Heaven’s Shadow

Old Ma withdrew backward in fright. He stuttered, "I'll speak, I'll speak! I've heard that Lu Chen had come from the 'Wood Splitting Pavilion' and that he possessed outstanding talent. However, he was extremely arrogant from young. Worst still, a lustful person, he fell in love with the sole and doted daughter of the Master of Wood Splitting Pavilion, and with her, became a pair of adulterous couple. When their affair was exposed, the Pavilion Head flew into a rage and ordered to kill him. Unable to take it lying down, the scum reported to the True Immortal Alliance that the Wood Splitting Pavilion was colluding with the demonic cult... Er, that's not it, it's divine cult, and this resulted in a crusade by experts from the Immortal Alliance's 'Heavenly Law Hall'. However, they soon realized that it was a misunderstanding. Under the heated battle, the scum was severely wounded, and his cultivation was completely crippled as a result. After the incident, as some of the influential figures in the Immortal Alliance wanted to save their face, they kept the man and transferred him to the Fleeting Cloud Division, turning him into an indolent Shadow with no goals in life. Even so, that man continued to commit treacherous acts, flirting around with ladies in the village and degrading them. His reputation is truly a mess in this village!"

Hearing those words, a frown slowly formed on Shang Fei Yi's forehead, and he seemed to be disappointed by Old Ma's words. Nevertheless, with a sneer, he could not help but asked, "That man had actually committed such atrocities?"

Old Ma quickly nodded his head. "Indeed, indeed! That scum is truly vile from the bones. There isn't the slightest bit of good throughout his body!"

"Moo..."

Shang Fei Yi seemed to be about to say something when the call of a cow echoed from the depths of the darkness once more. Furthermore, it sounded much clearer this time.

Shang Fei Yi was taken aback. Surprised at the call, he turned abruptly to peer into the darkness.

But all he observed was the dense congregation of darkness. Staring at the night sky, several emotions flickered across his face before it started to pale. He seemed to have sensed something and he bellowed, "Not good, flee!"

His bellow came unexpectedly, and the black-clothed men in his surroundings were unable to react immediately. On the contrary, Old Ma who was bounded and the black-clothed man with his dagger against Old Ma's neck lifted their heads simultaneously and stared into the darkness.

Amidst the abysmal darkness, a massive pair of eyes appeared suddenly. Each eye was the size of a human. Even though the darkness had screened the approaching monster's body, just the sight of its eyes was enough to for one to imagine how fearsome that massive beast would be.

Everything seemed to have frozen all of the sudden!

Every single thing came to a halt. Even the strong gale from moments ago found itself motionless.

Instances later, from the direction where the massive eyes had appeared, an unimaginably ferocious roar echoed, "Mooo..."

That was the third time the call of a cow had sounded tonight. However, it was much more terrifying compared to the previous two times. A violent aura materialized instantaneously in the darkness before them and gushed straight at them, resembling the rapid tides of a river. In a split moment, it had overwhelmed and enveloped the entire village.

It was as though the darkness had materialized; it was as if a ferocious giant had appeared, choking everyone present in one fell swoop. The black-clothed men screamed in agony as they tried to cover their own ears. Those who possessed weaker cultivation found it difficult to even stand stably.

Under the sudden assault, there were only three men in the crowd who managed to remain composed. Shang Fei Yi was one of them, but it didn't appear that he was faring well either.

The violent roar seemed to be infused with incredible strength, causing a stream of blood to flow down from the corner of his lips. With a glance, Shang Fei Yi noticed that in the near distance, the fatty who was lying on the floor, as well as the black-clothed man who was wielding the knife, seemed to be completely impervious to the roar; they were neither wounded nor screaming like the others.

He couldn't help but find the situation before him ridiculous. However, with his life at stake, he didn't have the leisure to bother too much. He could sense the roar growing increasingly sharper, and it seemed as though the shadow ahead was about to crush down on him, and it felt as though the heavens were about to collapse.

Shang Yi Fei made a deafening cry. Then, he soared into the sky and following suit, there was a flash of yellow radiance. A palm-sized wooden man, which resembled the man, flew forward and blocked the space between him and the massive beast.

At the same instant, the roar which came from the depths of the darkness intensified without warning. On the ground, every single black-clothed man, except for the one right beside Old Ma, who were clutching their heads, screaming, and struggling with all their might, stiffened and froze abruptly. Then, a horrendous sight that was beyond all imagination occurred!

Each and every single black-clothed man exploded simultaneously within the blink of an eye. An incredible amount of fresh blood spattered into the night sky to form a bloody mist, creating a sight of hell in the living world.

At almost the same moment, the wooden figure, which Shang Fei Yi summoned previously, absorbed the tremendous impact released on the roar and disintegrated, reducing to mere dust in the sky.

In the sky, Shang Fei Yi's cry halted abruptly, as he seemed to have suffered a great damage from the previous attack as well. Not daring to remain for a moment longer, he mustered all his might and transformed into a white flash in the sky as he escaped hurriedly. In a flash, he disappeared into the depths of the darkness.

※※※

The fearsome and mysterious howl gradually calmed down, and the mysterious phenomenon gradually disappeared. The remains of the black-clothed men fell to the ground one after another. On the other hand, the bloody mist which spattered into the sky slowly descended in the form of a drizzle.

Unknowingly, only two survivors remained on the field.

Old Ma lifted his head to look at the black-clothed man standing beside him, and the black-clothed man lowered his head to look at Old Ma as well.

For a long period of time, the two did not speak a single word. It was hard to tell whether it was due to shock or some other reason.

After a brief moment, Old Ma's body bent and, very suddenly, he took in a breath of cold air. He seemed to have struck a certain wound on his body and his anger burst forth immediately as he reprimanded, "The hell, hurry up and get rid of these ropes!"

The black-clothed man harrumphed, lifted his dagger, and slashed toward Old Ma!

Old Ma cowered backward immediately. He felt a chill through his entire body in that instant as the dagger barely missed his body. Then, he felt freedom with his hands and legs; the rope binding them had been cut.

Then, the black-clothed man threw aside the dagger in his hand and removed the black cloth concealing his appearance. It was Lu Chen's face that appeared in Old Ma's vision.

Old Ma was severely injured. For a moment, he was unable to stand up. All he could do was to pant in deep breaths. He stared at Lu Chen furiously and spat, "They sure are trash, to think that they would be unable to kill a person like you who was without any cultivation whatsoever."

Lu Chen shrugged and looked at Old Ma, "To think that you would survive after suffering so many blows. The heavens sure are blind."

"Scram!"

"Sss..." A pained hiss escaped from Old Ma's mouth. He slowly sat up under Lu Chen's support.

...