Chapter 665: Solving Enmity
The bleached-haired young man glanced at his friend with a surprised expression. What he could not understand was that his friend, who had always been fearless, unexpectedly looked a bit pale. As he followed the direction of he was looking at, his sight then fell on Tang Xiu.
“Well, well, what a coincidence.”
Tang Xiu himself looked unfazed and calm and spoke in a casual manner. He also did not expect to bump into an old acquaintance in such a remote place in the Western Region. More so that this acquaintance was one he once trashed miserably before.
The bleached-haired youth pointed to Tang Xiu and asked him, “Do you know this kiddo, Wang Hu?”
The stocky Wang Hu hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. The fear and alarmed expression he had was then replaced by resentment. Tang Xiu once trashed him back when he was with a group of scions in Li Xueming’s Regent Amusement Clubhouse in Jingmen Island. The reason was because of the princess of the Ouyang Family, Ouyang Lulu.
That time, he got beaten and kicked out of Jingmen Island—the biggest shame and humiliation he had ever had since his childhood till now. Although his Wang Family was very powerful in the Northwest Region, it was not that powerful in Jingmen Island, more so that the Ouyang Family was more powerful than his Wang Family, hence settling the account with the Ouyang family was evidently not realistic.
However, he vividly remembered the guy who trashed him back then, Tang Xiu. He had always been hoping that he would encounter this punk again to wipe off this shame, but never did he expect that he would bump into him in this place. He also didn't expect that his first feeling when seeing Tang Xiu again would unexpectedly be fear.
It was because of this fear that he felt deeply humiliated and disgraced.
After hearing the question from the bleached-haired young man, Wang Hu resentfully replyed while glaring at Tang Xiu, “He’s my mortal enemy!”
The bleached-haired youth rolled his eyes and snappily said, “Then why don’t you kill him directly since he’s your enemy? This place is remote and desolate, it would be easy to dump a corpse and obliterate all traces.”
Wang Hu’s face slightly changed, then was replaced with pleasant surprise since what his friend said was right. One could kill someone and casually dump the body in some remote place to rot and turn into mud in the Western Region, while the chance of being discovered would be close to nil. He knew that Tang Xiu’s personal combat strength was very formidable, but his friends who came here with him were all experts from the Xuan House. He could ask any of these experts and casually pay them; they probably had countless ways to kill Tang Xiu.
As he thought up to there, Wang Hu took a step forward, glared at Tang Xiu and coldly shouted, “You never expected that you’d bump into me here, did you, Tang punk? The road to Heaven is fucking there yet you don’t take it, for you always head toward Hell though there’s no road to it, huh? I, Wang Hu, guarantee that you will pass through that door fainted today.”
Tang Xiu could not restrain himself as he laughed and said, “Well, you still remember my threat last time, eh? Was leaving the place fainted so miserable for you? Don’t tell me a dog can’t stop himself from eating shit—just like your bad habits are hard to change? Do you want me to give you another good lesson?”
Wang Hu grinned hideously and said, “Surnamed Tang, have you heard the words that anyone who can change in a short period of time deserves to be treated differently? This father is now a member of Xuan House, so it’s fucking easy for this father to kill you now even though you have a bit of ability in kung fu.”
A member of the Xuan House?
Tang Xiu slightly furrowed his brows as cast his eyes on the bleached-haired young man and said lightly, “And who are you?”
“Xuan Yugu,” said the bleached-haired young man proudly.
“Never heard of you,” replied Tang Xiu nonchalantly.
Xuan Yugu’s face changed as he glared at Tang Xiu and scowled, “You are courting death!”
“What audacity!”
The owner of the hunting ground, Gesangjor, suddenly grabbed the hunting knife on the side and stabbed it on the table, as he immediately got up and loudly said, “I don’t give a fuck to what kind of resentment exists between all of you. Shortly put, this place is my hunting ground and everything must be played according to the rules of my hunting ground. You are not to have a private fight in my place unless you all sign the Life and Death Pact and go to the back of the forested mountain.”
“Gesangjor, it’s best for you to avoid trouble whenever possible, for fewer troubles mean that you can live a bit longer,” said Xuan Yugu coldly.
Gesangjor slammed the table. He picked out a black ornamental thumb ring on his right thumb and quickly put it on his left hand’s thumb, as he then growled in anger, “I may have dreaded if those words were spoken by the Patriarch of Xuan House, but who the hell is a little brat like you to dare to say those words, huh? Do you not believe that I can tear open your dog’s mouth?”
Black ornamental thumb ring?
With contracted pupils, Xuan Yugu staggeringly stepped backward. There was a consensus among those in the Strange Doors lineage that the black ornamental thumb ring could only be obtained by the most powerful sect masters or clan patriarchs who were recognized by all forces under the Strange Doors lineage. He originally thought that Gesangjor was only an ordinary man, but it turned out that the man was unexpectedly someone like the Xuan House, and the most important thing was that he was also one of the strongest, leaving him unable to believe it.
However, Wang Hu just became a member of the Xuan House for a short time and was naturally unaware of this matter. Nevertheless, he could faintly guess that Gesangjor might have a special identity upon seeing Xuan Yugu’s unusual response. And yet, he had no fear since his enemy was not Gesangjor. He then quickly came to Xuan Yugu’s side and whispered to him, and after getting his consent, he looked at Tang Xiu and sneered, “Surnamed Tang, I believe you also heard the words spoken by the owner of this hunting ground. Let’s sign the Life and Death Pact if you have the balls and have a fight to the death in the back of the mountain. Whoever loses will leave his life there, and the winner will come out of that place alive! Do you dare?”
“Brother Tang…”
Finally, Jie Walie somewhat regretted bringing Tang Xiu to the hunting ground. Tang Xiu would not have met his enemy had he not brought him here.
“Brother Jie, it’s a personal enmity between me and him, so you should just watch the show! I will sign this Life and Death Pact, but shouldn’t you explain how the rules are played?”
Wang Hu had yet to speak when Xuan Yugu spoke with a sullen face, “Three men from both sides will play the game and enter the back of the mountain to fight to the death. It’s fine whether you use guns or blades, but the victor can only come out from the back of the mountain if the three men from the opposite party die.”
“Alright, I’m in.”
Tang Xiu got up straightly. He looked at Gesangjor and said with a smile, “Brother Gesangjor, I’ll have to trouble you to take us to the hunting ground armory. After all, we’re going to play some killing games with them, so if we don’t choose some weapons while in passing, we would be sinners if we can’t come back and continue accompanying you drinking.”
Gesangjor squinted his eyes and shot a deep gaze at Tang Xiu. After which, only then did he pull up his hunting knife and loudly replied, “Things have gotten to this point, so let’s go to the armory. And you, Xuan brat, didn’t you want to rent a crossbow and its bolts? Follow me and no one will fight it over with you.”
Half an hour later, Tang Xiu brought a hunting rifle he picked from the armory and stood at the entrance of the hiking trek. The hills in the back were not too high, the highest peak was only a hundred-plus meters high. For signing up the Life and Death Pact, he took Mo Awu and another expert and then trekked the hiking trail.
A few meters in front of them, Wang Hu and Xuan Yugu were standing side by side, followed by a middle-aged man holding a two-handed saber. The middle-aged man’s looks were ordinary, but the aura he emitted out was very strange, and Tang Xiu could not hear his breathing if he did not focus his hearing on it despite his high cultivation.
At this time, the guests who came to the hunting ground and were invited from the back of the mountain now arrived at the place was close to 100 people.
Tang Xiu himself was quite surprised since he found some unusual issues. One of which was that two people among them he had seen participating in the underground auction in Beijing. One of them even competed with him on an item. The rest of them mostly had abnormal auras, while some wore the amulets he crafted.
It seems that most of these people are from Xuan House. Only, there are so many people from Xuan House gathered here, what exactly is their purpose? secretly thought Tang Xiu.
“Alright, TO THE MOUNTAINS!”
Gesangjor apparently knew the identity of the middle-aged man behind Xuan Yugu, and there was even a bit of dread on his face when he looked at him. The man sighed inwardly and his expression when he looked at Tang Xiu was filled with pity. For an ordinary person, however formidable his martial arts was, encountering people from the Strange Doors lineage would probably leave him falling in his own blood.
He could tell something: the chance of Tang Xiu surviving was close to none.
He was not the only one who thought so, but even the nearly 100 people from Xuan House who obviously knew who Xuan Yugu was were looking at Tang Xiu like he was dead already.
“What a pity! A respectable young divine doctor does not stay honest to practice his medicine skills and give medical treatment, and even unexpectedly provoked the people from the Xuan House. This is akin to courting his own death!”
“Yeah, this time Tang Xiu is dead. Take a look at the man beside Xuan Yugu. He’s the Hall Master of the Serenity Sect’s Justice Hall. I heard that he had a fortuitous encounter and, coupled with the secret technique of Serenity Sect to concoct medicine to temper his body, it is said that his body is nearly invulnerable. I’ve seen him in mortal combat, he’s very strong. I don’t know who can deal with him, unless it’s those old monsters from the Strange Doors.”
“It’s just stupid! He challenged people from the Strange Doors. He’s just looking for his own death.”
“Oh…”
With his keen hearing, Tang Xiu could clearly hear their comments even though their voices were low and some distance away from him. He inwardly sneered at them, but he maintained unperturbed expression on the surface as he led Mo Awu and his comrade to trek on the mountain pathway.
Ten minutes later, Tang Xiu stood on a big tree and calmly observed for the slightest sign of disturbance from the wind and grass in the surroundings. He had never looked down on anyone and took whoever he would face seriously, for he had seen too many occasions where people ended up miserable due to unexpected things.
“They are coming.”
After seeing the flash of a shadow in the distance through the gap between the twigs, Tang Xiu pointed toward that direction and said, “Awu, keep the life of that two brats and bring them here to see me. As for the other man, kill him!”
Mo Awu nodded and his figure instantly vanished.
In the forested mountain hundreds of meters away, Xuan Yugu and Wang Hu looked very relaxed, like they were enjoying the beautiful scenery nature presented them. They occasionally glanced around with vigilance. But the middle-aged man beside them was particularly vigilant, and the slightest disturbance would alert him.
Whoosh, whoosh…
A blurry figure flashed before the eyes of the trio as the sharp blade of a dagger swept past Wang Hu and Xuan Yugu’s right wrists, causing the guns in their hands to fall amidst the splattering blood.
“GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!”
The middle-aged man’s face changed greatly as he raised the two-handed saber in his hands in panic and ferociously faced the shadowy figure. He slashed it, and the blade hacked down with a whooshing sound.
But at this time, a hand was already strangling him.