Hearing Ying Chen's words, the big half-breed and the little half-breed froze.
They didn't understand why Ying Chen was thanking them.
Was it because they complimented Ying Chen on his good looks?
But they often complimented stray female dogs on their beauty, and after complimenting them, they would catch the dogs and roast them for food.
It could be said that in their worldview: when they complimented someone or something as good-looking, it basically announced the thing's doom.
They truly couldn't comprehend the reason for Ying Chen's gratitude, with his demise imminent.
Not only the big and little half-breeds didn't understand, but even He Chongxu didn't.
However, He Chongxu was long accustomed to Ying Chen's elusive way of speaking and acting. He knew that if Ying Chen said something, there must be a reason.
So, he stood silently by, waiting for the show to begin.
"Hey, did our brothers shock you into silence? You're about to die, and you're thanking us? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, you think thanking us means we won't kill you? Absolutely not! We'll kill you nonetheless! We brothers are heartless, cold-blooded, and cruel ace assassins!"
*Smack!*
The little half-breed's head was rapped.
It was the big half-breed who did it.
The big half-breed looked at the little half-breed with dissatisfaction and said, "How can the lowly profession of assassin be worthy of us? We are mountain lords who rule the mountains! Just like the unruly demon king Cheng Yaojin in the storytellers' tales!"
It was evident that these brothers didn't have much entertainment and spent their time listening to storytelling.
However, their way of thinking was truly hard for ordinary people to comprehend.
How did they come up with the idea that "mountain bandits are nobler than assassins"?
The little half-breed rubbed his head and mumbled, "I just like being an assassin. If you like being a mountain lord, go be one, why drag me along? Besides, Cheng Yaojin didn't even become an emperor in the end. What's there to envy? If anything, one should envy Li Shimin, who, with a single call, rallied everyone, killed his brother and imprisoned his father at Xuanwu Gate, and established an eternal empire with a casual wave of his hand. Truly an emperor for all time..."
The little half-breed directly quoted lines from the storytelling.
Seeing that the two were about to fall into a new round of arguments, about who was more formidable between Cheng Yaojin and Li Shimin, and even come to blows,
Ying Chen looked at them helplessly and sighed, "Originally, with your intelligence, it would have been perfectly fine for you to be ordinary people. But who asked you to possess extraordinary cultivation? Such intelligence paired with such cultivation makes you two time bombs, capable of causing immense destruction at any moment, leading to countless innocent people dying at your hands..."
Ying Chen paused and continued, "Of course, I am not that noble. The real reason I want to send you two on your way is because—you offended me."
"As for why I said I'm thanking you, you will know very soon."
The big and little half-breeds exchanged glances.
After a long moment, they both asked, "Did you understand?"
Then, they both shook their heads: "No, we didn't."
"Forget it, this guy is rambling and annoying. Let's finish him off quickly and snatch the treasure. Then we'll leave."
The big half-breed waved his hand, as if making a final decision.
The next second, the two brothers moved in unison.
Like two shadows under the sun, they instantly appeared before Ying Chen.
They attacked from both sides, their momentum fierce, their intense aura forming parts of the ancient shackles on a prisoner's head.
Then, they suddenly closed in.
They intended to turn Ying Chen into a prisoner, confined within!
Ying Chen looked at them calmly and uttered, "Interesting."
"But not enough."
With that, he raised a finger.
And pointed at the big and little half-breeds!
*Boom!*
This seemingly ordinary, powerless finger produced a startlingly loud explosion that made people's faces drain of color!
The void itself seemed to collapse visibly, like a rapidly unfurling umbrella, the canopy exploding outwards towards the big and little half-breeds!
Seeing this, a flicker of dread flashed in the eyes of both the big and little half-breeds.
They attempted to use their "Sun Moon Convergence" technique to block Ying Chen's finger.
But to their surprise, as soon as their fingers intertwined, they were struck as if by a siege hammer, and their entire bodies were sent flying backward with a thud!
Mid-air, they could faintly hear the continuous sound of bones cracking and the surge of vital energy like a breaking riverbank.
"How pathetic," He Chongxu sighed with mock sympathy.
By the time the big and little half-breeds landed, they had coughed up three mouthfuls of blood consecutively.
Each mouthful of blood contained pieces of dark blue fragments.
Their internal organs had been shattered by Ying Chen's single finger and were expelled with the blood!
"So... powerful!"
"Boss, this guy... we can't beat him..."
The big and little half-breeds exchanged glances and said.
They had finally realized Ying Chen's terrifying strength!
They no longer believed they could easily handle Ying Chen!
"Second brother, I think..."
The big half-breed looked at the little half-breed, hesitating.
The little half-breed clearly understood his elder brother's unspoken thought and nodded almost without hesitation: "I agree!"
Thus, while Ying Chen and He Chongxu were still guessing the meaning of their silent exchange, the big and little half-breeds moved simultaneously.
They instantly transformed into two shadows and sped towards the distant mountains!
It turned out they intended to flee!
"Damn it! Running away when you can't win, shameless, no-good! Why weren't you like this when you were bullying me?"
Seeing this, He Chongxu was furious.
Ying Chen, however, smiled and said, "It matters not."
"It's good that they're running."
He Chongxu was stunned, not understanding the meaning of Ying Chen's words.
Ying Chen offered no explanation, merely pursed his lips and let out a long whistle.
The next second, a faint, almost imperceptible beam of light shot out from Ying Chen's body.
In an instant, it pierced through a hundred meters of void and reached the backs of the big and little half-breeds!
Its speed was so great, it was as if this beam of light had been attached to them from the beginning, rather than catching up from behind!
"Bad!"
The big and little half-breeds sensed the beam of light and cried out in alarm simultaneously.
However, they still held onto a sliver of hope. They simultaneously spat out a mouthful of blood, unhesitatingly burning their spiritual sense and depleting their cultivation, to forcibly accelerate their speed in an attempt to shake off the beam of light!
Seeing this, Ying Chen chuckled and shook his head, "It's useless. Otherwise, why do you think I thanked you?"
"It's precisely because I knew you would become the sacrifice for my magic artifact today!"
Just as a new sword needs to be tempered with a kill,
magic artifacts also require blood sacrifice to be refined!