Chapter 36: A Cruel World

There was a flash of ruthlessness in the middle-aged man’s eyes. The lean man was stunned, and before he even responded, the middle-aged man gave him a strong slap on the back.

Bang!

The lean man never expected that the middle-aged man would suddenly take action against him. He was sent flying several meters away.

“No… Ma Quan, you mean little man!”

The lean man fell on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and shouted furiously at the middle-aged man.

Hiss…!

The smell of blood attracted the Jiao Python, and soon, the giant green-colored Jiao Python was dashing towards the man, biting down on him.

“Ah…!”

Chakk!

The Jiao Python bit down hard on the man’s neck, instantly beheading him. Blood spurted up several meters from the headless corpse.

This scene was bloody and terrifying. Right after that, the Jiao Python swallowed the man whole. In the meantime, the middle-aged man managed to escape another twenty to thirty meters away, clearly portraying the spirit of “I would rather ditch my friend than die myself.”

This is the ugliness of human nature. In the face of death, one could do anything in order to survive.

“That bastard! How could he be so cruel?”

This scene sparked a fire of anger in Mu Kuang’s heart, whereas Mu Feng had a calm expression on his face, as he was somebody who had experienced matters of life and death on the battlefield.

The selfishness of an ordinary cultivator could kill a person and a zealous man who held power could kill tens of thousands of people because of a conspicuous desire. He knew about this since the beginning, and that was why he was so persistent in becoming one of the powerful ones. He didn’t want his own fate to be that of a chess piece in the control of others.

After running for quite a distance, the middle-aged man tiptoed, jumped up seven or eight meters high, and grabbed hold of a tree that was on the cliff.

The cliff that he was climbing was none other than the cliff in front of Mu Feng and Mu Kuang, which was a few hundred meters away from them.

The middle-aged man grabbed hold of the tree branches and climbed up to the tree. With the help of a tree branch, he jumped up another several meter high and grabbed hold of a bulging rock. With a few more leaps, he could climb out of the canyon.

However, at the same time, the Jiao Python was right under him. It looked at the middle-aged man who was about to jump out of the canyon and hissed angrily.

There was a flash of green light from its mouth, and two blasts of two meter long green light blades fired from its mouth, aiming at the middle-aged man who was about to escape from the canyon.

The expression of the middle-aged man changed as he used his sword to block the attack. He wasn’t able to dodge the attack as he was in mid-air.

Dang!

One of the strikes was blocked by his sword, creating a clashing sound of metals.

Fortunately, his sword was a lower class Yuan Item. It took him years to save up the money for it. If it was just an ordinary sword made of iron and steel, he wouldn’t be able to block the attack.

A good weapon is able to save one’s life during a critical moment.

The explosive force of that strike sent the middle-aged man flying all way up to the top of the canyon. He was overwhelmed with joy as he was able to make use of the attack to escape instead.

However, it was still too early to be happy as there was still another strike.

Chakk!

“Ah…!”

The green colored light blade hit the middle-aged man’s left shoulder. His left arm was directly chopped off and fell off the cliff.

However, he landed on the top of the cliff that was about 60 or 70 meters high, so it could be said that he managed to escape death’s door.

The Jiao Python hissed continuously, as though it was unwilling to let the man escape. Its body was too large to slither up the steep cliff, so all it could do was to stare at the thief that stole its eggs.

Bang!

“Ah…!”

The middle-aged man fell onto the ground, held his arm, and screamed painfully. He lost an arm for several snake eggs. He wasn’t sure whether he actually gained or lost something out of this business trip. Fortunately, the arm that he lost wasn’t the arm that he used to wield his sword, or else his cultivation training would be as good as none.

The man endured the pain and stood up. He stumbled for another hundred meters or so away from the cliff and sat down again. Blood was still gushing out from where his arm used to be.

He opened up the leather backpack that contained three fist-sized eggs, two of which were green, while the other one was white.

These three eggs were the eggs of the Jiao Python. Each of them was worth at least several thousand gold coins. Selling all three of them would make him very rich for the next few years and he wouldn’t have to live his current pitiful life anymore.

The man took out a bottle of medicine from the backpack and poured it on his wound while he trembled and gritted his teeth in pain.

After applying the medicine, the wound stopped bleeding immediately. The middle-aged man laid on the ground and breathed heavily. His face was still pale and a trace of shock remained in his eyes.

The strength of that Jiao Python was at least comparable to that of a cultivator who had reached Ning Gang Fourth Sky. It was impossible for him to win the fight as he had only reached Zi Fu Sixth Sky. If he hadn’t sacrificed his comrade to buy some time, he might have ended up in the snake’s belly.

“Damn it! After this, I will definitely go to the Qing Hua Tower to enjoy myself for a month.”

The middle-aged man said furiously. After that, he sat cross-legged and started to replenish the Vitality that had been used up in battle just now while enduring the pain.

At the edge of the cliff that wasn’t that far away, Mu Feng and Mu Kuang were still hiding in the bushes. Both of them watched as the Jiao Python retreated back to the canyon reluctantly.

“That old geezer is so lucky to escape. He should have been eaten by the Jiao Python instead.”

Mu Kuang sneered coldly. He felt greatly disgusted by the actions of the middle-aged man that ditched his comrades in order to live.

“Hehe, he managed to escape from the Jiao Python, but he may not necessarily manage to escape from us…”

Mu Feng said and smiled coldly. He had a bold idea.

“What do you mean? Brother Feng, don’t tell me that you plan to be a villain who does the dirty work?”

Mu Kuang seemed to understand what did Mu Feng meant.

“Yes. That man was badly injured and he used up quite a lot of Vitality in the previous battle. He wouldn’t be able to put up a good fight anymore. Plus, there must be something valuable in his backpack.”

Mu Feng squinted his eyes and said.

“Haha, let’s do it then. I never liked that guy anyway. Killing this kind of scum would be the best option!”

Mu Kuang said excitedly. All he feared was that the world was too boring for him, as he had the guts to do anything.

“No matter what, that man is a Zi Fu level master. I wouldn’t be scared if I picked a fight with him in the past, but now we are quite weak. We can’t confront him head-on. We should…”

Mu Feng whispered to Mu Kuang and told Mu Kuang about his plan. Upon hearing it, Mu Kuang nodded and both of them quietly fled towards the direction where the middle-aged man went.

The middle-aged man was absorbing the Qi of Heaven and Earth and converting it to Vitality to recover his strength. However, suddenly, a cry of pain came from afar.

“Help, ouch… Somebody help me! My leg is broken, help me…”

The middle-aged man opened his eyes, grabbed his sword, and stood up immediately.

The scream for help seemed to come from nearby. Judging by the voice, it seemed that someone was in danger.

The middle-aged man frowned. He hesitated whether to go and have a look or not as he was injured.

However, the voice he heard was quite childish, as though it was a young teenage boy who was screaming for help. In the end, the middle-aged man decided to check it out. He took his sword and headed towards the source of the scream.

After walking about two hundred meters, he saw a fifteen or sixteen-year old long-haired boy lying under a rock. He held his legs and had a painful expression on his face. It seemed that his leg was broken.