"Cough, cough, cough... whoever you are, you won't get away injuring this great Jiang Shui."

Fang Hu was almost shocked, which was saying something, as just a little while ago Fang Hu was literally in shock a few moments ago. Apparently in matches at this level of cultivation, a lungshot is something you can brush off. His wound being displayed certainly made him much more intimidating. That turned out to be a shame however, no matter how intimidating Jiang Shui was being, it wouldn't affect the man if he wasn't paying attention.

"That was supposed to kill him, if I had known that my shot would miss, I would have just abducted Fang Hu without the hassle of waiting until Jiang Shui left himself exposed. He was just a side attraction anyway, Fang Hu was the meal ticket here."

"Are you ignoring me!? Does no one know their place?!"

"No, I don't suppose I do. I should have just went after Fang Hu, with what he's done, he's a much bigger enemy of the tribes than your second-rate ass. I don't suppose I mind doing you the favor of ending your existence, after all, it won't take me long."

With that the two cultivators clashed in battle. Well, they clashed as much as a man focused on evasion and a man focused on ranged attacks could. Their short battle consisted of Jiang Shui trying to evade Zhang Yimu's spirit bullets and Yimu instantly seeing through Shui's techniques. Jiang Shui was not a fool, he had fought diviners before, none of them may have been as talented as this young man, but he wasn't totally useless against divination techniques. His dao of shadows allowed him to do much more than what his enemies thought he could. He wasn't used to fighting such well-prepared opponents. Fang Hu and that young savage where much more cautious that what he was used to. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised, a scholar and a diviner are much different from the people he normally deals with. If he wanted to survive, he would have to keep his hands to his chest and play to win another day.

"You are much more talented than I would have believed, young savage! Know if I had all my qi then I would have killed you already, divination or no. Now prepare to face m-"

"BANG~"

Zhang Yimu shot at Jiang Shui in the middle of his grand speech. That, however, didn't end with Shui on the floor, once again confounding with the divinations of the tribesman. Jiang Shui had counted on his opponent attacking him mid-sentence, that kind of foe always does that. He had been preparing his trump card while his opponent blindly trusted his divinations. As he turned tail and ran, Jiang Shui vowed to obtain vengeance on the lot of them, he hadn't gotten the diviner's name, but it won't be hard to track the fate of a diviner that active. He was much more glad than before that hadn't killed that diviner.

After Jiang Shui's disappearing act, all that was left in the burning wreckage that was once a slum was the three confused combatants. They were all confused for different reasons, Xiang couldn't follow the plot, so he was just waiting until the other two cultivators finished fighting each other and clean up the remains while nabbing the prize all three of them were after. Zhang Yimu was super confused on how that old man had escaped his fate twice, and more pissed off than anything. Pretty sure Fang Hu just has a concussion.

'I need... to find a w-way to make... the bad men go bye-bye.'

Yep, that was a concussion alright. There was the problem of whether him worsening was a sign of internal injury or qi drain. Fang Hu would normally be all up in that kind of problem, both for the sake of knowledge and survival. It was actually concerning how Fang Hu valued both of those rather equally. Right now, however, Fang Hu valued trying to get his growing headache to go away and his impending capture more than anything academic. The feeling of safety that begat being in a city surrounded by powerful cultivators had been long since blown away. As our hero watched a bodybuilder try to punch a bullet, he realized that there would be no backup forthcoming. Even if Fang Hu was in top form, he would only be able to guess why, granted, his guesses would be much closer to the truth, but still be unconfirmed.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Xiang was on the backfoot, it was confusing for the young cultivator, he clearly had the most qi out of all three people in this fight, and he had used the least amount of it. How was this ranged fighter taking him on? It was as if the world itself helped the savage take him on. He wasn't that good of a fighter, yet his opponents attacks rained down on him relentlessly while none of his attacks landed. After another few minutes of cultivator battle, Xiang was on his knees and the rubble had been rearranged again.

"H-how?"

"All according to keikaku."

"I don't know what that means..."

"Hehehe... Note: keikaku means plan."

While Xiang was still confused, Zhang Yimu held his gun to Xiang's head. For all the world, it looked like Yimu was about to paint the road, then with all the cadence of a person getting disappointing test results, pointed it away and spoke to Xiang.

"Your death will spark a fire I can't deal with, leave now, and I won't need to kill you."

Xiang took a long moment to consider. He wasn't considering whether he wanted to die, but, rather, if capturing Fang Hu would be more beneficial to the house than keeping himself would be. After a few careful calculations, and a bit of an ego, Xiang lumbered away without so much as a word towards Zhang Yimu.

After taking a moment to appreciate the carnage, Zhang Yimu turned towards Fang Hu. Yimu walked casually towards Fang Hu, with all the confidence of a man who could see the future. He asked a few key questions while strolling towards the scholar.

"Why did you unleash a spirit beast on my people?"

"Cough... that's... why?... accident, secret grounds, lucky to live."

"A secret grounds you say? Then why can I not divine such a location?"

"...you... are bad... at divi...nation?"

"Haha, maybe, I'd like a detailed location, if you would."

"Oh yes, it's cough all the way... up your ass, and to the left."

"Oh damn, you're also a reincarnater? I hope you know that won't save you. Tell me the location or die."

Zhang Yimu pointed his gun at Fang Hu's face, but Fang Hu just smiled.

"I've died... once already. What do I have... to fear?"

This response made Yimu angry, but Hu went on with his sass.

"By the... way. If you keep pointing... that thing in peoples... faces, you're going... to hurt yourself. At extreme close range... it might be better... to use a hand or knife. ... Stop acting... like you're in a movie, you... drama... queen."

Zhang Yimu just clicked his tongue, it seemed like he would have to kill this man without the how, but just the why. As Yimu was going for the execution, he felt an oppressive aura heading his way. Yimu cursed to himself, he would have to focus to get away. Without killing the person who caused the problem, but still completing his mission, Zhang Yimu ran. He would have to content himself to only knowing how it happened and that it won't happen again.

And that is how Fang Hu's sass saved his life.

///

Glorious leader Liuxain moved into the part of his city that used to be a city. Whoever did this had to pay, it won't be a matter of if but a matter of when. Inner city politics had kept him from responding immediately, if he hadn't been caught up in a mess, whoever did this would be caught immediately. No bodies had been found, witnesses claimed someone had warned the city of the impending attack and allowed the evacuation of the slums.

The only person within the slums not under his command was the unconscious body of a qi gathering disciple, he would have him healed then interrogated, if anyone knew what happened here than it would be him. For the time being, Liuxain focused his efforts on clean up and reconstruction. Under his command, his citizens would have housing by the days end.