Simultaneously traversing: traversing countless heavens

Chapter 103 Cut the weeds and nip them in the bud

Not long after.

Suddenly, a chaotic sound of horses' hooves and shouts erupted outside the inn, approaching from afar and reaching the doorway in an instant, turning the once peaceful street into a scene of utter chaos.

"Where is my beauty? Where is my beauty?!" A slick, frivolous voice, tinged with impatience, rang out first, and then a group of people roughly pushed open the not-so-wide door of the Dragon Gate Inn.

The leader was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in brocade robes and wearing a jade crown. He had fair skin, but unfortunately, his eyes were puffy and cloudy with bluish eye bags, and his lips had an unhealthy pale purple hue. He was clearly a person who indulged in excessive drinking and womanizing.

He was the eldest son of the Chen family, a man whom no one in the city dared to offend.

At this moment, surrounded by a group of servants and guards, he swaggered in, fanning himself with a folding fan, his eyes eagerly scanning the hall.

"Young Master! It's right there! The one by the window!" The thug who had brought the news earlier immediately fawned over him like a lapdog seeing its master, bowing and pointing precisely at the table by the window, pointing to Nangong Pu She, who was tense up because of the commotion next to Zhou Yi.

Young Master Chen looked in the direction the finger was pointing, and the moment his gaze fell on Nangong Pushe's face, he was frozen in place as if struck by a spell, even stopping the movement of his fan.

His mouth was agape, his eyes wide open, bursting with undisguised amazement and greed.

nice!So beautiful!

Even if it was just a fleeting glimpse, even if the young woman was dressed in the most ordinary plain white dress, her face still showing childishness and a hint of fear, her exquisite features, her snow-white skin, and especially her clear yet apprehensive eyes—

Young Master Chen felt a surge of lust rising from his lower abdomen, instantly overwhelming all reason.

Only one thought screamed in his mind: I must have her! I must have her! Such a beauty deserves to be mine!

"What the hell are you standing there for?!"

Young Master Chen snapped back to reality, slamming his folding fan shut. He pointed at Zhou Yi's table, his voice sharp with excitement and desire: "Take her! Bring that little beauty over here! A hefty reward awaits!"

"Alright! Young master, watch out!" The thug had been waiting for those words. He immediately perked up, yelling and charging forward, while waving to the Chen family's fierce guards, "Brothers, go! Do it the old way!"

Judging from their eagerness, fierce eyes, and practiced movements, it was clear that this was not the first time they had ever forcibly abducted women and bullied passersby.

Seven or eight burly men, some drawing short sticks and others brandishing their fists, grinned menacingly as they surrounded the window. Their menacing presence immediately frightened the other diners in the hall, who quickly retreated to corners, too angry to utter a word.

Nangong Pu She had never seen such a scene before.

As the hideous-looking men approached, the little girl turned pale with fright. Her chopsticks fell to the table with a "clatter." Like a startled deer, she instinctively shrank back to Zhou Yi, her little hands gripping his clothes tightly until her knuckles turned white from the force.

The leader of the thugs rushed forward the fastest, arriving almost immediately. Seeing Zhou Yi still sitting there, he assumed he was terrified and became even more arrogant. He reached out his filthy hand to grab Nangong Pu She's arm, hurling vulgarities at him: "Little lady, don't be afraid, come back with our young master and enjoy your life! If your good-for-nothing lover knows what's good for her—uh?!"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because Zhou Yi, who had been sitting quietly as if indifferent to everything around him, was moved.

There was no warning, no roar.

He simply stood up as usual.

The movements were slow, even somewhat casual.

However, the moment he stood up, the thug who was closest to him and was reaching out to grab Nangong Pu She felt a blur before his eyes. He didn't even see how the other party made his move, but a slender and steady hand pressed down on his face with seemingly slow but actually fast movements.

It wasn't a fist, just a light press.

The thug's sneer hadn't even fully transformed into astonishment.

"puff!"

A dull, eerie sound that sent chills down your spine.

There was no cracking sound of bones shattering, no splattering of blood and brains.

The spot where that hand pressed down, the thug's still relatively intact head, along with his neck bone, seemed to instantly lose all support, and was forcibly pressed into his own chest cavity by an indescribable, terrifying force that collapsed inward!

His neck disappeared, his shoulders hunched up strangely, and his head was like a ball that had been roughly stuffed into a jar, deeply sunken in, with only his mouth and nose still sticking out. His eyes were wide open, almost bulging out of their sockets, filled with extreme fear and bewilderment, before quickly losing their luster.

His body swayed, like a tattered sack with its bones removed, before collapsing softly to the ground with a dull thud.

The entire lobby was deathly silent.

Everyone was utterly shocked by this unexpected, cruel, yet seemingly casually delivered blow.

The remaining Chen family guards who were rushing forward abruptly stopped, their sinister smiles freezing completely, replaced by boundless fear and horror. They hadn't even seen how their companion died; they only saw him stand up, and then—their companion's head was gone?

The lewd smile on Young Master Chen's face froze instantly, turning deathly pale, and the folding fan in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

The Book of Changes, however, seems to have merely swatted a buzzing fly.

His gaze calmly swept over the faces in front of him, which were contorted with extreme fear, and then landed on Nangong Pushe, who was trembling all over and almost collapsed.

He didn't speak, but gently stroked the girl's stiff back with the hand that had just easily pressed the head into her chest.

However, this attempt to soothe him was like a spark thrown into a hot oil pan, instantly provoking an even more intense reaction from Nangong Pushe.

She was already in a state of extreme fright. The touch of Zhou Yi's bloody, albeit untouched, hand on her back felt like being branded with a hot iron, or like a cat with its fur standing on end. She trembled violently, her body tensed even more, and a short, suppressed whimper escaped her throat. She buried her face even lower, almost shrinking under the table.

Zhou Yi paused, belatedly realizing how inappropriate it was for him to use the hand he had just used to swat flies to comfort a child who had just witnessed such a bloody scene; it might even cause further shock. He immediately withdrew his hand, his palm unconsciously clenching slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible hint of apology and helplessness flashing deep in his eyes.

His prolonged lack of interaction with others had caused him to lose many of his emotions. However, these emotions were rapidly restored through contact with people, making him appear somewhat dull.

In that brief moment of respite, in the deathly silent hall, the instinct for survival finally overcame the paralysis brought on by fear. The young master of the Chen family, his body ravaged by wine and women, unleashed unprecedented speed—he turned and ran!

The lewd and smug look on his face had long been replaced by boundless fear, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his magnificent brocade robe.

He certainly knew that there were martial artists in the world, and the Chen family also worshipped several "masters" who could fly over rooftops and split rocks.

But he had never seen or even heard of such a method, such a cold-blooded disregard for life, as this person had so casually and almost eerily pressed the head of a living person into his chest cavity!

Compared to this, the offerings in the home seem like mere theatrical performances!

Young Master Chen is just a womanizer, not really stupid.

At that moment, only one word remained in his mind: Escape!

He sprinted toward the inn's door, his voice hoarse and incoherent, shouting in a shrill voice, trying to intimidate and delay the menacing figure behind him with his identity and background: "Hero, spare my life! Great hero, spare my life! I—I am the only son of the Chen family! The Chen family! Who in this city doesn't know our Chen family!"

We—we are distant relatives of the Nangong family of Northern Mang! We are the Nangong family! If you dare to touch us, the Nangong family will not let you off!

My dad—my dad's got tons of money! How much do you want? Gold? Silver? Beautiful women? Anything! Let me go!

At this moment, he could only hope that the prestigious reputation of the "Nangong Family" would have some effect, making the other party hesitant to actually kill him.

However, he realized it too late, and he ran too slowly.

Just as he was about to rush out of the inn, a fleeting sense of relief rose in his heart—

An invisible and intangible yet heavy as a mountain and cold as the deepest abyss swept silently across the entire hall like a raging torrent, precisely enveloping all the Chen family members who intended to flee or stood frozen in place.

Including Young Master Chen, all the servants and guards who were running away or trying to move were instantly frozen in place, like insects frozen in amber, their bodies completely stiffened and unable to move!

They couldn't even blink; their pupils shrank to pinpoints from extreme terror. They could clearly feel the chilling "power" penetrating their skin, suppressing their blood, and freezing their bones, yet they couldn't utter a single sound of resistance or pleading.

Then, they could only watch helplessly as the black figure walked past them as if taking a leisurely stroll.

He walked past the first guard who stood frozen in place and casually slapped him down with his palm.

"puff."

The head disappeared, disappearing into the chest cavity, and the body fell to the ground.

the second.

"puff."

The third.

"puff."

The dull, rhythmic sound, like the footsteps of death, echoed clearly in the lobby.

Each time it sounded, a headless body collapsed to the ground, blood slowly seeping from the eerie indentation in the neck, staining the ground red.

It was swift, clean, and devoid of any harshness, yet it was more despairing than any form of torture.

In the blink of an eye, apart from Young Master Chen, all his men were turned into grotesque, twisted corpses on the ground.

The other guests in the lobby were already terrified; some collapsed to the ground, while others covered their mouths tightly, afraid to make a sound that might attract the attention of that menacing being. The air was thick with the stench of blood and death, so oppressive it was suffocating.

Young Master Chen felt ice-cold all over, his teeth chattered uncontrollably, and a warm, wet sensation came from his crotch—he had lost control of his bladder.

But the expected death did not come immediately. He was still standing, unable to move, but still alive.

Could it be that—what I just said had an effect?

Perhaps the other party is wary of the Nangong family, or covets the Chen family's wealth, and dares not kill his only son?

-

This thought rose in his despair like a lifeline. His stiff facial muscles forced a smile that was more like a grimace, his voice dry and hoarse, tinged with the relief of surviving a near-death experience and obsequiousness: "Great—great hero! Master! This time—this time I was blind and ignorant, offending you and this—little fairy! Please have mercy and spare my life! My Chen family—will surely repay you handsomely! Mountains of gold and silver, stunning beauties, divine weapons—just say the word! My father—my father will definitely do it!"

He spoke eloquently, but in his mind he was calculating rapidly: A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle! He should admit defeat and save his life first! Once he gets home, he will immediately mobilize all his guards, pay a large sum of money to all the retainers, and even—he could even try to contact the Nangong family!

No matter how skilled the opponent is, he is still just one person. How could he possibly withstand the combined attack of all the experts that my Chen family has hired at great expense?

When the time comes, I will definitely skin him alive and tear him to pieces!

But if he does this, he probably won't be able to keep that little slut; he'll have to offer her to the Nangong family—what a waste of that beauty.

Young Master Chen felt a pang of heartache, but for the time being, he had no choice but to give up on it.

A fleeting glint of resentment and ruthlessness flashed in the depths of his eyes, which he thought he had concealed well.

Zhou Yi stood right in front of him, inches away, calmly watching the subtle changes in his facial expressions and the scheming and hatred in his eyes that had not yet been completely concealed.

The silence did not last long.

"Waiter," Zhou Yi suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly carrying through the deathly silent hall, "Bring the carriage here."

The waiter, who was huddled behind the counter trembling, was stunned at first upon hearing this, but then, as if he had received an imperial edict, he scrambled and crawled towards the backyard of the inn.

There was no time to worry about finding a carriage.

He went straight to the innkeeper's usual carriage with a green canopy, quickly untied the reins, and hurriedly drove the carriage from the side door to the main entrance of the inn.

At this moment, he didn't care whether he would be punished by the shopkeeper afterward. He thought the shopkeeper would understand him. He just wanted to get rid of this evil spirit that could turn seven or eight people into bizarrely shaped corpses with a wave of its hand as far away as possible!

Do not engage in a fight with the Chen family here, lest you implicate the entire inn and even yourself.

The carriage creaked to a stop at the door.

Zhou Yi turned his gaze to Nangong Pushe, who was cowering by the table, almost fainting from fright, and gestured for her to get into the carriage.

Nangong Pushe's face was ashen, his legs were weak and he couldn't move an inch. He could only look helplessly at Zhou Yi, tears welling up in his eyes.

Zhou Yi didn't say anything more. He walked straight over, reached out and grabbed her by the back of her neck, lifting her up easily like a frightened kitten. He walked a few steps to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and shoved her inside. His movements weren't exactly gentle, but they didn't hurt her either.

The young master Chen, who was lying on the ground, thinking he had just escaped a disaster, saw the carriage being pulled over and the demon god preparing to get on with the little girl. The huge weight in his heart was lifted, and he let out a long, silent sigh of relief—it seemed they were planning to leave!

As expected, they're still afraid of the Chen family's reputation, or perhaps they're eyeing the so-called "generous reward"—he gritted his teeth inwardly, thinking, "The moment you leave, I'll immediately—"

However, he hadn't quite gotten over it yet.

Zhou Yi did not enter the carriage.

He climbed onto the front of the carriage, settled himself down, and then turned his head, his gaze falling on the "muddy" pile of young master Chen on the ground.

"Drive," Zhou Yi's voice was calm and even, yet it struck Young Master Chen like a thunderclap, "to your house."

,

The color drained from Young Master Chen's face in an instant, the fleeting sense of relief and calculation crushed by boundless chill and fear. He looked up in disbelief, meeting those unfathomable, emotionless eyes.

Go to my house?

Wasting a leave slip.

I'm feeling irritable today, probably because I've been writing non-stop for a month without any entertainment. Suddenly, I don't want to type a single word, and I had even planned to stop updating altogether; I had already processed my leave request.

I was thinking of going to an internet cafe to play some games to change my mood, but after playing a round of Biohazard here, I suddenly didn't know what to do next.

The game is no longer interesting.

All I can do is type.

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