But what terrified Sun Baixu even more than his injuries were those two inexplicable sneak attacks of true qi. There were only two possibilities: either Ergoudan was a master feigning foolishness to prey on the strong, or someone else was behind it.

"I told you already, didn't I? My name's Ergoudan. You're not just a lunatic—you're a fool as well, aren't you?" Ergoudan said with a frown.

"……" Sun Baixu vomited yet another great mouthful of fresh blood. Here he was, a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment, being taken for a fool by an actual fool—was there anything in this world more galling than that?

But this time Sun Baixu dared not keep trading blows with Ergoudan. One more round like that and he would be beaten to death outright. After a wary scan of his surroundings, Sun Baixu suddenly withdrew without the slightest warning.

A mighty cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment, frightened off by a simpleton from the mortal world—if word of this ever got out, he would be shamed beyond redemption. Fortunately, this was a desolate mountain range where not a soul was about. Sun Baixu consoled himself inwardly: while there is life, there is hope. So long as he returned, healed his wounds, and plotted anew, he could settle this score sooner or later.

"He ran off?" Ergoudan scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. In his heart he was certain this fellow was a lunatic—keeping such a disgusting giant worm, and then stopping dead in the middle of a fight to stare blankly into space. Could he have escaped from some asylum?

But Ergoudan was not about to just let him run away. He set off in pursuit at once—not to chase him down and finish him off, but because the most important matter of all had yet to be settled: this fellow still owed him money!

The trouble was that apart from his incomparable monstrous strength, Ergoudan had nothing else to show for himself. As far as he was concerned, movement techniques and martial arts simply did not exist. When he ran, he was merely a bit faster than an ordinary person. To catch up with a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment that way was truly a tall order—even with Sun Baixu gravely wounded.

"Thank goodness this fool's speed is so outrageously slow. Otherwise I'd have lost everything and gained nothing—today was a close call!" Sun Baixu glanced back as he fled at full speed and could not help heaving a sigh of relief. But then his brow knit again. By the look of it, the odds that this fool was feigning stupidity to prey on the strong were vanishingly small. So that meant someone was secretly launching sneak attacks on him?

Who could it be? To slip past his perception without a sound, this person's strength was absolutely no trifling matter—likely only the Primordial Alliance had experts of that caliber. Could it be a senior fellow disciple leading one of the other Primordial sects?

The Evil-Warding Sect had no shortage of enemies, and Sun Baixu had just as many of his own. For a moment he truly could not think of anyone who would ambush him in secret. He had never leaked his whereabouts or his plans to any outsider—except to his own younger brother, Sun Baimei.

Could it be that brat Sun Baimei? Sun Baixu gave a start of fright, entirely unaware that this very brother of his had long since gone to the Yellow Springs. Still grinding his teeth as he fled, he thought: if that were truly the case, then even a blood brother would not be spared.

Seeing that he had finally left Ergoudan far behind, Sun Baixu at last slowed his pace a little. But before he could truly catch his breath, a voice, unhurried and at ease, drifted from ahead: "You want to rest after running only this far? That doesn't seem quite right."

Sun Baixu paled in alarm and looked toward the sound. There, leaning slantwise against a tree ahead, stood a young man with a faint, barely perceptible smile on his face—none other than Wei Zhao.

"Who are you?" If Sun Baixu could not piece it together now, he would truly be a fool. Even with his toes he could work it out: this man before him was certainly the one who had set the whole thing in motion, the one secretly ambushing him.

"Ah, I'm his brother." Wei Zhao pointed at Ergoudan, who came chasing up behind.

Ergoudan froze for a moment at the sudden sight of Wei Zhao, then it sank in. Wild with joy, he rushed forward and threw his arms around Wei Zhao. "Boss! When did you get back? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Just got back to the village. Had a meal with the old man, then came out looking for you. You've run a fair distance, you know—gave me quite a chase." Wei Zhao complained with a half-genuine, half-feigned laugh. The running had indeed been far; whether the finding had been hard was another matter. After all, the racket the Blood Corpse Worm had raised was hardly small—Wei Zhao had sensed it from far off and followed the trail all the way here.

"I don't usually come this way either—it's all because I was chasing this lunatic! Boss, you don't know, this madman keeps a huge, disgusting worm that specializes in stealing chickens and ducks. It even ate my family's old ox, and he won't pay for it. Tell me, how could I let him off?" Ergoudan said indignantly.

Sun Baixu felt like weeping but had no tears. Being called a lunatic over and over, he could bear. What made him want to die was that Ergoudan had chased him so relentlessly all because he wanted compensation. Why the hell didn't you say so earlier!

"Then you certainly can't let him off. This thing is a monster of the worst sort—I'll leave him to you, Ergoudan," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Right away! Give me a moment, I'll be done in no time." Ergoudan answered, then immediately charged at Sun Baixu once more, full of vigor.

Sun Baixu shot Wei Zhao a look of profound dread. Seeing that Wei Zhao indeed seemed content to stand by with folded arms, he hurriedly turned to flee. He could not gauge Wei Zhao's depths for the moment, and this monstrously strong fool Ergoudan was no easy mark either. For now, retreat was the best course.

Those two earlier setbacks had taught him a lesson. As Sun Baixu spun swiftly around, he carefully wrapped his whole body in true qi—this way, even a sneak attack of true qi ought to be blocked. What he had not expected was that this time no true qi came; instead, there came an arc of blue lightning.

His whole body went numb without the slightest warning. Even with willpower enough to keep himself from falling, Sun Baixu could not keep his steps from faltering—and the Ergoudan who caught up did not hesitate for an instant, slamming a fist hard into the center of his back. Sun Baixu gave a muffled grunt and was sent flying on the spot, falling into a ravine dozens of meters deep, never to rise again.

Wei Zhao probed with his spiritual sense and, after confirming that all vitality in the thing was utterly extinguished, gave a nod and clapped Ergoudan on the shoulder. "There, this thing's breathed its last. I'll send some people over to clean up the scene in a bit—let's head back."

Though Sun Baixu was one of the Primordial Alliance, this was the mortal world after all; a death was a serious matter, and leaving it unhandled would invite complications. But with the Mysterious Investigation Bureau around, cleaning up the scene was, for Wei Zhao, no more than a single phone call. (To be continued.)