Bizarre Cultivation: Starting from Being Beaten Up by Reality

Chapter 180 Are you even human?

The drizzling rain blurred everything into a misty haze.

However, this had almost no effect on Zhan Peng, who could clearly see Lin Fan's 'knife' movement.

Zhan Peng's first instinct was to dodge, but he found it was too late.

Fast, too fast.

With the boost from the concentrated energy, the speed naturally increases exponentially. Even though Lin Fan's movements are easy to predict, the absolute speed makes dodging dangerous.

Relying on muscle memory, Zhanpeng made the most reasonable judgment in almost no time.

He stepped back slightly, bent his knees, and assumed a half-horse stance, blocking Lin Fan's sword strike with his horizontal blade.

These actions were performed in a single, instantaneous motion.

boom!

Zhanpeng simply took two steps back to dissipate the force and immediately regained his footing.

Clang.

The scabbard broke in two, falling to the left and right, revealing the long, black sword inside.

Zhanpeng's tiger's mouth was slightly bleeding, his twisted fingers were also a little red and swollen, and the clothes on his arm were worn out.

Lin Fan, having just landed a successful blow, didn't even have time to rejoice before quickly asking, "Third brother, are you alright?"

Zhan Peng smiled and shook his head, "It's just a minor injury, nothing to worry about. I should be happy for you, brother. If that attack had been delivered by a third-level martial artist, they would have been seriously injured, if not killed. This level of sword technique is already quite formidable. Even if it's just one move, it can be very useful if used properly."

Lin Fan breathed a sigh of relief in the rain, "What if it's a fourth-level martial artist?"

Zhan Peng shook his head, "There is an insurmountable gap between fourth-tier and third-tier martial artists."

Lin Fan realized that Zhan Peng had "hit" him three times, while he had only managed to land one strike, and that was blocked, significantly reducing its power. Of course, the outcome of a real battle also depends on factors like weapons and the effectiveness of the "power pill." However, it must be said that, based on this situation, the chances of winning a head-on fight against a fourth-tier martial artist were slim. He wondered if he could cut off one of his opponent's hands if he risked his life.

The two took shelter under the eaves to avoid the rain. Two towels floated out of the house. Zhan Peng took one in a daze and used the other to wipe Lin Fan's head and body.

"A fourth-level martial artist can already sense the energy of heaven and earth, making it difficult for ordinary sneak attacks and illusions to work. Moreover, their grasp of the timing of offense and defense has reached a level of perfection. If you face one, brother, you must be very careful."

Zhan Peng knew that Lin Fan was asking these questions to guard against the constable surnamed Li, so he naturally tried his best to tell him about the situation of fourth-level martial artists.

"But in the end, a fourth-level martial artist is still a mortal. Although their abundant blood and qi can intimidate some demons, they still have little power to resist some mysterious techniques."

This is very clear; it shows a kind of honesty in revealing one's weaknesses.

Lin Fan nodded his thanks, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey!" Zi Yue patted Lin Fan's half-dry hair. "Are you still thinking about how to get rid of Li Hao?"

Lin Fan nodded, "I will try my best to avoid fighting with him, but I also need to consider the situation where it is unavoidable."

Zhan Peng thought Lin Fan was talking to him, so he said, "Brother, there's no need to worry. With the two of us working together, we're guaranteed to be safe."

Lin Fan shook his head again, "I'm afraid he's not alone."

Zi Yue pinched Lin Fan's ear, "So you better behave yourself and don't get any funny ideas."

Lin Fan didn't answer, but looked at his hands. The two fingers that had been cut off had been reattached. Although they weren't as flexible as the originals, at least he had all ten fingers back.

Just then, the rain stopped, a long rainbow appeared in the sky, and the setting sun was almost below the mountains.

Lin Fan wanted to say something more to Zhan Peng when Sun Ruolan came from the front hall to call the two of them to dinner.

Lin Fan went into the front hall, where a table of food was laid out. Although it was not very oily, the portions were large and filling, and there were no unpalatable scraps.

The millet porridge was steaming hot, the pickled vegetables were finely chopped and glistening, and there was even tofu on the table.

After expending so much energy, Lin Fan and Zhan Peng were naturally hungry. They greeted everyone and sat down next to the male host to start drinking porridge and eating vegetables from their large bowls.

"Don't rush to eat, there's more food to come," the male head of the household said to everyone.

Sure enough, a young cook wearing a scarf came out from behind, carrying a bowl of oily vegetable soup.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhan Peng paused his chopsticks and stared at the cook.

The cook was indeed beautiful, with an oval face and willow-leaf eyebrows. However, her lifelike face was clearly carved from wood; her unblinking wooden eyes were lifeless, and her slightly smiling lips were frozen in place.

Zhan Peng had heard Lin Fan explain it before, so he naturally knew what was going on, but he just couldn't help it—how could such a thing happen?

Unable to resist, he tentatively approached the head of the household, "Good second brother, I see that your house has quite convenient mechanisms, and you cook excellent dishes, which I greatly admire. May I ask how you acquired them?"

The man took the soup, took a sip, and replied with some self-satisfaction, "Of course, she used to be my wife."

At this point, the man glanced at the middle-aged woman sitting in the corner eating with her child; she was clearly his current wife.

Seeing that the other party did not react, he continued, "She was my wife twenty years ago. She has always been an excellent cook, famous far and wide. Sir, please don't try to take advantage of her. I won't sell her for any amount of money."

Zhan Peng finally couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed the man's collar and pulled him over, saying, "Are you even human? You've turned your wife into this state and then use her like a tool every day!"

The man was initially surprised and suspicious. Of course he was surprised and suspicious, because when he first saw these people bringing mechanical beasts and a woman whose body was half-mechanical, he felt an immediate affinity for them, thinking that even if they weren't locals, they must be related to them.

You see, he really disliked strangers passing by. Some of them would make a big fuss and shout as soon as they came up; some would grope his ex-wife; and some would do anything to buy her back.

Then came anger, and then rage! How could he not be furious? Imagine someone running into his house, grabbing him by the collar, and trying to lecture him—who wouldn't be furious?

"You lunatic! Let me go! What are you doing?! Who do you think you are?!"

So the man tried to break free while throwing punches at Zhan Peng. But he found that he couldn't break free at all; the man's hands were like iron clamps, and he absolutely couldn't escape without tearing his clothes.

The punch, thrown with all his might, was useless. The man punched it with all his might, but it felt like he had hit an earthen wall. He only felt pain in his hand.

After struggling for a while and realizing it was futile, the man naturally began to soften his stance, and his tone became polite, "Sir, is there some misunderstanding? My family is a kind and honest family."

After speaking, he looked around. His family members had already mustered their courage and rushed over. His eldest son was punching and kicking Zhanpeng, but it was clearly having no effect. His wife was clinging to one of Zhanpeng's legs, begging him to let go. The scene was chaotic.

The people who came with this person ate in silence, and no one came to persuade them or help them.

So he continued to explain in detail, “Sir, you may not know this, but my ex-wife was seriously ill twenty years ago and was on the verge of death. But she couldn’t bear to leave me, so we went up the mountain together and asked the abbot to take pity on her and let her be enlightened by the Bodhisattva. Since then, although she can no longer speak, she can look at me every day.”

After saying this, the man even shed a few tears, showing his genuine feelings.

Zhanpeng calmed down and found it all rather pointless, so he let go of the man and stopped worrying about whether what he said was true or false.

That's true. What does it matter if this person is real or fake? There are so many people in these eighteen villages. Some of them are doing this with good intentions, while others are doing it with selfish motives.

To be honest, Zhanpeng couldn't quite figure out exactly how to distinguish, handle, and resolve these matters.

As for the others, they also know that they are powerless to change anything.

This is different from the time of Lin Fugui, when there was a ringleader, but here there are only villagers who don't know right from wrong.

Even at that time, apart from Lin Fan, everyone else was only thinking about escaping.

As for Lin Fan, the only one who might do something amazing, he was just eating quietly, too quietly for his age.

Because Lin Fan had his own things to think about, he couldn't care less about others for the time being.

So the meal was finished quietly, and everyone left in a bad mood.

The homeowner dared not kick them out, nor did he offer them any other hospitality; he simply wanted to wait until they left on their own the next day.

There was no hot water to take a bath at night, so I just wiped myself down and went to bed.

Lin Fan lay on his back with his eyes open; how could he possibly fall asleep?

Zi Yue lay on her side, looking at him sideways, "A-Cheng, are you really going to be so honest and do nothing?"

Lin Fan sighed, "Didn't you persuade me? Now you're complaining that I'm too honest?"

Lin Fan was silent for a moment, then continued, "Actually, I was waiting for you to fall asleep, and then..."

"And then?" Zi Yue asked curiously, her big eyes blinking.

"I have a date with a married woman," Lin Fan said mysteriously.

Zi Yue's expression changed instantly, her eyebrows furrowed, and she began to pinch Lin Fan's face, saying, "You're getting bolder and bolder."

Lin Fan finally smiled slightly, pleased that his plan had succeeded.

After saying that, Ziyue got out of bed in a huff, "If you don't sleep, I won't sleep either."

Zi Yue took out Lin Fan's clothes and started mending them with a needle and thread. "Speaking of which, A-Cheng, haven't you had too much luck with women since you came here? One wave after another has been pursuing you."

Lin Fan remained lying on his back, answering unhappily, "They're all rotten suitors, I don't understand why. I feel like that swarm of flies attracted to a rotten flower."

Ziyue was amused by these words and laughed for a while, but then suddenly stopped laughing because she realized that she seemed to be one of the flies as well.

Instead of getting furious when Lin Fan called her a fly, Zi Yue suddenly thought of something and pointed at the red sickle on the table.

"Acheng, I never knew you had such a beautiful woman hiding here."

With a flick of her jade-like fingers, Ziyue conjured a tall, naked woman covered only by black hair.

Zi Yue leaned closer to the towering twin peaks, clicking her tongue in amazement, "Acheng, this is the rotten peach blossom you were talking about."

However, when she looked up and saw the black dog's head on the neck of the red-clothed curse, she hissed, "What made you pick up this kind of taste? No matter how much pressure you're under, you have to maintain your mental health."

Lin Fan finally couldn't stand her nonsense anymore and wanted to explain, but he was powerless to do so. He even understood that Zi Yue was deliberately trying to provoke him into arguing with her to distract him from something else. Because even Lin Fan knew that since he had to wait, thinking about it further was pointless.

"Although there is some fur to cover it up, it is still inappropriate to be naked." Ziyue said, and with another wave of her hand, Hongyi Zhou was dressed in a bright red new outfit.

With some subtle adjustments to reflect Ziyue's modern aesthetic, the elaborate accessories of the wedding dress were removed, and it was changed to a short-sleeved and short-skirted style, revealing her fair legs and hands.

Nodding in satisfaction, Ziyue resumed sewing.

The woman in red watched from the side, occasionally offering some help, but seemingly diligently learning how to sew clothes.

After midnight, Lin Fan got up and went outside. Zi Yue immediately put down her work and followed him, while Hong Yi Zhou naturally picked up the clothes on the table and began to sew them herself.

Lin Fan tiptoed like a thief to the courtyard where they practiced swordsmanship at dusk. Sun Ruolan sat cross-legged on a futon, her eyes closed. Her two wooden hands were in two positions: one hand clasped together, the other holding prayer beads and counting.

Although dressed in the simple clothes of a cook and with her hair in a bun, Sun Ruolan still possessed the air of a Buddhist nun.

She noticed Lin Fan's arrival, opened her eyes and glanced at him, then pulled over another futon and gestured for him to sit next to her.

Lin Fan also tried to sit cross-legged, but with his old back and legs, the posture was indeed a bit stiff and awkward.

Lin Fan couldn't recite it from memory, so he took out a Buddhist scripture from his pocket. Fortunately, he had excellent night vision and could barely see the words by the moonlight. He could then recite along with Sun Ruolan when she read the beginning again.

Holding this Buddhist scripture, one would naturally think of one's deceased mother. It would be impossible not to feel disgust and fear towards her. Even if one had personally killed that craftsman bodhisattva, one would still feel uneasy.

Ultimately, the more fearless one is when their blood boils, the more timid they become when they calm down.

Zi Yue finally realized what Lin Fan was going to do, and stepped forward to grab his hand. "Acheng, is it really necessary to do this? Exchanging your body for a demon, I have a feeling that nothing good will come of it."

Lin Fan lowered his head and remained silent. He didn't need to explain the benefits of a wooden body to Zi Yue; she certainly understood.

He thought for a moment and said, "Any effort is worthwhile to get home."

Zi Yue's face turned cold. "You're not just trying to go home, are you? And after what you've done, are you even human? Are you still yourself?"

Lin Fan said firmly, "Yes, going home isn't just about returning physically; my heart needs to go home too. Therefore, I need to settle everything here so that I can go back without regrets. I can't control the overall situation, but at least I must settle the things that are related to me."

Sun Ruolan opened one eye and looked at Lin Fan. Seeing that Lin Fan was talking to the air with his head facing away from her, she knew that Lin Fan was not talking to her.

After all, Lin Fan's behavior didn't just start recently, so Sun Ruolan wasn't surprised.

However, she noticed that Lin Fan's tone had changed somewhat during this time. After all, he had been quite hostile towards her hallucination before.

Did they make up? Or did they switch partners?

Sun Ruolan sighed inwardly, deciding it was best not to meddle in other people's family affairs.