Chapter 582: The One Who Will Take Your Life

"Who are you? You're a thing worse than a beast; who else could you be?"

Le Zhuang let out a cold laugh, his face full of ridicule, and spoke again.

"Just a fish that slipped through my grandfather's blade; do you know what your parents and elder brother looked like when they died at his hands? Even now, thinking of it strikes me as absurd."

"How arrogant your parents and elder brother used to be? Yet under my grandfather's blade, they were nothing more than a single chop to the head."

"It's easier than slaughtering a pig; if I weren't wary of bad luck, I'd kick your parents' and elder brother's heads like a ball."

Being treated as a stepping stone by that beast Cui Ji, how could he not feel any anger in his heart? Back then he wanted to join the town's martial arts hall to learn kung fu, but the hall's master refused him; he didn't give up, tried another way—giving the hall's apprentices some money to teach him everything they'd learned.

Yet all those martial arts hall apprentices refused him; though most were young, they were sensible enough to see that he didn't seek martial arts out of curiosity, but to acquire skills to avenge his parents by finding Zhu Xing.

What kind of man is Zhu Xing? They had heard of him before, and now they saw it with their own eyes: Le Zhuang's parents died horribly at his hands, and Le Wenmao, the mighty warrior praised throughout Liangshui Town, dared not even break wind.

While they laughed at Le Wenmao's cowardice from the heart, they also immediately noticed how formidable Zhu Xing was.

If they secretly taught Le Zhuang skills, and he used that half-baked kung fu from them to seek Zhu Xing for revenge, he doesn't know whether Le Zhuang could kill Zhu Xing; even if Le Zhuang truly had the ability to kill Zhu Xing, given the Zhu clan's power, it would be easy to trace the teachings back to them via clues, and the Zhu clan would certainly not spare those who helped him.

Naturally.

They one by one refused Le Zhuang's request, even when he offered a huge sum at the time.

Just as Le Zhuang felt hopeless, Cui Ji suddenly ran out—though this beast, the lion, didn't utter a word, he ruthlessly extorted a sum of money from him, soon treating him as a stepping stone and leaving him to Zhu Xing's amusement.

All these years, he has constantly dreamed of cutting Cui Ji into a thousand pieces; even if he wasn't a match for Cui Ji back then, seeing Cui Ji again now would not bring a pleasant expression, and now that his maternal uncle backs him, he naturally won't be polite to Cui Ji.

"Good, good, good... you little bastard, you actually have the nerve to say this to my face!"

Cui Ji's face was full of vicious intent; he hurriedly rushed over from the county seat, having never been to his home, never having seen the gruesome state of his parents and elder brother; he feared that if he saw it he would lose control and go on a killing spree, but having heard from Chi Yongchun's cousin, how could he not know what had happened to his family? He turned his gaze to Le Zhuang's side, where the Daoist Xuanqing stood, and said:

"Honored Daoist, I don't know how to address you, and what is your relation to the Le family?"

At this moment he wished to seize Le Zhuang on the spot, hack that little bastard to pieces, then drag the little beast's grandfather's corpse from the coffin to whip it, to vent his hatred—though doing so couldn't resurrect his parents and elder brother.

But as he prepared to strike, his peripheral vision first noticed the Daoist Xuanqing; he saw nothing extraordinary about him, just an ordinary old Daoist.

Yet this old Daoist dared to speak before him, to have the courage to talk; even if a grown man, just not being scared stiff in his presence would already be impressive—after years of serving as a warrior alongside Zhu Xing, the fiercest thing he'd learned was the aspect of a fiendish demon, like a vengeful spirit reborn.

Much less could Le Zhuang, that little beast, dare to spout such wild words before him!

No need to even think about it.

It must be because that old Daoist before him is backing him up!

"Who am I!" As he spoke, Xuanqing Daozhang's mind stirred, an ancient-looking long sword appearing in his palm, the sword pointing at Cui Ji, he smiled narrowly and said: "Naturally, I am the one who will take your life!"

"No way, is this old Daoist really that brave? To draw his sword before Cui Ji, isn't he afraid of being chopped into minced meat by Cui Ji?"

Zhuo Tie exclaimed in surprise; though somewhat puzzled where Xuanqing Daozhang got his long sword, seeing the Daoist's slow, unhurried movements, there was not a trace of masterly bearing; though pointing at Cui Ji, he could see no threat to Cui Ji, and couldn't help asking the nearby Gu Liangong:

"Uncle Gu, who is this old Daoist?"

Gu Liangong's expression complex, he said: "He is the Kumu True Person!"

He knew that, given Xuanqing Daozhang's recent demeanor, not taking Le Zhuang to flee but heading toward Cui Ji likely meant he had resolved to settle Cui Ji for Le Zhuang; yet he wasn't optimistic about Cui Ji, for Cui Ji's notoriety had been forged through one battle after another.

Xuanqing Daozhang might have some skill, but he certainly wouldn't be a match for Cui Ji; yet for some reason, he secretly hoped Xuanqing Daozhang could settle Cui Ji.

It's not that justice must surely triumph over evil!

Rather, it's because this beast Cui Ji has done plenty of bad deeds; on this street, even if someone hasn't suffered from Cui Ji's misfortune, they've surely been bullied by Cui Ji's associates; Cui Ji's followers dare to run amok in Liangshui Town, and even the constables in the county office dare not intervene—isn't that just relying on Cui Ji's influence?

Just that.

Seeing Xuanqing Daozhang's slow, unhurried movements, he knew his hopes were about to be dashed.

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Gu Liangong couldn't help but sigh inwardly: 'Old Daoist Kumu, you've at least roamed the martial world outside; even if you never made a name for yourself out there, you should have witnessed the cruelty of the outside world. If you truly want to deal with this beast Cui Ji, why talk about morality with him? Sneak up and ambush him—what, you're afraid you won't kill him?'

Don't you realize you're old while he's in his prime? How could you possibly be his match in an open fight?

"Kumu Daozhang?"

Zhuo Tie thought for a while, still unable to figure out who the Kumu True Person was, and asked doubtfully: "Uncle Gu, by rights I and this old Daoist are meeting for the first time, so not knowing each other is normal, but why is his name so familiar to me?"

"Don't you forget? Our town has a Daoist temple called Kumu Guan!"

Gu Liangong reminded.

"Kumu Guan?"

Zhuo Tie suddenly realized, gave Xuanqing Daozhang a strange look, and wondered: "Our town has a Kumu Guan, and there is also another Kumu Guan, and inside there is a Kumu Daozhang, but he departed this world decades ago—could there be some connection between them?"

(End of chapter)