Power Exposed

At last, the Giant Snake's struggles weakened, and its shrill hissing dwindled into broken whimpers. Its massive body gave a few final spasms, then went limp on the ground. All the light faded from its dark golden, vertical-pupiled eyes, which stared blankly at the blood-stained green sky above.

Only ragged breathing and the overpowering stench of blood remained in the woods.

Li San leaned on his bent saber and staggered over to Wang Wu. The two exchanged a glance. Their eyes held none of the relief of having survived a calamity, only the cold understanding of men who had achieved their goal—and a hint of barely concealed... delight?

"It's done," Li San panted, his voice hoarse.

"Mm." Wang Wu was still a man of few words, but his gaze swept over Zhao Si, sprawled on the ground, then over the gravely wounded Yan Xiao Liu and Ye Yun, who was supporting him. His eyes were as cold as probes.

Li San followed Wang Wu's gaze. The sickly flush that had risen in his face after killing a formidable foe quickly faded, replaced by a bone-deep chill and unconcealed killing intent. He grinned, baring blood-flecked teeth. Against his blood-smeared face, the smile looked especially savage and terrifying.

"Yeah, it's done." He repeated Wang Wu's words, but his voice abruptly turned cold, like icicles in midwinter. "Now... it's time to take care of business."

Business?

Yan Xiao Liu's heart sank. A dreadful premonition, cold as a poisonous snake, instantly coiled around it!

Li San carried the thick-backed saber, its blade warped and smeared with dark green snake blood, and walked step by step toward Zhao Si. Zhao Si lay limp on the ground, his trousers soaked, trembling like a leaf in an autumn gale.

When Zhao Si saw Li San coming—and especially when he met those cold, merciless eyes devoid of warmth—terror tore through him. A fierce will to survive drew out his last reserves of strength. He forced a fawning smile onto his face, uglier than a sob, and stammered:

"Th-Third Brother! Fifth Brother! You're masters among masters! I've... I've truly had my eyes opened today! You're... you're incredible! Your divine skills are unrivaled under heaven! I admire you so much I'd gladly bow till my head hit the ground! From now on, I'll serve you hand and foot, work like an ox or a horse..." He babbled on, hoping the most nauseating flattery might buy him a sliver of life.

But his words stopped abruptly!

Because Li San moved!

Without warning, without a single unnecessary motion, the warped saber, slick with snake blood, carved a grim, decisive arc through the dim light!

"Pfft!"

The sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh and bone was dull, yet made the heart quail!

The fawning smile had not even fully frozen on Zhao Si's face. In his eyes, stretched wide with fear, utter shock, confusion, and disbelief flashed all at once! He felt a chill at his neck, then his vision began to spin... He seemed to see his own body still kneeling on the ground, hot blood gushing from its severed neck...

"Hhk... hhk..." His head hit the ground and rolled. His lips opened and closed twice, uselessly, before all light left his eyes.

Li San watched Zhao Si's body collapse and his head roll away, his eyes utterly unmoved. He flicked the blood from his blade and broke the silence with a mutter laced with false apology, soft as a demon's whisper:

"Brother Zhao, I'm truly sorry. We brothers have things to do... and we can't let anyone else find out. So you'll just have to go on ahead." He paused, then turned his gaze like a viper toward Yan Xiao Liu and Ye Yun. "Don't worry... they'll be down there to keep you company soon."

"You... you...!" Yan Xiao Liu's eyes nearly split with rage! His shock and fury briefly drowned out even the agony in his body! He had watched Zhao Si's throat get cut! He had seen Li San's cold indifference, as if crushing an ant! They had torn away their disguises in an instant, baring their savage fangs! He struggled to sit up, but the movement tugged at his wounds and sent him into a violent coughing fit. Blood welled again at the corner of his mouth. "Why...? We were in this together... Zhao Si, he..."

With his blood-dripping saber in hand, Li San advanced on Ye Yun and Yan Xiao Liu like a death-bringing bailiff. A cruel, mocking smile hung on his face as he cut off Yan Xiao Liu's question. "Why? Heh..." His gaze, sharp as a poisoned hook, pinned Ye Yun's calm, almost indifferent face. He spoke one word at a time: "You can blame the brat beside you... He's surnamed Ye!"

Surnamed Ye!

The two words exploded in Ye Yun's mind like thunder. Just as he'd thought! They were after him! Yan Xiao Liu and Zhao Si were only innocent bystanders caught up in this—or rather, witnesses who had to be silenced! Their prying and goading along the way had been meant to lure him deep into the Sunset Mountains! They were here to kill him! And it was because of his surname!

A glint of icy light flashed deep in Ye Yun's eyes! Countless thoughts raced through his mind! Enemies? Treasure hunting? Or... that buried secret?

"Cough, cough..." Wang Wu's low, warning cough rang out like muffled thunder, interrupting whatever else Li San seemed about to say.

Li San jolted, as if waking from a trance. He slapped his forehead in annoyance, yet his grin grew even more savage. "Tsk, I nearly said too much. But..." He looked at Ye Yun and Yan Xiao Liu again, as if they were already two corpses. "When you're sending someone to hell, what does it matter if you say a little more or less?"

Before his words had even faded, killing intent surged in Li San's eyes! He stopped talking. The warped, blood-dripping saber in his hand swept through the air with a shrill whistle, stirring up a bloody gale as it came crashing down on the gravely wounded Yan Xiao Liu and Ye Yun, who stood in front of him, to shield him. The two of them were almost powerless to resist. This strike carried all Li San's hatred for Ye Yun and his merciless resolve to eliminate obstacles; he meant to cut them both in two!

Yan Xiao Liu closed his eyes in despair! He knew Li San's strength too well! Even at full strength, he would have been no match for him! And now he was gravely wounded, on the brink of death. Wang Wu was right there, his strength unfathomable, watching like a tiger waiting to pounce! A dead end! There was no escape!

"It's over..." That was the only thought in his mind.

But then!

Just as the death-dealing saber came within three feet of Yan Xiao Liu's head, its icy edge already raising goosebumps on his scalp—

"Clang—!!!"

A clash of metal rang out, far clearer and louder than any before it, carrying a strange, almost rhythmic resonance. Like the tolling of a temple bell at dawn and dusk, it instantly dispelled the shadow of death hanging over Yan Xiao Liu.

The agony of being cleaved apart never came!

Yan Xiao Liu snapped his eyes open!

What he saw was a sight he would never forget!

Ye Yun, who had been kneeling in front of him and supporting him, had somehow risen to his feet. The weapon in his hand was no divine blade, just an ordinary, regulation-issue steel saber. Yet at that moment, the plain saber seemed to have come alive!

Ye Yun moved faster than Yan Xiao Liu could comprehend! It was as if he had merely turned his wrist in passing. The ordinary saber rose at a flawless angle, like an antelope's horn caught on a branch, its upward sweep exquisitely precise. There was no earth-shaking force, no violent surge of inner power. Only perfect precision—and a... strength beyond words, deep and still as an abyss!

With the back of the blade, Ye Yun caught Li San's thick-backed saber dead on. It had been infused with inner power and was coming down with the force to split mountains and shatter stone.

The blades collided!

The ordinary saber did not shatter at once, and Ye Yun was not cleaved in two!

It stood firm as divine iron rooted deep in the earth, without the slightest movement—or even a bend! Instead, Li San's thick-backed saber seemed to have struck a chunk of ancient ice, and the tremendous recoil surged back along its length.

"Vmm—!"

The thick-backed saber let out a pained wail! Li San felt unimaginable force shoot up from the hilt, splitting his thumb webbing in an instant and drawing blood! His entire arm went numb with pain, and he could barely keep hold of the saber. His forward momentum stopped dead, and he even staggered backward a step!

"What?!" The savage grin froze on Li San's face, replaced by utter shock and disbelief! He stared at Ye Yun as if he'd seen a ghost. For the first time, those keen, hawk-like eyes were filled with incredulity—and a hint of... fear!

"Eh?!" Wang Wu, who had been watching coldly like a statue, let out a startled exclamation too. His sinister face turned grave for the first time, like a poisonous snake that had spotted its prey! His sharp, blade-like gaze locked onto Ye Yun, as though trying to see right through him!

He had been completely wrong about Ye Yun!

This "Brother Ye," who had said so little along the way and kept his presence so well hidden that he seemed utterly ordinary... was actually a master concealing his true abilities! The depth of his concealment and the strength he possessed far surpassed all expectations!

After that clear ring of steel, the air in the woods seemed to freeze completely. The stench of blood, the reek of snake, and the invisible, bone-chilling killing intent tangled together, forming an even deadlier web. Ye Yun stood with his saber in hand, calmly meeting the shocked, murderous gazes of Li San and Wang Wu. Like a volcano on the verge of eruption, he was silent, yet brimming with devastating power.