Chapter Ninety-Two: East Continent City's Baptism by Wind and Rain

Han Qing sat down weakly beside Han Zhen, his face blank as he stared at the half-dead man sprawled on the floor and said nothing more. Han Zhen, meanwhile, lifted the finger Han Qing had broken and gave a low, nasty chuckle.

At this point, Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong were no more than bystanders. Jiang Pingchuan could see it clearly now: Han Qing was still far too indecisive. The killing intent he had carried at the beginning was fading bit by bit.

Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong exchanged a glance and smiled faintly, but the moment they turned around, both of their expressions collapsed. At some point, You Liang had appeared at the entrance of the main hall, holding the little fox in his arms.

There was no need to say it aloud. The conversation between Han Qing and Han Zhen had likely been overheard in full.

Jiang Pingchuan walked up to You Liang, took the little fox from his arms, and patted his shoulder. Then he and Old Master Gong stepped out of the main hall and stood beneath the corridor, looking up at the night sky.

The stars and bright moon that had once filled the sky before their arrival were gone. The weather, which had been clear and refreshing, had turned oppressively heavy. Dark clouds packed the heavens, and far beyond the horizon, thunder and lightning raged.

Jiang Pingchuan sat on the stone steps with the little fox in his arms, feeling the cold wind of the night.

Han Qing had also noticed You Liang. He struggled to his feet and looked at him. Then Han Qing smiled, a smile full of shame.

"Liang..."

Before he could finish, You Liang waved him off with a bitter smile, signaling him not to say another word.

Seeing that gesture, the smile on Han Qing's face vanished at once, replaced by panic.

He looked like a child who had done something wrong and no longer knew what to do. He still wanted to speak, but You Liang was already staring at him with obvious impatience. That expression from his own son filled Han Qing, as a father, with both disappointment and self-reproach.

"Boss... take care."

You Liang bowed respectfully to Han Qing. The moment he bent his waist, Han Qing's heart shattered. His greatest failure had been this: as You Liang's father, he had never fulfilled a father's duty.

He was heartbroken by You Liang's present state, yet he had no right to blame him. For more than twenty years, You Liang had treated him like a true father, while he himself had never properly cared for the boy.

When You Liang finished speaking, he turned and walked straight toward the exit of the main hall. Passing Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong, he did not slow his steps. He walked down the stone steps at an unhurried pace, and Jiang Pingchuan could tell he was waiting for something.

Then, with a thunderous crash, a figure suddenly streaked overhead and slammed violently into the ground.

You Liang froze, staring blankly at the body before him.

The man's chest had been punched straight through. There was no breath left in him. Old Master Gong only gave a cold snort. He clenched his jaw, rose to his feet, and was just about to stride into the main hall when Jiang Pingchuan reached out and pulled him back.

Expressionless, Jiang Pingchuan looked at him. Old Master Gong did not understand what he meant, but he still stopped trying to go in. From inside the hall came Han Zhen's laughter, broken by violent coughing.

You Liang began to tremble. Looking at Han Qing lying quietly before him, his face was full of remorse. He walked up to Han Qing, stared at those wide-open eyes, and clenched his fists so tightly that veins stood out across his face. Grinding his teeth, he turned sharply and rushed back into the main hall.

"Ah..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang..."

The instant You Liang burst inside, he kicked Han Zhen flying, then lunged forward and pinned him hard beneath his body. Han Zhen laughed madly while You Liang rained punches down, one after another, smashing them into Han Zhen's face.

What had once been intact skin was soon reduced to a mangled mess of blood and flesh under You Liang's fists. Han Zhen's voice grew weaker and weaker, until You Liang had pounded the whole of his face into a sunken ruin and finally stopped.

"I told you to laugh. Laugh again."

You Liang stared fixedly at Han Zhen's mouth. Even at the end, that mouth still wore a mocking grin. You Liang pried open the half-open lips, shoved both hands inside, turned his palms, hooked them against Han Zhen's upper palate and jaw, and tore with all his strength, ripping the mouth apart by force.

At the sight of Han Zhen's gruesome state, You Liang laughed through tears. He smashed his fists over and over into what remained of that half mouth, until Han Zhen's skull was beaten into a pulp. Then he stood up, walked to the city lord's seat, pulled out the dagger fastened beside it, and returned to Han Zhen's side to hack wildly at the corpse once more.

At this moment, however he ravaged Han Zhen's body, he did not think himself excessive. The man before him had killed his grandfather, killed his father, and defiled his mother.

"You deserve to die. You deserve to die."

When he finally grew tired, You Liang drove the dagger into Han Zhen's heart with a sharp sound, leaving it standing upright there. Muttering under his breath, he drifted aimlessly toward the exit of the main hall.

He had barely reached the stone steps when he misstepped, fell straight down, and rolled hard to the ground. Struggling back to his feet, he staggered forward a few more steps. When he had gone some distance from Han Qing, he suddenly dropped to his knees, wearing a miserable, twisted smile as he looked toward Han Qing's body not far away.

He crawled forward on his knees step by step until he reached Han Qing's corpse. Silently, he gazed at him, then lifted a hand and gently brushed Han Qing's face, closing his eyes.

With a deafening roar, thunder split the night sky over East Continent City, and a bolt of lightning tore it open. The rolling thunder and blinding flashes enveloped the entire city. Jiang Pingchuan lifted his head and looked at the deep, heavy rumble gathered within the clouds.

Lightning kept flickering through the thick black masses overhead while the wind howled without rest. Now and then, a bolt would rip through the clouds and strike the ground, leaving behind scorched black marks that proved it had once touched this land.

"Dad..."

You Liang lifted his head into the storm and screamed at the top of his lungs. The veins at his neck twitched violently as he cried out with all the strength in his body, as though he were trying to let Han Qing, who had not yet gone far, hear the one word he had longed his entire life to say.

Jiang Pingchuan looked at You Liang on the ground, then at Han Qing beside him. Han Qing had once saved his life, and he did not know whether what he had just done counted as repaying that debt. He had never even had the chance to take Han Qing to the Martial Origin Continent and show him what a cultivator in the Supreme Realm looked like before Han Qing had already been carried away by the wind. Fate was indeed cruel.

"It's raining."

Jiang Pingchuan gently combed the little fox's fur in his arms and spoke softly.

Raindrops began falling from the night sky, crashing heavily into the earth and stirring up a veil of fine mist. The lanterns within the city lord's manor swayed in the wind and rain, casting trembling shadows, while the sounds of slaughter inside gradually faded away.

The news of Han Zhen's death spread throughout East Continent City on the wind, in the rain, and through the thunder. People stood beneath their eaves and looked toward the city lord's manor. That night, the names Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong resounded through the whole city.

A man called You Liang had died, and yet a youth named Han Liang had risen in the storm and rain to slay the city lord, Han Zhen. His identity was quickly passed from mouth to mouth. Some said it was Han Zhen's retribution. Others said it was heaven's will.

Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong were still seated in the corridor, looking out at the curtain of rain before them. The rain had come swiftly and fiercely, with no sign of letting up.

The torrent soon thickened into a white haze. Beneath the storm, Jiang Pingchuan and Old Master Gong could no longer make out You Liang's figure. They only knew that someone was crying in the rain, someone was wailing in grief.

"It was bound to come. This dust will not rise, will not disperse, will not be washed away, nor cleared without rain."

Leaning against the wall behind him, Old Master Gong spoke softly, the haze in his eyes dimming a little.

"Is there any rule in East Continent City about who may become city lord?" Jiang Pingchuan asked in a low voice, still holding the little fox close to his chest.

Old Master Gong gave him a knowing smile, the sort that said he understood perfectly well what Jiang Pingchuan was asking. He only smiled for a moment, however, before dropping that infuriating expression. He knew the young man before him had great ambitions; a tiny place like East Continent City would never be enough to keep him.

"The one who kills the city lord becomes the next city lord. That's the capital's decree. But after each city lord takes office, ten years must pass before anyone may challenge him. If no one challenges him, then he naturally keeps the position."

Old Master Gong closed his eyes and no longer looked at Jiang Pingchuan. He understood Jiang Pingchuan's meaning.

Given the situation now, just as he himself had said, East Continent City had reached the point where its pieces needed to be reshuffled. This rain had come at the perfect time. A new cleansing. A new city lord.

"This matter will be left to you. I'm leaving."

Jiang Pingchuan opened the front of his robe and tucked the little fox into his chest, leaving only its pale head visible.

"Where are you going next?" Old Master Gong glanced somewhat reluctantly at the fox in Jiang Pingchuan's arms. It had been the perfect companion for tea and cooling off. Now that Jiang Pingchuan was leaving, he found himself genuinely reluctant to part with the little creature.

"You're such a clever and sly old man. Could you possibly not know where I'm going?"

Jiang Pingchuan gave him a cold smile, staring at the old man before him, whose eyes were clearly fixed with ill intent on his chest. Old Master Gong coughed twice and patted Jiang Pingchuan on the shoulder.

"Boy, I was once acquainted with the city lord of Shadow-Yin City. Take this letter with you and pay my old friend a visit on my behalf."

Old Master Gong stood up, yawned, and walked into the rain curtain. Jiang Pingchuan smiled at the sight of his back, now thoroughly drenched, and stepped out into the rain as well. Passing by You Liang, he paused for a moment, then shook his head helplessly and continued on his way.

Old Master Gong was stunned to see him. A faint layer of water ripples seemed to surround Jiang Pingchuan's body, and what surprised him most was that the rain could not soak Jiang Pingchuan's clothes at all.

Swallowing hard, Old Master Gong shamelessly pressed close to Jiang Pingchuan. Jiang Pingchuan stopped, shot him a disgusted glance, and looked at the old man clinging to him for protection.

"Get lost, old man."

With that, Jiang Pingchuan no longer bothered with the dazed Old Master Gong. Laughing aloud, he sprinted off through the rainy night.

"Cheap bastard. Keep being cheap. I'll have my father come after you. Bullying me..."

Like an indignant child, Old Master Gong puffed up his cheeks and glared at Jiang Pingchuan's receding back. Grinding his teeth, he hurried after him. The two of them gave chase, one after the other, until they vanished into the rain-soaked night.

In the dark and empty night, only Jiang Pingchuan's laughter and Old Master Gong's endless complaints could still be heard, along with a faint, intermittent sound of someone crying.