Chapter 108: What Is Going On?

Chu Tianfeng had no idea that Wang Zaitian and his companions would dare to return to look for him.

He had recently felt himself on the verge of breaking through to the eighth level of Qi Refining. He had been practicing diligently, even setting aside his work with the Gu insects and no longer descending the mountain. It was precisely because of this that he had missed crossing paths with Wang Zaitian and the others.

That evening, he was sitting cross-legged at "home" as usual, when suddenly, faint sounds of gunfire echoed from the distance. His principle in life was to mind his own business and stay out of trouble, so he initially intended to ignore it. To his surprise, the gunfire grew louder and closer by the moment. Clearly, the conflict was spilling over toward his home. He had no choice but to erase the words "Chu Tianfeng’s Home" from his shelter and head toward the sound of the shots.

A few minutes later, he arrived at a small hillside. He saw two groups of people—one on the slope and one at the foot of the hill—engaged in a fierce firefight with pistols. There were four people on the slope, about two or three hundred meters away from him, their faces obscured. At the foot of the hill were six others, advancing in a fan-shaped formation to surround the group above. One of the four on the slope seemed to be injured, and they were retreating toward the hillside while returning fire.

As they moved closer to his position, Chu Tianfeng recognized two of them and couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was Du Jingjing and Lu Hui! There was another man and woman with them, both young, whom Chu Tianfeng did not recognize.

While Chu Tianfeng had spotted them, they were at a lower elevation and noticed him as well. "Who's there?" Lu Hui demanded, pointing his gun directly at Chu Tianfeng.

Chu Tianfeng, in a foul mood, pretended not to see or hear them. Fortunately, Du Jingjing was more rational. Sensing that Chu Tianfeng had no malicious intent, she pushed Lu Hui’s gun down and shouted, "Hurry and leave! It’s too dangerous here!"

Chu Tianfeng remained nonchalant, standing with his arms crossed as he walked toward Du Jingjing. "Beautiful, do you need a hand?"

Du Jingjing looked at him, then at Lu Hui, bewildered. "Did I hear that right?"

Before she could finish, a bullet whistled toward them. Chu Tianfeng’s divine sense had already locked onto it. In a flash, just as the bullet reached him, he reached out his right hand and caught it between his index and middle fingers.

Lu Hui and Du Jingjing stood petrified, their mouths agape. Between Chu Tianfeng's fingers, a bullet casing was firmly held.

"Who are they?" Chu Tianfeng asked, gesturing toward the bottom of the hill.

"Oh," Du Jingjing said, snapping out of her trance. "They are disciples from the Huangshan and Hengshan sects."

Chu Tianfeng felt like cursing. It seemed the disciples of the Huangshan and Hengshan sects were everywhere. "Stay here; I’ll go take a look." With that, he vanished into the bushes.

Once out of sight, Chu Tianfeng activated his invisibility technique, turning into a faint gray mist as he circled toward the hillside. The six pursuers had already reached the slope. Two of them were elderly men: one short and stout with a pockmarked face and graying hair, possessing the cultivation of a late-stage Xiantian expert; the other, of average height with a long face and only a few white hairs, was also a late-stage Xiantian expert. The other four were two middle-aged men and two youths, with cultivation levels ranging from late-stage Anjin to late-stage Huajin.

One of the youths was particularly tall and burly, standing out in the crowd. It was Shao Fei from the Hengshan sect! Back at Qianniao Lake, Chu Tianfeng had broken his legs. Now, however, his legs seemed fully recovered, and his cultivation had improved to the peak of the Anjin stage.

Chu Tianfeng crept up to them, looking for a target. He held a deep grudge against the Huangshan and Hengshan sects and certainly wouldn't miss the chance to deal with their disciples.

*Kill.*

Chu Tianfeng chose Shao Fei first. He was the closest and the only one Chu recognized. Shao Fei, unaware that death was beckoning, continued to fire his gun and shout insults. Taking advantage of the moment Shao Fei stopped to reload, Chu Tianfeng lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. Before Shao Fei could scream, Chu Tianfeng crushed his windpipe.

*Thump!*

Shao Fei’s large frame hit the ground, his eyes wide open.

"Oh no, Junior Brother Shao has been hit!" a middle-aged man nearby shouted upon seeing Shao Fei fall.

"Go check on him!" the pockmarked old man growled. He assumed Shao Fei was merely injured and didn't care much, as the youth's cultivation was mediocre.

The middle-aged man rushed over, right into Chu Tianfeng’s trap. As the man approached, Chu Tianfeng, who had been waiting, gathered his energy and unleashed a flurry of ice spikes.

*Ah!*

The man let out a miserable scream as his chest was riddled with holes. He collapsed next to Shao Fei, dead.

"Yu Xiaoqiu!" the pockmarked elder shouted, but Chu Tianfeng had already moved on, stealthily approaching the elderly men.

However, the long-faced elder had arrived at the pockmarked man's side. "Brother Chen, they seem intent on holding the hilltop. We may need to change our strategy."

"Agreed," the pockmarked man replied. "Let's gather our people and charge from one flank."

Chu Tianfeng rolled his eyes and bypassed them. Their combined strength was too high for a surprise attack, so he turned his attention to the remaining two.

"Junior Nephew Liu, you two move over here!" the long-faced elder called out.

"Understood!" came a response from the distance.

"Yu Xiaoqiu, Shao Fei, you come too!" the pockmarked elder added. Only the occasional bullet from the hilltop answered him.

Chu Tianfeng smirked and moved toward the man named Liu. As the middle-aged man dashed out of the bushes to join the elders, Chu Tianfeng unleashed another rain of ice spikes. The man fell with a scream.

"Junior Nephew Liu!" the elder cried out in alarm.

Chu Tianfeng chuckled, picked up the man’s pistol, and crept toward the bushes where another disciple was hiding. The man, panicked, stumbled right into Chu Tianfeng’s path.

*Bang!*

Chu Tianfeng pulled the trigger. The man clutched his stomach in pain. "Sorry, my aim is bad," Chu Tianfeng said, firing again. This time, the shot hit the man's throat.

Chu Tianfeng turned back toward the two elders. Sensing something was wrong, the long-faced elder asked, "Brother Chen, could it be they have reinforcements?"

"Unlikely," the pockmarked man replied. "If they had reinforcements, the gunfire wouldn't be this sporadic."

*Bang!*

A bullet whistled toward his head. The pockmarked elder, possessing high cultivation, sensed the danger and ducked, the bullet embedding itself in a tree behind him.

"Retreat! Quickly!" the pockmarked elder shouted, realizing they were indeed facing reinforcements. The two elders turned and fled down the mountain.

Chu Tianfeng, finding his rhythm, fired continuously to chase them off. Terrified, the two elders scrambled away at full speed. Chu Tianfeng eventually gave up; his marksmanship was poor, and he had run out of bullets. Furthermore, the prolonged use of his invisibility technique had exhausted his internal energy.

He reappeared, gathered the discarded weapons, and returned to the hilltop.

"They fled?" Du Jingjing asked as he approached.

"Yes," Chu Tianfeng nodded. "Four are down. You can go clean up."

Du Jingjing looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Believe it or not, that's up to you," Chu Tianfeng shrugged, walking past her toward the peak.

Du Jingjing frowned and turned to Lu Hui. "Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, go check. If it's true, notify the local armed police to handle it."

"Yes!" Lu Hui and another youth replied.

*Second Senior Brother?* Chu Tianfeng couldn't help but turn and look at Lu Hui’s retreating back, his facial muscles twitching.