Chapter 71: Disposal
Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Disposal
"How did you get so covered in injuries?"
Chen Li leaped from the ox cart and crossed to his eldest son’s side in a few large strides.
His eyes quickly swept over Chen Shouheng’s blood-stained clothes and pale face.
Before Shouheng could answer, his father’s fingers darted out, rapidly pressing several major acupoints on his chest.
A gentle and pure stream of Inner Qi flowed into him, a warm current that temporarily suppressed the turbulent qi and blood and chaotic Inner Breath in his body.
"It’s a long story."
Chen Shouheng gave a bitter smile. While his father was treating him, he quickly explained how he and Mu Yuanying had been ordered to raid the reed marsh, how they were ambushed, how they discovered the Water Bandits’ main lair, and how they encountered the Two Immortals of Life and Death on their way back.
After stabilizing his son’s qi and blood, Chen Li took out some hemostatic powder he carried with him from the ox cart and handed it to Mu Yuanying. "Miss Mu, you should stop the bleeding first."
Mu Yuanying hesitated for a moment before taking the porcelain vial. "Thank you... Uncle," she said in a low voice.
"Let’s head back to the county seat first."
Chen Li had the two of them get onto the ox cart.
He had originally planned to go to Zhuoyan Collection, but with his son and Mu Yuanying seriously injured and the intelligence they carried being critical, returning to the county seat to report was more important.
Chen Shouheng sat on the cart and watched the old ox amble along. It was sometimes even slower than he could walk. He couldn’t help but whisper a reminder, "Dad, this ox cart... it’s a little slow, don’t you think?"
"You’ve been riding in it for years, since you were a child. Now you’re complaining?" Chen Li scolded with a laugh.
Chen Shouheng said anxiously, "Dad, that’s not what I mean. Those Two Immortals of Life and Death might catch up to us!"
"It’s fine." Chen Li, however, was in no hurry.
"Dad, our family should really buy a horse-drawn carriage."
"How much grain can a carriage pull? Besides, raising a horse is so much trouble. We live in the south. It’s not like we can go to the market for fodder every day. We’d have to set aside land just to grow it, and that’s a waste of good fields."
...
Chen Shouheng’s worries were not unfounded.
Before long, a cloud of dust rose on the road behind them. Two figures, one fat and one thin, closed in at lightning speed, carrying with them a palpable killing intent.
"You goddamn little bastards! You little slut! Let’s see you run now!"
The fat woman spotted the two on the ox cart at a glance and immediately flew into a rage, her eyes turning as red as blood.
Her obese body displayed astonishing explosive power as she leaped through the air like a mountain of flesh. Her palms, wreathed in a vicious wind, aimed straight for Chen Shouheng and Mu Yuanying on the cart.
Just as she was about to land within ten feet of the ox cart.
A sound so sharp it could almost tear one’s eardrums—the shriek of something slicing through the air—suddenly erupted.
Suddenly, the shadow of a dark staff appeared out of thin air. It carried a terrifying, overwhelming power, devoid of any fancy techniques—just a simple, direct, horizontal sweep.
The savage smile on the fat woman’s face instantly froze. Her pupils reflected the staff’s shadow as it grew larger and larger, her expression replaced by pure, abject terror.
She couldn’t even see who had attacked!
The staff’s aura had locked onto her like an invisible mountain, causing the qi and blood in her body to nearly solidify. Even breathing became incredibly difficult.
All she could do was force a short, sharp shriek from the depths of her throat.
Desperately channeling all her Inner Strength, she twisted her obese body to one side in a nearly impossible contortion, trying to roll away and dodge.
But it was too late!
The staff’s shadow had her locked down, its speed too fast for her eyes to follow.
THUD!
A dull, heart-stopping thud echoed.
The head of the dark staff smashed solidly into the fat woman’s incredibly thick shoulder blade.
There was no crisp crack of breaking bone, only a dull, bursting sound, like a sledgehammer striking waterlogged cotton.
"AARGH..."
The fat woman let out a blood-curdling howl that barely sounded human.
Her thick layers of fat, which she was so proud of, were as fragile as paper under the Black Iron Staff.
The immense force exploded in an instant, sending her cumbersome body flying like a flimsy sack. She crashed onto the ground dozens of feet away.
When she landed, the very ground seemed to tremble.
Blood sprayed violently from her mouth. One side of her shoulder was twisted and caved in; the bones were clearly shattered, and she had completely lost her ability to fight.
This all sounds like it took a long time, but the sudden turn of events happened in the blink of an eye.
The tall, skinny man behind her hadn’t even seen how she’d been sent flying.
"Stupid hag!"
The tall, skinny man roared, his dark face twisting in fury. He ignored his own injuries and rushed forward to help her.
The iron spheres Shouheng had thrown had mostly caused superficial damage. Large patches of his skin were burned, but he hadn’t suffered any serious internal injuries.
But he never got the chance.
The shadow of the black staff that had sent the fat woman flying reappeared in an instant, once again shrieking through the air as it aimed for the vital point on his back.
The tall, skinny man’s soul nearly left his body. He tried to dodge.
However, before he could even turn around.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking bone rang out.
The Black Iron Staff slammed into the vital point on his back without any resistance.
"Pfft..."
The tall, skinny man flew off his feet, a long arc of blood spraying from his mouth as he sailed through the air. He landed heavily not far from the fat woman.
His body convulsed violently a few times before going limp like a pile of mud.
Just two moves.
The "Two Immortals of Life and Death," who had just pushed Chen Shouheng and Mu Yuanying into a desperate corner, were now both critically injured.
It all happened so fast that Mu Yuanying and Chen Shouheng, watching from the cart, were completely stunned, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
They never could have imagined that opponents so powerful would be utterly crushed before Chen Li.
Chen Li withdrew the Qiankun Ruyi Staff, his gaze sweeping coldly over the Two Immortals of Life and Death on the ground.
The fat woman stared at Chen Li with venomous hatred, bloody foam bubbling from her lips. "Who... who are you?" she rasped.
"Where is the Sect’s stronghold?" Chen Li asked, ignoring her question.
A flash of panic crossed the fat woman’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a mad resolve.
She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue, and a bizarre jet of blood shot unexpectedly from her mouth, aimed straight for Chen Li’s face.
"Hmph!"
Chen Li snorted. The aura around him pulsed, and the foul blood was blasted away by an invisible wave of Qi Strength before it could even get close.
But in that brief moment of delay, a terrifying blackness spread across the fat woman’s face. Her head lolled to the side as she spat out a large mouthful of inky-black, bloody foam and died instantly.
"Stupid... hag..."
Nearby, the tall, skinny man, who had been lying limp as mud, seemed to sense his wife’s death. He struggled to lift his head, looked in her direction, and let out a faint, miserable laugh.
Then, he too shuddered violently. The same inky-black foam trickled from his mouth, his head slumped, and he fell silent.
"They committed suicide by poison..."
Mu Yuanying watched as the two died in an instant, her voice tinged with regret. "What a pity. We couldn’t get any useful information out of them."
Chen Li’s gaze swept over the two corpses, his expression unruffled. He searched their bodies and found only a ledger and a few taels of broken silver.
He flipped through it casually. It was a ledger of transactions and didn’t seem very useful.
He had Chen Shouheng and Mu Yuanying find a secluded ditch nearby to hastily bury the bodies. After erasing their tracks, he said in a deep voice, "Let’s go. Back to the county seat."
"Dad."
Wiping the dirt from his hands, Chen Shouheng sidled up to him and lowered his voice. "Since you’re here anyway... should we, uh, make a little detour and check out that Water Bandits’ lair?"
Chen Li shot him a look and scolded, "Wealth stirs a man’s heart, but you have to be alive to take it."
"Ahem... It’s mainly because you’re here, Dad!"
Chen Shouheng gave an awkward smile and scratched his head. "If it were just me, I wouldn’t even dare to think about it..."
Chen Li glared at him irritably. "You little rascal, what about your dad’s life? Doesn’t it count?"