Chu Li stared at the camp and spoke, “Everyone in the Bull’s Head Camp is evil. They are guilty of countless crimes and deserve death, but, because they are too powerful and insane, nobody dares to punish them. Today, you need to kill one of them.”
“Could I though?” Lee Hanyan bit her lip and stared at the stronghold.
There were two village houses not far from the entrance of the camp that stood about ten meters high. Above each house stood an elderly person. One was nodding off against a pole whilst the other was squatting whilst smoking a tobacco pipe in a casual manner.
One was in green, while the other was in a white robe. It was eye-catching.
Chu Li smiled, “You can as long as you pull off that technique. If you can’t, then it’s a close-quarters fight. A fight to the finish that I will not take part in. It will be all you, either you kill him, or he kills you.”
Lee Hanyan turned to look at him.
Chu Li continued, “Stepping into the world of martial arts is like hitching your head onto your belt to that you are always facing death. You’re going to die anyway, why not just die earlier and be reincarnated earlier!”
Lee Hanyan pursed her lips into a smile.
Chu Li smiled, “Hanyan, I’m not kidding. I will not help you.”
“Hey, who are you people? This is the Bull’s Head Camp, not a playground!” The smoking elderly suddenly shouted after noticing them.
Chu Li looked at Lee Hanyan, “Do you think he is a good guy?”
“He’s not?” Lee Hanyan could not comprehend.
She thought that this elderly man was pressing her to leave and stay away from danger out of the kindness of his heart. Chu Li smiled.
At the sound of the shout, a young man jumped out from the camp’s entrance. He was agile and held a long sword as he rushed to the front of the houses.
He was a young man with a tall and lean figure, in addition to having a handsome face.
Dressed in a sapphire blue long robe, he was slightly pale due to the lack of sun. If it weren’t for his gloomy eyes, he could steal the hearts of many a maiden.
Chu Li turned to look at her, “Do you see now? This is human nature!”
Lee Hanyan bit her thin red lip and glanced at the elderly on the houses.
The handsome young man’s burning gaze was locked onto Lee Hanyan. Although she was lean, she was quite voluptuous. Enough to tempt him to take her as his own personal plaything.
Chu Li took a step back, signaling his non-participation, which caused the young man to look down on him.
Lee Hanyan slowly drew her long blade and shouted, “Name!”
“Heh, I’m Chang Song!” The handsome young man broke into a smile, flashing his neat set of white teeth, “And what might this maiden’s name be?”
Lee Hanyan coldly stared at him, “I will kill you!”
“Hehe, alright then, come and kill me!” The handsome young man had an odd smile, “You can kill me as many times as you want to!”
Lee Hanyan glared at him with rage.
She met many customers from the martial art’s world in the tea shop, so she understood what he meant. She pursed her red lips and took a step forward, the glimmer of her flashing toward him.
The handsome young man took a step back, dodging agilely. He laughed after doing this, “What a great knife technique, come at me again!”
Lee Hanyan swung her knife again, this time, however, her foot stomped the ground and she became one with the blade. Instantly the blade of the knife expanded and chopped downward at the young man.
“Ah!” The handsome young man cried out in pain. He clutched at his left shoulder and retreated.
Blood surged out of his left shoulder. Both his eyes were bulging fiercely. He looked like some kind of ferocious savage.
“I. Will. Slaughter. You!” One by one the words came out of his mouth, each time accompanied by drops of foam.
Lee Hanyan snorted bravely but in truth, her hands went slightly limp.
The killing intent emanating from his body was scary. Lee Hanyan felt chills run up her spine as her limbs grew numb. She couldn’t help but avoid his eye contact.
“Swoosh!” With a soft whizz, the handsome young man stabbed forward.
Lee Hanyan’s pupils dilated as she lowered her head to see the sword embedded in her chest.
The handsome young man stuck out his tongue and licked the blood off the edge of his lips. With a bloodthirsty smile, he laughed, “I thought of toying you for a bit, but you don’t know what’s good for you, so I’ll just have to send you on your way!” He said as he was about to draw his sword.
Lee Hanyan grit her teeth and hurled her knife.
“Swoosh!” The long blade shot out like a bolt of lightning, straight through the young man’s neck.
His body dropped to the ground with a loud “thud”.
Lee Hanyan held onto the sword in her chest. Her whole body was cold, as if all her energy was escaping through her chest. Both her legs went numb as she fell to the ground.
Chu Li calmly walked toward her.
Lee Hanyan lifted her head to catch sight of him, “Big brother Du, Am I…. Am I going to die?”
Chu Li squatted down and casually asked, “Do you know what you did wrong?”
Lee Hanyan shook her head.
Chu Li sighed and advised her, “Once you’re poised for combat, it’s either you and him dead. You did not remember this rule.”
“Am I going to see grandfather now?” Lee Hanyan started to black out. Her voice was weak but she tried her best to put on a strong front.
Chu Li said, “It’s still too early for that.”
Lee Hanyan was engulfed by darkness once she heard these words and passed out.
Chu Li took out the Spirit Blessing Pill and fed her. Then, he took the sword out and tapped her vital points to stop the bleeding.
He disregarded the gender difference and ripped open her clothes, quickly applying medicine to her chest, it was a medicine from the Snow Lunar Pavilion.
He dragged Lee Hanyan and left via levitation, ignoring the ear-piercing screams and curses directed at him from the direction of the temple.
——
When Lee Hanyan came to, she found herself lying on a couch. She shifted to look around and saw Chu Li sitting on the couch, flipping through a book.
The room was brightly lit and had a calm serenity to it. The birds were chirping outside.
She struggled to get up but found herself feeling feeble and unable to move.
Chu Li put down his book, “You’re awake?”
“Big brother Du, I’m not dead?” Lee Hanyan asked.
Chu Li smiled, “You were dead but came back alive.”
“I remembered that I was dead.”
“Yes, but not completely.” Chu Li explained, “You were fed a pill and survived.”
“What miraculous pill is this?” Lee Hanyan asked.
Chu Li smiled, “You need not know this. How do you feel?”
Lee Hanyan nodded slowly.
She felt that the world was different than before but couldn’t pinpoint why. It was a feeling as though everything has changed.
Everything around her was livelier, more radiant and more exciting.
She wanted to live her life to the fullest.
Earlier, she did not have the will to live after the death of her grandfather. There was no meaning in living alone. She would rather accompany her grandfather in the afterlife so that he would not be alone.
If it weren’t for big brother Du’s company and care, she would have long committed suicide. She did not want to waste kindness, therefore she persevered.
This time, however, upon her awakening, her death wish had completely disappeared. She actually wanted to live.
Chu Li let smile caringly, “From here on out, you should concentrate on your martial arts. Don’t get killed anymore!”
“I understand!” Lee Hanyan aggressively steadily.
Chu Li continued, “You can’t move now so, for now, you should practice your Crescent Cryptic.”
He could clearly see her thoughts because he had the Omniscient Mirror, which is why he was aware of her death wish. Persuasion would not work, which is why he came up with this plan.
It would also benefit her to experience the power of the blade first-hand.
Lee Hanyan circulated the Crescent Cryptic and calm pressure flowed throughout her body, slowly mending her wounds.
Two days later, she was back to wielding her knife.
It was dawn when the two stood in front of the wooden cabin in the woods. She was wearing a simple black garment, looking sharp while Chu Li was dressed in blue after stripping off his white robe.
Chu Li built this wooden cabin two days ago. It was simple but enough to keep rain and wind out.
“Strike!” Chu Li exclaimed.
Lee Hanyan shot her blade outward and aimed for Chu Li’s shoulder.
“Incorrect!” Chu Li shook his head, the long blade was blocked just an inch off his shoulder, “Too slow with your wielding. Again!”
Lee Hanyan struck again, aiming for his neck, but, yet again, it was blocked an inch away from his skin.
“Faster!”
Again she struck, this time aiming for his waist.
“Almost there, again!”
“Not bad, again!”
Chu Li used the Omniscient Mirror to watch every bit of her being; whether it was her inner energy circulation, her muscle contraction or her skeletal contortion he would scrutinize every detail and call out her mistake so that he could make sure the Blade of God could eventually become second nature to her.
With the Omniscient Mirror, he would be the world’s best teacher.