Chapter 37: Letter of Challenge

The next day, Yang Kai was awakened by a flurry of knocks on his door.

He groggily climbed out of bed and opened it, only to find no one outside. Instead, a familiar figure was quickly running away in the distance—Li Yuntian!

"What is this guy up to?" Yang Kai wondered in confusion. As he puzzled over it, he noticed an envelope on the ground by the door. He bent down to pick it up, and upon opening it, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The letter contained a message written entirely in blood.

"To my dear Senior Brother, it has been many days since we last met, and this Junior Brother has missed you dearly. I specially invite you to Heifeng Forest for a chat, and I hope you will do me the honor of coming! Written personally by your Junior Brother, Su Mu."

The bright red characters were indeed written in blood, though whether it was chicken blood or something else remained a mystery. Yang Kai figured it was highly unlikely that Su Mu had mutilated himself to write it.

There was another line of text at the very bottom. Unlike the refined and polite rhetoric above, this line was much cruder and more direct.

"Come if you have the guts!"

These words were written with imposing Momentum; the brushstrokes carried a deep-seated resentment and reeked of provocation.

Su Mu likely feared his invitation would be ignored, prompting him to add this final sentence. Young people were the most susceptible to reverse psychology, and having fallen for it countless times himself, Su Mu was now an experienced veteran in its application.

Pinching the blood-written challenge letter in his hand, Yang Kai slowly shook his head.

He didn’t take Su Mu’s provocation to heart. Su Mu might truly hold a grudge, but Yang Kai did not. With a different Mind Realm and a broader horizon, Yang Kai merely treated such petty squabbles as a Jin Shi to test the results of his Cultivation.

Although their initial meeting had been unpleasant and Su Mu had repeatedly tried to cause trouble for him, Yang Kai had realized through their interactions that Su Mu wasn’t inherently bad—just a bit of a spoiled brat.

If you befriended someone like him, he would treat you very well. But if you made an enemy out of him, he would stick to you like a maggot on a bone, harassing you until you were endlessly annoyed.

He hadn’t seen Su Mu and his gang lately, so they had probably been hiding from him. For some unknown reason, they had suddenly regained the confidence to defeat him and came to issue this challenge.

Initially, Yang Kai didn’t really want to bother with Su Mu, but as he pondered it while sweeping the floor, he decided to make the trip.

Su Mu was undoubtedly an overt scoundrel. By bypassing the Sect rules and issuing a private challenge, he was most likely planning a group ambush.

The chosen location also spoke volumes. Heifeng Forest was a pine woods situated right at the foot of Black Wind Mountain, making it the perfect place to play dirty tricks and set traps.

Although their group was large, only Su Mu himself had reached the Ninth Level of Body Tempering Realm. Li Yuntian was at the Seventh Level of Body Tempering Realm, while the rest were only at the Fifth and Sixth Layers. Yang Kai wasn’t sure if he could handle such opponents, but he needed a proper fight to test his Cultivation—something entirely different from friendly Sect sparring!

At this very moment, Su Mu and his lackeys were waiting on the main road leading from Lingxiao Pavilion to Heifeng Forest. The group hadn’t even bothered to set up an ambush; they were simply standing there, looking valiant and puffed up with arrogant pride.

Recalling the embarrassing state of being suddenly ambushed and knocked unconscious during Ziye a few days ago, Su Mu’s expression darkened. He still didn’t know what had happened that night. The brothers who had gone to Yang Kai’s cabin had suddenly fainted; everything had occurred so inexplicably.

They hadn’t woken up until the next morning. Although it was summer and sleeping outside wasn’t cold, there was an unbearable number of mosquitoes. When they finally came to, everyone felt as though they had gained hundreds of huge welts, and they had no idea how much blood the bugs had drained from them.

For several days after that, Su Mu and the others had been bedridden, weakened beyond measure.

After recovering a few days ago, the brothers had fled Lingxiao Pavilion under Su Mu’s leadership. If they couldn’t afford to provoke Yang Kai, couldn’t they at least hide from him?

It wasn’t until yesterday, when Li Yuntian successfully mastered a new Martial Skill, that Su Mu’s thoughts of revenge sparked to life once more. That was what prompted him to have Li Yuntian deliver the challenge letter, inviting Yang Kai to fight in Heifeng Forest.

The reason he didn’t issue a formal Sect challenge was because Su Mu didn’t actually have much faith in Li Yuntian. In the event that Li Yuntian lost again, his group could just swarm Yang Kai all at once. To hell with Sect rules and dog-shit morality—they would just beat Yang Kai to a pulp. If they didn’t vent this foul anger, their chests would literally burst from the frustration.

Just as he was thinking about this, Li Yuntian rushed over from the distance.

"Did you deliver it?" Su Mu asked, his gaze ruthless.

"Yeah."

"Good. Now we wait for that bastard to show up."

They waited and waited, but there was still no sign of Yang Kai. Su Mu’s expression grew impatient. He paced back and forth, cursing, "Does that bastard not have the guts to come?"

Scarcely had he spoken when Li Yuntian suddenly pointed out, "Young Master Su, someone is coming."

"Oh?" Su Mu’s spirits soared, thinking Yang Kai had actually come out to court death. But upon closer inspection, he realized the approaching person was not Yang Kai at all.

"Young Master Su, it’s the people from Fengyu Tower," Li Yuntian said, staring at the approaching group. "The one leading them seems to be Cheng Shaofeng!"

"Cheng Shaofeng?" Su Mu’s expression turned cold. He looked up and indeed saw Cheng Shaofeng from Fengyu Tower marching over grandly with a large crowd behind him.

"Young Master Su, should we avoid them for now?" Li Yuntian asked hesitantly. He knew there was quite a bit of bad blood between Su Mu and Cheng Shaofeng. As the leading figures of the Body Tempering Realm in their respective Sects, the two had clashed many times over recent years, with both sides seeing their fair share of wins and losses. If they bumped into each other now, friction was inevitable.

"Avoid what?" Su Mu coldly snorted. "Is he qualified to make this young master step aside?"

Li Yuntian didn’t try to dissuade him, knowing that this sort of thing concerned a man’s pride. How could someone as competitive as Young Master Su ever yield? However, the other side had quite a few people; if a fight really broke out, their side would likely suffer a disadvantage.

As they spoke, Cheng Shaofeng had already spotted Su Mu Yaoyao. His expression instantly lit up with delight, and after calling out to the people behind him, he unconsciously quickened his pace.

Before long, the two factions met. Although the road Su Mu’s group was occupying was the mandatory route from Lingxiao Pavilion to Heifeng Forest, it was also the mandatory route from Fengyu Tower to Heifeng Forest. This was actually a four-way intersection: one path led to Lingxiao Pavilion, one to Fengyu Tower, and another to the Blood War Gang.

By blocking the road like this, Su Mu and his men had effectively barred Cheng Shaofeng’s way.

"I was wondering who was so blind, but it turns out to be Su Mu!" Cheng Shaofeng stepped forward, sizing Su Mu up with a contemptuous gaze. His voice carried a mocking Yin and Yang tone.

Su Mu rolled his eyes and remained standing as straight as a javelin, not even in the mood to entertain him.

This blatant disregard made Cheng Shaofeng’s expression turn slightly displeased.

"HEHEHE, little brother Cheng, it seems they’re ignoring you," a coquettish laugh rang out. The voice was crisp and melodious, highly pleasing to the ear, yet it gave off a distinctly wanton and uninhibited vibe.

Su Mu followed the sound and looked over, only to see a charming young girl step out from behind Cheng Shaofeng. She wore a loose-fitting top that left her delicate shoulders half-exposed, gleaming with a tantalizing, porcelain-like luster. Her skirt hugged her perky bottom and revealed half of her fair, slender legs. Along with her dainty bare feet in wooden clogs and her perfectly rounded, translucent toes, she was exceptionally eye-catching.