Chapter 152: Kissing

Hearing Great-aunt Hu Three address her young husband as a "little thing," Bai Zhi grew even more indignant. Just as she was about to speak, Liu Ping gently covered her vermilion lips with his hand, forcing the words back down her throat. She looked up at him with a trace of quiet grievance.

Liu Ping paid no mind to Great-aunt Hu Three's insults. With a faint smile, he said, "I am Liu Ping, style name Fengchang. Did not the Great-aunt wish to see me long ago?"

"Oh?" Great-aunt Hu Three let out a cold snort, eyeing Liu Ping up and down. "You are Liu Ping? You are the one who killed Grey Dust and snatched Yingning?"

"Yes, I killed Grey Dust." Liu Ping nodded. Before Great-aunt Hu Three could respond, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

"Snap!"

The sound of the finger-snap was crisp and exceptionally loud in the empty, quiet room. Great-aunt Hu Three furrowed her brow slightly, failing to understand what Liu Ping intended to do.

Grey Yu, standing beside her, felt quite differently. At that moment, he sensed Liu Ping's cold gaze fixed upon him, and the smile at the corner of Liu Ping's mouth seemed to mock him.

Suddenly, a chill struck his heart, and an indescribable terror surged from the depths of his soul, instantly spreading through his entire body. Just as he prepared to make a move, he saw something that made his pupils contract violently. He wanted to scream, but his throat was tightly constricted, turning his once-sharp voice into a painful groan.

"What!" Great-aunt Hu Three looked at Grey Yu, who had suddenly fallen victim to an attack, her heart filled with shock. Such an assault made even her feel a sense of danger; it was hard to imagine it could be unleashed by someone with a cultivation level of merely the second revolution of human immortality.

The moment Liu Ping's finger-snap had sounded, a dark green seed materialized out of thin air beside Grey Yu. Within the span of a few blinks, it transformed into barbed thorny vines.

The vines multiplied and surged outward, instantly wrapping tightly around Grey Yu's neck. Following that, the vines crept upward, attaching themselves to the ceiling of the room and rapidly proliferating into a massive tangle. At the same time, the vines pulled upward, directly hoisting Grey Yu's body into mid-air.

Grey Yu's entire body thrashed wildly like someone struggling in the final moments before hanging, his throat emitting sharp, garbled sounds that made it impossible to understand what he was trying to say. The thorns on the vines had already dug deep into his skin. Blood gushed out, quickly staining his clothes red before slowly dripping down.

"Boy... what is the meaning of this!" Great-aunt Hu Three, both startled and enraged, moved her hands as a flame of bright yellow burst forth from thin air. Transforming into a fiery serpent, it lunged swiftly toward the vines in an attempt to rescue Grey Yu.

Yet Liu Ping had no intention of letting her get her way. He casually snapped his fingers once more, and a massive patch of vines emerged anew, enveloping the flame and causing it to vanish in an instant.

"What on earth are you trying to do, committing murder right before my eyes?!" Seeing her attack blocked to perfection, Great-aunt Hu Three felt bewilderment give way to intense anger. She turned around and glared coldly at Liu Ping and Bai Zhi. "Utterly lawless! Do you intend to start a bloodbath all over again by coming here?!"

Facing such an interrogation, Liu Ping did not answer. He picked up Bai Zhi, placed her onto a chair, and then stood up to walk forward. Step by step, he approached Grey Yu's suspended body, watching his futile struggles before death and his gaze of utmost resentment, and began to laugh mockingly. "Do save your breath."

There was an unquestionable authority in those words. Great-aunt Hu Three actually clamped her mouth shut, looking at him with a mixture of apprehension and uncertainty.

"Some wretches court death on their own, racking their brains to plot against me. So I shall grant their wish and let them taste the flavor of death." Liu Ping turned his head, casting a sidelong glance at Great-aunt Hu Three, and said with a cold laugh, "What do you think? Yingning is my cousin. You gave her away to someone else, and I chose not to trouble you, yet you still wish to trouble me. You certainly have a lot of nerve."

As an Asura General, renowned and greatly feared throughout the demonic paths of Yangzhou, when had she ever been treated in such a manner? Yet Great-aunt Hu Three, who had been furious at first, was now overcome by an immense sense of powerlessness in her heart, not daring to utter another word.

Because the vines overhead had grown densely packed, exuding a powerful aura that caused even her heart to skip a beat with dread, she could no longer treat Liu Ping as a mere junior of the second revolution of human immortality. Was he truly at the second revolution of human immortality? That question continued to echo relentlessly in Great-aunt Hu Three's mind; everything unfolding before her completely transcended her common sense.

"No more words?" Seeing Great-aunt Hu Three fall silent, Liu Ping continued, "I was somewhat annoyed at first. However, since you are Bai Zhi's elder, and ignorant of this matter, coupled with being senile and muddle-headed, it hardly mattered. But if you didn't know before, surely you know now?"

"Someone like me may indeed seem unhinged in your eyes, but so what? That wretch who racked his brains to persuade you to harm me—you may have found him agreeable, but do not forget, he is already dead."

Just as Liu Ping's voice trailed off, Great-aunt Hu Three instinctively looked up. She saw that Grey Yu's body, which had been struggling moments before, was now hanging limply and motionless. Several thick vines rapidly descended from the dense canopy above, coiled around his corpse, and swiftly devoured it entirely, reducing it to mere nourishment.

Upon seeing this scene, Great-aunt Hu Three's expression grew even gloomier. Just as Liu Ping had stated a moment ago, watching him die before her eyes was, in itself, a declaration of intent.

Seeing Great-aunt Hu Three remain silent, Liu Ping smiled, said nothing further, and turned to leave.

Bai Zhi hopped down from the chair and quickly hurried after him.

Watching Liu Ping's retreating back, Great-aunt Hu Three nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. After hesitating for a long while, she ultimately did not give chase. In that moment of silent standoff, hundreds of thoughts had flashed through her mind. Weighing the pros and cons, she found it utterly impossible to muster the courage to fight him. As Liu Ping had said, she was old—no, he had just said she was senile and muddle-headed...

Was she truly senile and muddle-headed?

To actually let a junior barge in, murder a demon general of the Grey clan, and then swagger away—watching it all happen with her own eyes, and aside from a futile attempt to stop him at the very beginning, doing nothing further to obstruct him?

How could she have dared to obstruct him! Great-aunt Hu Three threw her head back in a bitter laugh and slumped heavily onto the floor. To possess the strength of the second revolution of human immortality, to kill Grey Yu without the slightest effort, to effortlessly deflect her own strike, and to exude such a formidable aura alongside the absolute power that had obliterated Grey Dust—he was simply beyond anything she could handle. Compared to Grey Dust, who excelled in battle, her own strength was far inferior.

Otherwise, she would not have spent three hundred years accumulating merits through good deeds before finally attempting her tribulation at the very threshold of her lifespan's end.

With Liu Ping now gone, a lingering wave of terror washed over her. The unbridled strength and formidable confidence displayed by such a young man were utterly tyrannical. It forced one to imagine the power and backing behind him. Someone who could kill the entire Grey family without a care, break into the vast mountain range at night, slaughter a demon general, and leave behind a few parting words—was he ever the sort to be an unanchored willow in the wind?

She suddenly recalled Grey Yu's suggestion earlier to summon their ancestor. If she had truly summoned the ancestor, the ancestor likely would have been obliterated within minutes by the supreme entity backing this young man.

Before she knew it, the vines above had vanished. A few items of clothing drifted slowly downward—they belonged to Grey Yu. He had been completely absorbed by the vines, leaving not even his bones behind. Only these garments, having no use, were cast aside and left behind.

***

In the night sky, a ghostly carriage drawn by phantom horses sped forward, soon arriving at the edge of the primeval forest.

Inside the carriage, Bai Zhi had remained silent throughout, clearly still immersed in the shock of Liu Ping's ruthless methods. When they came, they had clung closely to one another, but now there was a distinct distance between them. This caused Liu Ping to sigh inwardly: were his methods truly too savage after all?

Yet had he not acted thus—suppressing them with absolute power while inducing the other party to believe his backing was terrifyingly powerful—endless troubles would have awaited them in the future. Furthermore, having overheard the discussion between those two, he had indeed felt genuinely vexed. If he failed to resolve it, even he might have faced danger.

Now that he had calmed down, while he felt no particular regret, he ultimately should not have committed such acts before Bai Zhi's eyes, seeing as the old crone was her benefactor.

"Frightened?" Liu Ping asked.

Bai Zhi was startled. She looked up at her husband, who was at once so unfamiliar and so familiar, noting the trace of dejection and helplessness between his brows. Recalling her own subconscious distancing just now, she lowered her head slightly. "I'm sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for?" Liu Ping asked, somewhat perplexed as to the origin of this apology.

True to form as she had been on the journey here, Bai Zhi slowly drifted closer, resting her head against Liu Ping's chest. Looking up at him, she bypassed his question and answered the one he had posed earlier: "Of course I wasn't frightened."

"Good," Liu Ping murmured, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her close.

The carriage rolled onward, heading toward Bai Zhi's mountain stronghold. The fierce gales outside were blocked by protective arrays, though the muffled roaring could still be faintly heard.

The change in their posture melted away the previously desolate atmosphere, replacing it with a warm coziness.

"Little husband, kiss me."

Suddenly, a crisp and pleasant voice rang out. Hearing these words, Liu Ping was slightly taken aback. He lowered his head to gaze earnestly into her face, a teasing smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "I refuse."

"Hmph," Bai Zhi grunted. "If you won't, then don't—mph!"

The disgruntled retort she had intended to utter after the huff was instantly cut off and replaced by a gasp of surprise. Feeling the warmth of her husband's lips, Bai Zhi instinctively closed her eyes.

Yet no sooner had she shut her eyes than she felt her husband's tongue slip past her lips. She gave a start, but offered no resistance, allowing him to breach her vermilion lips, pry open her pearly teeth, and slide directly into her mouth.

Feeling the suffocating yet delightful sensation of their tongues brushing against one another, Bai Zhi felt the strength drain entirely from her body. A tingling, indescribably strange sensation washed over her—much like the feeling she had experienced not long ago when her little husband was undressing her. Almost instinctively, her delicate tongue began to respond, intertwining with his.

No matter what, her little husband remained her little husband.