“Bastard from the Zhou Family! Stay away from me!” Xu Yi scolded Shirong rampantly, in an attempt to enrage him.

Shirong was about to respond when Xu Yi continued: “I’ll count to three. If you don’t move, I’ll tear a hole in the belly of your dearest horse.”

“If you dare to lay your finger on my horse, you will find your body smashed into pieces!“ Shirong shouted with flaming anger.

Knowing that Xu Yi held the horse as a hostage, Shirong reluctantly stepped back, in case Xu Yi would do any harm to his beloved horse.

The white horse was actually a present bestowed by Fairy Yu Qing, the revered founder of Tianshan School. The horse had the nickname “Flying Snow”, which was given by its original master – Fairy Zihan, the most renowned among the third-generation peers of Tianshan School.

Fairy Zihan showed great talents in Wu Dao, which was almost peerless, at least in Guanan. Quite a number of admirers idolized him, including Shirong.

Therefore, Flying Snow meant more than a horse to Shirong, as it represented his idol – Fairy Zihan. If the horse was injured or killed, he would be too embarrassed to face Fairy Zihan.

Xu Yi crawled up on the horse’s back and whipped it harshly. The horse dashed into the distance. However, Xu Yi knew it wouldn’t end just like this. Since the horse was so precious to Shirong, he wouldn’t give up so easily. It was highly likely that he’d trail after him, ready to make a sudden assault.

Being aware of the danger, Xu Yi deliberately turned onto a road with less bushes and trees. This left it impossible for Shirong to secretly hide in them. The horse rushed several kilometers towards the south and only stopped when the Evil Dragon River was reached – this was the longest river in Guanan that flowed all the way into the East Sea.

Xu Yi knew that once he separated from this horse, Shirong would show up from his hiding spot. In other words, as long as he was with the horse, he would be safe. This, to some extent, became a paradox. Should he abandon the horse and confront the danger, or should he stick to the horse endlessly?

It suddenly occurred to Xu Yi, that his only chance to survive lied in this river. After all, he couldn’t live forever on the horse’s back. He would have to get rid of Shirong sooner or later.

Indeed, as Xu Yi predicted, Shirong was lurking around behind the nearby spruces. When the horse stopped near the river, Shirong was sure that Xu Yi would jump into it, as this was the most expedient way to flee at this moment.

He was patiently waiting for the right time to attack, as he was determined to kill Xu Yi for all the arrogant remarks he had made.

When Xu Yi looked around nervously and was about to move, Shirong bounced into the air as quick as a thunderbolt. He then moved forward like a crawling dragon. In the blink of an eye, he was just several meters away from Xu Yi.

The speed of Shirong’s charge was frighteningly swift; the panic-stricken Xu Yi rolled off the horse and crept under the belly in an awkward position.

“Oh, the same trick again?!” Shirong was so outraged that he almost vomited blood. As soon as he pulled back his palms, he saw something shooting out from underneath the horse to the riverbank. “Ah, that must be Xu Yi!”

Moving his fists several times around in the air, Shirong created a momentum of strength powerful enough to shake the ground. Strange enough, the strength came from the ground and rose upwards, which suddenly pushed Shirong’s feet and made his body spin several times. As the speed of the spinning got increasingly faster, Shirong flew towards Xu Yi like a roaring hurricane.

Frightened by the appalling movements of Shirong, Xu Yi splashed into the river. At the same time, Fly Snow suddenly fell down with a - thud! -. Shirong was frozen in the middle between the river and his horse. Eventually, he rushed back to his horse and saw that blood kept oozing out from its left leg.

When Xu Yi was under the belly of the horse, he had racked his brains for a feasible runaway strategy. Finally, he had decided to cut the leg of the horse to win him some time, because he was certain that Shirong wouldn’t keep on chasing him, once he saw that his horse was hurt. Besides, since he was currently unable to physically kill Shirong, he felt like he had to settle his grudge some other way. So he decided to hurt Shirong spiritually, by cutting the horse’s leg.

“Fxxk!!! You bastard!! I swear to send you to hell and let you stay there forever!”

Shirong roared like a lion - his face was red with surging blood and blue veins protruding in remarkable shapes, suddenly he dashed towards the river. To Xu Yi’s terror, when Shirong stepped into the river, he could actually steadily float on the surface, having only his ankles sink into the water. Looking from afar, he resembled a goblin moving afloat the river. Did he actually possess magic power?

Even Shirong had his limits. He was actually wearing worn out shoes, which left his toes exposed. He used his toes to paddle and moved forward like a web-footed aquatic life. As he moved forward, there even emerged foaming whirlpools underneath his feet.

Shirong stared at the water carefully in order to figure out where Xu Yi exactly was. Looking ahead of him, he was searching for the smallest of ripples, which would give away Xu Yi’s location.

- Boom! -

Shirong pushed out his palms, which shot out an immense power, making the water, as well as the air, vibrate with an unsettling sound. It could be analogous to a mini-earthquake. Wave after wave rose up high, throwing countless of fish and shrimps high into the air. When the river eventually calmed down, the dead bodies of the previously ‘flying’ fish and shrimps, were floating all over the surface of the water.

Soon, after the grand attack, there emerged some muffled groans from deep within the water. Shirong looked down, as the corners of his mouth raised ever so slightly - revealing a rare curve on his usual straight face.

Xu Yi was heavily hit in this bloodcurdling attack, even though he was several meters away from the surface. Thanks to the waters above, which had cushioned the damage, Xu Yi was still alive. Otherwise he would be very much like the dead fish and shrimps around him.

Although, Xu Yi luckily survived from this attack, the injuries he had sustained were extremely severe – with his shoulder blades dented and all the organs in his chest being displaced. He painfully clenched his teeth, avoiding the urge to vomit blood.

Out of desperation, Xu Yi became pessimistic; he blamed the inequality of the world and left his life in the hands of destiny. Eventually, he could only see darkness. As his vision darkened, he also felt how his chest was tightly clenched. Thus, he was unconsciously following the deep undercurrent of the river.

While Shirong floated harmoniously on the water, he had his eyes only slightly opened, anticipating the changes in the river’s current, by the touch of his feet. He felt confident that Xu Yi was already dead, or at the very least severely injured. Currently, he was already considering in which way he would insult or punish Xu Yi, once the latter would finally show his face above the surface.

All that Xu Yi could do at this point, was to stay deep under water. He would rather drown in this river, than being captured by this ‘servant’.

Gradually, Xu Yi developed symptoms like tinnitus, protruded eyes and dizziness. He had almost worn out his will and persistence. But at this point, he suddenly felt a swarm of moving shadows approaching towards him.