A Fierce Woman

The old woman was advanced in years and could not stay up late; she was dozing in her room. Clang, clang, clang... The old grandfather clock struck nine times. A sudden palpitation seized the old woman's heart, jolting her awake from her slumber. It was only nine o'clock, still early before the Zi hour. Why, then, did her chest feel so terribly uneasy? Tick, tock! Tick, tock! Tick, tock! The pendulum of the old clock swung back and forth. Upon its polished surface, faint shadows gradually appeared. The mark room! A knife! Blood! Something had happened in the house! The old woman scrambled out of bed at once and ran toward the mark room. Stepping inside, she saw the mother and daughter, Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying, staying meekly where they were without having moved an inch—yet Li Banfeng was gone. "Decai! Demao! Get over here, both of you!" The old woman called for her two sons. Before long, the elder son, Decai, came in. "Where's Demao?" Decai rubbed his eyes. "Seems he went to the backyard to sharpen the knife. That old knife of ours is hard to sharpen; an hour might not even be enough. I told you to buy a new one, but you wouldn't let me..." The old woman spun around and slapped Decai across the face. "Still babbling about the fucking knife! Are you blind? The man's run off and you didn't even notice!" Holding his stinging cheek, Decai only now realized that Li Banfeng had vanished. He stepped forward, seized Xiao Yeci by the hair, and barked, "Where did he go? When did he get out?" Xiao Yeci shrieked hoarsely, "I don't know, I really don't know!" Beside her, Lu Chunying cried out, "Don't hit my mom! We don't know anything! When that man was brought in, we didn't speak to him. We fell asleep, and then he was gone..." This young girl had more nerve than her mother; she could explain things clearly. Yet was explaining things clearly of any use? Useless. The girl did not understand this, but Xiao Yeci knew all too well. This family were villains, and talking reason with villains was entirely futile. The old woman turned and instructed her elder son, Decai: "Go fetch Demao. Slaughter these two sluts first. That journey cultivator won't be able to get away." Hearing this, Xiao Yeci's voice broke in desperation. "Elder Sister, show mercy, please! Do whatever you want to me, but spare my child's life! I beg of you, I beg of you!" Xiao Yeci pleaded piteously again and again. The old woman did not even spare her a glance, but the eldest son, Decai, actually felt tempted. "Mother, weren't we going to wait until the Zi hour?" The old woman snapped in fury, "Things have gone to fucking hell, what the fuck are we waiting for?" "Mother, with such a juicy woman and such a pretty young girl, you won't even let us brothers have a taste before we..." Smack! The old woman slapped Decai across the face again. "How the fuck did I teach you? A couple of seductive words and you forget the rules? Go get your brother right now!" Decai dared not say another word and hurriedly left the mark room. He had long lusted after the bodies of this mother and daughter, but his mother had never let him touch them. Not just this time—whenever they kidnapped female hostages in the past, their mother had never permitted them to lay a finger on them. Their family never left survivors. Regardless of gender, young or old, once a captive set foot through this door, none ever walked out alive. Yet they had never bedded a single female hostage; even touching one a bit too much or speaking an extra word was forbidden. Their mother always insisted that doing such things violated the sect's rules. Yet the old woman would not allow the brothers to interact with women from within the sect either. Whenever a woman came to their door, she made the brothers stay out of sight, and if they ever brought up women in normal conversation, she would give them a harsh scolding. Decai patted his cheek, feeling that something was strange with him as well. What was wrong with him today? Usually, even if he thought it, he never dared mention it to the old woman, but why had he blurted it out today? *This woman is no ordinary person!* Decai glanced back at Xiao Yeci and walked away in frustration. Xiao Yeci kowtowed to the old woman. "Elder sister, good auntie, we've given you all the money on us. In the name of accumulating good karma and doing charity, please let my daughter go! Keep me instead—I'll be your servant, your beast of burden, or you can mince me up into meat filling, anything at all! I beg of you, elder sister, I beg of you, auntie!" These words echoed continuously within the mark room, gradually producing resonance. Before the echo faded, Xiao Yeci repeated them once more. The genuine voice and the echo overlapped, word by word, slamming directly into the listener's heart. The old woman grabbed Xiao Yeci by the hair and gave a savage sneer. "You mother-and-daughter sluts! Weren't you satisfied acting like a pair of temptresses before my son? You dare try your cheap tricks on me? Do you think I can't see through your little schemes? "You're a Mouth Cultivator. Whispering a couple of seductive words before a man might charm his soul right out of him, but with me, you'd better tuck away your trash if you want a quick death! Otherwise, I'll carve the cheap flesh off both of you slice by slice!" A Mouth Cultivator? There was such a pathway? What were the specialties of this pathway? Xiao Yeci wept, "Old Mistress, I would never dare use my meager cultivation on you! Everything I said comes straight from my heart! You can cut me with a thousand blades if you wish, just leave my child a way to live!" The old woman sneered. "Just for those words, I'll send this little slut on her way first!" With that, the old woman seized Lu Chunying by the hair. Lu Chunying was crying hard, but her hands were not idle—she scratched and flailed at the old woman. This little girl truly had some grit. Xiao Yeci was still weeping and pleading: "Old Mistress, I truly speak the truth! I beg of you, spare my child's life!" The old woman sneered, "If the mother is dead, what's the point of letting the child live? Leaving her alone in this world is nothing but suffering, so she might as well hit the road with you." With that, the old woman kicked Xiao Yeci over, tightened her grip, fiercely wrenching Lu Chunying's hair, and turned around to shout, "Decai, bring the knife!" The young girl cried out, "Mom, save me!" Xiao Yeci lunged toward the old woman again, only to be kicked to the ground once more. "Decai, where's the knife?!" "Mother, save me!" Eh? Who was speaking? The old woman turned around, only to see her son Decai standing in the doorway with tears streaming down his face, a knife tip protruding from his chest. Standing behind Decai, Li Banfeng smiled amiably. "Old Mistress, the knife is right here. I brought it for you." Seeing a blade thrust through her son's chest, the old woman's eyes instantly filled with blood. Decai was a first-tier Poison Cultivator whose cultivation was on par with Li Banfeng's, but Li Banfeng had the speed of a journey cultivator and the presence-concealing trait of a Dwelling Cultivator. Decai had been ambushed by Li Banfeng. "Let my son go!" the old woman roared, clutching Lu Chunying. "Or I'll kill her right now!" Li Banfeng did not understand what she meant. "If you want to kill her, go ahead. No need to tell me. She's not my kid." Grinding her teeth, the old woman said, "Do you think I'm joking with you?" Li Banfeng was even more confused. "What joke did you tell? What's so funny about it? Weren't you going to kill someone? Let's kill together then; I'll join in the fun." With that, Li Banfeng gripped the knife and pushed it further into Decai's back. The blade protruding from Decai's chest grew longer and longer. The old woman flung Lu Chunying aside and charged forward to save her son. Li Banfeng raised a foot and kicked straight at her kneecap. This kick was vicious and exceedingly effective against an enemy charging head-on; if it landed, it could cripple an opponent on the spot. Yet Li Banfeng missed. The old woman dodged it and raised a fist to punch him. The blow landed solidly, sending Li Banfeng stumbling, nearly knocking him off his feet. *Impossible. What cultivation does this old woman have?* *Her speed is faster than a journey cultivator's?* *And her strength is astonishingly great!* Before Li Banfeng could think further, the old woman pulled a hairpin from her hair and thrust it toward the space between his brows. Li Banfeng dropped into a crouch, barely avoiding it. The old woman sneered internally. *This fellow doesn't know martial arts.* Anyone skilled in martial arts, upon seeing a hairpin thrust at them, would either step back, lean back, or parry with a weapon. Dropping into a crouch—wasn't that just waiting to be beaten? The old woman raised the hairpin and stabbed down toward the crown of Li Banfeng's head. She was mistaken. Li Banfeng had no intention of waiting around to be beaten. Growing up, he had never lacked for bullies and was often beaten to the ground until he crouched. Yet crouching down did not mean he could not hit back. Crouched on the ground, he slammed a fist into the old woman's ankle. There was technique in this punch; under normal circumstances, it could dislocate the opponent's ankle joint. The old woman took the punch solidly, yet the joint did not dislocate. She only stumbled; she was not injured. Thanks to that stumble, however, the hairpin struck empty air instead of piercing the crown of Li Banfeng's head. *What pathway does this old woman belong to? She strikes fast, hits viciously, and can take a blow.* *Is she a Food Cultivator?* *Doesn't look like it. No matter how much Fatty ate, he certainly never had speed like this.* *Not only couldn't his speed compare, his strength was also inferior to this old woman's.* *What was worse, with every move the old woman made, Li Banfeng couldn't sense any danger at all, nor could he make any predictions.* Relying on bare fists and kicks certainly would not work. Li Banfeng circled behind Decai, intending to draw out the knife. With the old woman's prowess, she had no need whatsoever for a knife to kill that mother and daughter. Her insistence on having Decai bring the knife proved that it had to be out of the ordinary. Li Banfeng tried to pull the knife, but the old woman gave him no chance at all, lashing out with another kick that sent him flying out the door. Li Banfeng was hurled several meters. Before he could get up, the old woman suddenly appeared right in front of him. Teleportation? What tier of cultivation granted such an ability? Bang! With another kick from the old woman, Li Banfeng flipped through the air and landed flat on the ground. Li Banfeng did not get up this time. With such a disparity in speed, getting up would only invite more kicks. He simply used all four limbs to scramble madly toward the base of the wall. This time, he did not hold back at all, pushing his Wind Rises on Level Ground skill to the absolute limit. Reaching the base of the wall without the slightest pause, he scrambled straight up to the top. Just as Li Banfeng was about to leap over the wall, a large willow tree in the yard whipped its branches, lashing him back with a loud crack! Manipulating willow branches to attack? The old woman could use sorcery too! Just what pathway was this? Li Banfeng slammed heavily onto the ground, his consciousness growing hazy. *If this old woman is so strong, why did she bother drugging me in the first place? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just strike directly?* The old woman wiped the sweat from her brow. This intense clash had taken a heavy toll on her. She was no longer young; if there had been a surer method, she would not have chosen to take Li Banfeng on head-on either. The old woman crouched down and raised the hairpin in her hand, preparing to deliver the final strike. His expression dazed and unfocused, Li Banfeng suddenly raised a foot and kicked her hard in the belly. If he had kicked at her head, the movement would have been far more obvious, and she likely would have noticed. Yet this kick to the belly was extremely discreet. Taken completely off guard, the old woman was racked by a violent spasm and instinctively opened her mouth. The instant her mouth fell open, Li Banfeng produced a rust pill and flicked it right down her throat. Within five meters. He never missed.