The setting sun bled across the sky, dyeing the mountains and woods crimson. Chen Qingzhou and his group trudged along the path home, their steps heavy with exhaustion. Their boots crushed the dead leaves with a soft crackle. The pressure Sun Yu had brought still weighed on everyone's mind; even Yan Xiao Liu, usually the most talkative of them all, had fallen silent.
At last, we've seen the back of that plague god. Chen Qingzhou let out a long breath, his right hand unconsciously pressing to his chest. The internal injury from Sun Yu's kick still throbbed faintly.
Ye Yun walked at the rear of the group, his gaze sweeping warily over their surroundings. The bronze token fragment in his arms was still warm. The mysterious organization known as... and the blood-red eyes of the black-robed man set off alarm bells in his heart. The woods were too quiet—not a single bird called. Such unnatural silence usually foretold...
Whoosh—
The bushes ahead suddenly shook violently. Seven or eight black-clad, masked figures darted out like ghosts, cutting off the path in an instant. At the same time, branches rustled in the dense woods on either side. They were surrounded.
"Stay alert!" Chen Qingzhou barked, his long saber already drawn. The constables quickly formed a circle back to back, blades facing outward and gleaming coldly in the sunset.
Ye Yun's gaze fixed on the figures ahead. Two of them stood motionless on the path. They wore ordinary clothes, but their faces were hidden behind oddly shaped bronze masks that glimmered faintly in the dusk. The one on the left was built like an iron tower; the one on the right was thin as bamboo. They were the two 8th Rank bodyguards who had stood beside Sun Yu!
"What business do you have with us?" Chen Qingzhou asked in a low voice, raising the tip of his saber 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 leader slowly raised his right hand. The simple gesture made the air around them turn rigid. The black-clad figures all drew their weapons at once: long, narrow curved blades, each etched with blood-red patterns. They were clearly standard-issue weapons.
Ye Yun's pupils contracted. These men were positioned with exacting precision, sealing off every escape route. They moved without a sound, clearly well-trained death soldiers. Worse, he keenly noticed the blood-red patterns on their curved blades faintly glowing. It was a sign they were about to drink blood!
"Master Sun, what does this mean?" Ye Yun called out suddenly, his voice echoing through the woods.
The constables' expressions changed at his words. Yan Xiao Liu's hand trembled around his saber. "Brother Ye, you mean that bastard Sun Yu—"
Before he could finish, a sinister laugh drifted from deep in the woods. "Heh heh heh... Head Chen, I'm afraid I must apologize. You know too much, so I'll have to trouble you all to rest here forever." Sun Yu emerged at an unhurried pace, waving his folding fan, his face wearing the smug smile of a cat playing with a mouse.
"Master Sun!" Chen Qingzhou's face turned livid. "We've already sworn to keep this secret. Why would you still—"
"Dead men keep the best secrets." Sun Yu snapped his fan shut, murder in his eyes. "Besides, that lord's plan cannot suffer the slightest mishap. Kill them!"
His final word cracked through the woods like thunder. The black-clad figures sprang into action, their curved blades drawing dozens of arcs of blood-red light as they swept toward the constables.
At the critical moment, Ye Yun darted close to Yan Xiao Liu's ear. "I'll draw off one of the 8th Rank fighters. You and Head Chen take the brothers and break through!" Before he could get a reply, he sprang out of formation, his long saber aimed straight at the thin masked man on the right.
"Sun Family dogs! Come after me if you've got the guts!" Ye Yun taunted loudly, his blade flashing silver through the air. He used less than a tenth of his strength, but deliberately made the wind from his saber howl.
The thin masked man clearly hesitated, his eyes narrowing to slits behind the bronze mask. He hadn't expected a mere constable to dare provoke an 8th Rank martial artist. After a brief moment of surprise, he gave a scornful snort and darted forward like a ghost, a pair of blue-glinting short daggers suddenly appearing in his hands.
Metal clanged through the woods. Ye Yun precisely blocked the lethal stab aimed at his throat, but deliberately let his blade shudder violently, pretending he could barely hold on. Using the force of the rebound, he staggered back several steps, then turned and fled into the depths of the woods.
"Looking to die!" the thin masked man called coldly from behind. Ye Yun felt him hot on his heels, like a festering wound he couldn't shake. An 8th Rank martial artist was truly fast; in just a few breaths, he had closed to within three zhang.
A thick patch of bushes appeared ahead. A glint flashed in Ye Yun's eyes, and he abruptly changed direction. Just as the thin masked man was about to catch him, Ye Yun suddenly ducked and rolled into the bushes. At the same time, three stones slipped from his sleeve and shot at tree trunks in different directions.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The three dull impacts rang out almost simultaneously, jarringly loud in the silent woods. The thin masked man instinctively paused for a moment—exactly what Ye Yun wanted! He seized the chance to dart behind a towering old tree and quickly circulated Turtle Breath Stillness, suppressing his presence to the barest trace.
The thin masked man soon realized he'd been tricked. Furious, he slashed through the bushes with his daggers. The sharp blades sheared through a tree trunk as thick as a bowl, sending wood chips flying. His face grew darker beneath his mask. That lowly constable had somehow vanished right under his nose!
"Little bastard, you think you can hide from me?" the masked man said, his voice cold as ice. Suddenly, he pulled a bronze bell from his robes and gently shook it.
The eerie bell tones echoed through the woods, making leaves stir though there was no wind. Hidden in the treetop, Ye Yun's heart clenched. This was a Bell of Truth-Breaking, made specifically to pierce concealment techniques! He immediately changed tactics, deliberately letting a corner of his clothing show through the branches.
"Found you!" The masked man gave a wicked grin, leaping into the air like a great roc, his short daggers aimed at Ye Yun's hiding place.
In that split second, a cold glint blazed in Ye Yun's eyes. This was the moment he'd been waiting for! The instant the masked man was airborne and had nowhere to push off from, Ye Yun unleashed his full presence. His 8th Rank peak strength erupted without restraint.
"What?!" The masked man was aghast. He'd never imagined that this seemingly ordinary constable had been hiding such strength. But now he was in midair, his attack already committed, and he had no time to change his move.
Ye Yun's long saber swept down like the Milky Way falling from the heavens, its shrill whistle tearing through the air as it cut toward the masked man's throat. The strike looked simple, but it carried the saber intent recorded in the True Martial Secret Manual. Before its edge even arrived, its fierce saber qi had carved a deep furrow in the earth.
At the brink of life and death, the masked man managed to twist his body and take the blow on his left arm.
Slice!
Blood flashed. The severed arm, still wearing its bronze bracer, spun high into the air. The masked man let out a terrible scream and plunged toward the ground.
But he was an 8th Rank martial artist, and even with his grievous injury, he instinctively hurled the short dagger in his right hand and bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood mist.
Ye Yun dodged the flying dagger, only to see the blood mist congeal in midair into dozens of hair-thin needles that shot toward him in a dense storm! They were Bloodshadow Needles, a demonic technique. Once struck, one's blood qi would immediately flow in reverse, causing unbearable agony.
At the critical moment, the Essence Qi within Ye Yun's body followed Turtle Breath Stillness's unique path. A pale golden film instantly appeared over his skin. The blood needles struck it with the dense patter of rain on banana leaves, but couldn't pierce it in the slightest.
"Impossible!" The masked man hit the ground and stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "What... what technique is that...?"
Before he could finish, Ye Yun's blade was already upon him. A flash of cold light, and the bronze mask—and the head beneath it—flew away together. Blood gushed from the neck like a fountain.
Ye Yun landed lightly, not a drop of blood on his long saber. He quickly searched the masked man's corpse. Aside from the pair of short daggers and the Bell of Truth-Breaking, ...
Ye Yun sensed a violent surge of Essence Qi in the distance, mixed with the angry shouts of Chen Qingzhou and the others.
This is bad!
Ye Yun donned the mask and changed into the dead man's clothes. Then, as fast as lightning, he raced back the way he'd come. When he burst from the woods, the sight before him nearly made his blood run cold—
Chen Qingzhou was covered in blood, kneeling on one knee, his long saber broken in his hand. Yan Xiao Liu and the constables stood back to back in formation. Five or six black-clad corpses lay around them, along with several dead constables, but the remaining attackers were still pressing their assault.
Most terrifying of all, the burly masked man had raised a giant axe. Suffocating astral qi gathered along its blade, and he was about to cleave Chen Qingzhou in half!
At the critical moment, Ye Yun pulled the captured Bell of Truth-Breaking from his robes, poured Essence Qi into it, and shook it with all his might.
Jingle-jingle—
The shrill bell rang through the valley, and every black-clad man's movements faltered. The burly masked man turned in shock, just in time to see Ye Yun darting from the woods like a ghost.
"You're not the seventh..." The masked man's voice was hoarse, like iron scraping against stone.
Ye Yun didn't answer.
"You killed the seventh?" His voice rose sharply. "Impossible! Who are you...?"
Ye Yun gave a cold laugh and suddenly launched his attack. This time, he no longer hid his strength. The full force of his 8th Rank peak aura burst free, and his long saber became a silver bolt of lightning aimed straight at the masked man's throat.
In a deafening clash, the burly masked man hastily raised his giant axe, but Ye Yun's saber struck it hard enough to spray sparks everywhere. A deep dent appeared in the blade. He stumbled back three steps before regaining his balance, shock filling his eyes beneath the mask.
"Who are you?"
Ye Yun gave no answer. His saber swept on without pause, like a mighty river. Each strike landed precisely on the same spot on the giant axe. After three blows, the steel-forged weapon was cleaved clean through!
The fourth blow slashed across the burly masked man's chest, spraying blood. If he hadn't retreated in time, the strike would have gutted him.
The masked man made a snap decision and threw several smoke bombs. Thick smoke instantly engulfed the entire battlefield. By the time it cleared, the remaining black-clad men had vanished, leaving behind only the corpses of several of their comrades.
Ye Yun didn't pursue them. He hurried to Chen Qingzhou's side instead. The veteran constable was in dire shape. A wound deep enough to expose bone cut across his chest, and his breath was as faint as a candle in the wind.
"Head Chen!" Yan Xiao Liu cried, his voice choked with tears. "Hold on! We'll take you back to the city and find a doctor!"
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