37 An Explosion Is Really an Artform!

In front of Qifeng Temple's mountain entrance.

Pei Yong jumped off the back of the Bloodsiphon Tarantula as he looked at the broken lock on the mottled wooden door with a slight look of apprehension in his eyes.

He knew that today, once he stepped through this door and completed the task entrusted to him by the organization, then there was no turning back. Ever since the day he went undercover in Sucheng, he knew who he was. An infiltrator with an ordinary person like him was just a chess piece and expendable.

Taking a deep breath, Pei Yong looked expressionlessly at the Bloodsiphon Tarantula, motioning it to go in. The Bloodsiphon Tarantula rubbed its menacing head against Pei Yong affectionately, and then took the lead to enter the courtyard. Its eight spider pupils gleamed with cold light as it scanned the courtyard and observed carefully.

It did not find anything, and so it took another look.

"Come on, stop looking, you have not a clue about your short-sightedness, huh?" Pei Yong facepalmed. While spiders did indeed have eight eyes, they were, unfortunately, famous for their terrible myopia.

"Crrriikkk..." The Bloodsiphon Tarantula scratched its forehead embarrassedly before retreating to Pei Yong's side. It drew out nearly transparent spider silk between its forearms and laid it out around Pei Yong. Its eight claws tapped the spider web from time to time, preventing others from sneaking in.

Pei Yong waited for the Bloodsiphon Tarantula to finish deploying its webs as he crouched on the ground to observed the cluttered footprints on the ground. He tapped the powder with his finger and sniffed it.

"The scent of the footprint has not dissipated yet, seems like he has not gone too far yet." Pei Yong patted the powder off his hands, as he stood up to look at the messy footprints, trying to identify the direction Shao Zifeng had left.

Hmm?

Pei Yong's gaze swept through the dead wutong tree at the center of the courtyard and saw the steps that were cut open on the tree trunk. He then stepped forward to inspect and the Bloodsiphon Tarantula immediately followed behind, scattering spiderwebs around Pei Yong from time to time.

Reaching out to touch the chopped out step marks, Pei Yong then looked up as a trace of doubt appeared in his heart.

"Spidey, climb up..."

Krak!

Before Pei Yong had finished his words, the wutong tree let out a crisp sound, as it cracked open from the center and a crimson spark flared.

A figure sprang out from the dead wood, holding a red kitchen knife in his hand. The red kitchen knife cut a red line across the night veil and brought with it a scorching aura as it slashed at him. His eyes narrowed rapidly, as he looked at the red light that was getting larger by the moment in a stupor.

Bam!

"Criiik!!"

...

Shao Zifeng held the knife with both hands and maintained a slashing posture. A black spider leg suddenly appeared and blocked his near-killing blow.

Where the Bloodsiphon Tarantula was struck, it was eroded by the fire-element on the sword. A hissing sound soon rang out as plumes of smoke rose and a disgusting scent radiated outwards.

The sharp hiss of the Bloodsiphon Tarantula continued and was made everyone feeling irritable.

"Shao! Zi! Feng!" A drop of cold sweat dripped from Pei Yong's pale face as he staggered backward. He was afraid, he had almost, very nearly died. After being protected by the Bloodsiphon Tarantula, his expression turned menacing.

"So, you do know me."

Shao Zifeng wore a smile on his handsome face, but he sighed inwardly. He wanted to take out the leader first, as after taking out the trainer, dealing with the pet beast would be must easier, however, he was not that discouraged.

The reason he had decided to stay behind to ambush his pursuer as this was the place where his chances of survival were higher.

"Spidey, kill him." Pei Yong did not answer, and as he looked at the smile on Shao Zifeng's face, some bad memories were being reawakened.

Why are you laughing? Why are you laughing when you're being attacked? Are you looking down on me too?!

Shao Zifeng's smile was like the straw that broke the camel's back. With his original already sensitive nerves being strung, all of the negative emotions accumulated over the past few days burst out in an instant. The painful, humiliating, unbearable memories all broke him almost insane, as his face became twisted and menacing.

"Criiiik!" Hearing its master's orders, the Bloodsiphon Tarantula hissed as it exerted force and pushed Shao Zifeng's knife away as two razor-sharp forelimbs stuck together and struck at Shao Zifeng's chest.

Shao Zifeng's expression remains unchanged, as he quickly stepped back as he turned the knife around and used the flat of the knife to block the Bloodsiphon Tarantula's forelimbs.

Clang!

"Criiik!"

The sound of clashing metal rang out as the forelimbs striking upon the knife's surface once again burst out in white smoke. Although it did not cause any wounds, the pain made it extremely angry as its eight slightly blood-colored eyes stared at Shao Zifeng who had staggered four to five meters away.

"That's it?" Shao Zifeng tried to maintain his balance and not fall. On the powder-covered ground were two four-to-five meter drag marks. Shaking his wrist that was numbed by the shock, Shao Zifeng looked at Pei Yong with a smile.

The bright moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, and the environment of the courtyard became even darker. A large amount of powder was kicked up into the air and the silhouettes of both sides were slightly blurred under the cover of the powder.

"You laugh at me! How dare you laugh at me! Die, die, die!! I'm going to kill you!" Pei Yong let out a maniacal roar, and the Bloodsiphon Tarantula seemed to be affected as well as its eight long black-haired legs exerted strength, and flew into the air as it pounced upon Shao Zifeng.

Shao Zifeng saw the tarantula's attack, and just as he was about to dodge, he noticed the drop point of the Bloodsiphon was not on where he was standing.

It turned out that vision was already a weak point of an arachnid-type pet beast. With the disappearance of the moonlight and the powdered dust flying about in the courtyard, its positioning judgment was hampered even more.

Bam!

The rampaging Bloodsiphon Tarantula slammed heavily onto the ground and struck nothing. The violent impact kicked up another storm of dust, and the visibility within the courtyard lowered again.

Shao Zifeng was relieved, but he was not prepared to sit and wait for his death. He held the knife on his chest with a backhand grip while his other arm covered his mouth and nose as he charged toward the mountain gate of the temple. The concentration of dust in the air was getting higher and higher, and with his goal achieved, he needed to leave here as soon as possible.

"Spidey, use perception, strike at the direction with any movements with your Claw Rip attack." Pei Ying discovered Shao Zifeng's intentions and commanded the Bloodsiphon Tarantula with a menacing grin. He did not mean to join the battle himself.

While he was provoked by Shao Zifeng, he had not totally lost his mind, and in the face of a combat trainer that had mastered the 'Bonded Reaction' elemental power, without the same power, a combat trainer rushing into battle was akin to suicide.

As Shao Zifeng got closer and closer to the mountain gate, the smile at the corner of his mouth became more and more menacing.

Hearing Pei Yong's command, the frenzied Bloodsiphon Tarantula stopped looking for Shao Zifeng and stood quietly in place. Its eight limbs tapping the spider silk from time to time, catching prey that had fallen into its web.

Hisss...

Shao Zifeng, who had run to the door, suddenly stopped. He looked down and saw some translucent silk sticking onto his shoes, and he could not break free no matter how hard he tried. Shao Zifeng knew that something was off, and hurriedly turned around, putting his kitchen knife on his chest.

Just as he did that, the dust before him began to roll violently, and suddenly a pair of dark spider claws with a white glint tore through the dust as a ripping sound tore at his chest.

Dush!

The kitchen knife managed to resist for a moment before breaking in the middle. The powerful force sent Shao Zifeng flying. The spider claw was powerful, and it left a bloody gash on his chest. Blood gushed out from the wound and instantly dyed his clothes red.

Bam!

"Cough! Cough!"

Shao Zifeng flew out of the Taoist temple's mountain gate and slid far on the ground, leaving a gruesome blood trail before crashing into a pecan tree. His mouth tasted of iron as red blood flowed out of his slightly opened mouth.

"Run! Keep running!"

Pei Yong wore a menacing smile as he stood before the mountain gate, looking down at Shao Zifeng from above. His eyes had the pleasure of revenge as if this person was those who had laughed at him years ago.

The night wind blew between the withered pecan trees, making a whistling sound as the dark clouds parted, and the bright moonlight once again shone upon the earth.

Shao Zifeng coughed violently a few times and spat out a mouthful of blood. He then got up by using the pecan tree as support as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked up at Pei Yong and revealed a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Raising his right hand, a fireball the size of a fist hovered above the palm of his hand. Shao Zifeng smiled, and his lips moved slightly as if he had something to say to Pei Yong. He then threw the fireball at the latter.

The fireball flew out with a tail of flames and after leaving a certain range away from Shao Zifeng, it seemed to have lost its power source and quickly dissipated. By the time it was in front of Pei Yong, it was only the size of a marble, emitting faint embers.

Pei Yong obviously understood the principle behind the elemental power given by the 'Bonded Reaction. He wore a taunting smile and did not dodge, allowing the fireball to fly toward him.

Whooosh!

The fireball flew over Pei Yong's head and carried along with it a faint warmth before disappearing into the dust cloud behind him.

Suddenly, his expression changed, as if recalling something. A look of horror appeared in his eyes as he slowly turned his head back.

The originally dormant dust clod was now swelling violently, and after reaching a point, the light of exploding flames occupied his vision. Time seemed to have stopped for an instant, as his mind was clear. He suddenly remembered the lip movement Shao Zifeng's had made, he was probably saying 'Goodbye'.

Boooom!!!