Chapter 139
As the sounds of those two slaps rang out, it was as though a paralysis curse had been cast on the Myriad Beasts disciples—they were so scared that they’d immediately frozen. The red-dressed girl was being held ransom at knife point, and the dagger had already pierced half an inch deep. A simple movement would easily slice open her neck, and even cultivators would have difficulty surviving that. At a time like this, not even those in the ninth tier had the confidence to free the girl under such circ.u.mstances, and no one dared to make any rash movements.
As for the red-dressed girl, whether it was because of the slaps she’d received or out of fear towards the dagger inside her neck, she had pretty much lost any hint of nerves and stood quietly in front of Fang Xing, too scared to make even a single movement. The manual in her hands dropped to the ground, and the manual’s t.i.tle was clearly visible on the front: "Chun’hwa — Sagacious Yang."
So this was the so-called "Yin-Yang Unification Technique"....
It hadn’t been a lie, technically speaking, but the Myriad Beasts disciples were still shocked. Who would have imagined that—even with so many of them here—a timid-looking boy would be able to fool them and take their little s.h.i.+mei ransom by using a book of erotic pictures?
The embroidered-gown youth’s face was a steel-blue, and his words seeped through clenched teeth as he spoke, "I promise if you don’t let go of Little s.h.i.+mei, I will cut all of you into a million pieces…."
"Cut your uncle, why don’t you go and cut some for me right now?" Fang Xing coldly laughed. "It’s summer, but you’re wearing such a thick robe like an idiot. Am I supposed to think you’re strong?"
The embroidered-gown youth ground his teeth in hatred, and it was though flames were about to jump out from his eyes. "You!" How dare this boy call him an idiot? Not even in his dreams would he imagine such a thing. Furthermore, he was only wearing this gown because of a little problem he’d come across during his cultivation practice; who would willingly want to wear something like this?
"Boy, do you really think I don’t dare to kill?" the youth asked in a foreboding manner as he sent an unfriendly glance towards the Qing-Yun disciples, considering grabbing another one to gain more leverage before negotiating terms with Fang Xing.
Fang Xing snickered. "Why not? Go for it. I won’t be worried at all about anyone other than s.h.i.+jie Feng Qingwei."
Within the group of Qing-Yun disciples, suddenly a few of their glances were sent towards Feng Qingwei, who was so frightened that she hid behind Xiao Jianming. "That’s… that’s a bunch of nonsense!" she spoke in a quavering voice.
Xiao Jianming’s gaze chilled. He placed his hand on his iron sword and took a step forward, with Xu Linyun doing likewise. Both of them saw a clear opportunity now; since both sides had a hostage in hand, the two of them didn’t have to stay their hand any longer.
"s.h.i.+di Fang, come over behind me!" Xu Linyun softly suggested while holding onto her long sword.
Fang Xing smiled. "The nicest is still s.h.i.+jie Linyun…." As he spoke, he began to walk towards her while lifting the red-dressed girl.
The Myriad Beasts disciples knew that the Qing-Yun disciples wanted to protect Fang Xing, but since the boy had one of their own as a hostage, the Myriad Beasts disciples did not want him to go over. They wordlessly moved in front of Fang Xing to block him off, but Fang Xing just smiled and suddenly cut two thin lines on the girl’s left cheek in the shape of an X, sending a s.h.i.+ver down the spines of her fellow disciples.
"A good doggy doesn’t stand in people’s way. Get out of my way, or I’ll poke out her eyes!" Fang Xing coldly declared, and it did not sound like he was joking. Those who stood in his path in an effort to stop him all immediately moved aside. Physical scars on her face could be easily cured, but if the eyeb.a.l.l.s were taken out, it would be far more problematic.
"Wah—!" The red-dressed girl had felt the heat on her face, and the knowledge that she had been marred by the scorching
"Haw haw…." Xiongnu grew enraged when he heard the little girl’s cries and dashed towards Fang Xing, but he was caught by two of the Myriad Beasts disciples who were afraid he would spark Fang Xing’s anger. "Do not act blindly!" Although the girl might be their "little s.h.i.+mei", her actual status was much higher. She was more akin to their master, and if anything were to happen to her, none of the Myriad Beasts disciples here today would keep their lives, a fact Fang Xing had known well in advance after talking with the golden crow.
Even though Xiongnu was stopped, he continued to make that same noise in an unusually violent display. Fang Xing released a cold laugh before making his way towards the Qing-Yun disciples and calling out towards the two Myriad Beasts disciples, "Let him come at me!"
"Huh?" The two Myriad Beasts disciples who had stopped Xiongnu were both surprised, yet Fang Xing waved the dagger in front of the red-dressed girl’s eyes and repeated, "I said to let him come at me!"
The two of them did not know what Fang Xing intended to do, but they did not dare to disobey out of fear he’d truly stab the dagger into the girl’s eyes. Xiongnu was a mutated Mahn, and although his strength was extraordinary, his intellect was low. Once the two disciples moved to the side and he saw that there was now no one to stop him, he immediately dashed towards Fang Xing with one goal in mind: to save his little master.
As Xiongnu came closer, Fang Xing suddenly gave Wu Xiangtong a cold command: "Kill him!"
"All Duanzhen disciples, listen up! Take out the Crossbow of Spirit Machine and the Red Copper Chain. As per s.h.i.+xiong’s command, kill!" Although Wu Xiangtong was at first a little surprised, he soon made the command without daring to disobey Fang Xing’s orders.
All of the Duanzhen disciples jumped forward in unison, four holding a fiery-red copper chain that they threw to the ground, tripping Xiongnu before coiling it around him. Another Duanzhen disciple worked on the Crossbow of Spirit Machine, half-kneeling with the weapon aimed at Xiongnu’s head while two more Duanzhen disciples stood on either side to protect him.
Xiongnu anxiously looked at the red-dressed girl, the noise from his mouth not stopping at all. It was at this time that the crossbow suddenly let out a loud sound and a fierce ray of light shot forth from it.
BANG
Xiongnu’s large head was split open like a ripe watermelon, causing blood, brain, and shattered bones to scatter onto the ground. This time, not only were the Myriad Beasts disciples left startled, but even some of the Qing-Yun disciples began to s.h.i.+ver.
"Xiongnu…." The little girl weakly held out her hands towards the headless Xiongnu, whose hands were still reaching out towards her.
"Haha…" Fang Xing loudly laughed, dragging the girl by the neck into the center of the crowd while looking smugly towards the embroidered-gown youth from afar. "One of your lives for one of ours. Now that we’re even, let’s talk about how we can resolve this situation!"
"Let go of s.h.i.+mei Qiaoqiao, then everyone leaves and minds their own business!" the embroidered-gown youth demanded.
Fang Xing smirked. "Mind your uncle’s business! You need to do better than that…."
The embroidered-gown youth’s gaze was as sharp as a sword. "What do you want?"
"Well, come and hand over all your storage sacks!"
Dumbfounded, all of the Myriad Beasts disciples looked at each other in dismay while cursing the boy a million times in their minds. The embroidered-gown youth glared towards Fang Xing with unrestrained rage and bloodthirst flickering across his eyes, yet Fang Xing maintained a smirk and looked right back without any sense of fear.
After a long while, the youth finally softly sighed. "Give him your storage sacks."
The Myriad Beasts disciples were so angry that they gritted their teeth, but they still took out their storage sacks and threw them to the ground. When Wu Xiangtong saw this, he looked towards Fang Xing as if to ask whether Fang Xing would prefer for him to pick them up.
"Let the Shanhe disciples go and fetch it!"
The Qing-Yun disciples looked towards Fang Xing in confusion. "Why is that, s.h.i.+xiong Fang?" a Duanzhen disciple asked.
Fang Xing laughed. "Because I wouldn’t feel sad if they died!"
The Duanzhen disciples immediately grew quiet as the Shanhe disciples took on sorrowful expressions.
Feng Qingwei turned towards Fang Xing and yelled, "You actually—"
"Just go and fetch it, they do not dare to move!" Xiao Jianming impatiently interrupted before she’d even finished her sentence. He’d noticed as well that the girl Fang Xing had captured was no ordinary disciple, or else it would not have caused all of these people to become so concerned. Worst-case scenario, even if the Shanhe disciples were to be captured, the value between the hostages would still be vastly uneven and the Myriad Beasts wouldn’t dare to make any unreasonable demands.
Helpless, the Shanhe disciples cautiously walked towards the Myriad Beasts disciples and picked up all of the storage sacks. Fortunately, although the Myriad Beasts disciples’ looks were not friendly, none of them dared to make a move, allowing the Shanhe disciples to retrieve all of the storage sacks and return back to the crowd. Fang Xing then had the Duanzhen disciples take all of these storage sacks, and no Shanhe disciple dared try to stop it.
"Can you let her go now?" the embroidered-gown youth asked. Although he showed a calm expression, beneath his gown was a layer of sweat.
Fang Xing snickered. "If you were me, would you let her go?" It had taken quite some effort to capture her for ransom; there was no way he would let her go so easily.
The embroidered-gown youth began to grow agitated as Fang Xing’s unreasonableness proved far beyond his expectations. "What exactly do you want, then?"
Fang Xing smirked. "I’d like you all to taste something!" He then turned towards Xu Linyun. "s.h.i.+jie Linyun, can you make a cauldron of poison pellets that will prevent them from being able to use Qi for a short period of time?"
Although a little surprised by the request, Xu Linyun considered it for a quick moment before replying, "Yes, give me an hour!"
The embroidered-gown youth’s expression dropped, and he couldn’t help but to raise his voice as he asked, "You want to force-feed us poison pellets?"
Fang Xing coldly smiled while placing the dagger against the red-dressed girl’s neck. "Of course. How else will I know you’ll cooperate once I’ve let her go? But there’s no need for you to worry; I only want you to take a poison pellet that’ll temporarily keep you from using Qi. There’s no need for too many people to take the pellets, either—only you and the other two in tier nine are a requirement. As for any remaining pellets, just hand them out to whomever!"