Hu Ban'er's gaze grew increasingly determined as his mind raced. He had to think fast.
Humans and demons ultimately walked different paths, and the Hu family was no exception.
Although he didn't know who had sent this creature, no one was going to stop the Hu family from clinging to the Mountain Lord's powerful legs!
Hu Ban'er's nostrils flared to twice their size in excitement. He suddenly pounced. While the brat was reaching for his ruler, the fox executed a smooth combo: a groin strike, a heart-claw, and a kick to the gut. Finishing the sequence, he flicked his tail, spraying a half-arc of pungent, yellowish urine like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers.
"Sssssss!!"
"Aaaah... my eyes! My eyes! It hurts! What did you do to my eyes!!"
Li Dapeng, the one who kept calling himself "This Venerable," was hit full in the face by the pungent yellow liquid. He immediately began to scream in agony.
"Aaaaah! It's burning me! I can't see! Damn it! You dead fox! I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"
The young man, who had been making such grand claims just moments ago, paid the price. The "arrogant and wicked charm" vanished from his face, replaced by a look of deep terror.
The inflated confidence he had gained from toyed with the police was like a bloated balloon, suddenly punctured by a sharp needle.
Hu Ban'er wagged his tail happily and turned to report to Nan Zhi. He found the mist in the sky had cleared slightly. The white tiger woman was lying lazily on a cloud, her golden eyes sweeping over them.
"Ask him about the four ghosts following him. What's their story?"
The fox nodded immediately. He hopped onto a tombstone and questioned Li Dapeng with an air of arrogance.
"The Mountain Lord asks you: what's the deal with the four ghosts following you?"
"Huff... huff... what four ghosts? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Li Dapeng leaned back against a tombstone, gripping his steel ruler tightly in both hands, trying to find some shred of security.
Hu Ban'er was in no hurry. He simply stared at him.
Fox urine had hallucinogenic properties. Once the effects kicked in, the boy would answer whatever he was asked.
"What Mountain Lord? Where's this woman? Stop playing tricks! I'm the protagonist; you can't kill me!"
Li Dapeng suddenly felt a pang of regret. He had seen the white mist and assumed treasures were appearing in the cemetery, so he had rushed in to scavenge.
It hurt so much.
But it didn't matter. The male protagonist always turned danger into safety. Even if he fell unconscious, a peerless beauty of great power and noble status would surely come to his rescue.
Thinking this, Li Dapeng felt a faint sense of relief.
Recalling the indifferent female voice he had just heard, he couldn't help but let out a confident smirk.
Judging by that voice, she must be a cold, elegant beauty. If she saved him, once his cultivation was successful, he would make her his primary wife.
Isn't that how all the novels go?
...
Everyone in town knew there was a man-eating monster in the cemetery.
But only he, relying on his speed, had secretly followed the thing and caught a glimpse of it.
It had a green face and protruding fangs, as ugly as a ghost from 《Journey to the West》.
Three months ago, Li Dapeng was just a rich second-generation kid who spent his days idling and throwing money around. His parents hoped for nothing more than for him to stay in school and not get scammed.
His greatest joy was leading a gang of lackeys to pick fights on behalf of his "brothers."
Compared to the sleep-inducing textbooks in school, the life of a hoodlum was much more interesting.
Flashy blades, turbulent winds, brotherhood, and loyalty.
Li Dapeng spent his days fantasizing about becoming a martial arts master, roaming the world like Chen Haonan from the old Hong Kong movies—living on the edge, carefree and uninhibited, ideally with a "Little Stutterer" beauty following him faithfully.
Or perhaps he would wake up with superpowers one day, like Superman, standing above everyone else. The whole world would depend on him for salvation. Those who followed him would prosper, and those who opposed him would perish.
As it turned out, this dream actually came true.
Three months ago, his father had acquired a Tibetan human bone thumb ring from an auction.
Li Dapeng knew it was valuable, so he stole it. Originally, he intended to take it out and show it off to his friends.
Unexpectedly, during a fight, his nosebleed dripped onto the bone ring. The ring shattered, and a cultivation manual suddenly appeared in his mind:
《Great Freedom Joy Spirit Absorption Art》
Li Dapeng was naturally overjoyed. He immediately began to practice according to the instructions. In less than half a month, his strength had increased nearly tenfold. He could even punch a hole through a concrete wall with ease!
It was exactly like what happened in novels!
He immediately began to recruit followers. Not only did he secure his position as the boss of No. 1 Middle School, but he also gathered a group of "brothers," intending to start a grand career.
He wasn't a fool.
Although the authorities tried to hide it, news of the "Spiritual Resurgence" was everywhere. Supernatural incidents were being reported all over the place. A new era was coming.
When that happened, the global structure would be completely reshuffled, and social classes would change. A powerhouse like him would surely rise to become a superior being, worshipped by all.
However, there were always villains on the protagonist's path to growth.
Li Dapeng's gaze turned cold.
His homeroom teacher was always nagging him with grand moral lessons, acting like being a teacher was a big deal. The man always used his authority to make things difficult for them and loved to stand up for the poor kids in class, acting all virtuous.
He looked so fake.
So, Li Dapeng waited until the teacher got off work, knocked him unconscious, and threw him into the river.
After doing all that, he felt completely refreshed.
Hmph. Those who humiliate others shall be humiliated. This was the fate of an ordinary mortal who dared to offend a cultivator.
The second villain was a female classmate from his cram school who looked down on him.
The girl was very beautiful, with fair skin and big eyes. Her smile reminded him of Joey Wong. She was the perfect candidate for the childhood sweetheart who stays by the protagonist's side in novels.
Li Dapeng had brought expensive gifts and confessed his love to her publicly, giving her plenty of face. To his surprise, she had rejected him heartlessly.
He thought about it all night and finally understood.
She must be like the second female lead who favors the rich and despises the poor, looking down on the protagonist's talent. According to the plot, once he achieved fame and success, she would surely kneel on the ground, crying and begging for his forgiveness.
But he was a cultivator; he believed in living life to the fullest and taking revenge for the smallest slight.
So that night, Li Dapeng brought gasoline and burned the girl's villa to the ground. The family of three all perished in the fire.
Unfortunately, he wasn't cautious enough. The government lapdogs found evidence, and he became a wanted criminal.
Hmph. History is written by the strong. To kill one is a crime, to kill ten thousand is to be a hero, and to kill a million is to be a hero among heroes!
What did the law matter?
Once he became a powerful cultivator, he wouldn't just ignore the law—he would be the one making the rules of the world!
Li Dapeng lay on the tombstone with a smile, white foam at the corners of his mouth, still muttering to himself:
"...I am the protagonist. I carry the Mandate of Heaven. No one can kill me..."
"The cold fairy, the cute childhood sweetheart, the mysterious saintess, the superstar... they are all part of my harem..."
You haven't even wiped the fox urine off your mouth, and you're still fantasizing?
After listening to Li Dapeng's self-narration, Nan Zhi's face remained expressionless. She simply opened her mouth lazily and exhaled a breath, as if yawning.
"Whoosh!"
A wind vortex rose from the flat ground. The small whirlwind grew into a massive gale, swirling and picking up broken pieces of corpses and concrete. Countless grains of sand and bone shards swept past Li Dapeng's face like a surging tide.
The wind grew stronger and faster. Flying sand and stones collided in the air, sparking countless embers. They ground away the skin on Li Dapeng's face, ground away his eyelids, revealing raw red muscle and bulging eyeballs.
With his eyes exposed to the air and amidst heart-wrenching pain, Li Dapeng finally saw the woman of his fantasies clearly.
She wasn't some cold, elegant beauty with a curvaceous, sexy body.
She was a black-haired, tiger-eared giant, over two meters tall, with a serene expression.
She sat atop the clouds, high and mighty, as if she were merely looking at a tiny insect that had happened to fly by. She had simply let out a relaxed, casual yawn.
The fierce wind struck, roaring in his ears.
Li Dapeng heard the joints in his body shattering inch by inch. Countless blood vessels burst, and his skin and flesh peeled away from his body. His soul seemed to struggle as it was torn loose.
He wasn't dead yet. He lay on the ground like a blood-soaked mess, every inch of skin scraped clean. Four ghostly shadows pounced on him, frantically biting at his flesh and soul.
"Heh... heh... heh..."
Li Dapeng struggled, his face—which no longer showed any recognizable expression—twitching a few times before he died.
Nan Zhi adjusted her position on the cloud. She waited until the ghosts had finished devouring Li Dapeng's soul. Seeing that they were about to transform into malevolent spirits, she blew another breath, dissipating the four evil souls.
If she didn't kill him, was she supposed to keep him around for the holidays?
Regardless of whether Li Dapeng's appearance was a test by the authorities, he had to die.
Hu Ban'er lay on the ground, his fox face full of bewilderment. He clearly hadn't processed what had just happened.
Just one breath.
Only one breath.
Sand and stones flying, the sky and earth turning dark.
If this was a test...
To see if the Mountain Lord would kill a human?
He just wondered what the government official's face would look like when he saw the scene.
Rate on N.U.
