Hearing Li Miao’s arrogant words, the man didn't move for a moment; instead, he secretly prepared himself.
While guarding against Li Miao’s attack, he scanned him up and down, searching his memory for Li Miao’s identity.
It could only be said that those who could reach the Peerless Realm and be as reckless as Zuo Lishan were truly few.
Li Miao had been in Shuntian Prefecture for a long time and was used to concealing his martial arts. Unless one was a Celestial Human Realm expert, anyone looking at Li Miao would only think he was an ordinary person who had never practiced martial arts.
But if he were truly an ordinary person, how could he be at Shaolin Temple, meeting Xing Chi secretly every day? How could he show such blatant contempt for a Peerless expert?
He must have some backing.
With a thought, the man was about to flash forward and place his sword against Yin Minjun’s neck first. With a hostage, he could then question Li Miao.
However, as soon as his foot moved, his vision blurred.
When he looked again, Yin Minjun and Li Miao were gone.
“!!!”
The man’s pupils constricted, and he rapidly retreated!
Before he could retreat three feet, a sharp pain suddenly came from his back.
Someone had used a grappling technique, embedding five fingers deep into his flesh, firmly gripping his spine in their palm.
Cold sweat poured down him, his body stiffened, and he dared not move a muscle.
Then he heard Li Miao’s faint voice from behind him.
“Do you know?”
“A person’s body can only move and perceive because nerves radiate from the spine and eventually converge in the cranium.”
“The human body has twenty-six vertebrae from the back of the head to the buttocks. What I’m currently gripping is your thirteenth vertebra.”
“From now on, I ask, you answer.”
“You have three breaths to think of an answer. If you don’t answer or lie, I’ll crush your thirteenth vertebra, then your twelfth, your eleventh… until only your head can move, and you become a complete cripple who can’t even control your own bodily functions.”
“You can try to endure it. I also admire a tough person.”
“Perhaps if you endure until the fifth or sixth bone is crushed, I’ll think you’re a true man and let you go.”
“You can try it.”
Yin Minjun had just been embraced by Li Miao, and with a blur of vision, she appeared behind the man.
Hearing Li Miao’s ruthless words, far from feeling unbearable, she felt her whole body go limp, almost collapsing into Li Miao’s arms.
Ever since she had achieved mastery in martial arts, she had always played the role of protecting others.
When had she ever been held and protected in someone’s arms?
Moreover… she had originally intended to do that tonight.
Li Miao didn’t let go, but continued speaking faintly.
“First question, your name.”
“Three, two…”
“Zhu Yan! My name is Zhu Yan!”
The man suddenly spoke, not even bothering to lower his voice, shouting out his original name.
Li Miao raised an eyebrow.
Because the man’s voice was extremely young, probably less than thirty years old.
A Peerless expert in his twenties, it had been many years since one had appeared in the martial arts world. Zuo Lishan only achieved the Peerless Realm in his late thirties, which was already a rare talent.
However, Li Miao didn’t hesitate at all, saying coldly, “Fake.”
With that, he suddenly exerted force with his hand.
Crack.
“Ah ah ah ah ah—!!!”
The man screamed in agony, his body below the chest instantly losing all strength. His upper body swayed, and he was about to fall to the ground.
But he stopped in mid-air.
At this moment, he was like a rag doll, his upper body swaying wildly, his two hands grabbing at the air, while his lower body, like a piece of torn cloth, dragged left and right on the ground. His face was already streaked with tears and snot, and he wailed incessantly.
Li Miao did not break his word. After crushing his thirteenth vertebra, he gripped his twelfth vertebra, holding him suspended in mid-air.
“You still have three breaths. Your name.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Yang Yueze! My name is Yang Yueze!”
The man spoke, enduring the pain.
Li Miao showed no mercy; with this, his martial arts could be considered crippled.
He had lost all sensation below his chest, and only his hands could still move.
If Li Miao truly proceeded as he said, crushing his vertebrae one by one, he would indeed become a cripple whose only movable part was his head. For him, this was more terrifying than death.
“Yang Yueze… there doesn’t seem to be anyone by that name in the martial arts world.”
“But that surname, it sounds familiar.”
Li Miao thought for a moment, habitually wanting to twirl his fingers.
However, he was currently holding Yin Minjun with his right hand and gripping Yang Yueze’s vertebra with his left. For a moment, his right hand habitually moved.
Exactly as in the no-error version!
Then he heard Yin Minjun let out a soft gasp.
Li Miao was embracing Yin Minjun, and in that posture, the position of his hand was a bit—inappropriate.
Li Miao smiled and released Yin Minjun.
Whoosh!
Yin Minjun flashed away, moving over ten feet in an instant.
No matter how determined she was, she was still inexperienced. Like Lord Ye’s love for dragons, she now dared not approach Li Miao.
“Elder Yin, please go rest first. I still have some questions to ask this person.”
Li Miao turned his head and smiled at Yin Minjun.
“Whatever it is, we can talk about it tomorrow night.”
Yin Minjun’s face flushed red for a moment. She didn’t reply, but lowered her head and used the Hengshan Sect’s foundational lightness skill, “Ape Lord’s Somersault Cloud,” to dart into her room with a whoosh, slamming the door shut with a clang.
Only then did Li Miao turn back to Yang Yueze.
“What is Yang Lixuan, the former-former leader of the Ming Cult, to you?”
There were few people named Yang in Great Shuo to begin with. Among the well-known figures in the martial arts world in recent years, there was only Yang Lixuan, the Ming Cult leader before Ji Tianrui.
A Peerless expert in his twenties was astonishing and couldn't be without a background.
As expected, Yang Yueze spoke with hatred.
“He is my grandfather!”
“Oh, I see.” Li Miao smiled.
“Then, second question: What are you doing at Shaolin?”
After Li Miao’s earlier move, Yang Yueze already understood that this person was a smiling tiger. He smiled outwardly and spoke casually, but his actions were incredibly ruthless, showing no mercy whatsoever.
He carried a deep blood feud, and now, without the use of his lower body, he had lost most of his hope. If Li Miao turned him into a cripple, then his twenty-plus years of arduous cultivation would truly have been utterly wasted.
Without waiting for Li Miao to count, he spoke.
“To ask Xing Chi a few questions.”
“What questions?”
“Whether Ji Tianrui is still alive, what he took from Shaolin, and what level his martial arts have reached now.”
“Then why did you come looking for us?”
“Xing Chi is a long-standing Peerless expert, and Shaolin has deep foundations. I had no confidence, so I could only observe in secret and look for opportunities. These past few days, seeing you two entering and exiting his residence, you should be clear about his situation, so I thought of asking you first before making my plans.”
“How did you evade my senses?”
“A Western Regions’ ‘Peeping Tube’ (an ancient term for telescope). I never approached Shaolin; I was always observing from the surrounding mountains.”
“Do you have a grudge against Ji Tianrui?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” Li Miao smiled, then flung the man away, sending him sprawling face-first.
The man struggled to turn over on the ground, enduring the severe pain, and looked at Li Miao.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? I also have some business with Ji Tianrui.”
“Tell me your story. If it’s useful, perhaps I can avenge your grudge for you.”