Chapter 361: Layers of Schemes
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Thinking up to this point, Justice could not help but feel a shiver of fear shoot through his heart! At this point, he developed the strange thought that this could be the strongest opponent he had ever met in his life! This was probably the most difficult task that he had been handed ever since the Martial Order Medallion was formed!
He could not help but smile. After so many years of loneliness, he finally found himself the best partner to play with!
Before this, while Justice had some impression of Ling Tian from Ye QingChen, it was only a sort of admiration, just like an accomplished senior appreciates a junior with an immeasurable future. It was merely an appraising gaze that a senior would use towards a junior. However, right now, Ling Tian had transformed into a rival that could match Justice himself! This was the first time that Justice had felt that there was actually a person that could be his opponent! And that this opponent, if given half a year, would actually have a 50-50 chance against him!
This meant that as long as he lazed off, he might really fall under Ling Tian's hands in the future! This was how frightening Ling Tian's intellect and scheming was! Even though it was against him, he still had no guarantee of success!
However, this frightening thought also roused his fighting spirit which had been dormant for a long time! Only against such an opponent would things be fun and interesting!
Having confirmed his thoughts, he planned to leap up a tree to observe Ling Tian's tracks. However, just as he was about to push off using the tips of his feet, he noticed a weird smell being emitted.
Following that faint but unique scent, Justice crouched down and fumbled among the grass. Indeed, there was a tiny incense there, slowly burning and releasing that smell!
Justice took a closer sniff at it, and could not help but frown. This scent was weird and even had a hint of fishiness to it. This was no bewildering smoke, but since Ling Tian had already removed all traces of himself, why would he leave behind such a scent? What was his purpose?
At that moment, Justice suddenly discovered that the entire forest seemed to be shaking, as though the surroundings were turning restless. From a hundred feet around him, the rustling sound got louder and louder, finally turning into something like a downpour!
Above his head, the tree leaves and branches were also rustling madly, as brightly colored poisonous snakes slowly appeared, coiling lazily around the branches. There were thick and skinny ones, some as small as chopsticks, and some as large as a grown man's arm. The funny thing was, all of their gazes were fixed on that tiny incense that Justice was holding, even as they surrounded him!
On the ground, within the grass, the number of snakes gradually congregated, forming a huge circle around Justice. They did not launch their attacks immediately, probably out of fear from Justice's intimidation, but it did not stop them from hissing. The "Ssss" sound that was emitted made one's ears numb just listening to it. From afar came more rustling sounds, coming closer and closer, as though the entire population of snakes was approaching.
"That darned brat! So it turns out that the incense was made using the Pistil of Serpent's Spit! It is just that he managed to remove the fishiness from it!" Justice cursed. As a medicinal master himself, he was aware that he had been duped once again by Ling Tian! The incense he was holding in his hands was made from the unique herb named 'Pistil of Serpent's Spit'. The particular herb could only grow after being doused with the spit of hundreds of thousands of venomous snakes, and was extremely scarce in number. Especially if it was turned into a scent, it had the miraculous property of attracting all kinds of poisonous snakes. Ling Tian had managed to remove its characteristic fishy odor and hid it under the grass, but its fundamental property of attracting snakes remained, inviting the entire snake population of the forest over to this place!
And with his own meticulousness, Ling Tian had expected that he would dig this item out from beneath the grass. However, once this appeared, it would cause all the snakes that were attracted over to turn insane with frenzied desire!
While the forest was devoid of wind, the scent had still slowly spread, naturally attracting all the snakes nearby. By making use of the fact that Justice was not afraid of any ambush, Ling Tian planned it such that he would hold the incense in his hands, ending up being surrounded by a large circle of snakes, hundred and eighty degrees around him!
What a meticulous scheme!
Justice could not help but praise Ling Tian inwardly. This move was like attracting a person into jumping into a pot of boiling water, inflicting self-harm. Ling Tian had perfectly calculated his every move! Such intellect was frightening!
'Sou!' One of the snakes finally could endure it no longer, and with a sudden flick of its tail, shot itself towards Justice like a colored bolt of lightning. Before it reached him, it had already opened its mouth, revealing two gleaming fangs!
A small snake also dares to offend me? Justice paid it no attention, rather finding this scene amusing as he lightly stretched out his hand, grasping the end of the snake and flinging it aside. His actions were carefree and easy, yet the snake was as dead as it could be!
However, with one brave soul pioneering the way, various sounds of wind breaking the silence could be heard as the air above him suddenly seemed like it was raining. It was a rain of snakes!
The snakes on the floor began their assault as well! Wriggling forward, their speed was frightening to behold! If Ling Tian was still present, he would sigh in amazement. This was the so-called land-air joint operation! One group attacks while one retreats, with wave after wave of attacks. This was truly a seamless coordination!
That being said, there will always exist a way to break out of a trap! Just relying on these little snakes to stop me would be childish! Justice suddenly let out a long shout, and with a bright flash, his sword left the sheath! Since he could not catch up to Ling Tian, then the snakes present became the venting point for Justice! Ray after ray of splendid lights flashed past, causing the sky to brighten in response and the ground to increase with another snake's corpse. The lush grass was flattened by the dead snakes, with every snake being chopped into over 10 pieces!
Justice then carefully extinguished the incense he held. This Pistil of Serpent's Spit was a good thing, and so he kept it in his pocket. With another shout, his sword drew a full circle, cutting the rest of the snakes down! Nary a moment had passed since the snakes started to attack, but the bodies of the snakes were already piled up like a mountain, not a single one left alive!
From far off, a hint of bright light could be seen. It was the fringe of the forest! Justice had carefully tracked Ling Tian, and the surprising thing was that he found it simple to spot traces of Ling Tian, as though he had purposefully left those clues for him! This only made him have 120% cautiousness as he proceeded!
With the deviousness of that child, why would he leave traces? There was something chasing to kill him, so why would he be so foolish? Was there any reason to do this?
When he finally came to the end of the forest, Justice let out a sigh of relief. While he did not want to admit it, but in the jungle, Ling Tian's expertise was way above his! Right now, he had already decided that if Ling Tian were to continue playing hide and seek in the jungle, he would rather burn down the whole jungle than to follow him in once again! While he was not afraid of any ambushes, to be constantly played by Ling Tian wasn't anything nice either!
Just as he was musing over it, he noticed that a tree nearby had a large piece of bark carved off, and something was written on it.
Justice immediately knew that it would not be anything nice, and was reluctant to go over, but this involved the tracks of Ling Tian! After sighing once again, he strolled over. However, seeing the line of words on the tree, he bellowed angrily and smashed a palm of the tree, splintering the entire tree apart!
"There is Justice in life, and there is Justice in death. Samsara cannot escape from Justice, and snakes also face Justice! To serve Justice to all, impressive, truly impressive! ;)" This was what Ling Tian had carved on the tree, and there was even a teasing smiley face drawn at the bottom!!!
Ever since he accepted the bet and left Sky Bearing, Justice had never once met up with Ling Tian even once! Forget about the life and death battle, not only did he not get the chance to even see him, but he had been repeatedly played by him! This time, Ling Tian had even used his name to make a joke out of him using poetry!
One had to know that Justice was the top martial arts expert in the pugilistic world! Even with his amount of tolerance, he would still be unable to accept this! A killing intent never seen before was emitted from his body! Right now, not only was he raging over Ling Tian, there was also a sense of fear!
How would he know that I would kill all the snakes? Don't tell me that all my moves are within his plan? If that's the case, then it would be too scary!
While Ling Tian wasn't aware if Justice would kill off all the snakes, he knew that Justice would definitely kill a few of them to vent his frustrations! However, the way an expert did things sometimes might not be according to common sense, and thus Ling Tian phrased his poetry in this way. Since Samsara could not escape Justice, thus whether he killed the snakes of not, it would still be considered a form of meting out Justice to the snakes...
Right now, Ling Tian was already miles ahead, and when he heard the loud explosion from the forest behind him, he could not help but smile. Finally, you're mad! He could not help but feel a few notches of pride for making Justice reach this state.
As he glanced upward in the sky, he corrected his path. Ling Tian thought for a while, before suddenly rushing towards in the direction of Western Han.
Justice meanwhile ascended a small hill, and by coincidence, happened to see the small dot that was Ling Tian round a bend and disappear from his sight!