# 191
Chapter 191 – A Life for a Life
Across from him stood Shen Qingzhu, covered in wounds and looking a wreck. Behind him, Li Liang lay half-dead on the ground while Deng Wei, one leg broken, still gritted his teeth and tried to save him.
Fury danced in Shen Qingzhu’s eyes, a gaze sharp enough to flay the man alive. His black military coat billowed in swirling currents, sparks leaping from the ring on his finger.
“Still, for your level, you’re impressive,” the big man mused. “By the way, do you know a kid named Lin Qiye?”
A faint glint flashed in Shen Qingzhu’s eyes. Clenching his teeth, he spat word by word:
“Seven nights, eight nights—never heard of the brat!”
“Come on. If you’re both here, you must be together.” The man chuckled. “Help me catch the kid and I’ll let you all live.”
“Let us live?” Shen Qingzhu sneered. “Kneel and kowtow twice, and I might leave you a whole corpse!”
“Big words for a little punk.” The man slowly lifted the great axe from his shoulder. A cruel grin split his honest face as he stepped toward Shen Qingzhu.
“That ripe head of yours—I’ll pick it for you.”
Shen Qingzhu’s pupils shrank. He gripped the air; in an instant the oxygen around the man vanished. The man’s mouth twitched, his grin growing uglier.
He stamped the ground and shot forward like a cannonball. Just before he hit the vacuum’s wall, his axe swept out and effortlessly shattered the entire vacuum field.
He landed heavily and sneered, “Kid, your vacuum’s too small, too fragile. Can’t hold me. Why not make a bigger one?”
Then, as if enlightened, he added, “Oh… I get it. You’re afraid of sucking in the half-dead kid behind you. Tch—your kind of ultra-high-risk Forbidden Ruins: hurt the foe ten thousand, hurt yourself eight thousand.”
The man’s figure flickered; his axe howled down. The blade ripped the air with an ear-splitting sonic boom!
Shen Qingzhu twisted aside at lightning speed, but the savage edge still slashed his arm, carving a vicious gash.
Boom—!!
Dozens of meters away, a narrow axe-mark appeared on the mountainside, stone flying.
Shen Qingzhu’s face was grim. One casual swing had cleaved rock from the mountain; a direct hit meant certain death.
“My Forbidden Ruins isn’t fancy like yours. Just pure 【Giant Strength】, ranked 356. But sometimes the simpler, the deadlier.” The man grinned.
Seizing the moment, Shen Qingzhu compressed the air around the man to the perfect ratio, sparked his ring—an explosion erupted at the man’s side!
Roaring flames washed over him. The axe-bearing brute grunted and staggered back two steps, chest bloodied, but the wounds were shallow; mere explosions could hardly kill a “River” realm expert.
“Not enough. That scratch? Nothing.” He wiped blood from his chest and shook his head.
Shen Qingzhu clenched his teeth, silent.
A sudden thunderclap split the sky. Dense lightning mixed with gale-force wind crashed down like ravenous beasts, swallowing the man!
Startled, Shen Qingzhu looked up. A chubby figure stood on a golden sword-shadow, clutching a big broom, glaring down at the lightning-shrouded man.
“Hmph, Brother Cool, your savior is here!” Baili Pangpang slung the 【Lightning Tornado】 broom over his shoulder, full of bravado.
Relief flickered in Shen Qingzhu’s eyes; he quickly hid it, snorting coldly.
Thud—!
A dull boom scattered the lightning. Bathed in minor wounds, the man stared at Baili Pangpang, eyes narrowing, slowly raising his axe…
“Move!” Shen Qingzhu shouted.
Before the warning, Baili Pangpang had already darted away on 【Yaoguang】. The next instant a razor-sharp axe-slash tore through the sky, missing him by a hair’s breadth.
The blow dispersed most of 【Yaoguang】; Baili Pangpang barely crash-landed on his rear.
“You alone?” Shen Qingzhu asked.
Baili Pangpang nodded. “Enemies… more than one.”
Shen Qingzhu’s face darkened further.
“You bring the 【Scroll of Seal】—the tape we used on Cao Yuan?” he asked suddenly.
Baili Pangpang blinked. “Yeah, why?”
“Lend it.”
“Uh…”
He pulled out the duct tape and handed it over. “What are you doing?”
“None of your business. Get lost.”
“…Huh?”
“Li Liang’s dying. Without treatment he’s finished. Leave Deng Wei’s leg and it’ll have to be amputated…”
Baili Pangpang glanced at the unconscious Li Liang and Deng Wei trembling in pain, his gaze heavy.
“Where’s Li Jia?” he remembered.
Shen Qingzhu clenched his fists, silent.
Baili Pangpang froze.
“Take them and go.”
“But you’ll face this alone—”
“Baili Tuming!” Shen Qingzhu roared, eyes wild. “I, Shen Qingzhu, have never begged anyone in my life. Now—I beg you. Go! Get them treated! Today… I don’t want to see another brother die.”
Baili Pangpang looked at the red-eyed Shen Qingzhu, fists tightening. Without another word he hoisted Deng Wei and Li Liang onto his shoulders and rasped:
“I’ll… be back fast! Brother Cool, you absolutely—”
“Relax.” Shen Qingzhu drew a cold, steady breath. “I won’t die. My road’s not finished; I won’t fall here.”
Baili Pangpang gave him one last look, then sprinted down the mountain—running harder than he ever had in his life!
Shen Qingzhu watched him go, turned back to the man, and spoke with icy calm:
“I’m taking… your life for my brothers.”