Chapter 45
Chapter 45: Catching Bullets Bare-Handed Feels Good
Whoosh~
A single figure was sprinting through the night like a phantom at rapid speeds.
“Haha! I guess the Blind Princess’ Eight Practices is quite awesome! Who needs a pickup truck with this speed?”
It was Jiang He.
As the saying goes, the gods never let down those who work hard. After he downed qi pellets as if they were sunflower seeds, he finally managed to reach rank-five advanced in the evening, just as the luminous blade inside his head started to shine after a day of gestation.
That in turn afforded Jiang He a burst of confidence, and he quickly finished his supper to enter the mountains, ready to kill two rank-six Ferals to gather the materials needed for leveling up his farm.
He had departed from Jinyintan Village, hitching a ride from a car travelling on the same path to reach Baitugang Village, where he then released his Blind Princess’ Eight Practices to dash all the way across the Changliushui scenic route and into the mountains.
“By the way… Why do I have the feeling that someone was calling my name when I was running through the Changliushui scenic route? Must be imagining things…”
He had run over twenty miles at once, crossing over eight mountains before he finally slowed down. Standing over a small hill, he looked out and saw that there were wind turbines on top of almost every mountain peak before him, but there was no sign of a single Feral.
“What’s going on? Logically speaking, shouldn’t there be more Ferals here in the mountains where there are fewer people around? Even Duan Tianhe confirmed that… eh?”
Suddenly, Jiang He’s eyes moved towards the distance.
It was nighttime, with gloomy clouds hanging overhead, permitting no moonlight to pass. However, that was nothing for Jiang He who had some extent of night vision after eating carrots for days.
He turned, and found two men walking side-by-side at a nearby mountain path over eight hundred meters away.
The mountain path had been wide when it was first paved to build the wind turbines years ago, but gravel paths like these were easily damaged. Not to mention, flash floods frequently occurred in these hills. Just a few years without maintenance had caused these paths to be inaccessible to cars.
“Excuse me…” Jiang He called out, running towards the men with a smile. “Excuse me, may I know whether you two are going to hunt in the mountains?”
Both men were carrying guns, and there were some blades hanging from their hips too. They certainly looked the part of hunters…
“Hold on…” Jiang He’s heart skipped a beat when he suddenly realized something. “Those blades are glinting faintly even in the night. They aren’t normal blades… alloy weapons, perhaps?”
Snap!
The guns were cocked.
In the next second, two dark barrels were aimed straight at Jiang He.
“Who are you?” asked one of them coldly.
The aura around one of them—who turned out to be rank-four martial artist—was strong. His companion was bursting in vigor too, with a golden radiance glinting faintly off his head.
‘An Awakened with Superstrength? And the shape of his head has changed… looks like a steel body?’
Getting the idea, Jiang He smiled and said, “No need to be so nervous, gents. I have no ill-intentions in mind. I’m just a normal farmer who came into the mountains to gather some fertilizer.”
At his words, the golden-headed middle-aged man couldn’t help turning to his partner to ask, “What should we do, Brother?”
“Kill him!” His companion sneered. “Why would a normal farmer come here in the middle of the night? Getting fertilizer… What, are you trying gather Feral dung for fertilizer? Only a kid would be fooled by such nonsense.”
Shoving his gun forward until the barrel was less than one meter away from Jiang He’s head, the man’s eyes were cold as if he was staring at a corpse.
“Young man,” he said evenly. “I would have spared you if it had been any other day, but not today. We have a big day ahead of us. What if you expose us? So… die!”
Bang!
The man pulled the trigger.
A spark shot out of the barrel dazzlingly in the night.
Through it all, Jiang He was staring tightly at the mouth of the barrel.
He noticed that he could clearly make out the trail where the sparks from the barrel sprayed, as well as the metallic bullet that shot out, spiraling away from it… That was why he reached out with his right hand and extended two fingers to try and catch the bullet.
And then…
He really caught it.
The man who fired the gun was dumbstruck. Beside him, the middle-aged man whose head was shining was also stunned, his mouth hanging open as he stared stupidly at Jiang He as if he was a monster.
What the heck!
Even Jiang He himself was taken aback. He could actually feel the scorching heat from the bullet… and yes, it was very hot. But fortunately, he had Indestructible Diamond, which meant that bit of heat wouldn’t hurt him.
‘What… catching bullets bare-handed? Not even soap operas would put that in their film. But I actually did it?’
Jiang He’s surprise was followed by excitement, and he simply flung away the bullet with a smile. “Bro, come on. Shoot me again—catching bullets bare-handed feels good.”
“Who… who are you!?”
The middle-aged man’s face dropped, but when he remembered his holy faith’s operation, he clenched his teeth and pulled the trigger again.
Bang-bang-bang!!!
It was rapid-firing this time.
Jiang He was about to evade by instinct, only to notice that he could clearly see the trail of the bullets once again. His hands danced, leaving afterimages around him as if he were Guan Yin with a thousand arms.
When the bullets stopped flying, he spread his palms to reveal the yellowed bullets on them. His palms were a little charred and smoked.
“Looks like normal guns are no threat to me. Even if I don’t catch them, Indestructible Diamond would stop those bullets from scratching me,” said Jiang He, blowing at his hands.
As a matter of fact, normal gunfire was definitely useless against martial artists above rank-four, although Jiang He had learned about armor-piercing bullets made of new composite metals. Still, those were expensive, worth millions per bullet. They were used against powerful Ferals, not to mention that they were capable of penetrating the defenses of elite martial artists.
But while he was relaxed, the other two men were scared witless.
The rank-four martial artist drew his blade, bursting out his rank-four True Qi and bore down at Jiang He. Beside him, the superstrength Awakened also drew his blade, crying out as he swung it towards Jiang He.
Jiang He stood his ground and did not move.
He energized his Nine Yang True Qi and Indestructible Diamond Technique. Soon, a vague silhouette of a golden bell flickered, and after two dull echoes of steel clashing, the weapons of the pair were promptly knocked out of their hands.
“I told you that I’m just an ordinary, innocent farmer passing by, and yet you two would come at me so ruthlessly. Did you assume that the Bodhisattva would never get angry?”
Jiang He raised his hands, killing the rank-four intermediate with Mighty Dragon Shows Remorse, right before moving his feet and releasing Blind Princess’ Eight Practices to intercept the golden-headed man who had turned to run.
“So, what were you saying?” he asked calmly.
***
Meanwhile, deeper within the mountains, approximately twenty miles from where Jiang He was.
Old Liu, who was still smoking from his pipe, frowned. “What the heck are Zhang Shan and Li Si doing? The operation will begin soon, but they’re still not here? The Heavenly General had even spoken… They are definitely going to get the Three Swords, Six Holes treatment…”