Chapter 524

Chapter 524 Duel of Deception 

In a heartbeat, Wei Yang felt a flicker of alarm.

The voice of Qiao Jiajin’s thoughts was thunderously loud, and within those thoughts, the imagined punch already contained the image of striking him squarely.

A wave of danger inexplicably rippled through Wei Yang’s heart. He felt as though he were facing a genuine killer. Before fear could even take hold, the pitchfork in his hands had already been thrust forward.

He had the distinct feeling that if he did not strike first this time, he truly would be sent flying by that punch.

The pitchfork shot out like a hurled spear, stabbing toward Qiao Jiajin’s abdomen. Wei Yang deliberately gripped the very end of the handle. The moment the other man even thought of dodging, he would violently change the direction of the thrust. Countless people had already died to this very move.

{Heart Insight} remained {Heart Insight}: a {Reverberation} capable of suppressing all fighting techniques.

The pitchfork was about to pierce straight through Qiao Jiajin’s abdomen, yet to Wei Yang’s astonishment, no sound reached his ears at all.

“Punk…not dodging…?”

The pitchfork surged forward, but at the moment when its tip was no more than a finger’s breadth away, Qiao Jiajin stepped calmly to the side, his expression utterly blank, evading the lethal strike.

Wei Yang stared at Qiao Jiajin’s eyes in disbelief. At the moment of executing such a crucial evasive move, the young man before him had not thought of anything at all.

It was as though his body had acted on its own. From beginning to end, his mind had issued no command whatsoever.

In the very next instant, Qiao Jiajin surged forward two more heavy steps, closing the distance until Wei Yang was within arm’s reach. He sank his right fist to his waist, extended his left hand to seize Wei Yang by the collar and steady his body, then drove his right hand upward like a rocket blasting into the sky.

“You—!!” Wei Yang had just opened his mouth when a crushing blow slammed into his jaw. His upper and lower teeth snapped together with a thunderous crack.

His vision went black. Before pain could even register, his feet had already left the ground. In the next heartbeat, the dark crimson sky filled his sight. No more than three seconds later, something collided violently with his back, kicking up clouds of dust.

Searing pain surged from his jaw, mingled with a wave of dizziness that flooded his senses. Panicked, Wei Yang reached out to feel around, only then realizing that he was sprawled across the filthy ground.

How many years had it been since anyone had managed to land a hit on him?

Ever since Wei Yang had fully mastered {Heart Insight}, this was the first time he had been sent flying by a solid, undeniable blow.

After roughly twenty seconds, his vision finally began to clear. High above, that dirt-colored sun in the sky seemed to contract ever so slightly.

“The sky here is truly beautiful…” Blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth. “Paired with this song… how utterly enchanting.”

“Farmer lou.” Qiao Jiajin kicked the pitchfork beside him away with one foot, then crouched down next to him and lowered his head. “Did you hear my thoughts?”

“I heard them… but I couldn’t dodge…” Wei Yang lay on the ground with a bitter laugh, feeling that even his teeth had come loose. “What a vicious punch…”

“That punch was nothing, really,” Qiao Jiajin remarked. “Compared to the holes you put in those {indigenous inhabitants}, it was far too light.”

“I believe I’ve taken a punch from you before… heh heh… Now I’m stronger than back then. I even managed to dodge several times in a row…” Wei Yang laughed softly. “Looks like without preserving memories, one just grows weaker and weaker…”

“You’ve misunderstood,” Qiao Jiajin smiled faintly. “If I were using my own body right now, you might’ve gone down with the very first punch.”

“You…”

“I’m not used to this body,” Qiao Jiajin continued. “Those first two punches were purely me getting used to it, not proof of your skill. You get what I’m saying, lan-joeng?”

Seeing Wei Yang brought down, Chen Junnan shot Qi Xia a look, and the two of them moved into the farm in turn.

The madman before them was indeed dangerous. He had set up lethal traps throughout the area and armed himself with a pitchfork capable of taking lives. Coupled with his {Heart Insight}, it would have been nearly impossible for ordinary participants to survive an encounter with him.

As Qi Xia and Chen Junnan approached, Qiao Jiajin nodded to them and asked, “What do we do next?”

“Put your clothes back on first,” Qi Xia said.

“Yeah, Ole Qiao,” Chen Junnan sighed helplessly. “When are you going to stop taking off your clothes every time you fight? You think you’re Xu Chu* or something?”

(TLN: Xu Chu (许褚) was Cao Cao’s long-serving bodyguard, a massive man around 2 meters tall. Renowned in ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ for his combat prowess rivaling Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, Xu Chu’s moment of glory came in the fictional account of him stripping off all his armour for his fight with Ma Chao (马超).)

“Uh…” Qiao Jiajin felt a bit embarrassed as he stepped aside to pick up his top. He brushed off the dust and slipped it back on. “You probably don’t know but back then, clothes were expensive. If they got cut up, you couldn’t wear them anymore. I was poor, so I’d usually take my clothes off before a fight. Over time, it just became a habit…”

“What kind of hellish joke is that…” Chen Junnan blinked. “Clothes get cut up, you can’t wear them. But if your flesh gets cut, it just heals?”

“Yeah, you might think it’s ridiculous… but it’s true. If my body gets cut, it just scars over with time. But clothes? Once they tear, they’re done.” Qiao Jiajin shrugged nonchalantly. “Speaking of which, this body’s good and all, but it just ain’t built for streets.”

As the two spoke, Qi Xia had already moved beside Wei Yang, and their eyes met.

At that very moment, Wei Yang’s expression tightened, and Qi Xia also felt a creeping unease.

“Wei Yang (Earthly Branch Goat)…?” Qi Xia’s voice was barely audible.

“Hah… haha…” Wei Yang stared at Qi Xia and grinned grotesquely, the smile twisted and unpleasant. “I wouldn’t dare. In front of you, who am I to be a goat? You’re the goat… haha… the goat…”

“I am a goat,” Qi Xia nodded. “So…you too are a goat?”

“Of course I’m a goat…” Wei Yang’s eyes widened as he laughed. “Truly remarkable… you remember nothing, yet somehow manage to guess it all…”

“So you were a goat after all,” Qi Xia continued to inquire. “When did it happen, and which kind exactly?”

“Qi Xia… haha hahaha…” Wei Yang’s gaze locked onto Qi Xia’s eyes, and the smile on his face spread uncontrollably, wild and unrestrained. “What the…fraudster? Haha hahaha…”

“What did you say?”

“You really outdid yourself… To escape from this damned place, you didn’t even spare yourself?” Wei Yang slowly rose from the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dirt. “Back then, fearing I might discern your designs, you cast me aside at the first opportunity… and now you come to call upon me unbidden… how utterly laughable.”

“Laughable?” Qi Xia grabbing Wei Yang by the collar. “I even dared to face {Celestial Snake}. Do you really think I’d fear your {Heart Insight}?”

“Hahaha!” Wei Yang laughed uproariously. “{Celestial Snake} is nothing but a joke. How could he see through you?”

“So you can?” Qi Xia’s lips curved slightly. He had spotted the logical flaw in Wei Yang’s words.