Chapter 42 : Chapter 42
Chapter 42: Li Xingge’s Ruthlessness
Half an hour later,
under A-Liang’s guidance, Li Xingge and the others finally found Brother Jin’s home.
His house stood in a remote little mountain village.
It was deep into the night, and the villagers had all long since gone to sleep.
Although the barking of dogs woke some of them, and they wanted to come outside to see what was happening, the moment they saw those tall shadows outside, they were frightened back into their homes.
In a corner on the north side of the village,
an old oil lamp burned quietly, casting a dim and murky light.
Brother Jin sat there reading through an ancient text. He studied it intently, completely absorbed.
“Husband, why are you still awake so late?”
His wife complained softly from the bed.
“You go to sleep first. I’ll read a little longer.”
Brother Jin answered impatiently.
His wife shot him a look and grumbled, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but those damned dogs have been making such a racket tonight. They’re driving me mad. I can’t sleep at all.”
Brother Jin’s attention was entirely fixed on the ancient text, and he did not hear her at all.
At last, he seemed to discover something in the book and suddenly slapped his thigh.
Overjoyed, he exclaimed, “I found a way! I finally found a way! The Blood Spirit Flame Python enters a deep slumber for three days every three months. When that time comes, that’ll be when I make my move.”
“What are you muttering about over there?”
Seeing how secretive her husband was acting, his wife asked curiously.
Brother Jin shot her an annoyed look. “A woman shouldn’t ask so many questions. Right, what was it you just said?”
“I said the dogs have been making an awful racket tonight. It’s strange. They’ve never been this noisy before.”
His wife looked puzzled.
For some reason, the moment he heard those words, a terrible premonition arose in Brother Jin’s heart.
It felt as though something bad was about to happen.
He had always trusted his instincts.
“Wife, hurry and pack my things. I’m going out.”
Brother Jin spoke urgently.
“Didn’t you just get back today? And besides, where are you going so late at night?”
Though his wife was unwilling, she still obediently got out of bed and began packing his bundle.
With the bundle on his back, Brother Jin opened the front door—and his whole body froze. One foot had just stepped out when he pulled it back inside.
Outside the door stood dozens of black-robed figures with fierce auras, sabers hanging at their waists, mounted on tall horses and looking down at him from above.
“Zou Jin, where are you going so late at night?”
A young voice spoke with a smile.
Bang!
The door slammed shut again.
But in the next instant, an immense force came crashing in.
The door was blasted to splinters.
Brother Jin’s body flew backward and slammed hard into the wall, and he spat out a great mouthful of blood.
From that single punch, it felt as though all his internal organs had shifted out of place.
He had barely tried to get up when, in the next moment, two powerful hands pinned down his shoulders so firmly that he could not move at all.
Then his sleeping parents, his son, and his wife were all dragged out by the men in black and forced to kneel on the ground with their heads pressed down.
Seeing the fear and terror in the eyes of his family,
Zou Jin’s eyes flew wide, and rage split his canthus. He roared furiously, “Who are you people? Barging into a private home in the middle of the night—do you have any respect for the law?”
“The law?”
The black-robed men all burst into laughter, as though they had just heard the greatest joke in the world.
The young man at their head stepped forward.
It was Li Xingge.
He waved a hand, and the laughter came to an abrupt stop.
“Take us to the Blood Spirit Fruit, and I can spare your family.”
Li Xingge spoke indifferently.
Although Zou Jin forced himself to appear calm, his heart had already been thrown into turmoil.
“They really did come for the Blood Spirit Fruit. But how did they find out about it?”
The only other person who had known about it, A-Liang, had already been silenced by him on the mountain. He had stabbed straight through his heart. The whole thing should have been flawless.
They had to be bluffing.
“My lord, what are you talking about? What Blood Spirit Fruit? I don’t know anything about it.”
Zou Jin said with a blank expression.
Li Xingge let out a cold laugh. His acting was not bad.
Li Xingge lightly clapped his hands.
Then a person Zou Jin knew all too well stepped out from behind Li Xingge.
“You should recognize this person, shouldn’t you?”
The moment Zou Jin saw that familiar face, it was as though he had been struck by lightning.
He blurted out, “A-Liang? H-How is this possible? Weren’t you already dead?”
Seeing this elder brother who had once taken such good care of him, A-Liang let out a bitter laugh and sneered, “Your strike was accurate, but unfortunately for you, my heart is on the right side.”
Zou Jin suddenly understood.
So that was it. So that was it!
If I had known, I should have cut off his head.
Regret flooded Zou Jin’s heart. This single oversight of his had brought a disaster so great it blotted out the heavens.
“So, can you take us to the Blood Spirit Fruit now?”
Li Xingge asked coolly.
“My lord, you mustn’t believe his lies. He’s deceiving you. There is no Blood Spirit Fruit. He only wants to borrow your hand to kill me and avenge himself for what I did to him. I’ve gathered herbs for so many years, and I’ve never seen any Blood Spirit Fruit.”
Still clinging to a sliver of hope, Zou Jin continued to argue.
The Blood Spirit Fruit was a priceless treasure of legend. It was also his only chance to change his fate in life.
He truly could not resign himself to handing it over.
“It seems you won’t shed tears until you see the coffin.”
What little patience Li Xingge had was finally exhausted by Zou Jin.
He beckoned with his hand. Two black-robed Li Clan cultivators stepped forward from behind him, drew their sabers, and, under Zou Jin’s furious stare, chopped off the heads of Zou Jin’s parents with clean, efficient strokes.
The blood that sprayed out splashed all over his wife, and she fainted on the spot from sheer terror.
Looking at the two gray-haired heads lying on the ground, their eyes still open in death, Zou Jin cried out in despair, “Father! Mother!”
“Do you remember now?”
Li Xingge asked with a smile.
“I’ve never seen any Blood Spirit Fruit! I don’t know where it is!”
Zou Jin roared back.
Li Xingge clapped his hands lightly. “Good. Very good. I like tough bones like you. Kill one more and help him remember.”
“Yes, Family Head!”
The black-robed cultivator grinned viciously and walked toward Zou Jin’s wife. He slapped her across the face.
Zou Jin’s wife woke with a start. The moment she remembered what she had just seen, she let out a shrill scream like a madwoman.
The saber rose and fell.
The world instantly fell quiet again.
Another head rolled to the ground.
“Do you remember now?”
Li Xingge asked with a smile.
But to Zou Jin, that smile looked like a devil clawing its way up from hell.
Even A-Liang, who hated Zou Jin to the bone, was badly shaken by the ruthlessness of these men in black.
Zou Jin had already gone numb.
The black-robed cultivator dragged out Zou Jin’s son next. The child had already fainted from fright.
Looking him over, Li Xingge clicked his tongue and said, “Your son really does resemble you. It’s as though he was stamped from the same mold.”
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”
That sentence became the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
Zou Jin’s mental defenses collapsed completely.
He wept bitterly and cried, “I know where the Blood Spirit Fruit is! I know the way! I beg you, don’t kill my son! He’s my only son!”
Li Xingge chuckled lightly. “See? Wouldn’t it have been better if you had spoken sooner? If you had, they wouldn’t all have had to die.”
Zou Jin broke into anguished sobs.
“Now then, lead the way.”