Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

Grasping the sword's edge, blood flowed freely in an instant.

Lu Aniu's knees buckled, and he knelt on the sand, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out. With the last ounce of his strength, he tried to pierce the sword into his chest. Two unparalleled masters fought from the ground to the sky, and then back down again; what remained in the end was the most vulgar, yet most authentic, thing.

"You couldn't beat me, Zhang Renfeng...you couldn't!"

Lu Aniu laughed almost maniacally. He was in a superior position and gradually pierced Zhang Renfeng's heart with the sword, bit by bit.

"In the very end, I...I was the one he...was most proud of..."

----

"boom!!"

An untimely gunshot rang out from behind.

"..."

Lu Aniu was taken aback.

Looking down, I saw a bullet hole in his chest.

He froze for a few seconds, then turned around and saw a young girl lying on the ground—Evelyn was still not very good at shooting; the recoil had knocked her down the moment she pulled the trigger. Seeing that Lu Aniu hadn't fallen, she assumed she had missed and became even more terrified.

"……ha……"

Seeing the volcano pistol in her hand, Lu Aniu didn't know why...

Laughed.

He slowly stood up and walked towards her.

……

Zhang Renfeng saw Evelyn and also noticed the bloodstains on her face from afar—clearly, the violent shockwave from their fall into the arena had also affected her.

"Do not!!!!"

Enraged, Zhang Renfeng suddenly found his strength again. He grabbed the middle of the longsword with his other hand and snapped it in two with a "crack".

With his last bit of strength, he lunged at Lu Aniu!

"laugh!!"

The broken sword, already chipped in several places, pierced straight into his back heart...

It pierced right out of his chest!

----

"..."

Lu Aniu remained silent for a moment, looking at the sword blade piercing through his heart, and sighed wearily.

His body swayed and he fell down.

Chapter 868: Fight, fight, fight without stopping!

After stabbing him, the two men almost fell to the ground in each other's arms. From Zhang Renfeng's perspective, the speed at which he fell seemed to have been slowed down several times. He even felt that he hadn't fallen at all, but rather that the entire sandy ground had slowly covered him like a blanket.

"Boom——"

The fine, cold touch of the sand on his lips made Zhang Renfeng suddenly feel a burning sensation in his throat, and an intense thirst. Thinking back, he realized he had been exchanging hundreds, even thousands of blows with Lu Aniu, and while he had screamed and screamed, he had also been stabbed dozens of times. An ordinary person would have bled to death by now.

Black water surged up in front of him, the ground softened, and Zhang Renfeng's eyes were vacant. He lay on the sand and slowly sank down.

Shen.

----

"?!"

When Zhang Renfeng opened his eyes again, he gasped and sat up abruptly, as if waking from a nightmare.

What he saw was a vast, silent, and boundless night sky. The stars, like diamonds, were embedded in this dark firmament. Although it lacked the dazzling brilliance of a galaxy hanging upside down, it possessed a unique, serene beauty.

Zhang Renfeng's pupils dilated slightly, and he let out a long sigh, his expression calming down. He instinctively clenched his fist, but what he held in his hand was no longer dry sand, but damp earth. Mixed with the damp, earthy smell of grass roots and soil tangled together after the wind had blown by.

Scent is the key to memory. The moment Zhang Renfeng came into contact with this scent, he was stunned, as if he had truly returned to his carefree childhood. He saw several children laughing and playing, running past him in a hurry.

In the distance, at the edge of the horizon, where the sky and earth meet in a dim, indistinct gray, stands a stout tree. It seems planted either in the ground or in the sea; its trunk is jet black, while its lush foliage is a sky-blue imbued with starlight, radiating faint rays of light. Zhang Renfeng felt its shape was somewhat familiar, as if he had seen this tree somewhere before.

He wanted to go forward and take a look, but before he could take a step, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and patted his shoulder.

Turning my head, I saw that familiar face, but it looked somewhat unfamiliar because I hadn't seen it for so long.

"...Master?!"

Zhang Renfeng's tone shifted from surprise to joy, but then, thinking of his current situation, his joy turned back to surprise. "Why are you here?"

"..."

The master remained silent for a moment, a hint of melancholy flashing across his aged, wrinkled face. But then, like a playful old man, he walked up to Zhang Renfeng with his hands behind his back, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

"After all the twists and turns, you've still made it this far, Feng... You are the most outstanding of all my disciples."

"I am incredibly proud of you."

……

Zhang Renfeng felt a lump in his throat; though not quite to the point of tears, he was still deeply moved. He hesitated, his lips trembling, for a long time, but he couldn't utter a single word. And this seemingly withered but actually vigorous old man stood there, quietly and contentedly gazing at his disciple, who was half a head taller than him.

"I broke my oath." After a long silence, Zhang Renfeng spoke, his voice trembling slightly, "And I also broke my oath with my junior sister..."

"When the melon is ripe, it falls from the vine; when the water flows, it falls into the channel. There's nothing to be sorry about. Since ancient times, not only have there been cases of senior and junior brothers and sisters, but even between masters and disciples, some have ended up as husband and wife."

The master said calmly, "It's not easy for people who have crossed oceans to be together. Just don't let her down."

"I won't," Zhang Renfeng said in a deep voice.

"..." His master gave him a deep look, a look that sent shivers down Zhang Renfeng's spine.

"Master?"

"Do you regret it?" the master suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the story of that moldy tofu?" Master said meaningfully. "If you had understood what I meant back then, perhaps... none of this would have happened. You wouldn't have lost your family, been wanted by the whole country, or fled overseas. You wouldn't have all of this now."

"If time could turn back, and we could go back to that day, would you still beg your senior brother to go to the imperial court and help you gain fame and fortune?"

……

This question took Zhang Renfeng a long time to ponder, and he began to doubt whether everything before him was real.

According to his memory, he should have lost too much blood and fainted in the arena; everything before him was just a dream. Therefore, it was only natural that this "master" was also an image he had constructed based on his memories.

It is the embodiment of omnipotence and wisdom.

Why is it that the question posed by a phantom is so real, so penetrating to the heart?

“…I…I don’t know, maybe not.” After pondering for a long time, Zhang Renfeng couldn’t make a decision, but in front of his master, he didn’t play any tricks and said truthfully, “But I can’t say for sure, maybe not.”

"After all, it hasn't happened yet, so who can say for sure?"

……

The master fell silent again, his head bowed, not uttering a word.

A gust of wind blew.

In the distance, the azure leaves rustled, as if beckoning to the two. A series of leaves were blown down by the wind, scattering in the air like a river of twinkling light. A gentle breeze softly carried a leaf, delivering it steadily into the master's hand.

The shape of the leaf is like a star.

"Master, if I may ask, what about that prophecy..."

Halfway through his questioning, Zhang Renfeng realized how foolish he had been. He had only fainted and was dreaming about his master. Even if the image before him was incredibly real, he was still just a figure in his dream. How could his master possibly know things he himself didn't know?

"Why ask me? Haven't you already decided what to do in the future?"

His master gave him an ambiguous answer and a cryptic smile.

His hands were placed on Zhang Renfeng's shoulders.

“Originally… I didn’t intend for you to go down this path, because it’s too difficult, too difficult. Throughout history, wheat has ripened again and again, but no one has ever tried it. As of now, your path has come to an end. If you want to take another step forward, you are the only exception.”

"But there's no other way, Feng, you're already on your way!"

"From now on, you will have no enemies on the surface. But your friends, family, lovers, children, allies, partners, and comrades who fought alongside you... Tick-tock, every moment, you cannot let your guard down!"

The hand pressing down on his shoulder tightened.

The master's expression was extremely solemn as he shook his shoulders vigorously. With his movements, the peaceful world began to shake more and more violently.

Zhang Renfeng had a premonition that he would wake up soon.

"Feng, remember this..."

"Since you've embarked on this path, you must fight, fight, fight without stopping!"

Chapter 869: Oxen, oxen, for whom do you toil?

"...Mr. Zhang...Mr. Zhang..."

……

Opening his eyes, Zhang Renfeng saw Evelyn's tear-streaked face. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed with a sense of loss—his meeting with his master was just a dream in the middle of the night.

He tried to clench his fist, but his five fingers were too weak, and he could only manage a loose clench. The fierce battle had almost completely drained his energy.

When I woke up, the minor sword wounds, though not completely healed, had already begun to scab over.

Only the few sword wounds inflicted by Lu Aniu's Seventy-Two Styles of Evil-Repelling Sword Technique were still bleeding, but the situation was much better than before.

Evelyn, this delicate young woman, somehow tore off one side of her sleeve and wrapped it around the wound in her chest, giving it a simple bandage. Half of her arm was thus exposed, appearing pale and fragile.

Falling from a height without cushioning or absorbing the impact resulted in several broken bones. However, based on Zhang Renfeng's assessment of his own body, he believed that injuries of this severity would heal on their own in about a week without needing any treatment.

The impact was so great that his internal organs shifted slightly. His diaphragm and alveoli were compressed together, making it difficult for him to breathe. He had to gasp for air, and his vision would go black intermittently, with occasional flashes of light.

This should be the most serious injury Zhang Renfeng has ever suffered in his memory.

Considering that he and Lu Aniu fell from a height of hundreds of meters without any cushioning, crashing directly onto the arena seats, smashing this magnificent building and chipping off a corner... even such damage is already incredibly severe.

"Thank you, Evelyn...you saved me..." Zhang Renfeng raised his hand tremblingly, feeling weak and bloodless, but still gently stroked the girl's head and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, I...I won't die for now."

"Really?" The girl looked at him with teary eyes.

She had witnessed Zhang Renfeng fall from a great height with her own eyes, so she naturally thought he was dying and that this was his last moment of lucidity before he gave his final words.

“It’s alright, look… I…” Zhang Renfeng braced himself against the ground, and the girl quickly went over and helped him up.

……

Lu Aniu lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily. Each breath, which should have been easy, felt incredibly long. His eyes were completely fixed, like an old ox whose lifespan had come to an end, lying on the ground awaiting death.

"You...you won..."

Seeing Zhang Renfeng out of the corner of his eye, Lu Aniu stopped beside him and spoke in a weak voice.

"I didn't win. You were definitely the better player in terms of skill."

Zhang Renfeng composed himself and said in a deep voice, "I'm just a little younger than you, that's all."

"..." Lu Aniu did not answer him.

“I know… it was you… who saved Sophia from falling into the sea, and all the people on the train. If it weren’t for you, the train would probably have collapsed and fallen down the mountain. When I was pulling the locomotive, I was almost losing control, and it was you… who secretly helped me. Although I didn’t see it with my own eyes, only you… have that ability.”

After uttering a long speech in one breath, Zhang Renfeng was running out of breath, but his thirst for answers compelled him to continue speaking despite the oppressive darkness of lack of oxygen.

"why?"

"Why are you helping me? Why, after all this, after you've done so much evil and killed so many people... why are you helping us?"

----

He did not get the answer he wanted.

……

"The way of Heaven is to take from what is in excess and give to what is lacking..."

"The way of man is to take from what is lacking and to give to what is in excess."