135: Chapter 135 The Unfriendly Fifth-Rank Martial Artist

Lin Duwu did not believe in any talk of deities.

If there really were deities in this world, why would the common people still suffer so bitterly?

As a martial artist, he had never believed in anything other than the blood and Qi within his own body and his own fists that could split mountains and cleave rocks.

He had used this pair of fists to smash countless of those clay-sculpted and wooden-carved deity statues!

The rosewood deity statue before him was grand indeed, and its golden light was also somewhat eerie.

But in his eyes, it was merely hocus-pocus and ghost-playing tricks moved to a more luxurious venue.

Most likely, it was some monster hiding inside the deity statue and consuming the incense offerings of those foolish men and women.

It was also possible that it was some martial artist who practiced evil arts and bullied the common people here.

When killing such things, he would have no scruples whatsoever!

Pei Se took a final gulp of wine, hung the empty gourd back on her waist, and was just about to call Qin Yin and Qin Mo back to Qin Family Village.

Then she stopped.

It was not because she smelled anything, but she keenly sensed a wave of oppression.

It was like the suffocating oppression in the air before a storm arrived.

She turned her head, her gaze piercing through the scattering common people and landing on the figure in the black robe at the entrance of the deity temple.

That person stood very straight and motionless, with the hood pulled down very low, making it impossible to see his face.

Wrapped in a black robe from head to toe, there were no weapons at his waist.

He looked like an ordinary person, but Pei Se felt something was amiss.

She seemed to sense an intent to kill!

Pei Se walked toward the black-robed person.

Qin Yin and Qin Mo followed behind her. Qin Yin's hand also pressed against the hilt of her blade, while Qin Mo lowered his long spear from his shoulder, the tip pointing obliquely toward the ground.

"This friend."

Pei Se came to a stop beside the black-robed person, tilting her head up to look at him.

"You are standing at the entrance of the deity temple; are you here to offer incense?"

Lin Duwu turned his head.

Beneath the shadow of the hood revealed a gaunt face. His eyes were black and his pupils were very deep, resembling two dry wells.

He looked at Pei Se, then glanced at Qin Yin and Qin Mo behind her, the corners of his mouth slowly spreading apart into a grin.

When he stepped into Guanhai County City, he had already noticed Pei Se, this Fourth-Turn Martial Artist.

Although he found it somewhat unexpected that a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist would appear in a county town, it mattered little to him.

A Fourth-Turn Martial Artist could not pose any impact on him!

"Offer incense?"

His voice was hoarse as he continued.

"Visiting a grave is more like it!"

Hearing such disrespectful words toward Lord Qinling, Qin Yin's blade slipped three inches out of its sheath, and Qin Mo raised the tip of his spear.

Pei Se did not move. She stared into that person's eyes, which reflected the golden light between the eyebrows of that deity statue, but that light was extinguished the moment it fell inside.

Something was wrong!

Very wrong!

"Retreat!"

With one hand grabbing Qin Yin's shoulder and the other grabbing Qin Mo's back collar, Pei Se leaped backward fiercely.

Like stones shot from a catapult, the three of them flew backward out from the temple entrance and landed below the steps of the main hall.

The very moment they landed——

The blood and Qi on Lin Duwu's body exploded.

It was like a volcano that had been suppressed underground for hundreds of years, finally finding an outlet and erupting forth.

The stone bricks on the ground began to crack starting from beneath Lin Duwu's feet, the fissures spreading in all directions.

Fragments of the stone bricks flew up, smashing against the pillars and the walls.

The crowd of common people standing close in the courtyard was overturned to the ground by that wave of Qi, scrambling and crawling as they ran out of the courtyard.

The entire deity temple was trembling, dust from the beams fell down in rustling sounds, and the window lattices rattled with creaking noises.

Lin Duwu stood there, his entire body enveloped in nearly tangible blood and Qi.

His robes fluttered loudly in the wave of Qi, and his hood was blown open, revealing a pale, gaunt face.

Pei Se let go of Qin Yin and Stone, bounced up from beneath the steps, stepped on the shattered stone bricks, and shot toward Lin Duwu's back like an arrow leaving the string.

Her retreat just now was to prevent Qin Mo and Qin Yin from getting hurt. The two of them were still mere Second-turn Martial Artists and could not handle the current situation.

Pei Se's fists were wrapped in the strong blood and Qi of a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, and she approached the black-robed person with the footwork of pugilism.

Her fist wind tore through the air, emitting a sharp hiss as it attacked straight toward the black-robed person.

Facing the full-force strike of a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, Lin Duwu did not turn around to face Pei Se.

He merely raised his left hand, his palm spread open with his five fingers slightly splayed, and his palm facing backward.

Pei Se's fist smashed into the palm of his hand.

"Bang——!"

Pei Se felt that the power on her fist, all that blood and Qi driven to its absolute limit by her, had completely smashed into that person's palm.

But this punch was like smashing into a deep pool; her fist stopped right there and could not advance even an inch further.

How could this be?

Shock surged within Pei Se's pupils.

Lin Duwu's five fingers closed, gripping Pei Se's fist tightly.

Pei Se could feel the bones of her fingers creaking inside the other's palm.

Then she flew out—she was thrown out.

Her body was thrown out by Lin Duwu, slamming into the courtyard wall with a loud bang, and a crack split across the wall.

Pei Se's back was embedded into the wall, and rubble fell down from her body in rustling sounds.

Qin Yin and Qin Mo immediately rushed over, shielding themselves in front of Pei Se.

The gazes of both were fixed tightly on Lin Duwu.

Pei Se stood up from the base of the wall, rubble rustling down from her back.

Her right arm was still trembling, hidden inside her sleeve so she wouldn't let Qin Yin and Qin Mo see it.

She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, a fishy sweetness surging up in her throat, and with a retching sound, she spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

Dark red, mixed with saliva, it seeped out across the shattered stone bricks.

"Fifth-Turn."

Pei Se wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve; the blood smeared onto the cuff, dark red in color.

She glanced at it and lowered her sleeve.

"That person is a Fifth-Turn Martial Artist."

Qin Yin's expression changed.

She had felt that the other party was an expert, but she hadn't expected him to be strong to this extent.

A Fifth-Turn Martial Artist?

How could a martial artist of this level appear in Guanhai County and even come to the entrance of Lord Qinling's deity temple?

What was even worse was that this Fifth-Turn Martial Artist was obviously coming with ill intent!

Qin Mo's pupils shrank violently.

To think it was a Fifth-Turn Martial Artist—a Fifth-Turn Martial Artist he had never seen in his entire life!

What on earth was this guy here for?

The surrounding common people were all alarmed by this sudden scene.

Clearly, just a moment ago it had been a joyous deity-welcoming ceremony, and Guanhai County City had also restored its former bustle.

Yet out of nowhere, the scene of Pei Se being sent flying occurred.

Moreover, the blood and Qi coercion emitted by that black-robed person was enough to keep ordinary people from daring to approach.

The common people retreated one after another, putting distance between themselves and the black-robed person while watching from not far away.

Lin Duwu, who had thrown Pei Se away, stared straight at Lord Qinling's deity statue inside the temple.

Then he squatted down, making a posture to gather strength and prepare a punch, and then he spoke:

"You hocus-pocus trick! I will shatter your deity statue with a single punch right now and see how much longer you plan to hide!"

Lin Duwu's fists were wrapped in intense blood and Qi, his robes fluttered loudly in the wave of Qi, and his hood had long since been blown open.

Having finished gathering his strength, he threw this punch straight toward Lord Qinling's deity statue!