Caught a Pheasant

When Bai Wu arrived at Little Cinnabar Hall, even though someone had come to announce his arrival, Qiu Yi still did not want to go out.

She and Bai Wu had grievances in the past. As a prominent family of Qingzhou, the White Flame Sparrow clan was only slightly below the Qiu family.

In terms of their cultivation levels, they were evenly matched. This Bai Wu was the fifth son of the White Flame Sparrow clan leader. As a Primordial Beast at the peak of the YuanYing stage, if given time, he might even reach the Mountain Moving stage.

Qiu Yi had clashed with Bai Wu in her youth. It was a fierce battle. If the elders had not intervened, one of them might have fallen from the path of cultivation.

Now, under orders from her clan, she was guarding Little Cinnabar Hall, responsible for urging progress and keeping watch.

Bai Wu would often loiter around the area, even arrogantly passing through Little Cinnabar Hall, his shadow covering the entire hall as if taunting her.

As the successor of her clan, Qiu Yi had grown more composed. Even though Bai Wu frequently came to provoke her so blatantly, she did not respond, to avoid giving the White Flame Sparrow clan any excuses.

She had not expected that after Little Cinnabar Hall gained fame for an alchemy grandmaster, this Bai Wu would directly descend upon the hall.

Qiu Yi let out a soft sigh. She still did not plan to intervene. This was a crucial time for the Qiu clan in Qingzhou, and it would not do to stir up unnecessary trouble.

She would let Bai Wu make some trouble first. If things got out of hand, she could step in to put a stop to it.

Regarding Chen Xia's situation, Qiu Yi had not reported it to her clan yet. She planned to investigate clearly first before saying anything, to avoid those in the Qiu clan who sought quick success stirring up problems.

This was what Qiu Yi thought, but soon an elder came to notify her, looking anxious.

She could not help but sigh. Even though she did not want any external conflicts, it seemed unavoidable today. She wondered what exactly Bai Wu had done to make the elder look so frightened. Things were clearly not trivial.

The elder had come close, panting heavily, and cried out in alarm, "Mistress, this is terrible, terrible!"

Qiu Yi frowned, her chest tightened slightly. With a soft sigh, she prepared herself and asked in a disembodied voice, "What did Bai Wu do?"

The elder was so out of breath he could barely speak, and urgently said,

"Master Bai Wu is about to be beaten to death!"

Qiu Yi's eyebrows furrowed deeply. She thought to herself that Bai Wu was truly overbearing, coming to take someone's life as soon as he arrived. But soon she was startled, and the disembodied voice became urgent, asking again, "Bai Wu is about to be beaten to death?!"

"Yes, yes!" The elder hurriedly nodded.

Qiu Yi's figure flashed instantly, her white clothes fluttering, as she sped towards the entrance of Little Cinnabar Hall.

This was about what she had expected, just with the assailant and victim reversed.

It was not far, and Qiu Yi quickly arrived at the entrance of Little Cinnabar Hall. There were many onlooking cultivators, whispering and watching the commotion.

Some elders were also there, anxious expressions on their faces as they impatiently stomped their feet, truly at a loss. Seeing Qiu Yi arrive, their expressions lightened up and they hurriedly came over.

"Mistress, please handle this. The one who did it is the guest you invited to Little Cinnabar Hall."

As the elder spoke, he pointed towards the bottom of the winding mountain path.

At the bottom of the crumbled mountain path were two figures.

One figure stood upright in green clothes, while the other figure was being held in the green clothed figure's hand, looking half dead.

Qiu Yi stood atop the peak, spiritual energy gathering in her emerald eyes. She immediately recognized the half dead figure as Bai Wu. Her eyebrows furrowed deeply, and she firmly stepped forward, arriving at the foot of the mountain in a few breaths.

"What are you doing?" Qiu Yi's disembodied voice asked Chen Xia, though she already somewhat knew. Still, she had to ask first to avoid offending Chen Xia.

By now she had realized that Chen Xia was here to play the pig to eat the tiger. Giving away half a dao pill so casually before, and now beating Bai Wu half to death.

This was not something a cultivator at the YuanYing stage could do. He had to at least be at the Great Vehicle peak, if not even the Mountain Moving stage.

Thinking of this, Qiu Yi became even more vigilant. If Chen Xia really had the strength of the Mountain Moving stage, why would he come to this little Cinnabar Hall?

Could he have some other motive?

Her mind grew tense, slightly worried.

Chen Xia glanced at her and said flatly while still holding Bai Wu, "Nothing much, just caught a wild chicken."

As he spoke, he deliberately shook Bai Wu, making the feathers on him flutter, to prove he had indeed caught a wild chicken.

Qiu Yi was stunned for a moment. The disembodied voice quickly continued, "This...this isn't a wild chicken, is it?"

"Anything that flies down from the sky is wild," Chen Xia replied lightly. At the same time he shook Bai Wu again, seeming slightly delighted as he added, "I happened to be feeling weak lately, and this wild chicken flew down to supplement me. How interesting."

Bai Wu was already half dead and had no strength left to struggle, barely even hearing what Chen Xia said as his consciousness grew murky.

"You can't eat him, he's the fifth son of the White Flame Sparrow clan," Qiu Yi's disembodied voice became more urgent. She did not want any external conflicts at this critical juncture for the Qiu clan.

"The fifth son, no, you can't eat the fifth son," Chen Xia shook his head while still holding Bai Wu. He replied, "Have the White Flame Sparrow clan come tell me that to my face. It'll make for a nice family bucket."

Qiu Yi was bewildered, not knowing what a family bucket meant but certain it was nothing good. Yet she could not think of what to say either, and could only point to Bai Wu and weakly argue, "White Flame Sparrow doesn't taste good."

This weak argument instead drew Chen Xia's attention.

As a powerful cultivator, Chen Xia naturally had high standards for ingredients.

He looked over the half human, half demon form of Bai Wu, and had to admit he did not look appetizing at all. So he slightly shook his head. "Then I can only feed him to the dogs."

Qiu Yi remained bewildered, also at a loss for what to do. She was naturally arrogant, not good with words, and even less good at persuading others.

"Spare me..." Bai Wu's feeble voice came from his mouth as he begged Chen Xia for his life.

Chen Xia indifferently glanced at him, still holding Bai Wu's head with one hand, dragging him like a dead bird as he walked towards the mountain path.

Having regained consciousness, Bai Wu disregarded the pain in his body and desperately begged,

"Spare me, spare me sir, I know I was wrong, I beg you, please spare me!"

He wept as he spoke, his powerless body struggling in vain to escape Chen Xia's grip. Like a prisoner being led to execution, he could only follow along.

Chen Xia dragged him to the middle of the mountain path.

No one else was around.

At the peak, the crowd watched.

Qiu Yi followed a thousand meters away, her expression complex.

"Spare me...Have mercy, let me go!" Bai Wu's cries grew louder, extremely terrified.

"If I spare you, what will I do about my lack of nutrition?" Chen Xia suddenly asked.

"I have many pills and medicinal ingredients at home, I'll bring them all to you, give you everything!" By now Bai Wu was frightened into not daring to resist anymore, only desperately begging for his life.

Chen Xia lightly laughed and tossed Bai Wu aside, casually saying,

"Just as you said, bring me everything. In the future if I visit your home and see you have more than you need, get ready to make yourself into soup."

"Yes, I will!" Bai Wu hurriedly responded.

Chen Xia's figure slowly ascended the mountain path, not speaking another word or making any noise.

After thirty steps, the green clothed figure disappeared.

He was suddenly seated in the pavilion, a teacup in hand as he lightly sipped. Then he gently tapped the rim of the cup and said flatly,

"Get lost."

Though not loud, the words steadily carried, falling into Bai Wu's ears like a crash of thunder.

Terrified, Bai Wu's heavily injured body scrambled away on all fours down the crumbled steps as quickly as he could.

Chen Xia sipped his tea again, eyes distant.

In them was a lack of the mundanity of life and death.

How about a long overdue joke from hell?

The doctor won't let the cannibal chieftain eat meat, so the crestfallen chieftain can only silently swallow the vegetative man in his mouth.