Chapter 42 042 Unfortunately, he could no longer see it.

A palm strike, carrying the force of thunder, aimed straight at his waist and abdomen. Di Qing, caught off guard, took the blow, letting out a muffled groan before his brows furrowed in anger as he lashed out downwards. Jiang Ling'er, using Di Qing's knees as leverage, slipped behind him like an eel and delivered a "Thunder" strike to the back of his head. As Di Qing cried out in pain, she unleashed a series of palm strikes in quick succession—a seven-move set of the Thunder Palm technique: "Startling Thunder," "Sounding Thunder," "Muffled Thunder," "Thunder," "Dark Clouds and Flying Lights," "Wind Rises and Lanterns Flutter," and "Soaring Serpent Without Feet"—all imbued with the power of lightning, thunder, tiger's roar, and dragon's cry, striking Di Qing's back, a blind spot in his vision!

This was Jiang Ling'er's second encounter with Di Qing, and she had learned from her first experience—

She couldn't beat him.

Di Qing looked to be in his forties or fifties, more than twenty years older than her, and had more than twenty years of more internal energy. In addition, he was one of the seven great assassins of the Demonic Sect, a person with a notorious reputation and martial arts skills that made people grit their teeth. Unless her ancestors' graves were emitting auspicious smoke or Guan Yu possessed her, she was no match for Di Qing at all.

The only advantage she had was in "agility." Therefore, she could only rely on her agile lightness skills to strike first.

Fortunately, her hard training these past few days had paid off. Like a nimble sparrow, she seized every opportunity to strike him with a palm, and when Di Qing attacked, she darted to the other side. She unleashed the Thunderclap Palm technique from beginning to end, and Di Qing couldn't catch her at all.

At first, she was chased around by the puppets that the little poisoner had modified. Later, the puppets gradually couldn't catch her anymore. She even played with the puppets in circles in the small courtyard. Later, after the puppets were taken away by Ji Yunshu and her group, she caught sparrows and birds to play with, doing so every day without missing a single day. In just a few months of training, she gained more than she had in the previous ten years of training, which was like fishing for three days and casting a net for two. She had indeed made great progress in her footwork.

For a moment, there was no sign of her losing momentum. Unfortunately, although she was agile, her dodging had disrupted her original footwork. The Thunder Palm needs to be combined with the Thirty-Six Styles of Footwork to unleash its maximum power. Therefore, the Thunder Palm only unleashed 30% of its full power. In addition, Di Qing had a strange kung fu with a body of copper skin and iron bones. She didn't know if she had injured him, but she was shocked and her hands were numb and weak. If it weren't for a burst of strength supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground long ago.

More importantly, she didn't have time.

The exertion of her internal energy accelerated the loss of the Netherfire within her body. At this moment, she was like a candle burning out faster, her movements sluggish, and her palms gradually becoming weak and powerless... She didn't know the situation with the Little Poisoner yet, and she still needed to live to find him, so she had to defeat him while she still had the strength left!

Jiang Ling'er leaped forward, even though her hands were so numb she could barely feel them. With this final strike, she gathered her strength in her palms and unleashed a "Thunder" attack straight at Di Qingtian's head!

The powerful blow, imbued with all her inner strength, possessed an overwhelming force, capable of shattering even a rock. After Jiang Ling'er's all-out palm strike landed, she lost her balance and plummeted to the ground. Her arm was scraped and bleeding from the rubble, but she couldn't muster the strength to get up. Di Qing remained motionless, his single eye staring blankly, eyes bulging as if about to pop out. He stood frozen in place…

Could it be that he...?

Jiang Ling'er's eyes lit up, but the light went out after Di Qing suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Ah, I remember now, it was you!" Di Qing slapped his forehead repeatedly, each slap louder than the last, while Jiang Ling'er's face paled inch by inch. "Oh ho, my donkey brain! If I hadn't been slapped like that, I really wouldn't have remembered! You're Little Sparrow by Little Poison's side, one of his cronies. That night, Little Poison saved you, and then he crippled one of my eyes... Right or not?!"

Jiang Ling'er's face was ashen, her nails dug into her flesh. She stared at Di Qing in front of her, biting her lower lip so hard that she didn't even notice the blood staining her lips.

"It came so easily, saving me the trouble of looking for it!"

Di Qing strode towards Jiang Ling'er, reaching her in just two steps. His shadow instantly enveloped her, standing before her like a mountain that blots out the sky, looking her up and down, his single eye narrowing.

"Your lightness skill and palm techniques have improved in a short time. It seems you've learned quite a bit..." Di Qing suddenly changed the subject, so unexpectedly that even Jiang Ling'er didn't react. Or rather, even if she did react, she was already exhausted and had no strength to resist. Di Qing grabbed her throat and lifted her up!

"What's the point of learning so much? It's like an ant trying to shake a tree—a fool who doesn't know his own mortality!"

Not only was Di Qing a man with a body of bronze and iron, but his voice was also like a booming bell, making her scalp tingle and her ears ache as if they were about to explode.

With one hand gripping Jiang Ling'er's neck, he truly felt as if he were choking the "little sparrow" he had described—a rather beautiful "little sparrow," at that—and deliberately shook her mischievously.

"Where's Little Poison? Hmm? Tell me where Little Poison is, and I'll give you a quick death!"

Di Qing was already incredibly strong, and this sudden movement caused his internal organs to churn violently. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if his neck was shackled. His breathing went from rapid to weak, and he felt like he was living a life worse than death.

"You're determined not to talk, aren't you?"

Seeing the woman's face turn from flushed to pale, her limbs limp and hanging down, her palms soft yet icy cold, she was barely clinging to life. Even so, she refused to utter a single word. Di Qing let out a cold laugh, finally exhausting his last bit of patience. He was always vengeful, and to be tricked by such a delicate woman time and time again—if word got back to him, would he still have any face left as one of the seven great assassins of the martial world?

Thinking of this, he felt a surge of anger. Recalling the vicious force with which Jiang Ling'er had slapped his head, he felt a chill run down his spine. If his weakness hadn't been on the top of his head, and if he hadn't used his internal energy cultivation technique to strengthen his body first, wouldn't his life have been... wouldn't he have truly perished at the hands of this unknown, smelly woman!

Suddenly, Huo Wu's hoarse, aged, yet smiling voice rang in my ears:

[Ahem...Lust is a double-edged sword; you'll die here sooner or later, kid.]

Di Qing was startled. For a moment, the horror and fear of death overwhelmed his lust. No matter how beautiful this woman was, the more Di Qing looked at Jiang Ling'er, the more frightened he felt. He even felt that she was a troublesome person and that he could not tolerate her!

With his other hand, he gripped Jiang Ling'er's face, his fingers slowly tightening, leaving a visible red mark on her face. It looked as if his large hand was about to crush Jiang Ling'er's head...

Suddenly, a scream rang out. Di Qing's palm paused, and he glanced to the side with his one eye. It turned out that a peasant woman hiding in the bushes had screamed in horror at the scene before her. Di Qing was slightly taken aback, and a glint of light flashed in his one eye:

"So you were hiding here all along! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Di Qing withdrew his large hand from Jiang Ling'er's face, and quickly snapped the other hand that was gripping her neck. A crisp sound of bones breaking rang out. Jiang Ling'er's disheveled black hair covered her face, obscuring her expression. Her head drooped limply, and Di Qing threw her to the ground like a rag.

While cursing and swearing, Di Qing took three steps at a time towards the peasant woman. The peasant woman had already fallen and was injured. Even if she was not injured, Di Qing caught up with her in just a few steps. Helpless, she could only cry and throw all the dry branches and pebbles she could pick up at Di Qing!

At first, Di Qing would turn his head to dodge, but later he stopped avoiding them altogether, letting the branches and pebbles fall on him.

"You bitch, do you think I'll let you get away with this?!"

He took two steps to the peasant woman, bent down, and reached out to grab her with his large hand, when suddenly he heard a slightly hoarse yet familiar woman's voice beside him:

Thanks.

But it wasn't said to him.

After a moment of stunned silence, Di Qing suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders. He wanted to grab the peasant woman's hand and slap her back, but it was too late. He let out a long howl of extreme pain, and blood gushed out, staining half the sunset sky red.

Jiang Ling'er acted on her camera, caught the sharp stones thrown by the peasant woman, leaped onto Di Qing's neck, and used the stones to stab into Di Qing's remaining eye!

In excruciating pain, Di Qing tried to shake off the person riding on him, but his one eye was gouged out. With both eyes blind, he couldn't even distinguish north from south. He heard the sound of thunder and lightning mixed in the wind, and his whole body was hit by several more Thunder Palms, making him see stars. His huge body swayed several times and was almost knocked to the ground several times!

Fortunately, his skill was profound, and even in this state, his invincible shield remained intact. However, he heard thunder rumbling in his ears and smelled a faint stench of decay...

Di Qing was terrified, his face turning pale. Even his usually booming, rough voice trembled with shock.

"I clearly snapped your neck... What the hell are you, you monster?!"

His voice was strange and eccentric, like a male duck.

Jiang Ling'er wanted to laugh, but her broken neck was still twisted in an odd position. A crisp yet terrifying sound of bones cracking rang out. She struggled to straighten her head. If Di Qing could see this, he would be terrified, not only because she had twisted her neck back, but also because Jiang Ling'er's unusually cold skin was visibly developing spots of lividity...

Unfortunately, he could no longer see it.

She'd already died once; she wasn't afraid of death. But it was Di Qing, one of the seven most notorious assassins of the Demonic Sect, whose name resounded throughout the martial world…

“It seems you’re not used to it. It must be unpleasant to be blind, right?” Jiang Ling’er was still riding on Diqing’s shoulders, looking down at Diqing’s ugly, horrified, and bewildered face covered in blood. She said softly, “I learned some skills for being blind from Aunt Yang, but unfortunately you can’t see anymore… I’ll teach you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed Di Qing's hair with both hands and dragged him into the lake water next to him!

With a "bang," water splashed everywhere. The lake was so deep that it was impossible to see the bottom, and it instantly swallowed the two people.

After the frightened woman saw no one surface for a long time, she considered leaving, but gritted her teeth and anxiously paced to the lakeside, calling out urgently:

"Yang family's daughter-in-law! Yang family's daughter-in-law! Don't scare me, Yang family's daughter-in-law!"

--

As soon as I entered the water, the weight on my shoulders vanished, replaced by my limbs floating in the endless darkness and cold. The lake water in autumn was exceptionally cold, a chill that pierced to the bone. All was silent, except for the sound of the water and my own heartbeat, growing louder and louder, almost leaping out of my chest!

Deprived of his five senses, Di Qing felt a grotesque unease clinging to him like maggots. The moment he opened his mouth, water poured in. He had no choice but to close it and hold his breath, no longer caring where the shore was, or even where Jiang Ling'er was lurking. He struggled to swim upwards, but suddenly froze, hearing a self-absorbed, angry voice beside him:

"I don't care what your weakness is. Do you really think you're made of stone and can see through anything? As long as there's a hole, it's a way in, right? Ugh, this is so annoying. I don't like to use my brain anyway! Since the eyes can... then the seven orifices can too, right?"

Di Qing was terrified, his soul nearly leaving his body! He looked around but couldn't discern the direction, and because of the flowing water, the sound seemed to come from all directions. He gritted his teeth and thrust out a palm with his left hand, but the next second his right ear was pierced by a piece of broken stone!

Under the intense pain, Di Qing instinctively opened his mouth and roared, but in less than half a second, the shard of stone that had pierced through his right ear was now stuck in his mouth!

--

Before long, the once tranquil lake was suddenly stained red with a handful of blood!

The peasant woman screamed and retreated. Just then, the last rays of the setting sun disappeared on the horizon, and at the very moment when dusk and night met, a hand climbed up the bank.

The peasant woman trembled, suppressing the urge to run away, and looked closely. The hand was slender and long... it could only be a woman's hand!

"Yang... Yang family's daughter-in-law!"

Knowing that Jiang Ling'er had won, the peasant woman cried out happily, wiped away her tears, and hurriedly went to greet her, but froze on the spot after taking only two steps.

"Mrs. Yang..."

The peasant woman's lips trembled, her voice quivering and slurring. Jiang Ling'er, soaking wet, slowly and stiffly climbed from the bank, seemingly oblivious to the peasant woman's calls. Initially, the dim light made it seem unremarkable, but as Jiang Ling'er drew closer, it became apparent that her gait was stiff and strange, her eyes unfocused and lifeless. Her face was pale, and her exposed arms, neck, and even her face were covered in dark red lividity…

The peasant woman screamed and collapsed to the ground, while Jiang Ling'er brushed past her as if she didn't see her, taking stiff, mechanical, and slow steps... or rather, walking towards the farmhouse on the mountain, driven by instinct, walking and walking—

As the last rays of twilight swallowed her figure, night fell.

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Author's Note: I'm here! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-10-24 06:20:18 and 2023-10-29 22:57:17!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Deep Courtyard and Ugly Orange Not Ugly (1 bottle);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!