Chapter 25: Oil

No words were needed; both sides determined each other's will through movement and gaze alone.

Cai Zixuan grinned silently, arms wide open, ready to bring his palms together.

Boom!

Li Cheng kicked hard off the stairs, launching himself like a cannonball, then lightly tapped the ground, leaping slightly, as the mantis bone-blades spun with his swinging arms and lunged forward in a slashing strike.

Cai Zixuan knew he couldn't block it head-on; he stepped back half a pace, snatched up the detached car door lying nearby, and held it before him like a shield.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

For every rotation the mantis bone-blades made, a new cut appeared on the metal car door—until it could no longer hold, snapping into two pieces.

The remaining momentum of the bone-blades carved two deep gashes across Cai Zixuan's arms, spraying a torrent of blood.

Cai Zixuan sneered, twisted his hips, and delivered a whipping kick.

The strike came swift and sudden; Li Cheng, having just halted his forward momentum, had exhausted his forward force and lacked follow-through—he immediately retracted the bone-blade, crossed his arms before his chest, palms open and loosely clenched, intercepting the kick.

Boom!

Li Cheng felt as if a speeding car had slammed into him; his feet screeched against the floor as he was driven backward over a dozen steps, dissipating the force.

As for Cai Zixuan, his arm muscles swelled, forcibly compressing his blood vessels to halt the bleeding; he casually snapped off a nearby metal streetlamp pole, weighing it in his hand.

No fighting techniques mattered—his massively enhanced body was the best weapon.

Cai Zixuan swung the streetlamp at him; Li Cheng dodged repeatedly, and when he couldn't dodge, he blocked with his bone-blade, shearing off the lamp's top.

They fought their way through the hospital ward; wherever they passed, wheelchairs overturned, stretchers flew through the air, bystanders' bodies were shattered into countless fragments, reduced to ash—only to regenerate long after.

If not for the Shadow Realm, the floor would already be littered with corpses.

Whoosh!

The corridor was too narrow for sweeping strikes; Cai Zixuan thrust the streetlamp forward, its severed metal pole now like a spear stabbing toward Li Cheng's shoulder.

Li Cheng tilted his head aside, letting the metal pole graze his neck; his left hand shot out like a venomous snake, slithering up the pole's length, gripping Cai Zixuan's left wrist tightly.

Simultaneously, he planted his right foot, leaned his upper body backward, curled and tensed his left leg, toes slightly inward, sole facing forward.

His upper body, thigh, calf, and heel aligned in a straight line; he twisted his waist, rotated his hips, drove his thigh to propel his calf, and kicked out with explosive force.

The side kick struck Cai Zixuan squarely on the hip, lifting his feet off the ground; since his left wrist was held fast by Li Cheng, his entire body helplessly tumbled downward.

As the ground rushed closer, Cai Zixuan slammed his right palm into the floor—his inhuman strength propelled him upward; he released the streetlamp, reversed his grip, and seized Li Cheng's wrist to prevent escape, then thrust his head upward in a headbutt that collided with Li Cheng's.

Boom!

Blood spattered from both foreheads as they recoiled from the impact.

Cai Zixuan staggered upright; Li Cheng's vision swam with golden sparks, his bloodshot eyes barely making out his opponent's silhouette.

Murderous intent surged, ferocity boiling—he did not retreat but advanced, stepping his left leg forward, bending his knee to close the distance, shifting his center of gravity backward, raising his right leg, and delivering a heavy kick to Cai Zixuan's knee.

Leg technique: Intercepting Kick.

Cai Zixuan's left knee instantly cracked—the patella shattered, the suprapatellar and prepatellar bursae ruptured, the meniscus torn.

The patellar ligament and anterior cruciate ligament ripped apart.

Yet he did not fall; besides his body's inexplicably enhanced physicality, his center of gravity rested on his right leg, his right fist clenched, delivering a simple, unadorned, whip-like diagonal strike.

Their left hands remained locked together; Cai Zixuan's arms were longer—so even if Li Cheng leaned back to evade, the whip-punch would strike his left arm and break it.

With no other choice, Li Cheng gripped his own left wrist with his right hand to prevent dislocation; he pushed off the ground with his left leg and kicked the wall with his right, launching himself into Cai Zixuan.

The superhuman jumping power granted by cricket genes erupted fully, unleashing immense force that carried them both crashing through the building's exterior.

The sensation of weightlessness stirred a terrible memory; Cai Zixuan instinctively released his grip, curling into a ball to protect himself.

This spared Li Cheng the effort of breaking free—he let go, adjusted his falling posture midair, bounced several times on the ground, dissipating his momentum.

"."

Cai Zixuan, having crashed hard onto the ground, slowly rose from the flowerbed, blood streaming continuously from his forehead, tracing down his eye sockets like tears of blood.

Li Cheng's forehead bled too; fortunately, in the Shadow Realm, external objects fade over time, so after a while, he need not worry about hair or blood remaining on the ground, attracting the attention of the Special Affairs Bureau.

He raised his hand, smoothed his blood-soaked hair, and pressed his bangs flat against his scalp.

Both were badly wounded; the next move would likely be the final one.

A sudden clarity rose in his mind; Li Cheng leaned forward, every fiber of his thigh muscles visibly distinct.

Whoosh—

His form shot forward like an arrow, vanishing from his spot—not rushing directly at Cai Zixuan, but bouncing and accelerating off the outer walls of the four buildings surrounding the flowerbed.

Speed increased until only a blur remained.

Cai Zixuan clenched both fists, timed his moment, and suddenly launched his right fist forward.

He hit—but missed.

A coat hung on Cai Zixuan's fist; fabric tore, whipped away by the gale.

Li Cheng himself, hidden beneath the coat's shadow, closed in rapidly, scaling Cai Zixuan's back like a monkey; he wrapped his legs around Cai Zixuan's waist and abdomen, and locked his left arm around his neck.

This was not a Brazilian jiu-jitsu rear naked choke.

Li Cheng raised his right hand high; the mantis bone-blade sprang from beneath his forearm, then plunged straight down, aiming for the top of Cai Zixuan's skull.

Plop—

The bone-blade pierced clean through the skullcap; Cai Zixuan's body lurched violently, his left fist—already aimed at Li Cheng's temple—lost all power and slumped uselessly.

He staggered forward a few steps, collapsed to his knees beside the corridor window, and slowly brought his palms together.

He could draw strength from slaughter; as long as he kept killing, he could heal his wounds and grow stronger.

He needed to dissolve the Shadow Realm.

He needed more blood.

"Where is my son? Where is my son?"

A middle-aged woman in a coat, her face frantic, burst into the hospital lobby.

Her face was coated in cosmetics, her skin well-maintained; her index finger bore a brand-new wedding ring, and she dragged a suitcase—on the handle of which still clung a United Airlines baggage tag, untouched and unstuck.

"Madam, please calm down."

A nurse stepped forward and asked, "What's your son's name? What illness is he suffering from?"

"Cai Zixuan—Cai from Cai Lun, Zi from son, Xuan from Xuanyuan."

The woman cried anxiously, "He fell from upstairs, fractured his bones, and was hospitalized. I just got off the plane, and every call I made to his father went unanswered. I shouldn't have left him with his father—I should've taken him with me."

Cai Zixuan stared at the woman on the other side of the glass, listening to her voice—familiar yet alien—and suddenly halted his expansion of the Shadow Realm, only pressing his forehead motionless against the window.

His breath gradually ceased.

Two trails of black tears slid from his eyes, fell to the floor, and solidified into two half-congealed globes of grease.

"."

Li Cheng slowly released his restraint. He did not understand what had happened to the giant, so he closed the man's eyes, picked up the black grease and the torn clothing, and hurried back to the first-floor restroom.

Moments later, the Shadow Realm, deprived of its sustainer, gradually dissolved. Li Cheng had already changed into spare clothes and stepped out of the restroom, swiftly leaving the hospital before Cai Zixuan's corpse was discovered.

(End of Chapter)