109: The Child’s Will

Why were the Jie people appearing in a remote corner of Yangzhou? Mingtian did not know, and he had no time to worry about that now.

Together with Yin Chan, Mingtian rowed with all his might, but it was clear that Yin Chan had already exhausted herself from her previous desperate efforts, and the small boat made agonizingly slow progress. At this rate, it would take at least three minutes to cover the four or five hundred meters to the shore!

"Mo'er! Mowang! Run! It's the Jie!" In his desperation, Mingtian screamed at the top of his lungs. The two children froze upon hearing him and finally noticed Mingtian’s group rowing toward them on the river.

Upon hearing the warning, the two Jie, far from being afraid, quickened their pace toward the children. Mingtian’s heart burned with anxiety; he cursed himself for never having learned to swim, but that no longer mattered.

The two children turned just in time to see two burly men whose robust frames stood like fortress walls behind them.

"Hahahaha, we’ll have meat to eat tonight!" the Jie named Gaituo said, completely ignoring Mingtian’s approaching boat as he reached out and grabbed Mo'er by the collar. The petite, thin girl was lifted into the air as if she weighed nothing.

"No... let me go!" Mo'er cried out in terror, but having exhausted her strength in training, she had no power to resist. Of course, even with her full strength, she would have been powerless anyway.

"Mo'er!" Seeing this, a fierce, murderous glint erupted across Feng Mowang’s small face. His real sword was left under the shade of a tree not far away. Weaponless, Mowang grabbed a wooden sword and leaped half a meter into the air.

The other Jie sneered coldly and swung a fist the size of a mortar at Mowang in mid-air.

*Snap!*

The contact between the wooden sword and the fist produced a jarring sound. Though Mowang was just a child, his strength was only slightly inferior to An Luo’s. If someone like Mingtian—who relied on high speed and offense but had low defense—were to be struck by this wooden sword, his metacarpals would surely shatter. However, the Jie were thick-skinned and burly; how could a mere wooden sword handle them? Wood chips flew as the punch shattered the hardened timber.

"That’s quite some strength for a brat!" The Jie sneered in contempt as his other fist came flying. A downward strike, like a sledgehammer breaking down a wall, slammed into the back of the child who was still suspended in the air.

"Argh!" With a heavy cry of pain, Mowang was slammed into the ground by the force of the blow. He coughed up blood instantly, his breath knocked out of him, leaving him unable to move.

"Gaiqiong, let’s go. Don't bother with this kid; he’ll just slow us down." Gaituo, feeling a hint of wariness toward the group on the boat, urged his companion to move quickly. Although Mowang was small, Gaituo had seen the power behind that sword strike; no ordinary child possessed the strength to shatter a wooden blade. Fearing that Mowang might resist and impede their escape, he decided to abandon the boy.

"Kid, consider yourself lucky." Before leaving, Gaiqiong didn't forget to stomp on Mowang’s head.

Watching the Jie prepare to leave, with at least 150 meters still between him and the shore, Mingtian’s heart hammered with panic, yet he was helpless.

"Mowang... Master..." An Mo, tucked under the Jie’s arm, called out weakly, her sparkling eyes filled with despair. Seeing this, Mingtian rowed until the skin on his palms tore, but the wretched boat remained unresponsive, crawling forward at a snail’s pace.

"You bastards! Stay where you are if you have the guts!" Mingtian roared maniacally, but he could only watch as the Jie walked away. The one called Gaiqiong even had the audacity to turn his back to Mingtian and raise his middle finger.

"Mo..." Mo'er called out weakly, summoning her final breath in a desperate plea: "Mowang... Master... save me!"

*Rustle...*

Mowang’s fingers twitched.

"Brother Gaituo, how do you think we should cook these 'two-legged sheep' when we get back?" Gaiqiong looked at An Mo with a murderous gaze, not as if looking at a human, but at an insignificant beast.

"Ugh..." Mowang moved. His trembling arms used every ounce of his remaining strength to push his body up. Mingtian, seeing Mowang rise, was stunned. The aura radiating from the child was abnormal.

Gaituo laughed, answering arrogantly, "Why, the best way, of course! Peel the skin, slice the meat, blanch it in boiling water, and dip it in fermented sauce!"

*Grind.* The sound of teeth clenching.

"Hahahaha, I still prefer boiling a pot of meat soup." Gaiqiong, revealing a mouth of yellow teeth, laughed wildly as he walked.

...

......

The light breeze suddenly stopped.

"Put... Mo'er... down!!!"

A beast-like roar erupted from behind. The two Jie froze and looked back, noticing only now that Mowang had stood up. His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth cracked, and the violent killing intent made him look like a leopard preparing to hunt.

Gaituo glanced at the boat on the distant river, confirmed it was still some distance away, and sneered, "You brat, trying to scare me? What can you do if I don't let her go?"

*Grind, grind...*

His fingernails dug into his skin, piercing deep into the flesh, and thin veins bulged on his youthful face.

"Three years ago, you Jie killed my father and mother and even ate my little sister... and now... you still want to take Mo'er from me?" Recalling the past, two trails of bloody tears streamed from his furious eyes.

"You brat, you think you can scare me? With that scrawny body, you can—"

"I’ll kill you all!!!!"

Without listening, without even giving Gaituo a chance to finish, Mowang moved. His slender legs stomped down, kicking up dirt half a meter high, and his small body exploded with unimaginable speed. The twenty meters between him and the Jie were erased as if they didn't exist.

"Brother, this kid wants to die; let me finish him." Gaiqiong stepped forward, volunteering to block Mowang. "I say we stop running. Let’s just kill this kid, and while we’re at it, grab the Central Plains people on that boat to fill our brothers' bellies."

Gaituo snorted through his nose, "Fine, leave it to you." He stood back confidently, waiting for Gaiqiong to finish the boy off.

Facing the approaching Mowang, Gaiqiong let out a sickening, mocking laugh. "Brat, prepare to taste the wrath of Grandfather Gaiqiong!"

His brutal fist, like a raging dragon, shot out straight at Mowang’s face. The force of that punch was enough to shatter a grown man's skull.

But...

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

With a hysterical roar, Mowang swung a fist disproportionate to his size against the mortar-sized iron hammer!

*BANG!*

The collision of fists released a staggering amount of power.

Gaiqiong’s ugly smile froze. Pain surged through his nerves directly into his brain. Exchanging blows with this child had caused him excruciating agony; he could even feel the sensation of his muscles tearing in his clenched hand.

"You brat..."

He had no time to speak—no, he couldn't speak.

Mowang leaned his body to the side, closing in, and delivered a piercing palm strike, as precise as a dart hitting a bullseye, right into Gaiqiong’s throat. The fragile Adam’s apple was shattered instantly, fragments piercing the trachea. Mowang, acting like a madman, climbed onto his shoulder, dug his thumbs into Gaiqiong’s yak-like eyes, and grabbed his head, twisting it with all his might.

*CRACK.*

The sound of bone snapping. The previously arrogant Gaiqiong didn't even have a chance to regret it; his head was twisted 180 degrees by Mowang’s sheer force.

Dead! The fight ended in under two seconds.

Gaituo looked at his brother—the head turned halfway around, facing backward, the eyes gouged out and mangled, staring right at him.

"You... you..." Gaituo could never have imagined that a child could possess such combat power. Their Jie warriors, of whom they were so proud, had been easily dispatched by a child?

On the boat, nearing the shore, Mingtian witnessed this and wondered if he was dreaming. Mowang had great strength, possessing power on par with An Luo’s at such a young age. But he never expected that in a fit of rage, Mowang’s power would reach such a terrifying level—perhaps even more monstrous than An Luo’s. What kind of being was this child? Was he even human?

Gaituo was terrified.

After killing Gaiqiong, Mowang’s killing intent did not diminish in the slightest. He took slow, heavy steps forward, each one sounding like a death knell.

"You... don't come any closer." Gaituo, a robust Jie warrior, was trembling in front of a child.

"Jie... People..."

With a growl like a vengeful spirit, the corners of Mowang’s eyes split open. "It’s time to pay the blood debt!!"

As he spoke, Gaituo saw the child’s terrifying face loom closer and closer.

Gaituo’s screams echoed across the Yangzhou wilderness.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Resistance Organization, two members of the Chaos Rippers were idling away, sitting in a tea pavilion, drinking tea and chatting, dutifully carrying out their task of blockading the organization.

Suddenly, they saw several burly men covered in blood rushing out of the dye house known as "The Best Dyeing Under Heaven."

*Thump, thump.* As soon as they exited, the men collapsed to the ground, reaching out their hands toward the two Chaos Rippers in a desperate plea for help.

"Save... save us!!" the leader of the men, who had suffered the lightest injuries, managed to gasp before fainting.