Paintings of Terror

Chapter 74: Cherishing You, Protecting You, Liking You

“Me! Me! Hey, look over here!” Ke Xun, who was being carried in the other hoof suddenly struggled, shouting and vigorously moving his limbs, looking extraordinarily eager and belligerent.

The giant cow seemed to smile before bending down and putting Ke Xun in the court.

“Ke Xun!” Mu Yiran’s voice sounded extraordinarily angry. Ke Xun turned around to look at him and saw an expression he’d never seen before on Mu Yiran’s face.

“You aren’t his opponent, quickly retreat!” Seeing his indifferent attitude, Mu Yiran’s face turned cold and fiercely punched the giant cow hoof that was still clamping him.

Of course, he couldn’t do any real damage to the cow, but it was enough to make it hurt. The giant hoof became slightly loose, and Mu Yiran quickly broke free from the restraint.

“Don’t…” Mu Yiran strode towards Ke Xun, eyes deep and helpless like never before, “Always so headstrong.”

Ke Xun looked at him intently and smiled: “In my whole life, I have only been headstrong for three people. My dad, my mom, and you. Who made you guys my most .”

“Since you cherish us so much, you shouldn’t be so stubborn.” Mu Yiran already walked up to the front, frowning slightly before reprimanding, “Go to the side.”

“I won’t.” Ke Xun stayed still, “Whether or not he’s my opponent, I’ll only know if I fight. Mu Yiran, you don’t really think that I can’t beat you, right? It’s easy to see that you’ve properly learned wrestling, grappling, maybe even boxing. If we were to say that you’re formally trained, then I’m unorthodox, and these two styles pitted against each other, the outcome isn’t necessarily guaranteed. As for this lughead, it’s obvious that he’s also unorthodox, so it’s more appropriate that I be the one to fight him.”

“His size and strength are superior to yours,” Mu Yiran frowned and looked at him, “If you face him head-on, the chance of you being at a disadvantage is very high. You have to be clever, and resourceful, in order to be victorious. Ke Xun, I don’t need your protection, and I don’t need you to do things for me. If you think of me as such a person, it makes me feel ashamed. Do you understand?”

Ke Xun dipped his head, rubbing a hand on his forehead, then raised his eyes and smiled helplessly: “I hate quarreling with you cultured people the most. Good or bad can be misinterpreted by you and changed to other meanings. Okay, protecting and giving is to humiliate you. Then Mr. Mu, tell me, what are you going to do now? The person chose to fight that lughead was me, why did you come down here? Dissuading me and saying that I’m not his opponent. Isn’t this also considered humiliating me?”

Mu Yiran choked up, and was about to speak again, but he saw Ke Xun suddenly take a step forward and stare into his eyes with a smile: “But I like it. Please humiliate me as much as possible. But things that I want to do, I will do. Take care,”

Just as he finished, he suddenly tilted his head and leaned forward, gently kissing Mu Yiran’s cheek before turning around and walking towards his opponent on the field.

Mu Yiran was stunned, and didn’t try stopping Ke Xun again. He knew that this willful and stubborn guy wouldn’t change his mind. He glanced around, wondering why the giant cows didn’t do anything despite him talking to Ke Xun for so long.

However, it seemed like the giant cows were discussing something, and just when Ke Xun walked in front of that big guy, another giant cow carrying a giant cage came onto the field and opened the cage door, releasing another strong and agile man.

Mu Yiran felt himself being pushed by a huge hoof into the field as well, and the surrounding herd screamed in excitement.

Mu Yiran suddenly realized: these cows saw him and Ke Xun vying to fight, so they simply changed the gambling terms, creating a two-on-two situation. Or perhaps, they might’ve preferred seeing four people create chaos instead, seeing as the strong man who’d just arrived didn’t appear to be on the same side.

Mu Yiran took a few steps to catch up with Ke Xun and grabbed his arm: “Don’t rush to make a move, now it’s two on two.”

Ke Xun also understood and didn’t rush forward. While staring at the two people who were staring back, he lowered his voice and spoke to Mu Yiran: “Let’s watch these two big guys fight first, then we’ll take action.”

Mu Yiran let out an “un”.

Ahead, the lughead and the strong man didn’t immediately start fighting, but stayed alert of each other, both tentatively approaching Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.

“Hey, big guy,” Ke Xun suddenly said, “You seemed super strong just now. Are you the big boss of the century? But as a leader you don’t seem to have much defense power, it couldn’t be that this little guy over here is your opponent right? If even this kind of trash can brandish its claws in front of you, shouldn’t you do some self assessment? For some people, if you don’t demonstrate your strength, then they’ll never understand who’s the boss, isn’t that right?”

The big guy’s expression didn’t change when he heard those words, but the strong man on the opposite side became heated and shouted angrily: “Shut up! If you want to die so bad, I’ll help you fulfill that wish!”

“What, are you looking down on the big boss?” Ke Xun chucked. “People like you really are annoying, any man with courage wouldn’t be able to tolerate your attitude. If someone doesn’t show you some strength, you really won’t put anyone in your eyes.”

“I’ll kill you–” The strong man rushed towards Ke Xun, but was stopped by the big guy halfway who threw a fist towards his chest. The former was able to avoid the hit, and the two of them, instantly started brawling.

“That man also isn’t his opponent.” After only watching for a few moments, Ke Xun came to the conclusion.

“En.” Mu Yiran stared at the court.

“I don’t think we should wait until the two of them are completely done fighting,” Ke Xun said. “If we wait for the lughead to get rid of this guy, maybe the giant cows will release another person to continue the two-on-two. This psychological method won’t necessarily work every time, and if a smart person happens to team up with that big guy, we’ll definitely be screwed.”

“En.” Mu Yiran approved.

“The worst thing would be returning to one vs one. No matter which one of us goes against him, the winning rate is still probably hard to say.” The corner of Ke Xun’s mouth was slightly cocked, giving a sinister aura to the smile.

Mu Yiran’s gaze was drawn towards that small hook for a moment, before he moved away blankly.

“So what I meant was, we need to seize the opportunity to get rid of that troubling issue.” Ke Xun pointed to the big guy who had the upper hand. “When he goes to make the final blow, I’ll go around the front to attract his attention, and you go attack him directly from behind.”

Speaking until here, he turned his head and continued to look at Mu Yiran with a curl in his lips: “Can you do a KO? If you can’t, then change with me, you go to the front, and I’ll go to the back.”

“Take care of yourself.” Mu Yiran glanced at him coldly before walking towards the court.

Ke Xun and his knight split in two directions, making a half circle before walking in front of the big guy, then changing directions continuously as the big guy moved on the court.

The strong man had gradually been unable to withstand the heavy punches from the opponent, but he was still trying his best to attack, like a chicken with red eyes, covered in blood and flesh, still frantically trying to kill the opponent.

Finally, when the big man hit his chest again with a heavy fist, he heard a “bang” sound. It? seemed to be the sound of his sternum fracturing, and the strong guy was beaten back until he flew out with a scream.

The big guy didn’t stop, chasing up a few steps and throwing another punch, trying to completely stop his opponent’s breathing. Suddenly he saw a flower in front of his eyes, followed by a huge pain in his face. After another bang, the man was slammed by a hard object and leaned back, staggering back several steps.

Before he could clearly see the person in front of him, there was the sensation of fingers pressing on the back of his neck. The strong man was about to use his elbow to get rid of the nuisance, but his eyes went dark, and with a “plop”, he fainted to the ground.

Ke Xun rubbed his knee with one hand and gave a thumbs up to a stunned Mu Yiran with the other: “This kid is really tough, his face about as hard as a rock. My kneecap was almost broken from knocking it.”

The sudden change on the court happened in an instant. The big man fell and caught the onlookers off guard. There was a moment of silence outside the court, and then cows exclaimed, almost as if they were cheering.

The cooperation between Ke Xun and Mu Yirancould be described as beautifully coordinated, and seemed to have opened a new door for the cows. They weren’t eager to proceed to the next match, but talked for a long time. Finally, the administrators of the farm brough Ke Xun and Mu Yiran back off the court and threw them back to the farmhouse.

Wei Dong, Qin Ci, and Zhu Haowen walked over, as the three of them had seen everything happening on court from the window.

“I was almost scared to death by you!” Wei Dong patted his chest in fear, “The f*ckers are treating you guys like pitbulls! FIghting until your last breath ah!”

“But since the cows let you come back, what about Dong Dong?” Zhu Haowen looked back at the window and saw that it was Dong Dong who was put on the court next.

“I thought they would keep the two of you on the field.” Qin Ci also had some doubts.

“I think they might have some new ideas.” Mu Yiran coldly looked out the window, “They seem to have discussed something just now.”

Outside the window, Dong Dong was forced to walk onto the field, and his opponent was also a robust guy. The two of them quickly began fighting, blows being exchanged high and low. This was bare-handed combat, and frankly speaking, bloody, cruel, and animalistic.

Since the two men were almost equal in strength, the fight lasted for more than ten minutes. In the end, Dong Dong won by a narrow margin. His opponent was strangled to death on the spot with his arms looped around his neck.

Every compartment in the farmhouse was chaotic, everyone watching the carnage happening outside the window. Some exclaimed, some applauded, some scolded, and some even laughed.

.

Dong Dong was temporarily taken off the field, and the next two humans walked into the ring.

Just like this, one round after another proceeded. Pairs were brought in and fought until one person was left, and then all the remaining people were once again paired up before continuing to fight. By the middle of the night, the fighting had ended, and only one human survived still covered in scars.

The one who survived, wasn’t Dong Dong.

Before Dong Dong’s body was thrown into the slaughterhouse, the outsiders no longer looked out the window. The nightmarish things they saw tonight made everyone not want to talk, and they all sat in a corner silently with their eyes closed.

The giant cows cleaned up the field but didn’t immediately leave. Instead, they laid down tables, chairs, and dishes before proceeding to drink and eat supper.

Zhu Haowen opened his eyes and looked out the window, only to see the big guy who fought Ke Xun and Mu Yiran stewed on a plate, and next to him, a braised Dong Dong.

—

A: RIP Dong Dong TT-TT

H: he dodged death once but it seems he was unable to dodge it a second time ;-;