Chapter 187: Chapter 165: Surging Mist, Coldly Dazzling Blade
In an instant, a violent commotion erupted in the room.
The wealthy townspeople were all scared witless, their faces drained of color as they scrambled to get away.
Cong Bo’s expression immediately turned grave. Forgetting all about Zhang Wu, he snatched up the longspear beside the table and lunged to the window.
With a flick of the spear’s tip, he smashed a large hole through the window frame and the surrounding brick wall.
The wind and rain from outside poured in, making the group of wealthy men shiver violently.
Cong Bo’s expression grew even more solemn.
Because outside the window, a thick fog had rolled in at some point.
Rain poured down through the thick mist, but beyond that, there was no other sound.
Cong Bo had quite a few of his men stationed in the tavern, yet now, they were all silent.
The bizarre scene made Cong Bo feel as if he were facing a great enemy, and the nerves in his left eye began to throb with a fiery, intense pain.
During the battle at the Wuyang Guard, Wu Liangchen had slashed his left eye with a saber, nearly blinding him. He had only managed to save the eye by using his accumulated wealth and battle merits to obtain a high-grade medicinal pill from the Great Village Chief.
But the injury had left a lingering side effect.
Whenever he was nervous or agitated, the nerves in his left eye would throb with excruciating pain.
And this pain bored deep into his mind, something no medicine could alleviate.
Forcing himself to endure the piercing agony, Cong Bo suddenly roared, "What’s the big deal with all these tricks? If you’ve got the guts, come face me—"
Before he could finish, a feathered arrow emerged silently from the mist like a ghost, reaching him in the blink of an eye.
CLANG!
Cong Bo took a step back, flicked his spear tip, and deflected the arrow. He then flew into a rage, bellowing, "So it is you!"
In truth, when he had seen the severed head, Cong Bo had felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen this method somewhere before.
After the arrow was shot, he immediately confirmed his suspicions.
Because the feeling was just too familiar.
It was the culprit who had injured his eye, causing him to lose all face and nearly be stripped of his position as Seventh Village Chief.
All this time, Cong Bo had never forgotten this person, obsessing over him day and night, unable to sleep.
But there was no response from the mist, which completely ignored his fury.
Cong Bo trembled with rage.
’It’s happening again!’
This same game, this same mockery born of blatant disregard.
He had experienced this feeling back with the Wuyang Guard, and the memory was still fresh, a great and shameful humiliation.
This was the very reason he was so agitated.
But no matter how much he roared, he didn’t dare take a single step into the mist.
Because it was obvious that there was something strange about this fog.
But a stalemate like this wasn’t a long-term solution.
Cong Bo’s eyes darted. He turned, hauled up Zhang Wu—who had been silently congratulating himself on his good fortune—and sneered.
"Master Wu, my apologies, but I’ll be borrowing your body for a moment."
With that, he ignored Zhang Wu’s screams and hurled him outside.
The screams faded quickly upon entering the mist and soon stopped altogether.
But other than that, there was no response.
The fog swirled, like a monstrous beast eyeing him hungrily from outside the window.
Cong Bo’s expression flickered between light and shadow. If anyone had looked closely, they would have seen that the hand gripping his spear was trembling slightly.
The unknown is always the most terrifying, especially when faced with a past nightmare. This panic, combined with the intense pain in his left eye, made Cong Bo lose his nerve completely.
"Hiding again, too scared to show yourself, huh? You’re just a spineless coward! Don’t think you really beat me last time—that was just a cheap trick! If you’ve got the balls, come out and fight me fair and square!"
"Come out, you little bastard! I’ll f— you up, you piece of sh—..."
With a string of profanities, Cong Bo descended into a state of complete hysteria.
Just then, several feathered arrows suddenly shot out of the mist.
Cong Bo’s spirits lifted. His longspear danced like a whirlwind, knocking all the arrows to the ground.
But before he could celebrate, a sigh echoed from within the mist, and a figure began to emerge.
A wave of panic suddenly washed over Cong Bo. Despite his loud taunts, he was actually terrified.
And in a fight between Martial Artists, the most dreaded thing is to lose one’s courage first.
But with the situation at hand, he couldn’t afford to worry about that if he wanted to live.
Just as the figure became clearer, Cong Bo’s spear struck like a dragon, thrusting straight forward.
It had to be said, his timing was perfect.
It was the precise moment the figure was half-visible, about to enter the room.
Moreover, he had poured everything he had ever learned into this one thrust. Its speed and power were at the absolute peak of his abilities.
SWOOSH!
The spear tip pierced the mist and plunged straight in.
Cong Bo first felt a flash of joy, then a jolt of alarm.
Joy, because his spear had hit the shadow. Alarm, because it had hit nothing but air.
’Not good!’
He knew he had fallen into a trap. Pushing off hard with his feet, he began a hasty retreat.
But just then, a flash of cold, brilliant saber light exploded before his eyes.
’It’s happening again!’
Cong Bo cried out in despair in his heart, as if he were back at the Wuyang Guard.
It had been just like this that day. First, the flash of saber light, and then he was nearly killed.
If there was any difference, it was that today’s saber light was even colder, even more brilliant, even more powerful.
But Cong Bo was, after all, a Third Realm Martial Artist. Despite having lost the initiative and being relentlessly pressed, at the last moment, he still managed to raise his spear to protect his throat.
It was this move that temporarily saved his life.
With a CLANG, sparks flew as the pure steel shaft of the spear was severed.
Even so, the saber’s momentum didn’t falter. It continued forward until it sliced through the skin of Cong Bo’s throat, and only then did it stop.
Blood trickled down!
At the same time, this strike completely shattered Cong Bo’s courage.
Without a sound, he turned and fled downstairs.
There was fog outside the window, and he feared an ambush within it, so he didn’t dare escape that way. That’s why he chose the path downstairs.
Seeing this, the saber-wielding youth immediately gave chase.
The exchange sounded complicated, but in reality, it took less than a second before the two of them rushed downstairs.
The wealthy men looked at each other, seeing the shock on one another’s faces.
Who on earth was this youth who had appeared so suddenly? The moment he showed up, Cong Bo—who had just been acting so high and mighty—had become like a defeated rooster, fleeing in disarray without even daring to fight.
Just as they were wondering, the sound of footsteps came from the top of the stairs.
The wealthy men tensed up instantly, watching with bated breath.
Although they didn’t know who the youth was, anyone who was an enemy of Cong Bo and Cyan Cloud Mountain was a good person in their eyes at this moment.
So they all hoped the youth would be victorious.
But just as they were waiting in anticipation, a blood-stained spear tip appeared at the top of the stairs.
The hearts of the wealthy men instantly plummeted.
All their hopes had been for nothing. In the end, Cong Bo had won...
But just as they despaired, the spear tip continued to rise, revealing a section of the spear’s shaft with a head impaled on it.
The head was clearly freshly severed. It was still fresh, even retaining some of its color.
A trace of shock and confusion lingered on its features, as if it couldn’t believe it had died just like that.
And this face was all too familiar to the wealthy men; some even saw it every night in their nightmares.
It was Cong Bo.
At that moment, the youth finally walked up the stairs and gave the dumbfounded wealthy men a slight smile.
"Could a few of you please come and clean up the bodies here?"
