Chapter 4704 — Consider Yourself Wise

Every eye in the crowd swung to Scarface at once, and the corner of his mouth gave an involuntary twitch. He might have been the strongest man in that whole gathering, but after watching what had just happened with his own eyes, facing Kang Jingming left him feeling more than a little unsure of himself.

Speed and power like the laser cannon had shown in that single instant—he privately admitted he had no answer to it at all. He was no speed-type fighter to begin with; if it really came to blows, he doubted he would fare much better than the bald man. That thing was a terrifying engine of mass slaughter that turned true qi into tangible form, and with nothing but flesh and blood, he genuinely could not block it.

Under all those watching eyes, Scarface hesitated, then gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. I, for one, respect a hero and honor a hero. Seeing as your strength is up to scratch—you may pass!"

True, Duan Wuzong of the Thousand Blades Sect had put on a fine, swaggering show earlier, but in his eyes the man was nothing—a mere Nascent Soul peak, killed in a blink. Now, though, Kang Jingming had done the very same to one of his own Nascent Soul peaks. That kind of crushing deterrence was not something the likes of Duan Wuzong could ever match. If they fought, the best he could hope for was mutual destruction—he had every reason to be wary.

"Haha! Consider yourself wise!" Kang Jingming laughed in loud, strutting triumph. He exchanged a glance with Xu Lingchong beside him, and the two of them swaggered straight on through. Scarface and his men had indeed been frightened senseless by what they had just witnessed; these vicious, ruthless desperadoes did not dare so much as move a muscle before him.

Watching Kang Jingming and Xu Lingchong saunter off into the distance, the rest of the crowd exchanged looks, every face wearing an expression of envy to the death. Sure enough, wherever you went, strength ruled above all. With power like that, a man could do as he pleased—even a mountain bandit chief had no choice but to give way!

Just then, a man and a woman suddenly stepped out from the restless crowd. By their cultivation, the man was a Nascent Soul late-stage expert, while the woman was only at the early Nascent Soul stage.

The pair followed in Kang Jingming's and Xu Lingchong's wake, not so much as glancing at Scarface. They gave the impression of being Kang Jingming's hangers-on, hoping to slip through in the confusion along with them.

"Halt!" Scarface's expression turned savage in an instant. Fixed by his malignant stare, the hopeful pair went white as paper, their legs trembling uncontrollably of their own accord—a hair's breadth from dropping to their knees on the spot.

"Wh—what do you want..." the man forced himself to ask, trembling as he looked at Scarface.

"You want to get through, do you? Then hand over your heavenly treasures, all of them. Otherwise you know well enough what happens to you." Scarface sneered.

"Ah? Th—this..." Sweat poured off the pair like rain. In the past few days out in the desert they had found nothing at all, so they did not have a single heavenly treasure on them to produce—otherwise they would never have risked sneaking through in the first place. How could they possibly satisfy Scarface?

"You won't hand them over? Or can't? You think you can slip past without a single heavenly treasure—do you take me for a charity house, or do you truly believe I'm blind?" Scarface looked them up and down, and his gaze came to rest on the woman at last, carrying a note of lewdness and greed.

"Ah? This..." The pair were nearly frightened out of their wits, caught between a rock and a hard place. In their hearts they cursed themselves savagely—one hotheaded moment, and they had risked it all. What rotten, miserable luck!

"Still—no heavenly treasures doesn't mean you absolutely can't get through, heh heh!" Scarface's tone suddenly shifted. He pointed at the woman: "That one beside you is rather nice... I'll take her!"

"Ah?" The man started in alarm, and the woman whom Scarface had singled out turned deathly pale. Her figure and features were only middling at best, but she knew how to dress herself up, and six parts of looks had been made to yield eight parts of effect. No wonder Scarface had taken a fancy to her.

"Ah, what ah! Get lost, unless you're waiting for me to send you on your way?" Scarface snarled viciously.

The man's face went from green to white and back again. He looked at his companion, who was gazing at him in supplication, then at the murderous Scarface, and at last set his jaw: "So be it. A real man need never worry about finding a wife—I'll give this woman to the chief as the price of passage!"

That said, heedless of his companion's despairing wail and heedless of the murmurs rippling through the crowd, the man turned on his heel and strode off, vanishing in moments into the entrance of the Ten-Thousand-Year Canyon.

"Hahahaha! To follow trash and scum like that—you really are blind, woman! Well, fine—one look and I can tell you're not a local of West Island. I haven't had a taste of flesh in decades, and my luck's good today!" Scarface laughed and laughed.

True, the West Island trials were always thickest with women, but he knew better than to overstep. Ordinarily he did not dare lay a hand on them—this was West Island's home ground, after all, and if word ever leaked out, the West Island higher-ups would absolutely find a way to finish him, and that would be a terrible loss. But now that this one was no West Island disciple, there was nothing left to fear.

As for women—the last time he had touched one was decades ago. A female cultivator had happened to be trapped there, unable to get out, and she fell into his hands at last. In the end, he and his underlings had tormented her to death.

Amid a burst of startled cries from the crowd, and a single helpless shriek from the female cultivator, Scarface—right there in front of all those people—stripped her clothes off in one motion, about to have his taste on the spot!

"You beast!" Huo Yudie was so frightened that her lovely face went pale. A pure, innocent girl like her had never seen such a scene; she clapped her hands over her eyes at once, not daring to look again.

Wei Zhao frowned at the sight. He had thought that since Kang Jingming had already broken the ice and Scarface's authority had taken such a heavy blow, a man might get through without handing over any heavenly treasures. Now it was clear that would not do at all.

If he went the way of that pair, Scarface would certainly demand Huo Yudie of him. However you looked at it, even behind her veil, Huo Yudie's beauty outshone that female cultivator's by more than tenfold. No normal man would let her go—much less a pack of thirsting, desperate cutthroats like Scarface and his crew.

It seemed there was no choice but to act today! Wei Zhao shook his head faintly. Scarface was no troublesome opponent in his eyes, but with so many people watching, he had not wanted to reveal his strength in public. Yet things had developed to this point—quietly slipping through was probably no longer realistic.

Just as Wei Zhao was gathering his focus, another commotion broke out ahead, and Scarface, his appetite now fully roused, could be heard saying: "What do you think you're doing?!" (To be continued) I752