Chapter 138: Arson
BOOM!
With a swing of his staff, Chen Ku smashed Yan Longhao's body into a pile of mush.
He slowly spat, the saliva landing on the ground. "You're the monster. Such unpleasant cursing..."
[Diagram Master kills Yan Longhao, obtains a strand of Second Realm Evil Qi]
Looking at the mangled flesh on the ground, Chen Ku bent down to pick up the other's Short Sword and tutted, "Not bad, it's actually a sharp weapon..."
Then he used the Short Sword to poke around Yan Longhao's remains, finding some Small Change of Silver and a few silver notes. He took one last look at the bloodstained, valuable boots but ultimately shook his head.
He opened his mouth to spit.
This time, it wasn't a Cold Current he spat out, but fire.
FWOOSH...
In less than a moment, Yan Longhao's body was burnt to a crisp, destroying all evidence.
Chen Ku kicked at the ground with his foot.
Even the ashes were scattered!
"That's for calling me a Demon and a monster!"
Chen Ku spat again.
Although he had been prepared to not let Yan Longhao leave alive when he revealed all his inhuman abilities, he still somewhat underestimated his own current strength.
Yan Longhao really was from the Ancient Elephant Sect. Combined with Zhao Yuyan's previous suspicion of me, that's why she sent someone to track and investigate me. I wonder if she only suspects me, or others as well. If it's just me, then her intuition is frighteningly sharp.
Chen Ku began to reassess.
In any case, Yan Longhao, who was tracking me, is dead, and he revealed a lot in the process. Firstly, the reaction speed granted to a Martial Practitioner by the Third Layer of the Mystic Barrier, the 'Mystic Gate' level, is terrifying. I nearly fell for his trick.
Originally, Chen Ku planned to lead the man out of the city to a deserted place, then turn and launch a surprise attack. He hoped to kill him in one strike, or at least injure him. However, the reaction speed at the Mystic Barrier Peak was terrifying; Yan Longhao had even dodged such an arrow.
But Chen Ku had made extensive preparations. He had even called forth the Centipede Viper clone from the river they were near.
Fortunately, while he underestimated his opponent's reaction speed, he had also underestimated the full range of abilities he now possessed.
If one's Stick Technique and Qi Power couldn't keep up with speed and reactions, an ordinary person might be outmaneuvered by a more agile expert. But Chen Ku wasn't limited to just those...
He also had 'Spell Control.'
It's likely that no Martial Practitioner in Ji Country, where Forbidden Technique is banned, would ever expect someone to spit a Cold Current spell from their mouth during a close-quarters confrontation. This move could probably catch many off guard.
After killing Yan Longhao, destroying the body, and scattering the ashes, Chen Ku turned his gaze toward the Inner City.
Yan Longhao was sent by Zhao Yuyan to track and investigate me. Now he's dead. If he doesn't return by tomorrow, she'll lock onto me as the suspect, regardless of whether she has other doubts.
He bent down and sniffed Yan Longhao's Short Sword.
There was a faint scent on it, one he could follow.
Trouble shouldn't be left for tomorrow; it only grows larger. Better to nip it in the bud.
However, before proceeding, Chen Ku decided to go home first. For a premeditated act, he needed to bring all the necessary items, such as Poison, corpse-dissolving powder, a Conical Hat, Night Wear, and so on.
Thus, Chen Ku returned home first.
Pushing the door open, he saw Zhao Chuanzu in his room, who looked up, smiled, and nodded.
Chen Ku was pleasantly surprised.
Does this mean... it's done?
Zhao Chuanzu continued to nod.
"Quick, let me see!"
Chen Ku excitedly transformed Zhao Chuanzu into a wisp of Evil Qi and reabsorbed it into his body, immediately checking Zhao Chuanzu's cultivation memories.
Within the memories: After nearly half a month of continuous deductions—experiencing countless internal injuries, being possessed by the Devil, testing techniques on himself, and being nurtured and healed by Evil Qi—Zhao Chuanzu finally deduced a cultivation route that could merge [Nine Dragons Union] and [Mountain-Lifting Palm] into one.
The power of an Ultimate Skill combined with another Ultimate Skill? How strong could it be?
What the Mountain-Lifting Palm lacked was an Internal Cultivation Method. Though the Inner Strength Chen Ku was now supplementing it with definitely couldn't compare to the orthodox mental method, the [Sky-Shaking Earth-Shattering Divine Technique], that originally complemented Mountain-Lifting Palm, it would undoubtedly make the technique far stronger than Mountain-Lifting Palm's original force.
Perhaps I'll witness its power tonight.
Chen Ku smiled faintly and put on his Conical Hat.
Estimating it was almost the 'third watch' of the night, he followed the faint scent on Yan Longhao's Short Sword toward the place Yan Longhao had stayed.
「Inner City, Black Clothes Alley.」
This was also an alley where wealthy families resided.
In front of a house with two courtyards.
Since the Flower Fox Mink hadn't been sent out recently and had been nurtured within his body for the past few days, Chen Ku summoned it and had it sneak in to scout the situation.
If the person is already asleep, it can climb onto the bed and kill them with a bite. If they're still awake, I'll have to think of another way...
Thus, a white vapor emerged from between Chen Ku's brows, transforming into a three-inch white mouse. Wings tucked tightly against its sides, it climbed the courtyard wall and moved along the shadows, exploring each room of the house.
The lights in the main hall were still on; indeed, someone was still awake.
Beside Zhao Yuyan stood an old woman. She was also a Master Uncle from the Ancient Elephant Sect, named Yan Shu.
"Uncle Master Yan, do you think Chuanzu is still alive?" Zhao Yuyan asked softly.
The old woman, appearing to be in her fifties or sixties with many white hairs at her temples, sat on another chair and said slowly, "I know your ambition. If Chuanzu is no longer in this world, it might not be a bad thing for you. Neither your eldest nor second brother are from the main branch of the family. Although you are, you are not male... With Chuanzu gone, you now have an opportunity."
Zhao Yuyan listened to the old woman's disrespectful words without even blinking, saying slowly, "It would be best if he were dead. Then I will avenge Chuanzu."
The Flower Fox Mink, transformed into a mouse, circled through the rooms. Finally, it slipped away from the shadows beneath the main hall's steps, confirming that there were indeed only two people in the large courtyard.
Before long, a crow flew into the yard from outside. It glanced around, its gaze falling on the woodshed and some wooden buildings, then whizzed over.
Opening its beak, it spat out streams of fire, igniting the woodshed and the beams of many houses.
Inside the main hall, Zhao Yuyan and her female Master Uncle were still talking.
Suddenly, the old woman's nose twitched slightly. Her expression changed as she said, "Second Miss, something doesn't seem right. It smells like something is burning."
Zhao Yuyan hadn't noticed anything, but upon hearing her Master Uncle's words, she also sniffed. She instantly stood up, her face drastically changing as she exclaimed, "Indeed, it is..."
As she spoke, WHOOSH~~! Suddenly, something outside the courtyard seemed to burst into flames. Then, thick smoke billowed from all directions, surging toward the main hall.
As the Volcanic Crow flew over the main hall, CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER~~! Even the eaves of the hall began to shed flaming bricks.
The old woman's face paled. "This is bad, Second Miss!" she cried urgently. "Fire! Quick, get out!"
Zhao Yuyan was in disbelief. Everything had been normal just two or three breaths ago. How could such a large fire ignite so suddenly? Regardless, the old woman was already pulling her rapidly toward the exit of the main hall.
With their Martial Arts Cultivation, the flames could at most cause some chaos; they weren't enough to harm them.
However, she instinctively felt something was wrong. For such a large fire to start so suddenly and spread so extensively, it was clear someone had meticulously planned it, timing the ignition perfectly to have flames erupt everywhere simultaneously.
Who is it?
Just as Zhao Yuyan and the old woman stepped out of the main hall, the courtyard was already choked with thick smoke, flames visible on all sides.
Before Zhao Yuyan could ponder, WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!! She and the old woman almost simultaneously heard terrifying whistling sounds rushing toward them.
At that moment, the old woman beside her, with her Mystic Barrier Peak Cultivation, instinctively pushed Zhao Yuyan away, shouting, "Second Miss, hidden arrows! Run!"
The moment she pushed Zhao Yuyan away, the old woman, relying on the extremely fast spiritual reaction of a Mystic Barrier Peak cultivator, leaned her body backward in an 'Iron Plate Bridge' to dodge the incoming hidden arrows.
Her reaction speed in performing the Iron Plate Bridge was no slower than Yan Longhao's.
However, the old woman was thinking with normal human logic, subconsciously assuming the whistling sounds and hidden arrows came from the front, back, left, or right. She never considered they might come from midair.
As a result, when she executed the Iron Plate Bridge, her body lay flat, facing the night sky. It was then she saw three arrows, like shooting stars, plummeting from high above.
"What... in the air..."
By the time she realized, it was too late to react a second time.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
Pushed away by the old woman, Zhao Yuyan instinctively turned her head just in time to see three meteor-like arrows rain down, piercing the old woman's chest and nailing her brutally to the courtyard ground.
"Uncle Master Yan! What! The arrows came from the sky? Is there someone in the sky?"
Seeing the direction of the arrows, Zhao Yuyan's face turned pale. She was about to look up when she heard the old woman's dying cry, "Second Miss, run!!"