Chapter 98 – Lei Chen’s Decision
At the instant the blood vein was severed, Lei Chen trembled and sprayed a mouthful of blood.
Shan Heng was struck away by Nan Song’s palm strike and flew several metres back, pale-faced with blood seeping from his mouth. His expression revealed the struggle and conflict inside him. Unable to face Nan Song straight in the face, he lowered his head.
It all happened too suddenly, in just the blink of the eye, the entire situation was reversed, staring at Shan Heng, Su Ming gave a bitter laugh.
Pale-faced, blood seeping from his mouth, Shan Heng suddenly gave a tremendous, tragic howl at the heavens. Turning around forcefully, he did not look at Nan Song and Su Ming, but headed towards the forest, running at full speed. In the blink of an eye, Shan Heng disappeared into the forest as his wretched call faded.
At the same time, the HeiShan Patriarch smiled sinisterly, as if he had foreseen all of this.
He, along with the wounded black-robed man, charged towards Nan Song, their fists flying towards him.
Nan Song’s face was sorrowful and devoid of colour. His body had shriveled and on his back, the crescent-shaped sword embedded deeply in his flesh. Blood flowed unceasingly from the wound.
As the HeiShan Patriarch and black-robed man approached, Nan Song suddenly gave a loud laugh that was filled with grief. His entire body shook, and a crack ruptured in between his eyebrows and a faint green spirit emerged from it, charging at the incoming enemies.
As the distance between both parties closed, the green spirit suddenly exploded into a shocking blast that swept away everything in its vicinity. Under this impact, the already injured black-robed man let out a yell as he retreated, his weak eyes crumbling.
Neither did the HeiShan Patriarch expect that heavily-wounded Nan Song could utilize such a technique, especially with the crescent blade stuck into his flesh that contained a poison that clotted a person’s blood thus preventing them from self-destructing their blood veins, which was why the HeiShan Patriarch dared approach Nan Song.
That blade was supposedly meant for the WuShan Man-Elder. But a change of events caused it to end up in Nan Song’s body.
Blood sprayed from the HeiShan Patriarch’s mouth as he tumbled tens of metres away. Having been in pursuit all the while, he could no longer suppress in the injuries on his body as his blood qi visibly weakened and fear crept upon his face.
As for Nan Song however, following the explosion of the green spirit, his eyes lit up, and his injuries seemed to have recovered. With a lurch forward, he immediate came before the wounded black-robed man, and struck an unavoidable punch at his chest.
The black-robed man shuddered as his chest caved in, and his eyes grew dim. It was a fatal blow.
Nan Song did not pause with this, but rather he turned to face the HeiShan Patriarch who wasn’t far off. With a calm expression, he leapt towards the terrified HeiShan Patriarch who was yelling in retreat towards the five remaining HeiShan tribesmen. Seeing Nan Song’s imminent approach, he grabbed one of his tribesmen without hesitation and sent him flying towards Nan Song.
The HeiShan tribesmen let out a miserable yell, which was engulfed by the sound of his body exploding as a mist of blood spread. In his horror and panic, the HeiShan Patriarch gave a deep growl.
“Retreat!” In the ensuing chaos, the HeiShan Patriarch fled towards the forest under the protection of the remaining four HeiShan tribesmen.
They were utterly afraid, Nan Song’s strength was just unbelievable.
The HeiShan Patriarch valued his life above anything else. He knew that he could not stay there any longer. Only after they rendezvous with the next wave of support from HeiShan, they will all be safe.
“Don’t even think of leaving!” Nan Song did not even flinch from the self-destruction of the HeiShan tribesmen, with a wave of his right hand, the mist of blood from the detonation disappeared. Upon landing on the ground, Nan Song thrusted both his palm on the ground.
Instantly, the ground rumbled underneath the enemies’ feet, and a gigantic arm of mud reached towards the HeiShan Patriarch, who in his madness tossed another one of his tribesmen towards it to avoid certain death. He was overwhelmed by fear and did not even dare look back, but fled hastily towards the forest with the other three tribesmen.
“Scram, you disgrace of a HeiShan Tribe!” Nan Song did not pursue them but stood where he were, letting out a tragic howl.
The entire battle lasted just a span of a few breaths. When Su Ming approached Nan Song who stood unmoving, he saw that the latter’s body was deteriorating rapidly.
“The tribe…… should be safe for now…… The next wave of HeiShan tribesmen will not arrive so quickly. They have suffered a great deal of death and their morale has weakened. Nan Song remained unmoving as the crack in between his brows emanated a gray light.
“I have fulfilled my promise to you Grandpa…… and repaid my debt of gratitude……” Nan Song looked at Su Ming, and a smile crept on his face.
“Grandpa Nan Song…” Su Ming muttered softly.
“I would not have lasted even if Shan Heng did not injure me. I initially planned to heal the few you with my green-seeking art, and also divert some of Lei Chen’s vitality back to him. Unfortunately, I cannot do that now.” Nan Song let out a soft sigh, raising his head to watch the skies. A great distance away, the sky was soaked in red, and faint clashing sound could be heard. He knew that Mo Sang was still fighting.
“If you see Shan Heng…… you must ask on my behalf the reason for this!” Nan Song kept his hands behind his back. Shutting his eyes, he stood where he was, unmoving, as if his body was rooted to the land. In front of him lies the dark forest, behind him; the path trodden by his fellow WuShan tribesmen.
Underneath the moonlight, Su Ming’s shadows was stretch out, and he gave off a somber ambiance. Watching Nan Song’s lifeless figure, Su Ming did not touch his body, but took a few steps back, before kneeling down to give Nan Song three kowtows.
“Su Ming…” Lei Chen struggled to get up. He came beside Su Ming and knelt too. His expression was one of grief. He no longer looked like an adolescent, but had the aged appearance in the forties.
For a moment, time stood still as a gentle wind caressed the snow-laden land. It shook not only the threads hanging loose on Nan Song’s valiant figure, but also Su Ming and Lei Chen’s heart.
“The tribe should be safe… Go back, Lei Chen.” Su Ming got onto his feet slowly, a cold glint flickered in his eyes as he stared into the dark forest ahead.
Lei Chen touched his right eye only to realise that it had been blinded. After some moments, he shook his head.
“I will not go back.”
“I want to seek out a greater strength… Only when I become strong can I be able to protect our home and tribesmen from humiliation.”
“I have heard that on the other side on the plain, beyond the mountains, lies a distant tribe that is stronger than FengZhen… I want to go there, no matter what the cost. I must become strong!”.
“Even if it means becoming a Heretic-Man, I am willing!” Lei Chen’s expression was one of resolve, perhaps even obsession. But he hid it well.
“Su Ming, you are different from me, after you return to the Feng Zhen tribe you will be able to develop well, but we will always still be brothers…… brothers forever…… you must wait for me, there will come a day where I become more powerful and then I will be back!” Lei Chen shut his eyes as he muttered, giving Su Ming a long silent hug before smilingly turning away, walking into the distance with the burden of his dreams on his back, he continued to walk, further and further until he disappeared from Su Ming’s eyes.
Su Ming gazed towards Lei Chen, without speaking, watching him leave into the distance, not knowing when or whether he would even see Lei Chen again. His own future was already filled with uncertainty.
After some time, he shook his head under the moonlight, a cold killing intent replaced the confusion in his eyes as he gazed at the dark forest, taking a deep breath he told himself.
“Now it’s my turn to hunt you down!”
“And there is still Shan Hen……” Su Ming gazed towards the Feng Zhen Tribe where his own tribesmen were escaping towards, wondering if Bai Ling was still in the Feng Zhen Tribe as well.
“Pro……” Su Ming bitterly shut his eyes before opening them to the silence around him, his body bounding ahead while shrouded by moonlight, like a shadow of death under the moonlight he vanished into the forest.
Without anyone pursuing them, he could be certain the the tribe would be safe all the way till FengZhen Tribe’s city. He understood that there was no longer much else he needed to do for his tribe’s successful migration now.
What he needed to do was already done, but to him there was something even more important, from the time the HeiShan Tribe Man-Elder appeared, there was a strange familiarity that surfaced in the back of his mind.
When he saw the giant NightWing pursue Grandpa that feeling had exploded, and when his body suddenly flew and transformed into the NightWing and attacked the HeiShan Man-Elder, the vague sensation finally became clear.
“Fire-Man-Technique…… since I practice the way of the Fire-Man, and the NightWings were transformed from the Fire-Man, I will at the very least be able to suppress his techniques! And after the third blood-kindling, my blood has some of the flame origin, so…… I definitely would be of help to Grandpa!” In Su Ming’s calm eyes, a crimson moon flared to life, like a demon under the night sky.
Like a wisp of smoke, he dashed through the forest.
“Before that, I will make the HeiShan Tribe suffer! I will let them experience the pain of seeing your own people die…… currently the HeiShan Patriarch is heavily injured and the remaining three people aren’t even worth mentioning…… and then there is also Shan Hen!” Su Ming clenched his fists, his head hung low as he vanished in the forest.
From being chased to giving chase, from being the hunted to the hunter, Su Ming had unknowingly changed a lot.