Chapter 181 - A Call That Arrived Too Late

There was once an enormous family that obtained the rarest mystical art underneath the heavens.

It was just that it was impossible for one person to complete cultivating this mystical art at the beginning. The mystical art needed two people to cultivate separately, with each person cultivating half of it.

It was best for the cultivators to be two brothers.

When the time was appropriate, one person would transfuse his internal art to the other person’s body, combining together to form the complete cultivation technique.

And so, one of the two would become the other person’s human cauldron.

Only one cultivator would know of this matter out of the two. The little brother that acted as the human cauldron from the very beginning wouldn’t know.

The family’s influence was far too great. The older brother knew that it was impossible to openly resist his family. He knew that if he were to tell his little brother of this matter, then his little brother would immediately become his sacrificial victim.

To protect his little brother, to make it so that his little brother could escape from his lamentable fate, the older brother made a decision. He would carry everything on his own shoulders! As long as his little brother could still live, then it was all worth it even if he was hated by his little brother.

By being ignored and provoked, the little brother strove to increase his own strength. What the older brother saw made him quite happy in his heart, though he still expressed ruthless emotions that caused him to be hated.

He didn’t care even if all the people under the heavens misunderstood his actions. As long as his little brother could continue to live, it was all worth it.

This lasted all the way until this mission. In this mission, the older brother expressed a contest over meritorious service on the surface in order to save his little brother, inflicting heavy injuries to his own little brother.

Not a single person knew that his despicable sneak attack let his little brother avoid a bullet from piercing his heart. It was this palm strike and its true energy that instantly protected his little brother’s heart.

Then he quickly flew to block another bullet, a bullet that should have shot his little brother dead.

Then he used his own blood and his true energy and transfused them to his little brother. This way his little brother could have the Phaseless Water Bird Art and the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Art form together into the complete….

After the story was told, Qin Fen silently looked at Du Peng.

Du Peng sat blankly on his bed. He looked at Qin Fen in a daze. His neck began to turn bit by bit. “It can’t be… it can’t be… it can’t be… it can’t be…. it has to be fake… fake….”

His many years of understanding were completely toppled in this instant. Du Peng instantly collapsed. He knew just how sincerely Qin Fen spoke these words. He knew what the possibility of all these words being true could be, but he was incapable of accepting that it was all true.

To ignore Du Peng, to suppress Du Peng for so many years, to be hated for so many years by Du Peng, Du Zhanpeng actually… actually….

Qin Fen took the metal box, which Du Peng had tossed aside like trash, back into his hands. He quietly placed it before Du Peng. “I think this is a gift he was going to give you, not something that would hurt you.”

“It can’t be… it can’t be… Du Zhanpeng is not this kind of person… not only does he speak insults to me, he often orders my mother about. He never truly looked me in the eyes… it can’t be…” It was as if Du Peng had lost his remaining strand of self-control. He raised the hand to knock away the metal box in Qin Fen’s hand. “It can’t be… it can’t be….”

“There are a few more words that he said as he lost consciousness. I will repeat them to you right now. Thinking about it, he probably really wanted to tell you with his own mouth, but he no longer has the chance.” Qin Fen’s words carried a bit of grief. “Little brother. Big brother has always been mean to you every time in the past. I am sorry. Big brother apologizes to you. Please forgive your big brother.”

“Shut up! I will not listen to this! Shut up!” Du Peng’s two hands covered his ears with force as he shouted loudly, “Shut up! I will not listen!”

“Stupid kid. There is no big brother in this world that hates his own little brother. I can only do this much for you. Please don’t blame your big brother. Do you know? In all my life, the greatest desire this big brother has is to hear you call out to me and say…”

“It can’t be… It can’t be…. Du Peng stared straight at Qin Fen. His body was shivering endlessly. His two legs had already fallen to the ground at some unknown time.

Thud….

He kneeled on the ground, his two hands flailing about like crazy without end. As soon as he touched the box with the biochemical beast, he simply held it in his hands.

He shuddered as he took out the biochemical beast egg from the box. “This… this has to be to hurt me….”

Qin Fen took the red metal box from Du Peng’s hands. He carefully turned the metal box, before propping up the black foam that held the biochemical beast egg. He pushed the metal box before Du Peng once again.

“Happy birthday.”

The words were simple, and they were engraved at the bottom of the box.

Words could carry the emotions of a person at the time. These two words seeped with a sort of happiness and delight.

Du Zhanpeng was a difficult man. He was also a careful man. He was good at hiding his own emotions. He could even trick the Viper King. However, he was an older brother in the end.

As an older brother, he still needed to express his emotions. He knew that Du Peng would certainly not go looking around this metal box. Therefore, he engraved these words beneath the black foam of the metal box.

“Happy birthday… happy birthday….”

Du Peng stared at the metal box in his hands. He was dazed. Today really was his birthday of eighteen years old.

“It can’t be… it can’t be….” Du Peng continued to shake his head. He stared ferociously at Qin Fen. “Where is Du Zhanpeng? I want to hear him tell these lies to me himself, I won’t be played around! I won’t believe this! Bring me to see him! Bring me to see him!”

“Do you want to see him?” Xing Wuyi stood at the open door to the room. His entire face was filled with tear marks as he said, “That’s good too. Follow me. I will bring you to him. I will bring you to him.”

“Okay!” Du Peng pulled the IV tubes off the back of his hand. His footsteps were bit staggered as he quickly followed behind. “Bring me to see him.”

“Patient, right now you can’t….”

“Get lost!”

Du Peng roared, pushing the nurse onto to the ground.

The nurse sat on the ground, staring blankly at Du Peng’s back. It wasn’t too long ago that this man had a face that carried a hint of tenderness and a smile. How did he turn so terrifying so quickly?

Qin Fen gently supported the nurse and helped her up. “Apologies, my friend’s mood is very unstable. I will bring him back in a bit.”

“Okay… Okay….” The nurse was given quite a fright from the sinister face of Du Peng. “His body is still extremely weak. The injury to his chest as yet to completely heal as well….”

Before the nurse could finish with her warning, Qin Fen had already chased after Du Peng and Xing Wuyi.

The funeral hall….

Du Zhanpeng’s body was covered with the flag of the Federation. He lay silently in the crystal coffin that was filled to the brim with flowers. There was a hint of a delighted smile on his lips; it hadn’t faded.

He was very serene, as if he had died in his sleep.

People wearing black clothes came before the coffin one by one. They quietly bowed, and they quietly left. The entire funeral hall was filled with a stifling grief.

Standing to the two sides were the relatives of the Du Family.

Grief, more or less, could be seen on the faces of these people.

Among the crowd were two young men who looked somewhat similar to Du Peng and Du Zhanpeng. Their faces carried grief but they were unable to suppress their secret delight in their eyes.

A wave of hurried footsteps broke the silence of the funeral hall. Everyone raise their heads to look in puzzlement.

Who dared make a racket today during this time? Could it be that they weren’t scared of offending the Du Family?

Xing Wuyi was the first to appear in the line of sight of the crowd. He quietly stood at the entrance to the funeral hall. He looked at Du Peng, who followed closely behind. “You see him yet? Young Master Du is lying there.”

Everyone’s line of sight immediately focused on Du Peng, who was wearing the clothes of the patient.

Du Yu’s eyes were filled with astonishment. How was it possible for Du Peng to appear here? What did he come here for? Did he want to cause chaos in the funeral hall?

“Du Zhanpeng….” Du Peng crossed into the funeral hall with the step. His eyes pulsated with a complicated light as he walked with large strides to the crystal coffin.

“Halt.”

Two people had shouted from within the crowd. The two young men, whose appearances were similar to that of Du Peng, leaped out, blocking Du Peng’s path.

“You should not be in this place. Get lost.”

“You are not welcome here. You killed Du Zhanpeng. How do you have the face to come here?”

Du Peng’s footsteps stopped. Cold disdain floated to the surface of his eyes. “Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng. I am not in a good mood today. You guys can get lost for me.”

The two young men’s faces were immediately covered with a layer of cold ice.

Everyone knew that Du Zhanpeng was the object of daily grooming of the Du Family.

Indeed, the two couldn’t compare to Du Zhanpeng. Even if they wanted to fight over the spot of successor, they lacked the qualifications.

Du Zhanpeng died today, and Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng knew that their chance had arrived! As long as they had a good performance, fiercely giving a humiliating lesson to the bastard who killed Du Zhanpeng, perhaps there was a chance to catch the eyes of Du Hen and become the new successor.

Hearing Du Peng’s words, the two raised her arms to go push at his shoulders. Their palms appear to be ordinary, but they secretly added the internal energy of a hidden art, one that would be released upon contact with the body.

“Get lost!”

Du Peng did not avoid or dodge. His two palms clashed with one palm from each of the two brothers.

Three forces secretly collided together, letting out the sound of a wooden stick beating a blanket. Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng swayed beneath their feet, retreating two steps back before they could stand firm with their bodies.

Du Peng’s upper body merely swayed slightly, but his feet did not perform any retreat at all.

Everyone present learned martial arts. They were able to see the actions that occurred between the three people in this funeral hall.

Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng were both stunned. The hidden blast of energy from Du Peng’s palm was pure and extensive. Du Peng’s body shouldn’t have rocked. His face also shouldn’t have changed to be even more deathly pale.

In this moment of their stupefaction, a faint scarlet red appeared on the clothes on Du Peng’s chest.

He’s injured! Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng locked gazes for a moment. The smile on their lips slowly spread to their entire faces.

“You will have to beat us if you want to come here!”

Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng pounced forth the moment they spoke these words. At this moment, they no longer hid unleashing their power. Instead, they simply revealed their powers in totality.

“Get lost.”

With the yell from Du Peng, dark red marks before his chest grew greater. His two eyes suddenly exploded with a radiant light. His two legs trod the ground, and his entire body exploded like a general of the ancient battlefield mounted on a warhorse. The sound of his body rubbing against the air was akin to the scream of a warhorse. His two arms were akin to enormous hatchets, cleaving down with the power of war blades, simply splitting apart the aura of his two cousins.

The sharp and tyrannical aura of the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Cleaving Calvary appeared once more within Du Peng’s hands at this moment!

Du Peng’s mood was currently situated in an extremely unsteady state. This move lacked the tyrannical aura that Du Zhanpeng possessed on that day by several folds, but there was an addition of madness inside.

Not one of Du Chaoqun and Du Zhanpeng, the two brothers, ever expected that Du Peng would suddenly strike out with the ultimate technique that only Du Zhanpeng should know. They had already rushed upon Du Peng. It was already too late for them to make a successful dodge. They could only brandish her palms to clash with force, hoping that Du Peng was only acting to scare people.

A burst of concentrated punches, kicks, and muscles collided. Du Chaoqun and Du Chaopeng were sent flying back left and right. They were caught by other people in the crowd, and only then did people discovered that the two brothers’ arms were bent at odd angles. It was impossible for them to hang down.

Splat…

A mouthful of blood sprayed out from Du Peng’s mouth. A large patch of red also appeared on his back.

His body had been struck by a bullet. Even though the bullet had not struck his heart, the location had been close to the heart. Some of the veins of his heart were injured.

Three days of recovery and treatments, even with the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Art protecting the body, was incapable of allowing Du Peng through truly make a complete recovery. It was already a miracle for him to get off his bed and walk. Fighting was certainly an act of self-harm for him at the moment.

After Du Peng finished spraying out the mouthful of blood, he continued to tread another footstep, as if he didn’t know what pain was at all.

This time, the person to block his way was Du Yu!

Du Yu was higher in stature than Du Peng. A stifling powerful pressure emitted from his body. He looked down at Du Peng and faintly said, “You should go. You are not welcome here.”

“No.” Du Peng firmly shook his head. “Either you let me see him or I die.”

Du Yu slowly raised an arm. “Then die.”

A palm of thunder was thrust forward just now, the air actually faintly ringing with the sound of a thunderstorm.

Du Peng unleashed power simultaneously with his waist and with his legs through the horse stance. He used God Bears the Pagoda, completely ignoring the difference in levels between him and his opponent.

Bang….

The stone slab’s beneath Du Peng’s feet instantly turned to powder. A stream of red bloodshot out from his back and chest at the same time.

A strike of the seven-star level!

Everyone understood very well that Du Yu hadn’t used his entire strength.

When facing a five-star martial artist with heavy injuries, if Du Yu had used his full strength, that would not raise Du Yu’s might. It would only lead him to be known as someone who relied on being powerful to crush the weak and it would give him the title of someone who bullied heavily injured martial artists.

Du Peng slowly raised his head. It was as if there was a heavy object of ten thousand pounds weighing against his neck. He opened his mouth revealing scarlet teeth. “Can I make my way past you now?”

The silent funeral hall grew even more silent at this moment. Everyone looked at Du Yu in a daze.

Without replying at all, Du Yu slowly moved his feet, making some space.

Du Peng arrived before the crystal coffin. He looked quietly at Du Zhanpeng, who looked to be sleeping peacefully inside. Scenes of his memories began to flash in his mind.

Seventeen years old.

“Bastard, you will forever be trash in your life.”

Sixteen years old.

“Bastard, why don’t you go to hell?”

Fourteen years old.

“Bastard, you have enough qualifications?”

Five years old.

“Bastard, what can you do even if I snatch your toy?”

Four years old.

….

His memories at four years old and younger were practically blank….

Du Peng never recalled having memories of being four years old and younger. However, he remembered this time.

“Uh-oh, how did you fall? It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt. Big brother will blow on it for you.”

“Can you stand up? Come, I’ll carry you.”

“Upsy-daisy. I am your big brother. This is what I should do.”

“Grandfather, I was the one who broke the vase. It has nothing to do with my little brother.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m your big brother, after all. It is my job to help you.”

“Haha, we are brothers….”

Memories, covered in dust, came bubbling forth like a tide.

Du Peng gazed blankly at the crystal coffin. He looked at Du Zhanpeng, whose body was covered with the flag of the country. He mumbled to himself. “Get up. Get up. Get up. Don’t just lie there. Get up. Get up. Do you think you’re so great? You think that you don’t owe me like this? Get up… I said, get up….”

His mumbling voice grew louder and louder. In just a few seconds, his voice turned into yells of hysteria. “Get up! Come on, get up! Get out of this crystal coffin! Do you think you are so great? You think that you don’t owe me like this? Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up for me! You owe me. You will owe me forever! Get up for me. Give me what you owe me before you die! I don’t want your blood! Take back the blood you transfused into my body! I don’t want it! I don’t want it!”

Everyone in the funeral hall looked at Du Peng as if they were looking at a crazy tiger. It had been a long time since anyone could tell whether the liquid in his eyes was that of tears or blood. His deathly pale face was also stained by tears of blood.

His two legs were incapable of supporting his body any longer. He knelt and lay atop the crystal coffin. He smacked the crystal coffin, which was not very sturdy, with two hands using force.

Du Peng, who had just taken on Du Yu’s palm, had a body that was on the brink of collapse. The internal energy within his body had been instantly depleted at that moment. No matter how he struck, he was incapable of breaking the crystal coffin. The quiet hall resonated with the sound of his hands striking the crystal coffin.

“Get up! Get up…big bro you should get up…”