It was Autumn, wind was blowing, a blood red sun was setting. The atmosphere was extremely bleak.
There were five bodies lined up on the bluestone alley of the town.
It was horrible.
Each dead man’s head was pierced, the wound was about the size of a bowl. Their brains were sucked up to the last drop. The dark red blood was dried up, congealed around the edges of the wounds, and twined with their dry hair. Blue flies were buzzing.
A young man paced in front of the bodies. He had an indifferent look, with his hair tied up, wearing a sword, and dressed in a fine linen cloth. He was surrounded by a bright aura. A sharp light flickered when he opened and closed his eyes. His every little movement was full of dignity and majesty.
“My…my lord…here…here are the bodies…it looks like…like…the legendary…demons…demons…who did this….” stuttered a fat middle-aged man in a dark blue robe, while shivering. His forehead was dripping with sweat.
He was so afraid of the young man’s imposing aura, that he couldn’t stand on his knees.
Behind the middle-aged man, there were hundreds of people standing by the wall. They were the local people. All men, women, elders, youngsters and street vendors were as mute as a fish. Their faces looked grim. None of them dared to take a big breath.
“You’re the mayor of this town?” Behind the young man, stood several men. They were all in tidy clothes, young, strong, and energetic. One of them pointed at the fat middle-aged man and yelled at him: “Is everyone in this small town here ?
“Yes, yes, I am the mayor. After this terrible thing happened, I am so frightened. Everyone is here. Everyone is here….”The fat middle-aged man was the mayor of this unknown town.
“Brother Fong. It seems there are demons are in this town. They are waiting for a chance to kill the disciples of our Cloud Rain Sect. Brother Fong, please kill those demons, and take revenge for our three junior brothers and two elder ladies!” The follower who shouted at the middle-aged man, said to the young man with a deep bow.
‘Brother Fong waved his hand, and the follower closed his mouth right away.
“I can smell Evil Qi in this town…” ‘Brother Fong’ closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, there was a glint of excitement. He took a quick glance at the people. The mayor and the local people standing by the wall, suddenly got down on their knees.
“Great. Actually still hiding in this small town .” Brother Fong smiled slyly. “ You dare to kill our disciples of Cloud Rain Sect? Aha! You do have some skills to still be able to hide from me. Interesting. Interesting.”
Brother Fong stepped forward, looking down at the shivering mayor.
The mayor was panicking. “My lord. Not me…not me…I am not a demon…”
Brother Fong sneered, turned and walked to an old woman .
The old woman was scared out of her wits. Her throat was rattling, “I am not a demon…mercy…my lord…mercy …”
Brother Fong one by one walked in front those locals. Each time he stopped his steps, the local infront of him was so terrified, that he cried, kept kowtowing and defended himself that he was not a demon.
However, Brother Fong did not find out any demons among these locals.
At this moment, a yellow dog suddenly ran out from a house in the street. It barked twice. At the same time, the sword qi inside Brother Fong started roaring like a dragon. From a distance, a sword qi flew towards the yellow dog, and nailed it dead on the ground.
Those locals’ hearts and galls were so frightened, that some even fainted…
Brother Fong waved his hand.
Immediately, one of his followers beckoned his hand to a few men who stood submissive in the corner, and yelled, “Come here!”
The young follower was as meek as a lamb in front of Brother Fong, “Brother Fong, our three junior disciples and two elder ladies were killed by demons that night, but these walking targets survived.”
“This demon must have practiced up to the soldier layer, and now he wants to wake up his evil qi, and cultivate to the general layer, so he decided to take risks. He lurked in this small town–the place we have to pass for provisions, waited for his chance to kill our martial disciples and absorbed their brain fluids.” Brother Fong thought, he soon realized, “A demon at the soldier layer has no interest in the brains of ordinary people without any cultivation. That’s why those walking targets did not get killed.”
“What did you see at the night of the incident?” Brother Fong flicked his fingers, and asked a ‘walking target’.
The ‘walking target’ was in his 30s, wearing cyan clothes, and a little hat, with a pale and shocked face and bloodshot eyes. He cried out, “I…I don’t know…I know nothing…the next morning, they, they, were all killed…the three men and two elder ladies were all dead…a big hole in the head…dead…all dead…brains were swallowed…”
This ‘walking target’ was apparently out of his mind and in total chaos.
“Trash!” Brother Fong flicked his finger. An invisible power surged in the air. The ‘walking target’ was suddenly flicked out, and he fell on his face.
Then, Brother Fong picked up a second ‘walking target’, who was also incoherent, hardly able to answer. He, too, was flicked by Brother Fong, falling face down.
At this moment, a third ‘walking target’ was called out.
This was a teenager, very young, fifteen or sixteen at most. He had good-looking and smart eyes. His well-featured face made him look innocent.
“What did you see?” Brother Fong asked indifferently.
“Lord…Lord Fong, at that night, we bought many grain seeds, flower seeds, and winter clothes in ‘Iron Ring Town’. It was late, and we could not continue, so Master Tian arranged for us to stay the night in this town. See, this inn.” The teenager pointed at an inn across the street. “Master Tian, Master Luo, Master Chu, Auntie Xu, and Auntie Chen stayed in the second floor. We, walking targets, had to stay in the storeroom to guard the food and clothes. At midnight, I was very hungry and wanted to find some food. So I came out and stole two steamed breads. I…I think I saw a white figure flash by outside the window…but I didn’t care, and went back to sleep. I can’t believe Master Tian, Master Luo, Master Chu, Auntie Xu and Auntie Chen were all killed next morning…”
Unlike other walking targets who were muddled, this teenager was talkative, organized, and smart.
“Oh?” Lord Fong looked a bit interested, “You got guts. You are a walking target too. What is your name?”。
“My name is Xiao Han.” Said Xiao Han, as he licked his dry upper lip.
“Well, great.” Lord Fong nodded. “Xiao Han, do you remember that white figure? Did you see where the figure came from?”
“Well…” Xiao Han was thinking, suddenly turned back, pointed to a house, and said, “there… I suppose…”
The house Xiao Han mentioned had a red painted gate, beast knockers, copper nails, and two stone lion carvings guarding the door. It looked like a rich family’s house.
After Xiao Han’s explanation, all locals looked at the mayor.
“Lord…that…that…that is my house…” the mayor’s fat face was twitching. He was frightened, and said in a shivering voice, “But, but, I am innocent…there is no demon in my house…impossible …my Lord…”
Brother Fong lifted the corners of his mouth, and stepped forward towards the mayor. At this very moment, Brother Fong slightly moved his body while sword qi surged up in the shape of a lotus. The appearance of the lotus was the symbol of the highest layer of sword cultivation.
Xiao Han was shocked, looking at Brother Fong. He was thinking, “True Qi Layer! This is the legendary True Qi Layer! This is what those junior disciples said! So powerful! Like a god! If one day I could cultivate to that layer, that would be really cool…”
Brother Fong walked before the mayor and looked around. He casually looked at the mayor’s family, who knelt beside him.
“Waah~wow~waah~~~”
At this moment, suddenly a baby’s crying voice resounded, breaking up the grim silence of this town.
“Dear Niuniu, don’t cry…” A young married woman in floral coat, kneeling beside the mayor, began to lull the baby in her arms. She was pretty. Somehow she had a special, elegant charm.
“Father, Niuniu must be hungry…” The married woman spoke to the mayor, in a low voice.
“Lord…Lord…this…this is my daughter-in-law…Luo…my grandson is hungry…Lord please give us a few minutes…let my daughter-in-law go back home…to…to feed my grandson…” Mayor implored, with a pleading look .
Suddenly!
“POOF!!!!”
A weird sound resonated!
The next second, Brother Fong’s sword had come out of its scabbard. It was as light as the autumn stream, shining brilliant light. He took the sword in his left hand, lifting it straight forward to the young married woman, piercing her forehead straight through the back of her head.
No one witnessed how, and when Brother Fong pulled out his sword.
Nor did anybody expect Brother Fong to kill the woman so suddenly!
The whole place was surrounded by a grim silence.
The mayor and his family panicked, and looked at the dead married woman with desperate eyes.
Suddenly the baby too stopped crying.
You could have even heard a pin drop.
Even those young men who followed Brother Fong were scared, and they all stepped back in astonishment.
“Why? Why…is there no blood?” The teenager Xiao Han asked abruptly. He was stunned, pointed at the young married woman, “Why is there no blood? Not a single drop at all?”
As Xiao Han had said, the woman’s head was pierced by the sword, but not a single drop of blood could be seen! This was very weird.
“If you had not deliberately pinched the baby to cry, I would not have found you so quickly.” Brother Fong smiled abruptly. His hands holding the sword, were as as steady as a mountain.
“Ga Gaga ~~~~”
Instantly, the married young woman’s face began to distort, into an extremely ferocious look—unlike human a beings’.
“POOF~~~~”
A piece of dead skin fell out from her left cheek.
“POOF~~~” “POOF~~~~” “POOF~~~~”
Her whole face cracked open, and her flesh blew up everywhere. Her face skin was peeled off in a few seconds, and inside where her head was supposed to be it was empty, no skull, no brains, no vessels. It could not be anymore weirder.
“Gagaga~~~~~ worthy of being a master disciple of the Cloud Rain Sect. A master of the True Qi Layer!” The woman’s voice was rough. The creepy voice came from the headless body, and sounded like from the far hell.
It was Autumn, wind was blowing, a blood red sun was setting. The atmosphere was extremely bleak.
There were five bodies lined up on the bluestone alley of the town.
It was horrible.
Each dead man’s head was pierced, the wound was about the size of a bowl. Their brains were sucked up to the last drop. The dark red blood was dried up, congealed around the edges of the wounds, and twined with their dry hair. Blue flies were buzzing.
A young man paced in front of the bodies. He had an indifferent look, with his hair tied up, wearing a sword, and dressed in a fine linen cloth. He was surrounded by a bright aura. A sharp light flickered when he opened and closed his eyes. His every little movement was full of dignity and majesty.
“My…my lord…here…here are the bodies…it looks like…like…the legendary…demons…demons…who did this….” stuttered a fat middle-aged man in a dark blue robe, while shivering. His forehead was dripping with sweat.
He was so afraid of the young man’s imposing aura, that he couldn’t stand on his knees.
Behind the middle-aged man, there were hundreds of people standing by the wall. They were the local people. All men, women, elders, youngsters and street vendors were as mute as a fish. Their faces looked grim. None of them dared to take a big breath.
“You’re the mayor of this town?” Behind the young man, stood several men. They were all in tidy clothes, young, strong, and energetic. One of them pointed at the fat middle-aged man and yelled at him: “Is everyone in this small town here ?
“Yes, yes, I am the mayor. After this terrible thing happened, I am so frightened. Everyone is here. Everyone is here….”The fat middle-aged man was the mayor of this unknown town.
“Brother Fong. It seems there are demons are in this town. They are waiting for a chance to kill the disciples of our Cloud Rain Sect. Brother Fong, please kill those demons, and take revenge for our three junior brothers and two elder ladies!” The follower who shouted at the middle-aged man, said to the young man with a deep bow.
‘Brother Fong waved his hand, and the follower closed his mouth right away.
“I can smell Evil Qi in this town…” ‘Brother Fong’ closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, there was a glint of excitement. He took a quick glance at the people. The mayor and the local people standing by the wall, suddenly got down on their knees.
“Great. Actually still hiding in this small town .” Brother Fong smiled slyly. “ You dare to kill our disciples of Cloud Rain Sect? Aha! You do have some skills to still be able to hide from me. Interesting. Interesting.”
Brother Fong stepped forward, looking down at the shivering mayor.
The mayor was panicking. “My lord. Not me…not me…I am not a demon…”
Brother Fong sneered, turned and walked to an old woman .
The old woman was scared out of her wits. Her throat was rattling, “I am not a demon…mercy…my lord…mercy …”
Brother Fong one by one walked in front those locals. Each time he stopped his steps, the local infront of him was so terrified, that he cried, kept kowtowing and defended himself that he was not a demon.
However, Brother Fong did not find out any demons among these locals.
At this moment, a yellow dog suddenly ran out from a house in the street. It barked twice. At the same time, the sword qi inside Brother Fong started roaring like a dragon. From a distance, a sword qi flew towards the yellow dog, and nailed it dead on the ground.
Those locals’ hearts and galls were so frightened, that some even fainted…
Brother Fong waved his hand.
Immediately, one of his followers beckoned his hand to a few men who stood submissive in the corner, and yelled, “Come here!”
The young follower was as meek as a lamb in front of Brother Fong, “Brother Fong, our three junior disciples and two elder ladies were killed by demons that night, but these walking targets survived.”
“This demon must have practiced up to the soldier layer, and now he wants to wake up his evil qi, and cultivate to the general layer, so he decided to take risks. He lurked in this small town–the place we have to pass for provisions, waited for his chance to kill our martial disciples and absorbed their brain fluids.” Brother Fong thought, he soon realized, “A demon at the soldier layer has no interest in the brains of ordinary people without any cultivation. That’s why those walking targets did not get killed.”
“What did you see at the night of the incident?” Brother Fong flicked his fingers, and asked a ‘walking target’.
The ‘walking target’ was in his 30s, wearing cyan clothes, and a little hat, with a pale and shocked face and bloodshot eyes. He cried out, “I…I don’t know…I know nothing…the next morning, they, they, were all killed…the three men and two elder ladies were all dead…a big hole in the head…dead…all dead…brains were swallowed…”
This ‘walking target’ was apparently out of his mind and in total chaos.
“Trash!” Brother Fong flicked his finger. An invisible power surged in the air. The ‘walking target’ was suddenly flicked out, and he fell on his face.
Then, Brother Fong picked up a second ‘walking target’, who was also incoherent, hardly able to answer. He, too, was flicked by Brother Fong, falling face down.
At this moment, a third ‘walking target’ was called out.
This was a teenager, very young, fifteen or sixteen at most. He had good-looking and smart eyes. His well-featured face made him look innocent.
“What did you see?” Brother Fong asked indifferently.
“Lord…Lord Fong, at that night, we bought many grain seeds, flower seeds, and winter clothes in ‘Iron Ring Town’. It was late, and we could not continue, so Master Tian arranged for us to stay the night in this town. See, this inn.” The teenager pointed at an inn across the street. “Master Tian, Master Luo, Master Chu, Auntie Xu, and Auntie Chen stayed in the second floor. We, walking targets, had to stay in the storeroom to guard the food and clothes. At midnight, I was very hungry and wanted to find some food. So I came out and stole two steamed breads. I…I think I saw a white figure flash by outside the window…but I didn’t care, and went back to sleep. I can’t believe Master Tian, Master Luo, Master Chu, Auntie Xu and Auntie Chen were all killed next morning…”
Unlike other walking targets who were muddled, this teenager was talkative, organized, and smart.
“Oh?” Lord Fong looked a bit interested, “You got guts. You are a walking target too. What is your name?”。
“My name is Xiao Han.” Said Xiao Han, as he licked his dry upper lip.
“Well, great.” Lord Fong nodded. “Xiao Han, do you remember that white figure? Did you see where the figure came from?”
“Well…” Xiao Han was thinking, suddenly turned back, pointed to a house, and said, “there… I suppose…”
The house Xiao Han mentioned had a red painted gate, beast knockers, copper nails, and two stone lion carvings guarding the door. It looked like a rich family’s house.
After Xiao Han’s explanation, all locals looked at the mayor.
“Lord…that…that…that is my house…” the mayor’s fat face was twitching. He was frightened, and said in a shivering voice, “But, but, I am innocent…there is no demon in my house…impossible …my Lord…”
Brother Fong lifted the corners of his mouth, and stepped forward towards the mayor. At this very moment, Brother Fong slightly moved his body while sword qi surged up in the shape of a lotus. The appearance of the lotus was the symbol of the highest layer of sword cultivation.
Xiao Han was shocked, looking at Brother Fong. He was thinking, “True Qi Layer! This is the legendary True Qi Layer! This is what those junior disciples said! So powerful! Like a god! If one day I could cultivate to that layer, that would be really cool…”
Brother Fong walked before the mayor and looked around. He casually looked at the mayor’s family, who knelt beside him.
“Waah~wow~waah~~~”
At this moment, suddenly a baby’s crying voice resounded, breaking up the grim silence of this town.
“Dear Niuniu, don’t cry…” A young married woman in floral coat, kneeling beside the mayor, began to lull the baby in her arms. She was pretty. Somehow she had a special, elegant charm.
“Father, Niuniu must be hungry…” The married woman spoke to the mayor, in a low voice.
“Lord…Lord…this…this is my daughter-in-law…Luo…my grandson is hungry…Lord please give us a few minutes…let my daughter-in-law go back home…to…to feed my grandson…” Mayor implored, with a pleading look .
Suddenly!
“POOF!!!!”
A weird sound resonated!
The next second, Brother Fong’s sword had come out of its scabbard. It was as light as the autumn stream, shining brilliant light. He took the sword in his left hand, lifting it straight forward to the young married woman, piercing her forehead straight through the back of her head.
No one witnessed how, and when Brother Fong pulled out his sword.
Nor did anybody expect Brother Fong to kill the woman so suddenly!
The whole place was surrounded by a grim silence.
The mayor and his family panicked, and looked at the dead married woman with desperate eyes.
Suddenly the baby too stopped crying.
You could have even heard a pin drop.
Even those young men who followed Brother Fong were scared, and they all stepped back in astonishment.
“Why? Why…is there no blood?” The teenager Xiao Han asked abruptly. He was stunned, pointed at the young married woman, “Why is there no blood? Not a single drop at all?”
As Xiao Han had said, the woman’s head was pierced by the sword, but not a single drop of blood could be seen! This was very weird.
“If you had not deliberately pinched the baby to cry, I would not have found you so quickly.” Brother Fong smiled abruptly. His hands holding the sword, were as as steady as a mountain.
“Ga Gaga ~~~~”
Instantly, the married young woman’s face began to distort, into an extremely ferocious look—unlike human a beings’.
“POOF~~~~”
A piece of dead skin fell out from her left cheek.
“POOF~~~” “POOF~~~~” “POOF~~~~”
Her whole face cracked open, and her flesh blew up everywhere. Her face skin was peeled off in a few seconds, and inside where her head was supposed to be it was empty, no skull, no brains, no vessels. It could not be anymore weirder.
“Gagaga~~~~~ worthy of being a master disciple of the Cloud Rain Sect. A master of the True Qi Layer!” The woman’s voice was rough. The creepy voice came from the headless body, and sounded like from the far hell.
