Terror & Horror

"Argh!!!"

Back the martial arena, Mu Cheng grabbed onto his crotch in anguish, his face contorting through series of expressions even he would have never thought were possible.

Despite having protected himself with a layer of Vital Qi, it still didn't stop him from feeling an overbearing sensation of pain that caused his legs to spasms continuously. It was already a miracle that he hadn't flat out lost consciousness from the entire ordeal.

The entire mass of spectators were still utterly shocked speechless, reeling from the chill running down their spines and souls. Their eyes couldn't stop roving from the sprawling Mu Cheng and the little slimy dragon egg that was now resting amidst Meng Hao's mess.

"Now, that's a good fix. Lucky for you, you will no longer need to waddle and trip whilst walking." Min Hong notified his opponent with a satisfactory nod, seemingly pleased with his surgical skills. 

"You…!" Mu Cheng hatefully glared at his adversary, stabbing him millions of times over, within his mind.

Just from a single glance, he could tell that his last crown jewel was no longer useful; after all, even as this moment, it was still being corroded by the bile Meng Hao had thrown up alongside his stomach contents.

Seeing that he would now undoubtedly earn the title of the Desert Flame Tribe's youngest ever eunuch, Mu Cheng couldn't help but explode with rage.

"Fucker!!!"

He bellowed in total madness as he forcefully circulated a stream of Vital Qi to help ebb away the agony throbbing around his groin.

"Die!!!"

His cultivation exploded and flared wildly, as he shot towards Min Hong like a vengeful ghost.

"Stone Crushing Fist!"

His fist shot out like a turbo-charged engine piston, causing the wind to whistle and whine as the full power of a 4 Star Skin Refining expert surged through the air and blasted at Min Hong.

At this moment, his reasoning had already clouded over, as every instruction Shen Li had given him flew out through his ears. The only thing left in his mind was the sheer insatiable desire to utterly pummel and destroy Min Hong.

Seeing his opponent go berserk, Min Hong's expression suddenly changed as his gaze steeled. A soul chilling killing intent erupted from within his body, prompting him to screech out a phoenix cry that blasted the ears of the nearby spectators.

A mythically mystical aura suddenly barreled out of Min Hong, almost akin to the smell of an incoming storm. It was condescending, overbearing and tyrannical. Min Hong's gaze locked onto the incoming Mu Cheng, almost like a dragon that has been disturbed from its hibernation; and this one, was very much incensed. 

Min Hong didn't even make any unnecessary movements, and instead, exploded forth with his full Spirit Sense.

"Battle God Buff!"

Soul Qi flooded his entire brain as his bodily energy surged into his legs and arms, causing them to tense up and bulge with vine-like veins.

Balancing solidly on his power core, Min Hong snapped his hand backward before throwing a devastating punch, connecting directly with Mu Cheng's fist.

Bang! Boom!! 

The echo of bone colliding against bone was quickly drowned by the deafening explosion of their clashing powers.

Crack!!!

However, just as quickly as the initial echo was drowned, the sound of bone breaking pierced through the commotion and entered the very depths of spectators ears, causing them to cringe violently

Mu Cheng's wails shortly followed suit as blood sprayed into the air, before bathing the nearby spectator in an eerily mild shower.

The spectators received their umpteenth dose of shock; the shocking scenes of this battle had been coming at a rate so consecutive that they couldn't even completely reel out of one horror before being plunged into another.

It was already becoming impossible for them to stomach the fact that, this battle was between a ten year old boy, and another in his early teens.

Min Hong kept his punching stance; there was a lot going through his mind at this moment.

This was the first time he would use a martial skill to attack, and he was reliving the entire scenario over and over again, trying to remember the feeling and etch it deep into his psyche, so he could further train on it.

Nonetheless, his expression was red furious whilst his gaze was still as soul chilling as ever. 

His killing intent kept spilling out of him, rippling across the stage in invisible waves that was shuddering people's souls. It was so unbelievable that a boy this young could be giving off such a deadly vibe; it almost felt like they were in the presence of an enraged baby asura.

The entire arena was still and quiet. The burst of power that just blasted through them just now was something even Shen Li who was a 7 Star Skin Refining expert would cower in front of.

"How is this possible?! He can use Martial Skills?"

"Isn't it impossible for him to cultivate? What the hell is happening?"

"His expression is absolutely terrifying!"

Gradually, the spectators began to snap out of their reverie, one after the other. Several bewildered voices posed questions at each other, looking for answers, but no one was able to quickly come to a logical answer.

There were even a handful of people who had yet to snap out of their shock; as for the ones who had previously ridiculed and sneered at Min Hong, they were now utterly filled with dread.

Seeing Mu Cheng groveling on the arena, they couldn't help but superimpose themselves with him, dreading what an horrific plight they would have to endure through.

Instantly, some began to pray to their ancestors that Min Hong never remember their faces; after all, from what they could see, he does hold a grudge.

After engraving the movements and sensations within his attack into his psyche, Min Hong finally had time to truly see the amount of devastation he had caused. 

Even he, couldn't help but be taken aback after seeing the state Mu Cheng was in.

It was now certain that even he, had severely underestimated the power output; after all, if the person he was fighting was the Mu Cheng from a week ago, it was certain that the latter would have been at Yama's doorstep by now.

Slowly walking over towards Mu Cheng, each of Min Hong's steps echoed across the arena clearly and crisply. It was almost sounding like the the overture of a murderer, each step sending waves of terror down the people's hearts.

Tap... Tak... Tak...

At this point, every shred of anger and hatred Mu Cheng held against Min Hong gradually began to transform into terror and horror.

Trembling and quivering, he began to crawl away from Min Hong as he began to stutter; "D-don't… don't come over!"

The thought of fleeing briefly flashed across Mu Cheng's mind; however, the sound of Min Hong's footsteps felt like a spell that left his legs unresponsive.

The closer Min Hong approached, the more he felt like he was experiencing a nightmare that had locked his consciousness in; rendering him unable to wake up.

"D-don't… don't kill me! It was Shen Li! I was only following Shen Li's instructions!" Mu Cheng suddenly began to sob, as he begged for his safety.

Below the stage, Shen Li's expression swiftly warped, as he angrily bellowed, "Mu Cheng, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"I'm not spouting any nonsense. It's true. Weren't you the one who told us to keep harassing Min Hong, and that after every episode, you'd reward us with some benefits?! All of this is because of you!" Mu Cheng pointed and screamed at Shen Li, hysterically rambling as he sobbed sorrowfully.

99 out of 100 times; in the face of death, all manner of friendship or brotherhood would certainly fly out one's heart, very swiftly too.

"Mu Cheng, you're courting death!" She Li's expression ashened up and turned ugly as his eyes began to spill out killing intent.

"Shen Li, you bastard! You used me for your advantage! Min Hong, I'll tell you. Shen Li is nothing more than a henchman dog, in reality-"

Min Hong's suddenly felt a soul tingling chill surge down his spine as an aura of death suddenly exploded towards him.

Instantly, he overdosed the Chaotic Steps with the Battle God Buff as he instinctively phased three strides away from his previous position.

However, even after retreating swiftly, it didn't appear like anything out of the ordinary had happened. But when he gazed back at Mu Cheng, he realized that the latter's eyes had now lost focus as the final traces of life left within them dimmed away before his very eyes.

Min Hong's expression suddenly steeled as a purple halo momentarily flashed within his pupils. Looking straight into the crowd, he suddenly saw a figure donning a wooden bamboo hat flash out of the crowd. With just a few strides, the figure had already vanished from sight.

The crowd which had been stunned by the actions of the bamboo-hatted man suddenly exploded into an uproar when they realized Mu Cheng had breathed his last.

"Min Hong wins!" The manager swiftly announced.

Now that the heir of a Grand Family had been killed by an external factor, especially in a life and death battle that was being overseen by another Grand Family, he couldn't help but try to end everything as quickly as possible for the fear of his life.

The heir of a Grand Family was murdered right under the noses of another Grand Family; by a mysterious figure at that. It wouldn't take a genius to understand that such a story can be twisted and spun in a way that can cause an all out war between both Grand Families.

Should that really happen, the first person that would be on the retribution list would of course, be the person overseeing the duel; after all, even if Min Hong was the major cause, he was just a ten year old boy that posed no threat to this figures.

None of them would want to offend Min Tian for such reasons; the worst that could happen was for him to be severely punished to the brink of death; or, cripple him like he had done to Mu Cheng.

Though most of the crowd were left bewildered, the smart one's amongst them who didn't want to put themselves and their families in any sort of trouble quickly began to leave, albeit unsuspiciously.

After all, if they were to flee the scene just like the bamboo-hatted man, wouldn't they be raising a red flag over themselves.

Although Min Hong hasn't killed Mu Cheng, he had already defeated him; if he had wanted to kill Mu Cheng, it would have been as easy as turning his hand, so in the end, hence the reason why the manager declared it Min Hong's victory. 

Following the announcements, most of the crowd who had yet to comprehend the implications of what had just occurred were sighing in regret, lamenting the loss of their gold coins.

Things were a bit easier for the desperate ones who had bet on Min Hong's victory; not only had they hit it big, they were also smart enough to leave swiftly, upon receiving their winnings.

Fatty Yu and the others on the other hand, were cheering in joy; however, Long Feng, though oblivious to the implications of the situation, was extremely uncomfortable with the attention their ruckus were attracting.

For someone who hated to stand out in the first place, his desire to leave was even more pressing.

As for Mu Cheng; the martial arena's organizers would send word of his demise to his family, and ask them to come pick up his body.

Min Hong walked off the stage, receiving a heroic welcome from Fatty Yu and the boys. Long Feng grabbed him on the shoulders, and after noticing Min Hong was also perplexed by the situation, his urge to leave became even more apparent.

"Brother Hong, when did you become so strong? And you didn't even tell anyone about it! My heart almost leaped out watching you," Fatty Yu asked with shock evident in his tone.

"Brother Hong - no wait, elder brother Hong, in the future, we'll all be muddling along with you; you have to cover for us," The bony boy added as the rest nodded in agreement.

Unwilling to dowse their excitement, Min Hong put on his best smile as he replied;

"Sure. But first, let's go to the betting place, and leave this place. I'll be treating you all this time."