Lin Xun recollected himself after several deep breaths. Now he just couldn’t wait to get back home as soon as possible and study the mystic gate floating in his mind.
Lin Xun had a feeling that if he figured out the secret of the gate, he’d be able to track the reason why his Heart Vessel and Four Acupoints would have such changes by following clues.
At the thought of that, he quickened his pace.
However, a shrill and mournful cry came from afar the minute he got back to the village.
“Little Six!” Ying Hao’s face changed sharply and nearly lost his voice when he heard the cry.
Little Six was his 9-year-old son, whose formal name was Ying Liuer. How could he not tell that it was his son crying?
What happened? Feeling extremely anxious, Ying Hao rushed frantically towards the cry with no attention for anything else.
Lin Xun was in a trance for a while and followed closely behind him.
In the middle of the village there was a flat space, which became a training ground as kids often practiced martial arts here.
It was just a while after early morning, the time when children from the village would gather at the training ground and practice martial arts under the supervision of the village head Shiao Tianren.
It was different today. All children were standing there with pale face and fear in eyes.
Not far in front of them, Lu Ting was whipping so ferociously at a child lying on the ground that the kid’s clothes were ripped, his naked skin cut open. Miserable cries were all over the place.
The rest of the children were terrified. It was probably the bloodiest scene they had ever seen.
It was not hard to guess that the child being lashed was Ying Liuer, Ying Hao’s son.
“Stop it! What are you doing?” Seeing his son being beaten in such a brutal way, Ying Hao bristled with rage and ran furiously forward. Ying Liuer was his only son, how cloud he be indifferent?
Crack!
Glancing coldly at Ying Hao, Lu Ting rolled his whip like a dancing snake and gave Ying Hao a good beating on the chest. The force of it was so strong that Ying Hao staggered down on the ground, a bloody whip scar left on his chest.
“Lu Ting, what the hell are you doing?”
Ying Hao roared in anger while standing up. But as an ordinary man, he dared not to go any further knowing he was no match for Lu Ting.
“What am I doing? As a guardian of the village, it is my responsibility to teach children to practice martial arts. But your kid, Little Six, not only questioned what I taught, but listened not to my teachings. Such behavior must be heavily punished!”
With a cold smile at his mouth corners, Lu Ting whipped again on Ying Liuer while talking, which made the kid shudder all over and give out sad cries that hoarsened his voice.
“Stop! You’ll kill Little Six!” Ying Hao yelled, eyes reddening from wrath.
It was too much for other children to bear and they all closed their eyes due to fright.
“He deserves it! If I don’t teach this little thing a good lesson, he’ll be a big trouble in future.” Lu Ting was emotionless, swinging again.
As a practitioner on the second level of Martial Realm, he had a strength so strong that his whipping, even if well-controlled, would cause severe injuries to Ying Liuer’s sinews or bones. Worse still, it might cause disability or death.
Shua!
His long whip flew in a so cunning and ruthless way in the air.
Ying Hao roared abruptly and instinctively cast his own body over his son’s without the slightest hesitation. Knowing that he was unable to defeat Lu Ting, he used his own body to protect his son from the whipping.
However, the expected pain didn’t come as the whip was caught by a hand before it landed on Ying Hao.
Confused, Ying Hao looked up and saw that Lin Xun was standing in front of him, gripping the whip with his bare hand. Without any delay, he held Ying Liuer in his arm and ducked to the side.
“Little thing, it’s you again!”
Lu Ting looked sullen, his cold eyes full of hatred, as soon as he saw Lin Xun, whose appearance kept reminding him of the shame he felt when he was defeated by a single strike from Lin Xun last night.
Without a word, Lu Ting shook his wrist with a rush to free his whip from Lin Xun’s palm, and threw it right towards Lin Xun’s face, making cracking sounds in the air.
He attacked with his full might. His spirit power was surging out of his body, his whip sweeping the air like a hissing snake with a sound that could pierce eardrums.
It was fast, ruthless and accurate!
Lu Ting attacked outrageously without a single word the moment he saw Lin Xun.
Unfortunately, Lin Xun was faster than him. Clang! The whip shooting right at Lin Xun’s face was cut off with just a flash of cyan light.
Bang!
Meanwhile, Lin Xun stepped forward, bent his right arm, and hit Lu Ting hard in the neck like Mountain Tai was falling down upon him, causing his body to fly away and fall hard on the ground with face down.
“You’re courting death!”
Lu Ting roared, almost bursting his lungs with anger. He was still holding grudge for their fight last night, blaming his defeat on his lack of vigilance.
So he started the attack with all strength as soon as he saw Lin Xun. However, he never expected that Lin Xun’s dagger would be so sharp to cut off his whip in an instant, beating him off-guard.
Lu Ting’s neck hurt so much that it nearly broke. But without caring much about the pain, he jumped up immediately attempting to fight on. Just at that instant, he froze all over and dared not to move.
A cyan dagger was held against his neck, whose sharp and cold edge caused goose bumps springing up all over his neck.
Lu Ting didn’t believe Lin Xun had the gut to kill him; however, he dared not to take the risk. Staring maliciously at Lin Xun, he gnashed his teeth and said, “You dame thing, kill me if you dare!”
Ying Hao as well as the children nearby was stunned, as it never occurred to them that this young and weak boy who just came to Feiyun Village a few days ago would have the ability to defeat Lu Ting who was extremely ferocious and ruthless in a blink of eye.
Lu Ting was a practitioner who had reached the second level of Martial Realm, Inner Strong!
To the best knowledge of all villagers in Feiyun Village, a man like Lu Ting had gone beyond the ordinary and was simply untouchable.
But now, he was defeated in a flash by a young boy of 12 or 13 years old!
There was a dead silence in which only the heavy breaths of Lu Ting could be heard.
Lin Xun had the intention to kill Lu Ting. Growing up in a dark and cruel environment since childhood, he knew it too well that one should never be merciful with his enemy.
However, Lin Xun resisted his killing intent. Practitioner as he was, Lu Ting was still a member of the village. If Lin Xun, who just came here a few days ago, killed Lu Ting rashly, he might be opposed by the whole village.
Taking back his cyan dagger, Lin Xun helped Lu Ting stand up with a smile at his mouth corner. He then apologized, “Sorry about that, Brother Lu. But I merely acted out of kindness as I could not bear to watch Little Six suffering. Please do not take it personal.”
Lu Ting was in a bit of a daze. Eyes fixed on the young boy who cupped one hand in the other and apologized before him, he seemed too surprised to make any response. But then he snorted coldly, gnashed and said, “Don’t be hypocritical in front of me. You just wait and see!”
Saying that, he walked away in a huff.
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and watched Lu Ting gradually disappear, a chill flashing by from the depths of his eyes.
“Brother Lin, I just can’t thank you enough.” Ying Hao hurried forward to express his gratitude.
Lin Xun involuntarily sighed with a wry smile and said, “Don’t mention it. I was just too surprised that Brother Lu would whip Ying Liuer so brutally. Now I stopped his violence, he seems to have borne deep grudge against me.”
Ying Hao replied with anger, “Brother Lin, we all witnessed what you did just now. If Lu Ting dares to stand in your way, then he has to get through us all first.”
Those children did not say any word to agree with Ying Hao, but they were all witnesses. If they did not lie, no trouble would come after Lin Xun.
Hearing this, Lin Xun smiled and said “This could wait. But now check Little Six first and get the injuries treated fast in case any further harm will be done.”
Ying Hao immediately gave a worried look. Hurriedly bidding farewell to Lin Xun, he rushed away with Ying Liuer in his arms without any delay, whose breaths now were barely perceptible.
Lin Xun stayed, standing there lost in thought.
Soon Shiao Tianren appeared in a hurry. Seeming quite informed of what happened, he directly said to Lin Xun “It’s not your fault, please do not take it to heart.”
Lin Xun smiled, cupping one hand in the other, and said “I’m relieved to hear that.”
“But you…”
Shiao Tianren hesitated for a moment then continued with a suppressed tone, “…please stay alert. Lian Rufeng also ordered Qian Qi to stay behind before he left last night. Qian Qi has reached the third level of Martial Realm, and he is so vicious and wicked that Lu Ting is nothing compared with him.”
Qian Qi? Lin Xun pondered it over and kept the name in mind.
For the time being, his cultivation at the second level of Martial Realm, Inner Strong, was enough for him to defeat someone like Lu Ting. But for Qian Qi at the third level of Martial Realm, Viscera Opening, such cultivation was far from enough.
Thinking of that, Lin Xun instinctively sighed in heart, “I am still too weak.”
“But don’t worry. As long as I’m here in the village, I will not turn a blind eye to their villainy.” Shiao Tianren comforted him with a patting on his shoulder.
Lin Xun smiled and changed the topic, “Uncle Shiao, I don’t think that Lain Rufeng and the rest of the guardians will be back in a short term, which is why they left Lu Ting and Qian Qi behind to keep an eye on the village.”
After a short pause, Lin Xun continued, “But when they come back some time later, I’m afraid…”
Shiao Tianren got it instantly before Lin Xun even finished his sentence and he was shocked with the acumen Lin Xun just demonstrated by deducing so much information from a single sentence he mentioned.
It was unbelievable! Was he a legendary talent of great wisdom like a demon?