novelaction Chapter 557 - 545: The One Who Kills You!
Chapter 557 - 545: The One Who Kills You!
"Ignorant child!"
Sensing Qin Fan’s intention to charge straight through the attack, the blind man called Tian Can sneered. Even Grandmasters of the Transformation Realm had died beneath the qi of his zither. How dare a mere novice who sought to defy the heavens confront him head-on?
This is ignorance! A death wish!
But his sneer didn’t last long. The next second, his hand, which had been strumming the zither, froze. A look of utter disbelief crept across his face.
Born without eyes, he had not only survived in a world of utter darkness but had also killed countless skilled Abnormals—including no small number of Grandmasters of the Transformation Realm. It was clear he didn’t need eyes to kill! A pair of ears and his mind’s eye were enough for him to reign supreme over this mortal world!
But now, what he sensed was Qin Fan shattering the deadly, destructive qi of his zither!
The qi of his zither, which had allowed him to reign supreme in the Martial Arts World, was useless against Qin Fan? This—how could this be possible!
It wasn’t just Tian Can who was stunned; Di Que, whose mind was linked to his, felt the same. Through their senses, so keen they could perceive a single falling strand of hair, they knew Qin Fan had utterly neutralized the zither’s qi.
In the space of a single breath, he had already appeared two meters before them!
"Who are you? How could you possibly break through the zither’s qi?" the two shouted in a terrified, synchronized cry. Not a single word differed; even their pace and tone were identical.
Qin Fan stopped. He smiled, a frigid, chilling smile.
"The man who’s here to kill you!"
As Qin Fan grimly spat out those words, Tian Can and Di Que needed no verbal communication. Both their hands trembled in unison before they fiercely raked them across the zither strings!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!
If the music had possessed any rhythm before, it now sounded like the chilling shrieks of a hundred weeping ghosts and a thousand wailing souls.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
In the blink of an eye, the alley around them erupted with deafening crashes! Riddled with holes, the walls blasted out countless bits of rubble and sparks, kicking up a thick, rolling cloud of dust.
"Soul-Reaping Strings of a Hundred Ghosts, go!"
With a heavy roar, Tian Can and Di Que fiercely slapped the ancient zithers in their hands.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
The next second, countless zither strings burst forth from the instruments. A thick stench of blood immediately emanated from them!
SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
Each string let out a hair-raising shriek as it shot forward, striking toward Qin Fan like a venomous snake.
In response, Qin Fan let out a cold laugh. "That’s not how you play the zither," he said.
As he spoke, he raised a hand glowing with a faint Green Light and snatched the incoming strings from the air!
CRACK!
The moment his hands closed around all the strings, a sharp crack echoed from his palm. The captured strings began to thrash violently in his grasp. Though it takes time to describe, the entire exchange happened in the blink of an eye. Qin Fan didn’t pause. Gripping the strings, he gave them a light squeeze.
HUM!
The strings in his grip emitted a deep hum. Qin Fan then flung his hands open.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
The freed strings instantly shot back, returning perfectly to their original positions on the ancient zithers. Not a single string was out of place. The force of their return sent the two blind men flying!
PFFT!
Soaring backward through the air, they both spat out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, the ancient zithers clattered from their grasp.
Qin Fan gave the two pale-faced blind men, who had collapsed several meters away, a look one might give the dead. With a cold expression, he picked up the zithers. He leaped onto a pile of rubble from the collapsed wall and set the two instruments down, one to his left and one to his right. Without another word, his ten slender fingers began to dance across the strings.
There was no rhythm to speak of, much less any discernible melody. Yet, amid the chaotic plucking, a sound emerged.
Listening to this sound, Tian Can and Di Que, who were struggling to their feet, suddenly clutched their heads and screamed in agony. At this moment, they felt as if thousands of ants were frantically gnawing inside their skulls. They felt as if thousands of mosquitoes were frantically biting their brains!
This was the effect of a Cultivator’s True Qi. Melodies imbued with True Qi were unbearable even for Low-Rank Cultivators on Cangqiong Continent, let alone mere mortals like them. This technique consumed an immense amount of True Yuan, so it was normally never used except to settle a blood feud.
But the current Qin Fan couldn’t care less about conserving his True Yuan. His cold face was a mask of pure, murderous intent!
"Tell me, who sent you!" Qin Fan shouted, his fingers never ceasing their sweep across the strings.
But his question went unanswered. The two blind men could only clutch their heads and scream.
"Fine. Let’s see how long you can last!" Qin Fan said with a grim smile.
The speed of his plucking quickened. For the two blind men, this meant the sensation of gnawing ants and biting mosquitoes intensified in tandem. They went from screaming while clutching their heads to writhing and rolling on the ground in agony! It was an agonizing torture, designed to torment but not to kill.
"Tell me, who sent you!" Qin Fan demanded again, watching their increasingly miserable state.
"No! No! No!"
Amidst their screams, the two men shrieked their defiance.
To this, Qin Fan nodded with an air of detached acceptance. "Alright," he said. "Then we’ll try another way to make you talk!"
With that, he paused his fingers. He then raised a hand and slapped it down upon the zither’s strings!
As they hummed, True Qi surged to his fingertips.
When he plucked the strings again, bursts of Qi Force shot out with every strum, lashing directly toward the two blind men!
HISS!
HISS! HISS!
HISS! HISS! HISS!
The Qi was a knife, the force a sword! With each pluck of the strings, this bladed Qi Force began to slice into the blind men’s bodies!
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Gashes were carved across their bodies by the Qi Force! Unlike an ordinary blade, each lash of Qi Force inflicted a piercing, gut-wrenching agony!
"Ah! Kill me! Kill me!"
Amidst their agonized screams, the two blind men wailed in unison. They wanted to flee, but their bodies felt snared by an invisible power. Immobilized, they could only endure the relentless slicing of Qin Fan’s Qi Force.
"Tell me! Who sent you! Answer me, and I’ll give you a quick death. Resist, and you’ll be slowly sliced apart by a thousand cuts. Don’t doubt my methods; I can make you watch your own heart beat inside your chest and still keep you alive."
Watching the two blind men below him from atop the ruins, Qin Fan enunciated each word, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.