39: Forbidden Technique: Burning Blood Finger, Shi Que's Death

“Who’s there!”

Black Yuan heard the voice but saw no one. Clearly, this person’s stealth ability was stronger than his, making Black Yuan extremely wary.

“I’m behind you!”

Black Yuan was instantly bewildered. Besides the Vajra Sect members, who else could be behind him? “Wait, the Vajra Sect members!”

Just as he felt something was amiss, a fierce gust of wind immediately struck him. Black Yuan felt a sharp pain in his waist, and his internal Qi suddenly dissipated, causing his entire body to tilt to the side.

Turning around, he saw a young Disciple dressed in Vajra Sect attire, holding a dark dagger, glaring menacingly at Black Yuan and the people behind him.

“Xiaohai, you, how could you?” Stone Deficiency was speechless, too shocked to utter a word, his mind unable to process what was happening.

But when Stone Deficiency looked closer, although the young man’s face was Xiaohai’s, his eyes were cold, deep like the Nine Netherworld Sea, exuding an oppressive Evil Qi.

“You’re not Shi Xiaohai!” Stone Deficiency gasped, a bad feeling rising in his heart. When had Shi Xiaohai been replaced, and now…

“Wu Family, Wu Xing! The Thousand Illusions Art is truly extraordinary.”

The Chang Family and Wu Family had been enemies for generations. Black Yuan also knew a few Acquired Realm experts from the Wu Family. Rumor had it that the Wu Family had a shadow assassin whose martial arts were mysterious and profound, capable of imitating anyone’s appearance, specifically for assassinating enemies for the Wu Family.

This person was the legendary Wu Family Shadow, Wu Xing.

He hadn’t expected that for the Mountain Spirit, the Wu Family would actually play two of their trump cards.

Black Yuan endured the pain, no longer caring about White Chen’s situation. He immediately twisted his body, intending to return to Chang Shi’s side.

But before he could make a move, an urgent cry suddenly rang out: “Thousand Mechanism Crossbows, fire!”

Suddenly, a group of rapidly galloping horses approached the mountain hollow. There were no torches, but there were whistles guiding them. Many Vajra Sect Martial Artists could barely make out that the approaching riders were from the North Guard Dragon Tiger Gang. But before they could get close, a volley of crossbow bolts rained down on everyone.

The Vajra Sect members were instantly flustered, frantically dealing with the incoming arrows. Black Yuan grunted continuously in his heart. Wu Xing, hidden among the lower-Realm Martial Artists of the Vajra Sect, had severely wounded him with a single strike.

He continuously circulated his internal Qi to heal his wounds, but it had no effect. His internal Qi was still leaking, and the wound was bleeding profusely.

If it had been before, he wouldn’t have cared about these arrows at all, but now he had to stay alert and dodge them, avoiding the arrows and conserving his protective Qi.

He had wanted to escape back to Chang Shi’s side and take him away, but as soon as he made a move, Wu Xing would close in, blocking his path.

As the arrows fell, Chen Cuo had already seized the opportunity, pouncing beside Second Brother Lin, gently knocking him unconscious with a palm strike, and shielding him beneath his body.

Facing the overwhelming barrage of arrows, even Stone Deficiency had to be extremely vigilant, and no one paid attention to Chen Cuo’s side.

He took a wooden shield from a deceased Gang member and placed it on his back to prevent arrows from striking him and tearing his clothes to shreds.

When arrows struck his body, they were either repelled by invisible ripples or bounced off as if hitting scales, landing on him without even a tickle.

Unfortunately, Chen Cuo’s pant legs were not so lucky; they were torn into shreds by the arrows, turning into beggar’s rags.

After several rounds of arrows, less than a dozen of the nearly one hundred Vajra Sect members remained. Black Yuan’s face was flushed, and he was gasping for air, one hand tightly clutching his wound.

White Chen was entangled by Wu Duo’s Incarnation, unable to move. However, he was not dead; instead, his blood Qi surged, attempting to cut through Wu Duo’s Incarnation, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate.

As the sound of hooves grew closer, a figure advanced rapidly, also exuding the might of the Acquired Realm.

In the interval as the opponent approached, Chen Cuo no longer concealed himself. Grabbing Second Brother Lin with one hand, his figure flickered several times, leaving only an afterimage in place. In the blink of an eye, he had run several hundred meters away.

“Only an idiot would stay here and wait for another Acquired Martial Artist to arrive. Of course, escaping in the chaos is the real deal.”

Chen Cuo mused inwardly. The situation was chaotic, and the only one in the field who could stop him was Young Master Chang Shi, who was observing from the side.

However, with Chen Cuo’s current methods, he had observed Chang Shi several times, and the other party had truly not entered the Acquired Realm. Chen Cuo was not afraid.

But the other party definitely had Acquired Realm methods, no doubt.

It was just that the current situation was extremely unfavorable for Chang Shi and the Vajra Sect. He figured the other party wouldn’t be so foolish as to waste their trump card on a Martial Artist who only wanted to escape.

Clearly, the Acquired Martial Artist who was rushing over at this moment was coming for Chang Shi. Chen Cuo did not want to participate further and directly took Second Brother Lin and left.

“Stop!” Stone Deficiency saw Chen Cuo escaping in the chaos, and his heart felt as if it were being burned by fire, especially since ‘Shi Xiaohai’ had just ambushed their main combat force, making his heart feel like it was being clawed by a cat.

Coincidentally, Chen Cuo’s escape violated his taboo, and remembering Shi Potian’s instruction to eliminate Chen Cuo at all costs, he understood that Shi Potian had abandoned him, which made him even more indignant. All these grievances made him attribute all blame to Chen Cuo, and he had completely fallen into madness.

He no longer cared about his surroundings, nor about Chang Shi and his remaining subordinates. He was like a wild beast, desperately burning his blood Qi, chasing after Chen Cuo’s direction.

Only one thought remained in his mind: complete the task Shi Potian had given him, kill Chen Cuo!

Chang Shi watched everything with cold eyes, showing no reaction. Two Lian Zang Realm ants were not worth his effort. If he met them later, he would just kill them both.

The two, one chasing and one fleeing, left for only a few minutes when a strong figure arrived before everyone. The sound of hooves behind him grew closer, and hundreds of Gang members followed, surrounding Chang Shi and the others.

“Good, good, a Jianghu Gang dares to oppose my Chang Family, you’re courting death!”

Chang Shi saw the Dragon Tiger Gang members galloping on horseback, casually hacking and killing the Vajra Sect lackeys, completely disregarding him. Moreover, the tall man in front of him, dressed in brocade clothes embroidered with gold and silver threads and dragon and tiger patterns, was staring at him menacingly.

He couldn’t help but laugh in anger. In an instant, a strange change occurred in Chang Shi’s body. His hair instantly turned white, his black pupils disappeared, leaving only the whites of his eyes, and a powerful Aura of Acquired Realm Perfection pressed down on the few people.

...

On Chen Cuo’s side, he was single-mindedly focused on escaping, but he only moved along the path he came, not venturing deep into the mountain range.

He moved like a nimble monkey, weaving and leaping through the forest and mountain streams, at ease and natural.

“Spirited Monkey Art Boxing proficiency + 56.”

After running nearly fifty li in one breath, a considerable distance from where Chang Shi and the others were, Chen Cuo finally put down Second Brother Lin, who was on his back, fed him a self-made awakening pill, and waited for him to regain consciousness.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Second Brother Lin finally slowly woke up.

“Where am I?” he asked as soon as he woke up.

“You are in… How would I know where this is?” Chen Cuo was speechless. He was truly clueless about this place.

Second Brother Lin swayed as he stood up, vigorously shaking his neck, then looked at Chen Cuo warily and asked, “Who are you? Why did you bring me here?”

“Me, who I am isn’t important, the key is… Get down!”

Chen Cuo was about to deliver a classic cool line when a dark shadow suddenly rushed out, moving incredibly fast, so fast that Chen Cuo almost couldn’t react. However, he still exerted all his strength to pounce on Second Brother Lin, allowing the other party to avoid the attack.

“You’re, Stone Deficiency?” Chen Cuo’s expression showed disbelief, because the Stone Deficiency in front of him didn’t look like a living person at all. His eyes were wide open, and he let out a roar.

“Kill you, kill you!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!”

The other party’s cries were shrill and mournful, and his body exuded a monstrous Aura as he fiercely charged at Chen Cuo, like a ferocious beast. His terrifying appearance directly scared Second Brother Lin unconscious again.

The Aura he exuded was comparable to an Acquired Martial Artist.

“Then let’s see who’s fiercer, Black Tiger Gouging Heart!”

Chen Cuo slightly bent his body, ran a few steps, then leaped high, performing a fierce tiger pounce, truly resembling a vicious tiger.

Then he continuously changed his boxing stances, transforming into various wild beasts, circling Stone Deficiency and constantly honing his boxing and kicking skills. In the past, his methods often felt like a ‘three-move’ routine, but now, fighting Stone Deficiency, who was comparable to an Acquired Martial Artist, with just his fists and feet, made Chen Cuo feel a surge of joy.

However, Chen Cuo’s smug expression was a great humiliation to Stone Deficiency. His already limited intelligence made him burn with rage and jealousy.

His blood Qi surged again, making the surrounding air intensely hot. The terrifying power of blood Qi concentrated in his right hand. Stone Deficiency raised his right hand, joining two fingers, and thrust them towards Chen Cuo.

Stone Deficiency seemed to have a moment of clarity, his intelligence returning, and he said, “To die under my forbidden art, the Blood Burning Finger, you can be proud!”

“Hmph, you’ve used all your trump cards, but I haven’t even played one yet. Let me show you what it means to conquer all with sheer force!”

Chen Cuo raised his hand, a simple Iron Sand Palm. As his hand touched Stone Deficiency’s fingers, Stone Deficiency felt a force like a collapsing mountain surging towards him. Under the impact of this immense power, his entire body disintegrated into a bloody mist.