Mortal Mirror

Li Ergou could now see clearly that it was a cat, a very large cat. Perhaps he had never imagined a cat could grow so big, almost as tall as a person, resembling a huge black wolf.

Zhang Baisui roared angrily, and in his panic, he conjured a red blood orb in his hand. The blood orb slammed into the black cat, and with a loud bang, the black cat was sent flying.

Zhang Baisui raged, "How dare you, a mere beast, sneak attack me! You seek death."

He waved his hand, and the copper coin sword on the ground hummed, shimmering with a faint golden light. Then, with a whoosh, it shot towards the black cat like lightning.

The black cat in mid-air tried to dodge, but it had no way to gain leverage and couldn't avoid it. With a meow, the copper coin sword pierced its abdomen.

Li Ergou was shocked. Only now did he realize Zhang Baisui's true strength. It turned out that this man had been toying with him, just as he said, to make him even more terrified. This man was truly unorthodox and extremely cruel.

Zhang Baisui chuckled, and with a change in his sword gesture, he was about to cut the black cat in two when a figure rushed over. The figure coldly snorted, "How dare you! You dare to hurt my Thirteen! You seek death."

The figure was incredibly fast, arriving before Zhang Baisui in the blink of an eye. Zhang Baisui's eyes flashed with ferocity, "You came just in time. I've been waiting for you."

With a wave of his hand, a blood-red Bagua light shield instantly formed in front of him.

At that moment, the figure's fist arrived, and it could be seen that the fist was burning with black flames.

The black fist and the red light shield collided, instantly unleashing a huge burst of energy. Both of them staggered back a few steps.

Only then did Li Ergou see the person clearly. The hunchbacked figure was none other than Zhao Tuozi.

Seeing this person, Zhang Baisui coldly snorted, "Who do we have here? It's a demonic cultivator. We don't interfere with each other, so why did you allow your spirit beast to sneak attack me?"

Zhao Tuozi chuckled, "Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. We're just here to look for some things in this cave. You just happened to be unlucky."

Zhang Baisui was furious, "Misunderstanding? If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have been killed by this beast! Oh, I see. So you're also here for the Celestial Hound. In that case, it seems that only one of us can leave here alive today."

Zhao Tuozi sneered, "It's been a long time since I killed anyone. It seems I have to break my vow today. Perhaps, you really are unlucky."

"Hahaha, hahaha, Hunchback, I think you're even more arrogant than I, Zhang Baisui. Fine, today I'll see just what abilities you demonic cultivators have."

He sucked in his copper coin sword, and with a whoosh, the sword was pulled out of the black cat and returned to his hand.

The black cat cried out miserably, its spirit weakened. It seemed that the copper coin sword could not only harm people but also damage their souls.

Zhao Tuozi was heartbroken, "You seek death!"

He unleashed a torrent of baleful aura, which transformed into a demonic dragon and pounced on Zhang Baisui.

"Well done!" Zhang Baisui shouted and threw out three fist-sized meat balls. Strangely, the meat balls landed on the ground with a soft thud and began to grow rapidly.

In an instant, they transformed into three infants, each no more than a foot tall. These infants had bloodthirsty mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth, and their hands were also equipped with claws. They were all terrifying to behold. As soon as these infants appeared, they attacked Zhao Tuozi.

Zhao Tuozi looked at the infants and coldly snorted, "Unorthodox tricks, petty skills."

Zhang Baisui summoned the copper coin sword and used it to entangle the demonic dragon. For a time, the two sides fought fiercely.

Li Ergou was dumbfounded, thinking, "Is this how divine cultivators fight? It's really too exciting!" He hurried to Zhu Zhu's side and whispered, "Look how powerful they are. I wish I had such abilities."

Zhu Zhu curled her lip, "They're just dogs fighting dogs, one unorthodox and the other a demonic cultivator. We've seen their true faces. Once they decide the outcome, whoever wins will kill us to silence us. Won't let us go. Are you ready to die?"

Li Ergou said indifferently, "Hehe, isn't that just dying a little later? If it weren't for this guy, we might already be dead. We should thank that cat. In any case, it indirectly saved us and let us live a little longer."

Zhu Zhu was stunned, "You're not afraid of death?"

"Die? So what if I die? My life is worthless. Sometimes, maybe death is a relief. You're a rich young lady, so you naturally don't know how hard it is for people like me to live."

Zhu Zhu was curious, "I think you're living pretty well, quite carefree, with many friends, eating and drinking, isn't it lively?" There was a hint of sourness in her words.

Li Ergou didn't care and said, "That's all just appearances. But the current me is indeed a thousand times stronger than before. Perhaps you can't even imagine that before this year, before coming to this town, it was a luxury for me to even eat my fill."

Zhu Zhu widened her eyes in disbelief, "You're not trying to fool me, are you?"

Li Ergou rolled his eyes and snorted, "I told you, you're a rich young lady. How would you know the suffering of us mortals?"

Zhu Zhu had heard some snippets of Li Ergou's story in the restaurant that day, but she didn't know the whole thing. She was curious, "Why don't you tell me? I'd like to understand."

"Really want to know?"

"Yes." Zhu Zhu's beautiful eyes flashed, and she nodded vigorously.

Ergou saw that the fighting was fierce over there. Since he was going to die soon anyway, he might as well liven things up.

So he began to talk about his past, starting from when he was sold to the landlord's house at the age of seven, recounting how he was beaten every day and barely managed to survive. He spoke in a light tone, as if he were telling someone else's story.

Zhu Zhu's beautiful eyes welled up with tears. She couldn't imagine that there were such miserable people in the world. Hearing that he even fought with dogs for food to survive, and after being discovered, he was hung from the rafters and beaten for three days and three nights, her eyes turned red, and she couldn't help but say, "You're so miserable."

Li Ergou smiled slightly, without any emotion.

He also talked about his experiences after coming to the martial arts school, which were even more fraught with near-death experiences. If it weren't for Granny Wu, he would have died long ago. He also told Zhu Zhu that he was willing to give up his life for freedom.

At this moment, Zhu Zhu felt as if she had rediscovered the person in front of her. He was not only pitiful but also tragic.

But he hadn't become resentful or bitter because of his life. Instead, he maintained a pure and kind heart, as well as an indomitable ambition and a resilient character.

Even the children of those large families couldn't do that. They were about the same age, but compared to each other, their lives were truly worlds apart.

Zhu Zhu suddenly thought of something and grabbed his clothes, tearing them open to reveal half of his chest. She saw that his chest was covered in scars, old scars not yet gone, new scars lying on top of them, layer upon layer, which made her feel deeply moved.

She opened her mouth wide. Perhaps the real sensory experience was more touching. This silly boy was really miserable enough. How much abuse would he have had to endure to become like this?

She couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The scar was hard and cold to the touch. At this moment, she seemed to truly see the scene of him being beaten with whips, wooden sticks, knives, and various other things.

Perhaps it touched the softness in the girl's heart, and a tear couldn't help but slide down from the corner of Zhu Zhu's eye.