Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"Life is about living one day at a time, one minute at a time, one second at a time. Why be indecisive about the future?"

He clapped his hands and smiled at Henry, "Wouldn't it be nice to keep this old man company and chat for a while to pass the time?"

Chapter 625: Knight? It doesn't matter.

“Hmm…” Lu Aniu lay on the haystack, listening to Henry’s description, his eyes half-closed, tapping his feet casually with his legs crossed, “I’ve encountered your situation before, I have a daughter who is similar to you.”

One minute it's a son, the next it's a daughter, how many children are there exactly?

Henry looked at him with some suspicion. He himself could be open about not discriminating against people with yellow skin, but the social environment in America as a whole was unfriendly to them—that was an objective fact. This old man looked quite old; how could he possibly have so many children?

He thought about it, but didn't say it aloud. They were all in the same boat, and in this narrow, cramped basement, all the other slaves looked numb and lifeless. Only this old man could talk to him. Whether it was true or false, he would just listen for now.

"You've talked to me about so much, but it all boils down to that chivalric code, and you can recite the knightly code by heart. But in my opinion..."

"You don't actually like knights at all, that's just your excuse, or rather... you don't care about knights at all. If you were a cowboy or something, you would still do the same thing."

"What you truly enjoy is danger."

Henry looked somewhat taken aback. This was a completely new perspective he had never heard before. It sounded absurd, but upon closer reflection, it seemed to resonate with a certain voice deep within him.

"What are knights really like? They're just henchmen kept by kings and lords. I'd say that even if a real knight were to pass by here and hear the missionary's plea for help, he probably wouldn't stop to look at him."

"Beneath the armor, knights are also human beings, with human emotions, desires, and interests. Hatred and land disputes among nobles often take precedence over any rules, and knights are no exception."

“I’ve met that missionary. To put it nicely, he’s a missionary; to put it bluntly, he’s no different from a beggar. He can’t possibly offer you any financial assistance, but... judging from your attire, I guess you don’t need it.”

"Going deep into the slave trader's territory to uncover secrets is a very risky business if you're not in a bad mind. You took on this job without hesitation, not for any monetary reward. I can only assume that the act itself brings you satisfaction."

"You crave that feeling of licking blood off a knife's edge, dancing on a tightrope."

……

Henry looked at him with a hint of astonishment. His words were like a short knife, cutting through his flesh along the lines, reaching straight to his heart.

Come to think of it, his understanding of knights seemed to be limited to the stories in picture books. What truly got his blood pumping were the scenes of knights venturing into caves, crypts, and labyrinths. Faced with a closed and unknown world, the knights raised torches and explored its secrets; every time he read such scenes, he would unconsciously swallow hard.

Looking back now, this seems to be the source of his fondness for chivalric culture, which then became an unstoppable trend.

Good feelings are a very subtle thing. Once you've decided it's the right one, it's like layers of icing sugar coating it over the years.

The initial core might have been sour. But as it was wrapped up, it developed into something else entirely. The chivalrous spirit, with its emphasis on fairness and justice, gradually permeated him, becoming part of his character. However, he wasn't particularly devout to God, so he unilaterally removed anything related to the church.

Henry gradually became unclear whether he liked the knights themselves or the knights in the picture books facing various unknown challenges in their adventure stories.

In retrospect, it was precisely this thirst for adventure that led him step by step to where he is now, and into shackles.

……

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The wooden planks overhead creaked, and the chained slaves cowered like startled birds. The footsteps were hurried and menacing; having spent so much time in the dungeon, they knew that such footsteps meant someone was about to suffer.

……

"But boss, the Haisen family..."

"...Yes, it's better not to tear things apart. Perhaps we should just..."

“But this guy is definitely awake now. He knows our location, our setup, our furnishings… he knows what we're doing. He's capable of retaliating against us. What if he goes back and tells others about this…”

"Can't we move away?"

"This base has been operating for almost four years, and you're just going to leave like that? What are you thinking...?"

……

A rustling sound fell from the cracks in the floorboards; not much, but enough to make the slaves in the basement realize their predicament.

Finally, with a creak, the wooden door opened, and a man in his forties or fifties slowly walked down the stairs.

He was dressed rather politely, in a suit, shirt, bow tie, and gold-rimmed glasses, with his hair neatly combed back. However, the veins and muscles on his forearms, revealed by his rolled-up sleeves, betrayed that he was not a refined gentleman. As for his henchmen behind him, they didn't even bother to pretend; they openly declared "I'm a bad guy" on their faces.

Judging from their attire, those who followed him appeared to be people responsible for unloading cargo at the nearby docks. These people were not formal employees; they worked and unloaded cargo sporadically, making a living, and had plenty of time to run their side businesses.

Slave trader.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hysen." The leading man spread his hands to indicate that he was unarmed and smiled at him. "Please believe me, this is all a misunderstanding. We did not intend to target you. It's just that you came at the wrong time and inadvertently entered our 'business' territory."

"The slave trade has been banned!" Henry said in a deep voice.

"Obviously, the situation here has caused you some misunderstanding. You see... I don't have the ability to buy and sell slaves. I'm just a businessman, and I'm just temporarily clearing out a place." The boss explained with a smile, "Someone paid me to rent this basement to them at a very reasonable price, so I rented it."

“The buyer hasn’t arrived yet, but the seller’s ship has already sailed away. In this situation, these ‘goods’ can only be stored here for a while. Legally speaking, I am neither the buyer nor the seller; I’m just an insignificant nobody. Even without me, they would find another basement and do the same thing…”

"I hope you will remember this after you leave."

"You want me to leave?" Henry asked, somewhat surprised.

"As I said, this is all a misunderstanding. You are a member of the Haisen family, how could we dare to detain you at will?" The boss maintained his smiling expression, took out the key, bent down, and personally unlocked the shackles on his wrists.

With a click, the shackles fell to the ground. He could hardly believe how easily he had regained his freedom.

"I just hope that when you get out of here, if you're going to talk to anyone about what happened today, you'll include what you just said..." The boss sighed. "We're all just small figures in this wave; we have no say in business matters."

Henry didn't believe a word of it, but even he knew that getting out safely was the most important thing right now, so he nodded and agreed.

Chivalry requires him not to lie, but at this point, screw it.

The nearest police station wasn't far, and as he said, the buyer hadn't arrived yet. If he was quick enough, he should be able to make a surprise return before the slaves were sold!

"Okay, I promise."

Chapter 626: How the hell is this person even human?

"Actually, there's no need to deliberately avoid us."

Without using his hands to support himself against the wall or the ground, Lu Aniu used only the strength of his waist and abdomen to straighten up easily and sit up from the ground. He dusted off the dust and dry grass on his body and sneered, "What's the difference between strangling him here and strangling him up there?"

Henry was startled; his feet seemed to stick to the ground, and he cautiously shrank back.

"Damn it, shut up, you damn foreign bastard!" One of the henchmen stormed down the stairs, wanting to kick Lu Aniu, but was stopped by the boss.

"How come there's a yellow-skinned foreigner? Did he come with the ship?"

“No, no…” The boss, clearly a figure of authority among them, immediately lowered his head and avoided his gaze upon hearing his question. Only the instigator stepped forward and answered in a trembling voice, “This morning, we saw this old man passed out drunk on the roadside, so we went up and searched him. And we found… he… he had a pocket watch that looked very valuable, and $200 in his pocket…”

The boss was taken aback.

$200 is an unimaginable sum, even for people like them who have illicit income.

The henchmen behind him immediately erupted in protest, accusing the two men of being so dishonest as to try and pocket the huge sum of money! Meanwhile, the two guys who had captured Lu Aniu changed their tune, insisting that whoever found the thing first got to keep it, and the two groups argued fiercely.

Only the boss realized something was wrong—in this day and age, it was quite, quite unusual for an elderly man of about fifty or sixty years old with yellow skin to have $200 on him.

The worst thing about doing this kind of business is encountering something unusual.

Lu Aniu leaned against the wall, watching them argue with a gleeful smile on his face, as if he were watching a farce.

"Alright, all of you shut up!" Sensing the situation was getting out of control, the boss roared, barely managing to quell his men. He then turned to Lu Aniu, forcing a smile, "What you just said..."

"There's someone standing at the doorway at the end of the stairs, right? Holding a rope in his hand. What do you think he's doing? He's just trying to lure this idiot out so he won't do anything to us. The fewer people who know about this, the better." Lu Aniu raised his chin slightly and said in a teasing tone, "Really, how can you let a novice do something like this? Listen to his breathing and heartbeat, he's incredibly nervous."

"You want to kill me?!" Henry retreated repeatedly, his back pressed against the wall. Although Lu Aniu's words were baseless, they were true.

Knowing the secret and still wanting to leave? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Seeing that his scheme had been exposed, the boss stopped pretending, his smile vanished, and he demanded, "Who exactly are you?"

“Ha…” Lu Aniu chuckled coldly, rubbing his forehead. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t know me even if I told you, so let’s not say anything.”

“Fish have their way, shrimp have their way, and I won’t stop you from making your fortune. As you said, maybe this really is just a misunderstanding, hahaha…” Lu Aniu’s lips were still smiling, but the light in his eyes was chilling. “Let us out, and this matter will be settled. What do you say?”

……

"You charlatan!" one of the henchmen, eager to pledge his loyalty, drew his dagger and stormed down the stairs. "You dare to negotiate with us? Go to hell!"

----

"when--!!"

The knife tip pierced his throat, making a metallic clanging sound.

Henry's eyes widened.

Blood didn't spurt out; instead, Lu Aniu remained motionless, the skin on his Adam's apple acting like steel, holding the dagger to his throat. Everyone reacted similarly, their mouths involuntarily opening in astonishment—the instinctive feeling of surprise when faced with something incomprehensible.

Lu Aniu's lips curled up, his eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty smile.

"Alright."

He jerked his jaw up, snapping the dagger in half, and laughed with delight, "I like it this way too."

"Wait, you...you're going to...ah—!!!"

"Thump—!!"

Lu Aniu struck out with his palm from a distance, clearly without touching his body, leaving a hollow palm print on his chest.

This scene is rather abstract. If he was originally a complete puzzle piece, then at this moment, there is a hand-shaped piece missing where his heart should be.

Fabric, skin, flesh, nerves, bones, heart… all the physical matter confined within the palm print vanished, vaporizing into a thick mist of blood. And on the wall behind, a hollow palm print exploded with a "bang," as if everything in that line had been pulverized!

The younger brother lowered his head and stared blankly at the handprint-shaped hole in his chest. Suddenly, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he collapsed to the ground like a live fish waiting to be killed. He thrashed about twice and then lay still, with only blood gushing from beneath him.

The hollow, palm-shaped hole pierced through his body and could be seen from his back.

Now, not only the slave traders, but even the slaves in the house showed the same fear.

This guy is no longer human!

"ah----!!!"

Some people screamed, and some people drew their guns.

But the gun didn't fire.

Lu Aniu casually yanked the iron chain binding his hand, ripping it out of the wall. He swung it horizontally, the chain transforming into a whip tip, precisely severing the head of the man about to fire amidst the crowd. Blood gushed out like a geyser, and those crowded on the stairs seemed to be caught in a downpour of blood as they screamed and fled in chaos.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Aniu calmly broke the iron handcuffs with his hands and slapped the crowd that was gathered together.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

……

The people on the stairs were already crowded together. The palm print pierced through one person's body and continued down in a straight line, piercing through the next person, and the next person after that... After several repetitions, blood mist filled the air, and they all fell down the stairs like dumplings, hitting the ground with a few thuds.

Throughout the entire process, Lu Aniu did not even use his hands to actually "touch" anyone; he simply struck out with his palms from a distance, killing everyone in succession.

----

"Ah...ah..."

The boss was so terrified he practically wet himself. He sat in the corner of the stairs, his facial features completely out of control, his body trembling like a leaf. He didn't know why he was still alive. He tried to escape up the stairs, but found that his entire body—his waist, legs, and feet—had completely gone limp, and he couldn't take a single step.

When faced with an overwhelmingly powerful predator, in moments of despair, a creature may lose its survival instinct; this is a common trait among most animals.

However, unexpectedly, this principle also came into effect in the conflict between "people".

……

“I told you, fish follow their own path, and shrimp follow their own path, but you wouldn’t listen…” Lu Aniu walked slowly toward him, his eyes and tone icy cold. “You asked for it.”

"Wait, wait a minute... I... I... I..." the boss stammered, terrified. "I have money, I... I have money."

He suddenly realized that this man couldn't possibly be short of money, so he quickly changed the subject, "I'm not the mastermind behind this deal! I'm really just a nobody, I... I'm just a small fry. The real buyers and sellers are someone else entirely, they are..."

"I don't care," Lu Aniu laughed. "Go to hell."

"boom!!"

A palm strike from a distance.

The boss's head exploded like a smashed watermelon!

Chapter 627: How can a knight not know how to use a sword?

"Damn it, where did they put them...?"