Chapter 70

Huo Tianqing displayed an extremely light and elegant lightness skill, dodging left and right to narrowly avoid the many hidden weapons flying toward him.

The youth in red inverted the white umbrella in his hand and spun it in mid-air; suddenly, it whirled like a wheel, and dozens of pearls clattered to the ground.

Yan Tieshan, who had hoped to use this moment to escape, had just leaped up when he suddenly crashed to the ground, his chest a bloody mess and emitting the smell of charred flesh—he had been struck by the "Thunder Sound Electric Dragon" of the Universal Flow of the Six Voids Technique and died on the spot.

At this moment, apart from the young child and the servant in green trembling in the corner, only Huo Tianqing remained.

The youth in red raised his eyebrows slightly:

"The people who were disturbing the mood are gone; please, continue."

"Who exactly are you?" Huo Tianqing asked with a somber face. "I should have no grudge or enmity with you."

The youth in red wore an inscrutable expression:

"You conspired with Huo Xiu, using various forces as your pawns, and yet you think you haven't provoked me?"

Huo Tianqing seemed to think of something and blurted out:

"Are you a friend of Lu Xiaofeng?"

"We have never met; how can we be friends?" Zhuang Buran said calmly:

"I do not like to meddle in other people's business, and I hate trouble even more. Since you lot will not let me be at peace, then I shall solve the people who create the trouble, and naturally, there will be no trouble in the world."

"Have you gone mad? I haven't even provoked you, so where is this trouble coming from?" Huo Tianqing frowned deeply.

"Your long-windedness is making me feel annoyed," the youth in red said nonchalantly:

"If you don't make a move now, I fear you will never have the chance again."

Huo Tianqing's eyes narrowed; he stood on one leg, his arms stretched out like crane wings, his fingertips drooping like hanging dew, his body trembling slightly with his breath, as if a crane sleeping on a shallow beach.

The youth in red stood holding his umbrella, a smile on his face, as if expecting something.

His stance changed abruptly; his arms swung back like a falcon gathering momentum, then he suddenly lunged forward, his ten fingers forming claws that tore through the air with a harsh, silk-ripping sound.

It could be seen that while his moves appeared to be aimed directly at the throat, in reality, the claw wind enveloped a ten-foot radius around him; if the enemy retreated, they would be wounded by the claw wind, and if they advanced, they would suffer a heart-piercing blow from his sharp claws.

"Interesting, continue."

Yet Zhuang Buran made no move, merely stepping sideways as if he had directly found the gap in the force, and just like that, he avoided it.

Huo Tianqing bent his elbow to protect his heart with one arm, while the other hand formed a beak-like shape hidden under his ribs, suddenly spinning and thrusting forward like a falcon diving to catch a rabbit.

"This is a move that seeks victory in defeat; the elbow defense is a feint, the finger attack is the real strike. The Qi energy at the fingertips can penetrate iron armor and is specifically designed to break hard-body techniques."

While Zhuang Buran calmly evaluated the move, he shifted his body to the side and avoided it once more.

Huo Tianqing was oblivious, as if he had heard nothing, pouring all his heart and soul into the slaughter, using his greatest strength to unleash the "Nine Forms of the Heavenly Bird."

His pride and isolation would not allow this youth in red to remain so condescendingly aloof; only blood could wash away his trampled dignity.

"This technique uses the movements of birds as its bones and the temperament of a person as its soul, but with your ability, you are still far off."

Zhuang Buran suddenly closed his umbrella; the wooden tip, sharp as the finest blade in the world, instantly pierced Huo Tianqing's heart, the immense force it carried pinning him firmly against the wall behind him.

The youth in red appeared like a ghost before the dying Huo Tianqing and said:

"Where is the First Building of the Green Clothes?"

A dazed, trance-like look appeared in Huo Tianqing's eyes; after blurting out a few words, he breathed his last.

Zhuang Buran turned around, his soft, hypnotic voice echoing in the water pavilion.

"Go out and have a sleep; all nightmares will be forgotten."

Immediately, the young child and the servant in green seemed to have their minds bewitched, walking out of the water pavilion as if sleepwalking.

Not long after, the Zhuguang Baoqi Ge was engulfed in flames, thick smoke billowing as it turned into a pavilion of fire.

On the mountain behind the Zhuguang Baoqi Ge, a youth in red walked into a jujube forest and saw a very simple little wooden house.

With a playful look on his face, he said to himself:

"This is the First Building of the Green Clothes; it is said that there are one hundred and eight traps and ambushes on that little building."

In an instant, seemingly endless vines burrowed into the wooden house, almost instantly bursting it apart, and the long, thin vines quickly drilled into a wide and winding tunnel.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the vines in the tunnel very intelligently separated to form a path wide enough for a single person to pass.

An old man wearing washed-out blue cloth clothes and tattered straw sandals on his bare feet walked out with an incredibly complex expression on his face.

He looked at the youth in red not far away, and seeing his white hair and covered eyes, he let out a heavy sigh:

"Are you a man or a ghost?"

"These vines only look terrifying; in reality, they are all just showy things with no substance."

"Your vines are pervasive, instantly blocking every secret path and exit; the vines even contain deadly poison, and there are strange flowers that are tough and hard to break—it truly leaves one with no way to escape."

Huo Xiu smiled bitterly:

"I should be a complete stranger to a remarkable person like you; please, enlighten me so I can die with understanding."

"After all, you look like the exact opposite of Lu Xiaofeng."

"Someone who has practiced the 'Childhood Merit' to the pinnacle is absolutely impossible to be slaughtered like this."

The youth in red spoke in a gentle tone:

"If you continue to act, are you looking down on yourself, or are you looking down on me?"

Upon hearing this, Huo Xiu's entire aura changed abruptly; his figure remained hunched like an old man's, but his skin took on a pale golden sheen under the moonlight, as if it were bronze ware that had developed a patina over many years.

Seeing this, Zhuang Buran asked with a smile:

"It is said that your 'Childhood Merit' has reached the realm of perfection; why is there still an external manifestation of imagery? Shouldn't it be a return to simplicity?"

"To deal with a person like you who does not seem of this world, I must naturally risk my old life."

The youth in red did not speak; a fierce wind rose around him, and with a rustling sound from his sleeves, a vast expanse of white flew out.

Hundreds and thousands of paper butterflies, accompanied by a strong wind, surged toward Huo Xiu.

"Come, let me see how long the pinnacle of 'Childhood Merit' can last under the 'Wind Butterflies'."

After about forty or fifty breaths, a corpse covered in wounds lay upon the blood-stained paper butterflies.

Zhuang Buran slowly took out a fire starter, lit it, and threw it onto the paper butterflies covering the ground.

The flames instantly engulfed the corpse and spread everywhere, quickly turning the jujube forest into a sea of fire.

"A dark night with high winds, a perfect time for killing and arson—very good!"

A youth in red stepped on the clouds and disappeared into the fire-filled night.

Three days later.

Jiangnan, the Suhang region.

In the middle of Xihu, a small boat drifted with the wind, and a youth in red lay leisurely at the bow of the boat, fishing.

Not far away, a small boat sped over, with Hua Manlou and Lu Xiaofeng standing at the bow.

"Xiao Ba, you are truly hard to find; could it be that you have been boating on the lake all this time?"

"That is only natural. As soon as I heard you were taken away by a young and beautiful woman, I knew trouble was coming to my door."

The youth in red stared intently at his fishing rod and said without raising his head:

"So, the moment you left, I came to Xihu to go boating."

"I must say, my Hua family is truly quite wealthy; no matter where I go, I can live comfortably."

Lu Xiaofeng replied with a chuckle:

"It's more than just 'quite wealthy'; in the Jiangnan region, the Hua family owns the most land, and the Yan family in Guanzhong owns the most jewelry."

"Everyone says that if you ride a fast horse for a whole day in Jiangnan, you would still be within the Hua family's properties."

"It is also said that this family lives the most luxuriously, with their food and clothing being extremely refined; even their coachmen look like wealthy young masters when they walk out."

His tone suddenly turned somber as he said:

"It is a pity that a few days ago, the Guanzhong Yan family, who owned the most jewelry, was wiped out by some unknown enemy, and the truly wealthy tycoon who was the richest in the world died miserably on the mountain behind the Zhuguang Baoqi Ge."

Upon hearing this, the youth in red said with some relief:

"The Jianghu is truly too dangerous; big shots who are famous in the Jianghu can just die like that. Fortunately, I never get involved in the Jianghu, and only wish to steal some leisure and fun on my own little plot of land."

He paused, turned his head, and said:

"Hua Qitong, don't say I haven't cared about my own brother; you also shouldn't always follow people to meddle in other people's business."

"I don't want there to be a day when the white-haired send off the black-haired!"

(End of chapter)