The Portal of Wonderland

“Bastard, you’ll rot in hell!” Jin Tian cursed as he glanced at the spot where Shi Mu had been standing. However, he couldn’t see a soul there. Hence, Jin Tian burst into a triumphant and wild laughter.

Just then, a black shadow whizzed out of the pit where Shi Mu had ducked. The figure had already closed down the blue-robed man by now.

“Ah!”

Jin Tian was startled. But it was too late for him to dodge.

The figure let out a low shout as it pounded Jin Tian’s abdomen.

The golden armor he was wearing could reduce the attack’s power to some extent. However, Jin Tian still felt a horrible force transmitting through his armour. He uttered a terrifying cry as he knelt down on the ground — his hands tightly pressed against his stomach.

There was no doubt that the shadow was Shi Mu’s. In fact, he had narrowly escaped death.

He had stomped hard of the ground and had created a pit after he had tossed the horse. He had huddled himself in the pit when the bullet had exploded. He would have met the same fate as the horse if he hadn’t reacted so quickly.

Shi Mu had been scared after his lucky escape. But his fear quickly turned into anger as he thought about his close brush with death. He then strode to Jin Tian’s side. He lifted the youngster’s body with a single hand, and mercilessly slapped his face with the other.

Pa! Pa!

Jin Tian’s head swelled-up to the size of a pig’s. His eyes were pressed into two narrow slits, and he was unable to open them any wider.

“Stop it!”

“Shi Mu, do you want to kill him?”

*** ***

The other Jin boys had been lying low on the ground, and had not come around until then. But they began to shout loudly after they saw what was happening. They started asking Shi Mu to stop. In fact, two of them even walked up to Shi Mu, and even made efforts to stop him from beating Jin Tian.

Shi Mu’s face grew sullen upon hearing all this. However, he thought of Auntie Zhen and Yu Huan. He snorted as he released his hold on Jian Tian’s shirt.

However, a trace of maliciousness flashed in Jin Tian’s eyes just as Shi Mu decided to let him off. Jin Tian lifted his arm and a silver crossbow-arrow was shot from his sleeve. It directly rushed for Shi Mu’s heart.

It was impossible for Shi Mu to completely evade the attack because of the short distance; but he moved rather quickly still. However, Shi Mu could only manage to twist his body in order to prevent the arrow from hitting his heart; he broke into a sweat!

Peng!

A loud noise was heard.

The silver crossbow-arrow hit Shi Mu in the chest. However, it unexpectedly made a clanging sound and rebounded after knocking against something metallic.

This took both Shi Mu and Jin Tian by surprise.

However, Shi Mu jumped the next moment. He lifted his leg and kicked Jin Tian heavily. He used all his strength this time since he was seething with a blinding rage. Jin Tian was thrown away even though the Golden Armor reduced some of the force. A ball of blood puffed out from his mouth as he fell down.

“I must kill him. I must kill him by all means!” The blue-robed young man had thought to himself when he was flying mid-air. His body was aching all over; his face was swollen like a pig’s and seemed twisted in anguish.

However, he had heard his companions’ screams just as he was about to fall on the ground.

“No!”

“Don’t you dare try to escape!”

The blue-robed young man could see the frightened expressions on his companions’ face. The two who had made their way toward him were now striding to approach him, as if trying to catch him in the air.

“That’s strange. Since when did I have so many friends who actually cared this much about me?”

It was too late to come up with an answer. His body had already hit the ground, and coldness had penetrated through his neck. A sword had run through his throat halfway… but his eyes were wide open. He tried to make some sounds as blood frothed around his mouth. His body twitched wildly several times before he finally lost consciousness.

The two young men who had been rushing towards Jin Tian halted at the sight. Their faces reflected fear as they watched the blood covered body of Jin Tian. His neck had been pierced by a half-piece of the sword.

Shi Mu was also at a loss when he saw Jin Tian’s end. A half-piece of the sword had plugged its way into the ground when Shi Mu had broken the sword; Jin Tian had fallen on the exact same spot. It almost suggested that his death had been doomed by the heavens. It could only have been his bad luck. He may have been seriously injured if the half-piece had met any other part of his body… but he wouldn’t have died.

“You just killed Jin Tian!”

“Fifth Uncle and our Jin Clan will never let you off!”

“We are no match for this brutal bastard! We must return to the manor and report it to our people!”

The Jin juniors were frightened out of their wits; their feet were frozen to the ground. They gaped at each other for a while, and only come to themselves when one of them shouted out the order. Then, a few of them drew out their weapons, while some got onto their horses and rushed away in the Feng City’s direction.

Those who had attempted to extract revenge quickly understood that they were no match for Shi Mu when they saw their fleeing companions. He stood in front of them with murderous eyes. To challenge Shi Mu with bodies which had been spoiled by long-comfortable lives was no different than bringing a lamb to a tiger’s den.

Hence, they too abandoned the attempt. They hurriedly got onto their horses, and followed after their companions.

Shi Mu had just started to realize what he had done. His face suddenly grew sombre as he saw the Jin juniors flee. However, he didn’t wish to chase them. He hadn’t killed Jin Tian intentionally. But he was awfully aware that the leaders of the Jin Clan would disagree; especially the Fifth Uncle. He would probably wish to avenge his son’s death by taking Shi Mu’s life.

It would be a sealed case even if Auntie Zhen might plead hard for him.

Shi Mu’s eyes hardened. He would never be willing to die this way… by letting others decide his fate.

Shi Mu felt quite uneasy as he thought further. It seemed that he would have to leave Feng City, or even Quan Zhou for the sake of his own safety… as soon as possible. He casted a glance at Zhang Suo, who had been frightened out of his wits, and prepared to the manor.

He was sure that from that moment on — he would be an escapee.

However, an idea dawned on him just as turned to leave. Hence, he abruptly went back to Jin Tian’s body.

*** ***

*Half a day later.*

“What? Are you serious, Big Brother? My beloved Tian is dead? He was killed by Shi Mu? Absolutely impossible!” The Fifth Master was gaping at his brother in the main hall of the Jin manor. He couldn’t believe a single word he heard.

The other five Jins who had witnessed Jin Tian’s death were also gathered in the hall, along with the eight Jin leaders. They clustered around the Jin leaders, and stood there motionless. Their faces were pale, and it seemed as if they were holding their breaths.

“Bring my beloved Tian’s body,” the eldest leader sighed as he waved to the servants at his side.

A body covered in a white cloth was carried into the hall by two servants. They set the body down in the middle of the hall.

The Fifth Master began to tremble uncontrollably at the sight… not daring to lift the cloth.