Hedonist Prodigy

Chapter 92: We’re Going to K!ll

Two days later, Jiang Feng arrived in Baishan City, Jijiang Province.

It was only November in Yanjing, but here it was already snowing heavily. Jiang Feng felt unbearably cold as soon as he got off the long-distance bus.

He was still wearing the thin clothes he’d worn in Beijing, wrinkled and unwashed for days. Everyone here was bundled up in thick coats.

Compared to them, he looked utterly out of place.

As soon as he got off the bus, Jiang Feng attracted everyone’s attention. He chuckled bitterly, knowing he’d miscalculated the time; his attire would definitely make him look like a monster.

Jiang Feng first bought some clothes at a clothing store, then took a hot shower at a small hotel. After resting for the night, he boarded a tour bus and entered Changbai Mountain from the west slope.

After getting off the bus, Jiang Feng didn’t follow the other tourists but chose a less crowded direction and quickly disappeared.

His trip to Changbai Mountain wasn’t for tourism, but to see Tianchi Lake.

Tianchi Lake has always been a mythical place in Chinese history, with countless beautiful legends circulating among the people.

The ancient legends are too ancient to be verified, but Jiang Feng suspected that the existence of the so-called fairies might be related to ancient martial arts practitioners.

Although he wasn’t sure if his guess was correct, it had already piqued Jiang Feng’s interest greatly.

Jiang Feng walked quickly, disappearing into the dense forest in a few strides. After walking for two or three hours, Jiang Feng became somewhat dazed. According to the information, Changbai Mountain’s altitude wasn’t very high, and judging from his current progress, he should have reached the summit by now, yet he hadn’t even seen a glimpse of Tianchi Lake.

Just as he was considering turning back, he heard footsteps approaching. Jiang Feng turned his head and saw a burly, dark-faced man walking towards him.

Seemingly noticing Jiang Feng’s odd expression, the burly, dark-faced man paused for a moment before saying, “Young man, here for tourism?”

Jiang Feng nodded, and the man chuckled, “Wild beasts often appear here; one person can’t be safe. You’d better be careful, young man.”

“I need to go to Tianchi, but I seem to be lost,” Jiang Feng said.

The man smiled and said, “You’re definitely lost. I reckon if you keep going, you’ll end up leaving Changbai Mountain. If you accidentally reach the border of North Korea, that would be a disaster.”

He added, “The mountains are snowbound here, making travel difficult. I see you’re tired. Why don’t you come with me for a while? I’ll show you a route that will take you directly to Tianchi.”

Jiang Feng thought it was a good idea and nodded in agreement.

Jiang Feng followed the burly, dark-faced man for a while. A short distance ahead, they came to an abandoned forest. The man said, “I’m a ginseng gatherer from the forest. That’s where I usually rest. Young man, come in and have some hot water. This weather is really tough.”

“No need, I have some business to attend to. May I ask which way to go next?” Jiang Feng said.

“It’s alright, it won’t take much time,” the man warmly invited.

The man pushed open the door and went inside, pulling Jiang Feng along. Just inside, Jiang Feng saw four people warming themselves by a fire.

The four men’s expressions turned strange when they saw Jiang Feng. Then, a thin, long-faced man grinned sinisterly, “Old Hei, you’ve brought guests.”

Old Hei nodded, his voice suddenly changing. “You all entertain them properly,” he said. “I’m going to the restroom.”

With that, he pushed open a back door and left the room. As soon as the man left, the four men approached Jiang Feng.

“Young man, settle the fee for leading the way. It wasn’t easy for Old Hei to bring you here,” the long-faced man said to Jiang Feng.

The man’s face was covered in wrinkles, and when he spoke, his skin resembled dried tree bark, giving him a somewhat menacing appearance.

“How much?” Jiang Feng asked.

“Not much, just give us ten or twenty thousand.” The long-faced man chuckled.

His smile was followed by the other three, who glared menacingly at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng frowned slightly. From the words of the burly, dark-faced man and the long-faced man’s menacing attitude, he knew he had stumbled into a den of thieves. These people were definitely not ginseng gatherers from the forest.

If he gave them money now, they might become greedy and not let him leave alive. Besides, this place was far from any human habitation; even if they killed someone, they wouldn’t leave any trace.

Jiang Feng’s face darkened slightly, and he said calmly, “Sorry, I don’t have any money.”

“No money?” Upon hearing this, the thin, long-faced man immediately turned hostile, saying, “Looks like you don’t want to pay. Come on, strip him naked and let him go outside to sober up.”

At this, the other three men approached Jiang Feng with ill intent.

One of them walked up to Jiang Feng with a grin and reached out to tear at his clothes, saying, “Buddy, I think you shouldn’t be so stubborn. Where are you? You’d better understand the situation. It wouldn’t be worth it if you got stripped naked and left outside to freeze to death.”

The moment his hand reached out, Jiang Feng casually slapped it away. With a crack, the man’s hand was broken by Jiang Feng.

The man’s face changed drastically, and he let out a scream. Seeing this, the other two immediately pounced on Jiang Feng, but Jiang Feng kicked them both away with two kicks.

Then, his gaze shifted to the long, thin man who had spoken, and he frowned, saying, “Tell me how to get to Tianchi right now, or I’ll kill you.”

“I…” The long, thin man hadn’t expected Jiang Feng to be so powerful. His face turned deathly pale, and he stumbled back several steps, unable to utter a complete sentence.

“Hmm?” Jiang Feng glanced at him.

“Northwest! Just head northwest!” the long, thin man shouted immediately.

Jiang Feng kicked him, knocking him unconscious to the ground. With a flash, he left through the door and headed directly northwest. The burly, dark-faced man returned from the toilet, still waiting to divide the loot. Seeing the four men lying in the room, he was startled and rushed over to help them up, exclaiming, “What happened? What’s going on?”

The thin, long-faced man, still reeling from Jiang Feng’s kick, took a while to recover. He haltingly recounted what had happened. The dark-faced man’s expression changed drastically; he never expected such a thing to happen. Not only had the fat sheep he was about to catch flown away, but his side had also suffered such a huge loss. He couldn’t help but feel incredibly fortunate; if he hadn’t gone to the toilet, he probably wouldn’t be in such a bad situation right now.

“Old Black, what do you think we should do about this?” the thin, long-faced man asked in a deep voice.

The burly, dark-faced man gave a bitter laugh and said, “What else could we do? We just wanted to make a quick buck, but we ran into a tough nut to crack. We can only accept our bad luck.”

“Accept our bad luck?” the thin, long-faced man sneered. “The words ‘accept our bad luck’ don’t exist in my dictionary. The reason we suffered a loss just now was because we underestimated that kid. Otherwise, I refuse to believe that, no matter how strong he is, he can’t be more powerful than a bullet!”

The burly, dark-faced man’s expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, “Are you crazy? Murder is illegal!”

Hu Houzi burst into laughter, his voice incredibly grating: “Old Hei, are you joking with me? Every single thing we’ve done before has been illegal. Once we fall into the hands of the police, even ten lives wouldn’t be enough. Killing animals is okay, so why can’t we kill people?”

“We just came here to poach, that’s not the same as murder,” the burly, dark-faced man said.

“No difference, it’s all the same—killing. Just say one thing: if I’m going to make a move, are you going or not? Don’t forget, this trouble is all your fault,” Hu Houzi said impatiently.

The burly, dark-faced man struggled for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes, how can I not go? Would I even be human if I didn’t?”

“Good, that’s my good brother. I, Hu Houzi, was right about you.” Hu Houzi patted the burly, dark-faced man on the shoulder, then turned to the other three and said, “Stop playing dumb with me. If you can get up, get up. Let’s go kill some people.”

******

Jiang Feng walked northwest for a while, noticing the increasingly dense jungle. He felt uneasy. After walking a little further, a large canyon blocked his path.

Cursing inwardly, Jiang Feng realized he had been tricked by that skinny man. This wasn’t the direction of Tianchi. He had been too soft-hearted; he should have killed those men earlier. Just as he was about to turn back, he noticed footprints on the ground.

The wind was strong at the edge of the canyon. The footprints, though faded by the wind, were still faint enough to be clearly the work of a woman, though their size suggested they were left there.

After a slight hesitation, Jiang Feng followed the direction the footprints had disappeared. After walking about 500 meters, the footprints vanished completely, leaving behind a bottomless abyss.

Standing at the edge of the abyss, Jiang Feng frowned slightly. The footprints had disappeared there—had the woman gone down into the abyss?

Jiang Feng hesitated, unsure whether he should follow her down. The abyss was incredibly steep, with almost no way to climb. An ordinary person would be unable to descend; a single misstep would result in a fatal fall.

But then, Jiang Feng heard a distant cry. 

A black shadow, piercing the air with a sharp screech, swooped down towards him…