The Sacred Ruins

Chapter 22: The Gate-Crasher

Panda Novel

The street was quiet and peaceful. Chu Feng walked along the narrow lane towards his house that was situated in the east end of the village. It was adjacent to the acres of orchid farm in a secluded and quiet location, but everything seemed ever so cozy and peaceful.

Would Yellow Ox get into trouble? This was a worry that bothered Chu Feng every time he left it by itself. The calf was seldom a law-abiding citizen of the house. Almost every action it committed went beyond its bounds. Although he had repeatedly urged it long ago to stay hidden whenever strangers approached, Chu Feng was not confident that Yellow Ox would abide by these rules.

Its golden fur looked staggeringly luster and bold in anyone's eyes. Everything about it seemed queer and out of place.

The yard was quiet. There were no sounds of men's shouting or ox's bellow. This was a slight relief to Chu Feng.

He frowned as he entered the yard. There was no-one to be seen. Weren't there someone looking for him? They should not have left the place so promptly.

Chu Feng had always been curious this whole time. He wanted to know who exactly wanted to see him when all means of transportation had been cut off, and stepping on anywhere could potentially mean harm or even death.

This time, he did not want to miss them. He was eager to meet up with them.

Suddenly, the shadow of a man emerged on the balcony at the second floor. It was the silhouette of a young man. Just as Chu Feng though,t it was only his imagination; the man showed himself on the balcony. He looked down at Chu Feng and measured him with his eyes.

Chu Feng was slightly unimpressed. He had never seen this man before, so it was indeed quite rude of him to barge into his house without any permission.

Chu Feng found it particularly distasteful when that young man still remained silent and calm, indifferently looking down at Chu Feng with an aloof expression. His demeanor made it as if he was the master of this house.

"Who are you?" Chu Feng asked. Was this one of the young lads referred to by Uncle Liu? But he could not recall ever seeing him before.

"Zuo Jun," the young man replied. He wore a clean buzz cut. His eyes were brimming with radiating vigor. One might not consider him handsome, but it was undeniable that he had a lot of class even as a young man. He looked swift and fierce, and quick and forceful.

One could easily tell that he was not just an ordinary man. He looked like someone who retired from special forces or at least the military.

But he was only a look-alike. An air of excessive vigor and conceit surrounded him, making him unlike someone who would be willing to accept orders.

"I don't know you." Chu Feng glared at him.

"You know me now, don't you?" Zuo Jun said. He was fairly composed. He measured Chu Feng with an intense gaze, as if he was surveying something from Chu Feng's body.

Chu Feng felt disgusted and averse to the treatment he was receiving from this stranger. He was at his own house, but this man seemed to have forgotten its status as a guest. His menacing stance and his careless attitude towards Chu Feng seemed to have turned him from a guest into a host.

"Get out of here if you have no business to deal with me. I said it and I will say it again. I don't know you! So, please get out!" Chu Feng gave orders for him to leave.

"Do you think I would be interested in staying at such a shabby slum. I have been entrusted by someone to pay you a visit," Zuo Jun said.

"Entrusted by whom?"

Zuo Jun did not reply. He completed a full circle around Chu Feng, measuring him with his eyes and acting recklessly as if he cared for nobody. He had been scrutinizing Chu Feng ever since he stepped into the yard, and now his gaze was only getting creepier and creepier.

"You're only a bit more handsome than them. Apart from this, nothing of you still stood out," Zuo Jun concluded.

"What a self-righteous prick." Chu Feng felt more and more disgusted. It was only the first time they met, so no-one had really known much about each other. However, this man somehow gave him such a conclusion.

"Don't feel offended. I'm only telling you the truth. Labelling you as 'ordinary' was to save you your face." Zuo Jun did not feel like being reserved in the comments he had been giving at all. He had the eyes of a hawk, looking straight into Chu Feng's eyes. "People like you are just too ordinary to be of any use. The world has changed, and I reckon if everything goes as planned, you will only become one of those who were usually classified as the bottom of the society. You are just a grassroot."

"Are you fxcking mad?" Clearly, the man's blatant insult had pushed Chu Feng over the edge. This young man talked with the magisterial authority of the head of something while he looked no more than just the pawn of a cult group.

"Get the fxck out of here!" Chu Feng pointed towards the gate of the yard.

"Get out?" There were full of thorny provocations in the eyes of Zuo Jun. His tanned face coupled with his stiff hair gave him the impression of an unyielding man.

"What makes you think that you're at the position to talk to me like that?" He shook his head in amusement.

"Do you really think so highly of yourself? What makes you think you can just bluff and bluster in front of my house? What makes you worthy of swaggering before others?" Chu Feng remained calm and restrained. He tried to the best of his ability not to hurt him.

"Do you think I came here just for you? Taihang Mountains is a magnificent mountain range. It is worthy to be called as one of the world's most renowned ranges. Nowadays, the world had become laden with piles of unexpected treasures, so my time is very precious. If it were not for the sake of someone whom I truly respect, what makes you think that I will come to this damnable place? I only stop by to check on you upon request of that respectable wo... old man," Zuo Jun coldly said.

"You can leave now. I don't need you to see me." Chu Feng looked at him with a frown. He would rather rot in a despicable dark corner than to be a receiver of a visit like this one.

Chu Feng no longer cared about him. He went straight upstairs into the study. There were some papers on which Yellow Ox had been scribbling when Chu Feng taught it how to write, and this was exactly where Zuo Jun had been barging in.

Zuo Jun sneered at Chu Feng. "Don't you see what the world has become? Well, I guess for people like you who live at the bottom of the society, coming in terms with the changes of the world is never possible, isn't it? These changes, however significant they are, can only be known to you afterwards, because you never understand how much of a difference there is between you and me."

He felt quite at will. He followed Chu Feng into Chu Feng's study.

"I will ask you again. Leave! Now!" Chu Feng had had enough of him, so he shouted.

"Fool!" The look on Zuo Jun's face turned cold. "Fools like you know nothing."

Then, he said with a contemptuous look, "It was only out of sheer luck that you've come to know that person. And now because that person values the past that you've had together, you have the fortune to see someone like me talking to you. But who knows what will turn out in the future. Once you've become a forgotten past, you will just be a speck of dust in the middle of a desert. Can you perceive the difference between gods and beggars? You crossed path with her during those teenage years. Spending a few days together during which you dared not to even walk abreast with her, but that is it. That's all that will rot in your memory in that pathetic brain of yours."

Chu Feng calmly watched him as he spoke, then he said, "Are you done? Now fxck off!"

"Don't shout and wrangl at me. Do you still not understand? The significant difference between you and me meant throwing insults at me like that is a sin. It's a condemnable blasphemy," Zuo Jun coldly said.

Then, he looked at Chu Feng and said, "Go pack up your stuff. You'll come with me to the city."

Chu Feng had to clench his jaw to suppress his anger as he gradually regained his composure. "Why are we going there?" Chu Feng asked. He struggled to contain his rage in order to know more about this man's plan.

"I am part of an excursion team responsible to investigate the area around Taihang Mountains. Right now, our men are resting in the city. Someone has asked me to keep you alive. That's my entrusted objective, so I will have to do my best to ensure the safety of yours," Zuo Jun calmly said.

"Excursion team? A group of men?" Chu Feng was baffled.

"Thank you, but I'm quite well here. I have no intention of moving to the city yet." Chu Feng refused his request, then he asked, "What sort of men and what sort of excursion team are you part of?"

Although he had made some possible conjectures on his mind, he wanted to make sure that they were right.

"As an ordinary man, it's for the better that you don't know the things you're not supposed to know. Just remain in your proper sphere, accept your position in life and behave yourself. You can keep your curiosity to yourself." Zuo Jun had lost his patience, so he demanded in a rather condescending attitude.

"You can leave now, and I'm coming with you." Chu Feng exited the study.

"You really think you're a tough scrub, don't you? Do you want me to call over the others to pick you up?" Zuo Jun threatened.

"Huh?"

Zuo Jun noticed a black dagger in an inadvertent glimpse as he passed by Chu Feng's bedroom. He paused there at once, then he headed directly towards it.

"Don't mess with it!" With a sharp reflex, he tailed right after Zuo Jun and grabbed the dagger before he did.

"Judging by the antiquity and ancientry of it, this is definitely an extraordinary piece of weaponry. Did you run into it by coincidence? Give it to me! I want to see!" Zuo Jun lowered his voice and said in an imposing manner. His request sounded almost like a commanding order.

It was the black dagger Chu Feng took from that ancient dead man hanged in that tangle of vines. There was also a fallen satellite on the site that had stirred him up quite a bit.

"This is my possession. How I got it is none of your business." Chu Feng rejected.

"The sword body is actually not bad. In addition, it also has this vintage feel attached to it. How about this? You give me this dagger as a gift presented to me at this first meeting of ours, and I will take care of you in the future. Otherwise, it will only become a waste in the hands of an ordinary person like you. The fact that it stayed in your possession is like casting pearls before the swine."

Zuo Jun made no scruples when speaking these uncivil words, since there was nothing that made him feel qualm. His words were especially egocentric and piercing to the ears of those who listened.

Chu Feng coldly looked at him without speaking a word.

"Give it to me!" Zuo Jun stretched out his hand, demanding for the dagger.

Chu Feng ignored him.

Zuo Jun went a step further and tried to take it by force. He knew that this dagger would have been an outstanding weaponry the moment he saw it. How could he bear to leave it in the hands of someone he thought unworthy of keeping it?

Boom!

At this moment, Chu Feng's forbearing restraint disappeared into thin air. He wanted to exercise restraint no more, so he threw a deadly punch straight into the kidney area of Zuo Jun's body. Upon impact, his torso became crooked like a dried sea shrimp. The blow sent him into the air with a thunderous rumble.

Agony was written all over his face. He looked pale and shocked. It was hardly worthy of his belief that he could be wounded by whom he perceived as a despicable ordinary man. He could feel that it was a blow of immense strength and intensity.

Chu Feng felt extremely powerful. At this very moment, his body looked slightly glittering and translucent. That fragrant smell emanated from his body. If this had been happening in the ancient times, it could have been said that Chu Feng had been sanctified.

What a mighty punch that was!

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