A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 2233 - 1514: Blood Time (Finished Snowfall, Too Lazy to Move)
The setting sun is like blood, but blood is not the setting sun.
When a person is overwhelmed by sorrow, they feel fear; when that fear reaches its peak, it turns into anger; and when anger reaches its peak, it transforms into a kind of strength.
The strength of hatred – even death cannot erase this kind of hatred.
But that’s not the reality.
If Duanmu Huai knew this saying, he would say it’s only because not enough have died.
Just like now.
The blood-red sunset shone on the Martial Arts Arena, a vivid scarlet.
But this wasn’t sunlight, it was blood.
Thick, nauseating, murky blood.
And corpses.
Corpses that have given their all.
Duanmu Huai stood there quietly, his body stained with blood, but not a single drop was his own. The ground around him was covered with bodies, yet they had nothing to do with him.
Because all of them were dead.
They went mad.
Only lunatics are unafraid of death; they used everything they had, they even climbed onto Duanmu Huai, clinging to his arms, gripping his legs, using teeth, using nails, using their bodies to hinder him, stop him, kill him.
Yet none of this mattered to Duanmu Huai.
He was like an activated Terminator, standing up, swinging fists, lifting feet, stepping down.
Repeating this process until the last moving piece of flesh in the plaza stopped. No one could stop him, not swords, not fists or kicks, nothing, not even Little Li’s Flying Knife.
Then Duanmu Huai stopped, as if he was a machine that finally ran out of power.
If this continued, it might become the most unsettling legend in Jianghu, bar none.
But unfortunately, there is no "if."
Duanmu Huai flexed his neck, stretched lazily, and looked at the time.
"One month, five days, three hours. When will the cycle of revenge end? This is about the time I had."
However, it might take a few more minutes.
Duanmu Huai stepped forward, trampling over the corpses, crossing the plaza, and entered the hall.
There, stood a woman.
A woman without clothes.
A beautiful woman.
"Are you Lin Xian’er?"
Duanmu Huai glanced at her, and she looked back at him.
The number one beauty of the Western Martial World, at least that’s what people called her. She had claimed that anyone who could kill Duanmu Huai would have her hand in marriage.
She said the same back during the time of the Plum Blossom Thief.
She looked at him, smiling. She smiled when she was afraid, because she knew no man could resist her smile, not even those who wished to kill her. Her eyes, her hands, every part of her body spoke for her; even just standing there, men knew what she wanted to say.
She said nothing, for she knew nothing needed to be said now. Unclothed, she stood before Duanmu Huai. She was not shy nor timid, because she had confidence in herself, no man could refuse her.
Especially when she stood in front of him.
She noticed Duanmu Huai examining her, which made her smile even more radiantly. But gradually, her smile became stiff, because what she saw in Duanmu Huai’s eyes was not the fervor and fire she was familiar with, nor the coldness and disregard.
It was... confusion.
Confusion?
Yes, confusion.
Then, she heard Duanmu Huai speak.
"The number one beauty of the Western Martial World, just this?"
Duanmu Huai was genuinely surprised and puzzled. He had read novels, knew Lin Xian’er was supposedly the most beautiful woman in Jianghu. But the books never described her appearance, only that she was beautiful, and no man could refuse her. Even those in the top rankings of the Weaponry Registry, seemingly indifferent to women, bowed under her charm, willing to give anything for the flicker of her smile, to become her close companion. Those sent to kill her would kneel before her, becoming her slaves.
But in the end, novels are just words, not light novels with illustrations.
So Duanmu Huai was always curious, just how beautiful was Lin Xian’er to captivate so many heroes?
And his first thought upon seeing Lin Xian’er was... have the men in the Western Martial World never seen women?
Even with her standing starkly in front of him, Duanmu Huai was still astonished.
Indeed, Lin Xian’er was a beauty, that’s true.
But to call her the number one beauty, to say she could enchant those heroes into giving their lives... Duanmu Huai found it hard to imagine.
Or perhaps, it was simply the difference of the times?
Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment, thinking this was more likely. After all, in the digital age, beauties of all kinds could be seen, whether altered or natural, clothed or unclothed, domestic or foreign. People have seen much from a young age, becoming accustomed, naturally building resistance.
But in this era, it was different. Even airborne heroes could only access a limited region, they may see beauties here, but it didn’t mean they saw every beauty.
Considering this, Duanmu Huai felt a bit bored. Originally, in the Martial World, his only leisure was to look at those beauties.
But upon seeing Lin Xian’er, who was written to captivate even the top ten masters of the Weaponry Registry, being just a medium-level beauty, he had no more expectations for the other legendary beauties of the Martial World.
Probably, they were just exaggerations or subjective opinions of those like frogs in a well.
Even Lin Xian’er is like this, so probably those other martial world beauties are just... sigh...
Duanmu Huai silently sighed, turned, and intended to leave.
However, his actions ignited Lin Xian’er’s fury!
She couldn’t believe watching him turn away, completely ignoring her, treating her like something insignificant.
She also heard the words muttered under Duanmu Huai’s breath.
Just this?
Legend says, if you want to anger a man, those two words are enough.
In truth, it’s the same for women.
"You......!"
Lin Xian’er finally couldn’t hold back. She reached out, wanting to grab Duanmu Huai, wanting him to know that she wasn’t just a famous name for nothing.
However, Duanmu Huai couldn’t care less. He didn’t even turn his head, just casually slapped back.
"Slap!"
Lin Xian’er stopped where she was. Her head spun around her neck five times before stopping. Her body was forward, her head was backward, her expression full of surprise and anger.
Was she surprised that someone dared to slap her?
Or was she angry that someone looked down on her?
But none of that mattered anymore, because now, she had become a corpse.
As Duanmu Huai walked out of the main hall, the last ray of sunset had disappeared below the horizon.
The Martial Arts Arena was still blood-red.
Duanmu Huai once again walked over corpses across the Martial Arts Arena to the main gate, where there were now two more people.
An old man with white hair was smoking a dry tobacco pipe. The pipe flickered in the darkness.
A braid girl covered her face with both hands. It was unclear whether she didn’t dare to look at the corpses or Duanmu Huai.
Duanmu Huai stopped and glanced at them.
"You come to die? Or to collect bodies?"
"Neither."
The old man shook his head.
"Just came to have a look."
"Oh."
Duanmu Huai didn’t say much more and walked straight ahead, passing by the grandfather and granddaughter, intending to go down the mountain—besides them, there were no living people left here.
"What do you think?"
Just as Duanmu Huai was about to go down the stairs, the old man spoke again.
"So many people died, what do you think?"
"........."
Upon hearing the old man’s question, Duanmu Huai contemplated for a moment.
"I just wonder, how could Lin Xian’er make so many people head over heels?"
"Hehehe......"
The old man chuckled softly and didn’t answer. Duanmu Huai didn’t expect an answer either. He shrugged his shoulders and then walked down the steps.
That massive figure disappeared into the dark night, merging with the shadow, indistinguishable.
Twelve thousand three hundred and forty-five people.
This was the final number of corpses remaining on the Martial Arts Arena.
The Shaolin monks were dead, the eight thousand disciples, none survived. Master Xinhu’s corpse was found at the bottom of the pile, his eyes tightly shut, his expression peaceful.
Shangguan Jinhong was dead, and his subordinates who came with him were dead too. People found his corpse on the wall of the Martial Arts Arena, his whole body embedded in the thick stone wall. They couldn’t even extract him. His dying expression was so surprised, bewildered, incredulous that he could die.
Long Xiaoyun was dead, dying in a corner, silent and soundless, crushed to death. When people found him, his back was to the Martial Arts Arena, seemingly trying to escape. But the giant Buddha several meters high on the Martial Arts Arena had crushed him, leaving him with only half a body.
Lin Shiyin was dead. Before she died, her hands were still outstretched, the face of the original beauty twisted and venomous, her hands like claws wanting to grasp something tightly. But she grabbed nothing, merely mingled into the crowd, becoming a corpse.
Li Xunhuan was also dead, dying next to Lin Shiyin, his flying knife vanished without a trace, his eyes shut tight, both pained and serene.
Besides that, many people died, some with their heads blown, some split in two, some torn in half, some smashed into pulp.
There were men, women, old, young.
But they were all dead.
No one came to claim the bodies because those who could also lay them to rest were dead.
Thus, the officials had no choice but to send people to retrieve the bodies, as there were simply too many dead, and their deaths were too gruesome. Corpses covered the entire Shaolin Temple Martial Arts Arena, seemingly becoming a thick meat cushion. The constables sent to retrieve the bodies threw up, and many were in a daze afterward, with some going mad.
The once lively West Shaolin Temple turned into a land of death, no one went there, no one dared. Rumors spread that the man was inhuman, daring to kill in front of the Buddha statue, even using it to kill. There seemed to be nothing he wouldn’t do, no one he couldn’t kill.
"......And so, after that, he left the West Martial World."
Mr. Sun tapped his pipe and took a puff.
"Grandpa, where did he go?"
"He said he wanted to wander around, anyway, no one dares to bother him now......"
Mr. Sun let out a bitter laugh.
"Of course, anyone, knowing he killed over ten thousand Jianghu people bare-handed, would stay far away from him, not wanting to provoke him."
"But, someone might try to use him."
Braid Girl’s eyes sparkled.
"He’s famous now, across all Wuzhou, everyone knows his new title... Undying Slaughter God, someone might try to use him to achieve their own ends."
"If it’s a truly smart person, they wouldn’t do that."
Mr. Sun shook his head.
"Anyone who uses him will die. Unless they hide forever, never to appear again. But... they would never tolerate such an outcome." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
To hide forever, never to emerge, wasn’t much different from death.
"He’s like a mountain; if you go around it, there’s no problem. But if you insist on touching it, you’ll only end up bloodied and bruised."
"But isn’t there the legend of Yu the Great moving mountains?"
"Indeed."
At his granddaughter’s question, Mr. Sun chuckled.
"Then here’s the question... how many descendants did Yu the Great sacrifice to open that mountain?"
