Chapter 58: Instant Kill
Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Instant Kill
Juvenile Spiritual Birds generally still had yellow downy feathers, and this was often the time when they were most prone to dying prematurely. However, for a Spirit Nurturer, they could only afford to buy Spiritual Birds at this stage. The reason was simple: they were cheap.
Chen Mo stood outside the stall, looking inside. Cages of chicks were locked in cramped iron confines, leaving them with almost no room to move. Even so, it was hard to conceal the proud expressions of these Spiritual Birds.
"Fellow Daoist, how many are you planning to raise?"
The stall’s Shopkeeper was a middle-aged man. His Realm was not high, looking about the same as Chen Mo. He held a woodcutter’s knife in one hand and dangled a chick in the other.
"Four!" Chen Mo thought for a moment, not daring to ask for too many. After all, it was his first time raising them. If he wasn’t careful, they could easily die, and he would suffer a huge loss!
As they spoke, the Shopkeeper pulled out an iron cage from behind him, rolled up his sleeves, and reached into the large cage to scoop up the chicks.
How could these Spiritual Birds allow a Cultivator to grab them so easily? All Things Have Spirit, not to mention they were descendants of Star Monarch Mao Ri! As soon as the Shopkeeper’s arm entered the cage, the surrounding Spirit Chickens immediately began pecking at his arm continuously with their beaks, attempting to deal him a fatal blow.
However, at this moment, a golden ripple emanated from the middle-aged man’s arm. Subsequently, starting from his elbow all the way to his fingertips, a thin layer of Golden Armor covered his skin!
Chen Mo was momentarily dazed, instantly remembering that he had seen this Magic before! When he bought the mysterious seed, that Loose Cultivator had demonstrated this exact Magic. He didn’t expect that this Magic was actually used in such places.
While Chen Mo was deep in thought, the Shopkeeper had already grabbed two chicks and stuffed them into the small cage. But soon, his attention was drawn elsewhere.
While the other chicks were resisting and struggling, one chick in particular was actively attacking! Its movements were more agile, and its pecking frequency was even higher! For every single peck the other chickens managed, it would lunge forward and peck three times. Not only that, but every time the Shopkeeper reached for it, it would easily dodge, simply refusing to be caught.
Chen Mo suddenly grew interested. Just as the Shopkeeper reached out for the fourth time to grab the last chick, Chen Mo pointed to the clearly more energetic Spirit Chicken in the iron cage and said, "I want that one."
"Which one?" The Shopkeeper lowered his head, looking at the large cage.
"This one."
"Oh," the man grunted in acknowledgement. He thrust his palm out, and the Spirit Chicken, which had just been dodging left and right, was instantly pinched by the neck.
Even so, the hyperactive chick kept pecking at the back of the man’s hand. It tried to struggle and resist. But how could it possibly resist? In the blink of an eye, it was stuffed into the small cage.
"That will be twenty taels of Spiritual Sand in total," the Shopkeeper said as he stacked the small cages and picked up his woodcutter’s knife.
Chen Mo didn’t hesitate. Five taels of Spiritual Sand for one Spiritual Bird was already a reasonable price, and he wouldn’t be able to haggle it down anyway. The businesses on Purple Cloud Peak almost always had clearly marked prices.
He took out twenty taels of Spiritual Sand and handed it over. Then, carrying the cage of chicks, he returned to Yi Er San Grain Station. After exchanging a few simple pleasantries with Song Yunxi, he pushed his small cart, which he had left there, and headed out of the Marketplace.
However, not long after he left, a figure slowly emerged from a street corner and sneakily began to follow him!
Song Yunxi, who had originally planned to return to his grain shop, instantly became alert. He stepped into the shadows and silently stalked the figure. In Song Yunxi’s eyes, the burly middle-aged man was clearly targeting Chen Mo! But his little brother didn’t seem to have noticed!
"Brother Chen, oh, Brother Chen. I told you not to farm that broken field anymore. See, you’ve been targeted by your enemies!" Song Yunxi muttered, hiding in the dark.
Since Chen Mo hadn’t noticed, he would just do him another favor! He made up his mind: he would wait for the unfamiliar Cultivator to attack, and when the two were locked in a desperate struggle, he would strike and finish the enemy off in one fell swoop. By then, his little brother would surely be moved to tears by his life-saving grace!
Song Yunxi followed them all the way. Finally, after entering a small grove, the unfamiliar Loose Cultivator made his move! He saw the man dive forward, catching up to Chen Mo—who was unsteadily pushing his small cart—at an extremely fast speed.
Leveling the long knife in his hand, the man spoke, "I opened this road, and this tree..."
"So he’s a martial artist who entered the Martial Dao," Song Yunxi muttered. He had already climbed onto a branch at some point.
As for Chen Mo? Before the other party could even finish speaking, he unleashed a Geng Metal Finger, instantly striking the man’s chest. How could the other party easily withstand a Great Success Stage Geng Metal Finger?
Xiao Changhua turned pale, completely terrified! Instantly, only one thought remained in his mind: "Run!"
He realized that the opponent was definitely not at the Qi Refining Second Layer! He was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, just like him! Not only that, the Insect Repellent Technique was simply not something he could contend with.
His originally prepared speech was instantly thrown to the back of his mind. Xiao Changhua turned and fled! But could he escape?
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, you’ve followed me all this way. It’s time for you to rest."
As soon as he said this, he fired another Geng Metal Finger. In the next instant, the back of the opponent’s head was pierced through, and he collapsed to the ground.
Atop the tree, Song Yunxi, who had been planning to intervene, twitched the corner of his mouth awkwardly. He originally thought it would be a "hero saving the damsel" scenario, but it turned out to be a completely different kind of good show. A good show that had even fooled him!
His little brother had long discovered the presence of the masked man, and was even fully aware of who the other party was. The difference in strength between the two sides was not just a tiny bit. The masked man hadn’t even launched a single attack before being instantly killed!
Just as Song Yunxi was preparing to head home, Chen Mo, who was down below, walked up and finished looting the body. Then, he repeatedly struck the corpse with Flaming Palms. He only stopped when all of the opponent’s flesh and bones had turned into ashes. During this process, he had consumed at least seventy percent of his Spiritual Qi!
After destroying the corpse and erasing all traces, Chen Mo dug a hole and buried the charred remains in the ground. After doing all this, he finally pushed his small cart and hummed a little tune as he walked back.
Inside the cart, the four quite intelligent chicks suddenly fell silent, no longer chirping after witnessing Chen Mo brutally kill a man and obliterate his corpse. Who wouldn’t feel their scalp tingle after witnessing such ruthless methods?
"Good heavens!" Even Song Yunxi was astounded. "My little brother is actually a ruthless character!"
He had seen people being killed, and he had killed quite a few himself. But using the Flaming Palm to destroy a corpse and erase all traces—that was truly a first! The scene was simply too shocking.
After Chen Mo walked far away, Song Yunxi thought for a moment before jumping down from the branch. He dug out Xiao Changhua’s corpse that had just been buried, and then headed straight back to Ancient Dust Marketplace.
He didn’t go into his own grain station, but instead went to the Master’s Mansion. A short while later, Song Yunxi led a squad of men back to the scene of the incident.
He pointed at the patch of charred black on the ground and said, "It’s this blind Tribulation Cultivator who actually dared to rob me! I’m reporting a crime! I want to report a crime! The Pavilion Master must give me justice!"
The Steward who followed him twitched his mouth. He cursed inwardly, "Who in Ancient Dust Marketplace would dare to provoke you, Song Yunxi?"