Both men stared fiercely at Ling Han. “Kid, we originally had no grievances or hate, but if you must try to be brave, then it’s you seeking your own death!”
Ling Han sighed as he never thought about helping. Adventuring here meant having resolve to face dangers, but who let that the youngster b.u.mp right into him with two middle-aged men who couldn’t wait to attack them on his tail?
The fact remained that he looked easy to bully, and now that they’ve gotten a small lesson, they were beginning to take him seriously.
“Hu Niu, the skinny one is up to you,” Ling Han said with a smile. He might as well let Hu Niu practice… the little girl had the Gus.h.i.+ng Spring Tier guy from the Wu Clan running in circles the other time, so the guy in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier before them shouldn’t pose much danger to her.
“Good!” Hu Niu immediately jumped out. Other than eating, fighting and such were her favorite activity—except they had been in the Imperial City so far, thus Ling Han wouldn’t let her fight.
“What!?” The sword-wielding Old Zhang almost got a crooked nose from anger. He let a five, six year old little girl fight him? He couldn’t help but conceive a wicked idea—he was going to split the little girl in two and use her blood-soaked corpse to tell Ling Han what were the results of infuriating him.
“Kid, let’s spar a bit more!” The saber-wielding fatso flourished his saber. “This time, I definitely won’t underestimate you.” Those words implied that he lost earlier only because he was careless.
Ling Han smiled, and said, “Your face still hurts, right?”
“You…” The saber-wielding fatty was instantly angered out of embarra.s.sment; that slap certainly hit him hard, so much that it still stung.
“Since you know the pain, why can’t you remember and learn?” Ling Han shook his head and laughed. “You are already a dead man since you unleashed your saber against me anyways; it matters not if you can’t remember.”
“Bulls.h.!.+t!” the saber-wielding fatso bellowed. With both his hands holding the saber’s handle, he fiercely erupted with strong attacks. “Large demon heaven saber, splitting skies and shattering ground, I, Zhu Qian Kun am invincible…”
Pu!
He hadn’t finished his warcry, yet his stomach had already received a heavy kick and his entire being instantly flew like a cannonball. Peng , he fell heavily onto the ground and shrunk like a shrimp, his face convulsing.
Ling Han pulled back his leg. In this attack, he used 20-30% of his strength, but for a an opponent in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier, that much power was enough to be lethal. However, this fatso was so fat that the power was redistributed by large amounts of fat; unexpectedly, the kick didn’t destroy his internal organs, but the skin on his entire body cracked under the immense shock, instantly turning him into a tragic blood-soaked man.
Even though his life was saved, the fatso could only groan, no longer having a shred of battle power.
On the other side, Hu Niu was playing very contently. Her cultivation progress was absurdly fast, and she was now at the seventh layer of the Element Gathering Tier. She went head on with the old sword user fearlessly, exhibiting a speed advantage over him and circling behind her opponent for a surprise attack; all this while, Old Zhang could not even land a single attack on her.
Shua shua shua… Hu Niu’s hands were like tiger claws, and after several swings, Old Zhang’s back was covered in fresh blood. The blood stimulated Hu Niu’s murderous nature even further as she bared her teeth halfway and attacked even more ferociously.
Behind Ling Han, the youngster stared with his mouth agape.
A youngster in the first layer of the Element Gathering Tier wasted an opponent in the ninth layer of the Element Gathering Tier with a kick, and a five, six year old little girl completely suppressed her opponent… what sort of monsters were these two?
After a moment’s effort, Hu Niu slapped the sword user Old Zhang unconscious and laughed as she returned to Ling Han’s side, reverting to her look of a cute and pure little princess.
Pa, pa!
At this time, the youngster used a rock to bash the fatso and old Zhang’s heads into mush to make sure they died—even Heaven Tier warriors wouldn’t survive that.
Ling Han couldn’t help but look at him twice more; this youngster was quite vicious.
“Thank you, benefactor, for upholding justice and saving me!” The youngster quickly threw away the rock, and, with an expression filled with humility, he said, “I’m called Yang Ming, I’m from Stone Country. Please don’t blame me, I was hunted down over a long way and almost lost my life. I had to at least do that much to vent the hate in my heart.”
The two were mere robbers—if they died, then that was it; Ling Han did not care about them. What surprised him was Yang Ming’s expression when he set about finis.h.i.+ng them off without a shred of emotion, appearing utterly cold-blooded.
“Benefactor, could I tag along? I was separated from my family when I came in, but I believe I can definitely meet them at the central hall. When that time comes, my family’s seniors will definitely repay you generously.” Yang Ming looked sincerely at Ling Han.
Unsure of how long it’d be before reaching the canyon ahead, with multiple dangers ahead, it’d naturally be safer to cling to someone strong.
Ling Han smiled as he looked at the other. While this guy was talking all this drivel, he just wanted him as a bodyguard—he was not bad at hoaxing people.
Yang Ming saw that Ling Han was unmoved, then said unwillingly, “Benefactor, you know why those two were hunting me down?”
“Because you look like a fat sheep?” Ling Han laughed.
“That’s only half.” Yang Ming shook his head, and continued, “In the village ahead, I was very lucky to have found an ancient record… but I soon b.u.mped into those two and was hunted down by them.
I placed the ancient record on top of a dried up tree—as long as benefactor promises to protect me along the way, I’m willing to give you the ancient record.”
Ancient record?
Ling Han pondered, and said, “What’s that ancient record about?”
“I only briefly looked at it. The ancient record should be an indigenous inhabitant’s diary, recording the details of the Ring-shaped Mountain,” Yang Ming said, paused, then continued, “There’s also a map inside!”
The latter words moved Ling Han. He was very interested in the depths of the Ring-shaped Mountain, wanting to investigate its secrets.
“Alright, let’s get that ancient record.” Ling Han nodded.
Yang Ming exulted at this reply; normally, a cultivator’s like for “books” was related to arts and skills—they naturally would not glance at other books more than once. He was only making a bet, and unexpectedly, Ling Han actually gave him a promise.
They walked a bit on the outer ring of the Ring-shaped Mountain. Sure enough, Yang Ming took out an ancient record from a dried up tree. The cover had almost completely rotted away and it wasn’t hidden very well—half of it showed.
Obviously, Yang Ming only hid it behind the tree trunk hastily at the time and shoved in the ancient record offhandedly, then immediately left; hence it was hidden so sloppily.
“Young Master Han, here.” Yang Ming submitted the ancient record respectfully with his head slightly lowered, a hint of unwillingness that was hard to perceive in his eyes.
For normal people, this ancient record was worth nothing, but for some, it could be priceless.
Ling Han took it without hesitation. On their way, he told Yang Ming his name—hearing ‘benefactor’ and such all the time was uncomfortable. He started to leaf through it in front of Yang Ming without being evasive.