147 Chapter 146: Stalker (1/2)

Having already explored the ancient tomb without them, there wasn't much of a reason for me to tag along except to help them bypass traps. So when I spotted Zhu Jiao leaving the tomb, ahead of the White Tiger Sect, I took notice.

”Hmm? Zhu Jiao is returning this early?”

I guess he was satisfied with what he had already obtained. Given that he had gotten a large haul in the form of Pure Yuan Pills, the Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets and very possibly other stuff, I didn't blame him. Moreover…

”Hey! You forgot to return me to him!”

Unseen, the ghost of Qi Lin chided me. In all that excitement during the confrontation with Liang Shao Yang, Jiang Jun Hao and the rest, I had completely forgotten about him. Feeling the golden amulet in my pocket, I smiled sheepishly.

”Whoops. Sorry. I'll go return you now.”

Just as I was about to leave, I spotted Jiang Jun Hao leaving in the same direction as Zhu Jiao, his eyes intently focused on the latter. He smiled, but as his eyes rested on Zhu Jiao's departing figure, they narrowed ominously.

”…”

Clearly something was up.

”Hey, guys. Sorry, but I'm going to leave early. I've gotten my hands on some stuff, and I don't want to be too greedy and hoard everything in the ancient tomb to myself. You guys can have the rest.” I waved my hand.

”Hmm?” Tang Qi Hong stared at me suspiciously, having seen through the lame excuse. She knew me well enough to know I wasn't that type of person.

”I see.” Lian Rou was more sensitive, though, especially when she caught sight of Zhu Jiao disappearing into the distance, and Jiang Jun Hao following him. She nodded and waved me away. ”You had best hurry then.”

”Eh? What's going on?” Tang Qi Hong asked, confused. ”Why does Fei Wu need to hurry?”

Tong Xue was bewildered at first, but when Lian Rou shot him a glance, he suddenly understood and laughed. ”Oh, no…just that some conflicts will be happening outside the ancient tomb. Fei Wu is being a busybody as always.”

”Why bother?” Zi Xiao Ji asked, inadvertently being callous. ”Other people can take care of themselves.”

”The person in question is a good friend,” Lian Rou put in. Tong Xue blinked, and suddenly understood as the pieces fell into place for him.

”Right…Zhu Jiao just parted ways with the White Tiger Sect and is on his own.”

”What?!” Tang Qi Hong groaned and slapped her forehead. ”That guy is being way too reckless! Why did he have to go off on his own?”

”Typical protagonists,” I muttered under my breath. ”Always wanting to be the lone ranger, trying to do everything on their own because they think it's cool. The readers don't help either, often flying into a rage whenever the protagonist teams up with 'useless' teammates or get burdened by other people. It's like these edgelords don't have friends in real life or something.”

I probably was closer to the mark than I ever knew, but that wasn't the point. For now, I should hurry before I completely lost track of Zhu Jiao.

”I'll see you guys back at the sect,” I told them, and then jogged off in the direction where I last saw Zhu Jiao.

Unfortunately, Zhu Jiao was a lot faster than I expected. I had to break into a run, and despite me using my footwork techniques, I wasn't able to catch up with him. It was as if the guy was riding a flying, winged tiger and crossing the entire Heavenly Fire Mountain Range in half a day. As fast as I was after all that training and daily running, even I couldn't keep up with a flying tiger.

Of course, I was mistaken. Zhu Jiao wasn't riding on a flying tiger like a certain Lin Dong. He had no reason to. After all, he had a flying Kirin. Seated atop his flying Kirin, the two of them soared over the entire Heavenly Fire Mountain Range breezily. It was a miracle I managed to keep up with the two of them at all.

”Huff…huff…”

I tried yelling for them, but they were too far away to hear me.

”Damn it…I'm still out of range for my cell phone.”

Glancing down at my cell phone, I saw that there was still no signal. The bars were empty and were overlaid by a cross that indicated that there was no service. Otherwise I would have called him long ago and told him to wait for me.

”Where did that Jiang Jun Hao go, anyway?”

There was no sign of that Heavenly Way Sect bastard. I wouldn't be surprised if we had left him behind in the dust. After all, I was among the fastest in the younger generation, and Zhu Jiao was literally riding a flying Kirin. Unless Jiang Jun Hao had a similar mount, he would find it very difficult to keep up on foot.

To my dismay, it turned out that Jiang Jun Hao did have some other means of travel other than on foot. I had completely forgotten how he landed in the campsite earlier that day.

VROOM!

A thunderous roar echoed throughout the mountain range, followed by a blazing shadow that swept above it. A red-haired guy riding a blazing, flying motorbike, streaked through the heavens, its engines shrieking in vengeance. Yup, Jiang Jun Hao arrived on his motorbike, so naturally he would ride it to leave.

However, for now, he didn't plan on living. Instead, he steered his motorbike in the direction of Zhu Jiao and his flying Kirin.

Seated atop his flying Kirin, Zhu Jiao slowly turned to glance at the mountainpeak from where the motorcyclist emerged from. Under the rays of the sun, dazzling light was reflected off the fiery red metallic frame of the roaring motorbike. Saddled atop the motorcycle, the rider gripped its handlebars with one hand while his other hand held a golden spear. His handsome face was creased in an arrogant sneer as he glared at Zhu Jiao.

”Jiang Jun Hao!”

Zhu Jiao's eyes darkened when he recognized the figure riding atop the flying motorcycle. He gritted his teeth.

”What are you doing here?”

”Hmph. Liang Shao Yang and all the others are too complacent, refusing to consider you a threat.”

”…who?”

Zhu Jiao stared at Jiang Jun Hao dumbly. The latter glowered at the former, waving his golden spear impatiently.

”Liang Shao Yang! The leader and head disciple of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect!”

”Ah. Him.” Zhu Jiao cocked his head to the side, puzzled. ”But why would he care about me? I'm not from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect and I've never offended him.”

”Well…well…that's because you're the protagonist and he's clearly the antagonist! You'll offend him sooner or later and he'll try to kill you! Just because!”

”You're not making any sense.” Zhu Jiao shook his head, baffled.

”Xianxia stories rarely do,” I muttered, but I was still too far away for either of them to hear me. Jiang Jun Hao cleared his throat.

”A…anyway, I have no desire to leave a potential disaster alone! After what happened today, you definitely bear a grudge against my Heavenly Way Sect! If that is the case, then no matter what, I must take your life today!”

Riding atop his motorcycle, the red-haired spearman in golden clothing slowly looked down on Zhu Jiao below, his voice filled with murderous intent.

”WHY?!” I yelled, clutching my head in frustration. ”That makes NO FUCKING SENSE!”

Finally I was close enough and the two of them whirled around to stare at me.

”Wu? What are you doing here?” Zhu Jiao demanded, astonished. I reached into my pocket, retrieved his golden amulet, and threw it at him. He caught it, but continued to stare at me blankly.

”First, I'm here to return you that.” then I turned to glare at Jiang Jun Hao. ”And secondly, I spotted this guy stalking you, so I got suspicious. I should have known that he was up to no good! This fucking bastard!”

”You…!” Jiang Jun Hao growled, but I cut him off before he could curse at me.

”And your logic is fucked up! What do you think this is, ancient China? Why the fuck do you resort to killing every single time? Oh, so you incurred a grudge with Zhu Jiao. Instead of…I don't know, compromising and resolving the matter diplomatically and peacefully, you decide to murder him because you're afraid of potential disasters in the future? What sort of stupid logic is that? If you're that afraid of his potential, shouldn't you be befriending him instead? What kind of idiot just resorts straight to killing? It's still an early stage of the grudge and there's room for you to compromise and negotiate and reconcile, but you choose to kill him? If he escapes, wouldn't you be sealing your own fucking doom? You just closed off any doors for reconciliation and negotiation!”

Shaking my head, I pushed my glasses up.

”And to make matters worse, this is the modern twenty-first century. Murder is outlawed. You're from the Heavenly Way Sect, an orthodox sect that is one of the eight major sects that is propping up the Martial Arts Alliance as one of their main pillars. And you, as one of their most famous disciples, is committing crimes and murdering people in the dark because you're afraid of incurring their grudge? What kind of martial artist are you?! Spouting all that bullshit about the righteous way, about justice and fighting the evil demonic sects, but then turning around and committing high-handed atrocities when someone offends you? Orthodox sects and paragons of justice, my ass! What Martial Arts Alliance?! You're nothing but a bloody hypocrite!”

”Oh, shut up!” Jiang Jun Hao hollered. ”This has nothing to do with you, you insignificant two-bit mob character who just serves as a foil to the protagonist!”

”How come he's breaking the fourth wall as well?” Zhu Jiao asked me. I shrugged. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who reincarnated into this world from a different timeline. It was entirely possible that Jiang Jun Hao was also someone from my original timeline who reincarnated into this world. Most likely an edgelord reader who demanded that protagonists solve everything in their stories by mercilessly killing everyone who crosses their paths, no doubt.

Zhu Jiao then shook his head and glared at the figure in golden robes riding atop the fiery, red motorcycle, and his gaze turned chilly. He clearly recognized this bastard as the true mastermind behind today's events.

Sensing the icy glare, Jiang Jun Hao turned back to Zhu Jiao, his mouth curling into a nasty smile.

”Hand over the Spirit Treasure Weapon and I will leave your dead body intact!”

”What kind of stupid ultimatum is that?!” I yelled again, throwing my hands up in exasperation. ”If you're going to kill Zhu Jiao either way, why the fuck would he listen to you?!”

Ignoring me, Jiang Jun Hao slowly dismounted off his motorcycle and jumped to land on top of a mountainpeak. His aura of qi burst forward, like water from a dam that just opened, pouring out in an overwhelming manner to suffocate both me and Zhu Jiao.

Neither of us were impressed or affected.

Zhu Jiao laughed. ”Compared to Lei Yong Chun, you still have a long way to go. Showing off your pathetic aura like that…don't you feel embarrassed, Jiang Jun Hao?”

Despite the immense pressure that weighed down on him, Zhu Jiao didn't even tremble. He raised his head defiantly and scoffed. While he clearly recalled the last time he fought Lei Yong Chun, in Wu Ling Academy that night over a year ago, and lost terribly despite ganging up on the White Tiger Sect head disciple with the other student council members, he found Jiang Jun Hao's attempts to cow him laughable.

Shaking his head in amusement, he then dismounted from his Golden Kirin. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the Kirin, and the legendary creature disappeared just like that.

”Don't humiliate him further,” I told him. ”The poor guy doesn't even know that he isn't able to intimidate us at all.”

”I'm still enough to kill the both of you!” Jiang Jun Hao sneered as he infused his golden spear with his qi. Raging qi swirled about the long weapon, rising in potent fury to match the emotions of its arrogant wielder. ”Don't even think that anyone will come and save you. The White Tiger Sect are too busily scavenging for treasures to know that I was hunting you down, and even if they do, they'll be too late by the time they arrived.”

”You do realize that I noticed you stalking Zhu Jiao from the beginning, right?” I pointed out. ”And in fact, the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect realized it too. But they let me come alone. You know why?” I grinned. ”That's because they know Zhu Jiao and I will be more than enough to take down the likes of you, even without their help.”

”Shut the fuck up!” Jiang Jun Hao snarled. His body still radiating that immense killing intent, he stepped into the air and began walking toward Zhu Jiao, as of there was an invisible floor hovering in midair. The bloody bastard was actually capable of walking across the heavens!

To be fair, it seemed like a simple concept. With my Heaven and Earth senses, I could see him condensing a layer of qi under his feet, solidifying it so that he can walk without falling through the air.

What a cheater.

As if he was climbing a flight of stairs, Jiang Jun Hao approached Zhu Jiao before finally coming to a stop right in front of him, floating in midair.

”If you think you can kill me, you're welcome to try!” Zhu Jiao beckoned him with a hand.

I could see that my friend was visibly pissed off after the events of today. Even though we all agreed to back off in the burial chamber, Jiang Jun Hao refused to let go of the matter and persistently pursued him.

Zhu Jiao was clearly thinking that if the guy was such a glutton for punishment, then he would oblige and beat the hell out of him.

Bang!

Zhu Jiao then punctuated his declaration by drawing his Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets and equipping himself with them. He stomped on the ground, his unyielding golden qi leaving cracks in the solid rock.

”You brat. Today I'll clearly display to you the true power of a Pure Spirit Stage practitioner!”

With a sneer, Jiang Jun Hao raised his golden spear and thrust it into the air. Extremely potent qi flowed out from his hands and imbued the divine weapon with sheer, destructive power and he abruptly switched the trajectory of his thrust and speared right for Zhu Jiao's heart!

I winced as the sonic boom hit my ears, Jiang Jun Hao's attack literally ripping the air apart as it disappeared into a golden blur that aimed right for Zhu Jiao's chest. Stone that were dozens, even over a hundred meters below, crumbled instantly to dust from the sheer destructive power of the attack, before billowing upward from the numerous sonic booms.

”Oh, really?”

Zhu Jiao rolled his eyes, cocked one arm back, and then punched the streaking spear. With a mighty boom, the collision resulted in an immense explosion that knocked the two back, and even buffeted me, quite some distance away, with terrible shockwaves. On either side of me, rocks shattered and the mountains trembled from the sheer impact.

”Oh, how scary…” Zhu Jiao shivered mockingly, wrapping his arms – his right gauntlet still smoldering from the defensive punch earlier – around him. ”I didn't think you would strike with such a pathetic attack. The sheer embarrassment from launching such a weak strike is making me tremble in fear!”

”Shut up!” Jiang Jun Hao screamed. He thrust his spear forward again, but Zhu Jiao merely batted it away and counterattacked with a hook that nearly caught his opponent in the jaw. But despite being enraged, Jiang Jun Hao was still a formidable prodigy from the younger generation after all. He barely managed to parry the armored fist with the shaft of his golden spear.

Clang!

”Kuh!”

Jiang Jun Hao stumbled backward, cursing as his arms shook from the massive impact. He tried to stabilize his trembling spear by tightening his grip, but his fingers had gone numb from the blow and his movements few leaden.

”Such power…!”

”Come on! Come on!” Zhu Jiao yelled as he bore down on Jiang Jun Hao. ”What's the matter? Didn't you say you're going to kill me?”

”Gah!”