Chapter 161 - 153: Kill Zheng Tian, Enrage Zheng Hu
Chapter 161: Chapter 153: Kill Zheng Tian, Enrage Zheng Hu
One day later, in a relatively secluded alley within the Zheng Family Marketplace, the young Cultivator Lu Zhao had been targeting—Zheng Tian—was walking quickly by himself, seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere.
Just as he passed the darkest, narrowest corner, his vision blurred. The very air around him seemed to freeze solid! An irresistible, crushing force, like a collapsing mountain, instantly enveloped his entire body! Before he could even utter a cry of alarm, his head felt as if it had been plunged into a glacial cave. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.
Lu Zhao’s figure appeared silently, like a phantom from the shadows. He grabbed Zheng Tian and stuffed him into a Beast Taming Bag, one he had acquired from some unlucky Tribulation Cultivator.
Immediately after, a flash of Spirit Light sparked at his fingertip as a sharp, subtle gust of wind cut through the air! A Jade Scroll and a bloodstained scrap of cloth—clearly torn from Zheng Tian’s clothes—were precisely pinned to the moss-streaked wall deep in the alley, looking exceptionally stark in the gloom. The Jade Scroll contained a few terse words, yet every one was like a poisoned Ice Cone:
"Your son, Zheng Tian, is in my hands. Three days from now, at noon, on the peak of Locust Wood Mountain, one hundred li northeast of the Marketplace. Bring one hundred Spirit Stones and come alone to ransom him. If you are late or if I see anyone else, you can come collect his corpse."
Having done all this, Lu Zhao’s figure flickered like a shadow melting into the wall. He activated his Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill, instantly transforming into a travel-worn merchant carrying a small bundle on his back. He merged into the sparse crowd outside the alley and vanished without a trace.
When the bloodstained Jade Scroll and scrap of cloth were delivered to the Zheng Family’s Spirit Mountain—carried with trembling hands by several Zheng Family Law Enforcement Team disciples, as if they were holding a searing hot brand—and presented to the Fourth Elder, Zheng Hu, the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer Cultivator instantly exploded like a powder keg!
"Worthless! You’re all worthless!" Zheng Hu’s hair and beard stood on end with uncontrollable rage as he slammed his palm onto the priceless zitan wood table beside him! CRACK! With a loud bang, the table instantly disintegrated into splinters and dust, sending wood fragments flying! He glared at the squad leader of the Law Enforcement Team who had brought the news, whose face was ashen. Zheng Hu’s eyes were so bloodshot they looked like they might drip blood. "In the Marketplace! In broad daylight! My son was kidnapped! What the hell does the Law Enforcement Team even do? Are you all blind?! A bunch of useless gluttons!"
The squad leader trembled like a leaf in the wind, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. Steeling himself, he tried to explain, "Fourth Elder, please calm your anger! The culprit... the culprit is exceptionally cunning. He chose a dark, secluded area with complex alleys and little foot traffic in the Marketplace to make his move. And he was as fast as a phantom. We... we truly couldn’t guard against it! This person must be a deeply calculating, premeditated serial offender..."
"’Couldn’t guard against it’? ’Serial offender’? ’Premeditated’?" Zheng Hu, trembling violently with rage, cut him off with a roar, spittle flying from his lips. "Those are your excuses?! A pack of incompetent fools! If anything happens to my son, I’ll make you all pay!" His chest heaved like a broken bellows as he struggled to suppress the towering inferno of rage that threatened to burn away his sanity. "Speak! Are there any clues? How do we save my son?!"
The squad leader’s voice trembled uncontrollably. "F-Fourth Elder, this culprit’s Cultivation is unfathomably deep, and his methods are flawless. It might... it might take some time to investigate thoroughly..."
"Time?! Can my son afford to wait?! The Jade Scroll explicitly says three days from now, at noon! Three days!" Zheng Hu chopped the air with his hand, his voice decisive as a final verdict. "You’re all off this. I’ll personally go and meet this reckless fool who doesn’t know the difference between life and death! I will tear him to pieces!"
"Fourth Elder, reconsider!" the squad leader pleaded in terror. "The Elder Ancestor gave strict orders that the family Elders are not to leave lightly in recent years, to prevent any mishaps! Besides, the other party specifically demanded you come alone. This is clearly a trap to lure you in! There must be a huge ambush waiting! It’s better to let the Law Enforcement Team handle this and plan carefully..."
"I know the Elder Ancestor’s decree better than you!" Zheng Hu roared. A flicker of struggle and pain crossed his eyes, but then he saw the scrap of cloth stained with his son’s blood in his hand. The thought of the torture his son might be enduring, a heart-piercing worry, instantly overwhelmed all prohibitions and reason. "’Leave it to you?’ ’Plan carefully?’ If I wait any longer, my son’s corpse will be cold! Go back and tell Old Sixth that ever since Third Brother fell, the Law Enforcement Team he took over has gotten worse year by year! Tell him to think hard about how to fix it! Useless trash!"
「Three days later. Noon.」
「One hundred li northeast of the Zheng Family Marketplace, Locust Wood Mountain.」
The late autumn mountain wind was bone-chillingly cold. It swept through the gnarled, twisting branches of the old locust trees covering the mountain, letting out a mournful shriek that added to the bleak and murderous atmosphere.
On the mountain peak was a small clearing of exposed, greyish-brown rock, scattered with a thick layer of curled, withered yellow locust leaves.
Zheng Hu stood alone, planted in the center of the clearing like a steel spear, his hands clasped behind his back. His face was as dark as water, so grim it seemed ink might drip from it. A bulging Spirit Stone Bag hung at his waist, and his knuckles were white from clenching his fists.
His gaze was as fierce and wary as a wounded, lone wolf as he scanned every gnarled branch and jagged rock around him. The mountain wind whipped his robes, making them snap and flutter.
"The Spirit Stones! I’ve brought them! Where is he?! Where is my son?!" Zheng Hu channeled his Magical Power, his voice like a sudden clap of thunder. It rolled across the mountaintop, thick with anxiety and fury!
However, the only reply was the mournful cry of wind through the forest, the rustle of dry leaves, and a deeper, deadlier silence. The mountaintop was empty, as if he were the only person there.
Time trickled by in the frigid wind. Zheng Hu’s patience, like the sweat in his clenched palms, was slowly being evaporated, torturing him. The anxiety and rising violence in his heart nearly burst from his skull. Just as his eyes became webbed with bloodshot veins and his violent aura was about to erupt out of control, a flat voice, devoid of any fluctuation, suddenly sounded behind him:
"What’s the rush? I’m here, aren’t I?"
The voice was right behind him!
Every muscle in Zheng Hu’s body tensed like iron. He spun around, his pupils contracting sharply! He saw a middle-aged Daoist priest in a grey robe with a sallow face, so plain he would be lost in a crowd, standing just a few dozen feet away. His expression was as placid as an ancient well!
"Where is my son?!" Zheng Hu roared, his voice like grinding stones, as he stared intently at the man’s expressionless face!
An almost imperceptible, cold arc lifted the corner of Lu Zhao’s mouth, as if he were enjoying a meticulously staged play. He raised a hand and pointed toward the more densely wooded foot of the mountain, his tone flat and emotionless. "There, isn’t that him?"
Zheng Hu’s heart sank. He instantly snapped his head around to look, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints!
Down on the desolate path, half-hidden by shrubs and withered grass, he saw a tall, dark cyan Giant Ape Puppet with a metallic sheen, madly charging up the mountain! In one of its massive hands, it clutched a figure covered in dirt. One of the figure’s legs was twisted and broken at a bizarre angle. The figure’s aura was as faint as a candle in the wind. It was his son—Zheng Tian!
"Tian’Er!!"
Zheng Hu’s eyes nearly split from their sockets! He let out a furious roar! Seeing his son in such a miserable state, his heart felt as if it were being sliced by a thousand blades. A brutal, chest-tearing killing intent erupted from him! But his last shred of reason told him his son was still in the enemy’s hands! He suppressed his almost uncontrollable rage, his voice trembling violently with extreme anger and heartache. "The Spirit Stones are here!! Give me back my son!!"
’This is exactly the situation I wanted!’ Lu Zhao watched Zheng Hu’s face twist with extreme anger and heartache. His will moved, and a silent command was issued.
The Cyan Wood Giant Ape Puppet that had charged to the mountaintop stopped abruptly about ten feet from Zheng Hu! Its heavy body stomped down, sending stone fragments flying. It opened its giant palm and, with a THUD, tossed the barely-breathing Zheng Tian onto the ground ten paces in front of Zheng Hu, as if he were a piece of trash.
Zheng Tian let out an incredibly faint groan of pain. His swollen, bruised eyelids fluttered open a crack. His cloudy eyes saw his father before him, and his chapped lips moved with great difficulty but failed to produce any clear sound. Only blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Tian’Er!!" Zheng Hu’s heart shattered with pain. All his caution evaporated in an instant. He instinctively lunged forward to check on his son’s injuries, even if only to confirm he was still alive!
In that fleeting, lightning-fast moment when Zheng Hu leaned forward, his center of gravity shifting! A vicious glint erupted in Lu Zhao’s eyes, like cracking ice revealing a deadly edge! The command in his mind was issued like a bolt of lightning!
The Cyan Wood Giant Ape Corpse Puppet’s left hand—which had been hanging limply at its side, a massive fan-like appendage that seemed cast from steel—shot out without any warning! Its five iron fingers, each as thick as a child’s arm and glinting with a cold metallic light, precisely clamped down on Zheng Tian’s head, which lay limp on the ground, caked in blood and filth!
"N—O—!!!" Zheng Hu’s eyes threatened to tear from their sockets. A hoarse, cracking roar, like the shriek of a blood-bird, burst from his throat!
However—
SQUELCH—CRACK!
A sickening, muffled explosion that made one’s scalp tingle and bones run cold, accompanied by the crisp sound of instantly shattering bone, echoed clearly across the desolate mountaintop!
Under the sudden clench of the Giant Ape’s massive palm, Zheng Tian’s fragile head burst like a delicate Pottery Jar filled with red liquid! Red blood, white brain matter, mixed with shards of bone, flesh, and hair, exploded outwards under the immense pressure, like a foul flower smashed by a heavy hammer!
It splattered all over the hem of Zheng Hu’s robes and his black boots, a glaring mix of filthy red and ghastly white! More of the warm, viscous crimson and creamy white matter!
Time seemed to freeze completely in that moment!
The expression of rabid fury twisting Zheng Hu’s face froze solid, turning him into a clay sculpture, a wooden statue!
Extreme fury, heart-rending worry, the determination to save his son at any cost... all these intense emotions were utterly washed away in an instant!
All that remained was disbelief. His mind went completely blank! He stared dumbly at the headless corpse before him, at the nauseating, viscous mess of red and white on the ground. A roaring drone filled his head, and it was as if the world had lost all sound.
Lu Zhao acted as if he had just realized what happened. He let out a long, drawn-out "Tsk!" His tone dripped with a bone-deep, feigned regret, but his eyes were as cold as the ice of the Nine Netherworld. "Oh, dear. My apologies. I didn’t control my strength properly. It seems I accidentally... crushed your son’s head."