Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104. Awakened?
Panic surged through Wang Tao’s heart. Just as he was about to charge toward the islet, he saw that the few chief guards had already been forced back by the Bai Family warriors working together. Staggering, they fell back onto the shore, and he immediately relaxed.
The commotion caused by the Thunderbolt Pearl’s explosion had been far too great. By now, it had drawn the attention of nearly everyone by the lakeside.
Xie Yun exchanged another palm strike with the red-robed man, then used the momentum to leap backward.
He happened to see that the place where Yang Caiyu had been standing was now empty, with nothing left but scorched earth and bloodstains. Then he saw Wang Tao standing there alone, and his expression changed at once.
“Wang Tao, did you kill Yang Caiyu?!”
The Thunderbolt Pearl had left Wang Tao in a thoroughly miserable state, and he was already in a foul mood. Hearing that, he let out a cold laugh. “She only has herself to blame. She tried to be clever and ended up ruining herself by pulling out a Thunderbolt Pearl to seek death.”
“With the power of that thing, and with her standing that close, she’s probably already been blown to ashes without even a corpse left!”
Xie Yun’s pupils contracted sharply, shock and fury surging through him.
Yang Caiyu might have been arrogant, but her talent was excellent, and Chief Overseer Yang Cang valued her greatly.
Otherwise, he would not have forced through all objections back then just to place her in the position of chief guard over the medicinal fields for training.
“I think you’ve truly gone mad...”
Xie Yun stared at him coldly. “By provoking a seven-meridian martial artist like this, you probably won’t even be able to close your eyes in sleep from now on!”
“Heh, I’ll be waiting for Yang Cang to come to the Bai Family looking for me.”
Wang Tao sneered back. “But, Old Ghost Xie, you’d better worry about yourself first!”
Before his words had even fallen, he moved. Together with the red-robed man, who had just forced Xie Yun back a step, he formed a pincer attack, striking from left and right at the same time.
Xie Yun had already been no match for the other man alone. Now that there was an additional six-meridian opponent, the pressure on him became mountain-like.
He could only rely on footwork to keep dodging and weaving, fighting almost entirely on the defensive as he barely held on. Blood was already seeping from the corner of his mouth again.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Time rewound slightly.
Xu Yuan appeared to be running for his life without ever looking back, but in truth, he had been using the corner of his eye the whole time to keep track of the movement behind him.
The thunderous sound of the explosion, Wang Tao’s furious curses, the chief guards’ attempt to awaken the Purple Gold Eel... he caught all of it clearly.
His mind rapidly replayed what the chief guard of the Second Field had said earlier:
“Although the Purple Gold Eel often falls into slumber, it is violent by nature and most fond of the scent of blood. If enough blood and vital essence can be drawn into the lake, it may be possible to wake it.”
But Wang Tao and the others were guarding against that possibility with utmost vigilance. Pulling it off quietly would be extremely difficult.
Just as Xu Yuan was thinking it over, a furious shout suddenly rang out behind him:
“You little bastard, you ran fast enough, but let’s see where you think you’re going now!”
Xu Yuan’s steps slowed slightly as he turned sideways to glance back.
A Bai Family five-meridian martial artist had already closed to within three zhang. He was thin and wiry, with tiny mung-bean eyes, and in his hands was a pair of black iron spikes gleaming with a cold light.
Earlier, Wang Tao had flicked him a look, ordering him to stop Xu Yuan.
This man was called Sun Wu. Though his appearance was unremarkable, he was known for swift movement techniques. The moment Xu Yuan’s speed slackened even slightly, he had finally caught up.
“Die!”
Sun Wu flicked his twin spikes, which split into two vicious flashes of cold light, one aimed at the throat and the other at the heart. His moves were ruthless and tricky.
Seeing that Xu Yuan was still young, he was confident that even if he could not kill him in one blow, he could at least cripple him badly.
Xu Yuan’s brows lifted faintly, and an idea immediately formed in his mind.
His Wandering Dragon Step suddenly changed. He narrowly avoided the deadly edge of the twin spikes, but deliberately swayed as though caught off guard, then retreated swiftly toward the front-right.
Seeing this, Sun Wu felt delighted. With a low roar, he shouted, “Where do you think you’re going?!”
He immediately leaped after him.
Once he gained the advantage, he pressed it relentlessly. His twin spikes danced like the wind, every move aimed at Xu Yuan’s vital points, forcing Xu Yuan into a panicked-looking retreat.
Yet though Xu Yuan appeared to be at a disadvantage, his gaze remained calm. His footwork looked disorderly, but hidden within it was a pattern. Bit by bit, he lured his opponent closer to the lakeshore near the islet.
After failing to finish him off for so long, Sun Wu gradually grew irritated.
This brat was too slippery. Every time victory seemed within reach, Xu Yuan somehow managed to escape at the very last instant, like an eel slipping through his fingers.
“Damn it, let’s see how much longer you can keep dodging!”
He cursed angrily, his offensive growing even fiercer as he tried to exhaust Xu Yuan’s strength with an endless barrage of rapid attacks.
Xu Yuan’s eyes swept quickly across the surroundings. He confirmed that only a few scattered skirmishes were taking place in the distance, and very few people were paying attention to this relatively secluded corner.
And from here to the water at the edge of the islet, it was less than ten zhang.
The time had come.
A cold light flashed in his eyes, and the aura he had been barely maintaining suddenly changed.
His Wandering Dragon Step was no longer chaotic. Instead, it became elusive and unpredictable. With a flicker of movement, he easily evaded Sun Wu’s supposedly certain twin-spike strike aimed at both ears.
At the same time, the force he had been concealing erupted in full.
His counterattack was as fast as thunder. Gusts from his fists shot forth like white ribbons three feet long, and with force surging through them, he actually met Sun Wu’s twin spikes head-on in a direct clash!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal exploded outward. Sun Wu’s arms went slightly numb, and his heart was even more shaken. How had this brat’s strength suddenly become so much greater?
And his skin—why was it so tough? It felt almost like leather.
Xu Yuan seized the moment when Sun Wu’s focus wavered. He deliberately exposed an opening and took a kick to the shoulder head-on. Borrowing the force, he spun sharply, his left hand clamping onto Sun Wu’s right wrist like a steel vice while his right fist rained down like a storm!
Bang! Bang!
Several punches landed in succession, all crashing into Sun Wu’s chest and abdomen.
Sun Wu felt as though his internal organs had been hammered by a great mallet. The sound of ribs breaking was clear in his ears. Under the agony, his force scattered, and the twin spikes fell to the ground with a clatter.
Xu Yuan showed no mercy. His final punch crashed heavily into Sun Wu’s brow.
“Aaah—!”
Sun Wu let out a shrill scream as his entire body flew backward like a torn sack. Bones snapped in multiple places, and he collapsed limply onto the ground, unable to move again.
...
Meanwhile, at the main battlefield on the lakeshore.
Wang Tao had just found an opening and slammed a vicious palm strike into Xie Yun’s shoulder, sending him flying back in a spray of blood.
At that exact moment, Sun Wu’s scream tore through the mist.
Wang Tao snapped his head around.
On the embankment not far from the islet, he saw a young chief guard lifting the blood-soaked, limp-as-mud Sun Wu with one hand. Then, with a shake of his arm, he hurled him brutally toward the lake outside the islet.
“Stop!!”
At the sight, Wang Tao’s eyes nearly split apart as he roared in fury.
But he was already too late.
Sun Wu’s body traced an arc through the air before splashing into the lake with a heavy plop. Blood spread instantly, staining a broad patch of the water scarlet, a horrifying sight beneath the veil of mist.
The red-robed man saw it and flew into such a rage that his hair seemed to stand on end. He bellowed, “You little bastard, I’ll take your life!”
He actually abandoned Xie Yun on the spot, turning into a streak of bloody lightning as he charged straight at Xu Yuan!
But Xu Yuan had already reacted the moment the man turned. He drove his Wandering Dragon Step to the limit, his blood and qi roaring through his body as he fled desperately toward the distant forest.
After chasing for more than ten zhang, the red-robed man was inwardly startled. Was this brat part rabbit? How could he be that fast?
Yet just as he had reached the middle of his pursuit—
Rumble...
The ground began to tremble without warning.
It was as though some enormous creature had turned over beneath the lakebed. Pebbles on the shore began to jump and rattle, while the muddy, fishy smell that had already been strong abruptly intensified. Mixed within it was a violent aura that made the heart quail.
A faint, indistinct hiss seemed to rise from the depths of the lake’s center, low and rolling like muffled thunder.
Wang Tao’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and he cried out in a trembling voice:
“This is bad... the Purple Gold Eel has awakened!”