Chapter 285: The Terrifying Hou Xiaochen (IV)

In the air.

Red Hair wanted to say something, but his expression abruptly changed drastically. A fiery phoenix with chillingly indifferent eyes appeared in his mind the next second!

Trouble was upon him!

Red Hair threw his head back with a howl and erupted with formidable fire energy that rivaled a blazing sun. It was far more domineering than the power that Qiao Feilong or Sun Yifei had brought to bear in their peak condition. It erupted with spontaneity!

Roaring, Red Hair smashed out a punch that threatened to split the heavens and fracture the earth!

Others in the surroundings saw a man wielding a spear appear out of nowhere. The spear was flaming red and completely lacked any presence. It was ice cold, but also blazing hot. It stabbed into Red Hair’s chest, running him through!

Red Hair punched in response, but his blow came too late.

A cough sounded in the air—Hou Xiaochen pulled out his spear with a cough and swept it through the void. Red Hair’s eye-catching head with red locks vanished with a

bam!

A white handkerchief appeared in Hou Xiaochen’s hand; he wiped his mouth upon another cough. Freely flowing blood dyed the handkerchief red. He smiled gently and brandished his spear through the sky again.

Kaboom!

A bolt of thunder and lightning crashed through the sky as Violet Moon transformed into lightning and fled for her life!

“Now now, is there a need for that?” Hou Xiaochen chuckled. “I didn’t say I’d kill you. I can’t bear to, not with how docile you are. And you’re one of the Seven Moons. Ying Hongyue might come for me if I kill you too. Red Hair’s just part of the elder council, so it doesn’t matter if I kill him. Honestly!”

Continuing to chuckle, the man looked down and beamed at Li Hao. “See, Uncle Hou is still pretty strong! It’s just that I normally don’t fight because I’m injured. I cough blood as soon as I do anything!”

“......” The silence was stifling. There was no sound other than the escaping bolt of lightning.

He Yong quietly felt his way back from the edge of the cliff and took off running. Half Mountain shimmered in and out of sight before fully vanishing. The Parity King turned into a gust of wind with the Revolution King and disappeared without a trace. Powerhouses in the surroundings withdrew one after another.

Run!

No one dared remain behind. That move...

No one dared imagine it and no one could believe it! Hou Xiaochen... the sickly Hou Xiaochen almost bedridden for many years... This was his first time taking the field in all this time and his first offense, but he killed a Nova with one spear jab!

Hou Xiaochen was so terrifying that it was suffocating.

Some powerhouses hiding in the cliffs registered the development with highly unpleasant expressions. A few of them wore black uniforms—standard Night Watcher issue! They quietly retreated, only solemnity and fear on their faces. Hou Xiaochen! He’d... actually made a move!

......

On the ground.

Li Hao’s jaw dropped, Wang Ming’s jaw dropped. Everyone gaped foolishly upward.

Hou Xiaochen casually threw the Flaming Phoenix Spear to Hao Lianchuan and walked down from the sky, wracked by a coughing fit that intensified the color of blood on his handkerchief.

He flashed an urbane smile and approached Li Hao. “Is Uncle Hou impressive?”

“......” Li Hao swallowed hard before saying nervously, “Yes!”

“That’s more like it!” Hou Xiaochen laughed and looked around them. “That did it. See, haven’t they all left? They’ve been running their mouths nonstop these days. I would’ve jabbed them all to death a long time ago if it wasn’t for Hao Lianchuan taking the Flaming Phoenix Spear. They were so annoying!”

He looked at Hao Lianchuan with disappointed frustration. “You didn’t kill a single person with the Flaming Phoenix Spear! I wouldn’t have handed it to you if I’d known that would be the case!”

Hao Lianchuan opened his mouth, but found himself at a loss for words.

If I’d freaking known that you could kill a Nova with one strike, I... I...

He didn’t know what he should say!

It was now that everyone understood why the three great organizations didn’t dare run afoul of their director, despite losing so many people in Silver Moon. He was too strong! He was ridiculously strong!

And the key thing was, he was mercilessly decisive when he acted! He’d said that he’d give them to the count of three, but he attacked when he reached two!

“Alright, time to go. This place won’t open again until next month. Let’s head back. Ole Hao, clean up the premises. The bones of a Nova are precious, so we can’t waste them. Bring them back with us!” Beaming, Hou Xiaochen then patted Li Hao’s shoulder. “Little Li is not bad! Although you’re not as strong as your teacher, you’re worth one instance of protection from me. Your teacher promised to explore thirty ruins for me when I protected him, so what do you think you should do, Little Li?”

“......” Li Hao couldn’t find any words. He smiled stiffly, “I belong to the Night Watchers in life and my ghost belongs to the Night Watchers in death!”

“......” It was Hou Xiaochen’s turn to blink with stupefaction. “Ah... that’s... a little overkill. Be more specific!”

“I attack where you point!” Li Hao declared.

“Very good, you’ve got potential!” Hou Xiaochen grinned. “You’re better than your teacher. He didn’t keep his word and ran off before he finished thirty ruins. Don’t imitate him now!”

Li Hao continued smiling stiffly and didn’t say a word. Director Hou wrapped his arm around the young man and enthusiastically brought him up into the sky. The director was in quite a good mood!

There were still people hidden in the surroundings; they all watched from far away.

Hou Xiaochen!

His name would be known throughout Skystar Dynasty after today! Killing a Nova with one spear thrust! Silver Moon was still the place that once inspired fear in people’s hearts! After biding his time for so many years... No, perhaps it’d simply been that he hadn’t found anyone worthy of protecting in all this time. Hou Xiaochen didn’t seem to care about keeping a low profile, or he wouldn’t have killed a Nova so easily today.

They finally understood why Hou Xiaochen hadn’t been active since his last battle. There was no one who posed a sufficient threat to him and no one who dared threaten him!

......

The news swiftly traveled in all directions—the ruins were a mere afterthought in all of them. The main topic of discussion was Hou Xiaochen of Silver Moon.

How strong was he? Were his injuries real or fake? Was he one of the three commanders of the Skystar Guards of old? That would make him a Dominator twenty years ago!

All of Silver Moon was suddenly quiet. There were no powerhouses kicking up a fuss. The Parity King and Half Mountain were gone. Other Novas that dominated any place they visited ran off without doing anything in the province. Only Red Hair was eternally left behind. This place had buried too many Red Moon powerhouses already.

......

In the car.

Hou Xiaochen was still coughing. A petrified Li Hao sat next to him, doing his best imitation of a senseless zombie.

“Don’t be afraid, I don’t bite!” Hou Xiaochen laughed after his latest coughing fit. “Be a good boy and I’ll give you the big red shadow when we get back. You’ll be something then! A Nova scarlet shadow is an incredible nutrient!”

He laughed at himself. “I’m actually concerned that you won’t be able to digest it... Forget it, we can deal with that later. Little fellow, you get three days off after you get back. Report to me when you come back to work, understand?”

“Understood!”

“Good boy!” Hou Xiaochen ruffled his hair and then... kicked him out of the car. “Go on, go back to Silver City first and enjoy your vacation. Relax some. You have my word that no one will dare come for you at this moment!”

“Thank you, director!” Li Hao heaved a sigh of relief only when the car drove off into the distance.

Holy fuck that was scary! His blow felt like it rivaled the Gold Armor’s punch! No, maybe it was even stronger. The soldier killed a Solar, the director killed a Nova!

......

In the wilderness outside Rift Canyon.

An unmoving Li Hao stood dumbly on the spot. He grew lost in thought as the car slowly drove away. Someone appeared in the distance after an indeterminate period of time. Liu Long was here—he’d sprinted his way over at top speed. Wang Ming bounded along in his wake.

The two stopped beside Li Hao. Wang Ming was still in a state of being shocked senseless, whereas Liu Long’s mind was clear. There was stunned amazement clear to see in his eyes.

“Li Hao!” Liu Long called out, snapping the young man back to his senses.

“Chief!” The young man nodded.

“Are you alright?”

“What can happen to me?” Li Hao laughed, then turned serious. “Chief... do you think he’s really injured or fake injured?”

“I don’t know.” Liu Long shook his head, hard pressed to conceal his shock. “Too strong! He’s so strong that I don’t think we’re on the same plane at all! To think that Silver Moon would host such a character!”

Hou Xiaochen was well known in the province, but he was just the leader of the Night Watchers in a border province to the rest of Skystar Dynasty. He didn’t rank in the top three of the provincial rankings either.

The provincial government, the military headquarters, the Inspectorate headquarters... any of those leaders outranked him. But it was such a person today who cowed Skystar with one move! It was more incredulous than when Yuan Shuo killed a late Solar as this hadn’t been a battle, it’d been a complete trouncing!

Indeed, the results were so absolute that people suspected Red Hair still would’ve died had he been a little bit stronger.

Wang Ming was still dazed; he slowly came back to himself when he heard their conversation.

“Who cares, he’s our superior. This is great! The stronger the better!” He suddenly looked at the two with great agitation, thinking of something only now. “Li Hao, we’re rich!”

“......” The two stared blankly at the young supernatural. What was he mentioning this for? Yes, they’d struck it rich inside the ruins, but he didn’t need to wait until now to be excited, no?

“I don’t mean that,” Wang Ming continued excitedly. “I mean that the director just killed a Nova!”

Yeah, so?

The two failed to understand. There was a dead Nova out there that Hao Lianchuan had been asked to clean up.

Do you think that no one wants it and it’s available for you to scavenge? What are you thinking of?