The bright moon rose into the sky, its vivid color like blood, driving people mad.
Glancing at the spear on the ground, Du Chengfeng stood up.
At a distance of thirty feet, the two men faced each other.
One of them held a spear.
The other, however, was barehanded.
"Pick it up."
The man named Yang Sanlang tightened his grip on the spear.
"I told you to pick up a weapon, didn't you hear me?"
"I didn't hear."
Glancing at the pile of weapons stacked like a small hill beside him, Du Chengfeng just shook his head.
"Why should I pick it up? Because if I pick up a weapon too, then this turns into a duel? It makes you look like a man? Forget it. If you really wanted to fight me head-on, who was the one trying to kill me while I was asleep?"
"You..."
Yang Sanlang couldn't help but clench his teeth.
The second spear was thrown out of his hand, this time aimed not just at the feet. The sharp spear whistled out, its point directed straight at Du Chengfeng's chest!
Once upon a time, it was with such a powerful and heavy spear that the daring vagrant who insulted the Yang family's ancestors was pinned to the ground. It was this very lethal spear that gained Yang Sanlang some reputation in Jizhou, even making him a standout among the younger generation of the Yang clan.
But now, facing the very spear he prided himself on, Du Chengfeng merely sidestepped to easily avoid it.
Then, he strode towards him.
He didn't pick up a knife, an axe, or any weapon, not even the spear on the ground. Du Chengfeng walked forward just like that, barehanded.
Facing Yang Sanlang's third spear.
This made Yang Sanlang take five steps back.
He took five steps back, then advanced five steps, and at the final step of his swift charge, Yang Sanlang twisted his waist and hips, launching the spear from his hand once again.
This time, with the added momentum from his run-up, Yang Sanlang's spear shot out like lightning. It was much faster than the previous one, even the sturdy wooden shaft blurred due to the extreme speed.
Only the whistling wind passing by the ear testified to the spear's existence.
Yet this gale only lifted the hem of Du Chengfeng's garment.
With merely another sidestep, Du Chengfeng dodged the javelin once again.
The fourth javelin was removed from his backpack by Yang Sanlang, and the distance between them shrank from thirty feet to ten feet.
This time, the spear spun outwards.
If the previous spear was to pierce a point, this fourth javelin swept across a plane. The whistling shaft had morphed into a ferocious long staff, and its tremendous force was enough to shatter a leg bone in one blow.
This time, Du Chengfeng could no longer remain calm and unruffled.
Facing the sweeping javelin coming straight at him, he had no choice but to spring into the air, escaping the spear's sweep.
It was at this moment that Yang Sanlang, holding the fifth javelin, charged up close and thrust fiercely towards Du Chengfeng's chest.
The old force was spent, and new force had yet to be born. At the moment when he was in mid-air, it was difficult for Du Chengfeng to evade. And as Yang Sanlang followed swiftly after the fourth spear, this time he treated the spear in his hand like a short spear. The point directed deftly sealed all possible spaces for Du Chengfeng to twist his body.
This spear, there was no way to avoid it!
Yet, at this very moment, Yang Sanlang suddenly felt something grab his shoulder.
It was a pair of sturdy hands.
"Huh?"
Thud—
Just a moment of distraction, and Yang Sanlang's vision spun.
His spine slammed against the hard ground, Yang Sanlang felt as if his bones were about to break, the impact of the back of his head hitting the ground left him dizzy and disoriented. He couldn't understand what had happened, why in the blink of an eye, it seemed he was already lying on the ground?
Wait a minute, what did he come here for?
"You..."
Recalling the purpose of his coming, Yang Sanlang hurriedly looked around.
Only to find that the strong drifter named Du Chengfeng he intended to assassinate was squatting beside him, looking down at his face.
"Looks like it does come in handy..."
Du Chengfeng, speaking to himself, noticed Yang Sanlang's gaze, and just shook his head.
"Sorry, I didn't mean you."
"You..."
Already seriously injured, Yang Sanlang was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood.
But just as Yang Sanlang intended to spit this blood onto Du Chengfeng's face, Du Chengfeng had already stood up.
"Alright, if nothing else, get up, your uncle is still waiting for you to return."
"You..."
The blood sputtered in mid-air but ended up landing back on Yang Sanlang's own face.
This made Yang Sanlang involuntarily close his eyes.
"Kill me."
Yang Sanlang said this and released even the last spear in his hand.
"Kill me. Since I can't kill you, then kill me. After all, I was the one who brought you here, it was I who sent you to your death. Now that you're not dead, and you're alive, and I can't kill you, then just kill me."
At this point, Yang Sanlang gritted his teeth.
"A real man takes responsibility for his actions. Revenge has a cause, debts have a master. You... What are you doing! Where are you going!"
Hearing footsteps beside him, Yang Sanlang instantly opened his eyes and stood up.
Only to see that Du Chengfeng didn't even intend to acknowledge him but simply headed back to his little courtyard.
The figure even turned its back on him.
"What do you mean by this! What do you mean by this!"
Forcing back the pain in his body, Yang Sanlang picked up the spear he had just released.
"Come back! You come back here! Du Chengfeng, you come back here!"
The final spear was ultimately thrown, but the body burdened by injuries cast little strength, the spear made two spins in the air and ultimately fell powerlessly to the ground.
This last spear didn't even reach ten feet.
And that figure kept getting farther away.
Never even turned back to look, not once.
"Come back! Come back and kill me!"
Yang Sanlang, with a face full of blood, opened his eyes wide in fury.
"Come kill me! Why won't you kill me? Why! Why won't you kill me! Why!"
But no matter how Yang Sanlang screamed hoarsely, that figure never turned around, as if all this was nothing more than idle noise in the courtyard at midnight.
This made Yang Sanlang's hair stand on end in rage.
"Du Chengfeng!"
Outside the courtyard gate, Yang Sanlang shouted to the sky.
"Why won't you kill me! Do you look down on me that much? Do you look down on me, Yang Sanlang, that much!"
"Why do I have to kill you? Don't you have anything else to do at this late hour?"
Du Chengfeng finally turned to look.
"Go back, isn't staying alive good?"
"As long as I'm alive, I will wash away this disgrace."
These words were supposed to carry weight, but coming from Yang Sanlang, they still carried a bit of trembling.
"Aren't you afraid? Aren't you really not afraid at all?"
"...Afraid?"
Looking at the infuriated Yang Sanlang, then thinking of the terrifying He Xiqing, Du Chengfeng finally shook his head.
"As long as you're happy, come by more often. This way, you can at least be of some use."
"Some...use?"
Yang Sanlang was stunned, he didn't understand what was being said.
Wasn't he here to fight, what use could there be...
"My courtyard just happens to be short of a target, and besides, you can move."
Du Chengfeng pointed to the open space in the courtyard.
"Anyway, come more often and do your best."
"You..."
Watching Du Chengfeng's receding figure, Yang Sanlang was at a loss for words for quite a while.
Until Du Chengfeng's figure disappeared into the darkness, Yang Sanlang, as if his spine had been removed, collapsed to the ground.