Chapter 43: Diesel Generator
Downstairs at Building No. 2 of the abandoned factory, negotiations had reached a fever pitch. Everyone was on edge.
"Fuck it, are you going to agree or not? I don’t have time to bullshit with you," the kidnapper snarled, his face a ferocious mask.
The police officers were on high alert, their foreheads beaded with nervous sweat. "Your demands are too—"
"Looks like you’re choosing the hard way. Kunzi, execute one of them right now and throw the body down!" the kidnapper roared viciously toward the second floor.
The officers’ faces paled. Just as they were about to shout for him to stop, suddenly—
THUD! THUD!
With two heavy thuds, a pair of figures fell from the second floor and crashed onto the ground. They lay unmoving, their condition unknown.
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
"Kunzi, Xiangzi! Fuck, what happened? Were the hostages rescued?" The kidnapper’s eyes filled with terror as he turned and fled straight for the stairs. He didn’t know what had happened, but if he wanted to live, his only chance was to regain control of the hostages.
"Quick! Open fire! Don’t let him get upstairs!" the middle-aged police officer ordered decisively, a hint of joy in his voice.
BANG! BANG!
Two consecutive gunshots rang out. Both bullets struck the kidnapper in the legs, sending blood spraying. He let out a blood-curdling scream as his legs gave out, and he collapsed at a bend in the stairwell. Five or six officers immediately rushed forward and cuffed him.
"Let’s move. Up and see what’s going on!" the middle-aged officer commanded. A squad of officers, guns raised, cautiously made their way to the second floor.
"What happened? Why did those two kidnappers just fall from the second floor?"
"It must’ve been the SWAT team! They must have engaged them upstairs!"
The crowd of onlookers below was abuzz with speculation.
At that moment, on the second floor.
When the officers cautiously entered the room, they found no one else inside—only two little boys tied up in a corner, gagged, their ropes still fastened.
"Captain, there are signs of a struggle here!" one of the officers said, scanning the room with his flashlight. He pointed out specks of crimson blood on the floor and several broken tables and chairs.
The middle-aged officer’s eyes flickered. He quickly walked over to the two boys, untied their ropes, and removed their gags. "Hey, fellas, what happened in here?"
The two boys had been through a major ordeal, and their eyes showed a mixture of terror and excitement.
"This big brother was super strong! He made the bad guy hit the wall and then crash onto the floor."
"He kicked out his foot, and, um, that really big bad guy just flew away! The tables and chairs all got smashed."
"Yeah, he was so cool! The bad guy was gonna kill us, and the big brother just smacked him with a chair and knocked him out cold!"
The two boys spoke in a jumble, gesturing wildly with their hands and feet. Their eyes shone with adoration as they excitedly described the scene.
The middle-aged officer mulled it over, trying to piece the information together. "So, you’re saying a young man rushed in, knocked the kidnappers out, and then threw them down from the second floor?"
"Uh-huh, yes, yes!"
"Who was this young man? Did you get a clear look at his face?" the officer asked hurriedly.
"We don’t know. The room was too dark to see clearly. Besides, the big brother seemed to have a cloth covering his face!"
The officer’s eyes flickered, but he was still puzzled. "If he saved you, why didn’t he untie your ropes? How long has he been gone?"
Just as the middle-aged officer was asking his questions, a series of footsteps echoed from the stairwell, and the two boys’ family members rushed into the room.
"Little Tao, are you hurt? Let me see."
"You’re not hurt! That’s wonderful!"
"Little Hai, that’s great! I’m so glad you’re okay. Mom was worried sick." Ye Xiuying wept with joy. The families all turned to thank the police. "Thank you, officers. Thank you so much for saving our children."
"There’s no need to thank us. To be honest, we weren’t the ones who saved them. A righteous young man with extraordinary skills stepped in to help," the middle-aged officer said with a wry smile. "The boys are both unharmed, so you can rest easy. By the way, we’ll probably need to take their statements tomorrow."
After giving his instructions, the middle-aged officer ordered his subordinates to disperse the crowd, leaving a few officers behind to re-examine the crime scene.
"Mom, you have no idea how awesome that big brother was! When he punched, the air itself made a noise!"
"I’m not kidding! He stomped his foot, and a table split right in half!"
As they left, the two little boys continued to gesture wildly.
...
A gentle breeze stirred in the night. A crescent moon hung high, casting down its tranquil light.
Inside his ancestral home’s ancient well, next to the Purple Light Group, Ye Xing sat cross-legged in the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture. He circulated his Innate Skill, breathing rhythmically. With each breath, streams of faint purple energy were drawn into his body. He inhaled slowly and exhaled gradually.
His True Qi cycled endlessly through the meridians in his body. With every full Circulation, it grew a fraction stronger.
After rescuing his little cousin from the abandoned factory and confirming there was no more danger, Ye Xing had returned to his Cultivation.
Ye Xing had built a small iron shed over the mouth of the ancient well. Whenever he came to cultivate, he would first lock the iron door from the inside before focusing completely on his Cultivation.
’After all, strength is everything. Without strength, one can’t even protect their wealth.’ Miss Tantai had once given him a detailed explanation of the realms of a Martial Artist at the Immortal Spring Manor.
Martial Artists were divided into the Postnatal Nine Layers. The First to Third Layer comprised the Qi Cultivation Stage, the Fourth to Sixth Layer was the Qi Gathering Stage, and the Seventh to Ninth Layer was the Qi Condensation Stage. Martial Artists in the Qi Cultivation Stage had only just begun to produce True Qi, which existed as extremely fine wisps. Those in the Qi Gathering Stage, however, could gather their True Qi into streams, much like droplets of water converging into a current, making their True Qi significantly more substantial. As for the Qi Condensation Stage, that was when one began to refine their True Qi, making it more condensed and pure. The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Layers corresponded to the Early-stage, Mid-stage, and Late-stage of Qi Condensation, respectively. Once one reached the Late-stage of Qi Condensation, they could attempt to open the Qi Sea Acupoint in their lower abdomen to form a Dantian, nurture Innate True Essence, and become an Innate Realm Martial Artist.
The Innate Realm was an incredibly powerful Realm that surpassed the Postnatal Nine Layers. An Innate Realm Martial Artist could release their Innate True Essence externally to form Innate Sword Qi, allowing them to kill with the flick of a finger. This Innate True Essence could also leave their body to form an Innate Protective Shield with astonishing Defense Power. Every Innate Martial Artist could retrieve objects from a distance, walk on water, and possessed other unbelievable abilities. They were far, far stronger than ordinary Martial Artists. In the entire Tang Country, with its thirteen provinces, seventy-two cities, and a population in the hundreds of millions, there were likely fewer than one hundred Innate Realm Martial Artists in total.
Ye Xing was currently a First Layer Martial Artist in the Early-stage of Qi Cultivation; he had only just stepped over the threshold of the Martial Dao. ’If I want to establish a foothold on the Martial Arts Continent, my own strength is just as crucial as any external power.’ For this reason, he was exceptionally diligent in his Cultivation. With a High-tier Inner Strength technique like the Innate Skill, and the unbelievably abundant Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the Purple Light Group, Ye Xing was confident that his cultivation speed would not be slow.
Time flowed like water, slipping away drop by drop.
He cultivated in silence. After an unknown amount of time had passed, a faint ray of light pierced through the skylight of the iron shed, shining down into the ancient well. It was dawn; the sky had already brightened.
A moment later, the ray of light became brilliant golden sunlight. It mingled with the glow of the Purple Light Group, instantly illuminating the interior of the ancient well.
Suddenly—
"RING RING RING! *You are my little, little apple...*"
The sound of his phone ringing in his pocket pulled Ye Xing from his state of Cultivation.
Despite cultivating all night, Ye Xing felt refreshed and full of energy. The wisp of True Qi inside his body had grown much stronger. He took the phone from his pocket, swiped the screen, and answered.
"Hello?" Ye Xing said.
"Hello! Is this Mr. Ye Xing? The diesel generator you ordered yesterday has been delivered. Could you please come out and receive the delivery?"