Chapter 251

Word of Ou Fei’s death spreads through the camp within moments. A crowd gathers around his ruined corpse. A witness describes Fang Yuan firing a white spear and killing Ou Fei with a single punch. Chen Xin overhears “white spear” and privately links it to the weapon that killed Zhang Zhu. Jia Long and the vice leaders arrive and identify the dead man as vice leader Ou’s son. His father, Ou Yang Gong, a short, thin man with an aquiline nose, reaches the corpse and sees his son’s brains and blood pooled on the ground. He swears vengeance, but holds his rage back rather than attacking on the spot. ^{ch. 251}

Fang Yuan owns the killing openly once the crowd’s stares settle on him. His fearlessness and his servant’s clothing leave Jia Long and the other leaders too uncertain to move against him. Wanting an example that will cow the whole camp, Fang Yuan goads Ou Yang Gong, blaming him for failing to raise his son and demanding he pay with his life, then charges him. Ou Yang Gong strikes back on reflex. The collision sends Fang Yuan stumbling five to six steps, while Ou Yang Gong is flung further, coughs blood, and can barely stand. It reveals Fang Yuan as the stronger fighter despite Ou Yang Gong’s higher rank. Onlookers realize his true cultivation exceeds the rank two aura he shows, guessing he concealed it even during his earlier fight against the bandit monkey kings at Fei Hou mountain. Ou Yang Gong is rank three initial stage against Fang Yuan’s rank two upper stage, a gap that should favor him clearly. But Fang Yuan carries borrowed rank three peak stage snow silver primeval essence and fights mostly with rank three Gu worms, giving him the greater total strength. He dominates five rounds running, aiming for Ou Yang Gong’s vital points. ^{ch. 251}

Jia Long steps in to stop the fight. Ou Yang Gong breaks off toward him with relief. Unable to reach Ou Yang Gong in time, Fang Yuan loudly hails Jia Long as an ally and proposes they finish him together with the bone spear. The claim stuns the crowd and Jia Long alike, since the two have never actually spoken before. Unsure whether the claimed alliance is real, Ou Yang Gong panics and flees southeast, away from both men. Jia Long calls for calm; Fang Yuan gives chase, laughing. Bai Ning Bing breaks from the crowd and fires three spiral bone spears in a row. Ou Yang Gong’s defensive Gu activates without him even turning to look, and blocks two of the spears, but is spent doing so. The third spear drives through the back of his skull and out his forehead, killing him. ^{ch. 251}

The crowd, seeing a vice leader and rank three Gu Master cut down, calls to capture the pair. Bai Ning Bing throws off her straw hat, lets down her silver hair, and unleashes her snow silver primeval essence in full. It reveals her a rank three peak stage Gu Master, where only Jia Long among the leaders had stood at rank three upper stage. Fang Yuan stands beside her and releases a thread of his own snow silver essence. Facing two apparent rank three peak stage Gu Masters, the crowd falls completely silent. ^{ch. 251}