"Impossible!"
"Why is it impossible? You're their leader. Even if someone ordered you to kill me, failing the mission wouldn't mean certain death. But if you come over here, your younger brother will definitely die... Back off."
Shen Zhui retreated several steps, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.
When he first saw that the two Ninth Stage Houtian Martial Artists looked remarkably alike, he had guessed that they might be biological brothers.
He had already been thinking of taking a hostage and threatening the other side into sparing him.
In Shen Zhui's view, if the two commanders had not been related by blood, they might still weigh the pros and cons and refuse to let him go.
But now that it was confirmed they were brothers, and the other side clearly cared about the hostage's safety, why were they still unwilling to spare him?
No matter how strict an Aristocratic Clan was, without exposing their identities, surely failing a mission wouldn't warrant execution?
Ninth Stage Houtian Martial Artists weren't cabbages that could be discarded at will.
"The fact that you can send out such a well-trained squad means you're either from the Li Family or the Yang Family, right?"
"Don't even think about prying for information... Let him go!"
"Let me leave."
"You won't get away!"
"But your younger brother is almost at his limit. If he keeps bleeding for much longer, even an immortal won't be able to save him."
Shen Zhui stepped backward, crushing a section of dead branch beneath his foot.
"Just tell me—are we able to negotiate..."
Suddenly—
"Whoosh~"
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!!"
"Bastard! Who fired that crossbow bolt?"
"Stop!"
"Don't move!"
"Stay back!"
No one knew who behind the crowd had fired the crossbow bolt. It had been aimed at Shen Zhui's head, but the result was far from ideal—it struck A'Er instead.
Under A'Da's furious roar, the restless martial artists behind him were suppressed once more. The atmosphere returned to a tense standoff.
Several times, A'Da nearly charged over in his fury, but Shen Zhui gave him no opportunity. He adjusted his position and once again held A'Er's body toward him, forcing A'Da to retreat.
Seeing that the stalemate was continuing and that A'Er had begun vomiting blood again, with no telling when he would collapse, A'Da's voice grew hoarse as well.
He suddenly fixed his gaze on a certain direction.
Following A'Da's gaze from the corner of his eye, Shen Zhui discovered that there were actually two more blurry figures on the distant hillside!
The instant A'Da looked in that direction, an aged voice rang out.
"Hmph, a bunch of useless trash!"
When he heard a response, delight flashed across A'Da's face, but immediately afterward, his complexion turned deathly pale.
"The Young Master has ordered us to kill this man immediately, regardless of the cost! If A'Er dies, this man will be buried with him."
"What? No! Don't, Young Master—" A'Da instantly fell into despair. He had never expected such an answer.
Seeing that the martial artists around them had begun acting despite his attempts to stop them, A'Da suddenly became like a wounded beast and roared.
"You're still willing to serve a Young Master like that?!" Shen Zhui's heart turned cold as well.
He finally understood why A'Da had refused to agree to let him go. It turned out that A'Da had never dared make that decision himself.
Tears glimmered at the corners of A'Da's eyes, and his eyeballs were webbed with blood vessels. After struggling for a moment, his expression suddenly went calm.
He raised his long saber and charged at Shen Zhui.
"Fuck!"
Shen Zhui cursed loudly, twisted the Iron Ruler, and crushed A'Er's internal organs before yanking it back out.
"Pfft, pfft~"
Blood sprayed out like arrows. He kicked A'Er, who was beyond saving, toward the crowd, then turned and fled toward the hillside.
"Kill!"
"Kill him!"
"Fire!"
Roars rose one after another as everyone unleashed a volley of attacks toward Shen Zhui.
Shen Zhui's figure shifted unpredictably. He did not advance in a straight line, darting back and forth like a nimble antelope.
It was also fortunate that fate had not yet abandoned Shen Zhui. He was running uphill, and shooting upward from below was naturally far less effective than the earlier ambush.
A'Er's body blocked them for another moment, and the arrows fired in the confusion were naturally far less accurate than before.
At that moment, a gust of autumn wind suddenly swept through, blowing the arrows off course.
Even when a few happened to strike Shen Zhui, they had already run out of momentum and could not pierce his Silver Scale Soft Armor.
Shen Zhui was incredibly fast. In less than ten breaths, he had reached the hillside and left his pursuers far behind.
"Capture the King. Only by taking that richly dressed young master hostage will I have even a sliver of hope."
Shen Zhui's objective was crystal clear. Though this place was only ten li from Heyuan County, without horses, trying to outrun these people on foot was nothing but a pipe dream. He would only die faster.
"Looking for death! Uncle Cang, kill him." When Li Ming saw Shen Zhui charging toward him, how could he not know what Shen Zhui was planning?
But Shen Zhui's intentions infuriated him. Li Ming felt as though he had suffered immense humiliation.
A setup that had originally been foolproof had been forced into this state by Shen Zhui. Li Ming, who had always considered himself a master strategist, now hated Shen Zhui to the bone and wanted nothing more than to kill him.
"Yes, Young Master."
The Elder Cang nodded. Then his figure flashed. Without any visible preparation, he took one step and crossed thirty feet in an instant, appearing before Shen Zhui as a fist shot straight toward his chest.
"What? So fast!" Shen Zhui's heart pounded wildly, and he fiercely brought the Iron Ruler down!
"Clang!"
The Elder Cang changed his fist into a palm and struck the Iron Ruler directly with his bare hand, knocking it aside.
A tremendous force surged through him, and the Iron Ruler in his hand nearly flew free!
Under that single blow, Shen Zhui had almost failed to keep hold of the Iron Ruler.
"This... This is a Xiantian Martial Artist!"
From that one exchange, Shen Zhui immediately sensed the gap between them, and cold sweat broke out across his body!
"Die!"
Shen Zhui's nerves were stretched taut. Light flared from his hand, and ten Essences of Vital Energy erupted in an instant. He then flung the Iron Ruler from his grasp, sending it straight toward Li Ming, who stood not far away.
"Whoosh!" The Iron Ruler tore through the air and arrived in the blink of an eye.
"You beast! How dare you!" The Elder Cang's beard and hair stood on end. He struck Shen Zhui in the chest with one palm, then swiftly turned back.
"Zheng~"
The Iron Ruler stopped half a meter before Li Ming, its body trembling and humming continuously. A large hand seized the Iron Ruler, and thin trails of blood seeped from the palm.
Under this desperate strike, even a Xiantian Martial Artist had suffered a superficial wound by catching a blade barehanded.
"This old servant deserves death! I nearly let this thief injure Young Master!" The Elder Cang was somewhat flustered. If Li Ming had truly been injured, even ten thousand deaths would not have been enough to atone for his crime.
"Kill him! Kill him! Uncle Cang, hurry!" Li Ming roared with a pale face.
Although his strength was comparable to that of a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm expert, he did not follow the martial path. He followed the Qi Refining Path instead, so his body was naturally inferior to a martial artist's.
He had not reacted at all in that instant just now!
Only now, realizing what had happened, did he see that the Iron Ruler had come within half a meter of him and even cut Uncle Cang's palm. His heart pounded wildly, and lingering fear washed over him.
"It's over!" Shen Zhui knelt on one knee in the grass. When he saw that the attack had failed, a trace of unwillingness flashed through his eyes.
He had already been injured beforehand, and after another bitter struggle, he had expended a tremendous amount of strength.
After erupting with ten Essences of Vital Energy, the energy within his body was nearly exhausted. On top of that, he had taken a palm from the Xiantian Martial Artist. He no longer even had the strength to flee.
As the Elder Cang's fist grew larger in his vision, Shen Zhui struggled to his feet.
He, Shen Zhui, would stand even in death!
Just when Shen Zhui thought he was certain to die, he suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind.
The other party's fist stopped half a meter before him.
At the same time, a voice rang out.
"Old Ghost Cang, you're a dignified Xiantian Martial Artist, yet you attacked a junior at the Eighth Stage of Acquired Realm. Have you lived all these years for nothing but to become a dog's meal?!"