Chapter 24: I Truly Like You

Last night, Chu Tianfeng was indeed rather exhausted.

After stabilizing his cultivation, he collapsed onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

He dreamed that he had ascended to the Immortal Realm and met his master.

Overcome with joy, he embraced Qian Ling and shouted, “Master, I have it back! I’m a man again!”

To his dismay, Qian Ling became furious, pushing him away and producing an enormous pair of scissors. “Such an ugly thing—what’s the use of keeping it? Let me cut it off for you.”

Terrified, Chu Tianfeng screamed, “Master, no! I want to be a man!”

But Qian Ling paid him no heed—the scissors glinted coldly as they swept toward his lower body.

“Master, I like you! I want to marry you!” Chu Tianfeng blurted out.

He knew that shadowy figure had always occupied his heart, even though she was his master, even though she had made him neither man nor woman.

Qian Ling froze for a moment, then grew even angrier. “No wonder your cultivation progresses so slowly—you’re distracted. That’s all the more reason to cut it off.”

With that, she brought the scissors down. With a flash, a mist of blood erupted.

A wretched scream tore from Chu Tianfeng’s throat.

Then he woke up.

What?

Qian Ling was gone. Instead, four burly men stood before him: one with handsome features and an air of elegance, another with a broad, powerful build like a human tower, and two others who seemed relatively normal.

What was happening?

Chu Tianfeng wanted to reach down and check if that vital part of him was still intact, but as soon as the thought occurred, he realized all his acupoints had been sealed—he couldn’t move at all.

All four men appeared to be in their twenties. One was frisking him, another was searching his bag, while the handsome youth and the tower-like man stood with their hands behind their backs, watching him.

“Find anything?” the handsome youth asked.

“Nothing,” replied the one searching his person.

“These two items are odd,” said the one rummaging through his bag.

He held up two things: in his left hand, a pill furnace about the size of a rice cooker; in his right, a bottle of pills.

“Oh? Awake now? Sorry to disturb your sweet dreams,” said the handsome youth with a smile.

“Who are you? Why are you stealing my things?” Chu Tianfeng demanded.

As he spoke, he quietly tried to channel his true energy, slowly working to break the seals on his acupoints.

“Bold, I like it,” said the tower-like youth, a hint of a smirk at his lips as he gestured to the pill furnace and bottle of pills. “Tell us, where did you get those two items?”

“I bought them, of course—at the Jianmen Curio Market. There’s as many as you want,” Chu Tianfeng replied calmly.

“Hmph, if we don’t rough you up a bit, you’ll never be honest,” growled the tower-like youth, clenching his fist and preparing to strike.

“Wait!” The handsome youth quickly intervened. “Brother Shao, don’t be impulsive. Let me question him.”

“Very well, Brother Guo, go ahead,” the tower-like Shao stepped aside but didn’t leave, still standing close to Chu Tianfeng.

Guo, the handsome youth, crouched beside Chu Tianfeng and studied him.

By now, Chu Tianfeng had unsealed most of his acupoints, but he remained perfectly still.

“Friend, you’re with the Salt Society, aren’t you?” Guo smiled faintly.

“Salt Society?” Chu Tianfeng feigned confusion. “What’s that?”

“Oh? Then who are you? Why are you here?” Guo obviously didn’t believe him.

“I’m just a walk-on, so what?”

At that moment, all his acupoints were free, so he no longer hesitated.

With the two closest to him, he could sense their cultivation—they were both at the sixth level of Qi Refining. The other two were farther away, so he couldn’t quite tell, but judging from the circumstances, their cultivation was definitely lower.

“I can’t stand this any longer—Brother Guo, move aside!” Shao growled, raising his foot to kick Chu Tianfeng.

Suddenly, Chu Tianfeng sat up, grabbed Shao’s ankle, and yanked him to the ground.

He knew he was only at about the fifth level of Qi Refining; in a direct fight, he’d stand no chance. Surprise attack was the way!

Things happened so fast that Guo couldn’t react. In the blink of an eye, Chu and Shao had exchanged blows, and the outcome was decided.

Startled, Guo pressed his index and middle fingers together, launching a “Twin Dragons Seize the Pearl” strike aimed at Chu Tianfeng’s eyes.

But Chu Tianfeng wouldn’t let him succeed. Though Guo moved quickly, in Chu’s eyes he was as slow as a turtle.

He had already formed his hand seals; his body darted aside like the wind, easily evading Guo’s deadly attack.

He flipped over beside Shao, right hand shooting out to clamp Shao’s throat.

Guo wanted to continue attacking, but seeing his companion in Chu’s grasp, he hesitated, not daring to act rashly.

With Shao in his grip, Chu Tianfeng slowly stood up.

“Give me back my things!” he roared.

The youth holding the pill furnace and pills looked helplessly at Guo.

“Friend, don’t be reckless. We can talk this out,” Guo said, as if he hadn’t seen what just happened.

In truth, he was stunned by Chu’s movement technique—he’d never seen anything like it. This young man could break free from sealed acupoints and possessed such a mysterious technique; under no circumstances could he be allowed to get away.

“Brother Guo…” Shao choked out.

“Listen, if you kill him, you won’t escape either,” Guo warned, still unmoved.

“Hmph!” Chu Tianfeng couldn’t be bothered. He sealed Shao’s acupoints with two fingers, then thrust him at Guo with a palm strike.

At the same time, Chu darted forward like a ghost, right fist swinging at Guo.

Guo wanted to ignore Shao, but Shao’s body blocked his movement—he had no choice.

With his left palm he pushed Shao aside, swinging his right fist at Chu.

But they were too close—by the time Guo moved Shao, Chu’s fist had already slammed into his waist.

Thud!

Guo grunted as he was sent flying, crashing to the ground and rolling over and over.

Shao hit the ground even sooner. As Guo was struck, Shao’s head hit the ground with a resounding crack.

“Damn you!” Shao cursed, though whether at Guo or Chu Tianfeng was unclear.

The two remaining youths exchanged glances, realizing things were going badly. Drawing longswords from their packs, they let out low shouts as countless sword flowers flashed, attacking Chu Tianfeng.

Judging by their aura, these two were only at the fourth level of Qi Refining—Chu Tianfeng had nothing to fear.

With a few quick dodges, he was upon them.

They thrust their swords together, one high, one low, coordinating well.

Chu Tianfeng vanished again, appearing behind them.

Quick-witted, they realized he must be at their backs and swung their swords behind—not to strike, but to defend.

But they were too slow.

Before they could recover, both were struck squarely in the back.

Thud! Thud!

They arced through the air in similar paths.

Clang! Clang!

Their swords hit the ground, soon followed by their bodies.

Boom! Boom!

Even after landing, they tumbled for a while before coming to a stop.

Chu Tianfeng leaped over and sealed their acupoints.

At that moment, Guo had just struggled to his feet and was fumbling with his pack, trying to draw his sword.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed before his eyes. The next instant, a large hand clamped around his throat.

Cough! Cough!

He tried to pry the hand off, but found that his major acupoints were sealed—he couldn’t move.

“Now it’s my turn to ask questions,” Chu Tianfeng said coldly, tossing him to the ground.

“Ask away,” Guo answered, his face ashen. He bitterly regretted not having cut off Chu’s hands and feet as soon as they’d captured him.

“Name and sect.”

“Guo Xiancheng, of the Mount Huang Sect,” Guo answered gloomily.

“Tell me more. Who are the others?” Chu Tianfeng rapped him on the forehead.

“One is my junior, the other two are Shao Fei of Mount Heng and his junior brother.” Guo’s face was full of resentment. If his acupoints weren’t sealed, he’d fight Chu Tianfeng to the death!

“What are you doing here?”

“We—we came looking for people from the Salt Society.”

“Why?” Chu Tianfeng was puzzled, unsure what trouble the Salt Society had stirred up now.

“Last night, two members of the Tomb Raiders’ Sect died mysteriously. The only people at the scene were from the Salt Society, so we suspect they ambushed the Tomb Raiders and stole their treasure.”

“What?” Chu Tianfeng couldn’t help but laugh.

He’d never imagined that after he killed those two last night, the Salt Society would be blamed for it.

Still, it worked out well enough for him.

He dragged the four into a heap like pieces of cargo.

“If you’ve got the guts, kill me!” Shao Fei shouted, a true man despite being thrown face-first to the ground, howling in pain.

“I’m a timid person—I’ve never even killed a chicken,” Chu Tianfeng shrugged.

Yet the mocking glint in his eyes was plain for Shao Fei to see.

“Friend, we have no grudge between us. Why not just let this go?” Guo Xiancheng tried his best to sound sincere.

Chu Tianfeng smiled faintly, giving no answer. “Got anything to eat?”

“Yes, we’ve got a few loaves of bread,” one of the others replied hastily.

Gathering up all the packs, Chu Tianfeng found some bread and bottled water. Without ceremony, he tore into them, eating ravenously.

“I advise you to let us go,” Shao Fei suddenly said.

“Or what?” Chu Tianfeng mumbled through a mouthful of bread.

“Our Mount Heng Sect isn’t to be trifled with.”

“So the Mount Huang Sect is easy to trifle with, then?” Chu Tianfeng turned to Guo Xiancheng and stomped hard on his shin.

These men had no real grudge with him, but they’d ambushed him in his sleep—he’d been looking for an excuse to teach them a lesson.

With a crunch and a scream, Guo Xiancheng’s shin was broken.

“It was him who provoked you—why stomp me?” Guo Xiancheng was drenched in sweat from the pain, glaring daggers at Shao Fei.

“What can I do? I’m timid, and since Mount Heng is so tough, I’ll just pick on you instead,” Chu Tianfeng replied, chewing his bread leisurely.

“To tell you the truth, our Mount Huang Sect isn’t easy to mess with either!” Guo Xiancheng shouted.

“Oh, is that so?” Chu Tianfeng immediately turned and all but leapt onto Shao Fei’s legs.

Crunch!

Both of Shao Fei’s shins snapped at once.

A howl of pain tore from Shao Fei’s lips as his bloodshot eyes glared at Guo Xiancheng.

Chu Tianfeng ignored them, finishing the bread and half a bottle of water, burping contentedly before starting to collect the scattered packs.

He put his pills away, then picked up the pill furnace. After a moment’s thought, he tossed it beside the four. “Since you like this thing so much, I’ll leave it for you.”

The truth was, he expected to be on the run for the next few days—a pill furnace would only slow him down.

Guo Xiancheng and the others finally believed his earlier claim: the pill furnace probably was just a trinket from the curio market. If it were truly valuable, he wouldn’t just hand it over.

Chu Tianfeng searched their packs again and, naturally, pocketed all their cash.

Four people—only twelve thousand yuan. Disappointing.

“That boat on the shore—yours?” he suddenly asked.

“Yes. If you want it, take it,” Guo Xiancheng answered eagerly, relieved to see Chu Tianfeng preparing to leave. He was desperate to appease him, hoping he’d just go without killing them.

The boat was only a rental anyway—why not do a favor on the way out?

“I’d like to take it, but I don’t know how to drive it.”

He was telling the truth—he’d never piloted a boat before.

“It’s easy. There’s a cord under the engine—pull it to start. The handle beside it steers,” Guo Xiancheng explained, anxious for him to go, and the farther the better.

Chu Tianfeng smiled faintly and headed for the little boat. “Farewell, gentlemen!”