Chapter Fifty-Two: Seductive Allure, Passion Ablaze!

When Tang Fei opened his eyes, the night was clear, with the full moon shining high above. He sniffed the air—a thick, metallic scent of blood lingered.

What had happened?

He reached for his chest, gasping as pain shot through him. The blow delivered by the Soul-Penetrating Mirror had landed squarely, breaking his bones.

"Fatty..." Tang Fei called out.

No one answered.

Growing anxious, Tang Fei forced himself up from the ground, ignoring the agony in his body, and called again, "Fatty..."

He didn't know why he was still alive, but Fatty must not have met any harm.

He spotted Fatty.

Fatty sat beneath a large tree, vacant-eyed and bewildered, silent and unresponsive to Tang Fei’s calls, lost in thought.

"Fatty..." Tang Fei inched his way closer, asking, "Are you alright? Fatty?"

Fatty turned his gaze to Tang Fei and said, "Brother..."

Tang Fei was startled by the red and white stains on Fatty’s face. "Fatty, are you hurt? What’s on your face... What happened to them?"

"They’re dead," Fatty replied.

"Dead?" Tang Fei looked at him. "All of them?"

He knew Fatty’s strength, and he knew the prowess of those cultivators. Not to mention the one who injured him, the Soul-Penetrating Mirror, even the others were far beyond Fatty’s ability to handle.

Fatty could hold his own for a short while, relying on brute force, but once his strength was spent, he would be slaughtered.

How could they all be dead?

"All dead," Fatty murmured. "I killed them."

Tang Fei looked around; corpses lay scattered everywhere, each with their skulls smashed—Fatty’s handiwork, unmistakably. It was impossible to tell which one had wounded him; the deaths were too uniform, and Tang Fei wasn’t familiar enough with their builds.

Tang Fei’s heart was gripped by shock and dread.

He turned to Fatty, his voice trembling, "Fatty, what happened? How could you... How did you do it?"

He could see Fatty’s state was wrong, as if he’d been deeply shaken.

Fatty looked up at Tang Fei. "Brother, I thought they’d killed you..."

"And then?"

"And then I fought them with everything I had..." Fatty glanced fearfully at the skull hammer lying aside. "I just wanted to kill... so I killed them all..."

"Tell me clearly—what happened?" Tang Fei pressed.

"I don’t know. I don’t know anything..." Fatty shook his head. "I just wanted to kill... kill... and then, one swing at a time... I felt like I was no longer myself... I became... became that monster of yours..."

"That monster?" Tang Fei understood instantly.

He knew the skull hammer was a sinister, malevolent object, able to inflame one's rage and amplify desires endlessly.

When he first picked it up, murderous thoughts surged in his heart, his blood boiling, wanting nothing more than to charge out and slaughter.

Letting go for a while, the urge faded, and his blood calmed.

Fatty, pure of heart and mind, felt no discomfort when wielding it. That was why Tang Fei had entrusted the hammer to him.

He hadn’t expected that after they gravely injured him, Fatty’s rage would be ignited.

The skull hammer, infected by this emotional storm, naturally guided Fatty to slaughter them all.

When Fatty regained consciousness, he was terrified by his own actions.

He didn’t understand himself anymore; he couldn’t process such vengeful violence.

Tang Fei embraced Fatty tightly. "Fatty, you did well, you did very well..."

"Brother, I’ve become a monster... Will I turn into the same kind of monster as yours?"

"No, you won’t." Tang Fei comforted him. "You’re Fatty, always Fatty... You won’t become a monster. Think about it: without the hammer’s help, could you have killed those villains?"

Fatty nodded. "No."

"If you hadn’t killed them, wouldn’t I have been killed by them?"

"Brother, I thought you were dead... I went all out against them."

"I know, I know." Tang Fei patted Fatty’s shoulder, aware of Fatty’s reliance and affection for him.

"If you hadn’t killed them, I would have died, you would have died... They’d have killed us both and stolen everything we had... So you did very well. This time, you protected me."

"Really?" Fatty’s eyes brightened.

All his life, it was his big brother who protected him.

He always dreamed that one day he could protect his brother.

He had done it—he’d protected his brother’s life.

Thinking this way, the heaviness in his heart eased; even his fear of the skull hammer diminished.

"Really." Tang Fei nodded firmly. "You’re strong. Very strong. That Soul-Penetrating Mirror master—even I couldn’t handle him, but he died at your hands..."

"That’s because you were injured. If you hadn’t been hurt, he wouldn’t have beaten you," Fatty said.

He had absolute faith in Tang Fei—his brother had never lost a fight, no matter the opponent.

He always found a way to win.

Tang Fei shook his head, serious. "If I hadn’t been injured, I could have lasted longer... but still wouldn’t have been his match. Against absolute strength, everything else is insignificant."

Fatty nodded. "Brother, I understand. I’ll work hard from now on. I’ll learn to sense Yin and Yang, become a cultivator like you."

"You definitely can," Tang Fei encouraged him.

He wondered, what level of strength was Fatty at?

He didn’t understand cultivation, hadn’t sensed Yin and Yang within himself, yet wielded the hammer to kill a Soul-Penetrating Mirror master and several capable cultivators...

No point dwelling on what he couldn’t comprehend. He would ask the old man—he was well-traveled and always had a skewed perspective to share.

"Did you kill them all? What about the girl?" Tang Fei asked.

There was a girl with many braids, seemingly the group’s protected target. Fairly decent-looking, though a bit dim-witted, sharp-tongued, and malicious?

Leave no roots behind or the spring wind will bring them back; it’s best to be thorough.

"Girl? What girl?" Fatty asked, puzzled. "The one who said you drink water like a dog?"

Tang Fei was speechless.

"I don’t know," Fatty shook his head. "I killed these people, but what happened after, I don’t know... She probably ran off?"

"Not probably—she definitely did." Tang Fei said.

"How do you know?"

"One unconscious, one sitting dazed. If she hadn’t run, someone would have come back to check, right? Wouldn’t they seize the opportunity?" Tang Fei explained.

"Oh," Fatty realized.

His brother was always so clever, able to figure things out.

"But we can't stay here. We need to leave quickly," Tang Fei said.

Regardless of whether the woman would send reinforcements, the leaking of the map was trouble enough...

Phoenix and her team had traveled to the Old Lands to seek the ancient tomb, surely in secret, not in public view.

Yet now, other explorers had appeared, proving someone deliberately leaked the map.

Phoenix’s stabbing would have enormous repercussions on Nova; many heads would roll.

So, the more chaotic things got, the better.

If they encountered another expedition like this, their fate would be grim...

They couldn't rely on Fatty transforming again.

Thinking of Phoenix, Tang Fei recalled the Snow-Show Blade.

His dog-leg knife had been snapped in two; the Snow-Show Blade had saved his life in a critical moment.

He remembered it flew from his hand after he was struck; he searched the grass and found it, wiped it clean on Fatty’s clothes, and carefully sheathed it at his waist.

"If we return now..." Fatty allowed his brother to clean the blade with his clothes, then asked, "What about your injuries?"

"It’s fine, I brought medicine... I’ll take some first, then rest properly when we get back," Tang Fei replied. "Go see if our horses are still there."

"They shouldn’t have run off," Fatty said. "They’re tied up."

"Good, bring them over; we’ll ride away," Tang Fei instructed. He glanced at the skull hammer, "Hide the hammer, put it in our food bag."

An innocent man with a jade is doomed.

The skull hammer was a treasure; if a knowledgeable person saw it, they’d try to snatch it. With their current abilities, Tang Fei and Fatty couldn’t protect it.

"Okay," Fatty agreed.

Fatty brought the horses; he helped Tang Fei onto the pony, then slung the food bag onto the bigger horse.

Thud!

The big horse's knees buckled, both forelegs kneeling on the ground.

The unbearable weight of life.

------

Phoenix’s Cottage.

Phoenix sat on a leather sofa, clad in soft silk pajamas. The rose tea in her hand had grown cold, and she hadn’t even taken a sip.

"Hey, my princess... You’re daydreaming again?" A woman of alluring appearance and voluptuous figure waved her pale hand before Phoenix’s eyes. The black nail polish exuded a languid, seductive aura as she teased, "Which rascal has stolen the soul of our Snow-Show Princess? Still not back yet?"

"Sister Xinhuai..." Phoenix remembered she had company, speaking apologetically, "Sorry, I’m just a bit tired."

"Tired? You haven’t left the house since you returned, locking yourself in your room... I heard you got into trouble in the Old Lands. Shen Xinglan of the Shen family, your cousin Yu Huoshui, Qin Jianyi from the Qin family... All these renowned young men of Phoenix City wanted to visit you, but you claimed illness and refused them all..."

"No wonder people say the palace gates are hard to enter. Even the privileged sons can't get in, let alone ordinary folk like us."

"You, the treasurer's daughter, calling yourself ordinary? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?" Phoenix shot Sheng Xinhuai a look. "Others couldn’t get in, but you did, didn’t you?"

"Of course. I’m your old flame—they can’t compare," Sheng Xinhuai lit a feminine cigarette, blowing rings of white smoke from her lush lips into Phoenix’s face.

Only this woman could smoke in Phoenix’s chambers.

"Sister Xinhuai..." Phoenix waved her hand to disperse the teasing smoke.

"Sigh, whenever you act spoiled, I just want to grant your every wish." Sheng Xinhuai looked at Phoenix with a doting expression. "Alright, tell me what you want. What do you need me to do?"

"Ah? You noticed?" Phoenix said in surprise.

"Your little schemes are obvious. You shut everyone out but let me in... You know this will offend many, but you did it anyway... If there wasn’t something going on, would you, of all people, do this?" Sheng Xinhuai said coolly.

"I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you," Phoenix replied with a mischievous smile.

"Of course. No one knows your measurements better than I do."

"Sheng Xinhuai..."

"Let’s get serious." Sheng Xinhuai straightened her impressive chest, her face earnest.