Chapter 11 : Ten Years
Swish!
A wisp of blade light bloomed from Wu Anxun’s waist.
Wu Anxun had drawn his saber. Instead of moving back or dodging, he stood his ground and swung his saber at “Mei Jinju” as it pounced on him.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The saber danced in the air, glimmering and whistling.
With his saber, Wu Anxun weaved an airtight offensive web around “Mei Jinju”.
Enveloped by the strike zone of the saber, “Mei Jinju”‘s incomplete body suffered further heavy damage.
Thud!
Half of its right leg separated from its torso, flying through the air before landing on the ground.
Rip!
Its open abdomen was halved into front and back.
Plop!
Half of its head parted its neck, sprang up, and traveled over ten meters before thumping on the ground.
Rip! Rip! Rip!
Its broken body, split into several pieces, lay scattered across the ground.
Wu Anxun stopped. With a cold look on his face, he swept his gaze across the cubed remains of ‘Mei Jinju”. He frowned. “Fetch me some heavy oil.”
“…R-right away, Sir!” stuttered one of the security team personnel—who had been lying in ambush—as he snapped out of his amazement.
How incredible!
Although ”Mei Jinju” had been crippled by the heavy firepower and its mobility had been greatly reduced, the sight of Wu Anxun dismembering ”Mei Jinju” with his swift saber still impressed.
It excited and invigorated not only the security team personnel, but also Head Wang and the others.
This was the power of a strong martial artist!
The goal that everyone on Earth Star pursued.
With Wu Anxun’s capabilities, no one ever doubted his chances of winning against “Mei Jinju” in her Corpse Puppet form.
Still, they chose to start off the attack with heavy firepower as a precaution, lest “Mei Jinju” flee into town.
The result was perfect—they successfully took down ‘Mei Jinju’.
At present, Wu Anxun had ordered his subordinates to retrieve heavy oil in order to incinerate “Mei Jinju”.
Even in its dismembered form, ‘Mei Jinju”‘s lips and fingers were still moving, its limbs trembling.
It was still alive!
The security team personnel tasked to gather and incinerate the body balked at the sight, subconsciously stepping away from it.
Wu Anxun’s face sank, and he was about to come down on them—
“I’ll do it!”
Su Jingxing called out from a distance as he dashed towards the body. “Collecting bodies is what I do best! Let me handle this!”
“He’s right, haha! This is right up Little Su and Team Leader Gu’s alley,” said Head Wang. All smiles, he said to Wu Anxun, “Relax, Younger Brother Wu. It’s a matter that’s best left to professionals.”
“Hmph!” snorted Wu Anxun. He did not say anything else.
The security team and office personnel were visibly relieved.
Then, they looked at Su Jingxing with grateful eyes as he scuttled to the body.
Using a pair of abnormally large tongs, Su Jingxing picked up the pieces of ‘Mei Jinju’ and piled them up.
At the instant when all of the pieces were gathered together—
[Parasitic Worm Zombie discovered. Would you like to extract it?]
It appeared!
As he had expected, there were new cards to be extracted!
“Parasitic Worm Zombie” must have been “Corpse Puppets”‘ true name.
Su Jingxing didn’t dwell much on that. Once he received the notification, he stifled his excitement and replied “Yes” in his mind.
Silently, a card formed in Su Jingxing’s pocket.
Instead of checking it immediately, Su Jingxing put down the tongs, picked up the bucket of heavy oil brought by the security team personnel, and poured it across “Mei Jinju”‘s body.
After dousing the body with heavy oil, he stepped away and motioned at a security team personnel holding a lit torch, signaling him to set the body on fire.
The latter nodded gratefully and threw the torch at the “Mei Jinju”‘s remains.
Boom!
Raging flames soared skyward.
Aflame, the dismembered “Mei Jinju”‘ roared in agony.
However, due to the inability to move, it could only accept its fate of burning into ashes bit by bit.
Everyone watched the entire process in silence.
For most of the people present, this was the first time they saw a Corpse Puppet—and it was transformed from Mei Jinju. It was a complicated feeling.
Without a doubt, Mei Jinju was the most innocent victim in this potential catastrophe.
Driven by lust, Zhou Hongsong tried to force her to submit, but she resisted fiercely, and that was when Zhou Hongsong accidentally killed her.
Hoping to escape punishment, Zhou Hongsong stored her body in the fridge and waited until midnight, then transported her body to the mountains and buried her in a hole.
Was Zhou Hongsong unaware that corpses attracted insect eggs?
Of course he knew!
Having already confessed, he had laid everything bare.
After killing Mei Jinju by accident, Zhou Hongsong had hoped that by freezing Mei Jinju’s corpse in the fridge, it could escape detection from Corpse-raising Insects.
After some time, no one would be able to link her disappearance to him.
By then, Mei Jinju could turn into a Corpse Puppet and kill whoever enters the mountain, and it would have nothing to do with him.
He wasn’t planning on entering the mountains anyway.
As for those who had died as a result, an unfeeling “Sorry” was all Zhou Hongsong had to offer.
Better you than me.
Zhou Hongsong couldn’t care less about the lives of others.
Such a way of thinking could only be described as ruthless.
And this was Su Jingxing’s first time witnessing such ruthlessness.
Because of him, eleven people had died.
The corpses of the eliminated patrol team were also transported to the empty field at the foot of the mountain and burned to ashes.
After the victim’s relatives received the ashes, they ganged up on Zhou Hongsong and beat him until he was half-dead.
All four of his limbs… and an additional “limb” were broken.
Even if he was treated, Zhou Hongsong would be a cripple for the rest of his life.
Rather than giving him a swift end, it was more satisfying to make him live in hell.
Of course—
None of these had anything to do with Su Jingxing.
After a long day, they returned to Qinghe City on an empty truck. On the way back, Su Jingxing endured Gu Bo’s long emotional speech, cooperatively chiming in from time to time.
His mind was long away from Forestry Town; all he could think about was the card in his pocket.
When he finally returned to the crematorium, Su Jingxing found an excuse to slip away. He ran to the back of the mountain and took out the card he had gotten from “Mei Jinju” to examine it.
Martial Arts Practice Card!
Unlike his expectations, it wasn’t a strengthening card or physical invulnerability card, nor was it a speed-enhancing card or one that could increase one’s agility.
The Martial Arts Practice Card he had newly acquired actually had the ability to boost his cultivation level of a specific secret martial arts manual!
Su Jingxing never expected such a card to exist.
Once unlocked, it could be used to increase his cultivation level of any secret martial arts manual.
The maximum duration was ten years!
Take Su Jingxing’s Seven Steps Fist for example. If he cultivated it slowly, it would have taken him an unknown amount of time to reach the highest cultivation level.
But with the help of the Martial Arts Practice Card, he could shorten the time required by ten years!
“What level of mastery of Seven Steps Fist can I reach with ten years of cultivation? ”
Taking a deep breath to suppress his excitement, Su Jingxing unlocked the card.
Whoosh!
The Martial Arts Practice Card turned into a ray of light that enveloped Su Jingxing’s entire body.
Before Su Jingxing could react, he found himself in a boundless white space.
As though something was driving him, he began to practice the Seven Steps Fist on his own.
Over and over again.
There was no fatigue, no hunger, no thirst, and no soreness.
As though he had forgotten about all other matters, he just kept practicing.
Over and over again.
Time flew by.
After an unknown period of time had elapsed, the white space shattered and his consciousness returned to his body. Only then did Su Jingxing wake up.
He opened his eyes and took in the familiar scenery of the back mountain.
“How long… has passed?”