Chapter 169: But I Can Kill You
Li Xing and Li Yue had just defeated Xiaobu. Though they were injured, nothing was too serious. Seeing Zhou Fan fall, they rushed to catch him. They held onto him and rolled across the ground several times, barely managing to break his fall.
Lying on Li Xing and Li Yue, Zhou Fan stared at the empty rooftop, lost in thought.
'Why didn't the Grand Elder of the Witch Race kill me?'
'Not only did he not kill me, but he actually seemed to look forward to me growing stronger, and fast.'
'But even if that bastard didn't kill me this time, he was the one who kept sending people after me before, and they nearly succeeded!'
'And why did he say he'd be waiting for me in the Capital City?'
'What a fucking mess.'
"Boss, could you... get up first?"
Suddenly, Li Xing's timid voice came from beneath him.
"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot!" Zhou Fan quickly replied. He stowed the Li Hen Sword and tried to push himself up from the ground with his hands, but...
"Ahem. If I said that wasn't on purpose—that I was just trying to push myself up from the ground—you'd believe me, right?" Standing up, Zhou Fan looked awkwardly at the blushing faces of Li Xing and Li Yue.
"We would," Li Yue murmured, "if you hadn't grabbed... something... right before you stood up." Zhou Fan was so embarrassed he wished the ground would swallow him whole.
Li Yue said no more, simply pointing behind Zhou Fan.
Zhou Fan turned and saw Fan cradling the body of the deceased Lingling Daoist, weeping. He Yi was sitting nearby, looking completely stunned, as if he were in a trance.
"Stop crying," Zhou Fan said to them. "If you really want to cry, go up to the roof and bring down the other body first. It's not too late to mourn them both together." He then turned and walked over to Xiaobu, who lay on the ground, beaten by the twins.
As someone who was no stranger to life and death, Zhou Fan was all too familiar with such scenes—so familiar that he had become somewhat numb to them.
So many brothers-in-arms had died in his embrace, and so many more had died protecting him. In the beginning, he had been just like Fan and He Yi—breaking down, sobbing, utterly despondent, as if his very soul had been torn from his body.
But over time, he learned to bury those feelings and transform them into fuel—fuel to grow stronger, go back, and get revenge.
"Do you have any last words?" Zhou Fan asked, his voice ice-cold as he looked down at Xiaobu, who was lying on the ground, beaten to within an inch of his life by the twins.
"Just give me a quick death, Instructor." Xiaobu lifted his head, looking at the man who was as commanding as ever. A defiant smile spread across his face. "To die by your hand... I can't say this life has been a waste."
"Be an ordinary person in your next life." Zhou Fan stared into Xiaobu's eyes, recalling how he'd often worn that same defiant smile back when they were on the same side.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Fan took a dagger from Li Xing's hand. With a flick of his wrist, he ended Xiaobu's life.
"Can't bring him in. I killed him." Zhou Fan took out his phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Zhang Long. Afterward, he hoisted Xiaobu's corpse over his shoulder, walked to a nearby pavilion, found a shovel, dug a hole, and buried him.
Li Xing and Li Yue watched from the side. They didn't understand what he was feeling, but they could sense that he was in a terrible mood.
Just then, He Yi came down from the roof, carrying the body of Elder White Tiger.
"Zhou Fan! Tell me, are you in league with the Elder Witch? Why else wouldn't he have killed you?" Upon seeing the body of Elder White Tiger, Fan, who was still cradling Lingling Daoist, suddenly snapped. He flew into a rage, charging at Zhou Fan as he screamed.
Seeing this, He Yi scrambled over and managed to tackle Fan, holding him back with all his might just as he was less than ten feet from Zhou Fan.
Li Xing and Li Yue also stepped forward, blocking the path. Daggers raised, they stared at Fan, their faces devoid of emotion.
"I don't know why the Elder Witch didn't kill me." Zhou Fan slowly lifted his head, his eyes empty of any emotion. He gently patted the sisters' shoulders and walked straight up to Fan. "But I can kill *you*."
In the next instant, Zhou Fan's right hand shot out, pressing the dagger he held against Fan's throat. The slightest pressure would be enough to end his life.
Feeling the icy chill of the blade and seeing the undisguised fury in Zhou Fan's eyes, Fan finally sobered up a little. "Sorry."
"We're all in this line of work. Sooner or later, everyone meets this end; it's just a matter of when. Instead of wasting time blaming others, you should be investigating things inside your own Dragon Soul." Zhou Fan shot Fan a cold glare, retracted the dagger, and turned to walk toward the entrance of the complex with the two sisters.
"With Dragon Soul's resources, there's no way you didn't know the Elder Witch's true strength. And yet you only sent two Elders."