Chapter 225 - Incinerated
Shen Yushi showed a cruel sense of delight as he said, "That old prude has been wanting to catch my weakness. How can I not know?"
"However, provoking me means paying the price for it. I’m letting him know clearly that I am the one who has harmed his wife! It was me who’s killed his subordinates! It is, I, who handicapped his son!"
"Then I follow him wherever he goes. Do you know how gratifying it is to be the audience to your nemesis’ despair every day?" Shen Yushi said.
"Gratifying?" Yun Yang frowned.
"Of course it’s gratifying!"
Shen Yushi chortled, his mood light and easy. "You know I am the one behind everything, but you have no evidence, you can’t convict me and you can’t do anything to me personally. Even if martial strength is used with abandon to resolve this, you can’t find the combat power that can compare to me. Then I follow you at all times, stalking you incessantly, and glancing at you triumphantly whenever I feel like it…"
"It’s my favorite feeling. The gratification of manipulating and tormenting someone within your palm, it’s indescribable with words nor language. It is the ultimate form of happiness."
Yun Yang was speechless.
Wu Lie had been tormented for so many years but he actually had not broken down and gone mad yet; he could still carry out his responsibilities dutifully. It was not easy to have such determination and bear the torment that ordinary people could not. He was truly marvelous – and must have suffered for his resilience.
Shen Yushi was extremely jovial. "It's not only in the past, I’m still following him and watching him now and will do so in the future; I want to watch how he obviously loathes me and knows absolutely everything but can’t do anything to me… Isn’t he a benevolent official? I’ll keep him as such until the very end! Let him be in such an atmosphere for the rest of his life!"
"His wife and son are both crippled. Even if he wants to risk his life, he’d be reluctant to die because his family still needs his care."
Shen Yushi guffawed. "This is the best! When Wu Lie dies, I’ll find someone similar and do the same to them… This is absolutely the most sublime joy in this world!"
Once the topic was mentioned, Shen Yushi began to chatter ceaselessly, like it was the most gratifying matter in life, speaking of it in great detail. Obviously, he felt very accomplished about this matter.
However, Yun Yang did not want to keep on listening.
Such a perverse case could actually bring so much joy to the eyes of this man – there was no humanity in him.
"Other than Sir Wu’s case, I still want to know what position Sir Shen holds in the Four Seasons Tower and what secret is there in this secret chamber."
"I believe my impending death is closely knitted to these two points. If I can’t make them clear, I can’t die in peace," Yun Yang said.
The sword in Shen Yushi’s hand came up, pressing against Yun Yang’s throat. With the slightest bit of force, a small bead of blood oozed from the latter’s skin. Shen Yushi laughed brutally, "Why are you guessing that I’m from the Four Seasons Tower? And to even limit my identity within the seventh, eighth, and ninth month, who are you? On what basis do you know these?"
Yun Yang answered lowly, "I’m from The Merciless Tower. As for you… the reason I know so much about you is of course due to the fact that someone wanted to kill you, but how is it possible to thoroughly check your exact details? I just didn’t expect your cultivation base to be as such. And the environment and atmosphere today. You won’t be able to do anything to me if any of these two were absent… It's alright if I can't complete my mission, but I'm unwilling to die in confusion."
Watching as Yun Yang flipped his sleeve to reveal a gold medallion, Shen Yushi could not help smirking and said, "The Merciless Tower’s gold ranked assassin - and you want to kill me. Even when you knew I am from the Four Seasons Tower, you dared to make a move yourself; how courageous."
"Other than being The Merciless Tower’s assassin, I’m also the Empire of Yutang’s man. Sir Wu is one of Yutang’s pillars and you’re his enemy, thus he deserves your death!" Yun Yang said in a low voice.
Shen Yushi chuckled coldly. "There I was, wondering how can this not be related to Wu Lie. So you’re born in Yutang. Then your actions today must have been based on something personal. The Merciless Tower can’t even have an excuse to pick a fight, your death today is such a waste!"
Up to this moment, Shen Yushi was still hurling attacks at Yun Yang’s mental state, wanting to see him wholly broken down.
"You even know The Merciless Tower’s rules. You must be from the Four Seasons Tower. Which month and day are you?" Yun Yang questioned his impending executioner.
With a savage laugh, Shen Yushi said, "I might have to disappoint you. I’m not any month nor day!"
Yun Yang’s gaze narrowed as he blurted out unintentionally, "Impossible. If you aren’t from Four Seasons Tower, how can you be so powerful?"
A faint sense of ridicule surfaced on Shen Yushi’s face as he replied, "Idiot, I just said I’m not any month or day; since when did I say I’m not from the Four Seasons Tower? I shall let you be a ghost of clarity today, this old man is the end of the seventh month!"
Yun Yang nodded. "The end of the seventh month, that is the thirtieth of the seventh month. How can this not be a day? Why do you mince your words?"
The ridicule on Shen Yushi’s face deepened as he replied, "So you don’t even know the difference. Looks like you’re really dying in vain. The seventh month has two leaders, one is the seventh month while the assistant is the end of the seventh month!"
"There isn’t a specific date!"
"Do you understand it now?" A strangely cruel color painted Shen Yushi’s face.
"Yes, I see!" Yun Yang realized with a start.
"So every month’s hall is divided into the head of the hall and the vice head of the hall." Yun Yang commented, "The Four Seasons Tower is indeed mysterious!"
"As for the secret in this secret chamber…"
Shen Yushi answered faintly, "It’s just some lore and the Four Seasons Tower’s secret records. I don’t think you’ll be as interested in them but I’m still telling you, so you don’t have to die muddled. Am I not a kind man?"
"Of course, there’s a chance to rise high in a single step… it is here as well, but you won’t be able to see it!"
Yun Yang nodded. "I see. No wonder I feel like my spiritual energy can’t be concealed upon entering. If it isn’t so…"
In his mind, he was thinking, "A chance to rise high in a single step?"
"It’s only a small formation to absorb spiritual energy but it’s enough to restrain your peculiar cultivation skill."
Shen Yushi’s gaze was cruel as he asked, "Now, you should explain yourself. Who sent you to kill me? I was almost deceived by you. Even when you’re born in Yutang, The Merciless Tower is strict with their rules; an order can restrain movement while a word can incur punishment. You’ve come with confidence and was long sure of my identity as the Four Seasons Tower’s man."
Yun Yang sighed. "I am unable to deceive you. I’ve thought too highly of myself. Since you’ve told me your identity with all honesty, I shall do the same. The one who ordered this assassination is The Merciless Tower’s higher-up…"
"Then who is it who hired you fellows to kill me? According to The Merciless Tower’s rules, even if it were the higher-ups’ order, you still get to know who the hirer is! Otherwise, how can you submit your assignment?" Shen Yushi continued to question; this was the puzzle he was the most concerned about.
Yun Yang looked troubled like he was struggling with himself.
Shen Yushi attempt to persuade him by saying, "Your death today is confirmed, why obey these so-called rules… If you tell me the truth, I’ll give you a painless end. Otherwise, you'll find that you will actually be wishing for death when I am done with you."
Yun Yang frowned, like he had finally decided after a great internal debate and said in a low voice, "Alright, the person who actually wants to kill you is…"
Shen Yushi could not help focusing on his words, even his ears were perked up. He was extremely vengeful and vile inwardly though, thinking, "If I were to know, I shall…"
Before he could think of the vile things he would do, he suddenly heard a name that took him by surprise; perhaps, it was a word.
"Me!"
Shen Yushi was befuddled by the word. He then saw the man in front of him retreating abruptly to get away from the immobilizing force of his sword air.
With a shift in his thoughts, he suddenly understood the true meaning of Yun Yang’s words. Angrily, he growled as the sword air erupted at once.
How are you going to flee when we are so near?
Do you think you’ll be able to escape?
No, you’ll only die a more painful death. You’ll die in torment and in agony!
However, Shen Yushi realized right away that the person in front of him had vanished!
He had disappeared into thin air; there was no trace of him to be found!
"You shouldn’t have let me get so close to you," an icy voice whispered in his ear.
A scorching heat seared him – as far as Shen Yushi could see, there were flames everywhere!
Boom!
The ball of flame had attached itself to him, burning with a continuous crackling; as the blaze engulfed him, it roared to life!
"Oww…" Shen Yushi cried out in agony, the pain insufferable.
He took in a deep breath, the air of vitality deep within his dantian erupting to its maximum; he was obviously cultivating his mystique skill, wanting to extinguish the fire forcefully with his vital force. Yet the sharp inhalation allowed a sliver of flame to run into his mouth.
With a soft concussion, black smoke erupted from his seven orifices!
"Ah! Ahh!" Shen Yushi was screaming in anguish from both the external and internal burns of his body. He did not know what to do, already rolling about as he threw his long sword on the floor with a loud clang.
Shen Yushi had executed four to five mystique methods within that instant to get rid of the blaze that ignited both inside and outside, but the flame burned fiercely, not relenting no matter what he did.
After some time, the fragrance of grilled meat arose from Shen Yushi.
"You’re… Supreme Fire… You – you… This is impossible…" Shen Yushi was still shrieking tragically, his body rolling about but the fire only burned brighter.
Oddly enough, the flame was only consuming Shen Yushi; nothing else in the entire secret chamber was scorched – not even a piece of paper.
Shen Yushi sprang up to charge outwards manically but the flame had turned into long strings of molten steel shackling his feet, pulling him back as it burned. With the opposing forces taking place, the muscles on his feet were charred almost instantly.
Collapsing on the floor, Shen Yushi could not pick himself up.
He did not give up, trying to crawl out with all his might, supported by his arms, yet the burning flame had seared his fingers down to the white of his bones.
With a crack, his fingers were broken from the heat of the incinerating flames!