Bloodstains the Long Street

Pfft!

A Plum Blossom Dart instantly struck a man in the forehead.

The man fell backward with his face to the sky. With a heavy bang, he crashed to the ground, his eyes wide as brass bells, filled with terror and unwillingness. Clearly, he had died with eyes still open.

The surrounding spectators screamed endlessly and scattered in all directions.

Chaos erupted on the street.

At the same time, many vendors along both sides of the street suddenly overturned their stalls, drew swords from beneath them, and charged at Ji Shu.

Without exception, they were all martial artists.

Each was powerfully built and brimming with vigor, murder in their eyes and no small skill in their swordplay—some used Mount Song Sword Style, some Mount Hua Swordplay, while others wielded the tricky or grand sword arts of other sects.

These people clearly came from several different sects.

They now gathered into a group, closing in on Ji Shu from every direction in a fishing-net formation, seemingly intent on surrounding and killing him here.

"Kill!"

The leader was eight feet tall, broad and powerfully built. With a roar, the people charging in from all sides sped up. In just a few blinks, five or six had reached Ji Shu and thrust their swords at his vital points!

Clang!

Their swords were sharp, but Ji Shu's was no worse.

He drew his sword like lightning and unleashed the Thousand Leaf Sword Technique. Swish, swish! Like a gale sweeping up fallen leaves, more than a dozen sword shadows flashed through the air. When they looked again, the six swordsmen who had rushed forward had already had their wrists severed and their throats struck. They stared at Ji Shu in terror, staggered two steps forward, then collapsed to the ground.

Blood gushed from their throats, pooling across the ground.

The others were deeply shaken by the sight.

Yet under their leader's urging, they still roared and charged at Ji Shu. This time, there were even more of them—more than a dozen in all.

Every one of them was lean and capable, their swordplay formidable.

But once Ji Shu recovered himself, killing intent surged within him as well. The Mount Hua Sword in his hand formed a barrier so tight not even water could splash through or needles pierce in! These people could not get near him at all!

Instead, they were repeatedly struck in the throat by Ji Shu's sudden thrusts, falling into pools of blood.

Within only a few breaths, more than a dozen had been hit in the throat and killed on the spot.

The rest watched, their faces turning pale, their souls nearly flying from their bodies.

The leader tried firing several crossbow bolts at Ji Shu, but Ji Shu easily knocked them aside. The man's eyes shifted. While shouting for the others to charge, he slowly retreated. Then he spun around and fled at full speed.

"Hong Yi!"

When someone saw the man running, he roared and tried to flee as well. But in the next instant, a meteor-like streak of sword light flashed through the air and sliced open his throat.

He felt searing pain and instinctively touched his neck. His hand came away covered in blood. Terror-stricken, he wanted to scream, but all he could produce was a hoarse, hissing sound, like air leaking from a punctured bellows. He could not even scream.

He slowly dropped to his knees, his eyes still holding a lingering attachment to this world! His face bore hatred, unwillingness, and regret. His expression was incomparably complicated!

Ji Shu merely glanced at him before looking away. He was no longer a novice at killing. On Mount Hua, he had killed before. Later, he had forced himself to recall those bloody scenes, to grow accustomed to them! By the dark night outside the ruined temple, he had already been able to kill calmly without changing his expression!

And today, he killed people as if slaughtering chickens, expressionless and cold-eyed.

His sword moved like a bolt of white silk, like thunder and lightning. Every time he struck, he easily took two or three lives!

At times, with a single sword stroke, all seven or eight people surrounding him had their throats slit at once!

The Righteous Qi Sword, forged from such sword arts as the Thousand Leaf Sword Technique, Three Immortals Swordplay, Three Peaks of Mount Tai Swordplay, and Five Peaks Swordplay!

Its power now was great enough to effortlessly sweep aside all in its path!

Swish, swish!

The sword made one final sweep through the air. Amid ringing clashes, it ended the last man's life.

Ji Shu gripped the blood-dripping Mount Hua Sword and swept his gaze around.

The long street was deathly silent. Other than Yue Lingshan, no one remained.

Yue Lingshan stood not far away, watching him with a worried face. When she saw Ji Shu looking over, she hurriedly ran up.

"Ji Shu, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Ji Shu looked toward an alley and said,

"I'm going after the one who escaped."

"I'll go with you."

Ji Shu said no more. He nodded and told her to watch her own safety.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Ji Shu took Yue Lingshan's hand and used his Lightness Skill. Like a gust of clear wind, they vanished from the long street in an instant amid two whooshes.

Only after they had gone far away did the shops on both sides of the street open their doors. Looking at the bloodshed covering the ground, the people exchanged glances, each clearly seeing the bewilderment and shock in the others' eyes.

How many years had it been? This was the first time they had seen such a large-scale bloody fight in broad daylight in Luoyang!

"This will definitely shake the imperial court!"

"The imperial court won't interfere. This is plainly a matter of the martial world. Any official who meddles would probably be unable to sleep soundly at night. These martial world people act without restraint, and their martial arts are powerful. They come and go over rooftops and walls—if they truly wished to assassinate an official, who could stop them? Unless the court dispatched a great army to suppress them! But things like this clearly happen often. The court cannot possibly mobilize border troops for the sake of these martial world people!"

"Exactly. To the country, these are nothing more than ringworm and scabies. It's just that they used to do most of their killing under cover of night. Now they're killing in broad daylight, and I'm not used to it."

"You'll get used to it. Ever since Players descended on a massive scale ten years ago, things like this have never been rare! They'll probably only become more frequent in the future."

Ji Shu and Yue Lingshan stood before a lavish estate that covered a considerable expanse of land.

"Wang Family?"

Yue Lingshan saw the plaque hanging above the estate gates.

"The people who suddenly ambushed us were from the Wang Family?"

Yue Lingshan was baffled.

"Ji Shu, do you have any enemies with the surname Wang?"

"No."

Ji Shu thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I'm baffled too."

"Every event has a cause."

"Right. Let's go in and take a look."

Ji Shu had learned quite a few Miscellaneous Studies from Lu Dayou and the others, including the skill of tracking traces.

The people who taught him this skill had only been at the beginner level.

Yet with his peerless talent, after studying it for barely half an hour, he had mastered the skill to perfection, with no further room for advancement.

That was why, supported by his powerful inner force and his exceptional eyesight and perception, he had been able to use this tracking skill to locate the Wang Residence so quickly.

Tap, tap!

Ji Shu took Yue Lingshan by the hand and chose an unconventional route. With a leap three zhang high, he easily cleared the high walls of the Wang Family Mansion and entered the courtyard.

The courtyard was adorned with artificial hills, flowing water, flowerbeds, and lawns, exquisite beyond compare. Yet some areas were in utter disarray: artificial hills had collapsed and flowerbeds had been destroyed. It was clear that something had happened to the Wang Family as well.

Ji Shu's inner force was deep. Using his Lightness Skill, he made several swift leaps and arrived outside a side room. Pressing his ear close, he heard someone speaking.

"Master, someone wants to kill your disciple. You must seek justice for your disciple!"

"Who wants to kill you?"

"Ji Shu."

"Never heard of him. What's his background?"

"A newly initiated disciple of the Mount Hua Sect."

"Heh. A mere new disciple, and so many of you still couldn't handle him?!"