The urgency in the voice was palpable, and I couldn't help but wonder, "No way, in the middle of nowhere, an osmanthus tree harboring such noise, could there be people having a romp in the wild? But the sounds coming from there seemed pretty intense."
Cautiously, Qin Shou tiptoed closer, circling past an osmanthus tree when he stumbled upon a sight so astonishing it sent shockwaves through him!
From the ground rose an enormous tree so vast it could be embraced by a hundred people, piercing straight through the heavens! Just how tall it was, he had no clue; all he knew was that he couldn't see the top when he looked up!
Beneath the towering tree, a shirtless man clad in tattered shorts wielded an axe as large as a door panel, hacking away at the tree with sweat streaming down like rain! Yet, what shocked Qin Shou was that as soon as a piece of the trunk was chopped off, it nearly healed in the blink of an eye as the axe left the wood!
The speed of the healing was downright terrifying!
Behind the man lay a mountainous pile of wood shavings.
To call them shavings didn't quite capture it; given the size of the tree and the axe, the debris was huge, easily bigger than a rabbit!
Qin Shou's first thought upon seeing this was, "Holy shit! This is the scumbag who killed my previous incarnation!"
His second thought went, "Damn, this guy's fierce! How can he swing such a massive axe like it's just straw!"
His third thought was, "Osmanthus tree, tree chopper... this guy must be Wu Gang, right?"
With these three thoughts in mind, Qin Shou knew he couldn't stay here any longer! This guy was too fierce, built like a tank, each bulge of his muscles larger than him! What's more, this fellow had been trapped here for who knows how many years, a bachelor for ages, and one fiercely temperamental being. If he went nuts... Qin Shou felt a chill run down his spine.
So, Qin Shou turned and bolted...
After running over a hundred steps away, Qin Shou stopped and glanced back at Wu Gang, who was fully engrossed in his cutting, then thought of himself. Raising an eyebrow, he thought, "Wait a sec, this guy's an Immortal! Wouldn't an Immortal sense a rabbit nearby?"
With that, Qin Shou scrutinized Wu Gang carefully. After a moment, he spotted something telling—Wu Gang's ears were trembling non-stop, and his head was slightly tilted. Most telling was that when Qin Shou pretended to leave, the guy seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and his chopping slowed down considerably...
It hit Qin Shou in a flash: this guy was feeling guilty! He was actually hoping for him to leave!
Realizing this, Qin Shou smirked, suddenly understanding a lot. With the corner of his mouth lifted, he hopped gleefully over.
"Wu Gang!" Qin Shou shouted as he approached.
At the sound of his voice, there was a clanging noise as the door-sized axe fell to the ground. Wu Gang turned around in surprise and asked, "How do you know my name?"
"You can understand me?" Qin Shou was taken aback as well.
"Nonsense, animal speech isn't hard to understand," Wu Gang said dismissively.
Rolling his eyes, Qin Shou retorted, "Nonsense, Wu Gang isn't exactly a state secret."
"Hey! You've got some nerve, little bunny. Aren't you afraid I'll get mad and squash you with a slap?" Wu Gang glared at Qin Shou menacingly.
But Qin Shou hopped up onto the pile of cuttings, humming, "As if it's your first time. Want to try and bring me back to life again?"
At this, Wu Gang's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at Qin Shou, "You know about that?"
As soon as he said this, Wu Gang regretted it.
Qin Shou's heart also leaped, and he lunged forward, biting Wu Gang's thigh and cursing, "Damn you, it was indeed you! Why the hell would you bash a rabbit? Killing me is one thing, but dragging me here? Do you have any idea how famous I was in my world? Ever heard of Jay Chou? Heard of TBOY? Jackson? Those were all my disciples!"
Wu Gang instinctively wanted to kick the rabbit away but seemed to fear killing it again, so he held back and asked, "What the hell are all those things you're talking about?"
Looking up, Qin Shou replied, "You don't know? Good. Cough cough... Let me enlighten you about these awesome guys! Jay Chou is the universe's number one..." Qin Shou pondered, thinking his modern slang might be lost on Wu Gang, so he said, "Number one singer! TBOY is an idol for the younger generation! Jackson is the king of dance! Now do you get how great I am?"
"Just some singer and dancer, huh? Bottom of the barrel..." Wu Gang said, unconvinced.
Qin Shou nearly choked on his own spit at this, then remembered that in this era, singing and dancing really didn't amount to much... So he continued, "The thing is, they're my students! And me, I'm the king of that world! Thousands of beauties in my harem, ever heard of that? Golden tents, jade beds, know what I'm talking about? Never mind, you look clueless! In short, I lived it up in my world, and you dragged me to this godforsaken place! Now tell me, how will you compensate me?"
"Compensate you?" Wu Gang chuckled and picked up his axe to start digging a hole in the ground.
Curious, Qin Shou moved closer and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Making an earthen stove to stew a rabbit soon," Wu Gang answered earnestly.
Qin Shou's face darkened at the words, thinking to himself: A shameless one meets one even more shameless! Fine then, let's see who can outdo whom in shamelessness!
With a huff, Qin Shou didn't run off but just sat there, watching Wu Gang dig.
Wu Gang grunted and sweated as he dug. Seeing the rabbit not afraid or running away, but actually sitting there peering inside, he curiously asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Just seeing how long you can keep up this charade," the rabbit replied seriously.
Wu Gang, with a raised eyebrow, "You think I'm joking?"
Qin Shou responded, "Come on, cut the act. If you really had the guts to kill me, why bring the rabbit back to life after killing it? Why not just bury and stew it?"
Wu Gang fell silent... but then smiled and said, "You're quite sharp for a rabbit. But if I can kill you once and bring you back once, I can do it a second time. Believe me?"
Shrugging, Qin Shou said, "I believe it, yet I don't. Anyway, I'm here all lonely and bored... Let's make a bet. Either kill me, or wait till someone from the Heavenly Court shows up, and I'll lodge a complaint."
At these words, Wu Gang flew into a rage and, with a swift lift of his axe, aimed a chop at Qin Shou's head, moving with incredible speed!
Qin Shou, on the other hand, widened his eyes and extended his neck, displaying a dauntless, ready-to-meet-his-fate bravery!