Volume 2 – Bloom of the Other Shore Flower, Chapter 21: One of Them
Using the chaos that had erupted a moment ago, Mr. Wang lifted his gun faster than he ever had before, but before he could even point the gun at Qianye, Qianye had already shot down the five people outside and had lodged a bullet in his arm.
This definitely shouldn’t have happened! Not mentioning his speed in shooting a gun, with Mr. Wang’s power as rank one Fighter, weapons that used gunpowder should never have been able to seal his movements. However, Qianye had shot directly into a crucial area between his joints, making it so that he couldn’t lift up his arm in the slightest.
Mr. Wang became surprised and afraid. Clutching his arm, he said weakly, “You definitely can’t be a normal person! You… who are you?”
The speed and accuracy of Qianye’s gunmanship was the best that Mr. Wang had ever witnessed. In addition, the moment Qianye had entered after breaking through the door, he hadn’t made any unnecessary movements, even when he spoke. This was the most authentic military style, definitely not something an ordinary troop could train in.
Even though the reports claimed that Qianye was only a rank one Fighter, Mr. Wang realized at that moment that something must be wrong. With the speed, strength, terrifying accuracy, and judgment that Qianye had displayed, even most rank three Fighters would lose to him in a real battle.
Why would an expert like this hide in such a rural area in Lighthouse Town and open a small, run-down bar?
Qianye looked as if he hadn’t seen Tiger Yan and Mr. Wang trying to break through the wall to escape. He picked up a clip and refilled it with bullets when the muzzle suddenly let out sparks. He had fired two bullets at Tiger Yan’s knees. Tiger Yan had already reached the stairs, but let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell to the ground.
After this, Qianye leaned over the railing and shot four times, this time to strike Mr. Wang who had directly jumped one story down over the railing and was now running as fast as he could. Mr. Wang also let out a loud scream after both of his arms and legs had been struck. He fell backward.
Qianye looked at the roughly constructed gun in his hand and shook his head with some helplessness. Every one of the four bullets he had shot was not able to break Mr. Wang’s bones. At most, they would leave mere flesh wounds. As a rank one Fighter, Mr. Wang definitely had a chance to resist.
Once the first origin node was ignited, each of a cultivator’s physical attributes would experience drastic growth, all of them increasing by about half. Afterwards, physical attributes continued to increase with each rise in rank. When facing high-rank soldiers like that, firearms that used gunpowder would become increasingly lacking in power, and then eventually leave the stage altogether.
Qianye easily jumped down from the third story and picked up another clip. He unhurriedly replaced his current clip then walked in front of Mr. Wang. “I forgot to tell you just now, but I really dislike you.”
Qianye lifted his pistol and aimed it at Mr. Wang’s forehead. A flash of cunning light passed through Mr. Wang’s eyes, but his face held a terrified expression. Right then, however, Qianye suddenly smiled, slightly shifting the muzzle.
Mr. Wang’s expression changed drastically, this time filled with genuine terror. With a broken voice he screamed, “No! Don’t kill me! We can discuss, we can discuss anything!”
Mr. Wang called out while holding up his arm to protect his head, forgetting any attempt to cover himself up. With the physical strength of a rank one Fighter, his bones definitely couldn’t be penetrated by Qianye’s gun, so he still had a chance to fake his death. However, after Qianye moved the muzzle, the gun was actually pointed at his eyes!
Not mentioning rank one, even the eyes of a rank seven Fighter would not be able to take a bullet. Thus, Mr. Wang immediately knew that his tricks definitely didn’t deceive Qianye.
Qianye spoke without emotion, “Too bad, I just heard something I should not have.”
Bang!
Gunfire sounded, and this one shot struck Mr. Wang in the crotch. This area similarly couldn’t take a bullet.
Mr. Wang shrieked, both of his hands holding his lower half.
Seeing that no matter how he dodged, the muzzle of Qianye’s gun steadfastly pointed towards his eyes, Mr. Wang cried out in fear, “You can’t kill me! I am Qi Yue’s uncle. If you kill me, the Qi family will definitely not let you off! No matter how strong you are, you will never escape the grasp of the imperial expeditionary army!”
“The Qi family, huh…” Qianye seemed to ponder. He suddenly flashed his gun as gunfire sounded. He shot down a few people that had been hiding behind a wall and some that had snuck over.
In the gun still remained one final bullet.
Qianye once again lifted his gun and pointed it at Mr. Wang, speaking emotionlessly, “I will have my vengeance on Qi Yue as well. You will just go first. Relax, he will follow you.”
This time, Mr. Wang was truly startled, “Y-you want to kill our prince? You’re crazy, definitely crazy! Do you know who he is? You think he’s only the Qi family’s sire? He…”
Bang!
A gunshot sounded as a bloody rose blossomed from his eye socket. Everything he wanted to say would never reach the light of day. His expression slackened as he fell down slowly.
Qianye turned and looked at Tiger Yan who had half his body stuck on the third floor.
Tiger Yan was already scared dumb. He had shrunk into a corner and his sweat poured down like rain. Half of the reason was because he was afraid, and the other half was because of the extreme pain he was forced to endure. He did not have the kind of strength Mr. Wang had, so his bones were much weaker. Qianye’s two bullets had already shattered his knees.
He looked despairingly at Qianye, knowing that the opposing party would never let him go. At that moment, he did not know just how remorseful he was. If he could turn back time, then even if he were threatened to be beaten to death, he would never try to seize Lighthouse Town again because that way, he wouldn’t have ever provoked this slaughter god.
Tiger Yan asked himself this question because he was at death’s door and because he had never seen someone as terrifying as Qianye. Qianye’s strength might not have been the strongest that he had ever seen, but his calm and peaceful demeanor while killing sparked a chill in people’s hearts. Tiger Yan had heard that only a few of the most mysterious elite armies within the Empire could produce a monster that only lived to kill.
At this moment, Tiger Yan didn’t know that his guess was actually quite close to the truth. Amongst the Empire’s special forces that numbered over one hundred, Red Scorpion had always remained number three.
Seeing Tiger Yan in such a condition, Qianye lost interest in torturing him any further.
“Where is Min’er?”
“She is locked on the first floor. It’s the room furthest to the back,” Tiger Yan replied honestly.
Qianye nodded his head, then walked over and slid his dagger through Tiger Yan’s neck, ending his life.
Qianye went back to the room he was in before, picked up the pistol Mr. Wang dropped, and inspected it.
This was the first model of origin guns in the Light of Daybreak series, an artifact designed before the War of Daybreak. Its efficiency of origin power conversion was only 10%. Its length was over half a meter. In terms of size, it was better to call the pistol a portable version of an assault rifle.
Pistols from the Light of Daybreak series were only still used and circulated because they were cheap enough, had simple structure, and were easy to maintain. The Red Scorpion Custom was worth tens of thousands of these Light of Daybreak guns.
No matter how old the Light of Daybreak series became or how low its efficiency was, it still was an origin gun. At close range, its power was comparable to high caliber rifles. A Fighter with an origin gun and a Fighter without were on completely different levels when it came to combat power.
This Light of Daybreak gun was maintained well, obviously highly valued by Mr. Wang. This satisfied Qianye, so he held it in his left hand as his right picked up a double-barreled shotgun. Then he walked out the room.
When he stepped outside the door, he was met with a rain of bullets.
Qianye somersaulted in the air as the barrage passed by, then immediately crossed over the railing, dropping to the ground.
Two gunmen hiding behind a large, broken machine in the northwest section of the hall were dumbfounded at watching this happen. This guy directly jumped from the third floor down to the ground and actually didn’t suffer any injury. After landing steadily, he didn’t even hesitate before he lifted his gun and aimed it at them!
The two gunmen hurriedly shrinked back and took pieces of scrap metal to protect themselves. Their reactions were definitely appropriate and speedy, but Qianye had already pulled the trigger of his Light of Daybreak gun!
An origin power bullet that released orange light shot out from the gun. This bullet had a heavy tip that increased its power and split open a two centimeter thick steel plate. It tore through half of both gunmen’s bodies as scrap metal and pieces of flesh and blood filled the sky, flying through the air before scattering on the floor.
Qianye had foreseen this conclusion. If an origin gun didn’t even have this kind of power, why would people rely on it to fight back against the dark races? They would just use swords to fight each other instead. In addition, the attribute of Qianye’s origin power was particularly explosive, so the origin power bullets that had been shot were a lot stronger than average ones.
As Qianye’s origin power continuously poured into the Light of Daybreak gun, a new origin power bullet slowly formed within the gun’s barrel. With Qianye’s skill in controlling origin power, he was able to fire the Light of Daybreak gun three successive times. Mr. Wang, on the other hand, could only fire one bullet as he was only a rank one Fighter.
Qianye waited until the new bullet was formed, then headed towards the room at the end of the hall. The lackeys Tiger Yan had brought there weren’t much. After Qianye killed more than ten of them, the remaining ones saw the situation had turned sour and eventually scattered and escaped.
The last room did not have a lock. When Qianye opened the door and entered, he was met with the thick scent of blood and a rancid smell.
On the wall was a woman who was chained up. Her entire body was full of cuts of different sizes and completely covered in filth. The cuts had long since formed pus and actually had maggots crawling in and out.
The woman’s head was hung down, but that vaguely lingering youthful body was probably Min’er. However, after looking at her wounds, Qianye already knew that she could no longer be saved.
Hearing the sound, Min’er struggled to lift her head. Two lines of blood flowed from her tightly shut eyes. Only then did Qianye find out that both of her eyes had been dug out.
Qianye’s hands suddenly began trembling. If he had seen this earlier, he definitely would not have let Tiger Yan and Mr. Wang die so easily! In Red Scorpion Army, he had learned no less than fifty cruel torture methods. Even dark races could not resist that kind of pain.
As though she had sensed something, Min’er asked while listening attentively, “Who is it?”
“…It’s me, Qianye.”
Min’er exposed a joyous smile and said, “You came! Then the people outside…”
“Tiger Yan and Mr. Wang have all died. Next will be Qi Yue. He will never escape.” Qianye spoke calmly, as if making small talk on a random afternoon while discussing business and drinking tea.
Min’er smiled and said, “You know, after they killed Sir Zhao, Qi Yue asked me to sleep with him. I agreed and really gave my all. Then, when he let his guard down, I bit down hard. It was so enjoyable! When I swung my head, he gave a loud shout, even louder than he did during sex!”
She laughed heartily, then lowered her voice and let out a sigh before speaking again, “Too bad, all of you origin power cultivators are all monsters. He was too sturdy. I couldn’t even bite through him. I used all of my strength, but still couldn’t completely break it off. Instead, a few of my teeth were pulled out. I really lost out on this one.”
Qianye quietly listened, then sighed before speaking. “You didn’t have to try so hard for Sir Zhao. You should live well. As for vengeance, I alone am enough.”
Min’er lightly sighed. “This is different! I know, I’m not a very respectable girl, but Sir Zhao called me one of them…”
Her face suddenly blossomed with sunlight and said, “Since I’m one of them, then I have to keep up appearances for them, right?”
“Of course!”
“Qianye, can you do me a favor? I want to wash my face and rinse my body. I want to die clean.”