Chapter 21: Snake-Catching Eagle
Fu Nanhua snapped back to his senses, scanning his surroundings, not even overlooking the rooftops of the alleys. Detecting nothing unusual, he quickly took a deep breath, neither stepping forward nor backward. Once again, he instinctively reached for that ancestral jade pendant, but grasping nothing, he quickly recited a fragmentary Daoist incantation in his mind. This incantation was not some magical technique or divine power, but merely a tool to help calm his heart and gather his qi. If his state of mind was like a small boat adrift on a lake, this incantation served as the anchor.
He began to sidle sideways until his back was against a wall, then moved horizontally until he stood at the fork between two small alleys. His muscles tensed, adopting a defensive posture, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest. He stared fixedly at that alley, where in his line of sight, the straw-sandaled youth stood beside Cai Jinjian's blood-soaked body. The boy's body was slightly hunched, maintaining a subtle offensive stance, also staring fixedly at him, Fu Nanhua. The two faced off like a tiger and a wolf, one seeking answers, the other fighting for survival, each with different goals. This youth who had appeared out of nowhere seemed to have only targeted Cai Jinjian. As for Fu Nanhua's appearance, the alley boy's instinctively displayed posture conveyed more of a "you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you" meaning.
Fu Nanhua asked a rather superfluous question, "You killed her?"
The youth remained silent, always gripping the murder weapon—a shard of broken porcelain, slightly smaller than his palm, with the part protruding from his fist being extremely sharp. The youth's hands were dripping with blood, whether it was Cai Jinjian's blood or the result of the porcelain cutting into his own palm, droplets falling onto the alley ground. After confirming there was no one else around, Fu Nanhua felt both a sense of absurdity and relief. Finally, he turned his gaze to Cai Jinjian's delicate body. Even in this wretched scene, it didn't diminish her natural beauty, her graceful figure. Her full chest rose and fell slightly, while bright red blood continuously gushed from her neck and mouth. Her life force was about to be completely severed, but her robust body, repeatedly tempered by qi force, meant she would endure pain heavier and longer than ordinary people.
A smile appeared on Fu Nanhua's face, though it carried a bone-chilling coldness as he asked, "Why did you kill her? You had no grievance with this sister. Could it be that just because she played a joke on you in Mud Vase Alley, you had to kill her? When did this town become so lawless? Don't you know that murder demands a life, and debts must be repaid—it's the same everywhere, isn't it?"
The youth was like a mute, not saying a word. Fu Nanhua didn't care what the youth was thinking; he began to move forward slowly with a firm stride.
He knew Cai Jinjian was dead. This wasn't Cloud Mist Mountain, a divine abode filled with immortal mist; this was a celestial cage where sorcery and spells were forbidden. Unless a terrestrial immortal with cultivation reaching the heavens, or a golden-bodied arhat, appeared and was willing to trade most of their cultivation to save her life, it would be possible to suppress her soul and bring her back to life. Unfortunately, Cai Jinjian absolutely wouldn't have such extraordinary fortune. As for that sage in town who bore heavy responsibilities and overlooked all living beings, he would never play favorites; he would only go with the flow.
On the path of cultivation, people would inexplicably fall on the broad road or die while contending for a sliver of opportunity on a single-log bridge—such things happened, not too many, but certainly not rare.
If attaining the Dao of immortality meant everything could proceed step by step, methodically, without disasters or tribulations, enjoying all the benefits without bearing any risks, then the carefree immortals in the eyes of common folk would seem too cheap.
So Fu Nanhua had even made the worst preparations for a desperate life-and-death struggle on this trip to the town. But to witness, right under the very nose of that sage, his temporary ally who had been walking alongside him, get killed with such lightning speed—this was the first time for the young city lord of Old Dragon City. No dazzling exchange of magical treasures, no earth-shattering celestial maneuvers, just killed by the most lowly rural bumpkin? Beyond his shock, Fu Nanhua simply couldn't accept this absurd reality. If not for this town, a nobody like this straw-sandaled youth, whose life was as cheap as wild grass, wouldn't even have the distant luxury of catching a glimpse of Cloud Mist Mountain's Cai Jinjian.
Fu Nanhua's expression turned solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Although I couldn't save Fairy Cai in time, and I can't kill you to avenge her, since I witnessed your violence with my own eyes, if I do nothing, word will get out and Old Dragon City's golden reputation will be tarnished. So in both reason and sentiment, I should teach you a lesson. As for how Cloud Mist Mountain will handle this afterward and how they'll seek justice for Fairy Cai—that will be your problem."
These grand-sounding words from the young lord of Old Dragon City were meant for that sage to hear, a formality to prevent himself from appearing too ugly in the sage's eyes later. Perhaps, also for the ears of those ancestral masters at Cloud Mist Mountain, Fu Nanhua was merely demonstrating that he had done everything possible, his duty fulfilled. Otherwise, Fu Nanhua, who had long harbored a desire to kill Cai Jinjian, would truly want to reward this youth before him. The accidental, reckless act had saved him a great deal of trouble; he could truly be called a lucky general.
As he walked forward, Fu Nanhua said, "Judging by the method you used to kill, the instantaneous explosive power of this stinking shell of yours is considerable, no less than that of an ordinary robust man. That's quite commendable, actually. If not for today's incident, and if you had the chance to join the military, daring to kill and fight, with some luck, you might win the favor of a military bigshot or a general from a battlefield family. They might toss you a military body-tempering technique, and as you gradually forge your body, in twenty or thirty years, this boy of yours might not be without a new world to conquer."
As Fu Nanhua walked forward, the youth began to retreat slowly, facing the tall-hatted, wide-sleeved young city lord of Old Dragon City.
The slender Fu Nanhua moved through the alley like a jade tree swaying in the wind, exuding a naturally endowed air of noble grace.
Fu Nanhua extended one hand, palm facing downward, resting at his waist as he smiled, "What a pity. Your luck isn't too good, or else, according to what I said, you would have the chance to reach such a high achievement... that's impossible."
Amused by his own joke, Fu Nanhua's smile deepened. As he took a step forward, his foot suddenly hovered half a foot above the ground. "Sorry, it's this high, actually."
Fu Nanhua found it hard not to be happy.
After entering the town, first came the transaction with Song Jixin of Mud Vase Alley, with profits far exceeding expectations.
Then, there was Cai Jinjian, who was likely an obstacle to his great Dao, dying right before his eyes. Not only could he keep his hands clean of blood, but he could also gain the two bags of refined copper coins on her person, and perhaps even find one or two secret treasures from Cloud Mist Mountain. Even if they weren't the mountain's most prized possessions, they certainly wouldn't be of low quality. He didn't believe Cai Jinjian would be completely without protective charms. For instance, he, Fu Nanhua, besides that Old Dragon Rain Cloak Pendant which was merely a decoy, also carried two small items of excellent quality and extremely high grade, practically treasure that Old Dragon City had stashed away as a last resort.
Thus, among heretical wandering cultivators, a catchy saying circulated: "Collecting bodies for others will surely bring good fortune."
When Fu Nanhua passed by Cai Jinjian's corpse, he didn't even glance at her.
Instead, the faint scent of blood sent him into a state of inexplicable excitement.
One advancing, one retreating, they always maintained a distance of about ten paces.
Fu Nanhua just needed to ensure the boy couldn't escape the alley. Once he did, trying to catch a youth who had grown up here would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, the still-warm beauty's corpse behind him was a clear warning. If the youth had enough leeway to catch his breath, "surprises" might fall upon his own head.
Fu Nanhua seemed to be playing cat and mouse, but in reality, he was adjusting his body's rhythm. After all, since he had formally embarked on cultivation at the age of nine, he had never had the opportunity to settle a fight purely through close combat.
He certainly didn't need to fight the youth to the death; that would bring more loss than gain. Along with Cai Jinjian, these were two readily available opportunities. However, he had to make sure this unexpectedly troublesome youth stayed obediently in bed in the near future, leaving him no chance to stir up any trouble.
Fu Nanhua suddenly laughed and asked, "By the way, what was your name again?"
The youth, whose hands wouldn't stop bleeding, answered the question with something else entirely. His dark face was full of a stubbornness like wild grass from the countryside. "You and her probably don't know this, but my eyesight is very good. So back in Mud Vase Alley, when she was chatting with me, the way you looked at her and the way you're looking at me now are exactly the same."
Fu Nanhua was stunned for a moment. This time, he truly regarded the youth with new eyes. Clicking his tongue, he laughed, "Interesting. Really quite interesting."
Fu Nanhua's words and actions appeared calm and casual, but he had been carefully watching the youth's left hand, which was still dripping with blood.
This showed that the youth's grip strength had never slackened. An ordinary person would probably have long since been overcome by the piercing pain.
It was only now that Fu Nanhua felt his earlier casual remark of "what a pity" truly hit the mark.
Fu Nanhua thought the time was right and asked one last question that interested him, "You killed her so decisively; someone must have tipped you off. I'm not curious about who they are. What I can't figure out is, how did a child who grew up here so quickly cross that threshold in your heart and kill someone with such... peace of mind. Do you understand that phrase? You know, even I, after my first kill, when that initial excitement faded, my whole body began to tremble, and I had to recite the Heart-Calming Incantation for a long time before I felt better. But you, you're as calm as if you were eating or drinking. That's not right..."
The youth, who had been expressionless all along, suddenly showed a look of terror and panic in his eyes, staring fixedly in a direction behind Fu Nanhua, as if the dead, tall woman had come back to life.
The cautious Fu Nanhua instinctively turned his head. When his neck was halfway turned, his heart shook violently.
By the time he turned back, because of the height difference, in his direct line of sight, which had been straight ahead and slightly downward, the youth had vanished!
At that critical moment.
So it was.
After making that expression and showing that terror, in an instant, the straw-sandaled youth exploded into a sprint without hesitation. After three steps, his left foot suddenly exerted force, his entire body leaping high. Finally, his right foot stomped against the wall of one side of the alley. After a rapid rebound and redirect, the youth raised his left hand high toward the tall-hatted man.
The youth truly resembled a snake-catching eagle.