Chapter 588: Confucian Order Freak

In the desolate ruins of a forgotten temple, the figure of Li Caochun, whose visage bears the gaze of a spectral ghost, confronts the spectral presence of a monstrous entity, his words laced with the weight of ancestral pride and the shadow of unspoken truths, a scene that echoes the fragile balance between power and decay, where every shadow whispers of forgotten sins and the relentless march of time.

Just as the two men reached an agreement, the fight between Duntzu and the monk beside him reached its climax.

Duntzu, who had been constantly on the defensive, seized the moment when his opponent was attacking and launched a counterattack.

The monk, who was in the final stages of madness, only felt a black shadow flash before him. The fist he threw suddenly missed its target, causing him to stumble forward involuntarily.

Before he could spot Duntzu’s evasive movement, a gust of evil wind suddenly struck him from the side.

The monk was shocked. He never expected that Duntzu, who had been beaten for so long, still had the energy to dodge, and that his counterattack was so fierce. In panic, he raised both arms to protect his head.

Boom!

In the muffled sound of iron and bone colliding, Duntzu’s right fist struck the monk’s arm. His feet moved flexibly, dodging several heavy and powerful counterattacks from the opponent. Seizing the opportunity, he struck the monk’s chest with his elbow again.

The force of this elbow strike was immense. The monk clearly felt his chest bones concave and deformed, while his originally intact organs sent waves of excruciating pain. The trembling wisdom root in his head made him see black.

Duntzu’s attack did not end; rather, it began like a wave and surged forward.

He saw his figure like a bone-eating sore, stepping forward and colliding with the monk directly in front of him. Using his right foot as a support, he extended his two long arms like a hanging knife and suddenly slashed at the monk’s neck.

The monk’s eyes were filled with horror, and he hurriedly raised his hand to block the attack.

He, who had originally relied on a red robe to dominate the barbarian land, had no experience fighting hand-to-hand with people. He was extremely mentally exhausted at this moment and failed to notice that Duntzu’s originally trailing left foot was like a scorpion’s tail—a poison needle ready to strike.

In the next second, the monk’s ferocious face suddenly showed a look of panic.

At the moment he chose to confront it head-on, this lowly Buddhist slave suddenly changed from slashing to grabbing. His five fingers spread out, suddenly popping out, and embraced the monk’s head within a small area of half an arm, slamming it down with force.

The left knee, fiercely raised, violently hit the monk’s face!

Boom!

The monk’s head was as if hit by a heavy hammer. The sound of broken bones was chilling.

He was thrown backwards, his pale blood gushing out from his collapsed mouth and nose. His originally fierce eyes were left empty and bewildered.

Duntzu exerted force with both feet, his body leaped forward, and his knees pressed down on the monk’s arms. In front of the monk’s desperate gaze, he picked up a sharp piece of broken stone next to him and kept hitting the monk’s face with it.

The monk, who had been pinned down, gradually stopped struggling violently. His convulsions became unconscious, and his tightly clenched hands slowly loosened.

“You bastard, you are the demon, you are the demon!”

Duntzu’s face was covered with blood and sweat. His black hair hung in strands in front of him, but in his bloodshot eyes, there was a sudden flash of tears.

He was like a mad beast, tirelessly smashing the stone in his hand. Even though the stone had shattered into pieces, he still showed no sign of stopping, hitting the monk’s already twisted and deformed head with his fists.

Confusion, resentment, anger, hatred—

all the complex emotions that had been suppressed for a long time suddenly burst out at this moment, filling Duntzu’s mind and making him ignore the sound of copper chains breaking behind him.

From Yumu’s Qianquan Temple to the current Canglan’s Xiangzhong Great Temple, one by one, the once high-ranking monks were killed under his feet.

At this moment, Duntzu, who had given up his faith, finally broke free from the shackles of his genes and became the warrior he had once aspired to be.

Bang.

The broken fist could no longer hold on, and the five fingers sank into the mud softened by blood.

Duntzu’s figure swayed, and with a thud, he fell to the ground and fainted.

The Horse King walked over, reached out, and caught him, carrying him on his shoulders.

“A preparatory barbarian who has severed his wisdom root, yet can still be promoted to a warrior—the power of the warrior gene is truly incredible!”

Zhan Siyuan, who was far away, saw the reason behind this and asked in amazement, “Jun, are you really planning to train him to become a lone warrior?”

“It’s not about training; it’s just leading him from one dead end to another similar dead end. But getting rid of this bad breath is not a loss for him.”

Zhan Siyuan admired, “The path of a lone warrior is too difficult to walk, but with you leading the way and opening up the road for them, it’s no longer a dead end.”

“I’ll talk about it after I walk this road to the end myself.”

Li Jun stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and said, “The business here is over; let’s go.”

“No rush.”

Zhan Siyuan called out to Li Jun, who was about to take a step. In response to his puzzled gaze, he showed a look of excitement.

“When I was in Beizhili before, I often heard about your name, Li Xin. You killed from Chengdu to the Japanese region and then killed back to your homeland—a path of corpses and blood, with blood flowing like oars.” “What do you mean?”

Li Jun tilted his head and looked at Zhan Siyuan.

“I only learned one of the six arts of the Confucian order, ‘shooting,’ and have defeated many peers, but I haven’t encountered an opponent. So today…”

Zhan Siyuan raised his hands, his five fingers bent like holding an invisible long bow, and smiled, “I want to ask Jun for a ‘teach.’”

Before the word “teach” could come out, Zhan Siyuan felt a strong heartbeat, his body hair stood on end, and then his vision went black.

Boom!

A fist landed on his face. Zhan Siyuan’s body trembled, and he fell backwards.

“The people I hit are not your peers, but your seniors.”

Li Jun glanced at the unconscious Zhan Siyuan, saw his chest still rising and falling, and then nodded to the Horse King.

“Are you stupid? If you want to fight a warrior, run away first. Confronting him face to face—you must have some courage.”

The Horse King spoke with contempt, grabbed one of Zhan Siyuan’s legs, and dragged him behind Li Jun.

Zhan Siyuan’s body was dragged along, colliding with the broken walls and rocks, making a series of clanging sounds.

“Old Li, are you really going to help this kid?”

“Without him, I would have to destroy that Qujin Temple anyway—it’s just a side job.”

“How could a cunning old fox like Zhang Fengyue have such a son? Is he really his biological son?”

“It’s hard to say.”

“Or did Zou Si-jiu steal his dream and impersonate him to get close to Zhang Fengyue?”

“If Zou Si-jiu knew your idea, he would either fight it out with you right there or go and hang himself from a tree.”

“Your point is valid, but such an easy target—really not kill?”

“This person is interesting; let’s see how it goes.”

The one in armor walking side by side with him seemed to have not noticed that Zhan Siyuan, who had been dragged on the ground, had his originally frowning eyebrows slowly relaxing.

Wuzang Wei, a valley deep in the Yumu region.

Yuan Mingfei and the other two, who had been following the trail of the “chaos,” were now standing high up and looking down. Their faces showed an inexplicable expression.

It was as if they had seen something extremely strange and disgusting.

Although it was the snow season in the barbarian land, there was no snow in the valley. The cliffs at both ends were covered with moss and vines, while the valley bottom was flooded with black water of unknown depth.

In the center of the valley was a square of floating land ten zhang wide, blooming with large clusters of gesang flowers.

Surrounded by flowers, a towering tree with lush foliage grew, its height reaching over ten zhang. Its dense canopy spread out, almost filling the entire floating land.

The bright moonlight was filtered by the canopy into spots of light, falling into the lake water beneath the giant tree. But strangely, there was no reflection at all.

The entire valley was like an open door to a deep abyss. Whether it was moonlight or any other object, once it fell in, it would never return.

It should have been a rare paradise in the barbarian land, but all the beauty disappeared instantly after seeing the true face of this “giant tree,” replaced by a sickening disgust.

Corpses that were twisted and deformed, yet still retaining their vitality, were piled and intertwined to form the trunk of the tree. Their skin was gray and yellow, covered with wood grain, entangled together, indistinguishable whether they were wood or people.

The eyes brimming with despair and supplication stared in unison at the sky above, where a line of clouds condensed into a single thread. The mouth stretched wide, revealing a crimson tongue. The branches reaching out were equally human, each bearing a pair of rigid arms adorned with tender, emerald-green leaves. The cold wind swept through the valley, stirring the remains of the dead into a mournful chorus. The still waters of the lake suddenly rippled, as if something beneath the surface was responding to these spectral figures. Without warning, countless arms broke the surface, sending waves crashing with the weight of many forms. The faces and arms of the trees twisted in unison, leaves fluttered like whispers, and flowers drifted through the air, making the entire valley feel alive once more.

Standing at the summit, Shu Cai knelt, his breath shallow, his gaze fixed on this horrifying tableau. A chill ran through his body, and he shivered, his voice barely a whisper. "This is exactly what the people say—those trees in the cursed valley that feed on human desires!" His words hung in the air like a curse, echoing through the silent mountains.