Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

Zhang Renfeng's expression changed several times, and then, as if he had completely broken down, he laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

He had no idea.

When Zhang Renfeng killed the bandit leader, he didn't even have time to speak to him. He saw the bandit leader coming up with his broadsword, muttering something incoherently, and Zhang Renfeng punched him through the sternum.

Even so, the governor remained fearful, because in those brief ten minutes together, he had sensed that Zhang Renfeng was not a man of compromise. Since he could not bribe him, the governor of Liangjiang chose another route—to silence him.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

"Hahahahahahahahahaha—!!!"

His laughter was like that of a madman, tearing the heavens and the earth apart.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang! I've said everything I needed to say..." He Wushang pleaded, "Could you please spare me for this sake? Please spare me!"

Zhang Renfeng didn't speak, but tensed his palm and struck down, piercing through the armor, skin, and ribs, tearing out his heart.

"Ughhhhhhh!!!!"

The excruciating pain made him sit up, his mouth agape, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter a single word.

“Is this all?” Zhang Renfeng said coldly. “I thought it would be black.”

He tossed it aside like trash.

Chapter 556: Blood and Ink

The sky was overcast, and the faint rumble of thunder could be heard.

Inside the pavilion, beneath the chessboard, black and white were locked in a fierce battle. Starting from the corners, the fighting gradually moved to the center. The battle intensified, forcing both sides, holding white and black, to slow down, steady themselves, and carefully consider each possible move.

"A perfectly good White Tiger Hall, but it ended up being sung as Havoc in Heaven, Lord An." Lord Ying stroked his beard and laughed, "This is a difficult task, and we must take on the responsibility."

"What you're saying...I really don't understand."

"Hahaha, Lord An is playing dumb with me again, knowing the truth." Ying Gong placed a piece on the board, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Now, I've lost the Kui Battalion, while you, Lord An, still have the Shan Battalion and the Dou Battalion. Let's stop wasting each other's time. The position of Governor of Liangjiang is now vacant. Why don't you give it a shot, Lord An?"

"You are mistaken, Lord Ying. The appointment and deployment of personnel is the decision of the court. This is not a business I run myself. If the court believes I am capable, it will naturally select me. Why waste words?" Lord An placed a piece, his face somber. He sighed and unconsciously lamented, "What a pity, what a pity."

"It is a real pity that such a brave and valiant man cannot be used by the country."

"Lord An, Lord An, have you lost your mind?" Ying Gong said with a hint of sarcasm. "To execute a high-ranking official in the street and then slaughter his entire family afterwards. And you still want to use this person? Aren't you afraid that one day you'll offend him and end up with no trace of your remains?"

"Hmph." Lord An suddenly snorted coldly through his nostrils.

"If the heart is not upright, the eyes will be dim; if the body is not upright, the heart is deserving of punishment."

He placed a piece on the chessboard and murmured, "Hasn't he brought this on himself?"

……

"boom---!!"

A muffled rumble of thunder.

The heavy rain poured down from the sky like a toppled well, pelting a sturdy birch tree, causing its branches to droop and leaves to fall. Unlike its kind, it wasn't born in the soil, but rather, it had been driven into this stone path by unimaginable force, the ground shattered and the tree nailed to it. Most of its trunk was now embedded in the earth and stones, tightly fused with them.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread outwards in all directions from this center.

We've tried pulling and dragging, horse pulling, all sorts of methods, but to this day, the birch tree remains firmly planted in the ground, unmoved.

Like a silent tombstone.

----

"really……"

Seeing the soldiers patrolling in front of his house, Zhang Renfeng sighed.

After he killed the governor of Liangjiang with a birch tree and emptied his mansion, he became an enemy of the entire country, and the bounty on his head skyrocketed. He disguised himself as a beggar and finally made his way back to his hometown. However, he found that the court's spies were everywhere, in front of his house and in the alley.

He truly understood what it meant to be "deserted and rarely visited" today. The once bustling mansion was now deserted except for the occasional bird flying across the sky.

Zhang Renfeng was filled with grief. Although he had been mentally prepared, he still harbored a sliver of hope before witnessing the scene firsthand. Now, even that insignificant hope vanished along with the desolate landscape.

He found a secluded corner, quickly climbed over the wall, and landed in the yard.

It was a desolate place, overgrown with weeds.

"what……"

At first glance, Zhang Renfeng didn't even recognize that this was his former home. An indescribable sense of sorrow struck his heart, and he lost his balance, grabbing the moss-covered courtyard wall for support.

"Hey, hey, this place is full, this is my territory." A disheveled homeless man saw him, waved his hand as if shooing away flies, "If you're looking for a place to stay, there's still space in the front yard, go over there."

"Your... territory?" Zhang Renfeng laughed as if he were in a dream.

“Yeah, it’s not mine, so why would it be yours?” the homeless man said matter-of-factly. “It’s just sitting here empty anyway, so it doesn’t matter who lives here.”

"Where are the people here?"

"How would I know? Whether they escaped, died, or their homes were ransacked. These kinds of things happen every year, it's not like it's the first time," the homeless man said impatiently. "Why do you care? The soldiers haven't kicked us out yet, so just keep staying."

"Yes, it happens every year..."

Zhang Renfeng murmured to himself, as if he had lost his soul, and stopped speaking. He simply started walking towards the corridor.

cloister.

hall.

Library.

Everywhere he looked, there was only desolation. The objects that once belonged to his life were now scattered on the ground. The once vivid memories were now fragments, trampled on countless times and covered in dust.

He felt like a legless ghost, stroking the dusty beams and wooden railings, wandering in this familiar yet strange place.

Come back home.

Horses gravitate towards the north wind, birds nest on southern branches—this is the instinct of living beings, and Zhang Renfeng was no exception. But when he finally arrived home after countless hardships, he was filled with confusion—his home had been thoroughly searched, leaving only an empty shell. Could this empty shell truly still be considered his home?

But if not, how should we cope with the long days ahead?

……

"crunch-"

He pushed open the door to his former wife's bedroom. The room was cold and quiet, and a layer of dust had settled on the eaves.

The dressing table and drawers were ransacked, a complete mess, with only a bronze mirror remaining. In the dim light of the mirror, Zhang Renfeng saw himself—his hair disheveled, his face filthy, and his clothes tattered, like a stray dog.

"Hehe...hehe..."

He chuckled inexplicably, took a few slow steps, and looked at the empty room, feeling as if he had just woken from a long dream. He then sat down on the cold bed.

"..."

Recalling his wife's habits, he decided to give it a try and turned the pillow over. After searching inside, he actually found a letter. Zhang Renfeng immediately stood up, his whole body trembling, and with trembling hands, he opened the envelope.

He could no longer recall every word of the letter. He had only glanced at it once, and his heart was filled with despair and emptiness.

And the next moment, all that remained in my mind was pain!

"laugh!"

A homeless man lunged at Zhang Renfeng from behind and, with all his might, stabbed a shard of glass into his lower back.

"ah---!!!"

He screamed and tried to cover his mouth with his hand, wiping his hand covered in blood.

Zhang Renfeng gasped. He hadn't experienced pain in a long time and had almost forgotten what it felt like. In an instant, the pain in his body and mind assaulted him. He fell onto the cold stone ground, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Mine! Mine! All mine!" The nearly frantic beggar snatched the letter from his hand, read it several times, and then the excitement in his eyes vanished. He spat out a mouthful of saliva and said, "Damn it... I thought it was a silver note. What a piece of junk."

Even though he couldn't read, he could tell that it was nothing more than a worthless piece of waste paper, so he tore it into pieces.

Stab it!

The sound of tearing paper was as loud as thunder in Zhang Renfeng's ears.

----

"what……"

"ah----!!!"

Despite the pain in his lower back, Zhang Renfeng suddenly sprang up, grabbed the beggar by the throat, lifted him off the ground, strangled him to death, and threw him out of the room.

All his strength seemed to have been drained away. He slumped down and used his blood-stained hands to pick up the fragments of the letter one by one, trying to piece them back together.

Blood and ink blended together, blurring each other, making them indistinguishable.

Chapter 557: On the Water Demon

"Who's inside?"

Hearing the commotion inside, the soldiers patrolling outside rushed in.

At this moment, Zhang Renfeng's bounty has not yet been officially set at a new figure—because it's increasing exponentially every day. Whoever comes first, even if they only receive a tenth of the bounty, will have a completely different life. The soldiers responsible for monitoring this house are all incredibly energetic, their eyes practically bloodshot.

As soon as Zhang Renfeng tried to get up, he aggravated the wound on his lower back, causing excruciating pain and cold sweat to pour from his forehead.

In a flash, he glanced at the blood-stained, tattered letter, hardened his heart, grabbed it, and stuffed it into his mouth!

Swallow the stench of blood and the bitterness of ink in one gulp.

……

"Ah! Look, there's blood!"

After kicking the door open, the soldier saw the scene inside and the homeless man thrown outside. He immediately shouted, "He's injured...he's injured! He can't have gone far, brothers! Cheer up! Search every inch of the neighborhood and find him!"

----

"Click!"

As Zhang Renfeng leaped over the high wall, his brows furrowed the moment he landed. He didn't utter a sound, but his landing posture was far less graceful than usual. His right leg buckled, and his knee slammed heavily into the ground.

But he couldn't stop, not even for a second, because more soldiers had heard the commotion and were rushing over, and the distant barking of dogs could be faintly heard.

In a few minutes, the area would be completely surrounded. He wanted to escape from the rooftop, but the injury to his lower back made it difficult for him to even exert any strength. He could only rely on his familiarity with the terrain to force his way into a narrow alley before a pair of soldiers arrived.

The soft footsteps brushed past him. Zhang Renfeng held his breath, closed his eyes slightly, and finally waited for them to pass.

"call……"

Zhang Renfeng breathed a sigh of relief, gritted his teeth, and touched his lower back again.

The shard of glass was still there, not deeply pierced, but its cold touch and intense pain constantly reminded him of what had just happened.

A beggar.

A beggar, who was definitely never trained in martial arts and was as thin as a rake, held a piece of glass and injured himself!

"How could this happen... How could this happen..."

He clenched his teeth, gripped the broken glass, and pulled it out of his body!

A sharp pain shot through Zhang Renfeng, his pupils widened to their maximum, his vision went black, and cold sweat poured down his face. He threw the broken glass on the ground, tore off his sleeve, bit it with his teeth, and then tore it into long strips with his left hand.

Given the current situation, there was no point in hoping for anything more. Zhang Renfeng could only bite his lip and forcefully wrap the bandage around his lower back several times. He needed to tighten the wound first; as for the rest, he could only leave it to fate.

……

"rustle!"

The sound of footsteps, like those of a snake, slowly approached.

Zhang Renfeng's pupils contracted slightly. Anyone who could walk with such a gait was naturally a master. Under normal circumstances, he might have been excited at the sight of such a master, but at this moment, he simply did not have the energy to deal with the entanglement of another master. Subconsciously, his brows furrowed, and he sighed wearily.

"damn it……"

After cursing under his breath, Zhang Renfeng leaned against the wall of the dark alley and slowly straightened up.

The rustling footsteps disappeared.

At the end of the alley, a strange figure appeared—he was shirtless, with a muscular, bronze-colored physique. Zhang Renfeng could tell at a glance that the newcomer hadn't done much basic training. He didn't practice stances or lift stones; his lean muscles were all honed through combat.

The man looked very young, with short, jet-black hair, a fierce look between his brows, and jet-black eyes. His right wrist was wrapped in layers of white gauze. He wore only trousers. This entire outfit, from top to bottom, couldn't have cost more than five copper coins, which made Zhang Renfeng somewhat unsure.

"Your Excellency... are you... sent by the imperial court to arrest me?"