Chapter 220: Chapter 132: Don’t Provoke the Evil God
As evening fell, dusk deepened. The wind howled, and the air was exceptionally frigid.
By December, heavy snow was rare. Instead, light snow would fall occasionally. This resulted in a dry cold, something seldom seen in the winters of Linji City.
The wide Bailu Avenue was sparsely populated. At the end of the street, tucked into a wind-sheltered corner, a wonton stall was quite lively, with several customers sitting on low stools, eating steaming hot wontons.
A nearby teahouse, in contrast, was quiet and deserted. Only two men were there, wrapped in heavy padded coats and wearing sable fur hats, with Long Sabers at their waists. They huddled in their seats, occasionally sipping hot tea to warm themselves.
Just then, a horse-drawn carriage emerged from a narrow alley near Jishui Lake. It crossed Bailu Avenue and headed northwest.
One of the men tossed a few copper coins on the table, gestured to his companion, and they rose and quickly exited the teahouse.
The two exchanged a few hushed words. One strode off in the direction the carriage was headed, while the other turned and went in a different direction.
The street had the occasional pedestrian, and a thin layer of ice on the ground made it slippery. As a result, the carriage wasn’t moving very fast. The man in the sable fur hat quickly caught up, tailing it from a distance.
The man in the carriage was none other than Chen Cheng. It was a long way from Lishui District to the Inner City District. Although a Martial Artist could travel much faster than a carriage, Chen Cheng made it a rule to never walk if he could ride.
He was in no hurry for this particular trip. He just needed to make an appearance, so it didn’t matter if he was a little late.
As his Martial Arts Power grew, so did his Perception Ability. This was especially true after he reached Great Success in the Muscle Strengthening Realm, comprehended two types of Momentum, and gained a preliminary grasp on the profundities of the Realm. Chen Cheng’s perception had become even more acute.
When he focused, he could detect the slightest disturbance more than ten zhang away.
The streets had been sparsely populated and quiet ever since Bailu Avenue, not noisy at all. Because of this, Chen Cheng quickly detected the tracker tailing his carriage from a distance.
’His footsteps are fast and steady. He’s been keeping pace with the carriage for several streets now without his rhythm changing. This man has to be a Perfect Martial Artist of the Skin Grinding Realm, at the very least.
And yet, while tracking me, he failed to evade my Perception. His power shouldn’t have reached the level of Great Success in the Muscle Strengthening Realm.’
After focusing his Perception, Chen Cheng came to a conclusion.
’Sending a Perfect Martial Artist of the Skin Grinding Realm just to tail me... It seems the Zhou Family or the Wang Family has really spared no expense this time.’
"A lowly cur, daring to be so bold!"
With a cold sneer, Chen Cheng abruptly threw open the carriage curtain and leaned out to look behind him.
This particular stretch of street was completely deserted, save for the man in the sable fur hat striding along in pursuit of the carriage.
When he saw Chen Cheng suddenly lean out of the carriage and look back, their eyes met. The man froze for a second, then grew flustered. He subconsciously tried to adopt the posture of an ordinary traveler.
His mission was simply to track Chen Cheng and report his movements to his superiors. It was best for him to maintain his disguise and avoid detection.
But clearly, Chen Cheng had already seen through him. In the instant their eyes had met, Chen Cheng had even revealed a faint smile.
On some bizarre impulse, the man in the sable fur hat quickly forced a friendly smile of his own, then pretended to casually avert his gaze.
SWOOSH!
Chen Cheng abruptly flicked his wrist, sending a Flying Saber hurtling through the air. It was as fast as a shooting star, instantly blasting toward the heart of the man in the sable fur hat.
The man in the sable fur hat was skilled in his own right. Hearing the sharp whistle of the Flying Saber, he immediately dropped and executed a desperate roll, avoiding the blade by a hair’s breadth.
The momentary delay was all it took for the carriage to pull far ahead.
’This Chen Cheng... he’s as powerful as the rumors say. If I hadn’t been on guard, that one Flying Saber would have been the end of me!’
The man in the sable fur hat counted himself lucky but didn’t dare continue tailing the carriage.
But just then, he felt a spreading numbness and chill in his shoulder. Glancing down, he saw a slit in his thick padded coat where the Flying Saber had grazed him. Cold air seeped in, along with a trickle of black blood.
An instant later, an excruciating pain shot through him, as if boring into his very bones. Wisps of white smoke rose from the wound where his flesh was being corroded.
"Oh no! The Flying Saber is poisoned!"
The man in the sable fur hat was terrified out of his wits. His face contorted in agony. In a split-second decision, he gritted his teeth, drew the Long Saber from his waist, and with a swift slash, severed his entire left arm at the shoulder.
THUD!
The severed arm fell to the ground, still giving off white smoke. Within seconds, it had melted into a pool of black, viscous fluid.
He ripped his padded coat and used a piece of the cotton lining to bind his shoulder wound. The man’s face was already ashen.
Had he been even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been reduced to a puddle of festering ooze.
’He really is Fierce Ah Cheng, just like the rumors say. Utterly ruthless!’
A mix of shock, anger, relief at his survival, and lingering terror filled his heart as the man in the sable fur hat scrambled away.
’This job of tracking Fierce Ah Cheng... anyone who wants it can have it. I’m done!’
Only after this brush with death did the man in the sable fur hat truly understand how terrifying Chen Cheng was.
’No wonder the Zhou Family sent a Perfect Martial Artist of the Skin Grinding Realm to track him, even though he’s just a Chief Constable. How could someone at my level ever hope to provoke an Evil God like that?’
...
’So it really was a Perfect Martial Artist of the Skin Grinding Realm. What a grand gesture. I wonder if he was from the Zhou Family or the Wang Family.
Taking out a Perfect Martial Artist of the Skin Grinding Realm at the cost of one Poisoned Flying Saber I looted from the Flying Thief Ren Fei... A decent trade.’ Chen Cheng thought to himself in the carriage.
This was Chen Cheng’s counterattack, holding nothing back. In that strike, he had used less than forty percent of his power, but it was more than enough for the Flying Saber to slice open the man’s arm.
