Chapter 109: Chapter 91: Killing Intent

Chen Qing fought back the churning in his chest and the shock to his internal organs, frantically charging deep into the reed marsh. He then stumbled along a rocky shore for a full hour.

He finally collapsed onto a relatively dry patch of riverbank, utterly exhausted and gasping for air.

After a long while, he struggled to sit up and check his injuries.

His internal organs had been rattled, and his right arm was numb from where the force of a palm strike had grazed it. Fortunately, no bones were broken. They were all just physical injuries and the result of excessively consuming his True Qi; nothing life-threatening.

After resting for a good while, he heard a faint, suppressed groan from the distance.

Huh!?

Warily, Chen Qing clenched his fists and crept quietly toward the sound.

In a patch of crushed reeds, he saw Ye Rong’Er in a sorry state.

She was in a wretched state. One of her arms was broken, her clothes were torn in many places to reveal blood-stained skin, her face was as pale as paper, and a trickle of blood remained at the corner of her mouth.

Several weapons lay next to her; he didn’t know who had left them.

When she saw Chen Qing appear, fear and resentment flashed through her eyes.

“Junior… Junior Brother Chen? You’re still alive! That’s wonderful…”

Ye Rong’Er gasped, “Thank you for luring away that powerful enemy… Otherwise, I… COUGH, COUGH…”

’This goddamn bastard! How dare he leave me behind to save his own life!’

’Once I get back to the Geng Metal Institute, I’ll make him pay for this!’

Chen Qing hurried forward a few steps.

“What… what do you think you’re doing?!”

An uncontrollable tremor entered Ye Rong’Er’s voice.

With her meridians damaged as they were, any common brute could easily crush her, to say nothing of a Transmutation Force expert like Chen Qing.

An expression of lingering fear appeared on Chen Qing’s face, and his voice was laced with false ’concern.’ “Steward Ye, don’t be afraid. The enemy has retreated. We should be safe here for now.”

’He couldn’t tell if Ye Rong’Er was really as hurt as she seemed, or if it was all an act.’

“Tonight… thank you so much for saving me! My temper got the best of me earlier.”

Ye Rong’Er inwardly sighed in relief. She then squeezed out a few tears and said pitifully, “Please, take me back to the Ye Family… My family will reward you handsomely! Gold and silver, treasures, Martial Arts Secret Manuals, Treasure Medicines, spirit pills—if the Ye Family has it, you can take your pick!”

She dangled a massive temptation. “I could even… even recommend you to my master and get you out of the Cyan Wood Institute and into the Geng Metal Institute!”

Chen Qing seemed unmoved. Instead, his gaze lingered for a moment on her chest, which rose and fell with her ragged breaths.

“I want…”

He spoke slowly, pausing for a moment, “…you.”

That single word was like a clap of thunder, exploding in Ye Rong’Er’s ears.

In an instant, an immense wave of humiliation washed over her fear like lava, almost making her faint.

’She was Ye Rong’Er, the chosen prodigy of the Geng Metal Institute, the treasured pearl of the Prefecture City’s Ye Family! Countless brilliant young men fawned over her on a daily basis. Even a senior brother at the Mid-stage Embracing Pill Power was always polite to her!’

’And this low-born fisherman’s whelp, with his inferior Root Bone, fit only to waste his days away in the Cyan Wood Institute, dared to harbor such filthy, disgusting thoughts about her?’

’He actually planned to take advantage of her grievous injuries to commit such a beastly act?!’

Her survival instinct forced Ye Rong’Er to swallow the curses in her heart. Lowering her head, she said, “If… if Junior Brother Chen is sincere… Rong’Er… Rong’Er is also willing to give herself to you and serve by your side…”

She lowered her eyelids, her long lashes trembling as if it had taken all her courage to utter those words.

’I can’t die here!’

’I absolutely refuse to die at the hands of this bastard!’

’As long as I can survive, I can temporarily endure any humiliation!’

’Once I get back to the Sect, back to the Ye Family, I’ll have a thousand ways to make this ignorant fisherman suffer a fate worse than death!’

In the very next moment, Chen Qing moved.

There was no warning, nor were there any words.

His figure appeared before Ye Rong’Er in the next instant. He snatched up a long blade from the ground and slashed.

The seductive smile on Ye Rong’Er’s face instantly froze, her eyes filled with utter horror and disbelief.

CRACK!

Fresh blood sprayed into the air.

Chen Qing slowly pulled back the long blade.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse reeds, falling upon his perfectly calm face.

“I wanted…”

Chen Qing repeated in a low voice to the still-warm corpse, “…your life.”

He knew women like Ye Rong’Er all too well.

They seek revenge for the slightest grievance and are vicious to the core.

She would have repaid today’s humiliation a hundredfold.

Rather than let her return and become a sword hanging over his head, it was better to solve the problem for good.

Chen Qing took a deep breath, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood.

He crouched down and, with a blank expression, began to carefully search Ye Rong’Er’s body.

A moment later, he found several dozen silver notes of considerable value, a small, heavy pouch of gold leaves, a Jade Bracelet of superb quality, and a thin booklet carefully wrapped in oil paper. Written on its cover were the words: “Nine Revolutions Gilded Gold Technique.”

This was none other than the first three levels of the Geng Metal Institute’s Core Heart Method.

Chen Qing casually tossed the long blade into the murky river water, then picked up Ye Rong’Er’s corpse and hurled it into the fastest part of the current.

The body bobbed on the surface a few times before being caught by an undercurrent and swept out of sight.

Once he had done all this, he quickly departed the death-filled reed marsh.

He didn’t go straight home. Instead, he took a detour to a remote spot some distance from where he lived.

Beneath a crooked old tree, he vigilantly scanned his surroundings. After confirming he was alone, he quickly dug a shallow pit.

He wrapped the silver notes, gold leaves, and Jade Bracelet in oilcloth and placed the bundle at the bottom of the pit. He then carefully laid a layer of dead branches and fallen leaves over it before spreading the excavated earth evenly on top. Finally, he scattered some rotten leaves over the spot, leaving no trace of his work.

Once this was done, Chen Qing patted the dirt from his clothes, got his bearings, and hurried off in the direction of the Wutai Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep