Chapter 16: What Is True Affection? Tears Fall Before You

Those who wish to scare others often scare themselves first. (Gu Long)
……
It seems this fox spirit is smarter than the black bear spirit. Rather than saying she’s smart, it’s better to say she’s cunning and deceitful…
The beautiful woman coquettishly leaned against the strong man, gave him a seductive kiss, and said, “Darling, why is that scholar such a fool? You should learn from him.”
The Ten Heroes behind Liu Yi shivered and said, “Oh my, it’s so cold.”
How could it not be cold? With such a woman doing such things at this place and time, it would be strange if it weren’t cold…
Although the fox spirit’s eyes were filled with lust, when she turned her gaze toward the black bear spirit, it gave off a sense of warmth and happiness…
Liu Yi shook his head and thought to himself, “Could I be mistaken? How can a demon have such deep emotions?”
At that moment, the strong man spoke up, “Are it you three brats who want to take care of us?”
Liu Yi waved his fan and nodded, saying, “Don’t you two reflect on yourselves? You treat human lives as worthless. They, like you, have feelings too. When you hurt them, don’t you think they also have the right to enjoy life?”
The charming woman gently pushed the strong man’s shoulder and took a few steps toward Liu Yi, saying, “Fool… I think you’d be better suited to be a monk, because you’re so compassionate. Why don’t you advise us that the sea of suffering has no end, and turning back leads to salvation?”
Before Liu Yi could reply, the Ten Heroes stepped forward and shouted, “Nonsense! If I became a monk, would I still advise you? That would be utterly absurd… By then, Buddha would have already saved you.” Though they didn’t know what was so absurd, the Ten Heroes finished speaking anyway.
It was then that the charming woman realized there was such a fool behind the scholar. Her laughter sounded like silver bells as she said, “Oh, there’s someone like you too? I really didn’t notice. My apologies for being careless…”
The Ten Heroes were momentarily speechless and couldn’t get angry.
The charming woman went over to the strong man, leaned gently against his chest, and said with a tender expression, “Brother Bear, leave that foolish scholar to me. He looks quite handsome. And that silly kid… leave him to you…” Of course, by “silly kid,” she meant the Ten Heroes, which was obvious to everyone.
The Ten Heroes were also of the Zhang Fei type—rough on the outside but gentle inside. Hearing that they would split up, they thought it was fine for themselves, but Liu Yi didn’t know martial arts, so that fox spirit could easily take him down. The Ten Heroes said to the Big Sword King behind them, “Big Sword, go protect the leader. A little while will be enough. After I deal with this bear, I’ll help you save that fox spirit.”
The strong man didn’t seem to like being called a bear. His furious gaze made it clear just how angry he was. With a roar, he leaped up and threw a punch at the Ten Heroes.
It seemed like an ordinary punch, but it carried the force of a storm. That punch could easily shatter mountains and rocks…

Of course, Shi Jieyi didn’t take this punch seriously at all. After years of training, he could truly be called a boxing champion. Gathering internal energy in his right hand, he swung his fist with the force of wind and fire, aiming it at the strong man’s fist. This punch was from the “Five Elements Boxing Manual” taught by his master—both the “Wind-Fire Scorching Sun Fist” and the “Thundering Fist” belonged to the Five Elements Boxing series…

With a “bang,” the two fists collided, generating intense internal energy that exploded and stirred up dust on the ground. Both men stepped back, but the strong man seemed at a disadvantage, as Shi Jieyi’s fists, rooted in the Five Elements, emitted fierce flames that forced him to blow hard on his fists while shouting, “It’s so hot! So hot!”

Shi Jieyi laughed loudly, “Haha! Even a thousand-year-old monster isn’t that great! Let me, one of the top ten outstanding youths, teach you a lesson today.” Of course, Shi Jieyi also knew that without his master’s superhuman training, even ten of him wouldn’t be a match for such a monster.

The strong man waved his hand, and two giant axes appeared out of thin air—black, dull-looking, yet extremely sharp. Seeing this, Shi Jieyi exclaimed exaggerately, “Damn it! You even managed to bring out my brother Li Kui’s two axes?”

As he spoke, he didn’t idle away his time either. He channeled his true energy into his fists, which were instantly surrounded by white light. This was also a masterpiece of his master, but it wasn’t part of the Five Elements Boxing Manual. This technique was called the “Heavenly Gang Fighting Fist.” Those who used it had fists that were incredibly hard and could withstand any weapon.

The strong man leaped lightly, as if the two axes posed no pressure to him. He swung the axes fiercely at Shi Jieyi’s head. Seeing this, Shi Jieyi swiftly slid to the right, dodging the axes. As soon as he turned around, another axe swept toward him. Bending down to avoid it, he noticed another axe coming from below. Unable to dodge, he jumped backward to get out of the fighting range. But the strong man wouldn’t give him a chance to catch his breath—he charged forward and continued to swing wildly…

But that brief moment was enough. Shi Jieyi used the momentum to accelerate forward, shouting, “Heavenly Spear!” His right fist transformed into a sharp energy blade, striking straight at the two axes… The strong man hadn’t adjusted his angle in time. With a “bang,” the fist collided with the axes, and with a “snap,” he was sent flying backward and crashed into a wall. Thinking it was just a small mistake, he tried to get up and fight again, but by the time he realized Shi Jieyi was rushing toward him, it was already too late…

“Thunder Break!” Shi Jieyi continued naming his techniques. Countless punches struck the strong man like thunder cracking rocks, mercilessly.

“Thunder Break”—the second move of the “Heavenly Gang Fighting Fist.” As the name suggests, it used pure Heavenly Gang true energy to create razor-sharp punches. Those hit by “Thunder Break” would show no external injuries, but their internal organs would shatter completely. Moreover, “Thunder Break” was extremely fast—during the time it took to deliver one “Heavenly Spear” punch, sixteen “Thunder Break” punches could be thrown.

The poor strong man didn’t even get a chance to cry out in pain before being reduced to ashes by Shi Jieyi. Taking a closer look, Shi Jieyi realized it was indeed a black bear spirit.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, just as Shi Jieyi started fighting against the strong man, the fight here also began…
The charming woman giggled and said, “Idiot, what are you thinking about? Are you admiring my beauty? Come with me back to the cave.”
With a clang, a large sword was thrust in front of Liu Yi and the charming woman. Without a doubt, it was the Sword King.
The charming woman seemed startled. After calming down, she asked, “Who are you?”
The Sword King struck a few poses, showcasing the perfect lines of his muscles, and said, “Thanks to the kindness of my fellow martial artists, I’ve been given a title—Sword King. That’s me.”
Hearing this, the charming woman exclaimed, “So you’re the Sword King.”
The Sword King laughed and said, “Well, are you scared now?”
She shook her head and said, “I’ve never heard of you, but since you have a ‘King’ in your title, you must be quite powerful, right?”
The Sword King nodded and said, “It’s not too late to leave. Don’t…” Before he could finish, a gust of wind blew past him, and the charming woman was already in front of him.
With a bang, he was sent flying. The charming woman looked at her own palm as if admiring her five slender fingers.
The Sword King brushed off the dust from his body, endured the pain, and stood up again. Holding his sword, he slowly approached and said, “Not bad. I just wanted to test your strength. I didn’t expect it to be nothing special.” Though he said this, the Sword King was indeed resilient. Over the years, he had been hit countless times; otherwise, he would have been killed right from the start when he first encountered Shi Jieyi. His resistance was truly remarkable.
It seemed the charming woman was genuinely surprised by the Sword King’s durability. Her earlier palm strike had sent not only ordinary people but even skilled martial artists bleeding to death.
She smiled and said, “Good. Since you’re so tough, then I’ll use my newly mastered palm technique, ‘Bamboo Silk Palm.’” With that, her right hand moved gently, appearing slow at first but leaving afterimages, giving off a soft impression.
She continued, “Got it.” With a graceful posture, she slowly swung a palm toward the Sword King’s chest. But with a quick head movement, the palm was already a foot away from his chest. With no other choice, the Sword King used the martial art known for its highest evasion rate—“Lazy Donkey Tumbling.” It proved effective indeed.
After a cloud of dust cleared, the Sword King stood up, waving his sword and charging at the charming woman. This was his signature move, “Sweeping Thousands of Soldiers,” a technique he had created based on years of experience in the martial world. Though chaotic, it was so powerful that it made it difficult for anyone to get close.
Obviously, the charming woman was in the same situation, retreating step by step while smiling and saying, “ Truly worthy of being the Sword King. You wield that sword in such an amazing way—most people probably couldn’t do it.” Though she said this, her hands were moving. With two swishes, two long silk strips flew out from her sleeves… Following the principle of using softness to counter hardness, the Sword King’s “Sweeping Thousands of Soldiers” became useless the moment it touched those silk strips.

Two strands of silk wrapped tightly around the Great Sword King’s sword like serpents. With a powerful move, the charming woman made it impossible for the Great Sword King to hold onto his sword, which flew out with a snap and landed three zhang away in the ground.

Smiling, the charming woman approached the Great Sword King and said, “Is there anything else you can use? You seem so strong—how about going back and enjoying yourself with your sister?”

At that moment, the Ten Heroes rushed in and said, “Fox spirit, go check on your husband! If you wait any longer, you might not even get to see him one last time.”

The charming woman hadn’t expected the Ten Heroes to appear there. She had thought it would be easy for the strong man to deal with this fool, but she had been too focused on what was happening here and overlooked the other side. She never imagined this fool to have such high martial skills.

Seeing the Ten Heroes appear, the charming woman knew something must have gone wrong over there. When she turned around, she saw her “lover” lying far away against the wall, spewing blood continuously. Clearly, he was close to drinking the Mengpo soup.

Watching the charming woman’s expression, the Ten Heroes didn’t think a demon would react in such a way. Instead, they thought she might try to escape or find another way to take them three with her.

Yet, this seemingly heartless and lustful fox spirit made them rub their eyes. The charming woman rushed like crazy toward the Black Bear Demon (who had already revealed his true form), hugged him, her eyes red with tears, and asked in a trembling voice, “How… how could this happen? Didn’t we agree? To be together forever, forever. You said so… We were supposed to go to the ends of the earth together, right? You promised me, yes, you promised me. Why? Why did this happen?”

The three of them couldn’t believe their eyes or ears. What was she saying? Could such words really come from a demon?

The nearly frantic woman watched as the Black Bear Demon gradually closed his eyes and stopped moving. She also calmed down, though it was more out of helplessness than true calm. Her trembling voice, mixed with unbelievable tears, said, “Why? Why does heaven have to tease us like this? For a thousand years, we’ve been together all this time. Just a few more days, and we could leave this hellish place and go wherever we wanted. Didn’t we agree? To never part, to never give up on each other? But why did you have to leave first? Why… You promised me to take me to the ends of the earth to watch the sunset. You promised me to take me to the Western Regions to see the sea of sand. You promised me to take me to Kunlun to see the moon…” Gradually, her voice grew hoarse, softer, until it disappeared altogether…

Suddenly, her gaze turned— it was… a gaze of revenge. She said angrily, “You… you’re demons.” With that, she raised her left hand and released a strand of silk, instantly binding Liu Yi, who was standing in front watching. With a flash of blue light, the two demons and one human disappeared from the ground.