Dreaming for 10,000 years

Chapter 379 Nosy
"A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a general is hard to come by!" the mysterious man said. "This man is worth more than all of your Black Tiger Gang's men!"

Everyone, naturally, also protected the leader of the Black Tiger Gang.

The mysterious man waved his sleeve: "A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a general is hard to come by." He suddenly turned to Xu Weishan, his voice eerily gentle, "You tell me... is it or not?"

Xu Weishan trembled all over, then suddenly understood something, and knelt down with a thud: "Your Excellency, please understand! This humble one is willing..."

Before he could finish speaking, a cold light pierced his throat. The mysterious man withdrew his blood-stained fingers and gently blew away the droplets of blood from his fingertips: "Now, everyone in the Black Tiger Gang is here."

"Whatever grudges or grievances you have with the Black Tiger Gang, it's time to settle them."

Lu Xiaofeng suddenly said, "Do you know their infamous reputation in this area? They killed several members of a family to force others to hand over their grain."

He witnessed it with his own eyes, and it was hard to imagine that an entire family would be killed for food. The Black Tiger Gang's actions were utterly inhuman!
"I don't know, and it's not important," the mysterious man said calmly.

"I just heard that you came to check their books. Is the Black Tiger Gang your tool for accumulating wealth?" Lu Xiaofeng asked again.

"No comment! Kid, would you like to consider my suggestion and join us?" The mysterious man offered his terms: "As long as you join us, you can crush the Black Tiger Gang with a flick of your wrist."

"Martial arts manuals, wealth, women—you name it, we have it! We never shortchange our own people!"

“But you’ve wronged the people by the Blackwater River!” Lu Xiaofeng shook his head.

The air seemed to freeze. The mysterious man's black robes billowed without wind, and the still-wet pool of blood in the courtyard suddenly froze into ice crystals: "So... you're determined to be a hero?"

"I don't want to be a hero, I'm just a wandering swordsman!" Lu Xiaofeng held his sword across his chest and said with a bitter smile, "But you all forced me to become a knight-errant!"

He couldn't stand the affairs of the martial arts world, so he liked to meddle in other people's business, and that's how he became a chivalrous knight-errant.

"Ridiculous!" The mysterious man laughed loudly, the sound causing icicles to fall from the eaves. "Is this how the martial world is?"

Yes, that's how the martial world has always been. It's a dog-eat-dog world; there are no heroes or chivalrous figures there.

Just as Lu Xiaofeng was about to retort, his vision suddenly blurred. The mysterious figure vanished like a ghost, only to reappear almost instantly. Those pale hands, radiating an icy chill, aimed straight for his throat.

"clang!"

Knife and palm clashed, sparks flying.

Lu Xiaofeng fought and retreated, leaving deep footprints on the bluestone slabs with each step. The exquisite moves of "Ten Thousand Sets of Martial Arts" flowed through his hands, yet he could not break through his opponent's impenetrable palm strikes.

The mysterious man was extremely experienced in combat, and every strike he made was aimed at the man's defenses, forcing him to defend himself on all sides.

"Whoosh—" A palm strike grazed his cheek, and Lu Xiaofeng felt half of his face instantly go numb, tiny ice crystals forming on his eyelashes. He narrowly avoided the next three palm strikes, his back already beaded with cold sweat.

A crisp "ding!" rang out, piercing the night sky. The mysterious man, having abandoned his admiration for talent, suddenly changed his hand into a finger, precisely striking the weakest point on the blade.

The longsword, forged from fine steel, shattered like glass, the fragments freezing into ice shards before they even hit the ground.

"It's over." The mysterious man's cold voice rang in his ears. Lu Xiaofeng only had time to raise his arms to block before the palm, imbued with profound Yin energy, struck his chest.

"Bang!" Lu Xiaofeng was sent flying through the air as if struck by a battering ram. In mid-air, he clearly heard the crisp sound of his ribs breaking. Blood spurted from his mouth, tracing a tragic arc in the moonlight.

A bone-chilling cold spread from the depths of his marrow, and Lu Xiaofeng's teeth chattered uncontrollably. At that moment, he suddenly regretted not having practiced the "Extreme Overlord Skill," for its fiery internal energy was precisely the nemesis of the person before him.

But the "Ten Thousand Sets of Martial Arts" lived up to its name. He dug his five fingers deep into the soil, feeling the warmth emanating from the earth's depths. The earth's energy flowed along his meridians, barely resisting the rampant cold poison within his body.

"Still alive?" The mysterious man's black boots pounded the blue bricks and stopped in front of him. "This young man is quite resilient." The sole of the boot slowly lifted, casting a shadow over Lu Xiaofeng's face—as if to crush an ant.

At the critical moment, Lu Xiaofeng rolled over suddenly. The friction of his broken ribs caused excruciating pain, but it allowed him to avoid a fatal stomp.

"Ha!" A cold glint flashed from the mysterious man's sleeve, and a stark white bone nail pierced through the air. The nail's tip gleamed with a ghostly blue, aiming straight for Lu Xiaofeng's right eye. He could already imagine the sound of the bone nail piercing his eyeball and shattering his brains.

But the nail didn't hit Lu Xiaofeng's eye; it was caught between two chubby fingers.

"I cannot die yet."

"Oh?" The mysterious man seemed to have heard a joke. "With your appearance?"

With the martial world in such a state, how could he possibly die? Lu Xiaofeng thought of the lucidity in his dream, and of the Saiyans who could shatter planets with a single blow.

There is no such thing as vengeance in the martial world; there is only killing and being killed. From the moment he stepped into the martial world, he was always at the mercy of others.
Is the martial arts world just about killing each other?
Is there really no place in the martial arts world for someone who likes to meddle in other people's business?
Is it necessarily true that the martial arts world has always been this way since ancient times?
wrong!

The martial arts world shouldn't be like this! If the martial arts world is wrong, then I, Lu Xiaofeng, will change it!

He made up his mind, a resolute glint in his eyes; he had one last move!
"I can't die! My journey in the martial world has just begun, and I want to," he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, "change this martial world!"

"Naive!" The mysterious man slashed down with his palm, the force of which tore through the air.

But even faster than the palm strike was Lu Xiaofeng's index finger, which suddenly pointed out.

That finger strike was as sharp as a sword, as domineering as a knife, yet possessed a unique, subtle power. All inner strength, all conviction, were contained within that single finger!
This is Lu Xiaofeng's final move. After this one strike, it's either victory or death!
The finger pierced through the black robe, sinking into flesh. The mysterious man looked down in astonishment, staring at the fat finger deeply embedded in his heart. Blood gushed from between the fingers, blooming like a dark red plum blossom on the hem of his black robe.

He was thinking, "How is that possible?"

He, a dignified member of the Twelve Azure Dragon Envoys, was actually killed by a chubby little guy. But that's just how it is, that's how the martial world is.

Even the most experienced veterans can make a mistake.

"Who are you?" the mysterious man asked as his consciousness blurred.

"Remember my name, I am the lovable and meddlesome Lu Xiaofeng!"

Seeing the mysterious man fall to the ground, Lu Xiaofeng also collapsed to the ground; that finger strike was a strike delivered with all his might.

Sometimes life and death are separated by just a hair's breadth, and he was lucky enough to survive.

He looked at the moon, at the courtyard, then struggled to his feet, clutching his broken ribs, and limped into the dark world of martial arts.

(End of this chapter)