Harvest

Harvest

Mu Kui's thoughts were simple.

Since Lu Zhaojin had appeared here, he was walking straight into a dead end.

What was more, Zhao Nuanyu was injured. Killing her would be as easy as lifting a hand.

A vicious gleam flickered in Mu Kui's eyes. His saber strike was heavy and powerful; if it landed on someone, it would absolutely split them in two.

Unfortunately, it did not hit Lu Zhaojin.

Ever since the Gale Sword Art had reached perfection, Lu Zhaojin had discovered that his reactions had also become much faster.

Mu Kui's attacks seemed to slow severalfold in his eyes.

It was as though he could foresee them in advance. He took a step back and watched with wide-open eyes as the blade fell before him.

The broadsword nearly smashed into the ground, gouging out a long, narrow pit.

Taking advantage of Mu Kui pulling his saber free, Lu Zhaojin struck with his sword. Its tip shot toward the other man's throat, swift as lightning, making Mu Kui's expression change slightly.

He had not expected Lu Zhaojin to possess such a fast sword.

Mu Kui tilted his head. The strike failed to pierce his throat, but it still took some skin and flesh from his neck. That alone was enough to make him fly into a towering rage.

He was a dignified Eighth-Rank Martial Artist at the middle stage, yet he could not gain the upper hand against a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist at the late stage. Instead, he had been wounded by him. If word got out, how could he still show his face in the martial world?

"Whirlwind Triple Slash!"

Mu Kui swung his broadsword, carving an arc through the air as he chopped at Lu Zhaojin.

Like a top spinning at a slant, Mu Kui slashed three times in succession. Every stroke was fierce, and the wind from the blade howled.

Lu Zhaojin could still dodge the first two strikes, but the third seemed to gather the momentum of the previous two. It was even more violent, like a tsunami tide surging forth, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, with nowhere to evade.

Lu Zhaojin immediately gripped his sword with both hands, gathered all his strength, and met Mu Kui's strike head-on, advancing in the face of difficulty.

Clang!

Sword and saber collided, spraying countless sparks into the air.

Mu Kui was an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, after all. Even though Lu Zhaojin's Brute Ox Stance had reached perfection, the gap in their realms was truly impossible to make up.

To Lu Zhaojin, this strike was like resisting a massive boulder rolling down from a mountaintop. It not only split his tiger's mouth open until it bled, nearly making him lose his grip on the iron sword, but also left his arm unable to straighten, numb and tingling.

Moreover, the iron sword had been forged from ordinary metal. Naturally, it could not compare to Mu Kui's broadsword.

Thus, where it had collided with the saber, a chip half a finger long appeared on the blade.

With a little more force, it might have been cut clean through.

Mu Kui's broadsword caught in the chip.

Mu Kui pressed down with all his strength. The sharp edge of the saber was almost touching Lu Zhaojin's shoulder.

Lu Zhaojin pushed back with all his might, but he was clearly no match for Mu Kui in strength. After all, the other man also had the advantage in size.

Seeing the two locked in a stalemate and unable to spare attention for anything else, Zhang Mang immediately snatched a podao from a gang member beside him and charged at Lu Zhaojin, intending to chop off his hand as well.

Though Zhao Nuanyu was injured, Zhang Mang had also lost an arm—his dominant right arm. Using a saber with his left hand, he was extremely awkward and could barely even hold it.

With several strikes, Zhao Nuanyu knocked the saber from Zhang Mang's hand. She also left a long sword wound across his chest, making him shriek in pain as he clutched the injury and staggered back again and again.

Zhao Nuanyu ignored him no longer. Her longsword stabbed toward Mu Kui, forcing him to withdraw his saber and retreat.

This gave Lu Zhaojin an opening. In an instant, he thrust out ten times. Ten Sword Lights came like a gale and rainstorm. Though Mu Kui evaded three, seven Sword Lights still punched holes through his body, blood streaming without end.

Zhao Nuanyu also delivered a killing sword, but Mu Kui swept his saber sideways, forcing her to retreat.

As Mu Kui retreated with the momentum, he roared angrily, "Get in here, all of you! Help your gang leader kill the enemy!"

A crowd of gang members surged in from outside, at least a dozen figures.

Mu Kui shielded himself behind them, waving his broadsword as he shouted, "They are merely arrows at the end of their flight! Whoever kills that youth will be rewarded fifty taels of silver!"

Wealth stirred men's hearts.

The gang members' eyes turned red. Throwing caution to the wind, they charged at Lu Zhaojin and Zhao Nuanyu, never noticing Mu Kui turn and flee.

Though the iron sword was broken, its edge remained. It could still kill enemies.

A string of notifications rang out beside his ear.

Experience Points: 3114

Lu Zhaojin glanced at the experience points on the panel, and an urgent desire to find a new martial art rose in his heart.

Zhao Nuanyu suddenly called out, "Catch!"

She threw the longsword in her hand to him.

Lu Zhaojin caught the hilt. It still held some warmth. He paid it no mind, only feeling that the sword was light, as if it had no weight at all. Its blade was long and slender, like an embroidery needle magnified several times over.

Lu Zhaojin thanked Zhao Nuanyu. "I'll be back soon."

However, before leaving the ruined temple, Lu Zhaojin casually killed Zhang Mang.

Experience for killing a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist: +100

Experience Points: 3214

This group of gang members did not delay Lu Zhaojin for long. Besides, Mu Kui had been stabbed by him and had a wound on his leg as well, so he could not have run far.

When Mu Kui saw Lu Zhaojin catch up, he flew into a rage. "They're all useless trash!"

He continued, "My elder brother is Chen Kang, the Howling Moon Wolf, an expert of the Seventh-Rank Realm! If you kill me, you won't survive within the borders of Mount Qi either!"

Lu Zhaojin said nothing and simply kept striking with his sword.

Mu Kui raised his saber to block, but it became increasingly difficult. Soon, even lifting his saber was a problem. "Young hero, spare my life..."

Lu Zhaojin could not be bothered to listen to his nonsense. A Sword Light swift as lightning pierced through the man's throat, ensuring that he could never utter another word.

Pulling out his longsword, Lu Zhaojin watched the fat figure fall backward, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Experience for killing an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist: +500

Experience Points: 3714

Lu Zhaojin let out a long breath of foul air, and his taut body gradually relaxed. "If I go all out, I can barely kill an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist at the middle stage. If I encounter one at the late stage, I am still no match."

He assessed his strength again and now had a clear range.

Lu Zhaojin returned to the ruined temple and gave the sword back to Zhao Nuanyu.

Lu Zhaojin glanced at the wound on her shoulder and asked, "Is your injury all right?"

Leaning against the base of the stone statue, Zhao Nuanyu said, "I can still hold on."

Lu Zhaojin pursed his lips. "Does the martial art you promised still count?"

Zhao Nuanyu nodded. "Naturally."

Lu Zhaojin did not know how to describe Lu Jinlin. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then, did you see anyone on the mountain... who looked somewhat like me, only more mature, middle-aged?"

Zhao Nuanyu had pretended to faint earlier and overheard the conversation between Zhang Mang and Lu Zhaojin. She knew that the person Lu Zhaojin was asking about was his father, so she pondered carefully and did notice something unusual. "I did indeed see a figure somewhat similar to you, young hero. At the time, I was trying to escape the Moon Wolf Gang and could not see clearly, but he went deeper inside."

Lu Zhaojin nodded and said nothing more.

The depths of Mount Qi were not somewhere he could enter at present.

He had heard that even Sixth-Rank Martial Artists risked dying if they entered.

If that figure truly was Lu Jinlin, then in order to escape the Zhang family, there was indeed a chance that he had gone deeper inside.

"Quick! Hurry! Miss should be just ahead!"

Urgent shouts rang out from outside.

This time, however, those who had come were not enemies.

Lu Zhaojin heard it clearly and looked at Zhao Nuanyu, thinking that they should be people who had come looking for her.

A woman dressed as a maid hurried to the ruined temple with a group of constables following behind her.

Among the constables, the captain saw Mu Kui's corpse. His pupils shrank, and a strange look flashed through his eyes.

The constables behind him also stopped. Seeing Mu Kui, they cried out in alarm, all shocked that he had died here. Moreover, their county magistrate's daughter seemed to be here as well... They looked at one another.

The captain raised a hand. "Enough. Do not gossip. Report tonight's events truthfully to the county magistrate."

The maid entered the ruined temple ahead of the constables. Seeing that Zhao Nuanyu was still alive, she burst into tears of joy and ran to her side. "Miss, are you all right?"

Zhao Nuanyu said, "I am fine. But if not for this young hero's help, I would not have made it through tonight."

Only then did the maid notice that there was someone else here. Lu Zhaojin was sitting in the shadows, so she had not seen him before. She could not help letting out a startled cry.

Hearing this outside, the captain's expression changed slightly, and he led everyone into the ruined temple.

Captain Liu swept his gaze over the room. The moment he saw Lu Zhaojin, he was about to draw his saber and seize the culprit.

Zhao Nuanyu hurriedly stopped him. "Uncle Liu, do not attack. That young hero is not a bad person."

In brief terms, Zhao Nuanyu explained her experiences on Mount Qi to Captain Liu. Throughout it, the Moon Wolf Gang came up repeatedly.