Chapter 324: Smash You to Death

That was the hillside on the north side of the village, the highest point nearby. Standing there, one could overlook the entire village.

The river flowed through the village, came out from within, turned and headed east, perfectly separating the village from the hillside.

So to get from the village to the hillside, one still had to cross the river.

The stretch of river where the villagers often washed clothes was right opposite the hillside. If Hua Buliu wanted to see Zhou Wan Niang, hiding on the hillside made it terribly easy to spot her.

Pan Yun's face darkened. She immediately rose and darted toward the hillside.

"Hey, wait for me…"

Qu Le hurried to chase after her, and Seeing Miao Zhen followed close behind.

Pan Yun flew to the riverbank in a rush, never pausing a step. Like a dragonfly skimming the water, she lightly tapped the surface twice and darted across. She kicked off a massive boulder at the foot of the hill and whoosh—spread her arms like a great eagle taking flight, soaring up along the slope.

Pan Yun landed on a jutting rock, swept a sharp gaze around, glanced back at the spot where Zhou Wan Niang was washing clothes, then immediately looked toward the two trees facing the river and darted toward them.

Just as Pan Yun was about to reach one of the trees, a figure darted out from the dense foliage, lightly tapped among the treetops, and vanished in an instant.

Qu Le and Seeing Miao Zhen had just crossed the bridge and hadn't yet found the fastest path up the slope when they saw a figure twisting and leaping through the air like a pigeon, landing lightly. Before the two could get a clear look at his appearance, they saw him step off the cliff face and shoot away at high speed…

The two stared wide-eyed, and once they came back to their senses, they turned and gave chase.

A figure moved even faster than them. Pan Yun darted through the air, lightly tapped a treetop, and shot forward—in an instant she had caught up to that person's shadow.

Pan Yun reached out to grab him, but his body twisted in midair like a spinning top, dropped onto the water's surface, and he ran across it as if to escape…

Pan Yun's hand grabbed at empty air, and she didn't pull back her strength. With a clang, her hand seized the cliff face, and with one forceful yank she ripped off a large chunk of rock. Without looking back, she kicked off the cliff face and shot forward, simultaneously hurling the stone in her hand—whoosh—straight at the back of the figure's head.

The figure didn't turn his head, yet the back of his skull seemed to have grown eyes. His body dropped, his foot tilted, and the whole of him skimmed flat over the water. The stone slammed against the water's surface right next to his shoulder with a bang, and the spray of water droplets stung him painfully.

The figure's movements faltered briefly, then he fled even more frantically toward the distance, though one could see his movements had grown a little sluggish.

Pan Yun pursued close behind, running across the water's surface.

Qu Le chased after them, panting, and could only watch helplessly as the two figures—one ahead, one behind—vanished from sight. He turned back in frustration, only to see Seeing Miao Zhen swing her arm in a full circle and whoosh—hurl the black cat in her hand far away…

Qu Le: …

He watched helplessly as the black cat was tossed through the air in a parabola, its four little short legs kicking in midair as if flying even farther. Then it kicked off treetops, branches, leaves—before it even landed, it was already kicking off the trees and running far away.

Qu Le gaped, his longing for Mount Sanqing growing even stronger. He immediately looked at Seeing Miao Zhen and said, "Even the cats from your Mount Sanqing have become spirits?"

Seeing Miao Zhen glanced at him and said, "Even if cats become spirits, you could never become one. You're simply not suited for cultivation."

Qu Le said indignantly, "I've been a child of heaven's favor since I was young. Everyone says I have great talent. I've never trained, so how do you know I can't do it?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "I won't waste words with you."

Having said that, she went to chase after Pan Yun.

Qu Le muttered as he followed behind, "I don't want to waste words with you either…"

The two exerted all their strength to chase, yet they didn't even catch a glimpse of the two figures.

Qu Le was badly discouraged, still a little unconvinced. "Fine for Pan Sanzhu, but how can that flower thief's lightness skill be this good? On what grounds?"

On what grounds?

Of course it was on the strength of his experience sneaking into people's homes. Without that lightness skill, he'd have been discovered and beaten to death long ago.

Pan Yun's lightness skill was actually average, but she knew flight techniques! Combining the two, along with her deep cultivation, she simply crushed all obstacles with sheer force, staying close on Hua Buliu's heels.

They flew over the river, over the woods, and over Tian Ye. Seeing that his speed wasn't slowing, Pan Yun's patience ran out.

Seeing no one around for miles, and with her getting closer and closer to him—each time only by a little—Pan Yun reached out her hand, and with a flash, her senior brother's medicine cauldron appeared in her grasp.

She gauged Hua Buliu's direction, hurled it viciously forward, and shouted loudly: "Go forth, righteous medicine cauldron—"

The medicine cauldron spun as it flew toward Hua Buliu. Hua Buliu was about to use his old trick to dodge, but the moment he turned sideways, he was face-to-face with the cauldron.

He couldn't help cursing inwardly—where did she get something so huge?

Just now there hadn't been anything like that in her hand…

Hua Buliu flew forward with vicious determination. His Upper Dantian ached from excessive internal energy consumption, but he still couldn't evade the cauldron.

With a bang, the cauldron smashed him into the ground. Before he could struggle to push the cauldron off and crawl up, someone slammed down onto the cauldron with a bang, both feet stomping down hard, jumping on it. "Made you run, made you run…"

Pan Yun stomped on the medicine cauldron several more times, until the other's breathing grew faint—more air going out than coming in—before she stopped. She hopped off the cauldron, picked it up, and set it aside.

Hua Buliu had smashed a crater into the ground, lying face-down and not moving at all.

Pan Yun nudged him with the tip of her foot. Seeing he didn't move, she gave one forceful kick and flipped him over, revealing him face-up.

Hua Buliu: …

Seeing that his eyes were still tightly shut, as if he were about to die, Pan Yun stepped two paces closer. By accident, her foot landed on his right hand. Hua Buliu's fingers couldn't help but twitch slightly. Pan Yun glanced down—his body still hadn't moved—and she didn't shift her foot either. Instead, she pressed down harder with her foot, grinding his hand straight into the dirt without letting up, continuing to step on his hand as she stared at his face.

Hua Buliu's current face looked a little handsome—his eyebrows were eyebrows, his eyes were eyes, his nose was a nose, all of them proportioned evenly.

It was just too even, so it looked a little strange.

Pan Yun bent down to look at his face. A moment later, she reached out to grab it. The other party suddenly flung his eyes open, simultaneously swinging up his left hand—but the moment it rose, he let out a bloodcurdling "Ah!" as Pan Yun sliced it off with a sword. His left palm fell to the ground, blood spraying out, and Hua Buliu screamed again and again.

Pan Yun ignored his screams, reached out to tug at his face, and yanked it hard several times. Finally, she pulled out a crease beneath his ear. She immediately grabbed the crease and ripped it—Hua Buliu's true face was revealed.

Pan Yun took one look and her face filled with disgust. She said with revulsion, "So he really is ugly. Just as I said—anyone even slightly good-looking couldn't bring himself to be a flower thief."

Hua Buliu bit down on his lip, swallowed his cry of pain, glared at Pan Yun with hatred, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"

Pan Yun replied with a dark face, "Remembering grudges, seeking revenge? Then remember this well. This poor Daoist is Long Hushan Pan Sanzhu. I don't change my name when I walk, nor my surname when I sit. If you've got the ability, survive and come find me at Long Hushan for revenge!"

Hua Buliu gritted his teeth and hurled vicious threats. "I won't let you off!"

Pan Yun fell into thought, then said after a moment, "I believe you. So I'm going to crush your revenge in its cradle."

! 。Read

Having said that, she brought her palm down. Hua Buliu's abdomen ached, his Upper Dantian shattered, and he let out a scream, rolling about on the spot.

Pan Yun shifted her foot. His right hand clutched his Upper Dantian, his eyes nearly splitting with rage, and he glared at Pan Yun with a mouthful of blood. "I'll get revenge. I'll get revenge. I will definitely get revenge."

Pan Yun: "I believe you."

"Hatred truly is a two-way street. I caught you, and you hate me to death; I destroyed your Upper Dantian, and you still hate me to death. Then when you ruined innocent women's chastity and drove them to their deaths, I wonder how they would hate you, how they would want to take revenge on you…" Pan Yun said thoughtfully, "If you want to know, it's not hard. I'll take you to meet the victims and you'll find out."

Hua Buliu's eyes went wide. Clutching his Upper Dantian, he couldn't speak, only letting out screams.

A rustling sound came, and Pan Xiaohei came running over, panting, and meowed at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun raised her scabbard and smacked Hua Buliu with a clang; after knocking him out, she put the medicine cauldron away. "Got blood on it. I'll wash it later. Hope Senior Brother doesn't mind."

By the time Qu Le and Seeing Miao Zhen came running over, panting, what they saw was Hua Buliu covered in blood, his face pale, lying motionless in the mud.

Qu Le froze and asked, "Is he dead?"

Pan Yun shot him a sideways glance. "Can't you tell? His chest is still rising and falling. Not dead."

Qu Le circled around him, looking curiously. "So ugly. Didn't they say Hua Buliu was the Handsome-and-Dashing Lord of a Hundred Disguises? How is he this ugly? Is it a human-skin mask?"

He reached out to grab at his face, scratching at it for ages until the man's face was red, but couldn't peel anything off. Qu Le was certain now. "He's really this ugly?"

"Of course. Would a flower thief ever be good-looking?" Pan Yun said. "Definitely someone who can't rely on his face, has no money, no power, no talent—nothing at all—but still fantasizes about being surrounded by beauties. That's the kind of person who becomes a flower thief."

Seeing Miao Zhen said, "So those storybooks are all lies. In the storybooks, flower thieves are always described as handsome and dashing, but turns out he's an ugly, penniless, talentless nobody."

Pan Yun nodded with a solemn face. "Storybooks are all lies. You and Miao He should read them less when you've got nothing to do. If I catch you sneaking peeks at storybooks again, I'll throw Tao Yanbai off the mountain."

Seeing Miao Zhen said, "……Yes, I wouldn't dare."

Qu Le turned to look at her. "Who's Tao Yanbai? Why throw him?"

Seeing Miao Zhen ignored him.

Pan Yun was still pointing at him to do the work, so she kindly explained, "He's my third martial nephew. All the storybooks on the mountain were brought up by him. If we don't throw him, who should we throw?"

Pan Yun said to Qu Le, "Now's your time to wash away the shame. Carry Hua Buliu on your back. We're heading back to the village!"

Qu Le said, "Shouldn't we go to the government office? Why go back to the village?"

Pan Yun said, "Of course it's to settle old scores—every grudge repaid, every grievance answered."

Qu Le said, "You're going to use private punishment? That can't be right. How do we explain it to the government office?"

"The bounty notice says life or death, doesn't matter—as long as we verify the identity," Pan Yun said. "I'm just escorting a criminal and stopping by the village for a bowl of water along the way. What's the problem?"

Qu Le said, "……No problem."

Qu Le slung Hua Buliu onto his back and headed toward the village.

They had run quite far out, and going back would take a long while.

After all the fuss today, by the time Qu Le reached the village entrance his face had gone blank. "What am I even doing this for? I'm not getting paid."

Good night.

(End of chapter)