Don't Come Any Closer!

Xu Lao Er fled blindly into the mountains, his body already covered in several fine wounds.

After losing an arm, the loss of blood had made his mind increasingly muddled.

Yet every time he was about to collapse, Shen Qing would come up and give him another slash.

It was not fatal, but it hurt like hell.

A trace of humiliation rose in Xu Lao Er's heart.

Suddenly, a flash of silver glinted through the woods, and Shen Qing gave his backside another cut.

"Xu Hu, how did you end up in such a miserable state?"

Laughter suddenly rang out from the forest.

A middle-aged man in blue robes appeared on the path leading to the mountaintop, with a crimson jade longsword hanging at his waist.

He spoke with a smile.

"This brother, I'm truly sorry, but Lan Yu is protecting this man today."

At last, a glimmer of hope appeared in Xu Lao Er's humiliated and furious eyes. "Save me!"

Silver light flashed. Shen Qing severed Xu Lao Er at the knees with a single slash. Xu Lao Er lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

The smile on Lan Yu's face froze, and his expression darkened slightly.

"Didn't you understand what I said? I said I'm protecting this man!"

"If you touch him again, bear the consequences yourself!"

But in the next moment, Shen Qing swung his Wind Blending Saber, and Xu Hu's head was chopped straight off.

Only the gurgling sound of a rolling head remained in the forest clearing.

Shen Qing kicked Xu Lao Er's head to Lan Yu's feet, then looked at him with a teasing grin.

"Oh dear! You said it too late. He seems to be a little dead."

Lan Yu's expression grew colder as he listened to Shen Qing.

"Good, good, good. What an arrogant junior!"

"Then you can stay here today as well!"

Before he had even finished his threat, Shen Qing moved, so fast that afterimages appeared.

Lan Yu's eyelid twitched. Damn, that fast?

He immediately reached for the longsword at his waist.

But before the sword could leave its sheath, Shen Qing had already arrived.

Three rapid slashes followed in succession, cutting Lan Yu's sword-holding right hand into three pieces.

The fierce saber wind even chopped the trees behind Lan Yu into three sections, while the shrubs and grass were reduced to fragments.

Shen Qing sneered. "Drawing your sword only now? Don't you think that's a little too late?"

In a fight to the death, there were only two kinds of people who did not draw their swords beforehand.

Either they possessed a technique like a quick-draw slash, allowing them to strike with extreme speed.

Or they were idiots. In a fight to the death, did they think they were playing house? Waiting for them to draw their sword?

Clearly, Lan Yu did not have a quick-draw slash.

Then the answer was as plain as day.

Lan Yu was an idiot.

Lan Yu grimaced in pain and collapsed onto the ground.

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender, I surrender! I'll use money to buy my life."

That one slash had immediately sobered Lan Yu up.

"Don't attack, don't attack! Your Imperial Guards' target is the Xu brothers. I never provoked you."

"I'm only a hired thug the Xu brothers paid for."

"How about this? I have a bag of gold here. I'll use it to buy my life, and you can just pretend you never saw me."

As he spoke, Lan Yu opened the bag with his hand, and the dazzling gold gleamed brilliantly even in the night.

Lan Yu was certain that no Banner Commander could refuse this gold.

After all, there were nearly a hundred taels of gold in this bag, enough to cover several years of a Banner Commander's salary.

Shen Qing raised his saber and brought it down. Lan Yu's head hit the ground.

[Killed a Houtian Realm Fifth Layer martial artist, plundered trait: First Hearing of the Sword Path (Green)]

"Do you not even bother drafting your lies anymore? A hired thug? What kind of hired thug would have the guts to accept a job against the Imperial Guards?"

Shen Qing flicked his saber tip, picking up the bag from Lan Yu's hand, and chuckled.

"Besides, once I kill you, won't the gold still be mine?"

He looked up.

The battle atop Ox Horn Mountain seemed close to ending.

There was no more time to waste on Lan Yu.

Ever since Shen Qing had arrived at Ox Horn Mountain, cries of battle and killing had thundered from the summit.

By now, they had grown weaker and weaker.

If he arrived too late, the battle might already be over.

Shen Qing stepped forward with Carefree Steps, planted his foot on a thin branch, and leaped onto the treetops.

After several jumps, he shot straight toward the mountaintop.

After quite a while, Xu Quan, Black Dog, and the others finally arrived.

Black Dog crouched down and picked up Xu Lao Er's head.

Xu Quan flashed forward, took Xu Lao Er's head, and wiped the blood from his face.

"It's Xu Lao Er, all right."

Xu Quan then crouched and examined Xu Lao Er's body. It was covered in countless wounds, but none were fatal.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: this was a cat playing with a mouse.

Shen Qing had never regarded Xu Lao Er as an enemy at all. He had merely been toying with him.

Xu Quan felt deeply unsettled. Their group had pursued the Xu brothers for two months. He had fought Xu Lao Er several times, and every time he had been at a disadvantage.

Yet today, Xu Lao Er had been slaughtered like a mouse by an even younger Banner Commander.

The sharp-eyed Scholar seemed to spot Lan Yu's corpse and pointed. "Is there another body over there?"

Everyone gathered around, searching through the surrounding grass until they finally found Lan Yu's head.

Old Li pieced Lan Yu's corpse back together, his face full of confusion.

"Is this one of the Xu brothers too? His build doesn't look right."

Xu Quan, standing nearby, frowned without speaking. Lan Yu's face only looked exceptionally familiar to him.

In the next instant, Xu Quan's voice rose several pitches.

"He's Lan Yu! Listening Rain Sword Lan Yu!"

"Listening Rain Sword? Lan Yu?"

Black Dog and the others were utterly baffled.

"That's right, Listening Rain Sword. He gained some fame in Qiushui City a few years ago, then vanished without a trace. There were reports that Lan Yu joined the White Dragon Cult."

"He appeared again three days ago, when the White Dragon Cult stronghold was surrounded and destroyed. All the big fish were caught, but a few small fry escaped. Listening Rain Sword was one of them."

"But why was Listening Rain Sword mixed up with the Xu brothers?"

A cold sweat suddenly broke out across his back. Could Listening Rain Sword have come to kill them?

The more Xu Quan thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

The White Dragon Cult stronghold had been destroyed, so Listening Rain Sword naturally could not remain nearby. But running away required money.

It was entirely possible that he had wanted to earn a little extra before fleeing.

Seen this way, Shen Qing had not merely helped him by coming to kill someone—he had saved his life as well.

This debt of gratitude was enormous.

Suddenly, several screams rang out from the mountaintop.

"What is that? So fast!"

"Run..."

"Don't come any closer!"

Without exception, those screams cut off abruptly, as if they had encountered something.

The answer was obvious.

Xu Quan's eyelids twitched wildly.

"Damn, how long has it been? He already chopped his way from the foot of the mountain to the summit?"