Chapter 200
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Rethink (5)
Shh! Thunk!
The sound of wind slicing through the air rang out. And soon after, the wet rip of flesh tearing followed.
"Got it!"
A voice brimming with joy immediately followed.
Woof! Woof woof woof! Woof woof!
Dogs barked ferociously right after.
The hunters were on the prowl. With beaters and dogs in tow, it had to be quite the large hunt.
Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!
The dogs barked wildly as they began thrashing about.
The hunting dogs' speed was no match for a tiger's. It was a stretch to compare them to a tiger, but in terms of charging through the mountains, they were swift as arrows.
"It'll be here soon."
He muttered softly to himself.
The boar struck by the arrow wanted to move. It thrust out its front legs with vigor. But soon its knees buckled, and it collapsed with a thud.
Swish!
He gently stroked the boar.
The boar's eyelids drooped. Peacefully, as if falling asleep... they slowly closed.
Huff!
Its final hot breath burst out roughly.
The fallen boar didn't even twitch. It closed its eyes as if nothing had happened, perfectly at ease.
Swish!
He slipped up onto the tree like gliding silk.
Woof woof woof! Woof woof! Woof!
No sooner had he climbed the tree than the hunting dogs burst into view.
The dogs spotted the fallen boar. But they didn't charge right in—they just barked from afar.
Woof woof! Woof woof!
The hunting dogs sensed vibrant life force emanating from the boar's corpse.
Though it had already breathed its last, to the dogs' senses, it still brimmed with power.
The boar isn't dead.
It had taken an arrow, but it was a glancing hit. Vitality still surged through it. Rush in sloppily, and it'd crush them in an instant.
Woof woof! Woof! Grrrraaawr!
Finally, the dogs steeled themselves and lunged at the boar.
A clash between beasts always ended in one of two ways: attack or flee. If it felt off, they'd tuck tail immediately. If it felt right, they'd strike at the first opening.
The boar was riddled with openings.
Lying there motionless was as good as surrendering to attack.
Crack! Riiip!
Sharp fangs tore flesh and splintered bone.
"Hahaha! Lucky day. Missed the vitals, but the dogs pulled it off. Hahaha!"
The hunters laughed heartily.
The arrow hadn't pierced a vital spot. It had struck the body, but not enough to stop its movement.
The boar should have fled.
If it had bolted with all its might, even the dogs might not have caught it easily.
But the boar had given up on escape.
Either it underestimated the dogs, or it chose suicide.
A wounded boar wouldn't mock dogs, and suicide was even less likely... so how to explain it dying torn apart in the fight?
The hunters credited it all to the dogs.
They'd swarmed too fast for escape. Bit it dead before it could budge.
The dogs made this hunt.
"Hahaha! Gotta make these pups some meat stew today."
"Heap it on 'em. Long as you hit it once, they seal the deal. What treasures in this world. Hahaha!"
Their laughter and chatter faded into the distance.
Only with Inch Kill could Instant Kill be perfected.
Shadowless Step was merely a stepping stone to Inch Kill— not the goal itself.
The goal lay in Inch Kill.
In that fleeting instant—too brief to even conjure thoughts of life or death—draw forth death itself.
The transition from life to death so abrupt it became Inch Kill.
No pain allowed.
Excruciating agony birthed numbness. A boar shot by an arrow feels pain, but one crushed by a boulder does not. Pain exists, but there's no time to register it.
Kill so swiftly they can't feel a thing. That's Inch Kill.
Inch Kill led Instant Kill to its zenith.
From the tree, he gazed at the darkening forest.
The woods teemed with life. And with death. Even now, lives were born and extinguished.
Is it done?
He questioned himself.
He examined if excitement had surged when he slew the boar.
Ending a life stirred excitement. If no emotion rose from taking one, that was a problem too.
Could a cold-blooded killer manage it?
A killer's thrill didn't stem from guilt over murdering a person.
Beasts hunted without remorse. The shiver at killing another animal came from the satisfaction of securing prey.
Yes. A murderer's excitement arose from satisfaction.
Addicted to that satisfaction, they became killers who had to murder.
Women, liquor, gambling... like any vice that intoxicated the mind, killing could addict too.
Did that satisfaction arise?
Honestly, it used to.
The fulfillment of guiding a writhing soul painlessly to the afterlife.
Such fulfillment absolved the guilt of murder. It justified the act.
Did satisfaction, fulfillment arise?
No.
He'd slain the boar with the ultimate technique of Inch Kill, yet no sense of achievement bloomed.
Second: numbness?
If utterly devoid of feeling, was severing life the same as not?
No.
The boar's faint smile surfaced in his mind.
Boars didn't smile. On death's door, struck by the arrow, it endured agony. Even if it could smile, the moment didn't warrant it.
Yet he saw the smile.
No pity for the boar. No thrill in the stroke. Not numb either. A warm gentleness rose, but not achievement.
Second question: numb? No.
Swish!
He reached out and plucked a leaf.
Just plucking a single leaf.
A child could do it, a woman, even a hunched old lady with ease.
Yet as he plucked the leaf, he embodied Inch Kill.
He snapped it from the twig in the gentlest way. Without force, it fell cleanly.
It's complete!
It was the tenth day of the fortnight he'd requested from Zhuge Soso.
"What're you doing?"
Zhuge Soso said, peering into the valley.
There sat Four Thousand Four. Dozing by the stream, lulled by the water's murmur.
"That."
"The whole time?"
"Figured he was training his arts for those ten days or so, but he's slept straight through the last five."
"Eats anything?"
"Graze on grass."
"Grass?"
"Too lazy to cook, just munches grass."
Zhuge Soso's eyes sparkled.
The sleeping Four Thousand Four looked utterly serene. No trace of worry or care.
He should've wrestled with turmoil for ages, yet he was profoundly still.
Four Thousand Four had already sorted his thoughts. Resolved them one way or another, hence the calm.
Zhuge Soso walked toward Four Thousand Four.
"Your... thinking done?"
"Figured out where you'll slot me in?"
"What to make of us? Needs sorting, our relationship."
"Friends."
"Friends. Good. Then let's talk casual. Those stiff honorifics bug me."
"Sure."
Four Thousand Four replied easily.
Zhuge Soso's eyes sparkled once more.
His voice... how to put it? Steady, not flighty. He knew she held a place in his heart, yet no thrill at his crush suggesting friendship.
Had he let go of his feelings?
No resignation, despair, or defeat in it.
His voice flowed pleasantly, like the brook beside them. Comforting to the ear.
What... did this guy do?
Had Master Jigong's shock ripened him further? It felt exactly like that. Not the Four Thousand Four she'd known before—more grown, no, vastly matured.
"And... bam, casual speech?"
Zhuge Soso said, eyes wide.
Four Thousand Four stretched languidly and asked,
"So, where you putting me?"
"You like me?"
Zhuge Soso blurted.
Four Thousand Four glanced at her, mildly startled. But soon, in the plainest tone,
"Yeah."
"But I feel zero 'like' from it?"
"Can't be helped. Can't say it, can't hold your hand. Keeps coming up, it's torture... cut me some slack?"
"Hoho! Fine. Thought about where to use this Four Thousand Four... turns out, lots of spots. But first... remember what I said?"
"No killing."
"Strictly, no killing by Instant Kill."
"Got it."
"...!"
Zhuge Soso's eyes bulged.
This time, genuine shock. Shocked he'd abandon Instant Kill. Shocked at how readily he agreed.
"This is heavy—think it over good..."
"Already decided. Heh! What to call me? Friend or not, 'Four Thousand Four' feels off. Call me Namso. Forgot I'm an assassin, huh?"
"Hohoho! Gotcha? Scary fella."
Zhuge Soso beamed. Four Thousand Four smirked.
She'd already woven her net. Ten Directions Chain Formation laid airtight, no escape for him. Golden-Eyed Black Hawk circled the skies. Green-Fragrance White Rat prowled.
If worst came, eliminate Four Thousand Four.
She wouldn't risk releasing him. Better to kill than free.
Of course, Zhuge Clan would pay dearly.
Wasn't Four Thousand Four the master who'd clashed with Master Jigong? Master of Shadowless Step? Slaying him would stretch even Zhuge Clan's might thin.
Fortune smiled: this place held a device to kill him.
Deploy the Explosive Annihilation Emperor Formation.
It'd claim Zhuge Soso too, facing him... but far preferable to letting him go.
Four Thousand Four had read that much.
"So just my choice left. Trust Four Thousand Four and use him, or distrust and trigger the formation?"
"Gotta choose if you must. Make you wait long?"
"Thinking of you as a secret weapon, Four Thousand Four."
"Secret weapon?"
"Find my father. Quietly. Not even passing ants notice."
"Zhuge Patriarch?"
"For reference: Father's hidden where no soul in this world can find him. We searched. Beggar Clan. Heavenly Annihilation Division. Plum Three Houses. None succeeded."
"Hm."
"You'll find him?"
"I will. We're friends."
Four Thousand Four said calmly.