Chapter 24

The heavy rain lashed down like a whip, shaking the earth and sky.

The three people had been fighting in the rain for quite a while.

Ding Ning had two knife wounds on his body, blood seeping out continuously. The man had been thrown against the wall by Ding Ning and had a large bruise on his forehead.

The old woman's arm was broken, and one of her ribs was fractured. She held a knife in her left hand, trembling in the wind and rain.

Although they were both seriously injured, it was clear that Ding Ning was about to give out. His heart was pounding like a drum, and it could stop at any moment.

The two people showed cruel smiles. The man said with a confident air, "Fatty, you're full of energy and don't look as disgusting as other fat people. I bet your meat will taste good."

Ding Ning's face turned pale in the rain as he looked at the man and asked, "Have you eaten people before?"

"Not often, not as much as this old woman."

Ding Ning's gaze fell on the old woman, who actually licked her lips. "Hehe, I only eat what's good. Fatty, you hurt me, so I'll personally dig out your heart and liver and roast them, just like I did with that poor student who offended me last time."

Ding Ning's eyes grew colder, and he clenched his left hand into a fist. "Old beggar, you will die."

"Is that so? I'd like to see if you have the ability to do that."

Seeing that Ding Ning was at the end of his strength, the old woman, holding a knife in her left hand, pounced again. She opened her mouth, revealing a set of yellow teeth. A flash of lightning illuminated her distorted and fierce face.

Ding Ning took a deep breath. When the old woman entered his mental range, he suddenly crushed the spring character charm in his hand!

"Another useless piece of yellow paper, praying to the gods won't help you..."

A large amount of water fell from the sky, drenching the old woman.

Ding Ning's recent performance had made them lose their necessary vigilance. The man didn't even attack in sync with the old woman, giving Ding Ning a perfect opportunity.

The amount of water was enough to fill two bathtubs. The old woman, caught off guard, was hit directly, losing her balance and stumbling toward Ding Ning.

Seeing the old woman's head right in front of him, Ding Ning's eyes turned cold. He extended his hands, grabbed her head, and with a powerful twist of his arms, turned it to the sides!

Ding Ning had hoped to break her neck with this move, but the old woman's body was too frail, and her entire body was twisted.

Seeing the old woman caught by Ding Ning, the man shouted and stabbed at Ding Ning's chest with his knife.

Ding Ning had no time to deal with him at that moment. He grabbed the old woman's head and slammed it against the wall.

"Bang!"

The old woman's body, now out of control, hit the wall heavily. Blood splattered, and she fell to the ground, unconscious or dead.

This move also drained Ding Ning's last bit of strength, and his heart was about to stop.

Seeing the man's flashing knife, Ding Ning showed a bitter smile.

If only he had reached the second level of Qi Induction, his body would be much stronger. At least his heart wouldn't be so fragile, and he could have easily handled this level of combat and taken care of these two people long ago.

"Am I going to die at the hands of this ordinary person? I can't accept it. Should I self-destruct...?"

Just as Ding Ning was lamenting his lack of means and combat ability, a large pot of water was poured over the man from behind.

"Die, you bastard!"

Lin Xuan, the fat guy, appeared from somewhere, holding the pot Ding Ning had used for hotpot. The steaming hot water poured over the man's head and back.

The man let out a scream, and the butcher's knife he was about to stab into Ding Ning was pulled back.

"Clang!"

The pot hit the man's head, making him stagger.

The man fell next to the old woman, seeing Lin Xuan grab a stick from somewhere and Ding Ning take out another strange yellow paper.

His eyes flashed with a fierce light, but he didn't care about the burns on his back. He quickly helped the old woman up and ran toward the gate.

Lin Xuan seemed to want to chase them, but Ding Ning stopped him. "Don't chase them. You're no match for him. You'll just be sending yourself to your death."

Lin Xuan nodded. He had only dared to attack the man because Ding Ning was there. Otherwise, he would never have dared to provoke such a vicious person.

"You did well, but how did you happen to have a pot of boiling water?"

"Well... I was a bit hungry and saw there was still some hotpot in your pot, so I wanted to heat it up. I didn't expect it to come in handy," Lin Xuan answered, a bit embarrassed.

"You really are something. Alright, help me inside." Ding Ning didn't know how to evaluate Lin Xuan.

Ding Ning was already out of strength, so Lin Xuan quickly helped him into the house. As they walked, Lin Xuan said, "Ding Ning, you were amazing. You took out that old woman..."

"Enough, don't say anything more."

Ding Ning thought to himself how he had ended up with such an oddball. He always seemed to say the wrong things.

After helping Ding Ning into the west room, Ding Ning sat down and gestured for Lin Xuan to leave for a while.

Lin Xuan didn't want to stay in the west room either. The centipedes had given him nightmares. If it weren't for Ding Ning, he would have left the courtyard by now.

After Lin Xuan left, Ding Ning struggled to close the door and sat down to meditate.

It had to be said that the concentration of elemental energy here was astonishing. After the cellar door was opened, Ding Ning completed a full cycle of cultivation in just half an hour. Not only did he replenish all his consumed energy, but he also made significant progress, almost reaching the peak of the first level of Qi Induction.

Slowly opening his eyes, Ding Ning felt his restored body and nodded to himself. "The concentration of elemental energy here is twice that of the pond. If I cultivate here, I can probably break through to the second level of Qi Induction in about ten to fifteen days."

After recovering his strength and bandaging his knife wounds, Ding Ning didn't immediately call Lin Xuan. The kid was probably still nervous.

He was more annoyed by his lack of combat skills. He couldn't even deliver a fatal blow to those two not-so-skilled villains.

"May the heavens strike you down for your evil deeds."

Ding Ning cursed, but then his eyes lit up!

Outside, thunder rolled and lightning flashed, the vast heavenly power evoking a sense of awe in Ding Ning, a cultivator.

"The method to summon lightning requires at least the third level of Qi Induction to perform even a weak version. But if I can condense lightning into a charm, I can release a weaker version of lightning."

"Although the power is weak, it's relative. The absolute power of lightning is still great, surpassing some low-level fireball charms. My mental and elemental energy are at their best, and in this special environment, I might be able to try making a lightning charm."

A normal lightning charm requires at least the second level of Qi Induction to write, but Ding Ning was not one to follow the rules. With his strongest mental power and full effort, the success rate in this night of lightning and thunder was very high, as long as he performed above his usual level.

Looking at the lightning outside, Ding Ning silently took out the charm paper and the wolf-hair brush left by his master.

Those two scoundrels, the heavens might not have eyes, and relying on them to strike the scoundrels with lightning was less reliable than relying on himself.

They had tried to kill him... tried to kill Lin Xuan...

Ding Ning tried to focus his hatred. This intense charm required a strict state of mind.

They had killed so many people, many student couples, and removed their organs, leaving their bodies in the garbage dump...

They knew there were monster centipedes in the cellar but deliberately lured people in and guided them to open the cellar, letting the monsters devour human flesh. They were worse than beasts!

And they ate people!

If he died, he would probably be eaten by them too!

Ding Ning's eyes burned with anger as he roared into the stormy night sky, "Ah! I will definitely get rid of you!"

"Boom!"

A bolt of lightning seemed to respond to Ding Ning's cry, striking a lightning rod on a nearby tower, the electric light flashing.

"Right now!"

Ding Ning's eyes lit up. His mind was clear, feeling the power of the lightning. He forcefully wrote a large "Thunder" character on the yellow paper with his brush, the strokes flowing smoothly.

*****

What do you think? Will Ding Ning succeed in writing the extremely important "Thunder" charm for the first time? Post your thoughts in the comments section. The person who guesses correctly or comes closest to the answer will receive 1888 Qidian coins as a reward, limited to one person, first come, first served!

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