Chapter 25: Forgot to Keep Them Alive
Jiang He felt a sudden rush of blood to his brain.
The autumn winds rustled.
Beneath the moonlight, he stood on a footpath over the cornfield, muttering to himself, “Aren’t I being a little impulsive? I am out in the open, but the enemy is hidden and I know nothing about their strength. There’ll be nothing to say if I can beat them, but if I can’t…”
Ready to leave, he called out to Dumbo. As long as he stayed alive, he would always have another shot at facing this enemy. Once he went home and came up with a way to grow the medicinal pellets, and then started downing them every day, would he still have to fear the Sky Demon Cult?
Still, Dumbo did not move at all. It was crouching, as if ready to pounce, and growling, looking vicious as it bared its fangs. The Three-Tails Demon Cat was also mewing shrilly, having enlarged itself beside Dumbo to guard Jiang He.
Jiang He’s face twitched as he looked up ahead. There was a sudden noise in the cornfield, and soon two figures stepped out, with the massive rank-two Feral dog behind them.
Brandishing his curved blade, Cordo did a double take when he saw the sight that welcomed him. “A rank-one and a rank-three,” he exclaimed in surprise, “And you’re still staying that he’s not a beast-tamer?”
The black-robed figure did not say a word. Instead, he put his fingers into the corners of his mouth and whistled sharply. In the next second, rustles echoed across every direction as a dozen Ferals emerged out of the cornfield.
Most of them were cats and dogs, along with a gray wolf and a giant snake that was a dozen meters in length and half a meter thick. He was definitely a beast-tamer, but he had not Awakened for too long, and thus could not control stronger Ferals. Most importantly, there were not many Ferals that he could use around here.
At the other end of the cornfield, Jiang He’s expression became somber. A rank-four martial artist, a mysterious beast-tamer, and a dozen Ferals nearby. As a newbie martial artist, where would he ever have encountered such a sight before?
“It’s dangerous! It’s too dangerous! Even though I’m not weak, I still don’t have much combat experience. I can’t hold back… there’s no way I can hold back. I have to kill with each blow just in case!”
Sweat was dripping from Jiang He’s brow. He turned his hand, a pea appearing between his fingers as he growled, “Dumbo, Trumbo, back!”
Ever obedient to Jiang He’s every word, Trumbo turned and ran. Dumbo leveled a confused look at Jiang He before leaving as well. The other Ferals did not stop them. Indeed, perhaps the beast-tamer felt that sparing the rank-three and rank-one Ferals offered his side a better advantage.
At the same time, Cordo took a step forward, his rank-four pinnacle aura bursting out and flattening the corn stalks around them.
There was a fierceness in his eyes as he sneered, “Kid, there’s a road to paradise and yet you wouldn’t take it, but you would crash into hell when there’s not even a door. Have you thought about how you want to die, fighting against my holy faith?”
Jiang He clenched the pea and seethed, “Don’t move. Take another step and I’ll throw my grenade!”
“Grenade?”
Cordo did a double take. He was a rank-four martial artist like Jiang He, with vision surpassing most humans, and could clearly see the pea in Jiang He’s hand. Well, it was a big pea—oily green yet crystalline.
Cordo laughed out loud. “Kid, I didn’t study much in school, but I’m not an idiot. Who do you think you’re scaring with that pea… woah!”
Before he could finish, the crystalline, oily green pea was flying towards him. A bone-chilling sense of danger suddenly ignited in him. On instinct, Cordo withdrew, charging his true qi to protect his body.
But in the next instant, the pea landed on the ground.
Boom!
There was a dull crash as terrific fiery light shot into the sky. Even the earth vaguely quaked as the shockwave of the blast sent the Ferals surrounding Jiang He into the air.
On the other hand, the beast-tamer shrouded in black robes and his big dog were much closer to the blast than Cordo, who had reacted quickly and retreated over dozens of meters away.
The beast-tamer, however, had not.
All he saw was a sudden brightness—the horrific fiery light was rather blinding—followed by a seismic force that struck his body, sending him flying like a ragdoll, with the two halves of his body hurtling in opposite directions.
Meanwhile, the giant rank-two dog he had spent a lot of effort in controlling was reduced to pulp in the blast.
His black robes were shredded even before his lanky body crashed down amongst the corn. It was only then that he realized something.
“Oh, so that’s my lower body…”
That was his last thought.
***
“What the…”
Jiang He himself was stunned by the destructive force of the Pea Bomb.
He had forgotten the ‘gentle reminder’ from the System just then, although he had at least instinctually charged his Indestructible Diamond and Nine Yang techniques to protect himself. Hence, when the horrific shockwave and scorching heat struck his body…
His defense, Indestructible Diamond, was blasted apart!
There was a faint cracking sound as Jiang He spat out a mouthful of blood. He stumbled backwards over a dozen paces before he could anchor himself. Directing his true qi to suppress his boiling qi and blood, Jiang He recharged Indestructible Diamond again.
At the same time, his eyes found the epicenter of the explosion—the spot where his ‘pea’ landed.
There was now a three-meter wide and one-meter deep crater at the center of the once-emerald cornfield. The footpath and corn stalks around it were left in an utter mess, and the corpse of the Feral dog sprawled over the ground did not even resemble a dog. The body parts of the other Ferals were strewn all over as well.
Woah!
Jiang He gapsed and mused, “A normal pea is already so powerful? Even though I am over twenty meters away from the blast, the shockwave alone punched through my Indestructible Diamond, overheating my qi and blood, and causing me to vomit blood! And the strengthened peas are five times more powerful… I would be dead if I used that just now.”
He paused, looking around. “Hold on… where’s the short one?”
Jiang He’s face fell right then. He promptly turned as a dark shadow shot towards him. Like a crescent moon, the blade in the dark figure’s hand slashed down at Jiang He with a sinister glint. It landed directly on Jiang He’s chest.
Stumbling two steps back, he kept his eyes fixed on the figure and seethed, “Not dead yet, shortie?”
“Hmm?”
Cordo was provoked by the name-calling.
He was about to press his advantage, but promptly held back even as he put one foot forward, crying out involuntarily, “No way! You’re not a rank-five martial artist—there’s no way you could remain unscathed by my blade!”
“Unscathed?”
Touching his chest, Jiang He’s fingers found a trickle of blood.
“What nonsense are you spouting, shortie? Your blade is definitely powerful enough to slice through my Indestructible Diamond and cut through my chest… the skin, that is. And you call that unscathed?” he replied, scowling.
Feeling as though his intelligence was being insulted, Cordo growled, “I would rather die than endure this humiliation! Come at me, kid! I, Cordo, will cut you down and clear an obstacle for the holy faith!”
Brandishing his blade, he lunged towards Jiang He again. He had just started forward when he heard a deafening draconic roar, and the silhouette of a golden dragon crashed directly into his chest.
***
“Mighty Dragon Shows Remorse is actually that powerful?”
Jiang He turned towards the short man, whose lifeless form had flown out over twenty meters away.
“Damn it,” he murmured. “I just wanted fight at my full power to prevent another incident, but I completely forgot to keep them alive for interrogation and torture to unmask their mastermind!”
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