Chapter 85 – Kill the Chicken to Scare the Monkey
Translator: Seventh Peril Editor: Anuvrat
At this moment, the atmosphere at the entrance of the Xingxiang Sect had turned peculiarly silent.
Everyone stared at the two people before them with a strange expression. The corners of their eyes twitched uncontrollably.
Over the years, the Outer and Inner disciples were fighting each other, both openly and covertly, for countless times. However, such a bloody agreement had rarely happened.
At this moment, every disciple of the Xingxiang Sect was waiting to see what would happen next. Such a scene was hard to come by!
“What if I say no to both?” Fu Yang narrowed his eyes, his eyes were filled with an eerie coldness.
“That’s such a pity. If that’s the case, then I might have to decide for you, Senior Brother Fu Yang.” Ye Zhong reached out his right hand slowly, and the Shura Sword Seal started to form on his palm.
“You—” Fu Yang’s expression was uncertain. After a long while, he flung his hand and the Spiritual Value Token flew out from within his robes. He knew about Ye Zhong’s style of doing things and was prepared to take out his Spiritual Value to settle the matter.
To everyone’s surprise, Ye Zhong casually took the token without even glancing at it, and casually threw it on the ground. His gaze remained impassive while staring at Fu Yang.
“Ye Zhong, don’t go too far! You like Spiritual Value, aren’t you? I’ll give them to you! ” The corner of Fu Yang’s eyes twitched as he shouted.
“Senior Brother Fu Yang, although I like Spiritual Value, I prefer to abide by the agreement we made before the fight. Since you’ve agreed to it, don’t blame me!” Ye Zhong shook his head, stomped on the ground, and shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
“*Whoosh—*”
The moment his body appeared before Fu Yang, Ye Zhong’s right palm turned into a knife-hand strike, slashing down at him.
“*Spurt—*”
Before anyone could react, Ye Zhong’s palm strike had already chopped off Fu Yang’s right arm. A smooth cut appeared on his right arm, and his severed forearm was instantly flung out, landing on the ground under the attention of countless gazes.
“Aaaaargh!”
A miserable scream rang out at this moment, and Fu Yang only reacted after his right forearm was cut off. He held his severed stump of an arm with his remaining hand and staggered back, a flicker of resentment and fear appeared in his eyes at the same time.
Ye Zhong did it! He did it in the Xingxiang Sect!
At this moment, not only Fu Yang but all the surrounding disciples sucked in a cold breath and remained silent. Who would have thought that Ye Zhong would do as he pleased, without giving Fu Yang a chance to react at all?
After losing an arm, Fu Yang had become half-crippled, wasn’t it?
“What a good move by Junior Brother Ye Zhong…”
Hao Feng watched this scene attentively. After a moment, he sighed and said. Ye Zhong’s move was equivalent to killing the chicken to scare the monkey [1], and from this moment onwards, no one would dare to casually provoke him.
Su Yu and Lu Bing looked at each other, a trace of helplessness appearing in their eyes. No matter what, Fu Yang was still a fellow disciple. From their point of view, Ye Zhong’s method was a little too ruthless.
Only Ling Yue’s expression did not change. She stared at this rather shocking scene without a word.
“This fellow, he took Fu Yang’s arm!?”
Yang Fang watched the scene secretly from afar, and the corner of his eyes suddenly twitched violently. As far as he was concerned, Ye Zhong would at most only extort some Spiritual Value from Fu Yang, and would not dare to do anything reckless. In his eyes, the wager of cutting off an arm was nothing more than a joke.
However, Ye Zhong didn’t take Fu Yang’s Spiritual Value, and cut off one of his arms!?
“Next time, do not act rashly unless I am one hundred percent certain that I can kill this fellow.” Yang Hao’s expression was rather unsightly at the moment. After staring at Ye Zhong’s figure for a moment, he spoke softly with a cold expression. Even though his tone was cold, his words held a deep fear for Ye Zhong.
The surrounding disciples were tongue-tied one by one as they watched the scene unfold. It was only after a long while that they drew a sharp breath. It looked like if they wanted to do anything to this Junior Brother Ye Zhong in the future, they would have to weigh whether they have the abilities first or not.
In the field, Fu Yang was holding his severed stump of an arm, blood dripping onto the ground. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
The intense pain almost made him lose his sanity. After calming himself down with much difficulty, he looked at Ye Zhong with eyes as cold as a viper.
“Junior Brother Ye Zhong, you’re very good! It’s been a long time since I’ve met a man of his word like you! I, Fu Yang will never forget today’s humiliation for the rest of my life!” Fu Yang shouted with resentment as his eyes were gloomy and cold to the extreme.
Ye Zhong’s gaze was cold and could tell what Fu Yang was thinking through his eyes. If this place wasn’t the Xingxiang Sect, he would have directly killed the latter long ago.
However, even if he couldn’t kill him openly this time, there would still be a chance in the future, right?
“Senior Brother Fu Yang, I very much welcome you to come and find me next time. However, the next time will be when we place a wager of cutting off our heads, I can’t take another arm from you, can I?” Ye Zhong smiled faintly at Fu Yang.
The corner of Fu Yang’s eyes twitched violently. After a moment, he finally could not speak any vicious words as he held onto his severed stump of an arm and staggered away.
After Fu Yang left, as if nothing had happened, Ye Zhong turned around and walked back to where Ling Yue and the rest were, he then smiled, “Senior Brother and Sisters, I’ve just solved a small problem and wasted a bit of time. Shall we head out now?”
Upon hearing his words, Lu Bing and the others all sighed bitterly. By cutting an arm of one of the senior brothers from the same sect, he had instantly established his prestige in the Xingxiang Sect. And this was just a small problem for him?
At this point, both Lu Bing and Hao Feng, who did not know much about Ye Zhong, finally understood why Ling Yue invited him to go on this mission.
Without considering anything else, this Youngest Junior Brother Ye Zhong was definitely one of the best among all the disciples in the entire Xingxiang Sect, regardless of strength or skill!
“Your trouble this time around was caused by me. I will compensate you for this matter.” Ling Yue looked at Ye Zhong and spoke softly, “But we don’t have much time left, let’s get going. I will explain the details of the mission on the way.”
Ye Zhong, Su Yu, Hao Feng, and Lu Bing simultaneously nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing this, Ling Yue did not say anything further. Her delicate body moved, leading the way out of the entrance of the Xingxiang Sect. Ye Zhong and the rest followed closely behind her.
“Hongya Cave is located on the border of three kingdoms – Great Zhou Dynasty, Lei Tian Dynasty, and Xue Yuan Dynasty.”
“Which is the most chaotic region. Not to mention the Great Zhou Dynasty, even our Xingxiang Sect does not have the slightest influence in that region. Therefore, even with the deterrence of our sect, some fights and conflicts would be inevitable. No matter what we want to do, we can only rely on ourselves.”
“At the same time, the crucial part of this mission is to investigate the cause of the missing disciples of our Xingxiang Sect, what had happened to them three years ago, rescuing the persons, if alive, and if not, recovering the bodies. It would be fine if they just die by accident, but if the investigation reveals there is a culprit behind it, I’m afraid our mission will have to change!”
“Of course, in the process, we definitely can’t go to the Hongya Cave for nothing. Since it only opens once every three years, this time we have to get all the benefits we can, so we can’t miss it!”
As she spoke to this point, Ling Yue’s amber eyes turned serious: “Therefore, everyone must be extra careful during this mission. The area where the Hongya Cave is located would definitely be in shambles – the killing grounds. If we make even the slightest mistake, we might end up losing our lives.
Upon hearing that, Ye Zhong and the rest nodded slightly. After leaving the Xingxiang Sect, they wouldn’t be restricted by the sect’s rules, including the one that prevented them from killing fellow disciples. Likewise, there was no longer the protection of the Xingxiang Sect. From now on, every action was based only on respect for the strong! Whether or not one could reap sufficient benefits from the Hongya Cave mission would depend on one’s abilities!
Ye Zhong did not underestimate the Western Desolate Realm anymore. Although it was not as superior as the Three Thousand God Realms, it was not too far off. Apart from the fact that there were only a few peak-level powerhouses, other things were almost the same.
If he wanted to obtain something, he needed to be strong enough. In the path of cultivation, one had to walk forward step by step. Even if one had to go against the will of heaven, one had to step forward resolutely. One could not retreat!
Compared to the Xingxiang Sect’s rule which provided certain protection to disciples, the true brutality of the Western Desolate Realm, where the strong were respected, was perhaps more suitable for Ye Zhong.
As such, as soon as Ling Yue and the rest left Wanxiang City, the faint smile on Ye Zhong’s face was gone, replaced with indifference.
Only after leaving the Xingxiang Sect would Ye Zhong be able to act without fear! If Fu Yang had planned to take revenge on him now, Ye Zhong would definitely welcome him! And this time, both sides would not have to place any bet. All they would do was to kill each other!
Beside Ye Zhong, Su Yu’s pupils contracted slightly. She had worked with Ye Zhong once and could sense the subtle changes in his temperament.
If Ye Zhong could still restrain himself within the Xingxiang Sect, then after leaving the sect, the full strength that he had been concealing all along, he could use it now whenever he needed to, without holding back!
Ling Yue then gave Ye Zhong a deep look, with a sombre look in her eyes. Even though Ye Zhong’s demeanour had changed slightly, she could still sense it with her abilities.
Most likely, everyone in the Xingxiang Sect had underestimated this new Junior Brother of theirs.
After this thought flashed across Ling Yue’s mind, she smiled and waved her hand.
“Let’s go, we don’t have much time left. We need to hurry to the Hongya Cave.”
TL note(s):
[1] “Kill the chicken to scare the monkey” is an idiom meaning “making an example out of someone to threaten others”.