckled lowly. "Brat, my eyes didn't fail me after all, and the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain wasn't mistaken either. You're as full of surprises as ever. Fine, then the two of us will slaughter this bastard first!!!"
Chapter 29