Chapter 257
Night Talk with Tang Hao!
His chest was deeply sunken in an extremely bizarre arc, and it was clear that his sternum was almost completely shattered!
His arms hung limply at a twisted angle, and his shoulder blades were clearly broken.
Fresh blood was gushing out from the hideous wounds all over his body, staining the rock wall beneath him a dark red.
The bruises and swelling on Zhao Wuji's face from the daytime brutality by Bangiras had not yet subsided, and now they were covered with new blood and dirt.
Zhao Wuji's consciousness seemed to go blank for a moment. His eyes rolled back, revealing large areas of white. Only his faint, wheezing breaths, like those of a broken bellows, proved that he was still alive.
With each faint breath, blood foam gushed from the corner of his mouth.
Lin Xia's blow to him during the day was a devastating double torment of mind and body, while Tang Hao's punch was more like a pure, furious physical crushing, simple, brutal, and efficient, directly plunging the already seriously injured and dying Zhao Wuji into the abyss of death.
The woods were deathly silent.
Only the mournful sound of the night wind blowing through broken branches and the faint, almost inaudible groans of pain emanating from the distant crater from Zhao Wuji.
Tang Hao's figure remained standing in the same spot, as if the earth-shattering punch he had just delivered had not come from him.
He slowly withdrew his left hand, his movements still composed.
The enormous Clear Sky Hammer and the nine awe-inspiring spirit rings also vanished quietly, as if they had never existed.
He took a few steps forward and came to Zhao Wuji, who was slumped in the crater like a lump of mud.
Looking down from his high vantage point, he gazed down upon the imposing Fudo Myoo who had been so arrogant during the day.
"Remember, if you ever hit someone, don't hit them in the face."
Tang Hao's voice remained cold and hoarse, revealing no emotion.
"Especially, don't slap a child's face."
As he spoke, he flipped his wrist, and a pill the size of a longan, radiating a lustrous sheen and a rich medicinal fragrance, appeared in his palm.
He flicked his finger, and the pill shot precisely into Zhao Wuji's mouth, which was slightly open in pain.
The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, and a warm current quickly spread, barely keeping Zhao Wuji alive. It seemed to alleviate his intense pain slightly, and his consciousness became a little clearer.
Having experienced the powerful effects of the elixir, Zhao Wuji's eyes revealed the ecstatic joy of surviving a calamity and a deep sense of awe and gratitude.
"Thank you... thank you so much, senior... for sparing my life..."
He struggled, using all his strength to squeeze out a few indistinct words.
Tang Hao didn't look at him again, as if he had just casually tossed away a piece of trash.
He turned around, his black robe swaying slightly in the night wind. With a few flashes, he completely disappeared into the vast forest, as if he had never been there.
Only after Tang Hao's aura completely disappeared did the suffocating and terrifying pressure in the forest slowly dissipate.
On the treetop, Zhu Zhuqing let out a long sigh of relief, her tense body relaxing, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her back.
The brief moment she had just witnessed had left her with an unparalleled shock.
The absolute power of the Title Douluo, the terrifying pressure of the 100,000-year soul ring, and that domineering and devastating punch were all deeply imprinted in her mind.
"it's over?"
She asked Lin Xia softly, her voice trembling slightly.
Lin Xia smiled, her eyes gleaming with an all-knowing light.
"Yes, it's over. He's vented his anger for his son, given him a warning, and naturally left. That Zhao Wuji... tsk, he's lucky to be alive. That pill was a valuable item, enough to save his life. But..."
Lin Xia's tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.
"These injuries will probably never heal completely. The medical bills from Shrek Academy will probably drive Flander crazy." Lin Xia looked down at the delicate profile of the girl in his arms, the moonlight casting a cool, silvery glow on her.
"How was that performance? Was it exciting enough?"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded vigorously, her cat-like eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Incredible! A Title Douluo... So this is what a true powerhouse is like! That punch... it was simply..."
She couldn't find the right words to describe that pure aesthetic of violence.
"Alright, the show's over, and we've had our fun."
Lin Xia tightened her arms around her, her tone relaxed.
"It's getting late, we should head back. Shrek Academy will probably be bustling again tomorrow."
Lin Xia, carrying Zhu Zhuqing, glided down from the treetops with ghostly grace. With a few leaps, she silently returned to the academy and headed towards their comfortable little courtyard.
All that remained was the devastated battlefield behind him, and Zhao Wuji, deeply embedded in the rocky crater, feeling excruciating pain as if his entire body were being shattered, teetering on the edge of death, and gaining a completely new understanding of power and authority, savoring the bitter despair alone under the cold moonlight.
After Lin Xia sent Zhu Zhuqing back, Lin Xia returned to the grove.
"rustle--"
The shadow seemed to come alive, slowly writhing and coalescing into a tall, heavy figure shrouded in a tattered black hooded robe.
Tang Hao stood there like an iron sculpture weathered by war and smoke; his mere presence made the air in this dilapidated forest seem to freeze.
He slightly raised his head, and two cold, sharp eyes beneath his hood pierced Lin Xia like tangible needles.
"City Lord Lin Xia".
Tang Hao's voice broke the silence, still hoarse and low, like the rough friction of metal, but unusually containing a complex and difficult-to-decipher emotion, not simply hostility, but more like a kind of scrutiny after a period of reflection.
"I never expected you to return to a place like this."
His tone carried a very faint hint of...admiration, which he himself might not have even noticed.
Or rather, it's an acknowledgment of the unfathomable depth and composure of the young man before me.
Lin Xia's lips curved into a very faint smile. The moonlight illuminated his handsome profile, adding to his mystique.
He leaned casually against the half-standing ancient tree, his posture as relaxed as if he were enjoying tea in his own garden.
"I didn't expect that either."
His voice was clear and calm, completely out of place with the somber atmosphere around him.
"The mighty Haotian Douluo, the youngest Title Douluo on the continent, who once severely injured the Pope of the Spirit Hall with a single blow, actually hides outside this small Shrek Academy, acting as a shadow secretly protecting the fledglings."
He pronounced the word "shadow" with a hint of playfulness.
A barely perceptible pause.
The night wind whistled through the gaps in the broken wood and branches.
"Speaking of which..."
Lin Xia's gaze deepened as she stared directly into the shadow beneath the hood.
"Your Majesty, this is not our first meeting. In that small junior soul master academy in Notting City, among the branches of that crooked old banyan tree, and near that deserted rocky slope behind the academy... your aura, like the most patient hunter, has lingered silently many times, hasn't it?"
Lin Xia's tone wasn't accusatory; it was more like stating a confirmed fact. (End of Chapter)