One person: Go talk to my Rumble-Rumble Fruit!

Page 87

The pale, mourning staff disappeared.

No, it didn't disappear! It was almost at its fastest speed! It drew a pale, thin line in the rainy night, almost invisible to the naked eye!

The target was Xiao Xiao's right shoulder, where he was holding the suona!

"Xiao Xiao! Get out of the way!" Lu Linglong's scream was heart-wrenching! She desperately activated her Qi Lotus, transforming into a pink streak of light as she threw herself at Xue Fan, attempting to relieve the siege by attacking from the rear!

Yun Hexi's eyes were bloodshot with rage, and he recklessly unleashed talismans and palm strikes towards Xue Fan's back!

A faint yet incredibly clear sound, like the muffled thud of a hot knife cutting into butter, pierced through the clamor of the wind and rain.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at this moment.

Before Xiao Xiao could even process the shock and bewilderment etched on his face by the malice, he felt a cool touch on his right shoulder, followed by an indescribable, excruciating pain that felt as if his very soul was being torn apart!

In my field of vision, something with a streak of glaring crimson streaked off the body, tracing a desperate arc in the pale moonlight and icy rain.

That's an arm.

An arm tightly gripping a brass suona.

At the break, the bones were deathly white, and the severed flesh looked exceptionally gruesome under the scouring of the rain. Blood gushed out like a flood, instantly staining a large area of ​​muddy ground red.

The arm tumbled a few times in the air, and the copper mouthpiece of the suona emitted a few off-key, hollow wails under the tapping of raindrops, before finally falling helplessly into the murky mud.

"Uh...ah..."

Xiao Xiao let out a short, choking gasp, as if his throat were being choked.

The excruciating pain and sudden massive blood loss caused his vision to go black, and his body felt as if all strength had been drained away, causing him to fall straight backward.

The last thing he saw was Lu Linglong's almond-shaped eyes, which were almost bleeding from extreme shock and anger, and Xue Fan's slowly widening, cruelly satisfied smile beneath his straw hat.

"Xiao Xiao—!!!" Lu Linglong's shrill scream pierced the sky! Witnessing her best friend's arm being brutally severed before her eyes, the gushing blood was like molten lava, instantly extinguishing all her reason and igniting the most violent flames deep within her soul!

The rain poured down even harder.

The cold rain lashed against the muddy forest clearing, carrying with it a strong stench of blood that permeated the damp, chilly air.

Xiao Xiao fell to the ground, blood gushing from the severed wound on his right shoulder like a spring that had been opened, turning the mud beneath him a glaring dark red.

His body convulsed unconsciously, his face was ashen, and his consciousness swirled between excruciating pain and dizziness from blood loss.

The severed arm, still clutching the suona, lay forlornly in the mud a few steps away. The brass mouthpiece of the suona was filled with rainwater and blood, reflecting a deathly glimmer in the pale moonlight.

Lu Linglong knelt down beside Xiao Xiao, pressing her hands tightly against the horrific severed wound on his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding with her less-than-skilled healing techniques, but warm blood continued to gush out from between her fingers.

Those usually bright and spirited almond-shaped eyes were now bloodshot, tears mingling with the rain as they streamed down her face—not tears of weakness, but tears of blood burned by overwhelming rage and helplessness! She bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled, raising her head to glare at the hunched figure before her, a beast-like growl escaping her throat: "Xue Fan—!!!"

Zanglong struggled to his feet from beside the broken tree. The excruciating pain from his broken arms made the veins on his forehead bulge and cold sweat pour down his face, but his fat face was filled with ferocious hatred as he struggled to pounce on him again.

Bai Shixue, her face deathly pale, clutched a deep, bone-revealing wound beneath her ribs, yet she stubbornly stood in front of Lu Linglong and Xiao Xiao, a short dagger held horizontally, her eyes resolute. Xi and Yun both had blood at the corners of their mouths, their breathing erratic. The force of their clash with the strange mourning staff had severely injured their internal organs. Now, they strained their qi, preparing talismans and palm strikes, yet both carried an undisguised trace of fear—this seemingly unassuming grave weaver was far stronger than imagined, and her methods even more insidious and unpredictable!

"Hehe... Waaah... Cry, cry... My hand is broken, and my heart is broken... That's what makes it feel good..."

Beneath Xue Fan's straw hat, a twisted smile spread across his thin lips, emitting a nauseating mixture of laughter and wailing. He carried the ghastly white bone club dripping with Xiao Xiao's blood, his murky, turbid eyes greedily sweeping over the group of wounded, grief-stricken young faces before him through the gaps in his hat brim, as if admiring his proudest "work." "Next...who's next? Hehe..."

His hunched body leaned forward slightly, and the pale mourning staff was raised again, the thin black rope tied to the top twisting like a venomous snake in the wind and rain, pointing at Canglong, whose aura was the most unstable.

A chilling, viscous, and terrifying aura, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, spread out once more, like an invisible swamp, making Lu Linglong and the others gasp for breath!

Despair, like cold vines, began to entwine around everyone's heart.

At that critical moment, just as Xue Fan's killing intent reached its peak and he was about to swing his mourning staff again—

No, the wind hasn't stopped.

Instead, this small clearing in the woods seemed to have been forcibly "plucked" out of the entire noisy and raging world of wind and rain by an invisible hand!

All the torrential rain, just a few feet from the edge of the open space, seemed to have struck a transparent, absolutely still barrier, instantly losing all kinetic energy and turning into gentle water droplets that silently slid down!

An indescribable aura, vast as the sky and heavy as the earth, descended silently.

Without any warning, without any spatial fluctuations, a figure appeared out of thin air, just a step away from Xue Fan, like a rock that had stood there since time immemorial.

The blue Taoist robe, wide and old, remained motionless in the still air, without even a single wrinkle.

His long, snow-white beard cascaded down his chest, stirred by an invisible aura, giving him an air of ethereal grace.

The newcomer had his back to Lu Linglong and the others. He wasn't particularly tall, but he seemed to hold up the entire world, gently and absolutely isolating all the wind and rain, all the bloodshed, all the killing intent and despair behind him.

The Old Celestial Master, Zhang Zhiwei.

His appearance was so sudden and so calm, without stirring up a speck of dust or disturbing a single drop of rain, as if he had simply stepped out of a frozen painting.

Xue Fan's mourning staff, which he was about to swing, froze in mid-air!

The pair of muddled, murky eyes beneath the straw hat shrank to pinpoints the moment they saw who it was! An overwhelming, irresistible terror, emanating from the deepest recesses of the soul, washed over the entire body like ice water!

The twisted laughter and howling on his face froze instantly, turning into a deathly stiffness!

He could barely hold onto the mourning stick in his hand!

The old celestial master's gaze calmly fell on Xue Fan's face, which was covered by the shadow of his straw hat.

That gaze wasn't sharp, but it was like the deepest ancient well, reflecting all things in the world, and also reflecting the trembling and filth deep within Xue Fan's soul at this moment.

The old master simply raised his right hand slowly.

That hand was withered, aged, with loose skin and distinct knuckles.

There was no dazzling lightning, no terrifying energy bursting forth.

It was just the thin, dry hand of an ordinary old man.

Then, press forward gently.

The movements were slow and gentle, understated.

However, at the very moment that withered handprint was made—

All the fear, all the chaos, and all the light of consciousness in Xue Fan's eyes were extinguished in an instant, like a candle flame blown out by a gale!

His hunched body suddenly stiffened, like a puppet whose strings had been removed!

The muscles on his face remained frozen in that horrified expression, but the breath of life had vanished completely in an instant, like the receding tide!

There was no earth-shattering noise.

There was no tragic scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Not even a trace of excess energy dissipated.

There was only a soft "plop" sound, like a ripe fruit falling to the ground.

Xue Fan's stiff body, like a sand sculpture weathered for millions of years, began to disintegrate and crumble silently, starting from the tattered straw hat on his head!

The straw hat turned to dust, then his hair, skin, bones, flesh... all the matter that constituted his existence was broken down into the finest, most primal dust by the ultimate, back-to-basics power contained in this palm strike!

Not even a single drop of blood was spilled!

One moment he was a ferocious, ruthless, and limb-severing sorcerer who cried at graves.

The next instant, only a small clump of gray dust, mixed with rainwater, remained, drifting away in the wind and disappearing rapidly.

And that pale, mourning stick that had lost its owner's support and crashed into the mud with a thud.

A deathly silence enveloped this isolated little world.

Lu Linglong's hand, which was pressing on Xiao Xiao's wound, froze. Her crimson almond eyes widened, and the surging anger within them was instantly frozen and replaced by unparalleled shock!

Forgetting the excruciating pain in his arms, Canglong opened his mouth wide involuntarily, wide enough to fit an egg!

Bai Shixue's hand holding the dagger trembled slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief and bewilderment.

Xi and Yun held their breath, the light of the talisman flickering at their fingertips. The shock on their faces had not yet subsided when it was replaced by a look of horror as if they had witnessed a miracle!

A casual slap!

A formidable enemy who nearly wiped out their entire squad, employing cunning and ruthless tactics, just like that... gone? Without even leaving a trace?!

This is... the pinnacle?!

The old celestial master slowly withdrew his withered hand and placed it behind his back.

He didn't even glance at the lone mourning staff on the ground or the water stains left behind after Xue Fan disappeared. It was as if what he had just wiped away was truly just an insignificant speck of dust.

He turned around slowly.

That old face, which usually carried a hint of gentleness, languor, and worldly wisdom, was now covered with a layer of ice that had never melted.

Those deep, ancient eyes no longer held any trace of pity or kindness, only an absolute coldness that disregarded life and death.

His gaze swept over Xiao Xiao, who was seriously injured and on the verge of death on the ground, over the numerous wounds on Lu Linglong and the others, over Canglong's twisted arms and the bloodstains under Bai Shixue's ribs, and finally landed on the cold corpses of the low-level disciples of Longhu Mountain on the messy open ground.

Every wound, every drop of blood, every corpse was like a cold needle piercing the depths of his already frozen eyes.

"Quanxing..." The old Celestial Master finally spoke, his voice not loud, but like a cold wind blowing across an icy plain, each word carrying a chilling intent that froze the soul, "Attack the mountain?"

The voice seemed to possess some strange magic, instantly waking Lu Linglong from her extreme shock.

She snapped back to reality, overwhelmed by a surge of indescribable grievance, lingering fear, and the excitement of seeing her pillar of support. Her voice trembled with tears and urgency: "Yes! Old Master! The Quanxing people, I don't know what method they used, to bypass the mountain gate's grand formation and sneak up from the back mountain! They...they killed the junior brother who was patrolling the mountain! We followed the trail and encountered this demon...Xiao Xiao, he..." She choked back sobs as she looked at Xiao Xiao, whose breath was growing weaker and weaker in her arms.

"Hidden Dragon," the old Celestial Master's gaze turned to the fat man covered in cold sweat, his voice flat but carrying an unquestionable command, "Pick up Xiao Xiao's severed arm, take him and everyone else, and return to the Celestial Master's Hall immediately. Tell Rong Shan that anyone who trespasses will be killed without mercy."

"Yes...yes! Old Master!" Canglong jolted awake, enduring the excruciating pain, and struggled to crawl toward the severed arm in the mud.

"As for the rest..." The old Celestial Master's voice seemed to come from the heavens above, coldly proclaiming the final judgment, "...I'll leave them to this old Taoist."

The moment the words fell, the old master's figure vanished silently from the spot, like a stroke gently erased in a traditional Chinese ink painting.

There was no afterimage, no sound of air being cut, as if he had never appeared.

The Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain was truly enraged.

Will these Quanxing demons, who roam the mountains and fields, ever see the sun rise again tomorrow?

.........

.........

Chapter 95 Killing Lü Liang and Gong Qing

Inside the cloud-shaped room, Lin Shen listened to the commotion outside.

These members of the Quanxing sect are not worth mentioning.