Grasping Evil

Chapter 145 (1): An Ran

There was a village which was cut off from the outside world on Ping Yun Mountain which was located at the east of Yue Country. It was called Ping An Village.

The spiritual qi of Ping Yun Mountain was very thin. It was not suitable for cultivation. Besides, there was no cultivation family, cultivation city or cultivation sect within the thousands miles of the area.

There were only a few ordinary human cities.

Normally, not a single shadow of a cultivator could be seen in the village. It was not easy to have such a land of happiness for ordinary humans in Yue Country which was a low-ranked Cultivation Country.

A year ago, a young man dressed in black clothing came to the village and lived there.

After a year, that young man who was called Ning Gu has grown into a big guy, leading an ordinary life in the village.

When the sun rose, he would get up to work; when the sun set, he would go back to rest. He hunted for a living with his exceptional hunting technique. In Ping An village, even the hunters who had been hunting for generations could not match his technique. Once, there was a tiger spirit that entered the village by accident. The tiger spirit had actually cultivated a trace of demonic qi by luck which made it have uncommon strength. It was very ferocious as it always entered the village during the day to eat the pigs and cows. It even bit the villagers. Some of the hunters in the village went to hunt the tiger, but all of them met a tragic death. Some of the villagers who had lived there for generations started to consider leaving the village.

However, the lawless tiger spirit was shot dead with an arrow by Ning Gu who had an ordinary appearance.

The skin of the tiger spirit was very thick and it also had the protection from the demonic force. How could an ordinary human with just a bow and arrow which were simple and crude harm the tiger spirit? Nonetheless, Ning Gu delivered a fatal shot to it, piercing it from its forehead to its tail, killing it. The strength of that bow was atrocious!

The villagers were saved while Ning Gu became famous in the small village. Besides, the daughter of the village chief had secretly fell in love with him.

Unfortunately, Ning Gu disliked hunting. He only hunted to obtain necessary food. Taking a life and seeing blood were not something that he liked. There seemed to be a traumatic experience in him. In fact, the thing that he loved the most was growing Camellia. Every plant rooted, germinated and finally bloomed under the bamboo fence. Each of the plants carried his thoughts.

For a year, he was still unable to remember Ning Fan. Therefore, he occupied his thoughts with the Camellia.

In his yard, he looked at each of the Camellia plant, swaying in the wind. His sight which was cold had slowly relaxed.

The Camellia plant was named as sea pomegranate by the villagers. The Camellia that was grown by Ning Gu had a special spiritual qi. There were some kind-hearted villagers that helped him sell the spare Camellia to the large cities outside the mountain. Gradually, Ning Gu had gained some income just by growing the plants and selling them. At last, he did not need to hunt anymore.

It was better to choose not to kill…

When the wind of the autumn rose, the black clothing of Ning Gu had become thin. Outside the fence, a voice of a young lady which carried the local accent of the village was heard.

“Ning Gu, the weather had turned cold. My father asked me to bring this wolf fur coat for you to wear!”

A girl who was dressed simply and plainly in the style of a villager stood outside of the fence. She pushed open the wooden door. There was a thick silver wolf fur coat on her hands.

The fur coat was made purely from wolf fur. It was not blended with any other fur. If it were to be sold to a large city, it could definitely sell at a high price. However, it was gifted by the lady to Ning Gu in the name of her father.

The lady was the daughter of the village chief. Her name was An Ran. Although her appearance was not perfectly beautiful, she looked plain and clean. It was hard to forget her appearance after the first look.

The lady had been liking Ning Gu for a very long time.

For the fur coat, she had risked her life, going into the deep mountain to hunt the wolf. Then, she sewed it stitch by stitch, making it into a coat.

Therefore, the fur coat actually contained the lady’s silliness - she only begged for Ning Gu’s glance on the coat.

“Why did you come again?”

Ning Gu frowned slightly. His cultivation base had not changed. His cultivation base still remained at the tenth level Vein Opening. With this cultivation base, he was not afraid of the coldness of the weather like any ordinary humans did.

He did not need the fur coat!

“Hmm, such a bad temper at such a young age. I made this coat for you out of kindness and good intentions…” said the lady, feeling wronged.

“I don’t need your kindness!” said Ning Gu in a stubborn manner.

“You! Don’t be arrogant because you have a better skill in shooting arrows. I want to challenge you!” said the lady without holding back. She placed the fur coat on the table in the yard and untied the bow on her back.

“You can’t win over me!” Ning Gu showed his temper and also untied his bow on the wall.

The villagers who passed by their fence began to laugh.

“Aiya, Ning Gu squabbled with An Ran again. Their relationship is really good!”

“However, An Ran will definitely cry with dissatisfaction a while later… Her archery could never match Ning Gu.”

The villagers’ gossip did not disturb Ning Gu’s thoughts. On the other hand, the lady appeared to be ashamed, but she felt sweet in the bottom of her heart.

In the yard, there was a rock. There were countless holes on the surface of the rock.

The lady bent her bow and nocked an arrow on it. After firing the arrow, it hit the tip of the bluestone, penetrating more than half an inch into the stone.

She had excellent mastery in archery as her shot was precise, and her strength was not weak at all.

However, before she could start to feel proud of herself, Ning Gu nocked his arrow apathetically. With a single shot, the arrow spilt the lady’s arrow into two. The arrow itself penetrated entirely into the stone!

A sound of cheering was heard from outside the fence. The lady burst into tears and left.

“Ning Gu, you bullied me again! I will not be good to you anymore!”

Upon hearing that, Ning Gu kept his bow and arrow emotionlessly. He was seen as an analogy of wood as he did not even chase after the lady

…

Amongst the cloud and mist on top of Ping Yun Mountain, there was another young man dressed in white clothing with a black cloak, standing upon the clouds. In the wind, he kept his spirit sense and understood the situation in Ping An village.

Ning Gu had a good life. It seemed like he had recovered a lot after a year of rest.

The thing that excited Ning Fan the most was that Ning Gu actually gained admiration from a girl.

However, there was also one thing that made Ning Fan worried. Ning Gu was a blockhead. Not only did he not know how to coax a girl, but his actions were also frowned upon by other girls. Fortunately, that girl still had her affection for Ning Gu after so long. It was so rare to have this type of girl.

“‘An Ran’ was a good name which is better than ‘Ning Gu’. You need a peaceful life. This kind of life is what you are longing for. The bloodshed in the world of cultivation really does not suit you…”

An inexplicable emotion appeared in Ning Fan’s eyes. With an escaping light, he vanished amongst the top of the mountains.

…

At the house of the village chief, An Ran came back home, crying. Upon arriving at her house, she was reprimanded by her father.

“Bad girl, why did you give the fur coat which was in perfectly good condition to someone else? Do you know how much it could sell for in Ping City? Your mind is always thinking about people outside of this family. You really irritate me! Go and get that fur coat back later!”

“It was all my fault! Since it has already been given, I am not going to get it back. You can’t have control over it!” said An Ran loudly, talking back to his father.

As the chief of the village, all the villagers respected him dearly. No one had dared to talk back to him. Even if it was An Ran, she would never dare to reply defiantly to her father normally.

Perhaps she was in a moment of desperation which made her speak in that manner. Her father was really provoked this time.

Since he was a hot tempered man, he slapped the girl after being provoked.

Regret surfaced in his thoughts almost immediately after he thrust his palm. With the strength of his entire body, the slap that he delivered might even weigh thousands of *jin. This was a power that could fight a tiger or a bear. If the slap struck on her daughter’s face, he was afraid that she could not withstand it with her petite body.

However, it was hard to stop at this moment due to the force applied.

At the next second, a cool breeze blew over them. That breeze blocked the powerful slap which could beat a tiger or a leopard.

At the same time, a cold sound was heard outside the house. Immediately, a young man who was wearing white clothing with black cloak came in.

He looked very thin, and his appearance was very pale. It was obvious that he had deficiency of qi and blood. However, when the village chief who was a big man with a height of seven *zhang met his eyes, the village chief had cold sweats dripping all over him!

Of all his hunting experience in his life, countless fierce animals like tigers and leopards had become his preys. He had been accustomed to the coldness of the beasts’ eyes. However, he had never once seen a gaze that was even more terrifying than the young man before him!

Under the young man’s gaze, the village chief was trembling in fear uncontrollably.

If this young man was an ordinary human, he must be an expert who could fight hundreds of enemies at a time. If he was an immortal, he must be a devil who had killed countless of people.

Although the village chief could not see through this young man, he realized that this young man must never be provoked! This thought surfaced on his mind just from the look of the young man.

That was the instinct which was trained from numerous trials of life and death in his hunting experience.

This feeling had only arisen in the heart of the village chief. In contrast, the girl was not invaded by that feeling at all.

Actually, the girl was not aware about the situation around. When she opened her eyes secretly, she was shocked to discover that her father did not slap her. She let out a sigh of relief. Then, her sight shifted to the young man at the door with curiosity.

Who is this guy who came into my house directly without any permission? Is he unaware that my father extremely hated villagers who were impolite and never greeted before entering the house?

Ning Fan smiled faintly and kept his pressure. Then, something that surprised the girl happened.

Her father did not blame the young man for his lack of politeness. In contrast, her father no longer displayed his cold face. Instead, her father deliberately gave a smile which was really unpleasant in her eyes.

“This master, are you coming here for a rest in our village?” said the village chief apologetically.

The girl noticed his father’s respectful attitude towards the young man. She was filled with astonishment. Is this young man who looked unspectacular an important person? This was the only reason that could make her father, who had little exposure of the outside world, so frightened.

*jin = 0.5 kg

*zhang = 3 metres