Junior Brother Was So Fast

"Careful."

After the battle in the woods, Ouyang Lan had followed behind her father and had likewise been struck by the Blood-Clad Old Man's sound attack infused with inner force, as well as the blood mist attack. Her body felt terribly unwell, and her limbs were slightly weak.

However, she was now cultivating the Celestial River Orthodox Method and had already opened seven meridians. Compared to Lu Wu-bing, who had only just begun training, her inner force was naturally far deeper.

She did not suffer symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, or seeing stars.

She watched tensely as Ouyang Zheng exchanged several moves with the Blood-Clad Old Man. In a flash of lightning and flint, he severed the other man's arm and gained the upper hand. She too let out a long breath, her mind relaxing for an instant.

Then she heard her junior brother's warning from behind. Her arm tightened as a powerful force dragged her backward, tilting her body off balance.

From the corner of her eye, she saw several scarlet needles shooting straight toward her chest.

This is bad.

The instant that thought crossed her mind, she sent her qi through Yongquan, intending to leap into the air—but it was already too late.

Ding...

Time seemed to stretch unbearably long at that moment.

She clearly saw it.

A snow-bright rainbow suddenly appeared three inches before her chest...

The sword edge slashed diagonally through the air, rippling faintly as it struck the first blood needle.

The needle shot backward, knocking away the second thin needle, then changed direction and crashed into the third blood needle.

Three soft collisions rang out in succession, and a foul bloody wind rushed into her face.

Ouyang Lan's first thought was:

"Junior Brother was so fast."

Only then did her second thought come—those blood needles were poisonous!

So much so that she failed to notice the pained grunt from her third senior brother beside her.

"Fall back."

Lu Wu-bing moved faster than thought itself. Little Cat's shrill cry entered his ears, and by reflex, he had already acted.

One sword shattered three needles. At the same time, he dragged Senior Sister Xiaolan and retreated rapidly.

Because Mao Mao had retreated even faster than he had.

Its back arched, and like a grasshopper, it had already sprung three or four zhang backward, so fast it resembled a shadow.

This was a little different from the chivalrous world I imagined—bright clothes and spirited steeds, drinking deep and singing long songs.

This world is far too dangerous, with sinister schemes lurking everywhere... If I don't grow a couple more eyes in the back of my head, I might not even survive one episode.

That thought flashed through his mind.

Then Lu Wu-bing saw that behind the rain of needles, a "corpse" with its face smeared full of blood and its clothes in tatters had floated up close to the ground. Skimming over the grass blades, it thrust out a hand and struck with its palm.

That palm was extremely abnormal.

It was nearly twice as broad as an ordinary person's hand.

Most importantly, its palm was a brilliant scarlet, like cinnabar, red enough to dazzle the eye.

Before it even came close, the force of its palm was already howling through the air, crushing grass and leaves to powder.

"I can't block it."

Lu Wu-bing felt the air pressing down like a steel wall. His rapidly retreating body seemed to have sunk into glue... He knew that the opponent's inner force surpassed his by several levels, creating an overwhelming crushing effect.

When the moment came, one had to dare to stake it all.

Just as he was about to draw his sword again and meet that palm force head-on, fighting for a sliver of survival—

The sky suddenly flashed bright.

A muffled thunderclap exploded in his ears.

"Weng..."

A long sword trailing blazing golden radiance fell from the heavens.

It was as fast as an afterimage.

The "corpse" charging forward with ferocious momentum went splat and crashed to the ground.

A long sword was lodged in its neck. Only the hilt remained visible; the blade had sunk completely into the earth.

"Hmph. These devil whelps love sneak attacks and underhanded schemes, stopping at nothing."

A blue figure shot over like lightning. Ouyang Zheng's face was frosty as he cast a disgusted glance at the attacker, who was still twitching. He pulled out his sword, his gaze sweeping over his own daughter before turning to Lu Wu-bing, where a hint of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

"Disciple Wu-bing did very well. Even when suddenly ambushed, you reacted first and dealt with it correctly."

"Xiaolan, look at yourself. I always tell you to practice your swordsmanship and cultivate your inner force diligently, but you are always busy playing. Did you think wandering the martial world was merely sightseeing and pleasure trips? If your junior brother had not been alert this time, you would have suffered a great loss."

"Father."

Ouyang Lan lowered her head, giving Lu Wu-bing a grateful look, yet she said nothing more and merely hung her head and drew in her neck.

Clearly, she also felt terribly embarrassed.

All the boasts she had once made had turned into slaps across her own face.

And they had happened right in front of her junior brother.

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

At this point, Ouyang Zheng seemed to lose all interest in lecturing his disciples.

Frowning, he looked toward Wu Yunchong. His gaze fell upon the latter's left arm, where a patch of blood had already seeped through. He had clearly been injured.

"Circulate your inner force and expel the poison. Fortunately, it did not strike an acupoint, nor did it damage your meridians."

Ouyang Zheng took a jade bottle from his robes, poured out a pale yellow pill, and had Wu Yunchong take it. Then he pressed his right palm against his third disciple's back to help him heal.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Wu Yunchong opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. The flow of qi within him returned to full vigor.

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

His face was full of shame, flushed red to his ears.

Clearly, what had just happened had left even this mild-tempered third senior brother unable to save face.

If everyone had been flustered and unable to deal properly with the sudden attack, that would have been nothing.

They had only recently entered the martial world. It was inevitable that they would encounter powerful enemies they could not handle, and inevitable that they would suffer losses and be deceived.

That could only be blamed on the enemy's excessive cunning and the devil sect's vicious, inscrutable ways.

But if the companions at one's side handled it very well and suffered virtually no losses, while only one person slipped up...

That was harder to explain.

And the one who had done best was their junior brother, who had not even entered the sect a few days ago.

By all rights, this junior brother should have been the one receiving care... Yet in a fierce wind, the sturdy grass revealed itself. He had forcibly outshone them all, making matters unbearably humiliating.

Lu Wu-bing did not put on a false show by claiming that he had merely happened to notice something wrong.

Nor did he particularly want to mention Little Cat's perception of danger, or its many unnatural displays of agility.

What truly deserved concern now was that Blood-Clad Old Man from before.

During that sudden ambush, Senior Sister Xiaolan and his third senior brother might not have noticed.

But he had seen it. Sect Leader Master had turned back at high speed, yet a bloody shadow had shot into the sky and vanished into the distance between rises and falls.

When eliminating evil on the road, one had to uproot it completely.

Otherwise, endless future troubles would follow.

"Don't worry. The Blood Cloud Old Freak is one of the Three Paths Elders of the Blood Lotus Sect. Though vicious and cruel, he is timid by nature. When he encounters opponents he can control, he becomes utterly savage and leaves no room for mercy. But when he meets a hard bone, he runs faster than anyone..."

Ouyang Zheng seemed to have seen what Lu Wu-bing was worried about.

He gave the Blood-Clad Old Man a slightly mocking assessment, his eyes carrying faint disdain.

Clearly, in his heart—

This elder of the Blood Lotus Sect was not truly a formidable figure.

Even if they met again, he could be killed with a casual stroke.

"This disciple is not worried that he will return. Rather, I find it strange that not long after we left the city, someone precisely intercepted us on the road and attempted to kill us. Master, do you not think there is something very odd about this?"

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

This world had neither telephones nor the internet.

Yet it felt as though the righteous and demonic sides were playing with their cards face-up.

The moment one side made a move, the other already knew—and had even laid an ambush on the only road they had to take.

Was that normal?

As soon as he said this—

Ouyang Zheng's brows drew together even more tightly.

Some matters seemed harmless when left unexamined, but once suspicion took root in one's heart, everything began to feel wrong.

"Father, the horses are done for."

Ouyang Lan's vexed voice came from nearby.

The poisoned needles had covered a wide area earlier.

The people had not been badly hurt.

But the horses had taken it all without exception.

Animals possessed no inner force and could not stop the poison from spreading. After only a short while, they all wailed and collapsed, black blood spilling from their mouths.