Apotheosis Begins with Tai Chi

It’s over!

It’s all over now!

The moment their eyes met that face, the hearts of both Wang Peng and Du Wenshun skipped a beat.

Wang Peng’s expression twisted, his whole body trembling violently.

It was as if all of Du Wenshun’s strength had been drained away. He went completely limp, his lips trembling as he tried to scream, but not a single sound came out.

The face was right in front of them, so close they could see the flickering firelight reflected in its pupils.

In that instant, all thoughts of a desperate struggle vanished. Their minds went completely blank.

Their bodies and minds felt as if they were sinking into a mire, unable to even muster the strength to struggle. The very blood rushing through their hearts turned ice-cold.

THUD!

From behind the broken wall came a sudden muffled thud, as if something had fallen.

The face that had just leaned in instinctively turned back.

The next instant, reflected in Wang Peng and Du Wenshun’s utterly despairing eyes, a hand shot out from behind the wall.

Its skin was fair and smooth, the fingers slender and well-proportioned.

It looked like a hand that had never touched dirty water or done a day of hard labor, as pure and gentle as a newborn’s.

The five fingers spread and clamped down directly on the face that had turned away.

The fingertips pressed into the eye sockets, the palm covered the bridge of the nose, and the web of the thumb and forefinger locked onto the forehead.

The owner of the face didn’t even have time to let out a cry of alarm.

The next instant, the five fingers clenched violently, and Dark Force silently imploded within.

The face, like a crumpled leather pouch, collapsed and caved in, even though its surface remained intact.

Everything inside had been blasted into a slurry, which now oozed out from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose along with streams of blood.

It dripped onto the snow, steaming faintly in the cold air.

The hand then let go.

THUD!

Another muffled thud, identical to the first. It was the sound of a body hitting the ground.

Wang Peng’s eyes widened in shock, his pupils constricting until they seemed to vanish.

Du Wenshun’s jaw clenched. It was as if he was about to bite through the sleeve stuffed in his mouth, to shatter his own teeth. But somehow, he held it in and didn’t scream.

Both of their gazes were fixed on that hand, and on the person stepping out from the shadows of the broken wall behind it.

It was a man in ragged clothes, his face wrapped in a black cloth that left only his eyes exposed.

The moment Du Wenshun met those eyes, he flinched as if he’d been burned. He immediately whipped his head away, not daring to look again, and scrambled with all his might to shrink into the corner. A sudden warmth spread between his legs.

Wang Peng froze for a moment, but then he recognized a familiar feeling in those eyes...

Calm and rippleless, serene and traceless. They weren’t ostentatious or flashy, yet they radiated a deep, reassuring sense of stability and reliability, like ballast in a ship’s hold or a pillar that stills the sea.

’Is it... Brother Chen?’

Wang Peng had already guessed the man’s identity.

It was the same feeling he’d had last month on Huangxiazi Ridge. He couldn’t be mistaken.

As for why Chen Cheng was masked, the reason was simple.

He didn’t want to reveal his true face in front of the Bai Family’s people and risk retaliation.

As the saying goes, a centipede dies, but never falls down.

Who knew what masters the Bai Family still had hidden in their strongholds outside the city?

’It’s always best to be cautious and prioritize stability.’

Chen Cheng glanced at Wang Peng’s condition, then immediately turned and squatted down, reaching for Wang Peng’s arm to haul him onto his back and quickly leave this place of trouble.

”A monster... A monster—!!”

Just then, a terrified scream rang out from the distance, followed by one, then two, agonizing howls that quickly fell silent.

Chen Cheng’s Heart clenched.

Ever since the destruction of the Red Moon Nunnery, monsters had often appeared near Seven Miles Slope.

His Third Uncle, Chen An, had encountered one before. He’d said the thing looked like an old ape, was sparsely wrapped in strips of black cloth, and fed exclusively on human corpses.

After that, Chen An never dared to come here to gather firewood again.

Chen Cheng’s knowledge of this monster was limited to Chen An’s vague, second-hand account, so he had no way of knowing how dangerous it truly was.

He certainly didn’t want to run into that thing now. He just wanted to get Wang Peng on his back and leave as quickly as possible.

WHOOSH—BANG!

Just then, a ball of light suddenly exploded in the night sky.

A Signal Flare, trailing a long tail of fire, shot into the air and burst into a blood-red firework. It hung in the sky, refusing to fade, and bathed the entire ruin in an eerie, crimson light.

”Evil-slaying Red Armor... It’s the Red Armor Guards of the Evil Extermination Bureau...”

A hundred zhang away, the two Bai Family private soldiers standing under the torchlight cried out in alarm.

There was no joy of rescue in their voices, only a terror even greater than when they saw the monster.

Before the words had even faded, they fell completely silent.

It was as if they had been struck down in an instant, without even time to struggle.

Their torches fell to the snow, rolled a couple of times, and were quickly extinguished.

The Evil Extermination Bureau was one of the official family’s violent government arms, specializing in all cases related to Evil Cults, evil spirits, and demons.

The Bai Family was in league with the Immortal Bone Sect—an unforgivable crime. How could their private soldiers possibly survive an encounter with the Evil-slaying Red Armor?

Just then, Chen Cheng’s ears twitched beneath the black cloth.

He clearly heard the whistle of several figures slicing through the air as they approached.

It was the sound of several extremely powerful individuals leaping through the air, closing in with incredible speed. The sounds they made as they skimmed across the snow were light and urgent—the Bai Family’s private soldiers could never possess such skill.

It sounded like they were flanking them from the side.

That could only be the Evil-slaying Red Armor who had come up the mountain from that direction and were now rushing toward the Signal Flare.

”Evil Extermination Bureau... reliable...”

Wang Peng seemed to have also identified the newcomers. He spoke with great difficulty, his arms, which had been clutching the wooden box for dear life, finally relaxing their grip.

He tried to lift the wooden box with his right hand but no longer had the strength. His hand just rested limply on its surface, completely unable to move it.