A Waste of Time

Chapter 34: Faded Bonds

"I don’t bully the weak." Qi Ying’s forehead pulsed with veins, rage twisting his features into something dark and wolfish. His eyes glowed with a cruel glint, as if he’d already decided how many bones he’d break when the time came. But for now, he restrained himself—barely.

Daemon brushed past him with the same calm air a fearless nine-year-old might have when facing a grown man. "Good for you. I admire men who pick on someone their own size. Come on—let’s settle this properly." He gave Qi Ying a lazy wave, like a child inviting a monster to play in his backyard.

That was the final crack. The thread of self-control snapped, and Qi Ying’s lips peeled back in a humorless grin. He stalked after the boy, each step thumping with suppressed Qi. The air around them prickled as villagers followed at a distance, whispers trailing behind them like shadows.

By the time they reached the clearing at the edge of the village, a sea of onlookers ringed the open ground. Some stood on crates and carts for a better view, gossip thick in the air. Old men stroked their beards, young children perched on their parents’ shoulders—no one wanted to miss this.

Daemon turned, his eyes raking the crowd like a wolf eyeing a herd. "Listen well," he said, voice cutting through the murmurs. "Stay behind that line or you’ll regret it. Lucky ones will limp home. The unlucky—" He gave a thin smile. "They won’t go home at all."

He tilted his chin at Jia. "You know what to do."

Jia’s calm mask dropped into something colder, older. The playful friend vanished—an assassin stood in her place. "Yes, young master." She unsheathed her dagger, dragging its scabbard through the air tracing the earth below as she walked a wide circle around the two combatants. Sparks danced at her fingertips.

When the line was closed, she snapped her fingers—fwump. Flames roared up from the groove, forming a flickering barrier that hissed and spat.

Gasps rippled through the villagers. Children clutched mothers’ sleeves. Even the boldest traders took two steps back.

Jia wasn’t done. She carved a second circle, broader, enclosing the first. Another snap—another blaze. "Cross the outer line, lose a leg. Cross the inner line, lose your life." Her eyes swept the crowd—hard, merciless. "Test me and find out."

Qi Ying watched this display, mind racing. Damn Yu for keeping secrets—this girl’s no servant. Didn’t feel a flicker of her Qi until she showed it. Must be two, maybe three stages above me.

His pulse thundered. He couldn’t back down now—not with so many eyes boring into him, not with that damned Heart Demon lurking at the edges of his mind, mocking him.He shifted his feet, grounding himself in the soil. It doesn’t matter. The brat’s sudden rise—there’s power in him. A secret. If I break him, it’s mine. I’ll bury my Heart Demon, punch through my barrier, escape to the clan and avoid the girl's wrath, then return to the Sect with my head high.

A low hum rose around the circle—murmurs of wagers, of fear, of disbelief that a mere boy stood here unflinching.

Daemon cocked his head, a half-smile ghosting his lips. He felt it—the faint spike in killing intent. It brushed against his skin like icy needles. A thrill ran up his spine as the Asura’s Buff coiled through his limbs, ready to roar to life the instant he needed it.

Qi Ying dropped low, palms slamming the dirt. The earth shuddered—a forest of jagged spears erupted behind Daemon’s previous position, skewering empty air.

Too slow.

The boy blurred forward, boots kicking up dust as he closed the gap. Qi Ying barely managed to twist away when a foot slammed down on his shoulder like a falling mountain. Bone gave. He hit the ground, rolled, pain crackling like firecrackers up his spine.

He grunted, scrambled up, but Daemon was behind him already—gripping his left wrist like a vice.

Crunch.

A wet crack that made stomachs flip. Gasps and muffled cries rippled through the villagers. Qi Ying’s teeth clamped shut on a scream but failed. He roared, voice shredded raw by agony.

"Earth Qi, huh?" Daemon said, voice low, breath calm. "Let’s see how far it gets you."

Qi Ying spat froth and pain, eyes bloodshot. He twisted his hip, funneling Qi down his right arm—yellow light flared up to his shoulder. He flung the punch with a snarl. Earth-Lance. His trump card. The ace that cost him three years of hoarded Contribution-Points back in the Sect. If it landed—this upstart boy would be pulp.

Daemon didn’t flinch. He pulled back his own fist, feeling skin split at his knuckles from the raw force balled behind it.

Fist met fist.

Boom.

A thunderclap. Dust blasted outward in a choking wave. The rings of flame bent away from the force, licking dangerously close to the front row of villagers who recoiled with cries of pain as the heat seared their skin.

When the dust settled, one figure stood tall. One kneeled, shoulders hunched in defeat.

Qi Ying shuddered, lips trembling. His right arm dangled at his side, limp. Eyes wide with disbelief. His breath hitched—he couldn’t even speak. His body refused to obey.

Daemon flexed his left hand, blood dripping from split knuckles. "Next time you want a fight—come like a man. Or with an army. Or in the dead of night with a blade at my throat. But drag others into it? Use mothers as bait?"

He leaned close, words dripping with ice. "That’s a debt. And I always collect."

He flicked his fingers at Jia, then back at Qi Ying. "Everything. Space-Pouch, Qi stones, every trinket you’re hiding. Or I’ll peel it off your corpse."

Silence crashed down like an iron gate. No one moved. Even the wind seemed to pause.

A single boy stood alone in the ring of flame—unbowed. And every soul watching knew it: he wasn’t the same Da Niu they once ignored. He was something else now. Something the village would whisper about for years to come.

And perhaps—fear.

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