Blade Duel

He walked to the courtyard gate in two steps and called out loudly, "Dad! Mom! What happened?"

A commotion immediately came from inside the room, followed by the door opening.

The figures of Lu Danian and Mother Lu appeared at the doorway, fear lingering in their eyes.

"Chuanzi!" Mother Lu saw him, her voice even trembling. "You... you've finally come back!"

Lu Danian pulled him into the room with a single haul, quickly closed the heavy door, and urged anxiously,

"Chuanzi, listen to Dad! Don't come home for the next two days!"

"Right, right!" Mother Lu rushed to add,

"It's... it's that Liu Biao! He came this afternoon! He brought a large saber, blocked our doorstep, and shouted that he was looking for you!"

Lu Danian let out a heavy breath:

"We didn't dare to open the door, and told him through the crack that you went to the county town and weren't home. He... without a second word, he raised his foot and kicked!"

"He even left word that he'd come back this time tomorrow, and if he still couldn't see you, he'd smash our broken house to pieces!"

"Chuanzi, listen to your dad and mom," Mother Lu's tears swirled in her eye sockets.

"That Liu Biao is from the martial arts hall, and we can't afford to offend him! You must not come back these few days! If he can't wait for anyone, maybe he'll leave..."

"Dad! Mom!" Lu Chuan abruptly interrupted them.

Looking at the helplessness and fear on his parents' faces, he understood their fright, but an even more intense emotion burst out furiously in his heart!

Hide? Where could he hide? Could a martial arts hall protect him for a lifetime?

If he didn't even dare to face his family being bullied to their doorstep, then what was the point of him gritting his teeth to practice martial arts?

A raging emotion fiercely surged to the top of his head.

He turned and groped for the long saber from inside the room.

Carrying the saber back to the main room, his parents saw the sharp weapon in his hands and turned pale with fright.

"Chuanzi! Y-what are you going to do? Don't do anything foolish!" Lu Danian wanted to stop him.

Lu Chuan's voice was icy:

"Today's matter cannot end well."

"He kicked my family's door today and even left word that he would tear down my home."

"Some things cannot be avoided!"

With that, he carried the saber and walked straight toward the direction of Xinghua's house in the village.

At Xinghua's house, an oil lamp illuminated the room brightly, and five or six bowls and dishes were set out on the wooden table.

A basin of stewed meat, a plate of stir-fried eggs, and a small pot of warm rice wine in the middle.

Lu San, Lu Qinshi, Xinghua, and Liu Biao, who sat at the head of the table, were sitting around eating.

The faces of Lu San and Lu Qinshi were piled with near-fawning smiles.

As for Xinghua, she sat beside Liu Biao, glancing at him from time to time with an adoring gaze, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Lu San raised his bowl of wine with a grin:

"Biaozi! Good son-in-law! Today was truly majestic! You stood right at Lu Chuan's doorstep, hey, what an imposing aura!"

Lu Qinshi immediately snatched the conversation, her voice sharp and shrill:

"Wasn't it just! Lu Danian and that old hag of his were shivering even when talking through the door crack!"

Xinghua also timely clipped a large piece of fatty meat into Liu Biao's bowl, her voice sweet and tender:

"Brother Biao, that kick of yours... was truly fierce! Let's see if they dare bully our family again in the future!"

As she spoke, a trace of gratification flashed in her eyes.

Liu Biao listened with a glowing face, throwing his head back to drain the wine in his cup in one gulp.

"Hmph!" He said in a rough voice:

"Father-in-law, mother-in-law, Xinghua, rest assured! With me, Liu Biao, around, let's see who dares to touch a single hair on you from now on!"

An overbearing light flashed in his eyes:

"What kind of thing is Lu Chuan? A mud-legged peasant dares to act against my father-in-law? If he still dares to cower tomorrow, I'll peel off the roof of his broken house too!"

"Right! Biaozi is right!" Lu San hurriedly filled his wine again. "That brat just needs a beating!"

Lu Qinshi also chimed in:

"Exactly! Our Biaozi is someone destined to achieve great things! By then, our whole family will follow along to enjoy the blessings!"

Liu Biao was flattered into an even more floaty state.

He raised his refilled wine cup with heroic spirit:

"Come! Drink! Once we catch that brat, father-in-law and mother-in-law, you can vent your anger however you like!"

"Drink!"

"Bottoms up!"

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Just as the four of them were drinking until their faces were red and ears hot, an ear-shattering, thunderous explosion suddenly burst forth!

"Bang!!!"

The four of them were instantly dumbfounded, turning their heads in unison to look toward the entrance.

Only to see that wooden panel door was currently lying flat on the ground!

"Who?! Which bastard dares to run wild at our place?!" Lu San reacted first, rushing out fiercely.

As for Liu Biao, he furrowed his brow.

The moment Lu San rushed to the dilapidated doorway, his brimming anger instantly fizzled out:

"Lu... Lu Chuan?!"

"Lu Chuan?!" The remaining three people inside the room were also startled.

Upon hearing this name, Liu Biao was not alarmed but instead delighted.

He strode to the doorway, sizing up the slender youth outside.

"Well well! So you're Lu Chuan!" Liu Biao's voice carried undisguised ferocity.

"I let you escape death this afternoon by playing the coward, but I didn't expect your guts to have grown so fat that you actually dare to deliver yourself to your death!"

There was not much expression on Lu Chuan's face as he raised his foot to kick the ruined, fallen door panel:

"We've dismantled your door... this can be considered even."

"Even?!" Lu Qinshi screeched shrilly,

"Lu Chuan, you little bastard! You kicked our door and you're still this arrogant! Biaozi, quick! Teach him a lesson right now!"

"Lu Chuan, I see you've grown tired of living!" Lu San also roared with a bluff.

Liu Biao sneered malevolently instead, drawing the thick-backed chopping knife from behind his back.

"Good boy, you've got guts! I'd like to see what kind of skills you actually have to dare act so wild!"

The two stood facing each other with sabers.

Lu San's family expectantly watched the two opposing figures.

Lu Qinshi still muttered curses incessantly under her breath.

Looking at Liu Biao, who was a full circle sturdier than himself, Lu Chuan felt no fear whatsoever in his heart.

Before coming here, he had not acted out of blind impulse.

Liu Biao was merely an apprentice of peasant origin; even with some talent, without massive resources piled up, just how strong could he get?

Lu Chuan was now also a man of the martial arts hall, and had quite a good understanding in this regard.

Besides, if Liu Biao truly had skills, how could he possibly have taken a fancy to Xinghua's family?

"Die!" Seeing Lu Chuan unmoving, Liu Biao let out a violent roar and struck first!

The thick-backed chopping knife in his hand slashed straight down at Lu Chuan's head!

Lu Chuan did not meet it head-on, agilely shifting his step and sliding half a foot to the rear side.

The blade edge brushed past his stance and cleaved through empty air.

With the first strike missing, Liu Biao could not check his momentum in time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the long saber in Lu Chuan's hand instantly thrust forward, the tip pointing directly at Liu Biao's exposed flank!

Liu Biao was greatly startled, hurriedly waving his saber to parry.

"Clang!"

The two sabers intersected, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Liu Biao's arm strength indeed surpassed Lu Chuan's, and the hurried block still sent a numbing jolt through Lu Chuan's arm.

Yet he paid it no mind, the long saber in his hand transforming into a sheet of cold light—chopping, slashing, parrying, hanging...

Every single stroke headed straight for Liu Biao's weak points in defense, driving him into a fluster where he could only barely fend off the blows, completely devoid of any power to counterattack.

The longer they fought, the more alarmed Liu Biao became, completely failing to expect that the country youth before him possessed swordplay this seasoned.

This was definitely not the look of a mere initiate!

"Xinghua, your family has ruined me!"

In the blink of an eye, seven or eight moves passed, and Lu Chuan had thoroughly probed Liu Biao's bottom line.

His strength was much greater than his own, but his saber techniques were crudely versed, falling far short of his own Minor Success-level Mountain Splitting Saber.

During a double-saber clash where Liu Biao's center was left wide open, a fierce look flashed in Lu Chuan's eyes.

He stirred the internal qi and blood within his body, executing the most explosive form within the Mountain Splitting Saber!

"Break!"

Lu Chuan's long saber deflected Liu Biao's parrying blade.

The blade light drove straight in, halting right in front of Liu Biao's throat amidst his horrified and desperate gaze!

The blade edge pressed tightly against his skin, raising goosebumps over Liu Biao's entire body and leaving him too terrified to make the slightest movement.

The chopping knife in his hand dropped to the ground with a clatter.

The entire world fell silent.

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