Chương 36: Pulling Up the Grass by the Roots

The Rocky Mounds, outside the West Gate of Yellow Leaf Town. Struck by that kick, Ou Tiande had an unknown number of bones broken. He nearly stopped breathing altogether. Struggling painfully to sit up and seeing the situation in the clearing, he was terrified out of his wits. Enduring the agony, he scrambled to get up, wanting to mount a horse and flee.

"Hey, isn't this Young Master Ou? Where are you rushing off to?" Why did a playful voice, sounding like an echo from hell, ring in his ears, making Ou Tiande shudder in fear? With great difficulty, he lifted his head to see Song Que walking over, carrying a person in one hand. He forced an ugly smile and said:"Little brother, I admit defeat in this matter. I was in the wrong today. If you let me go this time, I will definitely reward you generously in the future. How about it?"

Glancing at the three corpses that were already growing cold, Song Que sneered:"Generously? How generously?"

"Brother, I swear to the heavens that I will absolutely not seek revenge! Furthermore, I will present you with a lavish gift! If I go back on my word, may the heavens strike me down and the earth destroy me!" Swearing an oath? In my past life, who knows how many celebrities swore oaths and made promises online, only for it all to amount to farts in the wind! If oaths could be trusted, sows could climb trees!

"I trust the character of dead men more." Hearing this, Ou Tiande's face turned ashen. He hurriedly advised:"Little brother, you can't kill me! My master is Feng Han!"

"Hmph! Then I definitely can't let you live!" Song Que said, his eyes widening.

"Brother, is there a need for this? If you kill me, the Black Tiger Gang will never let you off! Why not let me go? I can see you've never formally learned martial arts and only possess raw divine strength. I can beg my master to take you in as a disciple! Then we'll be martial brothers! With your talent, you'd definitely become famous in no time! I'd even have to kiss your ass then!"

"No need for him to take me in as a disciple. But if Master Ou can pass your martial arts down to me, I might lessen your physical suffering." So there was no room for negotiation. Ou Tiande stared at him with venomous eyes, enunciating every word:"Then I will wait in the netherworld to see how you die!" Saying that, he acted decisively, raising his hand and slamming it hard against his own head. Crack! His skull deformed instantly with the sound.

Blood poured from his seven orifices, and his body slowly slumped to the ground. Song Que was horrified. He didn't expect this guy to be so ruthless to himself. But this only solidified his belief that killing the opponent was the right choice. If a person this ruthless were left alive, his revenge would absolutely not end until one of them was dead! Searching the four bodies, he only found four bows, three sabers, and over 130 taels of silver. Most of it—100 taels—was on Young Master Ou.

This was likely his "buying his life" money. Too cheap! Truly lacking foresight! You deserve to be dead! Grandee thought unhappily. He genuinely didn't know this was just the initial down payment. Looking at the four bows, he noticed one was different. It was dark yellow and longer than the rest. Trying to draw it, he found it required over 300 catties of force to pull it fully. Song Que weighed it in his hand, feeling quite satisfied. The harvest was bountiful, but the aftermath left behind was a complete mess.

Song Que scratched his head. Finally, he looked at Pockmark Guo, sighed, and kicked him to wake him up.... Pockmark Guo's experience today was truly a tragedy. He had a nightmare. In the dream, Song Que slaughtered people like chickens, and their group was snapped like twigs with just a few punches and kicks. When he woke up and saw that demonic, smiling face, his eyes turned as dead as ash. The greatest tragedy was that it wasn't a dream!

Scrambling to his feet, tears and snot streaming down his face, Pockmark Guo fell to his knees and kowtowed furiously:"Master Song! Please spare this lowly one! I was only following orders!" The youth across from him sighed:"Pockmark Guo, oh, Pockmark Guo. I'd love to let you go. But look—you've seen me kill so many people. Leaving you alive is a disaster waiting to happen." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Hearing this, Pockmark Guo's liver and gallbladder nearly ruptured. Looking around at the corpses, his lower half lost control, wetting a large patch of his pants. He cried and wailed:"Master Song! Master Song! Have mercy! Please let me go! I won't say a word! Yes! I can even testify that the Zhao father and son wanted to harm you!" Seeing his pathetic state, Song Que frowned in disgust and said patiently:"Mm, it's not impossible. But first, spit out everything you know."

Hearing he might live, Pockmark Guo was overjoyed. How could he dare hide anything? He smoothly poured out the entire story from beginning to end. Song Que sat silently, listening to his account. A moment later, he pondered:"So you're saying, besides the people here, who else knows about this?"

"Master Song, it should only be the old Village Chief and Shopkeeper Zhao who know about this! Zhao Hu wanted to secretly capture you and extort your martial arts manual, so he repeatedly instructed Ou Tiande and the others to act covertly!" To save his own life, Pockmark Guo sold people out with exceptional decisiveness.

"Does Shopkeeper Zhao know that the person Zhao Hu and the others were targeting was me?"

"No, Master Song! Actually, he doesn't know much. Zhao Cairong only said he needed help finding some hired muscle. Through him, they got acquainted with a few Ou family disciples. As for meeting Ou Tiande and the subsequent plans, he has absolutely no idea!" So it was just the Zhao father and son. Shopkeeper Zhao was a potential threat, but not the most critical one. Things haven't reached the absolute worst-case scenario, Song Que thought to himself. But it sure as hell isn't going to be easy either!

He rubbed his temples, a headache coming on. There was no way to hide this completely; he could only delay them from tracing it back to him too soon. I wonder if, after absorbing that pile of medicinal herbs, I'll have enough strength to withstand the Black Tiger Gang's pursuit? What a headache! Song Que rubbed his forehead, trying to think of a countermeasure. Pockmark Guo, terrified out of his wits, lay motionless, quietly watching him.

While spacing out, Song Que noticed the Mountain Sparrow flying back and forth above his head. He suddenly jolted, startled. He thought of something. I wonder if my Split Soul can simultaneously use the Storage Space? Thinking of it, he immediately tested it. The result left him wildly overjoyed! The Split Soul symbiotically attached to the Mountain Sparrow could indeed use the Storage Space! However, storing items was a bit difficult.

It depended on the size of the host, the strength of the soul, and things like that. After testing it repeatedly, he concluded that the host could only store items that did not exceed its own lifting capacity. For example, an insect host could hardly store anything. The Mountain Sparrow, on the other hand, could store items it could physically lift. But taking items out of the Storage Space was incredibly simple! There were no restrictions; he just had to think about it!

In that case, there was a turning point for today's mess! At the very least, he could muddy the waters, buying himself some time to hide! And what he needed most right now was time to grow! Excitedly, he turned to Pockmark Guo and asked:"Where is Ou Family Fort?" Though surprised by the question, Pockmark Guo answered honestly:"Master Song, Ou Family Fort is about thirty miles north of Yellow Leaf Town's North Gate."

"Very good." Looking at Pockmark Guo with an approving smile, and under the lackey's fawning gaze, Song Que delivered a swift chop, sending him back into a glorious coma. Only then did Song Que step forward, gather all the corpses, and stuff them into his Storage Space. Fortunately, his Storage Space had expanded significantly recently. It was now about 1. 5 meters in each dimension. Thanks to this, he could squeeze all four bodies inside.

Focusing his mind, he directed the Mountain Sparrow to fly toward the northern side of Yellow Leaf Town. Choosing a spot by the road not far from the city gate, he had it fly low and drop the four corpses from the Storage Space one by one. Flying high and looking down at the four bodies scattered on the road, Song Que finally returned, satisfied. Waiting for the Mountain Sparrow to return, and having already cleaned up the battlefield, Song Que finally drove the cart back toward the village.

"It's a pity I don't know how to ride a horse, otherwise I could have chased down Zhao Hu!" Song Que secretly regretted it, deciding he must learn horseback riding immediately upon returning home. As for where to get horses? Naturally, they were gifts from Brother Ou and the others! They had left three horses and a donkey by the road before "flying away." Originally, Song Que had planned to slaughter all these animals to prevent any tracks from being found.

But since he had figured out a way to completely mess up the clues, that was no longer necessary. After all, he didn't expect to hide forever; he just needed a little time to grow stronger.

"Zhao family, it's time we settled our accounts." Grandee's gaze turned icy cold as he looked into the distance.... Meanwhile, Zhao Hu. Having narrowly escaped with his life, he didn't dare delay for a second, whipping his horse to run like mad. Passing through the village, he finally leaped off his horse upon seeing the Zhao family courtyard and frantically ran inside.

"Old man! Old man! We're doomed!" Zhao Cairong had felt restless the entire day. Lying in the courtyard, hearing the sound of someone crashing through the door and his son shouting loudly, his entire body felt like it had been plunged into an ice cellar. Looking at his son rushing over, he asked in a trembling voice:"What... what happened?"

"Old man! We need to run right now! If we wait for that kid Song Que to return, neither of us will survive!" It's over. Something really did happen. Old Zhao's heart turned to ash. He asked in disbelief:"Did he see you?! How could this happen?! Wasn't everything foolproof?!" Old Zhao had also gone to town yesterday. Only after everything was negotiated did he hurry back to arrange the funds. He had even prepared his men, ready to raid and confiscate the Song and Li families' properties the moment he heard the news!

How did it end up like this?!

"Old man, don't even bring it up! They were a bunch of useless trash! All talk and no action! You didn't see it—they got played to death by that kid with just a few punches and kicks! We have to go now!"

"Go? Go where?!" Zhao Cairong's face was defeated. There was only one road from the village to the town. Leaving now would be throwing themselves right into the net!

"Old man, we can hide in the Great Ridge Mountains! It's better than staying here and getting hacked to death!" Hiding in the mountains wouldn't guarantee their survival for long. Furthermore, Old Zhao was used to a comfortable life; going in there now, he might not even make it out alive. And relying on Lord Hu? As his father, did he not know what kind of useless trash his son was?! Forcing himself to stay calm, Old Zhao's mind raced:"Don't panic! Tell your old man exactly what happened from beginning to end!"

Feeling like an ant on a hot pan, Lord Hu saw his father still had the time to listen to a story. He was incredibly anxious but had no choice but to rapidly recount the events. Hearing his son's account—though likely exaggerated with added flavor and suspicion—the core facts shouldn't be far off. Old Zhao pondered and said:"So that kid actually killed Gang Leader Feng's disciple! Who gave him the guts?!"

"Who cares about his guts, old man?! If he didn't kill them, they would have hacked him to death! We need to run!"

"Shut up, you unfilial son! You'll never achieve anything great!" Old Zhao roared out of sheer embarrassment, making Lord Hu stomp his feet in grievance.

"There might still be a way to negotiate this." Hearing his father say this, Lord Hu's eyes lit up. He had endless admiration for his father's cunning. Perhaps their lives weren't destined to end today!