Chapter 23: The Others
Translator: Mike Editor: Chrissy
Zuo Jun's face seemed a bit contorted. It was a pain of profound acuity. He felt as though his underbelly had been torn apart, and the lining of his intestines and stomach disconnected.
The blow sent him into the air, and with a boom, he was thrashed into a wall. The room trembled upon impact.
Chu Feng's strength was ten times that of an ordinary person. If this punch had been received by an average man, all his bowel contents would have been torn and damaged. It would have felt like being smashed by a falling boulder, and no-one would recover from the damage dealt by that.
Zuo Jun's body crooked like a dried shrimp. He lay on the side with great agony. However, he still seemed rather tough and tensile. With great pain, he propped himself up using his hands, then he stayed in a posture that made him seem ready to retaliate.
A strange look emerged on Chu Feng's face. He knew how much power his punch had carried. If he had given in a little more force with a bit more power, he could easily penetrate his opponent's body, and that would be fatal.
However, to his surprise, Zuo Jun seemed all well and sound from that blow. He even wanted to fight back.
Chu Feng was a firm and resolute man. He strode forward towards the injured man with a lightning speed. With a track record of a hundred meters in two and a half seconds, he got beside the lying body of Zuo Jun before he could raise up. Without hesitation, he stomped on him.
Boom! It was another deafening blow. Zuo Jun gave a choked cry as soon as the stomp landed on his back. He seemed to be in great agony. His face became even more contorted and even more hideous.
He lay flat on the floor and failed to make another move.
He turned angry from embarrassment. How could an ordinary man possess such power? Only moments earlier, he still regarded him with a contemptuous look that speak of his despise on him.
Moment later, he was severely injured, and he could not even get his breath anyhow.
"You're gonna die!" He grunted. The bones that were hidden beneath his flesh and blood started crackling with explosive sounds. It seemed as if his body was about to bloat and increase in size.
Chu Feng did not want his bedroom to incur any more damages that this battle could bring to it. He lifted him up then threw him from the balcony straight at the concrete ground below.
"Chu Feng, you've successfully pissed me off! I will make you suffer a living death!" Zuo Jun shouted cruelly as he dropped into the yard below.
However, he had underestimated Chu Feng's speed. Chu Feng vaulted over the fence and jumped off the balcony in the blink of an eye. He landed right on the Zuo Jun's back.
Boom!
Upon the two simultaneously landing on the ground, the yard trembled. Thus, It was clear just how astonishing their tremendous power was.
Zuo Jun had laid flat on the ground, so he basically landed with Chu Feng stomping on top of him. The fall and the stamp cracked every single bone within his body, then there was another deadly stomp on his kidney.
"Puff!"
A rush of blood erupted from within Zuo Jun's mouth. Blood saturated the ground around him. This time, he was truly badly injured.
Chu Feng was shocked. He had always been relatively reserved in his force as he worried that he might kill him if he wasn't careful. But now it seemed like it had been proven that he had worried too much. However badly Zuo Jun had been injured, nothing seemed fatal to him.
Boom!
Chu Feng stood on his enfeebled body then stomped him again with an extraordinary force. He realized that he had been too reserved in his previous attacks. His opponent could stand far more damage than he thought.
Zuo Jun gave a choked cry. A sudden convulsion shook him and sent him to a state of spasm. However, at the same time, his body was also drastically bloating. It had dramatically changed its shape and size at the critical moment of Chu Feng's deadly blows, deflecting the force away from his body's vital organs.
Despite so, Chu Feng's strikes raked his whole body. His back felt as if it had been blasted away. There were many violaceous footprints on his back. Blood kept on dripping at the corners of his mouth.
With a thunderous boom, Zuo Jun turned his body over and freed himself from the Chu Feng's suppression. He went straight up and put his feet back on the ground. His movement trembled the earth and swayed the mountains.
Chu Feng gave a gasp of surprise at Zuo Jun's resilience. Was he even a human? How could his body evolve into such a state within such a short period of time?
Meanwhile, Zuo Jun's body was undergoing a major shake-up. It grew from 5'11'' to 10'2'' at the beat of a heart. His clothes had become all tattered and ragged, sluggishly drooping from his body.
His naked body turned to a muddy color. Vaguely, Chu Feng could see a layer of yellow fog revolving around the giant.
His torso had become a display of maximum masculinity. Muscles bulged out of his flesh.
He weighed at least six hundred jin right now. Glittering luster ran across from muscle to muscle. He was the perfect example of maximal virility. He was stern, tough and strong. It packed a strong visual impact for its beholders.
Everything about him suggested tremendous explosive power associated with this form of his body.
How could one become so huge at the blink of an eye? Chu Feng could not get his head around this.
"Chu Feng, I admit that I have misjudged you by sight, but you shouldn't challenge me. I'm one of the 'Others'." Zuo Jun's muffled voice echoed in the yard.
A blaring boom ensued every time he made a step. The ground was also trembling with each of his step forward.
Boom! Although he had a bulky torso, he was not a cumbersome kind. With great ease, he leapt forward a few meters, positioning himself right in the face of Chu Feng. His palm was as big as a cattail leaf fan. He directed his hand directly to the head and face of his opponent.
This would have been a skull-crushing blow if it struck the head of an ordinary man.
It was evident that Zuo Jun had turned exacerbated. He wanted to defeat Chu Feng without respect to any possible consequences. He wanted the cathartic feeling of a revenge done right.
But then again, he had underestimated the speed Chu Feng possessed. He easily stepped aside and dodged the blow of this giant hand. He then wasted no time before he punched Zuo Jun's kidney for a second time.
Since he had no idea of the power that was carried in his opponent's fist, his best option was to avoid direct contact.
Zuo Jun was still rather conceited. He did not try to dodge Chu Feng's punch. He tensed his abdominal muscle, preparing to counter it directly. At the same time, he also stretched out his giant hand and swung it towards Chu Feng. He wanted to clutch him in his fist.
Boom! It was the sound of Chu Feng jabbing the abdomen of Zuo Jun. Chu Feng felt his fist numb and tingling, while Zuo Jun, upon impact, staggered,tottered and stumbled a few steps back.
His face had a painful look. He could have never guessed that his abdomen could still feel a piercing pain even after he had metamorphosed into this form. How powerful was he?
His current force was a fairly special one. Its rarity bordered on the level of mythology. If this were in the ancient times, he could be counted as the greatest fighter among the best.
Moreover, there were still room for it to evolve. Eventually, he could become an invincible god.
For the past few days, his ego had gradually become drastically inflated. He felt like he had transcended the boundary of a worldly being and entered the holy land of a saint. He positioned himself in a different world to those he deemed ordinary. He treated himself as a totally different species.
In fact, he had always been triumphant in all of his recent encounters. He defeated a ravenous tiger, and then he single-handedly killed an array of beasts and birds of prey. He had routed everything wherever he went.
Right now, seeing how a non-mutated ordinary person had almost vanquished him, how could he not be surprised?
Zuo Jun's pupils constricted. His blood ran cold. He could not bear the thought of letting this person in front of him stay alive. He wanted him dead even though this could mean blames and condemnations later on.
He tightened his fist and a plume of yellow fume rose from his muddy body. It was a breath of violence and hatred.
Chu Feng was certain that he was capable of blocking his opponent's punch after the last exchange of blows. He asserted that despite his opponent's significant advantage in size, their blows were almost of the same weight. Chu Feng had grown confident and fearless.
Zuo Jun vented out another muffled growl. His body seemed enlarged once again. He swung his hand in Chu Feng's direction with a fearsome combination of speed and power.
Chu Feng did not flinch back. He exerted all his power along with his terrifying speed. His fist could easily crash and shatter a boulder.
Pong! Pong! Pong!
The two were engaged in a hand-to-hand fight of great peril. Not only did Chu Feng fearlessly fight him fist-to-fist, at times, he also swiftly reached to the back and the side of Zuo Jun, fiercely attacking his soft spots.
Right now, Chu Feng seemed to have given it all without reserving anything.
Pong! After many exchanges of blows between them, Chu Feng suddenly cropped out behind his opponent's back. With a deadly punch, Chu Feng sent Zuo Jun's giant torso right into the air, then it landed in the distance.
Mud splashed in the parterre as this ten-foot giant crushed into the dirt.
"DIE!"
Zuo Jun became angry from shame. His pupils turned cold, then it gained a faint golden hue, similar to the color of his muddy skin. His body started bulging again as every single bone within his body began crackling.
At the same time, another yellow fog emerged around his right arm, then all of a sudden, his right hand became much bigger.
Boom!
He sprang on Chu Feng. His right hand was indeed very special. It had become an amber millstone with a size much larger than his left hand.
The hand clamped down on top of Chu Feng with the aim of crushing him whole under it.
It was a scene both deadly and horrifying. It was a mixture of gases in green and khaki-grey. The gases exploded in the air, suffusing the atmosphere with a breath of horror.
Chu Feng was taken aback. As he tried to nimbly dodge the clamping hand, his brain was also running fast in trying to think of a way to counter the blow. The boxing style taught by Yellow Ox was yet to be fully mastered, so in the end, he had to resort to that breathing system, hoping that this might help him adjust his strength and power.
Suddenly, Chu Feng felt that his body had become ever so full of strength and vitality. He shook his fist and took a swipe at the clamping hand.
Puff!
Blood burst off in all directions. Chu Feng's fist had penetrated that millstone-like palm. It was a scene so astonishing that even he himself had been astounded.
"Uh..."
Zuo Jun screeched in profound agony. His face became pale as a sheet. He stumbled back while blood profusely dripped from his palm. His bones started crackling again, but this time, it sounded like a balloon deflating. His body was shrinking in size.
It was not long before his size returned to normal. The muddy color had all dissipated. Zuo Jun looked sagged and ignoble. He tumbled on the ground, crying in pain.
"Is this all the power that grants you that inflated ego of yours? Is this what makes you think that it is justifiable to look down on other people?" Chu Feng glared down at Zuo Jun.
Zuo Jun was ever so terrified. He knew that his estimation of Chu Feng's ability had been far off the mark. How could this man in front of him possibly be an ordinary person? Although he had none of the features that belonged to the "others", he was a truly fearful man.
His heart palpitated. He was afraid that Chu Feng might kill him.
"How many of you guys are here? What's your purpose for coming to Taihang Mountains? Tell me from the start to the end of everything you know."
Chu Feng had made a few bold assumptions to answer the questions of his own, but he wanted to hear him to say something in order to prove him right.
Even though Zuo Jun seemed quite frightened and afraid to die, his strength of character and moral integrity had gotten the better of him. His lips were sealed no matter how he was threatened.
Chu Feng pounded him right at his nose without scruple. This part of the face was especially susceptible to pain. It could easily contract great pain even with a light jab, let alone a pounding thump like this.
He was still reticent, firmly biting onto his lips.
Meanwhile, the furtive Yellow Ox stuck its head out from one of the rooms with a treacherous look, then it slowly walked into the yard.
It promised it would hide when there were strangers, and sure enough, it did.
But Chu Feng was doubtful. He bet that the reason why this cheeky bastard had to stay hidden for so long was mostly because of cowardice and partly because it wanted to enjoy this epic fight from a comfortable position at which he could stay unharmed. When desperate times called for desperate measures, he reckoned that Yellow Ox would, at most, be a useless piece of crap.
Chu Feng did not want Yellow Ox to be revealed to a stranger. As such, he punched another three or four times at the nose and eyes of that poor man. He was very meticulous about the strength he used. The punches were not designed to injure, but they were enough to make him bellow with pain and close his eyes.
"What a nuisance this is." He felt that everything was headache-inducing, especially when this man was so stubborn and reluctant to reveal what was hidden. He seemed like the type who would rather die than to tell a secret. How was he going to deal with him?
Kill him? He felt it was difficult to put his hand to. After all, everyone here had been enjoying their lives as a citizen of a civilized society. He could not just blatantly took another man's life. This was not a scene from a martial arts fiction in which one could simply slit the throat of another and walked away without a faltering conscience.
If he let him go, more troubles would definitely ensue after.
But imprisoning him would not be a safe measure either. If Zuo Jun went missing, his companions would without doubt come to look for him. When they would make a punitive expedition against him was anyone's guess.
"How can I resolve this mess. It would be the best case scenario if he could just easily forget about the things that have happened today," Chu Feng mumbled.
Having heard Chu Feng's mumble, Yellow Ox walked towards Chu Feng with a gentle stroll. Leisurely, it printed a shapeless and twisted word on the dirt road: Easy.
"You have an idea?" Chu Feng was surprised.
Yellow Ox nodded.
"Then hurry!" Chu Feng urged in exultancy.
Yellow Ox unhurriedly approached Zuo Jun. It gave him a meticulous scrutiny, then suddenly, it turned on its trusty old hooves and forcibly trampled the man's head.
"Wait! Stop! You're gonna crack his goddamn head!" Chu Feng was taken aback as he rushed to stop it. He knew how strong this calf was, but he would have never thought that it would stomp on Zuo Jun's head with that much force.
Zuo Jun hissed and screeched at first, then with a resolute determination, he fainted. But even as he fell into a coma, his body still twitched and jerked convulsively. White froths was foaming at his mouth as his head hysterically shook.
"How on earth is this a good idea?" Chu Feng questioned.
Yellow Ox once again sluggishly wrote a few words on the dirt ground. They were still crooked and askewed, but they were clearly legible: Memory, gone.
"You..." Chu Feng was at a loss. This demon ox was really not one of the good kinds. Just like that, this bastard put that poor man to sleep. Well, let's hope he won't remember any of these.
