Wu Tian looked on, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes. "What are you two? You think you amount to anything?"
Wang Lan inwardly cried out, "This is bad."
She had assumed Chen Nan and the other person had been knocked unconscious by the drug. After all, they hadn't taken any antidotes beforehand. To her surprise, they hadn't been affected at all. Even more astonishing was that they had now stepped forward.
Honestly, if they had pretended to be unconscious, they might have avoided this disaster. But now, they had boldly walked out.
Chen Nan smirked mischievously. "To be frank, I'm also a cultivator."
"And a very strong one at that."
"The kind who can kill a peak Body Seizing realm expert."
As soon as he said this, silence fell upon the scene. Everyone's eyes widened, and they initially thought they were hallucinating.
When they recovered, Wu Tian burst into laughter. "You? You think you can kill a peak Body Seizing realm expert?"
"Brother, have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?"
"How could you say something so idiotic?"
"Are you treating all of us as fools?"
"If you were truly that capable, why would you be mixing with a merchant caravan?"
"And why are you dressed so shabbily?"
Not only did Wu Tian dismiss Chen Nan with contempt, but Wang Lan and the others also felt that Chen Nan's head might have been kicked by a donkey. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a nonsensical thing.
Chen Nan looked somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't expect you to see through my lie."
"Alright!"
"I'm done pretending!"
"I'm revealing my hand!"
"Yes, I am indeed an ordinary person."
"But I possess immense strength."
"I can kill you with a single punch." He clenched his fist, his expression serious.
Wang Lan was taken aback. This guy was getting more and more outrageous.
"Hahahaha!" Wu Tian laughed until his face turned red. "Ignorant fool, you, a mere ant, dare to claim you can kill a peak Yin Harvesting realm expert with a single punch?"
"You truly know nothing of my strength!"
Chen Nan said, "How about we make a bet?"
"A bet on what?" Wu Tian asked with a smile. Although he saw Chen Nan as an idiot, he wanted to play with this fool for a while longer to see what he was up to.
Chen Nan replied, "You punch me."
"I punch you."
"Let's see who kills whom first."
Wu Tian chuckled wryly. "If you want to die, just say so. Why use such roundabout words?"
"Fine, fine!"
"Young master is in a good mood tonight, so I'll humor you."
"However,"
"The rules need to be changed."
Chen Nan asked curiously, "How?"
"You hit me first, then I hit you," Wu Tian grinned. "Otherwise, if I kill you with one punch, the game ends!"
"There's no fun in that!"
Chen Nan inwardly rejoiced. This was exactly what he was waiting for.
He stifled his laughter and said, "Don't regret this!"
"My strength is immense."
"I can kill a bull with one punch."
Wu Tian laughed. "If I truly die by your hand, then it's my fate!" Clearly, he didn't take Chen Nan's words seriously at all. Although the peak of the ninth level of the Yin Harvesting realm wasn't exceptionally strong, there was no need to pay attention to a mortal.
Chen Nan walked up to Wu Tian, breathed on his fist, and then said earnestly, "Here I come then!"
Wu Tian puffed out his chest, a contemptuous smile on his face. "Let the storm rage even more fiercely!"
Chen Nan clenched his fist and punched towards Wu Tian's chest.
With a *pu-chi* sound!
Chen Nan's fist pierced through Wu Tian's chest as if it were made of tofu. It penetrated instantly without any resistance.
"Holy crap!"
"What in the world is going on?"
"How can his strength be so terrifying?"
"Is he human or a ghost?"
Everyone's scalps tingled. They stared at Chen Nan as if they had seen a ghost, unable to believe what they were witnessing, even with their own eyes. An ordinary person had actually pierced through the chest of a peak Yin Harvesting realm expert.
Wu Tian looked at his pierced chest in disbelief, his eyes filled with horror and despair. He couldn't accept what was happening, couldn't believe Chen Nan was just an ordinary person.
"You... you're a cultivator?"
"You were playing the 'pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger' game?"
Anger flickered in Wu Tian's eyes, but his voice was incredibly weak. "Even if you... kill me... my elder brother will avenge me!" With that, he collapsed to the ground, his blood quickly dyeing the earth red. Wu Tian had completely lost his breath.
Meanwhile, Chen Nan looked on with feigned shock. "So close, so close! Glad I killed him!"
"It's a good thing he let me hit him first."
"If he had hit me, I definitely wouldn't have been able to take it."
Wang Lan watched Chen Nan with a grave expression. Although he claimed to be immensely strong, she clearly couldn't believe all of it. Even if he had the strength to kill a peak ninth-level Yin Harvesting realm expert with a single punch, why had he woken up so quickly after being drugged? It was obvious things weren't as simple as they seemed. It was highly likely, as Wu Tian had said, that he was a cultivator, playing the game of 'pretending to be weak to hide his strength.'
As for why he was doing this, Wang Lan didn't know. But one thing was clear: Chen Nan's presence with the group was beneficial. And tonight, they were fortunate to have him; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Brother Chen, are you really an ordinary person?" a middle-aged man asked Chen Nan, his identity filled with doubt.
Someone else chimed in, "From what I see, Brother Chen must be a master."
Chen Nan wiped the blood from his hands and said with apparent fear, "I'm truly just an ordinary person. Besides this brute strength, I have no other skills." His current demeanor was consistent with someone who had just killed for the first time. However, some remained unconvinced, sensing that Chen Nan was definitely no ordinary mortal.
Just then, Wang Lan's voice rang out. "My father once told me that there are many extraordinary individuals in the martial world. Some possess immense strength and can lift thousands of pounds with their bare hands!"
"Others can move with the speed of a fugitive, covering a thousand li in a day!"
"These people, though not cultivators, can rival cultivators."
"I believe Brother Chen is one of those extraordinary individuals!" Although she knew Chen Nan wasn't an ordinary person, she didn't want to expose his identity. This was why she spoke up to help him smooth things over.
Hearing Wang Lan's words, the others couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Then again, it made sense. If Chen Nan were truly a cultivator, why would he be in such a sorry state, even needing to travel with them to Guangling Prefecture? He merely possessed brute strength.
A middle-aged man looked at Wang Lan. "Miss, since we've been targeted by bandits, we should leave here under the cover of night!"
"If those people don't get their men back, they might send more."
"If that happens, we won't be able to escape even if we want to!"
Wang Lan nodded solemnly. "Extinguish all the torches and travel in darkness. We must strive to leave Luoyan Mountain tonight!"
Suddenly, Chen Nan clutched his stomach, his expression one of agony. "I ate something that disagreed with me and need to relieve myself. You all go ahead; I'll catch up shortly." He intended to use this opportunity to go to the bandits' lair on Luoyan Mountain and find the bowstring for the Sun Shooting Divine Bow!