Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Chapter 33 The feet are as fast as a horse, and the palm of the hand cuts the elite
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The golden mountain pressing down on Chen Shi's head was no real mountain of gold, but one conjured by a talisman.
Anyone struck by this talisman had to endure over a thousand jin of pressure bearing down on their body. If their strength was the slightest bit lacking, they would be crushed or flattened to death on the spot. Yet Chen Shi not only withstood the crushing weight of the Mountain-Moving Talisman but kept up an astonishing speed, actually catching up to Fu Shanke—who had activated his Galloping Horse Talisman—and slaying him with a single blow.
Poor Fu Shanke, a man of formidable skill with peerless mastery over talismans, hailed alongside Old Man Iron Brush as the twin masters of Xuan Ying Prefecture. He didn't even manage to unleash a fraction of his true abilities before he was cut down!
Had it been the Chen Shi from his duel with Old Man Iron Brush, Fu Shanke could have toyed with him to death—Chen Shi never would have broken his Spirit Snake Talisman. But now Chen Shi had refined true blood, his five viscera and six bowels growing ever stronger. He shattered the Spirit Snake Talisman and took him completely by surprise.
The moment Chen Shi rammed backward was precisely when the Embroidered Uniform Guard standing beneath the tree activated his Divine Shrine, the Divine Embryo within emerging into view.
This man's technique circulated at a speed Chen Shi had never witnessed before, his reactions equally unprecedented. Spotting Chen Shi barreling toward him, he retreated while directing his Divine Embryo.
Ahead of his Divine Embryo, a thread of sword qi nearly imperceptible to the naked eye was taking shape!
A spell from the Heavenly Heart Righteous Qi Art: Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword!
The sword qi hadn't fully formed when Chen Shi's back slammed into him.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard's five viscera shuddered violently, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth as he flew backward against his will.
“Bang!”
His body crashed into the great tree where the cicada-catcher perched, a gush of fresh blood erupting from his mouth.
Blood filling his mouth, the Embroidered Uniform Guard clenched his teeth, his face twisting with ferocity as he unleashed the sword qi before his Divine Shrine.
He knew that single撞 from Chen Shi had pulverized his five viscera and six bowels, snuffing out every shred of his vitality. But he was a battle-hardened veteran of endless slaughter; even in death, he would drag Chen Shi down with him!
Chen Shi hurtled forward like a bolt of lightning—only to see, dead ahead, the Divine Embryo in the shrine behind the Embroidered Uniform Guard's head point a hand.
Alert instinct flared in his heart. Without a second thought, Chen Shi whistled and retreated. Even under the thousand-plus jin of the golden mountain, his speed remained blistering—like a charging elephant, each step cracking the earth.
Yet the sense of peril only grew fiercer. Chen Shi couldn't see the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword's qi; he only saw the space ahead shuddering wildly, blurring his vision.
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”
Chen Shi's feet hammered down in rapid retreat, dozens of steps back—more than twenty zhang—by which point the danger loomed lethally.
He toppled backward. A piercing whine slashed past his ear as an invisible sword qi grazed the tip of his nose.
Still shaken, Chen Shi heard a muffled buzz from behind. Glancing sideways, he saw a roadside tree—so thick it took two or three men to encircle—tilting slowly, crashing down.
Though the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword had missed him, it still streaked three or four zhang to sever the tree clean through.
“This power…”
Chen Shi's heart clenched in shock. The man hadn't unleashed the spell's full might, yet even so, the sword qi's release was devastatingly tyrannical. A direct hit would have separated head from body—no survival possible.
“The Embroidered Uniform Guards the Zhao family sent to grab me are leagues stronger than the Li family's!”
He sprang to his feet.
By now, the cicada-catcher from the tree and the fisherman from the ditch had reached the road. Both had reacted with lightning reflexes and stood fully prepared, Divine Shrines and Divine Embryos at the ready.
The pair stomped down hard. The Galloping Horse Talismans strapped to their legs ignited at once, sending gusts of clear wind beneath their feet as they pursued with ferocious speed!
Racing onward, they pinched sword mudras. The Divine Embryos in their shrines mirrored the gestures exactly.
From afar, Chen Shi saw the air ripple and distort, his sight fuzzing once more. Disaster—he veered sharply toward the ditch.
With a whoosh, he vaulted across, landing on the far bank. His legs sank deep into the soft mud.
Chen Shi yanked his legs free. Two muffled thuds echoed from the road—their Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Swords gone astray, qi carving foot-deep gouges into the rock-hard surface and hurling up clods of compacted earth.
“Swish! Swish!”
Two more invisible sword qis streaked in. Chen Shi bulled through the Mountain-Moving Talisman's thousand-jin burden and plunged into the cornfield.
Corn grew there—a crop unique to Xiniu New Continent, towering as high as one or two men, dense as a woodland.
Chen Shi tore straight in, legs pumping wildly. Behind him, swathes of corn crumpled flat—the handiwork of the two Embroidered Uniform Guards' sword qis.
The pair reached the ditch too, flinging sword mudras ahead nonstop as they charged. Their Divine Embryos swung arms in relentless arcs, loosing spinning invisible sword qis into the field that sheared through everything in reach!
Feet never faltering, they leaped the ditch—but not as far as Chen Shi. On the verge of splashing down, winds swirled beneath them, churning the water's surface.
Another step forward, no plunge into the river—they touched the far bank.
Ahead, swathes of crops lay flattened. The two barreled after, hands weaving ceaselessly, Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Swords flying free.
Sword qi ahead lingered as new volleys arrived from behind.
Qis tangled in chaos, colliding pairwise and splintering into a storm of finer blades that sprayed every which way!
They were elite among the Embroidered Uniform Guards Zhao Yue had brought—strength overwhelming ordinary ranks, battle experience vast.
Unstoppable, they chased the golden mountain crowning Chen Shi's head, rampaging several li. The cornfield stretched on endlessly.
Abruptly, the mountain ahead flickered dim, then vanished.
Their hearts sank. The Mountain-Moving Talisman's power had expired.
It lasted only two quarters-hour; time up, it dispersed!
Now Chen Shi's trail was lost.
“Rustle rustle rustle!”
Rapid footfalls crashed through the corn—human body battering stalks and leaves.
Back-to-back at once, they scanned warily all around.
Rustling circled them without cease, blindingly swift.
Pressed together, they pivoted with the sound, sword mudras pinching, slashes flying toward the noise. Qis chased echoes, felling vast corn swathes—but nothing more.
“Pull back out of the crops!” one barked.
The shout unfinished, a figure pounced like lightning—short and stocky, speed unreal. Next instant, it rammed his chest. The Embroidered Uniform Guard flew back as if gored by a wild bull, blood spraying from his mouth.
The other loosed a sword without hesitation. The small figure sprang aside, evading. The flung Guard had no dodge left—sliced in half at the waist, blood soaking the field.
“Lin He!”
The survivor roared in agony. Rustling footfalls rose anew from the corn, whipping circles around him.
Bad—terrible. He bolted in a frenzy, retracing the ravaged path.
In these towering crops, a pint-sized foe held every terrain edge. Fallen stalks even betrayed his spells' paths—easy to evade.
But the road would strip the criminal Chen Shi bare.
His Galloping Horse Talisman still blazed, propelling him like wind. Sword qi primed, senses locked: whichever way Chen Shi lunged, death awaited.
Unnoticed when, the rustles died. The field fell eerily still, holding only his footfalls and ragged breaths.
The ditch lay ahead, post road beyond. No time for thought—he hurtled to the edge, leaped. Halfway down to water, he tapped the surface—winds surged, waves roiling.
Opposite bank in sight—then a splash erupted behind, water bursting. Chen Shi rocketed up from the river, level with him.
“Faster than me—got ahead, lurked in the river for ambush!”
Horror gripped the Guard. He whipped around. Chen Shi surged qi and blood; palms swelled bear-thick, a full size larger, smashing his ears.
“Bang!”
Brains pulped to slurry, the Guard's corpse thudded onto the bank.
Chen Shi splashed down, floating supine on the river, heaving great gusts. His heart thundered, refusing calm.
“Tonight, reckon my condition flares again.”
At his chest, the frantic organ quaked the water faintly.
Moments passed. Chen Shi swam ashore. New clothes clung sodden, rent everywhere by corn leaves—riddled like a sieve.
“Grandpa's new clothes for me…”
Heart aching, Chen Shi steadied breath, then approached Fu Shanke's corpse. A thorough search yielded seventy or eighty talismans, all sorts. He plucked his two Galloping Horse Talismans for his sleeve pocket.
He stripped Fu Shanke's coat, bundled the rest neatly, fished several taels silver from the pouch.
Chen Shi paused, returned the silver to Fu Shanke.
—Grandpa's lesson: never take the dead's money lightly, lest they rise at night demanding it back.
He located the other two bodies, rummaged about: more talismans, some silver. Talismans only for him; silver stayed with the dead.
“Grandpa can sell these talismans, pay for ruined crops. Fellow villagers all—can't leave their corn barren of harvest,” Chen Shi mused.
The bisected Embroidered Uniform Guard? Untouched. Too grisly; nightmares loomed.
“Last night Sanwang invaded my dream, warning of killers coming, urging flight. Real dream? How'd Sanwang get in there?”
Chen Shi rose straight, recalling the long tongue coiled round Sanwang's neck. Perplexed.
“That dream-tongue—what was it? Where'd it haul Sanwang?”
Unease stirred deep.
Grandpa had spoken of deathbed dream-visits.
Dying with obsessions unresolved, the soul seeks loved ones, slips into dreams to voice regrets, farewells, last wishes.
“Sanwang's from Huangyang Village—something happen there?”
Chen Shi washed at riverside, straightened clothes in reflection. The head-sealing talisman had faded too. But rags unfit for eyes—he looped back to village.
Blackie Pot craned up, stunned: little master stormed home reeking murder, garb in tatters.
Little master's prized set, Grandpa-bought yesterday—how beggar-fied after one outing?
Chen Shi ducked indoors, donned old garb.
“Blackie Pot, Grandpa out?”
Blackie Pot nodded.
Chen Shi strode forthward.
“I'm off to kill. Stay put—no rising.”
Blackie Pot sprawled, head swiveling to track little master's exit.
Soon Chen Shi neared Huangyang Village outskirts, eyed the tranquil hamlet afar. Deep inhale, long exhale—breath leveled fully—then advanced.
“That Fu Shanke talisman master said I'd slain Old Man Iron Brush; Third Young Master's orders to take me. Zhao family's Third Young Master, surely.”
Face serene, Chen Shi pondered in silence.
“Fu Shanke could've assassinated outright—I'd be gone. Capturing means hauling me to Zhao Third Young Master.”
Three Lights Righteous Qi Art surged: qi-blood coursed, nourished viscera and bowels, bulked frame.
“Then Zhao Third Young Master lingers in Huangyang Village. Prime mover gets no heirs. My work sloppy, roots unsevered—must amend!”
Huangyang Village outer bounds: empty, tomb-silent.
Chen Shi skirted the entrance, veered southwest corner, vaulted the wall.
“My mess, my fix—no dragging Grandpa or villagers under!”