RYEY -Chapter 414 Mutual Defeat

Cheng Qiao gazed at the back mountain, a suspicion forming in her mind. She hadn’t seen Hu Lata at all since early this morning—perhaps he had gone up the mountain to catch someone.

When two people with supernatural abilities fought, it was completely different from a normal fight. She figured she should go up the mountain to take a look; otherwise, she really wouldn’t be at ease.

Wang Xiangyang ran over upon hearing the commotion. These past couple of days had nearly driven him to the brink—one incident after another had left him mentally exhausted.

“Xiangyang, you’re just in time. Watch over your brother Huan at home. If the water gets cold, hold him while changing the bathtub, then reheat the cold water. Remember, don’t add any other water, or the effect won’t work.”

Wang Xiangyang understood immediately. The water in the tub must have had Chinese medicine mixed in by Cheng Qiao. If he added water himself, it would dilute the potency. He nodded carefully.

Cheng Qiao ran toward the back mountain, and in a blink, caught up with Xiao Dan. Seeing her coming, he became even more brazen and dashed up the mountain.

The two of them dodged falling stones while rushing toward the spot with the thickest gray smoke. But as they approached, even Cheng Qiao was at a loss for words.

Outside the dense smoke lay two bears, already dead, and nearby was a struggling Siberian tiger.

In all her previous lives, Cheng Qiao had never seen a tiger on Xiangyang Mountain. Though the village elders always said there were “big beasts” up there, she had never actually seen one.

“Second sister-in-law! Bears! Big tiger!”

Xiao Dan suddenly became excited. He had been planning to go up the mountain with Ye Xiaolin to “add a couple of dishes” earlier—well, here were the “dishes.”

Speaking of Ye Xiaolin, Xiao Dan suddenly remembered that he had left before him and wondered where he was now.

Cheng Qiao handed Xiao Dan a mask and told him to stay put, then dashed into the smoky chaos. Inside, the haze was so thick that everything looked blurred, though she could vaguely make out some familiar figures.

One was Hu Lata, seemingly gravely injured, leaning entirely on Ye Xiaolin. Facing them were two others: one half-kneeling, head drooping, life uncertain.

The other was the man in the Zhongshan suit who had tried to capture Cheng Qiao. At this moment, the Zhongshan suit man had none of yesterday’s charm; he was panting and utterly disheveled.

“Cheng Qiao, quickly, finish him off!”

Seeing Cheng Qiao enter, Ye Xiaolin shouted. He knew he wasn’t a match for the man in front of him, especially while supporting Hu Lata.

Cheng Qiao grabbed a handful of toxic powder, concentrated her energy in her arm, and flung it at the Zhongshan suit man’s face.

The man either couldn’t move from injury or hadn’t noticed; he just stood there, staring at Cheng Qiao, doing nothing.

Just as the poison was about to hit, the half-kneeling person suddenly jumped up, blocking him.

Cheng Qiao’s toxic powder was a carefully crafted masterpiece. With each improvement, its potency had increased, and its effect was rapid.

Within two breaths, the man—though holding his breath and closing his eyes—felt the poison penetrate his skin, and tiny beads of blood appeared on his face.

“***”

The Zhongshan suit man suddenly came to, scooping up the limp person and speaking in a language Cheng Qiao couldn’t understand, his voice broken and sorrowful.

“It’s a Japanese man… that person is his wife.”

It wasn’t a man! For the first time, Cheng Qiao misjudged. The smoke around them was so thick she couldn’t see the fight clearly—it had pulverized the mountain stones into dust swirling around them.

The Zhongshan suit man cradled his wife, murmuring to her. Ye Xiaolin hurried to explain: she, too, was a supernatural being capable of summoning wild beasts—the wild boar attack yesterday had been her doing.

While one translated and the other listened, the Zhongshan suit man suddenly moved. The once-treasured wife’s corpse transformed into a weapon, flying straight toward the three of them.

He also flew after the body, aiming for Cheng Qiao. Four had gone in; three were lost. Alone, he couldn’t report back—better to catch Cheng Qiao.

Ye Xiaolin panicked, about to intercept, but Hu Lata grabbed the two of them and leaped back to the left, narrowly avoiding the corpse, which slammed into a boulder and dented it.

Blood trickled from Hu Lata’s mouth, but seeing the Zhongshan suit man relentlessly chasing Cheng Qiao—determined to capture her—he made a decisive choice.

He bit the tip of his tongue, swallowing the blood. This was the last of his true energy stored within; if he couldn’t win, Hu Lata would cease to exist in this world.

Seeing this, the Zhongshan suit man’s heart sank. It seemed this guy was fighting with no retreat—good, let’s see who would prevail.

The Zhongshan suit man lunged, and the gust from his palm attack made it hard for Cheng Qiao and Ye Xiaolin to breathe. At the crucial moment, Hu Lata pushed them aside, and another tremendous blast erupted.

The slowly settling smoke once again swirled, blinding Cheng Qiao and Ye Xiaolin. Cheng Qiao quickly produced two masks—one for Ye Xiaolin, one for herself.

Ye Xiaolin’s hands trembled violently. He suddenly realized he couldn’t hear. Mimicking Hu Lata, he bit his tongue; the sharp pain finally allowed him to stand.

Seeing Ye Xiaolin safe, Cheng Qiao rushed to check Hu Lata, finding him weakly sitting on the ground, his face pale like joss paper. She felt his pulse—it was feeble.

Cheng Qiao knew it was time to take the field herself. She first shoved a health-preserving pill into Hu Lata’s mouth, then charged at the agent.

The agent was even worse off than Hu Lata, already collapsed and immobile. He stared at Hu Lata in disbelief, unable to accept that Hu Lata’s final strike was so powerful.

In truth, he had anticipated Hu Lata would come up the mountain, so he and his wife had plotted to use her abilities to wear Hu Lata down in a war of attrition.

But Hu Lata had been careless. He had thought he could handle this supernatural being, never expecting another one inside the cave, capable of commanding all the mountain beasts to fight to the death.

Even if his abilities surpassed the agent’s, his true energy was drained heavily. Fortunately, he still had a Resurrection Pill—while it couldn’t instantly restore energy, it could enhance his endurance.

However, Hu Lata hadn’t anticipated that before he could even consume it, a striped tiger leapt at him. Alarmed, he could only toss the pill into the tiger’s mouth.