Chapter 23: The Ogre’s Vicious Trap

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

A torrent of countless, needle-thin wooden spikes, as sharp as strands of hair, cascaded down like a relentless rain.

Zhao Chuanxiong’s bloodstained broadsword swung fiercely. Seeing this, every hair on his body stood on end and his eyes narrowed. With a furious sweep, he whirled his mighty blade to deflect the barrage of hidden projectiles!

But there were too many. The blood lotus erupted, and the dense hail of wooden spikes, like a torrential storm, eventually buried themselves in his flesh!

A cloud of bloody mist billowed up as Zhao Chuanxiong, after leaping, crashed heavily back into the snowbound courtyard, fine droplets of blood oozing from his pores and quickly staining the pristine snow red.

“Ah!”

Zhao Chuanxiong let out a low, enraged roar, his beard bristling. He rushed to channel his inner strength to stabilize the flow of qi in his meridians, his face a furious shade of red.

“So treacherous, so venomous! What a wicked, sinister Ogre!”

He bellowed on without pause.

A warrior wielding an Eight Trigram Staff—masked to resemble a young girl—leaped onto the wall, but by the time he arrived, the Ogre had vanished without a trace.

He had long disappeared into the swirling blizzard.

Glancing back at the snow riddled with countless holes from the wooden spikes, the Eight Trigram Staff warrior couldn’t help but shudder.

“Cover me for a moment! This Ogre is truly vicious. These slender wooden spikes—even my Bone Tempering skin can’t stop them. If they infiltrate my meridians and ride my qi, they’ll pierce my very heart. I must use my inner strength to force them out!”

Zhao Chuanxiong panted heavily as he sat cross-legged in the snow. After a brief word to the Eight Trigram Staff warrior, he began to focus his inner strength with intense determination.

A searing heat spread over every inch of his skin.

Within the span of a cup of tea, his whole body trembled violently as he gasped and expelled a large mouthful of clotted blood.

Amazingly, the clotted blood was laced with countless tiny, blood-red wooden spikes.

“How about it?”

The Eight Trigram Staff warrior studied Zhao Chuanxiong and asked in a deep, steady voice.

“It’s nothing serious—it’s just my meridians wounded. I’ll need some time to recover. This Ogre… is truly vicious.”

A grim look crossed Zhao Chuanxiong’s face. He had set a trap to capture and eliminate this Ogre.

Yet, things had backfired disastrously.

“At least he didn’t poison the wooden spikes…” the Eight Trigram Staff warrior remarked with a faint smile.

A twitch at Zhao Chuanxiong’s lip revealed his irritation, though inside he felt a slight relief.

This Ogre was vicious but somehow not poisonous enough…

“Wearing an Ogre mask, with a massive, burly build and adept in Bone Tempering—such a conspicuous figure would never go unnoticed in the Outer City.”

Zhao Chuanxiong exhaled sharply, “Could he be from the Inner City?”

“Probably. The aristocratic families of the Inner City inherit outstanding lineage. Their martial arts are profound, their diets rich, and their qi abundant. Look at the Yang family—each member is as sturdy as an ox. Nearly every noble clan boasts warriors of such caliber.”

“And this Ogre’s strength, even surpassing minor Bone Tempering warriors, suggests his martial skills are extraordinary. He must hail from a prominent family.”

“And those wooden spikes … they’re likely the work of the woodcarvers serving those aristocratic families. Such craftsmanship could only belong to a master carver.”

The Eight Trigram Staff warrior nodded, adding,

“The Patriarch has been busy in the Inner City, entangled with those noble families and seizing substantial benefits… It’s only natural for these families to fight back.”

“Yang family? Xu family? An family… or even the Si family?” Zhao Chuanxiong slowly rose and methodically extracted slender, hair-like wooden spikes from the snow.

His calloused fingers crushed the spikes as lethal intent gleamed in his eyes.

“No matter what, I’ll slay this Ogre sooner or later!”

……

……

Li Che returned to his rented courtyard, donning a straw hat and a tattered cloak.

In an instant, his body deflated back to its normal form, like a leaking balloon.

“Escaping from the clutches of two Bone Tempering warriors… not bad, but now my trump cards are spent.”

“The Sleeve Crossbow, Thousand Spider Silk, and Guanyin Blood Lotus—all three contraptions were deployed. Alas, my inner strength isn’t fully developed yet. Had I mastered it, triggering the Guanyin Blood Lotus would have doubled its explosive power, leaving Zhao Chuanxiong either dead or severely injured.”

“For now, I can only inflict some minor, almost negligible damage on him.”

“Hmm… If I could infuse poison into those wooden spikes and combine them with the Guanyin Blood Lotus—triggering a toxic burst—it would double the lethality…”

Li Che exhaled deeply, his eyes lighting up as his fists pounded together in a moment of sudden insight.

What a miscalculation—otherwise, I could have ended Zhao Chuanxiong’s life this time.

“It’s not like I can face Zhao Chuanxiong one-on-one with just the Eight Trigram Staff—even if I activate Dragon Elephant Vajra. His inner force has already reached the Third Heaven, and his martial skills outclass mine…”

Li Che mentally replayed the flash of their encounter with Zhao Chuanxiong.

Without relying on celestial contraptions, a prolonged battle would have undoubtedly ended in my defeat and great loss.

“Martial skills… I need to acquire a proper technique. With my Dragon Elephant Vajra Dao Fruit, my martial cultivation progresses swiftly. Mastering a potent technique might even provide an extra boost.”

“Will Second Shopkeeper teach me a martial technique? Hmph—if he did, it’d be steeped in the Xu family style. Looks like I’ll have to search for one myself, or maybe pay Old Chen a visit.”

Li Che stretched, his bones creaking loudly.

This battle had given him a sense of Zhao Chuanxiong’s strength, and he now felt more confident about eventually defeating him.

Shedding his clothes, he tidied up his attire.

Li Che leisurely stepped out, stopped by the Western Stewed Meat Shop to purchase a pound of beef stew and half a pound of pig ears, grabbed a jar of aged Huangjiu and a box of Osmanthus Cakes, then strolled back to Xu Ji’s Wood Carving Shop.

“Daddy!”

Just as he pushed open the courtyard door, little XiXi, with a bright red nose from the cold, tottered clumsily toward him.

At her call, Li Che’s heart warmed. Setting the meat and wine aside, he scooped up the chubby little XiXi in a warm embrace.

The delicate little girl, with rosy, adorable lips, clung to him tightly as he held her.

“Daddy… hug me.”

Even at just over a year old, the clever little one already exhibited a unique spark.

She could now walk steadily without the aid of a walker.

Old Chen, sitting under the eaves and happily sipping from a gourd, watched Li Che and XiXi’s affectionate reunion. He couldn’t help but smirk, “This little stinker XiXi— even from afar, it sounds like your footsteps announce your return…”

“As expected from Lingying!”

Zhang Ya stepped out from inside and quickly moved to gather the items left on the ground.

“Husband, more Osmanthus Cakes today? Isn’t that a bit too extravagant?” she said with a sweet smile. Ever since moving to Xu Ji’s, life had taken a turn for the better, filling her with hope.

Li Che smiled, “Wife, you can have them every day if you like.”

They were truly living in comfort now.

Li Che’s wood carving skills proved extremely lucrative; each piece brought in at least fifty taels—ensuring a life free from worry.

Zhang Ya, carrying the items, headed back inside.

Li Che sat next to Old Chen, holding XiXi and a jar of aged Huangjiu.

“Old Chen, what do you make of this Lingying?” Li Che asked.

The Lingying Sect had determined that XiXi was indeed a spirit infant… but what did that really mean? Li Che was puzzled.

Old Chen put his gourd aside and signaled for Li Che to pour some wine. Only after Li Che filled a cup did Old Chen’s face break into a wide smile.

He took a long swig of the aged Huangjiu.

Then, growing solemn, Old Chen looked at XiXi with a trace of pity in his eyes.

“Che, you know about the Divine Essence Technique, right?”

“A spirit infant is one born with innate divinity—a prime seedling for mastering the Divine Essence Technique!”

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