Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Smack
"Haa..! Haa..."
Inside the pitch-dark forest, No.10 ran frantically, leaping between roots and fallen branches, desperate to put as much distance as possible between himself and Li Feng.
"Damnit, what the hell is going on..."
He leaned against a tree, gasping for air.
This mission was supposed to be easy.
Yet now... he had barely escaped with his life.
Some of those brothers who introduced him to No.1, which led to him having his first time playing with a powerful and seductive female cultivator body as whatever he want and had even spend an amazing night together, were all dead.
It should have been a quick mission, and then they all would return to enjoyed another debauched night toying with No.1’s body. And now, even their bodies’ remains were gone.
"...All the information is so wrong. I need to deliver this information about Li Feng, otherwise we all would just wasting our life for nothing "
No 10 eye underneath the mask flash with determination, despite the lingeringly fear and soon he turn his head toward his surrounding.
"...I’m lost"
He had focused so much on escaping that he hadn’t noticed which way he ran. Now, with the faint moonlight barely filtering through the dense canopy, every direction looked the same.
Cursing under his breath, he started walking forward again.
But after a few moments, he froze.
As he heard soft rustle coming from the distance.
It sounded like something moving swiftly through the trees, closing in.
No.10 gulped nervously as the distant sounds grew closer.
In a hurry, he looked around, searching for a place to hide.
Then his eyes landed on a hollow in a nearby tree.
He jumped up, forcing his way inside, and start holding his breath as he tried to conceal his presence as much as possible.
Rustle...
Rustle...
Soon, the sound of rustling leaves grew nearer until it stopped right beside the tree he was hiding in.
"...!"
No.10 had never felt so terrified in his entire life. Cold sweat ran down his back as he covered his mouth, thinking it would help him hold his breath.
Yet, minutes passed, and there was no other movement—only silence.
His body was as still as a dead log, only his trembling eyes shifting slightly.
After a while, he thought that whatever it was had probably left.
He tilted his head slightly to peek outside--only for his heart to freeze at what he saw next.
"...!!!"
He saw a brick...floating silently, slowly drifting below the tree he was hiding in.
’What is that!!’
No.10’s heartbeat raced even faster.
He know it looked like a brick, but what the hell was a floating brick doing here?
The floating brick continue to drifted lazily through the darkness, glinting faintly in the moonlight.
Seeing this, No.10’s breath hitched as every instinct screamed at him to remain perfectly still.
Then he saw brick rotated once... then twice... before stopping...and slowly pointing straight at the hollow tree he was hiding in.
’...!’
Thud.
But it suddenly dropped to the ground, landing softly on the leaves.
No.10 blinked in confusion.
"...?"
Then nothing else happened.
No movement. No sound.
Just the same eerie silence pressing down on the forest.
’Maybe... it’s just a spirit tool that lost control?’
He swallowed hard, trying to convince himself.
Slowly—very slowly—he loosened his cramped legs and leaned forward to take another closer peek.
Then suddenly—
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
Clack...
The brick suddenly started rolling rapidly toward him and then unnaturally began climbing up the tree.
No.10 almost screamed at the sight.
Without caring anymore whether he would expose himself—
BAM!
He kicked the other side of the tree, creating a hole, and immediately jumped out, landing with a hard thud.
No.10 then looked up—and what greeted him almost made his blood run cold as he saw that brick was slowly peeking out and look at him from the hole he had just created.
"...!!!"
He immediately turn his back and run using every strength and technique he have.
The night swallowed his footsteps.
Every branch he brushed past felt like it was reaching for him.
"Haah...! Haaah—!" His lungs burned, but he didn’t dare stop.
He didn’t even know where he was going, only knowing he have to get away as far as possible from that thing.
Behind him, the forest came alive with soft, unnatural sounds.
clack... clack... clack...
The noise of stone tapping against bark echoed in the dark
Soon,
He heard something sliced through the air.
Thud!
A heavy impact struck the back of No.10’s head.
His vision blurred, and darkness claimed him before he even hit the ground.
And then he heard that familiar tone, just before fully losing consciousness.
"That two."
-
-
Meanwhile, in the direction No.0 had fled, he could be seen leaning against a rock, blood trickling from his mouth.
"...It seems this injury is more severe than I thought," he muttered, glancing at the curve of his chest from Li Feng’s strike.
Even though it wouldn’t kill him, it would take a long time to heal.
As all the bones inside his body had been broken, so every step sent stabbing pain through his flesh.
Plus, every meridian in his body was already bursting from using demonic arts too.
Normally, this wouldn’t have happened if he had other blood to rely on. But since Li Feng’s strike had even turned their bodies into dust, there was none left.
So he had no choice but to use his own blood, from both his body and his meridians.
It wouldn’t be too much to say that even a random Qi Refinement cultivator could kill him in his current state.
"...I wonder if those two managed to get away," he thought briefly, thinking about the others who had fled in opposite directions.
Then he shook his head as his condition didn’t allow him to care about them.
Just as he closed his eyes and tried to meditate to heal, he suddenly heard the tearing sound of wind, as if something was approaching at incredible speed.
Before he could even see what it was—
BOOM!
Something landed hard right in front of him, sending dust and dirt billowing into the air.
No.0’s eyes widened at the sudden impact. Then, through the rising smoke, he heard steady footsteps approaching.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Soon, Li Feng’s figure emerged from the haze.
No.0’s expression twisted in shock before he slowly closed his eyes and let out a weary sigh.
"...It seems today is truly the day I die."
Li Feng stared at the seriously injured man in front of him, and with the mask gone, he noticed this middle-aged man’s face seemed to show that he had gone through a lot of experiences.
"There’s no need to be so royal, right? Why don’t you just tell me the reason why you want to target my senior sister?"
Hearing Li Feng’s words, No.0 let out a laugh along with a mouthful of blood.
"Hahaha, royalty? It’s nothing like that. It’s simply a good death or a worst death, that’s all...You, who born with everything, would never understand what us bottom people have had to go through."
No.0 said with a mocking tone, both toward Li Feng and himself.
Li Feng frowned upon hearing this and asked, "What do you mean?"
No.0, as if resigned to the fact that there was no escape for him today, answered with a smile.
"We are simply slaves, who have sold our souls for a chance to gain strength and live longer... and all of us are bound by a soul contract."
"Soul contract...?"
Li Feng finally began to understand, at least somewhat, as he realized what it meant to have a soul contract.
Souls are something extremely enigmatic and mysterious, but in this world, they are also very important as they form the foundation of all life and strength.
He had even heard that the soul is a major factor in breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
He also knew that a soul contract was extremely effective, as one’s soul was used as the binding force itself.
Yet, people rarely agreed to such a contract.
Most would rather die than have their soul placed in another’s hands.
Seeing the look of understanding on Li Feng’s face, No.0 smiled faintly and continued, "If I reveal any information related to this, I’ll die and my soul won’t even be able to return to the cycle of reincarnation. As per the contract, it will return to my master and probably be used to refine something..."
No.0 spoke casually, fully aware that such a fate was far worse than death.
"...So go ahead and kill me. At least then, I can die without being their slave for eternity."
Li Feng just nodded lightly in understanding, though he didn’t feel much empathy for these people.
After all, they must had gotten what they wanted, strength and longevity, in exchange for selling themselves.
No.0 then seemed to recall something and asked,
"...Did you manage to get those two?"
Li Feng just smiled at the question.
"Don’t worry. You’ll be seeing them soon."
No.0 let out a soft laugh upon hearing that.
"...I see."
With that, he closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
Li Feng calmly walked up to him, slowly raising his hand as the brick appeared then swung it down.
Smack!