Night Without End
Chapter 85 - 53 Fangwai

Chapter 85: Chapter 53 Fangwai

Shallow Night had not yet fallen, everything was enveloped in thick darkness, the dense forest lining the road cast its branches in disarray upon the whistling cold wind, like swathes of ghostly shadows swaying.

In this deep night, Qin Ming decisively swung the blade, as if a lightning bolt tore through the gloom, instantly shattering the previous sense of oppression.

The black fog struck at this moment, with a dense malignance, intending to envelop both people, swallowing them in the vast shadows.

Under such starless and moonless conditions, others naturally saw nothing, but Qin Ming saw it clearly and felt the chill of the black fog; as it approached, bone-chilling cold assailed him.

With a hiss, like a hot knife through butter, the short blade coated with mineral paint penetrated the black fog, making the icy chill boil.

"What the hell?!" Old Man Liu shouted, reacting quickly, drawing his thick-backed machete in the same moment, following Qin Ming’s lead and striking towards that void.

However, his machete entered the black fog and struck nothingness, as if it hit air.

"Get back!" Qin Ming yelled.

At the same time, he heard screams, particularly piercing, as the black fog rapidly condensed, shockingly taking on a human form.

Old Man Liu heeded the advice, abruptly withdrew his blade, and decisively bounced away.

Because he could see nothing, hear nothing, unaware of what had occurred, but by instinct, he realized the situation was very serious, something was very wrong.

A man appeared within the black fog, his human contours somewhat hazy, but with Qin Ming’s eyesight, he could see clearly that this was a youth, his face twisted in agony, his cold eyes looking towards him.

Qin Ming’s short blade cleaved into his body, and astonishingly, the fog-formed creature began to bleed profusely, splattering on the ground.

This scene changed Qin Ming’s expression.

Between the youth’s open lips, a jet of black fog spat out, transforming into a dark arrow feather, shooting straight for Qin Ming’s forehead with a bone-chilling coldness, grim and haunting.

Qin Ming tilted his head, avoiding the arrow feather made of black fog, while at the same time shaking the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade vigorously, causing all the mineral paint coating it to crumble off.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye; the black fog assaulted silently, Qin Ming retorted with a backhand strike, the inexplicably transformed young man instantly counterattacked, determined to kill him. There was no delay in the process; they both reacted in the first moment.

Qin Ming felt an immense crisis, believing his own life was likely at stake, this unknown entity brought an indescribable sense of suppression, making him truly sense the breath of death.

Yet with the shaking of his blade, things quickly changed, the chilling sinister fog rushing towards him, its bitterly cold aura, started to weaken drastically.

In the darkness, the dazzling light of the blade surged, like a roaring blaze, illuminating the forest.

Qin Ming’s Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade, as it shook off the paint and came in contact with this kind of creature, changed completely.

During this, the fog-formed young man naturally tried backing away, attempting to escape the blade’s reach, but as the blade’s light flamed like a fire, his figure became distorted, shuddering non-stop.

"Stop..." He screamed pitifully and struggled desperately to re-fog and leap into the air, but failed.

How could Qin Ming possibly stop? He saw the blood from the young man on the ground, vanishing in the wind like ash, not real human blood.

What on earth was this?

The young man couldn’t believe it. In such a remote place, stumbling across a young hunter, who could wield a Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade.

He could no longer transform into fog, retreating as much as he could, moving in a human form, trying to break free from the restraints, distancing himself from the dazzling blade.

After forging this blade, Qin Ming had yet to use it and had no idea of its properties, only upon striking this mysterious creature did he discover its wonder.

His Heavenly Light Force could smoothly enter this blade, something that could not be achieved at this level with any other weapon.

Of course, his Heavenly Light Force was far less deadly to the young man than the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade itself, but it allowed him to use many techniques, such as his own Heavenly Light Force with its Sticky Force property.

Qin Ming wielded the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade, and as the white light steamed, he bound the struggling young man like burning a ghost alive.

"No, stop!" the young man cried out in terror, struggling violently.

But how dare Qin Ming stop? He didn’t even know what this monster was. If it escaped, his own life would be in grave danger.

The young man raised his hands and opened his mouth several times, wanting to release black mist and attack Qin Ming, but all were cleansed by the sword’s light.

His entire body was aflame, now no longer like a hot knife through butter, more like a red-hot blade falling upon dry grass, setting it alight.

Qin Ming unleashed Cutting Force, the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade traversed inside the young man’s body, spreading fire. Whenever the black fog surged, and the young man desperately attempted to break free, he manifested Coiling Silk Strength and Sticky Force, securely locking him down.

Clearly, the Heavenly Light piercing through the night nurtured a mysterious substance in the Spiritual Black and White Mountain, containing inexplicable power.

Now, Qin Ming deeply experienced and understood the words once spoken by Cao Long, Mu Qing, and others.

The Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade’s brilliance steamed, restraining the fog-formed young man tightly.

A distance away, Old Man Liu stood with his hair standing on end; he saw nothing, only Qin Ming’s white short blade lighting up, then becoming like a torch.

"How come I’m completely blind, noticing nothing?"

Qin Ming, hearing his words, immediately realized that the youth formed of black fog was even more terrifying than he had imagined. How could an ordinary person sense him, let alone fight against him?

The young man was in despair because his entire body was ablaze, and he could not break free.

"In an era without the sun, I thought it would be very safe to travel at this level. How could I encounter such a disaster here..." He was in extreme pain and naturally did not want to die like this. After weighing his options, his only choice was to sacrifice something.

"Are you that kind of mysterious creature that can’t be seen but is feared by many major clans?" Qin Ming demanded.

"I’m not that thing, I am a human. Stop and listen to me!" the young man cried out.

On hearing this, Qin Ming swung his blade even more fiercely, displaying his blade technique throughout the young man’s body, crisscrossing, chopping horizontally and slashing vertically, and even utilized the Sword Intent from the Blade Manual!

The man formed of black fog really wanted to curse. How did saying he was human lead to even more intense targeting?

"You’re more terrifying than a ghost!" Qin Ming said.

"I am from Fangwai..." the young man cried out anxiously.

He panicked, but it was too late to say anything, because his body was about to be completely annihilated by the radiant firelight emitted by the Mutton Jade Blade.

Qin Ming found it absurd that his blade had cut several times into the man’s skull without harming him, and in the end, the man was about to be burned to death by firelight.

Bang!

At the last moment, the young man self-destructed, abandoning his dense Yin Fog Body. A piece of tattered cloth wrapped around a bit of his essence, struggling to break free, wanting to fly into the night sky.

But he was too weak. When he activated the strange cloth, his speed was much slower than usual.

Qin Ming reacted swiftly, cleaving it with his blade and slashing it down.

"Hmm?" He found that the palm-sized piece of cloth was unharmed; though it had fallen, it still wrapped around a wisp of black fog and wanted to surge upwards again.

Qin Ming used the Sticky Force from Heavenly Light to reel it back, then activated the Nail Strength, and the blade edge pierced through the gaps where the cloth was not tightly wrapped.

"Ah, stop, I am from Fangwai..." the young man screamed, but it changed nothing, and the last of the Yin Fog was burned clean.

The palm-sized piece of cloth fluttered to the ground, and the young man formed of fog seemed as if he had never appeared.

Qin Ming held the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Blade with a serious expression, guessing that the young man’s Method must be that of the so-called outsiders.

This was different from what he had imagined. The other was not some invisible mysterious "thing" but a real human with a very special state.

"Are outsiders so difficult to deal with?" Qin Ming felt heavy-hearted.

This man could actually fly and was invisible to ordinary people. How could anyone fight against that?

Old Man Liu had once struck the man with his hefty back cleaver as if cutting through the air, completely ineffective.

Qin Ming stood silently, his expression more solemn than ever, because one of his opponents was also from Fangwai.

That Feather Robed Youth who led people to burn down an entire village and whose demeanor was detached from worldly matters—if he also followed this path, then he would definitely have these methods in the future, and even stronger ones, vastly surpassing the deceased young man.

Earlier, Qin Ming was pleased to have become much stronger quickly, feeling that he had achieved remarkable success in a short time. But now, as the cold wind carrying snowflakes hit his face, he sobered up. He couldn’t be complacent; he had to become stronger.

Because the major power he would face in the future was too mysterious and enigmatic.

Qin Ming thought about why the silk scripture had appeared. It was because several elders felt that the path they were on had many shortcomings, and they joined forces to deduce new skills, aspiring to compete with the most glorious paths.

"The methods of outsiders are indeed mysterious and terrifying," Qin Ming murmured to himself. His path was still long, and he needed to step by step reach greater heights.

"Is it resolved? What kind of monster was that? I was like a blind man with my eyes open, didn’t even see a ghost’s shadow," Old Man Liu approached, carrying his large cleaver.

"An outsider," Qin Ming informed.

"That does sound ominous!" Old Man Liu’s expression turned serious; they had actually provoked such people.

Qin Ming used his Jade Iron Blade to pick up the piece of cloth and activated his Heavenly Light Force. The blade’s surface shone snow-bright, but the cloth remained unresponsive.

Old Man Liu’s heart was tumultuous, feeling that the Xiao Qin before him was somewhat unfamiliar, having forged such a strange blade and even killed an invisible person from Fangwai.

But he had grown old, guarding Black and White Mountain for so many years and had heard of too many unusual incidents, so his emotions quickly returned to calm.

Qin Ming carefully examined the cloth piece on the blade, noting that it was not simple. It was interwoven with metal threads and embroidered with cloud patterns. There might be other designs, but the piece of cloth was too small to discern what the main pattern might be.

"Shall we return to the village first?" Old Man Liu asked.

Qin Ming shook his head, saying, "Let’s go to Yinteng Town instead, have breakfast first, and then visit the family we agreed on."

Old Man Liu said, "Don’t you need to go back and rest a bit? Aren’t you taking this too lightly?"

Qin Ming shook his head, replying, "Where’s the need to rest? All this unknown and mystery is simply because my strength is still inadequate. Now, going to read the Secret Book is to improve myself, to truly advance."

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