I Never Praise Anyone
Thud! As Xu Ziye was soaring through the air, Mu Yu planted his foot on Xu Ziye’s face, driving the former in the opposite direction. Thud! Mu Yu speared Xu Ziye’s chest with a straight kick to the latter’s chest region. Mu Yu then thumped one side Xu Ziye’s face with his fist. Xu Ziye couldn’t see out of one eye any longer. Mu Yu created four Shadow Splitter Sword clones. He pierced one limb with each sword and then plunged the last one through Xu Ziye’s stomach.
As Xu Ziye’s blood poured out from his wounds, he felt his body heat leaking. He convulsed in the ground and breathed erratically. The reason for the cold sensation was poison.
“Gr-Gramps…”
Mu Yu gave Ku Mu a hug. The blood on Ku Mu fanned Mu Yu’s flames, partially for what was done to the elder and partially because he knew he was to blame.
“Sorry. Sorry, Shifu.”
Mu Yu, quivering, transferred vitality to Ku Mu.
“Why can I not get used to you calling me Shifu?” Ku Mu forced a smile in spite of blood coursing down the side of his mouth.
“Sorry, this is all because of me.” Mu Yu frantically pulled out an assortment of pills and then tried to calm himself.
“Relax, he won’t die,” Xiaoshuai said.
“That’s upsetting to hear,” joked Ku Mu.
Mu Yu smiled back and heaved a big breath. “Why did you aggravate him? You should’ve just cursed me. It’s not as if I care.”
“What, call you a useless sack of crap?” Ku Mu tried to put on a straight face. “If my disciple was useless, I’d kick him out.”
Once he finished treating Ku Mu’s wounds, Mu Yu asked, “Guess that means I’m still your disciple, then.”
“For now.”
“Hahaha, ah man… I swear I just heard you sing my praises.”
Ku Mu shot Mu Yu a glare. “Seems you aren’t useless but deaf. I never praise a soul.”
“I heard you loud and clear. What was it again? I’m your pride and something. What about me makes you proud?” Mu Yu helped Ku Mu sit up and adjusted his clothes.
“I told you you’re deaf. What’s there to be proud about, you angering me daily or worrying me?” Ku Mu weakly belted Mu Yu over the head.
“You’re a real handful. Does telling me the truth shave years off your lifespan or something?” mumbled Mu Yu.
Xiaoshuai helped repair Ku Mu’s bones. They left Xu Ziye to groan and moan alone on the ground.
When Mu Yu finally looked over to Xu Ziye, he switched from being a cordial young man to a man out for blood. He commanded his swords to elevate Xu Ziye into the sky.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” Xu Ziye didn’t even have the strength to bite his tongue hard enough.
“You should be grateful I gave you another fifteen minutes to live. Killing you straight away is too lenient.”
That was only part of the reason Mu Yu didn’t kill Xu Ziye despite being able to. He chose to prioritise Ku Mu’s wellbeing. It wouldn’t take him long to kill Xu Ziye. However, saving Ku Mu and watching him die could’ve been decided in a second.
“Wh-what do you want?!”
Xu Ziye regretted blabbering too much instead of finishing Ku Mu. He was another victim of villain syndrome – blithering instead of finishing the job and letting rescue come – without realising it.
“Gramps, what should we do with him?” Mu Yu turned around and amiably asked.
Softly, Ku Mu answered, “Let him go. We don’t need to get our hands dirty. Shi Dengtian will finish him off.”
“Shifu has no reason to kill me since I failed. You will regret letting me go,” mocked Xu Ziye.
“You don’t want to kill him? Fine.”
Mu Yu ejected the swords from Xu Ziye, letting the latter drop onto the ground. Xu Ziye’s vengeful desires were still written all over his face; however, he couldn’t move as Mu Yu cut his nerves. Squirming on the ground, he threatened, “I’ll have my rev-“
Xu Ziye looked down at the sword in his chest. The sword that ended his dreams was full of holes and ugly. With his last breath, he exclaimed, “Y-you said you wouldn’t kill me.”
Mu Yu tugged up the corner of his lips. “When? I wasn’t the one who said that.”
Mu Yu allowed his wood spirit to suck the vitality out of Xu Ziye until he died.
“I thought you don’t like killing people,” Ku Mu remarked. Ku Mu told Mu Yu to spare Xu Ziye precisely because he was aware Mu Yu disliked killing. It was unfair for him to force Mu Yu to carry a burden that should’ve been his to carry.
“I still don’t. Those who harm you don’t deserve to live, nevertheless. Besides, you praised me as your pride. I can’t let him live after you said that, can I?” answered Mu Yu, serious.
“I never praise anyone,” Ku Mu stressed, albeit dimpling. “… You don’t need to kill for my sake.”
“I realised it long ago. It’s kill or be killed in this world. I have no obligation to protect their lives if they don’t cherish their own lives.”
Boom! A firework reverberated across the sky, echoing for an extensive period. The firework gradually transformed into a cauldron. That was Pill Cauldron Sect’s signature cry for help signal. Mu Yu looked to Xu Ziye, or rather, the bloody mess on the ground. In Xu Ziye’s hand was a string for firing a signal.
“Won’t even give me a chance to save him in the end, huh?”
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