Chen Ping'an paused for a moment, then finally spoke the truth: "The Daoist priest said that although the tall woman broke my Longevity Bridge, I might not die. But I know that was just comfort to make me feel better."
Wang Jing flew into a rage. "Damn those foreign bastards! Chen Ping'an, don't do anything stupid. Once I get out of here, I'll help you slaughter that pack of scum!"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Wang Jing, you don't need to get your hands dirty this time. My mind is made up. A man handles his own affairs! But the Daoist priest really did untie the knot in my heart. My parents weren't cursed to death by me... I have no regrets left now..."
Wang Jing said anxiously, "You—don't do anything stupid, you hear me! What do you mean you have no regrets? If you go fight those people to the death and end up getting killed, won't I starve to death in here?"
"I've already told Liu Xianyang and Ruan Xiu. Don't worry, you won't starve to death."
After saying that, Chen Ping'an's gaze turned resolute. He stood tall with his chest out, a snake-hunting eagle circling and soaring above his head. Then, the Qi surged throughout his entire body, and gathering all his strength in one leg, he leaped high across the small stream!
Chen Ping'an brandished the jagged porcelain shard in his hand. Under the sunlight, the white edge flashed, clearly extremely sharp. "Don't worry, Wang Jing. Miss Ning told me that as long as I'm fast enough, that pair of foreign dog and bitch won't stand a chance!"
With that, Chen Ping'an quickly departed. Watching his retreating back, Wang Jing was struck with shock in the depths of his heart. "That stream must be at least ten meters wide—and Chen Ping'an cleared it in a single bound?!"
An unnatural and heavy fog drifted across the town. Fu Nanhua, the foreign man wearing a tall crown, walked out of Song Jixin's house in high spirits, holding a translucent green mountain-demon pot that he clearly couldn't bear to put down.
Song Jixin had obtained the gold-essence copper coins, and attached a single condition: "Kill Chen Ping'an!"
Fu Nanhua's lips curved slightly. He felt that the petty, sesame-sized grudges among the town's youths were now descending into hiring a killer, which seemed utterly childish and laughable.
The fog grew even thicker, reducing visibility to barely ten meters!
Sensing someone approaching through the mist, he tucked the mountain-demon pot away into his spatial storage pouch.
Cai Jinjian, the tall woman, emerged from the fog. Her demeanor was ethereal and her beauty striking, but her brows were tightly furrowed in deep displeasure—it seemed her fortunes on this trip had not gone smoothly.
"Fairy Cai, why are you so troubled?"
Cai Jinjian stroked her forehead with a slender finger, looking exasperated. "Don't even ask. That True Monarch Severing Rivers from Book Bamboo Lake is truly an absolute scoundrel! I can't beat him, nor can I reason with him. Sigh..."
The two of them walked side by side at a leisurely pace...
Immersed in the thick fog, Chen Ping'an followed quietly, clutching the porcelain shard so tightly that fresh blood suddenly seeped through his fingers.
At that moment, the shadow of a cat leapt out. Startled, Cai Jinjian grabbed Fu Nanhua's arm, her chest heaving as she struck him lightly and pouted, "You scared me to death, Nanhua! Why didn't you do something?"
Inhaling the fragrance drifting past his ear, Fu Nanhua felt his heart tremble, and murder flashed bare in his eyes. He thought to himself, "This Cai Jinjian of Cloud-Gloom Mountain is truly captivating; she almost ruined my state of mind just now. Even if her Cloud-Gloom Mountain is on good terms with Old Dragon City, I cannot let this slide! Whoever disturbs my state of mind must die!"
Right then, Chen Ping'an's figure burst forth from the mist. At first, Cai Jinjian thought it was just another cat and let down her guard.
By the time she realized it was the mud-legged boy from Mud Bottle Alley—the very one whose Longevity Bridge she had broken—it was already too late.
The boy arrived in a flash, swinging the porcelain shard straight toward Cai Jinjian's neck as a white flash vanished in an instant.
With a look of utter terror, Cai Jinjian clutched her throat as blood gushed out! With a heavy thud, she collapsed to the ground!
It all happened too fast!
Fu Nanhua was dumbfounded. Cai Jinjian, a fairy and Qi Refiner of the Seventh Realm Guanhai Realm from the dignified Cloud-Gloom Mountain, had her throat slit by a mud-legged boy?!
Even though the suppression of cultivation in this realm was severe—with higher realms facing even heavier suppression—which of the outsiders entering here didn't possess trump cards to gamble with their sect's fortune as heaven-favored sons and daughters? How could they not have a life-saving treasure?
Yet Cai Jinjian hadn't even had the chance to use hers!
Amidst the thick fog, Chen Ping'an, the boy from the humble alley, did not leave. Looking at the dark figure, Fu Nanhua said coldly, "You killed so cleanly and decisively. You must be an old hand at this!"
Relying on the fog for cover, Chen Ping'an charged swiftly, his figure moving like a phantom. He had long since mastered the Mountain-Crushing Fist mental cultivation method that Wang Jing taught him.
Fu Nanhua pursued him relentlessly, chanting incantations under his breath. "Do you know that woman was my Great Dao bosom friend!"
Chen Ping'an stopped, standing ten meters away from Fu Nanhua.
Remembering his sworn brother Wang Jing, the boy unconsciously spat out a mouthful of phlegm and mimicked Wang Jing's tone with disgust. "Stop spouting bullshit! My eyesight is great. Even if I hadn't struck, you were planning to murder that woman yourself!"
Fu Nanhua laughed heartily to mask his inner awkwardness, then resumed an air of nonchalant composure, speaking as if victory were already in his grasp. "Good eyesight, but an unrestrained tongue—you're destined for an early death!"
Recalling the stories Wang Jing had told him about how villains always died of talking too much, Chen Ping'an felt his anger flare toward this pompous, high-crowned nobleman who kept spouting righteous nonsense and pestering him relentlessly!
Yet, bold yet meticulous as a hair, after the chase, he had already confirmed one thing in his heart: "He's just all talk and no trousers, an embroidered pillow stuffed with straw!"
Without another word, Chen Ping'an put on a look of extreme terror, pointing his right index finger into empty space and trembling as he cried out, "You—Cai Jinjian... you're actually alive?!"
Noticing the boy's bizarre behavior, Fu Nanhua quickly turned his head. But the moment he saw that the space behind him was completely empty, he realized he was doomed—he had fallen for a trick!
Chen Ping'an leaped high into the air without any flashy moves, his right hand swiftly locking onto Fu Nanhua's throat while his left hand raised the porcelain shard high and brought it down in a flash!
Yet when the sharp piece of porcelain was a mere 0.0001 centimeters away from Fu Nanhua, the world fell utterly still.
Qi Jingchun's figure materialized.
All around was dead silence, with no living creature seemingly left.
Qi Jingchun muttered to himself, "I cannot offend Cloud-Gloom Mountain only to offend Old Dragon City as well. Chen Ping'an, oh Chen Ping'an, there is too much karmic burden here; you won't be able to bear it in the future!"
Qi Jingchun pulled the two bodies apart. Chen Ping'an maintained a resolute expression, still holding the posture of the porcelain shard descending, save for a single droplet of blood suspended in mid-air.
Qi Jingchun sighed inwardly with emotion. "To not even have a decent weapon—you really are a barefoot person who fears nothing wearing shoes, driving yourself to ruin. The porcelain shard is sharp, but before it could harm the enemy, it pierced right through your own palm! Your father smashed your natal porcelain and ruined your life, yet you turned those shards into your handiest and most self-harming weapon... Is this truly 'shattered peace, shattered safety, and safety through the years'?"
A look of unbearable pity crossed Qi Jingchun's face. With a wave of his large sleeve, the dense fog scattered. "Since the fault lies with me, let me make amends!"
Able to move once more, Chen Ping'an looked dazedly at the master before him. "Master Qi, this is..."
Qi Jingchun smiled faintly. "Would you be willing to accompany me for a walk through the town?"