Broken Blade

"As expected!"

Chu Mu swept his gaze around the darkness, where there was no longer the slightest movement, and his heart instantly sank.

During the day, even if the enemy launched a surprise attack, the field of view was almost completely unobstructed. In the end, under the advantage in numbers, it would basically turn into a pursuit and slaughter.

The results from the day had undoubtedly proven that point with perfect clarity.

But right now, in this Dense Forest, one could barely see their own fingers in front of their face! For those people who made their living in the mountains year-round, the factor of terrain had undoubtedly been pulled to the limit! Just like now—fire one shot, then change places. With this terrain, they did not even know where the arrows were being shot from. Even if they saw it, the attackers would very quickly slip into the darkness, leaving no trace to be found.

Chu Mu gripped his saber hilt tightly and swept his gaze around the surrounding darkness, more vigilant than he had ever been before.

The attack that had appeared again undoubtedly made it clear that they had not chased in the wrong direction. Otherwise, there would not have been an attack so obviously meant to delay them.

Before long, the patrol inspectors who had chased into the Dense Forest also returned one after another, each of them coming back empty-handed.

The dark Dense Forest remained utterly still, deep and terrifying.

Under He Ping's shouted orders, the patrol inspector team, which had originally been following the traces in pursuit and stretched into a long single-file line, changed formation as well, becoming the triangular formation they had used when going up the mountain earlier.

"Watch your feet. See the road clearly before you walk."

Chu Mu quietly reminded the patrol inspectors beside him. Though the change in the pursuit formation largely prevented a situation like the earlier attack, where they had been unable to look after both head and tail, they had undoubtedly also charged into an unknown Mountain Forest.

After all, just now they had been moving along the mountain path the Qili Village villagers had used to flee. Though the mountain path was rugged, at least it was still a road people had walked before. Whether it was dangerous or not, predecessors had already tested it.

But this old forest deep in the mountains was originally a place few people set foot in, let alone now, in this darkness where one could not see their fingers before their face.

Chu Mu raised his long saber and hacked apart the thicket blocking the way in front of him, then cautiously stepped over it.

Chu Mu was very careful with each step he took. Every footfall was tentative; only after confirming there was no problem did he truly step down.

The mountain was covered in accumulated snow. No one knew what was hidden beneath it.

After entering the mountain, there were no small number of unlucky bastards who had been injured because of this, or had even lost their lives.

"Say, it's the middle of the night and we can't see a damn thing. Why didn't we rest in that village for one night before chasing them?"

"We've been walking all day, and barely had a few bites to eat..."

A patrol inspector beside him complained in a whisper. Chu Mu glanced over but did not join in with even half a sentence. The reasoning was sound, but in this world, there were far too many times when reason simply did not apply.

Right now, he only hoped this black night would hurry up and pass.

As long as daylight came, all the problems before them would no longer be problems.

"Mu Ge'er, we've fallen a little behind."

Xu Yuan leaned forward and pointed at the flickering light in the Dense Forest not far away.

"Let's speed up a bit."

Chu Mu glanced over and was just about to speak when, from the corner of his eye, the reflected flicker of firelight made his pupils shrink violently!

"Careful!"

Chu Mu shouted. With no time to think, he subconsciously swung his saber toward the top of his head.

A familiar collision rang out explosively. Immediately after, a surging force traveled along the blade into his arm. Under that surging force, Chu Mu staggered and retreated several steps in succession, nearly losing his grip on the long saber.

"Enemy!"

"There's someone here!"

The patrol inspectors following Chu Mu all went instantly deathly pale. Some stood frozen in place, at a loss; some subconsciously swung their sabers at the attacker; and some shouted in a panic.

Chu Mu's expression turned somewhat ugly. He discovered that the Martial Arts of this world were truly a little unreasonable.

At least, among those he had seen who possessed Real Skill, aside from that Shaonian who was still young, the rest all had physical qualities so strong they were frightening.

There was a domineering sense of one force subduing ten techniques. Whether it was one slash or one punch, they simply could not be blocked! Right now, he truly was very curious just what sort of person had been so painfully idle as to pass on Martial Arts in a tiny, broken mountain village tucked away in this mountain ravine! A small mountain village with no more than a few dozen households had actually produced a whole crowd of extraordinarily skilled people! Every single one felt like an existence capable of crushing him.

His saber technique at Initial Understanding found even defending difficult! If even he was like this, then the other patrol inspectors who were merely muddling through their days were even less worth mentioning.

Right before Chu Mu's eyes, after the Man who had descended from the sky failed to finish him with one slash, he immediately swept out with his saber. The young patrol inspector who stood there in a daze was split into two at head and body, blood spraying like a gushing spring, splattering Chu Mu all over!

Immediately after, a patrol inspector beside him swung his saber at the Man, only for the Man to turn lightly and perfectly avoid the cleaving blade.

Then he punched out. The dull impact was like the tolling of a bell. Chu Mu saw it clearly: where the fist landed, the chest actually caved in by about an inch. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, that patrol inspector was sent flying nearly ten feet backward, finally smashing into a tree before rolling down. There was no need to think; he was definitely beyond saving! "Little thief! You're courting death!"

Just as Chu Mu was preparing to slip away, the shout from not far away made him hesitate slightly.

The attacker's Martial Arts were strong, but among the patrol inspectors, there were also quite a few whose Martial Arts were not weak.

Should he stall for a moment, or slip away? From the corner of his eye, an Iron Armor Strongman was charging over like a reckless bull, rampaging straight through everything.

Chu Mu remembered that this strongman was one of those who followed at the Thousand Household's side, and his skill was even more terrifying than Li Gang's.

If one failed to cut things off when the time came, one would suffer the chaos instead. In just an instant, Chu Mu had made his decision.

He raised his long saber, and within a few steps, the cold blade hacked toward the Man! Seeing Chu Mu attack, the Man's expression remained unchanged. The saber blade that had originally been swinging toward another patrol inspector turned like a streak of bright moonlight across the night sky, blocking Chu Mu's incoming blade, while at the same time he sent a fist smashing toward Chu Mu.

Without hesitation, Chu Mu abruptly turned, dodging while slashing diagonally with his blade, once again cutting toward the Man's neck! "You're courting death!"

The Man growled, and when he looked at Chu Mu, there was clearly a few more traces of killing intent in his gaze.

With one slash, he blocked Chu Mu's incoming blade, then abruptly chopped downward. That surging force erupted once again.

Chu Mu's palm was jarred with pain, but he still kept a death grip on the saber hilt. Borrowing the momentum, he fell backward and rolled across the ground, only then barely dispersing that force.

When that slash failed, the Man showed no mercy and chopped down again, his blade cold and fierce as it once more went straight for Chu Mu's vital points.

Another ear-piercing clash of blades rang out. Under the surging force of collision after collision, Chu Mu's arm was already somewhat numb, but the incoming blade could not possibly show him the slightest mercy.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes!

When the fourth slash fell, the patrol inspector Saber in Chu Mu's hand could not withstand the force of the collision and snapped directly into two pieces! The broken tip fell into the snow. Chu Mu gripped half a Broken Blade, while the incoming blade... still surged toward him.