Assassins Fleeing for Their Lives

Ning Zhongze stared at Lao De Nuo in disbelief.

Yue Buqun frowned but said nothing.

Yue Lingshan also wore an utterly incredulous expression.

"Second Senior Brother, you, you, you..."

The Second Senior Brother she had respected actually wanted to kill them!

Lao De Nuo opened his mouth and began forcefully arguing his case.

"Listen to my explanation. I was threatened too—I had no choice but to do this. I truly didn't want to!"

"Enough."

Ji Shu said, "The witnesses and evidence are all here. Lao De Nuo, and you still want to quibble?"

Ji Shu directly searched Lao De Nuo and found a letter, along with quite a few bottles and jars.

Ji Shu handed the letter to Ning Zhongze and the others.

After reading it, they were profoundly disappointed in Lao De Nuo.

Lao De Nuo's face turned ashen. He had written that letter not long ago, intending to send it by carrier pigeon to bring Zuo Lengchan good news. Who could have known that before the letter could be sent, the assassins had unleashed poisonous mist and prepared their ambush, only for Ji Shu to descend from the heavens and, with irresistible force, kill seven or eight experts in a flash!

The remaining experts were furious and alarmed, firing arrows and hidden weapons.

Yet Ji Shu evaded them all. Like a death god in the night, he wielded his sword as though a flourishing rain were falling, like a meteor streaking across the sky, like flowers reflected in a mirror and moonlight on water—impossible to grasp!

That Mount Hua Sword in his hand seemed blessed by divine light. Wherever it passed, assassins fell like stalks of wheat, their lives effortlessly harvested by Ji Shu!

His movements were ghostly. As he shifted and turned, he was like a breeze brushing one's face—now above, now below, now left, now right. Lao De Nuo could not make out Ji Shu's true form at all. He only saw that every time Ji Shu appeared, an assassin's life was claimed.

He had watched with his own eyes as the group of assassins was slaughtered into collapse, fleeing for their lives.

Yet Ji Shu still caught up to them and killed them.

Lao De Nuo had wanted to run as well.

But Ji Shu had merely said, "If you dare run, I'll kill you!"

Lao De Nuo immediately froze stiff, his feet rooted to the ground. He did not dare move at all.

"Master, Martial Mother."

Lao De Nuo did not dare look at Ji Shu. He merely looked at Ning Zhongze and Yue Buqun, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Ning Zhongze let out a sigh.

Yue Buqun said, "If Ji Shu had not been here tonight, every one of us would undoubtedly have died to your poisonous scheme. Lao De Nuo, Lao De Nuo—I knew long ago that you were a spy from the Mount Song Sect. I endured until now only because I did not wish to break with Zuo Lengchan. Yet Zuo Lengchan has tried time and again to harm me. Now he has even contacted you, this spy, intending to take the lives of everyone from Mount Hua. This is simply going too far in bullying others!"

Lao De Nuo continued kowtowing.

Ji Shu had already taken the antidote and begun treating Lu Dayou and the others.

The antidote had come from the assassins.

Besides the antidote, Ji Shu had also obtained quite a few hidden weapons, gold and silver, and two secret manuals.

Those manuals had been carried close to the bodies of two assassins. Under the hazy night sky, Ji Shu had caught a glimpse of them. One was the Thousand Leaf Sword Technique, and the other was Fairy Scattering Flowers.

Ji Shu searched corpses.

He had originally meant to find an antidote, but had not expected to uncover so many good things.

"Lao De Nuo. Take your own life!"

Yue Buqun's single sentence made Lao De Nuo tremble uncontrollably. He looked toward Yue Lingshan.

Yue Lingshan revealed a trace of reluctance, but she still turned her head away.

Lao De Nuo had wanted to kill her father and mother, and to kill Ji Shu. If this could be tolerated, what could not?

Lao De Nuo died.

He died filled with chagrin, regret, and confusion.

Before dying, he had asked Ji Shu one question. "Master has spent a long time with me, and with his meticulous nature, it makes sense that he could notice something wrong with me. But how did you notice? We hardly had any contact at all!"

Ji Shu ignored him.

Lao De Nuo asked no further. He was deeply unwilling to accept it. Had Ji Shu not discovered that something was amiss, this time they might have dealt the Mount Hua Sect a devastating blow!

Then he could have accomplished his mission and withdrawn unscathed! How hateful!

Lao De Nuo took his own life.

He left behind an intact corpse.

Lu Dayou, Shi Daizi, and the others went to deal with his body.

Yue Buqun looked at Ji Shu with a complicated expression. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he asked nothing.

Yue Lingshan was simple-hearted and straightforward. She asked bluntly, "Ji Shu. What Lao De Nuo said makes sense. How did you discover that something was wrong with him?"

She no longer called him Second Senior Brother. Clearly, Lao De Nuo's actions had left her chilled, furious, and heartbroken.

"He made quite a few small moves along the way. During the day, he went to the toilet several times. At night, he still had to go. I felt something was wrong, so I followed him to take a look. I never expected to see him contacting the assassins and preparing to launch a surprise attack on us!"

"So that was it."

Yue Lingshan suddenly understood. Still shaken, she patted her chest and said, "Good thing you were so alert, Ji Shu. Otherwise, we surely would have been wiped out this time!"

Yue Buqun's eyelids twitched wildly as well, and he felt as though he had survived a great calamity. "I never expected them to be so despicable as to use poison—and poisonous mist that was impossible to guard against! Truly hateful!"

"Fortunately, we have Ji Shu."

Ning Zhongze sighed. "I never noticed Lao De Nuo's little moves."

Yue Buqun's old face reddened. He had not noticed either! This showed that Lao De Nuo's actions must have been extremely covert. Yet Ji Shu had noticed them. From a glimpse of the leopard through a tube, one could see that Ji Shu's cultivation had reached an astonishing and terrifying realm!

"Let's remain vigilant tonight. Tomorrow, we'll pick up the pace and travel faster. We'll rest once we reach Luoyang City. This wilderness truly isn't safe."

"Yes, Master."

The poison in everyone's bodies had been alleviated.

But each of them was still exhausted and extremely uncomfortable.

They were deeply grateful to Ji Shu. In the battle at the temple, they had been completely powerless to resist. If Ji Shu had not charged into the enemy's rear, they likely would have been buried beneath a rain of arrows!

"Too vicious!"

Whenever Yue Buqun recalled the scene of being shot down by a barrage of arrows, he would fly into a rage, his liver trembling with fear!

"Zuo Lengchan!"

A chill flashed through Yue Buqun's eyes.

The Mount Song Sect had touched his bottom line again and again! They were simply bullying others beyond all reason!

"What would have become of the Mount Hua Sect without Ji Shu?"

Yue Buqun did not even dare imagine it!

Without realizing it, his approval of Ji Shu rose another level. An idea formed in his heart as he thought secretly, I'll observe him for a while longer. Once the Five Peaks Alliance is over, if Ji Shu remains of this same disposition and character, I'll teach him the Purple Cloud Divine Skill!

Yue Buqun was overly cautious.

Had it been Ning Zhongze, moved by gratitude, she might well have taught Ji Shu the Purple Cloud Divine Skill on the spot!

But regardless.

After this encounter, Ji Shu's prestige within the Mount Hua Sect undoubtedly rose greatly.

Yue Lingshan trusted, admired, and worshipped him even more.

Ning Zhongze also favored him more.

The following afternoon.

The group galloped hard and arrived at Luoyang City.

When they chose an inn to rest at, Ning Zhongze once again reminded Yue Buqun that he should teach Ji Shu the Purple Cloud Divine Skill.

She spoke earnestly, "Senior Brother, the internal skill Ji Shu cultivates seems to be only our Huashan Heart Method. He is now the Vice Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect, and he has saved Mount Hua from disaster several times. We should reward him and teach him the divine skill, so that he can become stronger. Only then will our Mount Hua Sect have greater confidence and more of a voice in the matter of the Five Peaks Alliance."