A Good-for-Nothing

169. You Don’t Scare Me (1)

Translator: Dragon Rider

That remark of He Zheng’s was a catalyst. Chen Qianlin had always been ill-disposed towards He Zheng, and He Zheng actually had never meant to provoke him, for he’d been focusing on his cultivation all along and didn’t care a damn about Chen Qianlin, but he’d touched a raw nerve with Chen Qianlin when he’d mentioned Li Zong. Chen Qianlin abruptly whipped out his sword, which flew squarely towards He Zheng and stuck into the ground beside his foot, narrowly avoiding piercing it.

Chen Qianlin glared at He Zheng in indignation and raged, “He Zheng! You think Supt. Li has time for that? How do you have the nerve to keep worrying him with petty matters?!”

Originally He Zheng really had had no intention of quarreling with him, but though not inclined to stir up trouble, he never shied away from confronting a trouble-maker. Since Chen Qianlin had laid criticism on him, it would be a betrayal of his nature if he didn’t snap back.

He Zheng narrowed his eyes and sneered, “You’re such a funny guy, buddy. If I’m not supposed to worry Li Zong, who is? You?”

Someone dissolved into chuckle and all others’ eyes rested on Jin Qianlai.

Jin Qianlai gave a laugh. “Alas, Xiao Chen, stay cool. That’s a family matter between a husband and… another husband. It’s inadvisable for outsiders to wade in. As the saying goes, ‘A lost lover should be left in the–”

“Fuck off!” Chen Qianlin was really infuriated, feeling that the two of them were both fools.

He Zheng’s face darkened at the words “Fuck off” and with that he gave a swing of the Shadow Sword, which moved so fast it was blurred.

Tension in the training ground was rapidly reaching flashpoint.

Xiang Hailou walked through the door and was greeted by this scene.

Seeing the man in charge coming, the trainees, who were not fools, came to know this was the part where they stopped looking on and cleared off. Chen Qianlin and He Zheng were the only ones staying where they were, their necks stiff.

Xiang Hailou said impassively, “You two have nothing else to do?”

He cracked his knuckles and continued, “Now that you two have so much leisure, I’ll go a few rounds with you.”

Like Li Zong, Xiang Hailou was also a pragmatist. He put his hands together. “Draw. Both of you.”

Neck stiffened, Chen Qianlin, holding his sword, walked up.

Xiang Hailou slowly removed his sheathed sword from his belt, put it down on the ground and stood there bare-handed.

Chen Qianlin’s face was livid, his lips quivering. Stressing each syllable, he said through gritted teeth, “Group Leader Xiang, your weapon.”

“I don’t need it when my opponents are you two.”

Both He Zheng and Xiang Hailou seemed provoked. Unsurprisingly, arrogant people were unwelcome everywhere.

Brandishing their swords, the two of them charged at Xiang Hailou. Chen Qianlin let out a roar and gave a lateral slash in a seemingly common but actually ingenious fashion. All trainees nearby felt the shock waves coming at them and involuntarily backed away a few paces.

This move of Chen Qianlin’s seemed average but was very powerful and quick. In addition, his sword appeared to be of unnaturally high quality and was probably a precious sword that had taken countless lives. A murderous air flooded outwards from the sword before it even approached its target, with a momentum so potent that it felt as though it would flatten a mountain were there one in its way. This move struck the others as more advanced than all the previous ones of his.

It seemed that arrogance, sometimes, was backed up by real strength. Chen Qianlin who was always cocky indeed was quite strong.

Chen Qianlin’s sword, with great strength, was swung at Xiang Hailou who was still standing motionless on the spot. Onlookers couldn’t help but close their eyes, believing that this time Group Leader Xiang was going to suffer a humiliating defeat.

Unexpectedly, in the second before the murderous air reached him, Xiang Hailou abruptly vanished into thin air. With an deafening crash, Chen Qianlin’s sword violently hit the spot where Xiang Hailou had been, leaving a wide chasm in the ground.

Chen Qianlin hadn’t expected that his sword strike would miss the target. What with the inertia, he staggered forward and almost lost his footing. All other trainees, who were looking on on the side, found themselves widening their eyes. He Zheng sneered, “It seems that someone bragged too much and is going to get his ass kicked.”

“You–!”

He Zheng, while taunting Chen Qianlin, was making his move as well, directly casting a lightning Fu in the knowledge that swordplay had never been his forte.

On this occasion, He Zheng performed pretty well. After the incantation was finished, thunderclouds converged overhead from all directions and the sky quickly darkened, sheets of lightning glaring in it with rumbling thunder. As the gleam of a sword flashed through the light from the lightning, Chen Qianlin, taking advantage of this opportunity, gave a second sword strike, which was even more powerful than the first one, with the intention to banish the memories of his previous failure.

However, Xiang Hailou swiftly sidestepped this blow as well. This peasant-like man raised his muscular arm covered with throbbing veins and deflected Chen Qianlin’s arm. Chen Qianlin’s movement abruptly came to a halt.

Right at this moment, a tremendous boom issued from the sky. He Zheng swung the Shadow Sword and with that a clap of thunderbolt struck down heading straight towards Xiang Hailou.

Xiang Hailou rapidly dodged aside. Although the first lightning didn’t hit him, Chen Qianlin who had just forced Xiang Hailou into deflecting his second blow got another opportunity. Teeth gritted, Chen Qianlin gave a third sword strike. Sword-light and the lightning intertwined with each other in mid-air and, like a dragon, instantly coiled around Xiang Hailou. Meanwhile, He Zheng unhesitatingly directed another flash of lightning at the target with the Shadow Sword.

Two dragons of thunderbolt were entwined with each other in mid-air and grew into a larger one, encircling Xiang Hailou.

Originally other trainees had been regarding this as an exhibition of exorcism skills, but on seeing Xiang Hailou surrounded by lightning, all of them exclaimed in alarm.

Chen Qianlin and He Zheng also stopped and exchanged glances, their eyes full of incredulity. They killed Xiang Hailou just like this? Would they be condemned to life sentence for killing an official of the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB)?

The lightning was dying away. He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, whose minds were filled with all kinds of thoughts, both felt a weird numb sensation shooting up their backs at the same time.

“He Zheng!”

“Chen Qianlin!”

Their fellow trainees yelled at them. He Zheng and Chen Qianlin, not having enough time to dodge aside, launched themselves forward, narrowly avoiding being struck by the last thunderbolt which instantaneously hit the spot where they’d been a moment ago.

Both Chen Qianlin and He Zheng hit their mouths on the ground in a manner forcibly reminiscent of dogs eating shit. Chen Qianlin, who was so angry that he could barely speak, railed, “You really need to work on your aim, He Zheng!”

He Zheng was consumed with annoyance as well. “And you need to work on your swordplay!”

The two of them had just raised their heads from the ground when Xiang Hailou looked down at them and said with an expressionless face, “It’s not New Year’s Day yet, so neither of you are getting any red envelopes for this.”