Chapter 296: Why Must You Do This? (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 296: Why Bother? (Please vote for the moon ticket)

"Where did you get the confidence to kill me?"

"...Where did that confidence come from?"

In the vast, empty expanse of sky and earth, Chen Yi’s voice echoed.

He stood atop the pale, shimmering maw of a colossal white dragon, ignoring the stunned Du Cang, his gaze fixed on Xiao Wanhui, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He spoke softly, "My dear sister, I’ll take you home."

Xiao Wanhui stared at him, her voice catching, "You—"

Before she could finish, Chen Yi cut the rope binding her with a swift motion, pulling her close.

"No explanations needed, no questions to ask. After this, I’ll tell you everything."

Xiao Wanhui felt the warmth of his touch, meeting his slightly smiling eyes, and gave a soft, "Mmhmm."

"I’ll wait."

Chen Yi nodded, then waved dismissively, as if bidding farewell to a vast chessboard behind him.

The white dragon roared once more, its cry echoing.

Light burst from its scaled body, silver and radiant, shooting in all directions.

With a series of sharp cracks, the small realm crumbled and split apart.

When the dust settled, they found themselves back in the ruined Buddha hall.

But now, Chen Yi stood where Du Cang had been, beside Xiao Wanhui.

Du Cang, meanwhile, faced away, his blood-red eyes fixed ahead, disbelief etched on his weathered face.

The blood-and-bone puppet in his hand had split cleanly down the middle, clattering to the ground.

Before him, the two assassins—Brother Gu and the Knife Master—stood as before, their eyes vacant as they stared at Chen Yi and Xiao Wanhui.

Outside the hall, the night rain fell steadily, the mountain wind howled, and thunder rumbled, lightning slicing the sky.

It illuminated Du Cang’s gaunt, wrinkled face, making him look even grotesque and terrifying.

Silence stretched.

Du Cang slowly turned, his red eyes dripping with blood, fixated on Chen Yi.

"The Way of Chess, its perfection, the realm of poetic vision—how else could I break through my precious secret bone illusion?"

His voice dripped with malice, "The Way of Chess, the Way of Books, the Way of Guns—all three perfected!"

"How I’ve stumbled upon such a person..."

"Ah, splendid, splendid indeed!"

Du Cang paused, bared his blackened teeth, "I haven’t felt such a thrill in ages—killing someone like you!"

A surge of murderous intent flooded the hall, shaking its ancient walls. Cracks spiderwebbed through the aged bricks, tiles shattered, beams snapped. Rainwater dripped through the gaps, pattering on the floor.

Chen Yi stepped back, shielding Xiao Wanhui, his voice a whisper, "Crouch down, close your eyes, cover your ears."

"Soon, I’ll take you home."

Xiao Wanhui obeyed, her head tucked into the wind, crouching motionless behind him.

Chen Yi glanced sideways, placing his satchel beside her, then faced Du Cang.

His killing intent rivaled Du Cang’s own.

Not only had Xiao Wanhui been taken, but Du Cang had uncovered his secrets.

If Du Cang lived, the consequences would be dire.

Chen Yi’s eyes burned with the images of Du Cang, Brother Gu, and the young guard, his black spear raised.

"Forward!"

The Four Symbols Technique erupted, its energy surging through his body, fluttering his silk robes.

The black spear, infused with the power of the heavens, turned golden inch by inch, its tip gleaming with sharp, golden light.

Its might now rivaled Du Cang’s.

Du Cang sneered, his protective spiritual veil flaring, "Your cultivation lags two levels behind me—I’ll kill you without even using the decapitation technique!"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Three slashes split the air, sharp and serpentine.

Du Cang led the charge, gripping two long knives in each hand, ducking low to confront Chen Yi.

His blades carved twin arcs of light.

Brother Gu and the young guard circled around, rushing toward Xiao Wanhui.

They struck with a thunderous clash of steel, their blows relentless and decisive.

Chen Yi stood still, his gaze sweeping six directions, his spear whipping out in a golden arc.

Three golden lotuses bloomed, blocking the knives and pushing back the assassins three paces.

Du Cang pressed forward, his protective veil deflecting the spear’s edge, his hands blurring as he danced around the attacks.

His fully matured blade techniques sliced through the air, hundreds of knife flashes converging on Chen Yi.

"In this life-or-death battle, can you protect her?"

His thoughts were cruel, even knowing his cultivation surpassed Chen Yi’s, he chose the safest path—

—Confident Chen Yi would shield Xiao Wanhui, unable to dodge, each blade aimed at Chen Yi but also cutting toward Xiao Wanhui.

Chen Yi understood this, remaining calm.

He spun his hands, the spear glowing gold in a circular motion, deflecting all the knife strikes.

Then the spear pivoted, its tip driving toward Du Cang.

The heavens and earth erupted—Dragon Fang Spear: Earth-Shattering Strike!

The floor of the Buddhist hall rumbled ominously, as the spear tip advanced, a trench choked with splintered bricks and stones barreling straight toward Du Cang.

Du Cang’s eyelids fluttered, though he loathed it; yet beneath the spear’s force, he could do naught but sidestep.

Yet the barrage pressed on.

A mere blink, and the spear passed through the chest of his honored younger brother, piercing him clean through. The force of the strike tore his body asunder, blood and flesh scattering in all directions.

The spear’s arc stretched a hundred zhang before fading, leaving a trench yawning dozens of chi deep.

Chen Yi had struck true, his gaze slicing sideways at Du Cang, “I can shield her. Can you shield those two puppets?”

Du Cang glanced back, his face contorting into rage, “When will I ever believe you can protect her?!”

This time, he did not charge headlong. Tossing his dagger to a young guard, he withdrew a handful of wooden soldiers from his sleeve.

Like Lü Nine-South before, the wooden figures, upon touching the ground, sprang to life, swelling grotesquely.

Their twisted forms pirouetted, growing into the hulking stature of adult barbarians. Eyes blazed crimson, fists clenched around wooden blades, they scattered outward, encircling Chen Yi and Xiao Wan’er.

Only then did Du Cang launch his next assault, joined by the wooden soldiers and the young guard.

Yet only Du Cang and the young guard aimed for Chen Yi; the wooden soldiers, under his command, still bore down on Xiao Wan’er.

Chen Yi’s face grew pale, no longer standing his ground. His perfected martial art—Step Technique—merged with his body, unleashing the *Dancing Dragon and Phoenix Step*.

His speed multiplied a hundredfold.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from Du Cang’s sight.

“You… a Step Technique perfection?!”

Yet only the thunderous crash of wooden soldiers shattering answered him, and the dull thud of the young guard’s skull pierced by a spear, his body flying into the wall.

In an instant, the once-crowded hall stood reduced to Du Cang, Chen Yi, and Xiao Wan’er.

Chen Yi seemed untouched by motion, reemerging between them, his spear grazing his side, his voice calm as stone:

“I can shield her for life.”

Xiao Wan’er trembled, shrinking further, her form nearly naught but a few stray hairs clinging to her cloak.

She had indeed obeyed, pressing her ears shut, eyes shut.

But the relentless thundering around her made her fear for Chen Yi’s safety, and she could not help but unclench her hands, opening her eyes.

Bathed in faint light and fleeting lightning, she glimpsed the silhouette standing before her.

She heard his words, clear as ever:

“I can shield her.”

“I can shield her for life.”

At that moment, Xiao Wan’er forgot Du Cang’s earlier words. Her scattered thoughts steadied, as if by some unseen hand.

It mattered not.

A brother-in-law is a brother-in-law, whether Chen Yi or Liu Wu. These days, they had been close to her.

Even if the elder’s design dictated it—what mattered?

At least his hidden purpose was not to persecute the Xiao family, nor to claim the second sister… or her.

That was enough.

Chen Yi, unaware of these thoughts, his mind fixed solely on Du Cang.

After all, he was a martial artist of the upper third-grade realm.

Even without the famed Soul-Revealing Technique, his perfected swordplay and cultivation far surpassed the old man’s former self, Yan Fa-Sha.

Moreover, he surely harbored other concealed arts.

Meanwhile, Du Cang’s face grew grim, his presence more chilling than ever.

The skeletal framework shattered.

The puppets fell.

The wooden soldiers broke.

His sword technique yielded naught but stalemate.

This was the first time in his life he’d encountered such a predicament—a martial artist of the middle third-grade realm, capable of repelling him repeatedly, unscathed.

Du Cang’s expression shifted in an instant, snatching his dagger from the young guard, his blood-red eyes fixed on Chen Yi with deathly stillness.

Beyond the completed paths of chess, literature, and spear, he had also perfected the Step Technique.

A rare celestial prodigy, such as none before history.

And thus, Du Cang could not let this chance slip—he knew full well the power of such a genius in the making.

Like Xiao Feichun and Fu Wen-Qing in years past.

Had the barbarian grandmaster Wen Ke-La not intervened, those two would now stand near the King of Lan Du.

Five years’ time, and they’d reach such heights.

Yet here stood Chen Yi.

Du Cang deemed two years sufficient for him to sweep the Tea and Horse Road, vanquishing countless bandits.

Three years? The King of Lan Du might…

Thinking thus, Du Cang clenched his two daggers, “Your strength exceeds even my reckoning, but…”

“Though I fight to the death, today I’ll end you, lest any shadow linger after!”

His voice fell, and he summoned more wooden soldiers, charging at Chen Yi.

Unleashing all his power, his spiritual energy coalesced into a vortex within the hall, stirred by his daggers into a whirlpool, drawing all matter toward its center.

Even Xiao Wan’er, crouching behind him, was dragged forward helplessly.

Chen Yi furrowed his brow, extending a hand to steady her, stamping his foot, and recoiled.

Yet Du Cang, exploiting his spear technique’s weakness, waved his residual afterimage, blades flashing like blossoms, strikes aimed at Xiao Wan’er.

Chen Yi danced and weaved, parrying and retreating, his spear lifting, stabbing, and blocking each blow.

The clang of steel rang out, repelling every assault.

Du Cang, unperturbed, smiled grimly, pressing on.

Simultaneously, his wooden soldiers interposed, their blades and spears crashing down.

Chen Yi dodged like a ghost, weaving through the wooden soldiers, his spear upending each one.

Thus, the two forces clashed in a fierce tangle.

Without holding back a single move, Yu Wei swept the already ruined Temple of Panyin to pieces, scattering it into fragments. Only the broken bricks, splintered wood, and debris of grass and earth remained, tumbling down to the ground as rain washed them away. Xiao Waner felt the massive hand at her waist and grew more at peace. Though her boneless body was being tossed about, making her heart race wildly, her spirit steadied itself. She fixed her gaze on the profile of Chen Yi. His appearance had changed, his breath no longer carried the scholarly air, yet those resolute eyes held a faintly familiar resonance, like the time when, in Fengchun Tower, he had stood by her side to confront Liu Wen. "Xiao, be careful." The whisper was nearly inaudible, but Chen Yi heard it. Seizing the moment after shattering a wooden dummy, he grunted softly, his breath as steady as ever, as if to say, "Be at ease, watch me dispatch him." Du Cang, nearby, felt his crimson eyes lose their stagnant stillness. "If that's the case, I'll let you two go!" He spoke, and his eyes instantly blazed with crimson light, his form vanishing unnaturally. Before Chen Yi could react, the spear that had pierced the broken wooden dummy transformed into Du Cang. That "wolf" truly deserved its name, gripping his wounded chest and clutching his spear with desperate resolve. Then Du Cang slashed multiple strikes toward Chen Yi's hands, forcing him to drop the spear and dodge. Du Cang smiled, "Liu Qi!" "Without that spear, your martial arts are still half-measures, aren't they?" Chen Yi's face twisted into a strange smile as he stared at the spear still embedded in his chest. "What in the world... why?" Xiao Waner beside him tightened her grip on his sleeve. "You... should we flee?" Before Chen Yi could answer, Du Cang thrust his spear against his side, pressing his finger to the bleeding wound, sneering, "Flee? I've vowed to kill you today, no matter the cost!" He charged forward with brutal directness, unlike the cunning prowess spoken of in tales—a true battlefield commander in full assault. Meanwhile, Chen Yi clung to Xiao Waner, patting her reassuringly, his smile growing increasingly odd. "Indeed, without the spear, my spear techniques can't unleash their full power." "But you don't know, when I first practiced martial arts, my initial technique was boxing." "What then? Your fists could... could..." Du Cang closed in, suddenly overwhelmed by a weighty aura pressing down upon him, his words trailing off mid-sentence. Yet his heart trembled with uncontainable dread. "Your fists... big, big... corporeal, round, complete?" Chen Yi's smile brightened, advancing toward the looming figure, his fist drawn back in a swift, powerful arc. "Indeed, my fists surpass the spear technique!" The Crumbling Peak Fist—Shaking! The thunderous strike of the Crumbling Peak Fist, infused with the essence of the earth, crashed into Du Cang's face. Terrifying force, intertwined with the harmony of heaven and earth, added the Crumbling Peak momentum, chiseling through his protective spiritual armor inch by inch. Piercing through, it slammed into his skull. Boom! Splatters of white pulp mingled with blood, spraying in all directions. A lightning bolt sliced the sky. Illuminating Chen Yi's punch and the emaciated corpse slowly sinking to the ground. Amid the rumbling thunder and lashing rain, a soft laugh echoed: "Of course, my mortal form isn't weak either..." (End of Chapter)