Secret Forest Killing Intent

The setting sun bled like blood, dyeing the mountains and forests a deep crimson. Chen Qingzhou and his group trudged wearily along the returning path, their boots crushing dry leaves with a rustling sound. The oppressive aura Sun Yu had brought still lingered in everyone's hearts; even Yan Xiao Liu, usually the most talkative, remained silent.

Finally, they'd sent that plague god away. Chen Qingzhou let out a long sigh, his right hand unconsciously pressing against his chest—the internal injury Sun Yu had inflicted still ached faintly.

Ye Yun walked at the end of the line, his gaze warily scanning their surroundings. The bronze shard in his bosom still held a residual warmth. The mysterious organization and the bloody eyes of the black-robed man made his internal alarm bells ring furiously. The forest was too quiet, not even a bird chirped. Such abnormal silence often foretold...

Swish—

The bushes ahead suddenly rustled violently, and seven or eight masked men in black darted out like phantoms, instantly blocking their path. At the same time, the sound of branches rubbing against each other came from the dense woods on both sides—they were surrounded.

"Alert!" Chen Qingzhou roared, his saber already drawn from his waist. The constables quickly formed a circle, back to back, blades facing outward, gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

Ye Yun's gaze locked onto the figures standing motionless on the path ahead. They wore ordinary cloth clothes but sported bizarrely shaped bronze masks that glowed eerily in the twilight. The one on the left was as burly as an iron tower, while the one on the right was as slender as bamboo. They were Sun Yu's two 8th Rank guards!

"What business do you have with us?" Chen Qingzhou asked in a deep voice, his saber tip lifting slightly. Though he was only an 8th Rank martial artist, he stood at the front of the group, shielding his brothers behind him.

The masked man at the forefront slowly raised his right hand. This simple gesture caused the air to suddenly freeze. The black-clothed men around them simultaneously drew their weapons—all identical, long, narrow sabers, etched with blood-colored patterns, clearly standard issue.

Ye Yun's pupils constricted. These men were positioned with perfect formation, completely sealing off all escape routes. Their movements were silent and swift, undoubtedly the work of highly trained death warriors. Even more terrifying, he keenly noticed that the blood patterns on the sabers were faintly glowing—a sign they were about to drink blood!

"Young Master Sun, what is the meaning of this?" Ye Yun suddenly called out loudly, his voice echoing through the mountains.

The constables' faces changed. Yan Xiao Liu's hand, gripping his saber, trembled slightly. "Brother Ye, you mean that bastard Sun Yu..."

Before he could finish, a chilling laugh echoed from the depths of the woods: "Heh heh heh... Constable Chen, I'm truly sorry. Sun Yu walked out slowly, fanning himself with a smile like a cat playing with a mouse. You know too much, so I'll have to trouble you all to sleep here forever."

Chen Qingzhou's face turned ashen. "Young Master Sun! We swore to keep silent, why must you..."

"Dead men keep secrets best." He snapped his fan shut, killing intent flashing in his eyes. "Moreover, that Lord's plan cannot afford even the slightest mishap. Kill!"

The last word exploded like thunder. The black-clothed men around them moved at the sound, their sabers carving dozens of blood-colored arcs, slashing towards the constables.

At the critical moment, Ye Yun flashed beside Yan Xiao Liu, whispering in his ear: "I'll draw away one 8th Rank. You and Constable Chen lead the brothers to break through!" Without waiting for a reply, he leaped out of formation, his saber pointed directly at the slender masked man on the right.

"Lackey of the Sun family! If you have the guts, chase me!" Ye Yun deliberately shouted, his blade slicing through the air with a silver glint. He used less than ten percent of his strength for this strike, but deliberately made the wind of his saber howl.

The slender masked man clearly paused, his eyes narrowing into slits beneath the bronze mask. He obviously hadn't expected anyone among these constables to dare provoke an 8th Rank martial artist. After a brief moment of surprise, he let out a disdainful snort and floated out like a phantom, a pair of short daggers glowing blue suddenly appearing in his hand.

The clash of metal echoed through the mountains. Ye Yun precisely blocked a fatal strike aimed at his throat but deliberately let his blade vibrate violently, feigning being overwhelmed. Using the rebound force, he stumbled back several steps, then turned and fled into the dense woods.

"Seeking death!" The slender masked man's icy voice came from behind. Ye Yun could feel the man pursuing him like a shadow. The speed of an 8th Rank martial artist was indeed astonishing; within a few breaths, he was within ten feet.

A patch of dense bushes appeared ahead. A glint flashed in Ye Yun's eyes, and he suddenly changed direction. Just as the slender masked man was about to catch up, he abruptly ducked and rolled into the bushes, simultaneously flicking three pebbles from his sleeve at cleverly angled tree trunks in different directions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three muffled thuds rang out almost simultaneously, exceptionally sharp in the silent forest. The slender masked man instinctively paused—this was exactly the effect Ye Yun wanted! He seized the opportunity to dart behind a towering ancient tree, quickly circulating Turtle Breath Stillness, and concealed his aura to the extreme.

The slender masked man soon realized he'd been tricked and furiously slashed and hacked through the bushes. His sharp daggers severed the bowl-thick tree trunks at their waist. Amidst flying wood chips, his expression beneath the mask grew increasingly grim—that little constable had vanished from under his nose!

"Little bastard, you think you can escape?" The masked man's voice was as cold as ice. He suddenly pulled out a bronze bell from his robe and shook it gently.

A strange bell sound echoed through the forest, causing leaves to rustle as if in a breeze. Ye Yun, hidden in the treetops, felt his heart tighten—this was the Eye-Piercing Bell, specifically designed to counter concealment techniques! He immediately changed tactics, deliberately letting a corner of his robe show outside the leaves.

"Found you!" The masked man grinned sinisterly, leaping into the air like a roc, his daggers aimed directly at Ye Yun's hiding spot.

In that split second, a cold glint surged in Ye Yun's eyes. He had been waiting for this chance! The moment the masked man leaped into the air with nowhere to brace himself, Ye Yun suddenly unleashed his full aura, his peak 8th Rank power erupting without reservation.

"What?!" The masked man was horrified. He never imagined this seemingly ordinary constable hid such strength. But he was in mid-air now, his move already committed, with no time to change it.

Ye Yun's saber flashed like a reversed galaxy, whistling piercingly as it slashed towards the masked man's throat. This strike, though seemingly simple, contained the saber intent recorded in the True Martial Secret Manual. Before the blade even reached, its sharp qi had already carved a deep gully in the ground.

At the brink of death, the masked man managed to twist his body, taking the strike with his left arm.

Puchi!

Blood splattered. A severed arm wearing a bronze bracer flew high into the air. The masked man let out a shrill scream, his body plummeting downwards.

But he was, after all, an 8th Rank martial artist. Despite being heavily wounded, he instinctively threw his right-hand dagger while biting his tongue and spitting out a mouthful of blood mist.

Ye Yun dodged the flying dagger by sidestepping, but saw the blood mist condense in the air into dozens of needle-thin blood needles, shooting out like a torrential downpour! This was a demonic art, the Blood Shadow Needles. Once hit, one's qi would immediately surge backward, causing unbearable pain.

In this moment of crisis, Ye Yun circulated his internal qi according to the special route of Turtle Breath Stillness. A layer of faint golden light instantly appeared on his body's surface. The blood needles struck the light barrier, making a dense sound like rain hitting banana leaves, but failed to penetrate even an inch.

"Impossible!" The masked man fell to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What technique is this..."

Before he could finish, Ye Yun's blade arrived. A cold glint flashed, and the bronze mask, along with the head beneath it, flew off. Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain.

Ye Yun landed lightly, his saber unstained by blood. He quickly searched the masked man's body, finding only the pair of daggers and the Eye-Piercing Bell.

Ye Yun sensed a violent fluctuation of primal energy from a distance, mixed with the angry shouts of Chen Qingzhou and the others.

"Not good!"

Ye Yun donned the mask, changed into the dead man's clothes, and sped back like lightning. When he burst out of the dense woods, the scene before him almost froze his blood—

Chen Qingzhou was covered in blood, kneeling on one knee, his saber broken in his hand. Yan Xiao Liu and the constables formed a back-to-back circle, surrounded by five or six corpses of the black-clothed men. There were also a few constable corpses, but the remaining black-clothed men were still attacking ferociously.

Most terrifyingly, the burly masked man was raising a giant axe, its blade condensed with suffocating Gang Qi. He was about to cleave Chen Qingzhou in two!

At this critical juncture, Ye Yun pulled out the captured Eye-Piercing Bell from his robe and shook it vigorously with all his primal energy.

Ding-ling-ling—

The piercing bell sound echoed through the valley, causing all the black-clothed men's movements to freeze. The burly masked man turned back in shock, just in time to see Ye Yun's figure flashing out from the woods like a ghost.

"You're not Old Seven," the masked man's voice rasped like grinding stones.

Ye Yun did not answer.

"You killed Old Seven?" His voice suddenly rose. "Impossible! Who exactly are you..."

Ye Yun sneered and launched a sudden attack. This time, he no longer hid his strength. His peak 8th Rank aura was fully unleashed. His long saber turned into a silver lightning bolt, striking directly for the masked man's throat.

Amidst the deafening collision, the burly masked man's hastily raised great ax was actually struck by this saber, sending sparks flying. A deep dent appeared on the ax's surface. He retreated three steps before stabilizing himself, his eyes beneath the mask filled with horror.

"Who exactly are you?"

Ye Yun didn't answer. His saber strikes flowed like a great river, continuous and unending. Each blow precisely struck the same spot on the great ax. After three strikes, the steel-forged ax was actually cut in half!

The fourth strike sliced across the burly masked man's chest, drawing a spray of blood. If he hadn't retreated in time, this blow would have gutted him.

The masked man made a decisive move, throwing several smoke bombs. Thick smoke instantly enveloped the entire battlefield. When the smoke cleared, the remaining black-clothed men had vanished, leaving behind only the corpses of their companions.

Ye Yun didn't pursue. Instead, he quickly went to Chen Qingzhou's side. The old constable's condition was grim. There was a wound on his chest that went bone-deep, and his breath was as faint as a candle in the wind.

"Old Chen!" Yan Xiao Liu cried out with a sob. "Hold on! We'll take you back to the city to find a doctor right away!"