Chapter 307 - 160: Death Building
"Wh-wh-wh-where... wh-wh-wh... where is this?"
Luo Qingyi quickly explained:
"Calm down. Look at you, you’re so worked up you’re spitting blood. It’s not that serious... This is the Death Building, and this fat guy is one of their Assassins."
Man Shengming froze for a moment:
"The Death Building?"
"You’re not stuttering anymore!?"
Luo Qingyi was overjoyed.
"Move!"
Man Shengming suddenly reached out, shoved Luo Qingyi aside, and threw a fierce punch.
A humming sound, WENG, instantly filled the air.
Luo Qingyi quickly turned to see the fat cook, sent flying by a palm strike from Scholar Jingtan, tumbling toward them.
Man Shengming’s punch landed squarely on the fat man.
His fist sank deep into the fat man’s flesh, stopping him in mid-air.
But his own condition was poor; Black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Even as he coughed up blood, Man Shengming suddenly raised a finger and jabbed forward.
At the same time, the fat cook was roaring with laughter:
"Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved to eat. I’m fat, with flesh piled upon flesh.
"Everyone said that if I kept this up, I would never have a future in martial arts.
"But what they didn’t know is that I used this very flesh to cultivate a protective divine art that can’t be smashed, can’t be slashed, and can’t be beaten to death!
"Gentle Water Sword, Scholar Jingtan—your martial arts may be unparalleled and your techniques a hundred times more exquisite than mine, but what can you do to me?
"I... AAGH!!!!"
He didn’t even get to finish his last sentence before he let out a blood-curdling scream.
It was Man Shengming’s finger that had struck him.
That single jab was like poking a hole in a balloon.
The fat cook screamed as True Qi gushed out endlessly from the hole created by the finger jab. The force of the escaping True Qi propelled him backward, first into the second-floor railing. He then bounced off, fell to the ground, and rolled into a pillar on the side.
Finally, he ricocheted off the pillar and slammed into the waiter who was pinned to the wall.
Just moments before, the waiter, seeing that no one was paying him any attention, had been thinking of secretly pulling out the chopstick Jiang Ran had used to pin his hand and joining forces with the fat cook.
But then the fat cook came crashing down on him.
Even when the waiter had considered biting his tongue to commit suicide, he had never felt the despair that washed over him as he looked up at this scene.
With a final yelp, the two men collided violently.
The waiter let out a PUFF and spat out a mouthful of blood.
His eyes, wide and round, stared at the fat cook.
The fat cook was dazed and dizzy from the impact, but he realized he was mostly unharmed. Just as a smirk started to form on his face, he saw the waiter staring at him with a deathly gaze.
"Oh, no!"
The fat cook cried out in anguish:
"You... you just died like that? You didn’t even say where you hid all the money we’ve earned over the years... Isn’t all that money wasted now?"
Although the waiter was on the brink of death, he hadn’t drawn his last breath just yet.
Hearing this, he coughed up another vicious mouthful of blood. If looks could kill, the fat cook would have died countless times over.
Jiang Ran couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight:
"It seems your protective divine art that can’t be smashed, can’t be slashed, and can’t be beaten to death has been broken."
At this, he glanced back at Man Shengming, who was being supported by Luo Qingyi, and nodded slightly.
"You’d best not circulate your energy right now. I sealed the Seven Yin Annihilation poison within seven of your acupoints for the time being...
"If you circulate it recklessly, you could very well draw out the potent poison.
"If this poison spreads through your Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Main Meridians, then your fate will truly be sealed.
"Not even a Daluo Golden Immortal descending to the mortal realm could save you then."
Man Shengming cupped his fist slightly:
"Thanks."
Jiang Ran waved his hand dismissively and turned his gaze back to the fat cook.
The fat cook was currently prodding the flesh on his face:
’I’ve practiced for half my life, and to think my weak spot was discovered so easily...’
He looked up at Jiang Ran and laughed again:
"But don’t get too cocky.
"The Death Building is filled with masters. I’m not the only one.
"On this mission, there are two top-tier masters present... You... you’re a dead man."
"Oh?"
Jiang Ran smiled. "And who might these two top-tier masters you speak of be?"
"Greed... Aversion... Ignorance... Arrogance... Doubt.
"The Five Poisons rule the world, and none shall live!!"
The fat cook roared with laughter as he said this.
Jiang Ran, however, slowly turned to look outside the tavern’s entrance.
At some point, a group of people had gathered outside.
At the head of the group were a woodcutter splitting firewood, a courtesan from a brothel, and an opera singer.
Behind these three was a motley crew of men and women, young and old—all sorts of people.
They stared at Jiang Ran in unison.
Their gazes weren’t those you’d give a person, but rather a piece of merchandise—the look one gives a rare commodity worth hoarding.
Jiang Ran smiled.
"Quite the grand reception."
"After all, you are just so~ ve~ry~ va~lu~a~ble!"
The opera singer flicked their sleeves and spoke in a theatrical, lilting tone. With a sudden flourish, their Liuyun sleeve shot out, wrapping around the fat cook and the waiter.
With another flick, the two were yanked outside the inn.
The next moment, Jiang Ran’s brow twitched.
His figure flashed forward a step, and with a sweep of his sleeves, he gathered everyone to his side.
Immediately after, his Dharma Idol erupted into existence with a BOOM.
At almost the exact same instant, an arrow from an unknown location pierced the void and struck Jiang Ran’s Dharma Idol.
CRACK!
The arrowhead penetrated the Dharma Idol, causing several cracks to spread across its surface.
Jiang Ran reached out, dispelled the Dharma Idol, and caught the arrow in his hand. He looked up into the distance:
"What a powerful arrow!"
Since he first manifested this Dharma Idol, it had only been cracked once before—by Shi Miao’s extreme Sword Intent.
He never expected to encounter it a second time in this small town.
Meanwhile, several dozen zhang away on a rooftop, a Black-clad archer carrying a quiver and holding a greatbow was also stunned:
’He’s not dead? My ’Cloud-Chasing Moon Arrow’ actually couldn’t kill him?’
"And who were you trying to kill with that?"
A voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.
The Black-clad man with the bow and arrow spun around immediately, only to see a man with a sallow face, also dressed entirely in Black and holding a blade, watching him with a curious expression.