Death… and me

"This river is very long and wide. Do you want our people to jump in and look for him?" it was Tu Qian Hao's voice. Ao Xie Yun almost wanted to jump out and kiss him on hearing him say this.

"I obviously won't make you jump into it and look for him!" Ou Du Xiao had a card up his sleeve as he said, "This is a river… Ao Xie Yun will obviously drift with the current, and go downstream if he has jumped into it. After all, he will be able to escape from our encirclement at maximum speed in that manner.

"It shouldn't have been even half-an-hour since the time he would've jumped into the river. Therefore, he wouldn't have gone too far. We will make our people drop a fishing-net to the bottom of the river in order to block it. And, we will constantly pay attention to it. He will have nowhere to hide once the dawn comes!"

"Moreover, I will use another poison that will chase after him for 50 kilometres in the water. It will force him to come out!" Ou Du Xiao confidently smiled, "After all, it is impossible for Ao Xie Yun to escape underwater for 50 kilometres in his current condition."

"For 50 kilometres underwater…?" everyone questioned to examine in detail.

"I will use 'Thousand Souls Perish and Scatter'" Ou Du Xiao said this word by word.

Everyone shivered in fright and moved a few steps back on hearing this name!

'Thousand Souls Perish and Scatter' was the most vicious and the most potent poison of the Ou Clan. In fact, its might was greater than the strongest of plagues!

Ou Du Xiao cautiously put on his deerskin gloves. He then circulated his martial power, and suddenly jumped. He had jumped towards the river.

He sprinkled a dusky-ash mist with his hands on the entire stretch of the river's surface while he was in mid-air.

The ashy-mist descended towards the river's surface. But then, Meng Luo shook his hand, and the rope that was tied around Ou Du Xiao's waist tightened. Consequently, Ou Du Xiao was pulled back from midair the very next moment.

The ashy-mist came in contact with the river's surface. And, an incredible picture appeared in front of everyone the next moment.

The river-water suddenly started to churn… In fact, it seemed as if it was boiling. Countless big and small fishes rose to the surface of the river while wriggling fiercely. They then flipped and revealed their white bellies. Then, they became silent and motionless.

More fishes continued to pop-up on the river's surface. They then drift downstream along with the river's water.

The green grasses on the shores turned black. After that, they changed into ashes.

This poisonous tide extended downstream, and soon filled the entire river with the corpses of fishes, water-snakes, water-shrimps, and other water organisms. A shiny white colour could be seen everywhere on the river's surface at the moment.

The sky was dark at this time. However, this sight still felt gloomy and frightful!

Everyone remained silent for a while. All of them were frightened by the potency of this poison. This poison was definitely worthy of its name. It didn't matter if it was a plant or an animal… it had poisoned everything.

"This 'Thousand Souls Perish and Scatter' produces a turbulent current in water that poisons the water up to 50 Km. But, it disappears after 50 km," Ou Du Xiao insipidly said, "It can make any humans and livestock within the radius of a thousand miles vanish if it is released at a high altitude in a place of human habitation!"

Everyone's complexion changed. They were naturally thinking about what they would do if Ou Du Xiao were to release this poison on their clans…

Ou Du Xiao swept his eyes around. He then revealed a meaningful smiling expression on his face. Then, he looked at Tu Qian Hao and said, "For instance… the territory of Brother Tu's clan is surrounded by mountains. So, it would be very suitable for Thousand Souls Perish and Scatter."

Tu Qian Hao's complexion changed. He withdrew a step, and heavily said, "But, the mountain forest of my Tu Clan only has many nameless skeletons buried in its depths!"

Ou Du Xiao burst into laughter.

The rest of the people were looking at the surface of the river that was filled with dead fishes and shrimps. This scene had made their hair stand on end. [Ou Clan is indeed a dangerous clan!]

The river-water surged down in a flash. And, all the corpses of fishes and shrimps got flushed away. But, a large number of dead bodies of fishes and shrimps had accumulated on the lower reaches of the river…

"Ao Xie Yun will die if he has been hiding in this water!" Ou Du Xiao exposed a fierce and cruel look in his eyes. However, he thought in his heart, [Ao Xie Yun, you must die… Otherwise, how would this guilt get removed from my heart?]

He and Ao Xie Yun had been good friends. But, he had come to entrap Ao Xie Yun now. Therefore, he was more desperate to entrap him than anyone else! And, this was the reason for his present behaviour! His friendship of the past had given rise to the mentality of a traitor in his heart…

Many people felt strange. After all, Ou Du Xiao and Ao Xie Yun had been good friends… or at least loyal affiliates. So, these people couldn't understand why Ou Du Xiao had betrayed Ao Xie Yun so thoroughly. It was simply ridiculous. Could it be that Ou Du Xiao hadn't thought of his old friendship? However, it was like this, [We would be the kind of enemies that can't live under the same sky since I've betrayed you. So, my heart will remain restless if you don't die.]

[An old friendship is hard to forget. So, this betrayal should be thorough.]

This had nothing to do with Ou Du Xiao's nature in particular. This was about human nature in general.

The closest friends could become the most dangerous enemies! These words aren't false. One always has an opportunity to handle the situation if an enemy comes to deal with them. But, a friend who has turned into an enemy can easily put one in a situation that is impossible to recover from!

Ao Xie Yun's entire body had been sweating even though he was underwater.

His hiding position was aligned with Ou Du Xiao's position on the shore. So, the ashy-mist that had been sprinkled by Ou Du Xiao had naturally fallen far away from him. Moreover, Ao Xie Yun had backed off upstream by an arm's-length distance. And, this had helped him in evading the poison.

Ao Xie Yun had seen countless dead fishes and shrimps merely three feet away from him. So, he had closed his mouth, and was constantly swallowing saliva. He was extremely frightened!

Ao Xie Yun stayed in the water for some time. Ou Du Xiao and the others were on the shore, and were only twenty to thirty feet away from him. But, nobody was able to see him.

Finally, dawn broke out.

The people that had been assigned to capture Ao Xie Yun immediately moved into action.

Ou Du Xiao examined the river all over. He wrinkled his brows tightly. There was no smell from across the river. There wasn't even a trace of it. The tracker suggested that Ao Xie Yun had escaped to this place. So, he should've been hidden in this river.

However, no sound of activity had been heard from the river even after a large amount of 'Thousand Souls Perish and Scatter' had been scattered on it.

"Nothing has been found downstream. Ao Xie Yun isn't hiding downstream for a range of 50 Km from here. However, there's no trace of his smell from across of the river too. So, the only place where Ao Xie Yun could be hiding is in this river! He must be somewhere in the area from the place where we're standing right now to somewhere upstream. This deduction is accurate without a doubt!"

Ou Du Xiao indifferently said, "Our men can now go into the water and look for him since the sun has come up. Our experts will stand at intervals of a few hundred feet. We must dig out Ao Xie Yun even if we have to overturn this river!"

Ao Xie Yun felt a chill in his heart. He thought in his heart, [I've finally reached a situation of hopeless!]

…

Chu Yang and his brothers were getting ready to set out on a journey. It was early in the morning, and the sun had just risen from the east.

Everyone's dazzling vigor had become reserved after they had let their cultivation settle down over the last several days. However, they were in high spirits since Tan Tan had regained his original state after several days of being in depression.

The reason why they had woken up so early was Tan Tan himself. It was because Tan Tan had finally 'recovered'. In fact, he had become noisy and messy like before.

He had woken up from sleep, and had discovered that he had become 'normal'. After that, he became extremely happy on seeing just about everything. He especially wanted to make fun of Ji Mo, Luo Ke Di, and Rui Bu Tong…

Moreover, those nightmarish images and that feeling of being subtly nervous had also stopped emerging in his mind.

And, this was great news for Tan Tan.

Tan Tan had stared blankly at the void for a second when he discovered that he had recovered. Then, he came to his senses. Rui Bu Tong had been living in his tent, and was walking past him at this moment. So, Tan Tan seized him and asked, "Am I handsome? I have remained silent for so many days. Do I look handsome now?"

Rui Bu Tong looked miserable and depressed. In fact, he seemed to be suffering from extreme distress these past days. He immediately knelt down. Then, he scowled miserably… as if he had been mourning his deceased mother, "Uncle Tan… please spare me… I'm already depressed. I have hit the wall…"

Tan Tan moved his eyebrows up and down. Then, he flew out of the tent without saying anything further. He then decided to break into Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di's tent. He had thought of going into Chu Yang's tent at first. But, he had held a very serious conversation with him a couple of days ago. Therefore, Tan Tan felt a bit embarrassed at the thought of going to him…

Thereupon, he energetically went inside Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di's tent. It was early in the morning. So, Ji Mo and Luo Ke were sleeping like dead pigs. Tan Tan took the blankets off from their bodies, and threw the blankets out of the tent. Then, he winked at the two naked young men, "Am I handsome? I'm handsome or not? You two tell me…"

Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di burst out on the spot!

After all, they had been sleeping in peace. However, the blankets covering their bodies were suddenly snatched away. Moreover, both of them had a habit of sleeping naked. So, they were obviously more startled when Tan Tan took the blankets off their bodies. After all, they were scared that they might have a morning erection…

Consequently, they cried out in alarm. Both of them jumped up, and covered their 'important place down there'. They were obviously in a state of panic. However, their eyes also reflected a rage that soared to the heavens…

They then saw two eyebrows going up and down. A voice was repeatedly asking them a question. However, this voice sounded like the quacking of a duck that was 'busy' with a howling wolf, "Am I handsome? Am I handsome? Am I handsome?"

They became extremely angry as a result. They couldn't bear it any longer.

"I will make you handsome!" Both the young masters rushed over to Tan Tan with their bare buttocks. Both the ninth grade King Level Experts collaborated and knocked down the unprepared Tan Tan. Then, they started to beat him up with punches and kicks…

Tan Tan miserably screamed… again and again. How could he have thought that asking this question would beget such maltreatment from them?

In fact, the noise was so loud that Chu Yang, Gu Du Xing, and Dong Wu Shang rushed from their tents in urgency. They identified where the sounds were coming from. Then, they broke into Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di's tent.

They entered and saw what was happening. Chu Yang had always been calm and decisive; Gu Du Xing had always been indifferent and keen. And, Dong Wu Shang had always been majestic and as steady as a mountain. However, the jaws of these three youngsters dropped to the ground at this sight. In fact, the six eyeballs nearly fell out of their sockets and smashed on their shoes…

Four shiny-white petal-like asses were flickering before them in the tent — Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di were completely naked, and they had pressed down the well-groomed Tan Tan. Moreover, they were laughing and cussing while kicking and punching him…

"What… what… what is going on here?" The three of them had been left stunned by this sight. In fact, they had become more dumbstruck than a wooden statue…

Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di cried out in alarm. They stood up at a tremendous speed, and turned back. Then, they found their trousers, and quickly wore them.

Tan Tan shamefully lifted his eyebrows, and crawled up from the ground. He was somewhat embarrassed. When had the majestic and great Young Master Tan suffered such an insult?

He looked at Chu Yang, and he couldn't help but go over to him. Then, he opened his swollen eyes… that had also turned black and red. He then asked, "Chu Yang, you see… do I look handsome today?" He had also become fiercely 'shocked' while saying this.

Chu Yang felt that his eyes had become somewhat moist. He remained in a daze for a while, and didn't speak anything. Then, he suddenly yelled and kicked Tan Tan. After that, he threw himself at Tan Tan, and cussed, "You bastard! I will make you handsome! You scared me to death for the past few days…"

Chu Yang then ruthlessly beat him up; he didn't show the slightest bit of mercy. However, the concern that he had kept suppressed in his heart for the past few days had now vanished…

[Brother, you've become normal again!]

[You finally asked me if you're handsome…]

[You don't know how worried I've been for the past few days because I didn't get to hear your narcissism.]

…