Chapter 57 - Qi Mingyun
…
The henchmen hurriedly carried the lifeless body and dumped it in the big rubbish chute behind them.
Pong!
The body landed with a heavy thud; they wiped their sweat as they took deep breaths with exhaustion after confirming that he was not breathing and truly dead.
“Phew– it’s not like this was the first time we did this, but it still feels as exciting as the first time! Don’t you think so, Jin Lei? You’re the one that dealt the final blow, awesome!”
A henchman with hair dyed a dirty blonde color lightly patted Jin Lei on his back while lost in thought of the thrilling moment when he saw the newcomer dealing the fatal punch.
“Haha… Thanks…”
Jin Lei straightened his back and laughed with slight awkwardness.
Actually, he had just joined the Golden Snake Gang just months ago and was still relatively new to the scene, although he had drew blood from a lot of victims– he had not murdered anyone before, it was an experience that he needed to get used to more often if he wanted to remain in the underground world for long.
“Guys, let’s get out of he–”
Just when Peng Tou gave the command to exit the area quickly– a soft eerie laugh was heard coming from the rubbish chute, however– it soon turned into a demented roaring laughter.
“Hehehe… Hehe…”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Peng Tou and his group were slightly creeped out; they had confirmed Qi Mingyun to be dead, despite that–
“What’s happening now? Wasn’t he supposed to be dead already? That f*cker is starting to creep me out…”
“Yeah, I thought so too! Boss Peng Tou, did he go insane instead?”
The henchmen whispered as they warily eyed the rubbish chute.
The crazed laughter soon stopped, however, Peng Tou and his sidekicks heard a voice filled with ominous excitement talking aloud as soon as the lid of the rubbish chute burst open– detaching and flying several meters away from what felt like sheer strength from a push.
“Never… Never would I have thought that this would happen in a million years… How ridiculous! How fantastic! How mysterious! I. Am. Back.”
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‘Sh*t… I don’t like the feeling of this.’
Peng Tou thought as he backed up a few steps, wary of what was to come.
A head appeared in their vision, followed by the rest of his body; Qi Mingyun slowly stood up and smiled at them– his injuries totally recovered and was without a scratch.
Only the dried blood stains remaining on his clothes were evidence that he had been brutally beaten and left to die just a few minutes before.
“Everyone back off!!! Let me handle this.”
Peng Tou took a deep breath and asked Qi Mingyun cautiously while the henchman stood behind him, observing in silence.
“How the h*ll did you do that? Weren’t you supposed to be dead?! Don’t play tricks on me, brat!”
Qi Mingyun continued his speech without even giving a care about Peng Tou's intimidation while simply staring at the afro-haired man with a creepy smirk.
“Ah! How refreshing– I’ve finally broken free from the countless cycles of mindless reincarnation. Although you guys might've framed my original self for a deed that he didn't do– I must still thank you for awakening my dazed soul.”
“What are you even on about?! You’ve gone f*cking crazy– take this!!!”
Peng Tou shouted as he got angry from being disregarded; he ran and held up his fists in an attempt to punch Qi Mingyun.
Thud!
A blunt sound was heard as Peng Tou’s fists collided with something, not on Qi Mingyun’s body, but on a single finger– stretched out without any effort.
“Tsk, tsk– That’s ticklish. Now, I’ll thank all of you by sending you guys to meet my best friend in hell!”
Qi Mingyun’s body flashed as he disappeared from his spot– they did not have the chance to react as he passed by their bodies and felt like time had paused.
Foosh!
In a few seconds, he was back at his original spot with a slight disapproving look as he remarked–
“Tch– this body’s still pretty weak. I can’t even use my powers properly right now. However, it’s enough for insects like the bunch of you.”
As if unpausing, Peng Tou finally reacted and raised his voice, a sense of foreboding silently creeping up his body.
“W-What did you d–”
BOOOOM!
His words were cut short as his body instantly exploded into a bloody mist– his fellow henchmen followed him shortly after with a series of consecutive explosions.
Blood splattered everywhere; the atmosphere and ambience of the place was befitting of a scene right out of a horror movie.
As a stroke of luck or perhaps slight mercy, only a single person was left alive for unknown reasons– Jin Lei.
“…W-Why?! Who are you!!! You’re not Qi Mingyun!”
“Hehehe, you can regard it as that, however he is still me– and I am him. Y’know why I left you alive? Hmmm?”
Qi Mingyun let out a small chuckle as he teased the frightened man.
“W-Why?! P-P-Please don’t kill me, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!”
Jin Lei was so horrified by the casual massacre Qi Mingyun had committed right in front of him that he fell on his buttocks as he stammered hard and begged for mercy– his pants slowly soiled from warm yellow liquid leaking out from his sheer fright.
Qi Mingyun laughed out loud and looked at Jin Lei with absolute contempt while giving him a perturbing question.
“Hahaha!!! It’s really funny how weaklings like you always beg in the same manner after they realize that they are doomed to die. Do you perhaps know of Hua’s version of chess– or Elephant Chess?”
“Y-Yes…! I know, I know! I don’t want to die, please spare me…”
Jin Lei cried with no regard to how he looked at all– his nose had mucus flowing out as he scrambled backwards using his hands and feet; every fibre of his being was screaming in alarm for him to run away.
Even though Jin Lei was a Phase 1 Evolver– he was not experienced in a proper fight, he had always been one only bullying the weak and fearing the strong, he felt powerless and weak in the face of instant deaths from his gang members.
Truthfully, if Jin Lei had tried to fight Qi Mingyun with no regards to his life, he might have had a slim chance of survival and not lose that badly. However, his fear had gotten a hold of him– he was set to lose.
Qi Mingyun inched towards Jin Lei in small threatening steps while channeling Spiritual Qi in his right hand; a circular flat piece of wood with the word ‘Soldier’ carved on it slowly started to manifest– hovering in his palm.
“Hahaha, it’s good that you know about that, it makes things easier to explain. You’re going to be my first ‘Soldier’, your soul will be trapped in my chess piece indefinitely, congratulations!”
He flicked his right hand forward as the chess piece shot out and entered Jin Lei’s dantian.
“NOOOOO, PLEASE!!! AHHH!”
Jin Lei’s body visibly withered as his skin turned wrinkly and grew skinnier– his life force rapidly seeping away into the chess piece embedded inside him.
In a matter of a few minutes, Jin Lei’s hair turned white and his body scattered into ash-white dust– leaving only a single small piece of wood hovering at the spot where his body used to be.
Qi Mingyun waved his right hand and retrieved the soldier chess piece, keeping it back into his dantian; he muttered under his breath and disappeared into the distance shortly after–
“I need to find somewhere to consolidate my cultivation, it’s hard to start out once again at the Qi Refinement Realm. Furthermore, this body doesn’t have a good foundation... Talent-wise on the other hand– I need to explore further.”
…