Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 64 - Rest in Peace

"Ah!!!"

It broke! His elbow had been shattered! His forearm dangled uselessly at his side, the skin pulled taut from clinging onto the broken joint. A piece of white bone, dripping with crimson blood, protruded from the tear.

Finn's eyes bulged, face contorted in pain. When had Li Wei hit him?!

"Arghhh!" Finn roared. He swung his right fist quickly. Suddenly, a shadow slashed through the air like a whip.

Bang!

A mixture of blood, tendons, bone fragments, and pieces of skin exploded in midair. Finn's forearm spun like a propeller.

Crack! Crack!

His bones cracked. He crumpled to his knees, blood gushing slowly down from his arm and into a small but quickly forming puddle underneath him. Pain radiated through his entire body in intense waves and the tear in his arm was so agonizing he felt like his heart was being crushed.

"Ha..." Finn's mouth gaped open. There wasn't a single spot on his face not covered in blood.

A tall figure walked over, and stared down at him coldly.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" A deep voice came from above. "To the point where it feels like your heart might stop?"

Trembling, Finn lifted his head. Fear gripped his heart so tightly he couldn't speak.

"Do you feel helpless now? Afraid?" The voice, tinged with sadness, paused. "Five years ago, a girl named Li Chu felt even more helpless, even more scared than you do now! She was raped by a beast, and even though she was clearly the victim, she didn't get any justice. Her brother was weak, her mother died, people pointed fingers at her, and the culprit was never caught.

"She killed herself... she killed herself! Damn it!" Rage, the kind of fury felt when someone ruined something beautiful he'd saved, surged through Cassius.

A strong hand shot out, seizing Finn like a small chicken. He lifted Finn up by the neck, ignoring the blood dripping down from his swinging legs.

Finn could see Cassius's bloodshot eyes and bulging veins running from his neck to his temples. The two boys locked eyes, the silence around them so thick that it seemed like it could solidify.

Cassius suddenly grinned. "Here's a thought: why don't you see how it feels like to die while your body and soul are slowly being devoured by despair and fear?"

Whoosh!

Like giant, roaring pythons, his two large hands suddenly shot out. Finn's body plummeted but was caught in Cassius's strong embrace before he hit the ground. Cassius’s muscles instantly swelled, turning slightly black. Inch by inch, his arms tightened until, like iron pillars, he began closing in on Finn. Like a dam that suddenly broke, a torrent of immense power surged from Cassius’s body and encased Finn.

"Ugh!"

Blood vessels spiderwebbed across the white of his eyes which already seemed like they were on the verge of popping out of their sockets. His breathing grew weaker under the pressure.

Crack, crack, crack...

Every one of Finn's bones screamed in agony.

"Haa..." A sound like a punctured bag squeezed out from his throat.

"I... I... I..." Finn wanted to say something, but he choked on the blood bubbling in his throat. He could only stare wordlessly at Cassius as blood streamed from his orifices. In a daze, he seemed to see himself falling into the depths of an ocean. There was a huge black whirlpool that spun around madly, with countless pale arms reaching out from the water to grab him.

"No—" Finn struggled, a last spurt of energy rocking through him as he sensed his end was near.

"I won't be seeing you again."

Crack!

Under the moonlight, a tall figure bent over in an embrace, while the person in that embrace had their waist broken, forming an exact "greater than" symbol.

Tap, tap, tap...

The pitter-pattering of footsteps became louder as Moses ran over. As soon as he saw the scene, he slowed down and walked over. Cassius raised his blood-spattered face. The shadows were dark, and in the faint moonlight, it threw his blank, rigid, and cold expression into sharp relief.

"It seems your killing intent surpasses mine, little brother." Moses smiled with satisfaction. They were indeed the same type of person.

"I was just killing a beast who should've died a long time ago," Cassius said, slinging Finn's body over his shoulder. "Should I throw him in the lake? Feed the fish?"

"Do whatever you want." Moses surveyed the bloodbath. "I'll clean this up for you." He extended his palm forward and felt a cool sensation on his palm. "Look, even the heavens are helping you. It's starting to rain..."

He didn't even finish speaking before lightning flashed through the layers of dark clouds in the sky, and rain poured down in torrents. The dense rain gradually formed a thick curtain across the sky. Cassius looked up at the hazy sky.

Thunder rumbled deep in the clouds like cannons while the relentless rain washed away the blood on his face. Even his heart, which had previously been in a state of turmoil, returned to cold stillness.

"Rest in peace, amen." This was directed to a girl lying in her grave.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had already passed.

It wasn't until the tenth day after Finn became fish feed in the lake that the Wind Elephant Sect finally realized his disappearance. The sect quickly sent people out to investigate, but they came back empty-handed.

Not to mention, ten days had already gone by. Even if they had searched right after the heavy rain, any traces of Finn would have been washed away.

Technology in the 1880s was a far cry from what Cassius remembered from the 21st century. There were no cameras, no specialized equipment, and no witnesses; they couldn't even figure out if Finn was missing or dead.

In a situation like this, the possibility of Cassius and Moses's clandestine actions being detected was near impossible. Cassius suspected that if the higher-ups of the Wind Elephant Sect ever figured out what he did, they would choose to cover it up and give him a slap on the wrist.

It was this confidence that made him act so decisively. With those worries out of the way, killing was a very simple matter.

The day after Finn sank to the bottom of the lake, Cassius went to the back mountain again and placed a bouquet of white flowers in front of Li Chu's tombstone. He had meant what he said before: he hoped Li Chu could rest in peace.

***

It was January 22, and the weather was clear.

Cassius sat cross-legged in the corner of a private room, expression solemn. Sunlight shone on his bare upper body. He looked like a bronze statue.

[Elephant Soul Incomplete: Prickling 100% (Stage Three)]

[Wind Elephant Fist Incomplete: Gale 100% (Stage Three)]

The final 0.5% was complete.

Cassius opened his eyes and exhaled. Stretching out his right hand, he placed a black bottle filled with liquid on the ground.

It was Fire Oil, a medicine specifically for breaking through thresholds!