Chapter 73: Foul Stench

Relying on the force of this kick, Duan Rong took advantage of the momentum to maneuver his body, leaping over a zhang in mid-air!

Landing lightly, he tapped his toes and moved like a ghost toward the large banyan tree not far away...

The attacks from both Zhou Shoushan and Duan Rong were as fast as lightning; in truth, only about ten breaths of time had passed!

Furthermore, at the beginning of the struggle between Duan Rong and Zhou Shoushan, Kong Bin had been stunned by shock...

By this time, Kong Bin had already outpaced Zhang Zheng and rushed near the large banyan tree. His body suddenly sprang up like a pellet; he stepped onto the trunk of the banyan tree, used the momentum to leap, then slammed a foot against the courtyard wall. Using the wall to propel himself again, he flipped and climbed, grabbing a thick branch hanging down from the banyan tree. He could see that with one swing, he would be able to jump over the courtyard wall!

But just at that moment, a foot suddenly descended from the sky and stepped onto his face!

That step was delivered with considerable force; Kong Bin's face was flattened like a ball, his body instantly lost its balance, and with a thud, he crashed onto the ground covered in withered branches and fallen leaves!

Zhang Zheng had just run to the base of the tree and had not yet seen what happened when Kong Bin thudded to the ground at his feet. Zhang Zheng stumbled and tripped over Kong Bin, falling face-first into the dirt!

Just as Zhang Zheng lifted his head, covered in withered leaves and bird droppings, he saw Duan Rong move like a ghost, flickering down and landing lightly on the ground from the top of the temple wall!

Then, a blur of motion whistled past and stood before Kong Bin!

Fortunately, it was the afternoon, when the sunlight was intense; if it were a moonlit night, this scene alone would be enough to scare one to death!

Following Duan Rong's movement, the Ox-Tail Saber in his hand had already been steadily and diagonally thrust into Kong Bin's chest!

Entering from the chest, it pierced diagonally into the heart from the right side!

A single strike, run through!

Ever since Duan Rong had swallowed that Silver Needle last time, he had become intimately familiar with the meridians and acupoints of the human body!

He could pierce Kong Bin's heart from any angle with a single strike, and he would never let a rib obstruct his blade!

Kong Bin was shocked; he had fallen to the ground and jumped up, but Duan Rong's blade arrived almost simultaneously, stabbing into his chest!

On his face, which still bore the imprint of a shoe, his nose was flattened and bruised, and nosebleed splattered everywhere!

Kong Bin looked at Duan Rong, his eyes showing a momentary, obvious dullness—it was the disbelief of death arriving so suddenly!

Duan Rong pulled the blade out; the fresh blood on the edge gathered into a line, dripping from the tip like a spout!

"Since we were fellow disciples, I'll leave you a whole corpse!" There was not a trace of emotion in Duan Rong's cold gaze.

Kong Bin clutched his chest, rolling on the ground. In his eyes, immense fear and resentment began to well up, and he muttered, "I can't die! I can't die! I am so clever, how can I die in a place like this! I can't die!..."

Duan Rong no longer paid any attention to Kong Bin, who was writhing on the ground like a maggot. He turned his head to look at Zhang Zheng, who was still blankly lying on the ground, having not yet climbed up!

Zhang Zheng was already scared out of his wits; he crawled up trembling and kowtowed like he was pounding garlic!

"Duan Rong! Spare me. I'm just a follower; this wasn't my idea! It wasn't my idea!"

"Zhang Zheng!" Duan Rong suddenly called out to him.

Zhang Zheng gasped and lifted his head. In that very instant, Duan Rong's body suddenly lunged forward and crouched, and the Ox-Tail Saber in his hand followed his movement, piercing through Zhang Zheng's body!

Duan Rong stared at the dying Zhang Zheng. Tears still streaked Zhang Zheng's face, his lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with disbelief!

"Have better luck in your next life!" After saying this, Duan Rong suddenly stood up.

Following his movement, the sharp Ox-Tail Saber was pulled out from Zhang Zheng's body.

Sunlight filtered through the lush branches and leaves of the large banyan tree, casting dappled light down onto the Ox-Tail Saber in Duan Rong's hand!

The Ox-Tail Saber had drunk its fill of blood, its cold light blinding!

Zhang Zheng knelt there, his hands hanging down, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. He was muttering, "You fool! I told you to befriend him! You fool..."

He knew he was done for, because his heart had been pierced through by Duan Rong's blade.

He could feel that with every beat of his heart, immense pain surged, while the blood all over his body grew colder and colder...

On the open ground in front of the temple gate, Zhou Shoushan was crawling on the ground, a bloody intestine dragging behind him...

He had lost an arm, so he crawled very slowly, but the desire to survive was an animal's most primal instinct!

Zhou Shoushan had already lost too much blood, and his brain, deprived of blood, could no longer think clearly. He only retained a subconscious obsession: to crawl to the temple gate, open it, and escape!

But the reason Duan Rong had kicked him into the middle of the courtyard was precisely to prevent him from crawling out; how could he possibly crawl out?

Zhou Shoushan was crawling with great difficulty, and on the ground behind him was a blood trail half a zhang long...

Suddenly, a pair of feet wearing black cloth shoes appeared on the withered leaves before his eyes! The next moment, a cold light flashed, and his throat was slashed open by a blade!

Zhou Shoushan had already lost too much blood; his brain was in a state of oxygen deprivation, and his memories were already blurring.

In that final moment, he was still wondering, whose feet were those?

Zhou Shoushan's body twitched slightly on the ground, then stopped moving altogether...

This Gang Leader of the Whale Tiger Gang could be considered a veteran of the underworld. He hadn't died at the hands of Shen Yanliu years ago, but unexpectedly, he had met a miserable end at the hands of Duan Rong in this desolate temple in the wilderness!

At this moment, Duan Rong sat down on the steps at the temple gate, the Ox-Tail Saber placed by his side. He was panting, his gaze somewhat listless!

The entire courtyard was perfectly silent, and the afternoon sunlight spilled in, dancing between the withered branches and fallen leaves...

A thick, bloody stench permeated the air...

"Killing is truly a physically demanding job..." Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.

Duan Rong only rested for a moment before standing up. He gripped the saber in his right hand, circulated his Internal Breath, and gave the blade a shake; a spray of blood dots appeared, covering the mossy wall!

Duan Rong sheathed his blade and kicked Zhou Shoushan over!

Zhou Shoushan's body was covered in leaves, especially at the gash on his belly, where the leaves had piled up several layers thick, stuck together by dried blood...

Duan Rong dragged Zhou Shoushan's corpse over to the pit by the courtyard wall!

That was the pit Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng had originally dug for him!

Duan Rong quickly dragged all four corpses over and lined them up at the edge of the pit!

Aside from the corpses of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng, which were relatively clean, the other two were covered in blood and filth!

One was decapitated, the other disemboweled!

In this slaughter, Duan Rong no longer felt the panic and fear he had experienced the first time in the alleyway of the antique street!

Slaughter is the way of struggle in this world!

In truth, the world of his past life was just as full of slaughter!

Even in places with the rule of law, although slaughter is curbed, the struggle only becomes more intense!

Are those underhanded schemes and various dirty tactics not just as vicious and cruel as slaughter, eating people without spitting out the bones?

If he cannot quickly adapt to the way of struggle in this world, that is a form of cowardice in his very nature!

In any world, there is no room for the cowardly to survive!

Duan Rong laid the bodies out properly, then began to loot the spoils, searching the corpses one by one!

Zhou Shoushan actually had as much as five thousand taels in banknotes on him, and Wu Hui also had three thousand taels!

With this haul, he had broken through to become a ten-thousand-tael man!

One must know what kind of purchasing power silver has in the Jiuzhou World!

If he were to stop practicing martial arts, ten thousand taels of silver would absolutely mean financial freedom in this world!

Should he just switch to doing business instead?

It is not just fighting and killing that makes the pugilistic world; worldly wisdom is also the pugilistic world, isn't it?

But in a flash, Duan Rong extinguished this thought!

Because he had no foundation whatsoever; even with money, he could not keep it!

In a world that values martial arts, only by converting this silver into his own martial strength can it roll and grow, rolling into more and more!

Because practicing martial arts is the most cost-effective business in this world!

For those at the bottom, this is also the only business that can turn their lives around!

Apart from this, there is absolutely no other path!

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng also had a few taels of broken silver on them; Duan Rong collected those as well—even a mosquito's leg is still meat!

Duan Rong put away the banknotes and broken silver, then looked at a round, black Porcelain Bottle only the size of a plum by his feet!

This black Porcelain Bottle was found in the inner pocket of Zhou Shoushan's chest, kept together with that stack of banknotes!

Duan Rong surmised that what was inside this black Porcelain Bottle was likely no ordinary item; he picked it up with a solemn look and carefully removed the stopper... Instantly, a nauseating stench wafted out with the wind; Duan Rong immediately put the stopper back on and spat on the ground several times!

Even so, Duan Rong still felt his head spinning slightly!

(End of this chapter)