Chapter 113: Wannabe hero

"Ah!"

The people in the room screamed in shock.

Tao Pai Pai's decision to kick down the door without a word was anything but friendly—it was practically written on his forehead: Don't mess with me.

The owner of the house, a middle-aged man with a wide face and a thick neck, turned red with anger and shouted at Tao Pai Pai, "What do you think you're doing?!" But he quickly noticed the black-haired, golden-eyed boy following behind the intruders, gritting his teeth and subtly signaling him with a shake of his finger.

Tien Shinhan glanced at Yamiru, who was making those small gestures, but didn't respond. He was utterly exhausted. Besides, to be fair...he didn't have a bad impression of the boy. It was just the boy's bad luck to have crossed paths with Tien's master and uncle. Who could defy the will of Master Shen and Tao Pai Pai?

"Dad!" A teenage boy in the house ran off quickly, returning with a hunting rifle that he handed to the middle-aged man. "Teach him a lesson!"

"Teach me a lesson?" Tao Pai Pai sneered at the sight of the rifle, clasping his hands behind his back as he took a step forward.

"Don't come any closer! I'll really shoot!" The middle-aged man hurriedly loaded the rifle, but Tao Pai Pai was already closing the gap. With a disdainful expression, he inserted two fingers into the barrel of the gun. Then, as effortlessly as lifting a plastic bag, he hooked his fingers around the gun and lifted the man holding it off the ground. The man flailed his short, stout legs in panic.

"Ah!" The woman in the room covered her mouth in terror.

The teenage boy who had handed over the rifle shouted, "Dad! Shoot him!"

"Don't blame me!" The man hanging in mid-air shut his eyes and pulled the trigger.

Yamiru exhaled weakly.

Tien Shinhan rubbed his aching shoulder.

Shen's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Boom," Tao Pai Pai murmured, just before the man could pull the trigger.

The rifle didn't fire. Instead, a thin white beam of light shot back out of the barrel, blasting the middle-aged man's arm into a bloody mist and, in the same instant, obliterating his head. The fleeting beam left a small hole in the ceiling, through which the moonlight spilled in. Tao Pai Pai flicked his fingers, tossing both the rifle and the lifeless man onto the floor.

"Ugh..." The woman collapsed, trembling with fear.

Yamiru took a step forward.

"Think carefully before you act, boy," Shen said without turning around, twisting his mustache between his fingers. "You barely survived by luck. Don't throw your life away for people who don't matter."

"Did you really have to do this?" Yamiru said with disgust. "At most, you could've just stolen some stuff and left."

"Heh heh heh..." Tao Pai Pai turned back to him.

Tien Shinhan sighed, tugging at Yamiru's sleeve.

Tao Pai Pai's face twisted into a sinister grin as he stared at Yamiru. "So you think you're some kind of righteous hero, huh? A good guy?" His laughter grew more menacing. "Kid, what you just said really pissed me off. So now I've decided...I'm going to kill two more people. Remember this—it's on your head!"

Yamiru's breath hitched.

Tao Pai Pai finished speaking, casually shaking his head. His figure blurred as he moved behind the terrified, speechless woman. A raspy gurgle escaped her throat as a black line appeared across her snow-white neck, spraying warm blood into the air like a gust of wind. Tao Pai Pai flicked his braid, which was miraculously untouched by blood. The woman collapsed with a thud, her lifeless body lying in a pool of crimson.

"Ugh... ahhh!" The remaining boy broke down, wailing uncontrollably as he punched and kicked the air, screaming and clutching his head in despair. He was completely unhinged.

"Ugh, what a racket," Tao Pai Pai muttered irritably, spitting on the ground.

With a sharp snap, the boy's eye burst, followed by the back of his head. His body twitched a few times before falling still.

"You bastard!" Yamiru roared, his eyes red with fury as he charged at Tao Pai Pai.

But before his fist could connect, Tao Pai Pai vanished. In the next moment, a searing pain shot through Yamiru's abdomen, as though it had been pierced through. He opened his mouth and vomited a stream of bile. Tao Pai Pai slowly retracted his fist and then kicked Yamiru aside. The boy rolled to the ground clutching his stomach, only to come face-to-face with the boy's mutilated corpse.

Yamiru averted his eyes, unable to bear the sight. The unbearable pain in his abdomen made the veins in his temple bulge, cold sweat pouring from his brow as he gasped for breath. His golden irises grew brighter, while the whites of his eyes turned bloodshot. Lying on the ground and convulsing, tears streamed from his eyes as he glared hatefully at Tao Pai Pai, who looked down on him with utter disdain.

"Staying alive won't be that easy, boy," Shen said as he towered over him. "This is just the beginning. The real deal is yet to come." With that, he stepped over Yamiru. "The brat that old Turtle picked out? Hmph... Tien Shinhan, clean up this mess. The stench is unbearable."

"Yes, Master," Tien Shinhan replied with his head lowered.

As he passed Yamiru, Tien Shinhan muttered softly, "Those two were doomed anyway. It's not your fault." He hurried off to fetch cleaning supplies.

Already exhausted, Tien Shinhan took quite some time to clean up the place. He even showed a bit of kindness by moving Yamiru, who was still writhing in pain, to the front door and propping him up against the wall. By then, night had deepened. Shen and Tao Pai Pai had long finished eating and were seated across the dining table, chatting in low voices.

Tien Shinhan wiped the sweat from his brow, pulled up a chair beside the table, and silently began eating his now slightly cold dinner.

Halfway through his meal, Yamiru's abdominal convulsions had subsided significantly. Tien Shinhan noticed this from the corner of his third eye and paused, glancing at the sparse leftovers on the table before looking back at Yamiru near the door.

Yamiru locked eyes with the stoic, three-eyed boy for a moment before struggling to his feet. He made his way toward the dining table, only to be stopped by a cloth shoe sole pressing down on his face.

It was Tao Pai Pai, who had been chatting leisurely with Shen, now lifting his foot to block Yamiru's approach. Yamiru froze, then stumbled back several steps, glaring darkly at him.

Tao Pai Pai nonchalantly picked at his teeth, lowered his foot, and asked, "Tell me, would you like to be a crane school disciple?"

Yamiru sneered coldly. "I'd rather be a weakling for life."

Crack! Tao Pai Pai snapped the wooden toothpick in his hand. Although he didn't entirely understand what Yamiru meant, his expression turned ferocious. Across the table, Shen tapped his fingers lazily against the wood and said, "If you're not a disciple of the Crane school, do you still think you have the right to eat at our table?"

Tao Pai Pai followed up, "You want dinner? Fine. Bring me three heads from outside!"

"What did you say?" Yamiru thought he had misheard.

"This poor, backwater village doesn't have much, but it has plenty of heads," Tao Pai Pai said with a sinister laugh. "The night is deep now. Go out, pick a random house, and with your strength, taking three heads should be child's play. How about it? I'm not asking for much, am I?"

The three-eyed boy paused briefly with his chopsticks before resuming his frenzied eating, burying his face in the large bowl.

Yamiru took a deep breath, listening in silence. He didn't argue or respond. Instead, he quietly walked to a corner of the room and sat down.

Tao Pai Pai and Shen exchanged a glance.

"He's got some backbone," Shen said. "But backbone... heh heh... let's see how long that lasts."

Tao Pai Pai smacked the table. "Tien Shinhan, see if this house has any wine."

Tien Shinhan immediately set down his bowl and chopsticks, jumped off his chair, and went to search the inner rooms. Before long, he returned with a basket of bottles. Shen and Tao Pai Pai drank late into the night while Tien Shinhan finished eating. Following Tao Pai Pai's instructions, he fetched a rope and tied Yamiru's ankle to one of his arms. Then Tien Shinhan laid out a blanket nearby and went to sleep.

The house plunged into darkness. Yamiru sat in the corner, his stomach growling with hunger, unsure of what he would do tomorrow. Beside him, Tien Shinhan slept soundly.