Chapter 54: Am I the Only Blood Evil Demon in All of Cangzhou?
Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Am I the Only Blood Evil Demon in All of Cangzhou?
’Seriously? I ran into *you* of all people?’ This was the thought shared by the two men, one inside the room and one out.
The man inside the room was, of course, Qian Fugui.
He never imagined that Wu Chen had actually tracked him all the way to Black Stone City.
And had even found the very place he’d been hiding in for so long!
"Sir, why don’t you lie back..."
The courtesan, having seen the silver banknote, entered the room. She sank gracefully to her knees before Qian Fugui and reached for his belt, intending to get things started.
But Qian Fugui was in no mood for that. The moment he saw that familiar face outside, his stomach, which had mostly recovered, began to churn violently again, a dull ache returning.
His legs nearly gave out on the spot. There wasn’t a single part of him, top to bottom, that could stand at attention now!
This time, he didn’t even consider fighting. With a single leap, his portly frame landed by the window. He threw it open and jumped out.
BOOM!
His massive, heavy body slammed into the street below with a dull thud. Even the Flower and Grass Building seemed to tremble slightly from the impact.
"I can’t believe I ran into him here!"
Wu Chen, inside the Flower and Grass Building, was just as surprised to run into Qian Fugui.
After a moment of stunned surprise, he raised his saber and lunged for the room, only to be grabbed by an oblivious Jiang Fang.
"Whoa, whoa, not so fast, Young Master Wu! That room is already occupied by a guest!"
"He’s the guest I’m looking for!"
Wu Chen flexed his arm, and Jiang Fang’s hands were forced to release their grip, leaving him to watch helplessly as Wu Chen charged into the room.
He saw an empty room, a wide-open window, and the courtesan still kneeling on the floor, cursing and swearing at the empty window frame.
Wu Chen didn’t stop. He vaulted through the window and saw Qian Fugui’s figure scrambling away down the street.
"Stop him! Quickly, stop him!"
Qian Fugui hadn’t come to the Flower and Grass Building alone. Among the dozen or so men listening to music on the first floor, five were bodyguards he had hired for protection.
Each of these men was a late-stage Flesh Refining Realm expert. At thirty taels of silver a month, they certainly weren’t cheap.
Hearing the commotion from the street, all five men drew their sabers and rushed outside.
Following Qian Fugui’s pointed finger, the men looked up just in time to see a dark figure descending from above.
Before they could even grasp the situation, Wu Chen, having dropped from the second floor, landed with one foot on the shoulder of two different men.
PFFT! PFFT!
The two men he landed on felt their vision go black as they violently sprayed a mist of blood from their mouths. More blood seeped from their eyes, ears, and noses.
Imbued with the immense force of Overlord Lifts the Cauldron, Wu Chen’s descent was like a thousand-pound boulder, instantly shattering every bone in their bodies and reducing them to boneless piles of gore.
In the time it took to leap from the window, he had already torn a strip of cloth from his tunic to use as a mask, hiding his face.
Even though the men he intended to kill were from the Blood Slaughter Sect, it was clear that most people in the city didn’t know that.
To avoid the future trouble that would come from being seen killing people in the middle of the city, Wu Chen had no choice but to take this precaution.
Two of the five were dead on the spot. The remaining three raised their sabers in unison and brought them down on Wu Chen’s head.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Wu Chen spun, and a black light flashed.
There was no clang of metal on metal. The three steel sabers hacking at him simply split in half, the cuts perfectly clean.
’What a fine blade!’
’And you’ll be perfect for testing out my new technique!’
Looking at the men, still dazed and holding their broken blades, Wu Chen decided to test the effects of his ’Bone-Eroding Wind Blade: Momentum’.
For the past few days, while clearing out the gangs, Xue Hongling had been the main one doing the killing, while he was on cleanup duty—looting the bodies.
He hadn’t had a chance to properly use this new technique, so he had no idea how powerful it really was.
BZZT!
A half-inch white aura swirled around the tip of his blade as he slashed at the three men.
The saber in Wu Chen’s hand moved like an afterimage. A slash that fast should have been accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, yet this one was completely silent as it struck the three men around him.
As if slicing through tofu, he cut the three men in half at the waist. Only on the third man did Wu Chen feel the slightest bit of resistance.
With a single slash, three men were severed at the waist. As their torsos fell, their intestines and organs spilled onto the ground with a sickening SPLAT.
’Crap, this is going to make it hard to loot the bodies!’
Wu Chen stared at the piles of mangled flesh on the ground, instantly regretting his decision. He’d been so focused on testing his new blade that he’d forgotten he was making a huge mess for himself.
Forget cleaning up the bodies—in this state, he couldn’t even begin to loot them.
Wu Chen glanced around.
Only a few breaths had passed since he’d dropped from the second floor. That, combined with the fact that the streets of Black Stone City were usually sparse, meant that no one had yet noticed the horrific scene.
However, he could hear the courtesan running down from the second floor, wailing and demanding her money. Even though Wu Chen was masked, he had just been seen upstairs.
He didn’t linger. His figure shot forward in pursuit of the portly silhouette that was already dozens of yards away.
’Actually, I don’t need to kill this Qian Fugui just yet. I definitely heard him mention having a business outside the city.’
’If he wasn’t just bluffing, then just as I suspected, there’s a Blood Slaughter Sect stronghold somewhere near Black Stone City.’
’Last time, Xue Hongling said the strongest Blood Slaughter Sect fiend in Black Stone City was a two-meridian Meridian Passage Realm expert.’
’In that case, I might as well follow him and see what’s going on.’
With this in mind, Wu Chen slowed his pace slightly, deciding not to immediately catch up and kill Qian Fugui.
Instead, he kept a constant distance of about fifteen yards behind him.
After some time, the frantically fleeing Qian Fugui finally dared to glance back.
He saw the figure still about fifteen yards back, unable to close the distance in the slightest, and a sliver of relief flickered in his heart.
He felt relieved, thinking that Wu Chen’s Body Technique must be somewhat inferior to his fist and palm arts.
But then he remembered everything Wu Chen had done: first annihilating the medicine-planting estate, then chasing him all the way from the border of Cangzhou and Qingzhou to Black Stone City.
And now, he had found him inside the city and was pursuing him relentlessly.
"Wu Chen!"
Qian Fugui was frantic and furious, and he roared:
"Am I the only Blood Evil fiend in all of Cangzhou?!"
"Why do you keep chasing me and no one else!"
He thought Wu Chen had appeared in Black Stone City for the sole purpose of hunting him down.
Wu Chen grinned at his words. He had expected to find members of the Blood Slaughter Sect here, but he never thought he’d run into an old acquaintance.
Even his trip to the Flower and Grass Building had been to investigate the Golden Tooth Gang, not to find Qian Fugui.
It was just a complete coincidence that they’d run into each other.
When Wu Chen remained silent, Qian Fugui yelled again, "I know you’re from some righteous sect! You want revenge for those refugees we used as ’human cauldrons’!"
"But didn’t those refugees eat food and meat from my Blood Slaughter Sect for two months?"
"Even if we didn’t ’eat’ them, once they reached the city, wouldn’t they just be ’eaten’ by the noble houses and the court officials anyway?"
"So why are you so fixated on me!"
The more Wu Chen listened, the darker his expression grew.
Those words had crossed a line.
But he maintained his unhurried pursuit, keeping a pace that forced Qian Fugui to focus every ounce of his energy on fleeing, with none left for thinking.
His goal was simple: make Qian Fugui lead him to the Blood Slaughter Sect’s base.
Feeling the footsteps behind him, sometimes drawing near, sometimes falling back, Qian Fugui no longer had the mental energy to think. He finally shut his mouth.
He made a beeline for the city gate, wishing he could sprout wings and fly back to the quarry.
He believed that as long as his father made a move, he could ensure Wu Chen would die without a grave!
...
「Inn, Second Floor.」
Xue Hongling stood by the window, listening to the occasional pedestrians on the street below as they stopped to discuss the recent happenings.
They spoke of the heavens finally showing mercy, of a "good person" emerging from the Blood Slaughter Sect...
Hearing such talk, her mood gradually began to lift.
She finally understood that the gang members she had killed were, without a doubt, wicked men!
Her resolve to kill, which had wavered after her talk with Wu Chen, finally solidified.
She closed the window, deciding to get some proper rest and recover the energy she’d spent overthinking these past few days.
She would prepare to kill more of the gangs’ villains tonight.
Just then, a figure flashed past on the street in the distance.
Xue Hongling furrowed her brow. Though she had only caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her eye, she found the stout silhouette strangely familiar. Then it hit her.
It was the steward from the Blood Slaughter Sect who had taken her to the Cangzhou border for the herb-gathering trial!
Qian Fugui!
She remembered him clearly because of his exceptionally conspicuous build.
Xue Hongling’s hand went to the hilt of her saber. She placed her other palm on the windowsill, ready to leap down and execute the Blood Evil fiend.
’Why wasn’t he at the medicine-planting estate? Why was he in Black Stone City today, and looking like he was fleeing for his life?’
Then, another figure flashed past—a man with a masked face and a black saber, in hot pursuit of Qian Fugui.
One was running for his life, the other was after the Martial Arts hidden in the Blood Slaughter Sect’s base. Both were moving at incredible speeds.
In just the blink of an eye, the two figures were already nearing the city gate.
"Wu Chen?!"
Xue Hongling easily recognized the one chasing Qian Fugui and understood why the man was fleeing in such a panic.
But a moment later, a look of panic crossed her face.
’Oh no!’
’That Qian Fugui must be running to his father.’
’If Wu Chen chases him straight there, he’s going to be in trouble!’
Although she didn’t know the details of the Blood Slaughter Sect’s operations in Black Stone City, she knew about the relationship between Qian Sanjin and Qian Fugui, and she had personally witnessed Qian Sanjin’s methods.
If Wu Chen blindly charged after him, he would surely fall into an ambush, surrounded by the Blood Slaughter Sect’s fiends!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xue Hongling grabbed her saber, vaulted out the window, and sped off toward the city gate.