NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77 Ghostwriting
Ni Kun, clad in a prisoner's uniform smeared with filth and bloodstains, couldn't help the maniacal elation that flashed in his eyes when he saw Chen Ku, dressed all in black, appear at the entrance of the alley.
He hadn't expected to run into this little beast while escaping to freedom. How fortunate! Could there be anything more gratifying than avenging his great hatred before making his escape?
However, his elation vanished when he saw Chen Ku, without a word, smashing his iron rod straight down onto his head.
WHIZ!
The alley was already narrow. This blow instantly compressed the air, making it feel as if an orb of gas had detonated right above Ni Kun's head!
Danger! A single, blood-red word frantically pulsed in Ni Kun's mind. The oppression of death enveloped him like a rapidly rising tide!
It is said that in the moment before death, one can witness all the memories of a lifetime in the briefest of instants.
At this moment, Ni Kun saw his life unfold. He went from being a horse slave in Yuan Country to a smuggler by serendipity. At twenty, he was initiated into the Blood Blade Sect. After a decade, he was granted the Blood Blade, only for it to be lost later. Finally, outside Tongluo Lane, Chen Ku reported him, leading to his capture.
All the images finally narrowed down to the rod looming above his head. In the final glimmer of consciousness and Divine Intent, he understood everything.
This brother-in-law of Li Yuancheng, an apprentice from Medicine King Hall named Chen Ku, was no ordinary character… The terrifying power in this blow confirmed it: from the very beginning, his imprisonment had been orchestrated by Chen Ku… He had actually thought running into him at the alley entrance was a coincidence. Chen Ku, this youth, had clearly come after him, intending to kill him with his own hands!
After the scenes of his life flashed through his mind, Ni Kun had no chance to make any grand gestures. He acted on pure instinct, summoning his Inner Qi and raising his arms above his head, hoping to struggle one last time. He pinned his hopes on surviving this strike.
However, the moment Chen Ku's rod made contact with his arms, all of Ni Kun's hopes for survival burst like a bubble.
BANG!
Under the force of the rod, the Inner Qi in his arms was instantly obliterated, and his arms themselves turned into a bloody, fleshy mess mid-air! The Skyward Strike, unleashed with the Irresistible Power of Four Elephants, was something Ni Kun couldn't have withstood even in his prime, let alone in his current state.
"AAAH!!"
Ni Kun only had time for that single scream as his arms exploded into bloody mush. That rod, like a pillar from heaven, then struck his torso, crushing his body and shattering it within the alley!
GURGLE.
Only an intact head remained, rolling onto the ground. Inside the alley, a miasma of blood and filth lingered.
WHOOSH.
After killing Ni Kun, Chen Ku watched as the man's Evil Qi was absorbed into his mind. He then exhaled deeply. He looked down at the iron rod in his hand; it had bent at a right angle.
"Not having my Refined Iron Dragon Stick does make things a bit inconvenient..." As he spoke, he manually straightened the iron rod with his hand.
He had stolen this rod on a whim from a shop, along with a set of clothes. The reason was simple: after transforming into the Flower Fox Mink, his entire body had shrunk, and his clothes had fallen off long ago. But the Flower Fox Mink's demonic speed had given Chen Ku enough time to change clothes and grab a weapon en route, still allowing him to get ahead of Ni Kun and kill him with a single blow.
Bending down, he picked up Ni Kun's head. I deliberately shifted the rod towards his shoulder when I struck, he thought. Otherwise… if his head was smashed, how could I exchange it for the bounty?
Since he was helping the county government office catch a criminal today, there was no need to clean up the bloodstains. Besides, he wasn't carrying any corpse-dissolving powder. He wrapped Ni Kun's head in cloth and returned to his courtyard in the outer city, where he simply sprinkled some lime on it.
Then, he picked up his own Refined Iron Dragon Stick and headed out again. The reason for heading out again was simple: if all the escaped death-row inmates were like Ni Kun, each would provide him with a strand of Evil Qi and at least eight hundred taels of silver in bounty.
Meat delivered right to his door, and killings that would earn him commendation? How could he pass this up?
Moreover, his Flower Fox Mink form had inherited Skinny Dog's keen sense of smell, allowing him to memorize the scent of everyone from the marketplace. With a quick dash, he chased after one of the death-row inmates.
In no time, within the span it took to drink two or three cups of tea, Chen Ku found an inmate hiding in the courtyard of a dilapidated thatched cottage, seemingly intending to stay hidden there. The result: Chen Ku vaulted over the wall and caught him red-handed.
[There is Lin Jiu, with ill intentions towards the master...]
The criminal, Lin Jiu, was a notorious "flower thief" who had drugged and raped over a dozen respectable women in the county, even targeting the daughter of a prominent family. That family had offered a hefty bounty, leading to his eventual capture by a Blade-Handler and a death sentence.
The moment Lin Jiu, a ferocious death-row inmate, saw Chen Ku enter with a stick, he immediately guessed Chen Ku was a Blade-Handler or similar. Even if not, he's at least a trained martial practitioner… There's no chance of escape. If he catches me and shouts, I'll be like a rat everyone wants to beat.
Therefore, Lin Jiu lunged, his body tensing like a drawn bow. Shaking his spine to generate power, he swung the broken shackles on his wrist like an iron whip towards Chen Ku's face!
The moment Lin Jiu attacked, Chen Ku sensed that while his opponent didn't use Inner Qi, he was still a Martial Practitioner whose strength and intent were unified. The attack carried a bloody Divine Intent, rushing towards Chen Ku like a blade honed from countless killings—sharp and deadly!
"You're dead!" Lin Jiu roared.
However, as Lin Jiu attacked, Chen Ku, wielding the Refined Iron Dragon Stick, simply stepped forward and, with a flick of his stick, swept the chains aside. He then executed the Lion's Nod from the Spirit Ape Knocking Mountain Stick technique—a direct jab with his stick.
WHOOSH!!
The air audibly ripped as the stick jabbed forward.
Lin Jiu felt the stick flick his iron chains with the force of an adult elephant's trunk striking his hand. His arm was instantly crippled. Then… he saw the point of the stick growing larger and larger before his eyes.
"No!"
Lin Jiu's pupils shrank, his mouth agape. He only had time for a desperate scream.
"PUH... GURGLE..."
His throat was pierced through by the jab.
PFFT.
Chen Ku withdrew his stick, contemplating how to take the thief's head, when a voice suddenly came from behind him, "I didn't expect there to be such a young Blade-Handler in the county, getting ahead of me."
Chen Ku immediately turned. A slender man in a hemp robe and a Conical Hat that obscured his face walked in from outside the courtyard. He gave Chen Ku a slight bow, "My name is Feng Guang, also a Blade-Handler. I was chasing this man here, but it seems you've already taken him down, little brother. So, the bounty is yours."
Another Blade-Handler? Chen Ku looked at the man and nodded.
Feng Guang, not minding Chen Ku's silence, glanced at the dead Lin Jiu. He then pulled a small knife from his waist and tossed it to Chen Ku. "Meeting like this is fate. It seems you didn't bring a knife, little brother. Borrow mine. It'll be more convenient for taking his head and carrying it. If you don't mind, perhaps we could team up afterwards…"
Chen Ku glanced at the knife the man had tossed, abandoning his plan to use the stick to smash the body—that would be too gory.
Just as he bent down to pick up the knife,
[There is Feng Guang, with ill intentions towards the master...]
Without hesitation, Chen Ku straightened up and swung his stick fiercely at the Conical Hat-wearing man before him.
CLANG!
The stick parried the long knife Feng Guang had slashed at him. The impact sent Feng Guang stumbling back several steps, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief as he stared at Chen Ku.