Junior Brother is So Fast

"Careful."

After the battle in the forest earlier, Ouyang Lan had followed behind her father and also suffered from the Blood-Clad Old Man's sound attacks containing internal energy, as well as the blood mist. She felt extremely unwell, her limbs slightly weak.

However, she was now cultivating the Celestial River Orthodox Method and had already opened seven meridians. Her internal energy was naturally far more profound than Lu Wu-bing's, who was just starting out.

She didn't experience symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or seeing stars.

Her heart tense, she watched Ouyang Zheng exchange a few blows with the Blood-Clad Old Man. In a flash of lightning, he severed the opponent's arm and gained the advantage. She also let out a long sigh, her mind momentarily relaxing.

She then heard the warning cry from her junior brother behind her. Her arm tightened as she was pulled backward by a powerful force, her body tilting.

In her peripheral vision, she saw several thin, blood-red needles stabbing towards her chest.

"This is bad."

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she channeled her energy to her feet, intending to leap up, but it was too late.

Ding...

Time seemed to stretch infinitely at that moment.

She clearly saw.

A dazzling streak of light suddenly appeared three inches from her chest...

The sword's edge sliced through the air diagonally, creating faint ripples, and struck the first blood needle.

The needle shot out, knocking away the second fine needle, changing direction, and colliding with the third blood needle.

Three faint, consecutive impacts, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Ouyang Lan's first reaction was:

"Junior brother is so fast."

Her second reaction was that the needles were poisoned!

She didn't even notice her third senior brother let out a pained grunt beside her ear.

"Retreat."

Lu Wu-bing's actions were faster than his thoughts. The cat's sharp cry reached his ears, and he reacted instinctively, striking out.

With one sword strike, he broke through the three needles, and at the same time, he dragged Senior Sister Xiao Lan back with him.

This was because Mao Mao retreated faster than he did.

Its back arched like a grasshopper, and it had already sprung back three to four zhang, moving as fast as a shadow.

This isn't quite the chivalrous world of dashing heroes and hearty songs that I imagined. This world is too dangerous, full of insidious schemes... If I don't grow a few more eyes, I might not even survive one episode.

As this thought flashed through his mind, Lu Wu-bing saw a "corpse" behind the rain of needles, its face smeared with blood and its clothes tattered, floating close to the ground. Its hand, held in front of its body, swept forward in a palm strike.

The palm was extremely abnormal. Compared to a normal person's palm, it was nearly twice as wide. Most importantly, the center of the palm was a patch of bright red, like cinnabar, glowing brilliantly. Before it even got close, the palm strike was already creating a howling wind that pulverized the grass.

"I can't block it."

Lu Wu-bing felt the air press down like a steel wall, his retreating body feeling as if it were stuck in glue... He knew this was the crushing effect of the opponent's internal energy being several levels higher than his own.

When faced with danger, one must be brave.

Just as he was about to draw his sword again, to meet the palm strike and fight for a sliver of survival.

The sky suddenly brightened.

He heard a muffled thunderclap.

"Buzz..."

A long sword, trailing a blazing golden light, descended from the sky. It was so fast it looked like an afterimage.

The "corpse" that had been charging ferociously fell to the ground with a thud. A long sword was embedded in its neck, only the hilt visible, the blade completely sunk into the earth.

"Hmph, these demon spawn love sneak attacks and underhanded tactics, using any means necessary."

A green silhouette shot forward. Ouyang Zheng's face was as cold as frost. He glanced with disgust at the twitching attacker, drew his long sword, his gaze swept over his daughter, and then landed on Lu Wu-bing, a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes.

"Disciple Wu-bing, you've done very well. When suddenly attacked, you still reacted first and took the correct action."

"Xiao Lan, look. I always tell you to practice your swordplay and cultivate your internal energy more, but you're always playing around. Did you think walking the jianghu was just sightseeing? If it weren't for your junior brother's alertness this time, you would have suffered a great loss."

"Father."

Ouyang Lan lowered her head, looking gratefully at Lu Wu-bing, but she didn't say much, just kept her head down.

Clearly, she also felt very embarrassed.

The boasts she had made in the past all turned into slaps, hitting her in the face.

And, it was in front of her junior disciple.

"And Yun Chong, you... alas!"

At this point, Ouyang Zheng seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for teaching.

He frowned and looked at Wu Yunchong, his gaze falling on his left arm, which was already stained with blood, clearly injured.

"Use your internal energy to expel the poison. Fortunately, it didn't hit a vital point or affect your meridians."

Ouyang Zheng took out a jade bottle from his embrace, poured out a pale yellow pill, and had Wu Yunchong take it. He then placed his right palm on his third disciple's back to help him heal.

After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Wu Yunchong spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and his vital energy recovered robustly.

He bowed and said, "Thank you, Master."

His face was full of shame, his ears blushing.

Clearly, the recent encounter had made this gentle-hearted third senior disciple also lose face.

If everyone had been flustered and unable to cope with the surprise attack, then it would have been nothing.

It was inevitable for those who had recently entered the martial world to encounter powerful enemies they couldn't handle and to suffer losses.

This could only be blamed on the enemy being too cunning, and the demonic cultivators being brutal and mysterious.

But if the companions around you could handle it well and basically suffer no losses, and only you alone made a mistake...

That was harder to explain.

Moreover, the one who performed best was the junior disciple who had only joined a few days ago.

Logically speaking, this junior disciple was supposed to be the one being taken care of... As the saying goes, only the strong wind reveals the strength of the grass. To be completely outshone by him was truly embarrassing.

Lu Wu-bing didn't pretend to say that he had just luckily discovered something was wrong.

He also didn't really want to talk about Mao Mao's perception of danger and its many extraordinary agility.

What needed to be focused on now was actually the Blood-Clad Old Man from just now.

During the sudden attack, Senior Sister Xiao Lan and Third Senior Brother might not have noticed.

But he saw the Sect Master turn around rapidly, and a bloody shadow shot up into the sky. In a few movements, it disappeared into the distance.

Ambushed on the road, and the evil not completely eradicated.

Endless future trouble.

"Don't worry, the Blood Cloud Old Freak is one of the Three Paths Elders of the Blood Lotus Sect. Although he is brutal, he is inherently timid. When he encounters an opponent he can handle, he will be ferocious and leave no room for maneuver. When he meets a tough opponent, he'll be sure to run faster than anyone else..."

Ouyang Zheng seemed to have seen through Lu Wu-bing's worries.

He evaluated the Blood-Clad Old Man with a hint of mockery, his eyes showing a slight disdain.

Clearly, in his heart.

This Blood Lotus Sect elder was not a formidable figure at all.

Even if they met him again, he could be easily killed.

"This disciple isn't worried about this person returning, but rather feels that we were precisely intercepted and ambushed so soon after leaving the city. Master, don't you find it rather strange?"

Lu Wu-bing shook his head and voiced his concern.

There were no phones or internet in this world.

It felt as if the righteous and demonic factions were playing with their cards face up.

As soon as you made a move, they would know about it, and set up an ambush on the only road you could take.

Was that normal?

As soon as these words were spoken.

Ouyang Zheng's brows furrowed even tighter.

Some things were fine if you didn't think about them too deeply, but once suspicion arose in your heart, everything felt wrong.

"Dad, the horses are done for."

Ouyang Lan's annoyed voice came.

The poisonous needles had spread very widely earlier.

The people were not harmed much, but the horses took the full brunt.

Without internal energy, the animals couldn't stop the poison from spreading. After only a short while, they all collapsed with mournful cries, black blood oozing from their mouths.