Chapter 2: Killing Back from Desperation

The lightning-type Fighting Qi inside his body circulated rapidly. With a light lift of his wrist, the longsword, Ice Flame, slashed upward from below. Its speed was extremely fast, and between flashes of cold light, jumping electric sparks crackled.

“Ding~”

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed out.

The iron whip, burning with fire, was successfully blocked and deflected half a foot to the side. It grazed Lei Qing’s body and smashed ferociously onto the snow. With a bang, snow flew up, highlighting the fierce and crazy expression on An Feifei’s face.

Lei Qing had also paid a price to block this imposing whip strike. Half of his arm was numb, and he could barely hold onto his sword.

Facing these three people, even just one would be difficult for Lei Qing in his current state, let alone being surrounded by three of them or facing them in a wheel battle. He did not dare to delay for a moment. His feet moved in quick succession, and it seemed as if electric flashes were twinkling around him. His body glided in an arc, turned around, and ghost-like, positioned himself behind An Feifei. The longsword, Ice Flame, followed the momentum and slashed at the back of her neck.

This was the characteristic of the famous body movement technique of the Lei Family, Thunder Flash. It was as fast as lightning and impossible to grasp. It was precisely because of this body movement technique that Lei Qing had managed to escape time and time again and survive until now.

Whoosh~

An Feifei did not dodge or avoid it. Instead, her body spun, and the nearly hundred-pound iron whip swung backward with the momentum, creating a dull and dangerous sound of tearing through the air.

“Crazy woman.”

Lei Qing had long heard rumors about the madness and brutality of the Red Tyrannosaurus, An Feifei, but he did not expect that every move and form she used would be filled with a resolute, do-or-die atmosphere of mutual destruction. No wonder even some Silver-rank strongholds would show a solemn expression when speaking of this woman’s name.

Even in such a desperate situation, Lei Qing still did not want to engage in a mutual destruction fight with her. He temporarily changed his move, shifting from cutting to deflecting.

There was another silent collision. Even though Lei Qing had deflected forty or fifty percent of her strength, he was still struck and flown backward. However, this was exactly what he wanted. He twisted his body in mid-air, landed with his toes first, and stepped on the snow to make rapid dotted movements, heading straight for the Ghost Wolf, Scott.

It was not that Lei Qing did not know the danger of trying to kill someone at such a critical moment. It was because he was very clear about how terrifying this gloomy man was. No matter where you ran, he would track you like a Hungry Wolf. When you showed signs of fatigue or lost your vigilance, he would sneak attack you like a ghost.

Such things had happened many times in the past few months. Like a series of nightmares, Lei Qing did not want to experience the feeling of being tracked and watched by others like a parasitic insect again.

Only by severely injuring or killing him would Lei Qing have the confidence to escape.

The distance between them was not far, only about four or five zhang. Taking advantage of the momentum, Lei Qing jumped. Relying on the high explosive speed of Thunder Flash, in almost an instant, he appeared in front of Scott. With a flick of his wrist, the longsword, Ice Flame, exploded like fireworks. In the blink of an eye, he thrust out seven or eight sword strikes. Every strike was as fast as lightning, accompanied by a flickering electric spark.

The Lei Family’s hereditary mental cultivation technique, Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder, had been passed down by the Lei Family’s Old Ancestor. It was quite famous in Tianlan Country. The Fighting Qi cultivated with this technique naturally contained a trace of the intent of lightning. The lightning-type Fighting Qi could not only activate moves at an extremely fast speed but also had a paralyzing effect once it entered an opponent’s body. If the lightning was strong enough, it could even directly break the opponent’s heart meridians. It was indeed a very powerful Fighting Qi method.

The Lei Family’s Old Ancestor also relied on this lightning-type Fighting Qi to establish remarkable merits in the founding war of Tianlan, eventually being enfeoffed as a hereditary count, enjoying infinite glory for a time.

Unfortunately, the Lei Family had declined now and would never recover its former glory.

But even so, the Lei Family’s Fighting Qi battle techniques were still not to be underestimated.

The Ghost Wolf, Scott, did not expect that this milky boy, Lei Qing, would dare to run and attack him after An Feifei’s strong assault. But he was a very experienced mercenary, with countless lives in his hands. In the blink of an eye, he reacted. His pupils contracted sharply, and while retreating backward, he danced his sharp claws to block.

Ding ding ding.

A series of crisp clashing sounds rang out. Scott blocked six of Lei Qing’s sword strikes in an instant. It cannot be said that his reaction was not fast or that his strength was not high. But, he didn’t block them all. Of the remaining two strikes, one broke through his armor and pierced his chest, and the other directly pierced his throat.

When hot blood splashed on Lei Qing’s face, he could even see the shock and disbelief in Scott’s blue eyes. He probably never expected to suddenly die at the hands of a pretty boy like Lei Qing.

But to Lei Qing, this was only natural. This sudden ambush on Scott, he had a high certainty of severely injuring him and a small certainty of killing him directly. He was very lucky. Because An Feifei was present, the usually cautious Scott was careless.

Scott did not die unjustly. He excelled at stealth, tracking, assassination, and sneak attacks. In a direct confrontation, he was originally inferior. Moreover, he was the only Entry-rank Bronze among the people present, so he was originally weaker than Lei Qing. Furthermore, during the life-and-death tempering of the past few months, Lei Qing’s understanding and proficiency with martial techniques and swordsmanship had long surpassed what he was capable of when he first started out.

Of course, if the two of them had lined up for a formal direct confrontation, he might have been able to withstand ten or twenty more moves. Unfortunately, he was careless. Skilled swimmers often drown; perhaps this was the will of fate.

After instantly killing Scott, a heavy stone seemed to be lifted from Lei Qing’s heart. He felt extremely comfortable and refreshed.

But before he could enjoy this feeling, a roar like that of a huge beast came from behind him.

Whoosh, a dull sound of tearing through the air sounded. The black giant, Mad Bear, Duncan, who was too late to rescue, directly threw his dual-handed greatsword. The sharp and heavy greatsword flipped continuously in the air like a wheel, producing a series of low, whooshing roars.

Lei Qing, who had long been accustomed to being alert, immediately spun his Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi wildly around his body. Thunder Fighting Qi filled his legs, and he jumped suddenly. His body darted out like rapid lightning, leaving a faint afterimage. In an instant, he was already three or four zhang away. Almost at the same time, the sharp sword aura of the dual-handed greatsword grazed past his afterimage. It gave Lei Qing a cold sweat. Fortunately, his reaction was a bit faster.

At this moment, where did Lei Qing dare to turn back and look? He immediately ran Thunder Flash to its extreme, fiercely burning the Fighting Qi in his body. Like flashes of sudden thunder, he moved extremely fast, fleeing toward the distance. He could kill Scott in an instant, but that did not mean he could handle the remaining two. Whether it was An Feifei or Mad Bear, in his current state, he was no match for them.

But if it came to running away, those two who specialized in close combat and strength were no match for him. In just dozens of breaths, Lei Qing broke free from the extremely depressed An Feifei and Mad Bear Duncan and disappeared into the vast sea of snow.

Mad Bear Duncan, whose complexion was already dark, became even blacker. Looking at the faint, intermittent footprints on the snow, he said resentfully: “That kid surnamed Lei is too cunning and too ruthless. In front of the two of us, he actually dared to kill back Scott. Deputy Leader, let’s chase him. Even if we chase him to the ends of the earth, we must eliminate him.”

An Feifei had now put away her iron whip and returned to her charming and lazy young married woman appearance. She yawned: “If you want to chase, you chase. Since Scott is dead, who can track him? This girl is not going to do such a thankless task. That kid’s body movement technique, Thunder Flash, under the tempering of being chased, has reached the level of small success. No wonder even Ouyang Ba fell at his hands.”

“Deputy Leader, do you mean we won’t avenge Ouyang Ba and Scott?” Mad Bear also knew that if he chased alone, not to mention whether he could catch up, even if he did, he probably couldn’t do anything to that kid. He couldn’t help but say resentfully: “Miss Yu cares too little about our lives in the Free Mercenary Group. She insists on capturing him alive. Otherwise, that kid would have been dead months ago. The Leader is also unreasonable. Why didn’t he argue strongly on the merits? Why did he have to agree to capture him alive?” Mad Bear Duncan was one of the first batch of people to participate in the pursuit of Lei Qing. He was the clearest about how fast Lei Qing had improved in these few months.

“Stupid Bear, do you think the Leader is as stupid as you?” An Feifei glared at him with charm and annoyance: “Don’t look at the Lei Family’s current decline. A dead camel is still bigger than a horse. It can’t cause a great storm, but it can still destroy our small Free Mercenary Group. Are we really relying on Miss Yu’s protection for the rest of our lives? Moreover, this matter was a private secret request from Miss Yu. The Grand Preceptor did not intervene at all. If a major incident truly occurs, can you guarantee that the Grand Preceptor will step in to save us? We have already done our best. Twelve Black Iron-rank elite mercenaries and two Bronze fighters have died. This is enough for an explanation.”

Mad Bear Duncan, although simple-minded, was not so stupid as to be beyond saving. He was forcibly scared into a cold sweat and did not dare to mention chasing Lei Qing again. Besides, it was snowing heavily with goose-feather-sized snowflakes now. Soon, the shallow footprints left by Lei Qing would be covered and invisible.

As for Lei Qing, relying on the Thunder Flash body movement technique, he sprinted for over ten li in the time it takes to burn one stick of incense. However, the Thunder Fighting Qi in his body was drained completely. Every thread of muscle in his body hurt as if it were about to break, feeling as uncomfortable as ten thousand ants biting his bones.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier. The surroundings were gray, and his vision could only see about four or five zhang ahead. Unable to run anymore, Lei Qing, with steps deep and shallow, found a snow pit and crawled in. After digging a few breathing holes, he could no longer hold on and relaxed.

He casually dug a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth to replenish the severely consumed water. Then, he calmed his mind and focused his spirit, recovering his strength bit by bit. The vigilant psychology formed over the past few months made him dare not be careless in the slightest.

Although the Ghost Wolf Scott, who was good at stealth and tracking, was dead, there was no guarantee that Duncan and An Feifei wouldn’t accidentally stumble upon his hiding place. The probability was small, but one had to guard against it. Only by quickly recovering his Fighting Qi and physical strength to their peak states could there be a possibility of resolving the crisis. Only strength was the foundation for survival in this world. If he had Gold-rank cultivation, he wouldn’t have to fear anyone at all.

……