Chapter 182
On Fire
Doubt and fear coursed through Li Yundong as he stared at the spinning beads, which took the definition of freakish to a whole new level . Actually, no, it wasn"t the sight of the beads that creeped him out; it was the unmistakable scent of blood and gore that a.s.saulted his nostrils the moment the beads appeared .
Oh s.h.i.t…
This was bad . He was outnumbered . And then those beads . . .
Li Yundong studied the beads again . He had no doubt that those beads were some kind of powerful magical weapon, whose effects he hadn"t a single inkling of . Besides, if Wu Hao could wield it, then his CQ must be high enough to use spells and magic . Clearly, the odds were stacked against Li Yundong .
"This is your final warning…" Wu Hao said threateningly . "Hand over the Fan of Seven Treasures . Now!"
Li Yundong glared at the man before him .
Like h.e.l.l he was going to hand the over fan without at least putting up a good fight . You know what? Scratch that . Just putting up a fight wasn"t good enough . Su Chan had entrusted the fan to him . Him of all people! So yeah . He was going to f*cking guard it with his life . Besides, it would be a d.a.m.n shame if he allowed the Fox Zen School"s greatest treasure to fall into the hands of a bunch of dumb robbers . Whatever . Enough with this nonsense . Time for a plan . He needed a way to level the playing field, or better yet, gain some sort of leverage .
Without taking his eyes off Wu Hao, Li Yundong took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled . Ever since he climbed out from the rock, he could feel some mysterious thing spinning and rotating inside his lower Dantian . His best guess was that it was his Vital Orb, but he honestly couldn"t be sure . Li Yundong did a quick and subtle scan of his surroundings .
Those beads were the immediate threat, so he had to deal with them first . His eyes darted briefly to the Land Rover parked nearby, then towards Lyu Fengping behind him . The upside was that Lyu Fengping appeared to be unarmed . Then again, he didn"t think that it was because the woman didn"t own a weapon; it was probably because they thought he wasn"t a threat, just some lowly Cultivator who had barely pa.s.sed the Zhuji phase . Not that they were wrong .
"You heard the man," Lyu Fengping said . "Hand it over!"
Li Yundong angled his head slightly and saw Lyu Fengping pulling out a dark maroon whip . Yeah . So much for being unarmed .
The woman lashed the ground a few times with the whip .
"We"re not gonna ask again . . . " Wu Hao growled . "Hand it over!"
The beads spun faster around Wu Hao"s arms .
Li Yundong raised his arms in a gesture of surrender while secretly channeling his Qi to his legs in secret .
"I"ll hand it over on one condition," Li Yundong said, flicking a quick glance towards the Land Rover .
Wu Hao laughed snidely .
"I don"t think you"re in a position to make bargains, pal . "
These guys were overconfident, so Li Yundong would play it to his advantage .
"Those beads looks pretty cool . " Li Yundong paused to study Wu Hao"s face . "How do they work?"
A smug look spread across Wu Hao"s face and he laughed . "Behold! The Beads of Gore! One hit by one of these babies is enough to liquefy your flesh and bones!"
"Impressive . . . " Li Yundong said coldly, channeling more Qi to his rear leg .
Wu Hao threw his head back in laughter . "It is one of our sect"s most valuable—"
Li Yundong burst forward, closing the distance between Wu Hao and himself in a split second . At the same time, he extended his right arm in a snapping motion and delivered a finger jab straight into Wu Hao"s eyes . There was a hiss followed by a loud scream . Those beads clattered uselessly to the ground when Wu Hao"s hands rose to cover his eyes .
Li Yundong continued his attack by delivering an ap chagi (Taekwondo"s front snap kick) straight into Wu Hao"s groin . Wu Hao screamed and bent his body forward . Li Yundong then arched his back and rotated his hips forward while thrusting his right knee in an upward motion . There was a sickening crunch when Li Yundong"s knee smashed into Wu Hao"s nose . Wu Hao"s head snapped backwards, leaving his throat wide open . Li Yundong"s hand shot out and grabbed Wu Hao"s throat .
Wu Hao was yanked upwards with his feet dangling several inches above the ground .
When Li Yundong heard the whipping sound behind him, he turned around abruptly and used Wu Hao"s body as a shield . The whip pulled back at the last second . Lyu Fengping cursed .
"Make another move, and I"ll crush his windpipe," Li Yundong growled .
Lyu Fengping flinched, then froze in place . Wu Hao made a choking sound in his throat .
"Drop the whip and show me your hands!" Li Yundong yelled .
When Lyu Fengping didn"t move, Li Yundong raised Wu Hao"s body higher and squeezed his fingers harder . "Now!"
Wu Hao made another strangled sound and began kicking his legs in the air .
"Okay . . . Okay . . . " Lyu Fengping tossed the whip to the ground and raised her palms . "Let him go . "
Without releasing Wu Hao from the choke, Li Yundong slowly backed away towards the Land Rover parked nearby . He could just take the car and then leave these two dimwits here .
Wu Hao kept struggling and kicking his legs .
"Y- You . . . b- bas . . . tard . . . T- That was . . . a sneak attack . . . " Wu Hao choked .
"Sounds f*cking rich coming from you," Li Yundong said coldly and dragged Wu Hao backwards a few more steps . "You"re not the one who"s outnumbered here . " Li Yundong"s back hit the car seconds later . With his free hand, he reached behind him and tried the door handle .
The door wouldn’t open .
"Open the d.a.m.n door!" Li Yundong growled .
Wu Hao choked again, like he was trying to say something .
Li Yundong eased the pressure around Wu Hao"s throat .
"It"s p-pointless . . . "
More choking and coughing .
"What do you mean pointless . Just open the d.a.m.n door!"
"The car"s got a fingerprint ignition switch! You"ll have to take me with you if you want to drive the car . "
Li Yundong cursed . Fine . Plan B . Knock these two dimwits out and then get out of here .
Just then, he saw Lyu Fengping scrambling towards them .
Li Yundong tightened his fingers around Wu Hao"s neck . "Don"t come any closer!"
"Stop! Stop!" Lyu Fengping yelled . "P- Please . . . Just let him go, please . . . We made a mistake, Zhenren . . . Please just let him go . "
"A mistake? Are you s.h.i.tting me right now? A minute ago, you were threatening to kill me!"
"I- It was a mistake, okay! A mistake!" Lyu Fengping screamed . "We thought you were a newbie Cultivator . A- And we were just trying to intimidate you into giving us the fan!"
Li Yundong kept glaring at the woman until she turned pale .
"L- Look . . . Please just let him go and we"ll leave . "
"Bulls.h.i.t," Li Yundong said coldly . "Why should I believe you? You"ll just ambush me again if I let him go . "
"No!" Lyu Fengping shook her head frantically . "We won"t! Just let him go . . . Please!"
Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . He didn"t trust a single word she said, but he also didn"t want to kill . I"m gonna have to knock them both out and—
Li Yundong gasped when he felt something wrap around his wrist . Horror coursed through him when he saw the head of a cobra staring right at him from his wrist . Li Yundong released Wu Hao"s neck in fright and yanked his arm backwards .
The cobra recoiled and then slithered back into Lyu Fengping"s hand before it transformed back into a whip .
When the h.e.l.l did she—
Li Yundong looked towards the spot on the ground where he"d seen Lyu Fengping drop the whip earlier . Obviously, the whip was no longer there .
Wu Hao climbed to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood . Then, he gave Li Yundong a feral grin .
"My turn!" Wu Hao yelled and raised a palm . One of the beads flew towards Li Yundong .
s.h.i.t!
Li Yundong ducked, but the bead didn"t strike him like he had expected; instead, it morphed into a giant ball of flame when it was a few feet shy of hitting him . He tried to back away, but it was too late . The flames closed in on him before he could take more than two steps . The next thing he knew, the flames engulfed his entire body .
He was about to be burnt alive .