Chapter 129 Encounter
Hong Xianglong walked down the street with a gloomy face, the further he went, the more wrong it felt.
That waiter had called him an "unwelcome one." Logically, merchants should be avoiding him. Yet along the way, the looks from stall owners and traders made his skin crawl—not hatred, not fear, but a greedy hunger, as if he were a walking mountain of gold and everyone wished to bite off a piece.
What the hell was going on?
He quickened his pace, but those gazes clung to him like shadows. At last, an old man selling candied hawthorn hobbled up with a hunched back, his face plastered with smiles. "Young master, care for a skewer of candied fruit?"
"How much?" Hong Xianglong asked instinctively.
The old man's eyes lit up. With delight, he held up three fingers. "Only fifteen top-grade spirit stones!"
"…," Hong Xianglong laughed in fury. "Get lost."
The old man was not offended, still grinning as he shuffled away, muttering, "If the young master thinks it's too expensive, we can always bargain…"
Hong Xianglong ignored him and pressed on, but more and more vendors began to shout at him—
"Young master! Finest spirit tea, twenty top-grade spirit stones a pot!"
"Honored guest! Fresh spirit beast meat, thirty top-grade spirit stones a slice!"
"This way, young lord! Try our signature pastry—fifty top-grade spirit stones a piece!"
The veins on Hong Xianglong's forehead bulged, his rage threatening to tear through his skull. He longed to draw his sword and cut these ignorant ants to pieces! But whenever killing intent stirred in his chest, the shadowy city guards nearby would close in a step, hands resting on their blades, eyes sharp as ice.
Damn it…
At last he could bear no more. With a stomp, true essence burst from his body, propelling him into the sky as a streak of black light that shot out of the city!
The splendor of Immortal Spirit City receded beneath him, but those greedy stares and outrageous prices still clung like a nightmare.
This cursed place…
One day, I'll burn it all to ash!
He flew for a long time, until night fell. Only far from the city did he descend.
It was a barren mountain, where the night wind rustled through dead grass.
Hong Xianglong spun around suddenly, his black robe surging under the moonlight like ink.
"Who's there?!"
Ten steps away, Han Yu stood silently.
He still wore that plain green robe, his looks ordinary, his aura restrained, as though blending into the night itself. If not for the cold gleam in his eyes under the moonlight, one might almost overlook his presence.
Hong Xianglong was first startled, then bared his teeth in a twisted smile. "I suppose… here, Immortal Spirit City's rules don't reach, do they?"
"Yes, it doesn't reach." Han Yu's voice was low, yet each word cut like a drawn sword.
"So then—" Hong Xianglong's black mist surged, his predatory eyes flushing with blood-red light, "are you here to die?"
Han Yu shook his head. He slowly raised a hand, and a green-edged long sword silently materialized in his palm. "I'm here to send you on your way."
Moonlight gleamed on the blade, reflecting Han Yu's terrifyingly calm face. "The little junior sister is young; she has never left Immortal Spirit City or Immortal Spirit Valley and knows little of the world," he said in a tone as casual as reminiscing with an old friend. "But I know."
Hong Xianglong's pupils contracted and he instinctively stepped back a half pace.
"You know the look in her eyes; I am very familiar with it," Han Yu said as he advanced, the withered grass at his feet snapping silently. "I have seen it often."
The night wind suddenly ceased; the wasteland fell into a deathlike silence.
Hong Xianglong's Adam's apple bobbed. For some reason, he felt an intense threat from this youth. "And what will you do?" he asked.
Han Yu's sword tip rose slightly, moonlight condensing into a cold line along the blade. "They will all die." His voice was as soft as a sigh. "You will not be an exception."
Hong Xianglong's laughter tore through the night, madness mixed with perverse delight. "Ahahaha—"
He laughed until he bent double, his black robe snapping in the wind as if mocking the world's folly. "You nearly frightened me!" Hong Xianglong suddenly stifled his laughter, his eyes swelling with crimson. "If you were in that city, I might fear you a little. But do you know who I am?!"
Han Yu still shook his head, the green-edged sword unmoving. "That is not important."
"Not important?" Hong Xianglong's voice rose sharply. True essence erupted from his body like a volcanic blast, a black-and-red murderous qi soaring skyward. "Before you stands the Hong family's direct son, a dual Saint body, the peerless prodigy who ranked second on the last leaderboard!"
With each sentence, his momentum intensified; under his pressure the entire wasteland trembled. The withered grass turned to dust, the ground cracked with a web of fissures.
"Someone as ordinary as you—" Hong Xianglong sneered, "doesn't even deserve to look up at me! How dare you speak to me like this?!"
His predatory eyes became pools of blood as he stared at Han Yu's throat. All the grievances of his life erupted in this moment: "Today, you will surely die!"
Faced with this world-shattering menace, Han Yu only sighed softly. He raised his sword and held it level.
There was not even a glimmer of radiance on the green-edged blade.
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