61 Chapter 60: Vengeance (1/2)
I watched the cloud of dust where Qi Fu Ren landed, knowing that he wouldn't die from a single kick.
”!”
As I expected, a flare of golden lightning arced out of the crater, lancing forward in the form of a destructive bolt. Scooping Tang Qi Hong into my arms, I carried her before using a footwork technique to disappear.
BOOM!
The lightning bolt seared into the ground where Tang Qi Hong was lying on a few moments ago. Qi Fu Ren, that despicable bastard. Even when down, he wouldn't miss an opportunity to fire off an attack at someone who was incapacitated.
”The hero saving the beauty, eh?”
Rising from the crater, Qi Fu Ren wiped blood from his mouth and glared at me with a fierce grin that was ruined by the bloodied swelling of his cheek. He spat a glob of blood and staggered toward me, his eyes hard.
”Of course you'll come to save your woman.”
”Fei Wu!”
Tang Qi Hong was just as surprised as Qi Fu Ren to see me. Her eyes widened in incredulity as she studied me, and then she realized something was amiss.
”You…what happened to you?!”
”A lot,” I replied curtly.
”Don't give me that! You…!”
She needn't had said anything. I knew far better than she did that I looked like hell. More because I actually felt like hell.
Unfortunately, I had no time to rest. Not when there was one last enemy I needed to defeat first.
No, not just defeat. I was going to end this once and for all. I was sick and tired of letting Qi Fu Ren run around freely, of allowing him free reign to hurt my friends and loved ones. One way or another, I was going to settle all my debts with him today.
Ignoring Tang Qi Hong, I focused my hostile gaze on Qi Fu Ren, who looked more amused than intimidated.
”Fei Wu!”
Tang Qi Hong broke me out of the spell and I glanced down at her.
”Right…sorry. Tang Qi Hong…you and Zhu Jiao…and Teacher Jiao, and all the others came here to save me.”
I lowered my head.
”Thank you.”
”…Fei Wu…?”
Tang Qi Hong's eyes widened in disbelief as she studied me, still unable to comprehend what was going on. Then she caught sight of the blood all over my hands and feet.
”That's not my blood,” I assured her. ”Well…most of it, anyway.”
Much of the blood that I bled had dried up long ago, so I wasn't lying.
”We…”
Tang Qi Hong began, but she found herself at a loss for words. I didn't let her continue. Instead, I interrupted her.
”You're hurt.”
”!”
Tang Qi Hong continued to stare at me speechlessly, still in shock at the sudden turn of events. I could tell what she was thinking, even without the ability to read her mind. She and the others had come to save me, but I ended up saving her instead.
”I'm sorry…it's all my fault.”
If they didn't come to save me…if I had never gotten captured in the first place…then none of my classmates and my homeroom teacher would be hurt. None of them would ever be in danger to begin with.
It was all my fault for being too weak.
”No, wait! You…what about you?! What did they do to you?”
”A lot,” I replied curtly for the second time. A lightning bolt saved me from being reprimanded by Tang Qi Hong and I used Tui to evade the lethal bombardment of electricity that scorched the dull gray concrete black underneath my feet.
”Fei Wu!”
Zhu Jiao had just reached the rooftop too. I withdrew to his position and put the semiconscious Tang Qi Hong down as gently as I could.
”I'm all right,” I assured him, and then met his brown eyes steely. ”Look after Tang Qi Hong for me, will you?”
”O…okay!”
Nodding gratefully, I used Jin and dashed toward Qi Fu Ren, taking him by surprise. He stopped hurling his lightning bolts around and focused his insane, murderous gaze upon me. Sighing in mock disappointment, he shook his head.
”So you're still alive, shitty trash.”
I shrugged. ”Sorry to disappoint you.”
”You…” Qi Fu Ren narrowed his eyes, his stance growing slightly wary. ”You seem to have changed. I don't know what that bastard Ba Yun did to you, but you're clearly a different person from before.”
He then snorted.
”Well, that makes sense. If you didn't change, you would be long dead at the hands of that psychotic bastard.”
”Look who's talking,” I retorted. ”Your hands aren't very clean. No, they're stained with the blood of the innocent.” Cocking my head, I then smiled faintly. ”Or have you already forgotten all about poor Hu Shuo and Ba Dao?”
”Shut up!”
Hollering, Qi Fu Ren tossed an onslaught of lightning bolts at me. I easily weaved through them, using Jin to get in front of him.
”Hah! Naïve! I have three sexagenaries of qi! You have nothing compared to me…guh!”
My Shadow Kick caught him in the chest, cutting off his speech and sending him careening across the rooftop.
”Kuh! You…!”
Rolling to his feet, Qi Fu Ren sought to counterattack, throwing a Lightning Punch at me. But I stepped to the side and twisted my ehad slightly out of the way before kicking his knee and causing him to stumble.
”Fucker!”
Qi Fu Ren retaliated with a sweep of his arm, lightning bursting fiercely out of it, but I bent my back and dodged it by a hair's breadth. Using the momentum, I flipped myself up and rammed both legs against Qi Fu Ren, sending him spinning to the ground as blood spurted from his mouth. In a single, fluid motion, I jumped back up to my feet.
”Stop dodging!!!”
Bellowing in rage, Qi Fu Ren charged at me again, punching with his Lightning Fist. I easily dodged it and scoffed.
”For someone with three sexagenaries of qi, you sure have a difficult time dealing with me, don't you?”
”Fucker! Shut up!”
Qi Fu Ren roared and threw another punch that I effortlessly evaded. Hooking my leg around his ankle, I tripped him up and sent him sprawling on the ground.
”Gah!”
Before he could get up, I stomped on his back and unleashed Seismic Step. The ground beneath Qi Fu Ren's body collapsed and both of us crashed through the warehouse, plunging into the depths below amidst falling rubble.
”Fei Wu!”
I could hear Zhu Jiao shouting to me from above, but I waved at him to back off.
”Stay where you are!” I yelled back at him. ”Take care of Tang Qi Hong!”
”But…!”
”Trust me, you don't want to see this.”
”Huh?! What?!”
I ignored him and showed him a thumb's up sign.
”Trust me.”
With that, I exerted more power into Seismic Step and sent Qi Fu Ren smashing through several levels of the warehouse. We smashed past the second level, then the first, and then kept going into the basement.
BOOM!
”UGH! ARGH!”
Pinned beneath my foot, Qi Fu Ren writhed and flailed wildly, blood erupting from his mouth and wounds. Debris continued to rain about us, catastrophic damage dealt to the crumbling structure. I ignored a huge chunk of concrete, merely swinging my hand out and slicing it with my Ghost Shadow Sword technique before it could crush me.
It just so happened that a particularly big piece from that chunk crashed onto Qi Fu Ren's face, causing him to gag.
”Kuh! Ugh!”
Qi Fu Ren thrashed frantically, grabbing my foot and lifting it off his back. As expected of someone with three sexagenaries of qi…even though I was placing my full body weight and all of my strength into pinning him to the basement floor, he was still superior to me in terms of physical strength. This wasn't a contest I could win.
”I'll kill you! You fucking bastard…I'll kill you!”
Qi Fu Ren bellowed impotently from beneath me, slowly but surely lifting my foot away from the small of his back. I merely looked down on him condescendingly before unleashing another Seismic Step that carved a crater into the ground, with Qi Fu Ren bearing most of the impact.
”AAAAAAAAAARGH!”
”You did always love stepping on other people,” I remarked. ”How does it feel to be on the receiving end of that now?”
”FUCKER! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”
With a roar, Qi Fu Ren unleashed a desperate burst of Lightning Flash. Sensing the danger before he could fully execute his technique, I used a footwork technique and retreated as far back as I could, even as golden rays of lightning erupted from his body.
BOOM!
”Phew…that was dangerous.”
Despite putting as much distance as I could between myself and my opponent, I could still feel my skin tingling and my body going numb from the sheer volume of voltage that Qi Fu Ren discharged into the air.
This guy is dangerous. I can't afford to play around with him.
Not that I ever intended to do that to begin with.
Qi Fu Ren rushed forward to deliver a barrage of Lightning Punches that devastated the walls around us. Knowing that I could not afford to take a direct hit, I relied on evading his every attack, ducking under his cracking fists and avoiding his electricity.
”Fight me if you're a man!”
”Uh…isn't that what I'm already doing?” I muttered, trying my best to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.
”Then stop dodging!”
”And let you hit me?” I felt like we had this conversation before. Was this guy an idiot? He just never learned.
Instead, I stopped trying to think of an innovative retort and responded with a roundhouse kick that struck the side of his head and caused him to stagger back. Despite putting my full strength behind that blow, Qi Fu Ren was merely fazed and not taken down.
He has superior strength and endurance, but I'm just a tad faster than him…
”You…you're definitely different from before,” Qi Fu Ren growled as his hand went up to his temple, and his fingers came away wet with blood. ”What the hell happened to you down there, in Ba Yun's basement?”
”You should know. You were there most of the times.”
Not caring to elaborate, I jumped above Qi Fu Ren's kick and then ducked under a punch before retaliating with a kick to his midriff. Qi Fu Ren was forced back one step, his body presumably throbbing from the blow, but he held firm.
”No…”
Qi Fu Ren's eyes narrowed when he realized something was amiss. He aimed another Lightning Punch at me, but I easily dodged it.
”What happened to Ba Yun? I find it difficult that he just let you out of his basement like that?” he glared at me suspiciously. ”And the others were looking for him earlier because he wasn't at his post. Where did he go?”
I smiled thinly as I stepped back to avoid another Lightning Punch. ”It's as you suspected. He came to his basement to finish me off.”
Qi Fu Ren's eyes widened when he understood the implications of my statement. For all of his faults, the cunning bully was not an idiot.
”You…what did you do to him? I don't believe you defeated him! That's impossible!”
”You can believe whatever you want,” I replied coldly. ”I have no obligation to convince you otherwise.”
”Fuck you!” Qi Fu Ren snarled. ”There's no way you could have defeated Ba Yun! Impossible! He was so much stronger than you!”