Chapter Seventy-Six: Intimidation!
The fighting spirit blazed fiercely!
Under the starlit night, Xingye, Gongshu Ming, Dao Wanqian, all were present, none unaware, each bearing a solemn compassion.
They all let out a resounding roar: "All units, ready!"
"Mission objective: Escort the Zhao State envoy back to Daxia!"
A deep hum vibrated.
Lin Fan’s short blade trembled.
"Escort the Zhao State envoy back to Daxia, we will face death unflinchingly!" The shout of the five men shook the heavens.
In the next moment.
Master Compassion’s eyes widened, his gaze fierce like a wrathful vajra.
"Amitabha."
"Today, this disciple must break the vow against killing!"
Buddhist light radiated in all directions as Master Compassion brandished his steel staff, preparing to charge into the midst of the soldiers from the Free Nation.
The Buddha is merciful—yet even from afar, evil must be punished!
But just then.
A sharp sound—Lin Fan suddenly grabbed the sleeve of Master Compassion.
"What are you doing?" Master Compassion paused, bewildered.
Lin Fan, utterly confused, blinked: "Why are you charging over?"
"To kill... err, to deliver salvation to our foreign friends," Master Compassion replied, equally confused. "Didn't you say we should escort the Zhao State envoy back?"
"No, I said 'escort'—don't you understand what escort means?" Lin Fan eyed the bloodthirsty Master Compassion, feeling as if he’d encountered a false monk, and hurriedly explained, "Escort means to protect and deliver, not to kill!"
The scene was peculiarly tense.
On one side, a squad of Free Nation soldiers stood fully armed, using armored vehicles as cover, nervously aiming their guns at Lin Fan and his group.
On the other, Lin Fan was still quarreling with Master Compassion...
"Is that so?" Master Compassion was silent for two seconds, scratching his head, "Benefactor, are you saying these two words mean something different?"
"They’re totally different!" Lin Fan exclaimed, exasperated. "Escort means protect and deliver back!"
"But do you really think they'll just sit back and watch us leave?" Master Compassion frowned. "They're bound to open fire... Maybe we should just deliver salvation now. If we do, they won't shoot at us."
"What scripture are you chanting! A monk obsessed with salvation—are you sure you’re not from the demonic sect?" Lin Fan began to suspect this guy’s true origins.
"Amitabha, the scriptures... all encourage us to deliver salvation to all beings," Master Compassion pressed his palms together solemnly. "Having read so many sutras, I’ve realized the true meaning: for some evildoers, who cannot be forgiven, we must deliver them to the Buddha for forgiveness."
"And as for these soldiers—"
"If they open fire, then they're evildoers!"
"Delivering salvation to one evildoer saves ten good people. Amitabha, a great act of kindness." Master Compassion wore an expression of universal compassion, softly chanting a Buddhist hymn.
One must admit—
Master Compassion’s logic was thoroughly consistent.
Truly worthy of being from orthodox Buddhist lineage.
"No, I mean—wait until they actually start shooting..." Lin Fan said in a low voice.
Yet at that moment—
"What are they saying?"
"I don't know, seems like they're organizing an attack!"
"Stop them!" the squad leader shouted.
And how to stop them? Naturally—
A gunshot rang out!
A bullet spun toward Lin Fan. But in the next instant—
A flash of steel.
The bullet, invisible to the naked eye, was struck back by Lin Fan’s blade!
Lin Fan figured that if he sliced the bullet in half, the stray fragments might still harm the Zhao State envoy.
With a bang, the deformed bullet shot back at terrifying speed. The soldier who had fired felt a chill near his ear as the bullet grazed him.
He turned to look.
The deformed bullet had slammed into the armored vehicle behind him, leaving a deep dent!
All the Free Nation soldiers were stunned.
"Captain..." The soldier swallowed hard, pointing at the rebounding bullet, his voice trembling, "Should we still attack them?"
The meaning was obvious.
If they can send bullets back at you, how are you supposed to fight?
Seeing that bullet, the other Free Nation soldiers shuddered.
They weren’t strangers to danger—thanks to their nation’s "love of peace," they’d served on various battlefields.
They’d encountered formidable enemies before.
But never monsters who could swat bullets back with a blade!
A wave of terror swept through the squad.
"Omg, who are they?"
"They can bat bullets back—are they monsters?"
"Captain, maybe we should stop attacking..."
The captain looked bewildered; truthfully, if he weren’t afraid of being held accountable later, he’d be running already...
Just then—
"Damn, he's coming, he's coming!"
"This monster is coming to kill us!"
The Free Nation soldiers watched in horror as the youth approached in the dark, blade in hand—a demon incarnate.
Their hands shook on their guns, yet none dared fire, lest they provoke this devil who could return bullets.
"Don't... don't do anything rash..." the squad leader stammered in terror.
"Why are you speaking gibberish?" Lin Fan frowned, pointing at the squad leader's neck and shouted, "Let me tell you, it's not that I can't kill you, but that I don't want to."
He wasn’t wrong—Lin Fan wasn’t some mindless butcher.
His vengeance against the Phoenix Society was because they dared to abduct people in Daxia.
They deserved punishment!
But these ordinary people were, honestly, not his enemies—they were simply following orders to pursue him. To them, he was just a fugitive.
After all, with the coming of gods, ordinary people had become the most pitiable.
Besides—
This was the Free Nation.
Killing Phoenix Society members was serious, but the Free Nation wouldn’t dare to raise a fuss, since they’d tried to capture Daxia’s gifted people first.
But if he killed regular soldiers, Free Nation's own military, that would be troublesome.
It could easily spark an international incident!
Lin Fan couldn’t be bothered to explain. Seeing the terrified squad leader nearly wet himself, Lin Fan thought for a moment: "You probably don’t understand what I’m saying."
"But it’s fine, this much you should understand."
Lin Fan pointed at his group, then at the vast ocean.
He raised his short blade.
A flash—cold light sliced through the ground as if it were tofu, leaving a line beneath Lin Fan’s feet.
He pointed at the line under his feet, then at the squad leader’s gun, and made a gesture of slitting his throat.
The meaning was simple:
We’re leaving.
If you cross this line, or dare to shoot, we won’t leave—we’ll hunt you down.
The squad leader, faced with the monstrous youth before him, nodded hastily.
Lin Fan, impatient, turned and urged, "Hurry up, stop dawdling, help Zhao State envoy onto the motorboat! Let’s get out of here!"
"He’s passed out from pain, someone give me a hand!" Xingye called, struggling as Zhao State envoy kept slipping off the boat.
Dao Wanqian rushed over: "Let me, let me!"
But then—
Everyone suddenly froze.
In the distance, engines roared like countless beasts.
A procession of vehicles: launchers over ten meters long, machine gun trucks, armored cars, tanks—an iron river gleamed coldly in the night.
This steel flood surged down the roadbed, thundering forth!