A figure crashed through the window of the main house.
He slammed heavily into the courtyard.
The black-clad leader's pupils constricted violently. In his eyes, Shen Yi's figure flashed past, and a blazing white blade-light filled his vision.
Then, he heard a rustling wind.
It was the sound of blood spraying from his neck.
Unwillingness filled the black-clad leader's eyes as he muttered softly:
"What... blade technique was that..."
Shen Yi held his saber diagonally, flicking the blood from its edge.
"The blade is called Listening to the Wind."
"Do you recognize it?"
The black-clad leader said with difficulty:
"Never... seen it before..."
With that, he breathed his last.
Slain a Second-Class Realm martial artist. Obtained secluded cultivation time: three years and six months
Remaining secluded cultivation time: 5 years and 7 months
Shen Yi glanced sideways at the figure who had just staggered out of the main house.
He was a burly man with rugged features.
His entire body was wrapped in bandages. His wounds had split open, staining the bandages red in several places, while several fresh saber wounds had been added.
His face was the color of gold paper, and his whole body sagged limply.
He clearly had more breath coming in than going out. Within a short while, he would die and vanish from the world.
"Boss!"
Another black-clad man followed closely out of the main house and immediately saw the black-clad leader lying dead in the courtyard.
He looked at Shen Yi, who held his saber at an angle, murderous intent towering to the heavens.
How could he fail to see who the killer was?
Unwillingness surfaced in the black-clad man's eyes.
He and another companion had besieged Qin Jianghe. Only after paying the price of one man's life had they managed to worsen Qin Jianghe's injuries.
Now, all it would take was one more strike, and the man would surely die ten times over with no chance of survival! Their mission would be complete.
Yet compared to completing the mission, what he needed to worry about now was whether his own life was at stake.
Though he had no idea where Shen Yi, this formidable expert, had emerged from,
the corpses scattered across the ground made it clear enough.
He was plainly the sort who killed to silence all witnesses.
His instinct to survive made him turn and flee without hesitation. At the same time, he threw a saber at Qin Jianghe, who lay on the ground.
It was a maneuver of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao.
Unfortunately.
He had underestimated Shen Yi and overestimated himself.
Though Shen Yi did not know Qin Jianghe, the black-clad leader had just identified himself as a leader of the Whale Gang.
Qin Jianghe's status could not be low.
Shen Yi flashed forward, sweeping over like a gale to Qin Jianghe's side. With a sweep of his saber, he knocked aside the flying steel blade.
By then, the black-clad man had already climbed onto the wall.
Shen Yi spun the saber in his hand and flung it.
The steel saber became an arrow loosed from the string, shooting even faster as it whooshed into the black-clad man's back.
Only an agonized cry of "Ah!" rang out.
The black-clad man immediately tumbled from the courtyard wall with a thud, dead on the spot.
Slain an Entry Realm martial artist. Obtained secluded cultivation time: one year and one month
Remaining secluded cultivation time: 6 years and 8 months
Shen Yi let out a long breath.
A bountiful harvest!
He swept his saber across, then sheathed it with a clang.
Shen Yi crouched beside Qin Jianghe.
He realized that if he did not save him now, Qin Jianghe truly would breathe his last.
"Sir, could you tell this junior"
"who this man is?"
Shen Yi's eyes flicked toward the main house.
Old Jiang and Jiang-aunt were huddled by the doorway.
They were secretly peering into the courtyard.
They never could have imagined that the young man who had previously begged for food would display such divine might and slaughter every black-clad intruder.
Although Shen Yi did not appear hostile at the moment,
the murderous aura he had accumulated from cutting down several people still made ordinary people tremble in fear.
Hearing Shen Yi's question,
Old Jiang jolted and instinctively replied:
"This man is Qin Jianghe, Hall Master of Broken Blade Hall under the Raging Tide Gang."
"I found him in Clear River."
Shen Yi understood.
The Raging Tide Gang and the Whale Gang.
He had also heard of the feud between the two gangs while at the Pacification Office. The Whale Gang had risen to power along the Everflow River, while the Raging Tide Gang used Eight Hundred Li Flowing Moon Lake as its base.
The tributary network downstream of the Everflow River intertwined intricately with Moonfall Lake, and the territories of the two gangs overlapped here as well.
Their clashes had erupted more than once.
Recently, the conflict had even shown signs of growing ever fiercer.
Gang struggles had nothing to do with righteousness or evil.
Shen Yi had no intention of judging right and wrong.
He merely felt that there might be profit to be found in it.
With that thought,
Shen Yi placed a hand on Qin Jianghe's wrist. The Fragmentary Array Breaker Art immediately began to circulate, and a rich, vigorous inner force poured into the other man's body.
Following the method recorded in the art,
Shen Yi used his own internal breath to guide a circulation through the heavenly cycle, beginning to repair Qin Jianghe's damaged meridians while also drawing the man's inner force into a slow flow...
to heal himself and restore his essence, qi, and spirit.
A few breaths later,
some color gradually returned to Qin Jianghe's gold-paper face.
Shen Yi took several wound medicine plasters from his robes.
He had snatched them from a Captain of the Pacification Office. Though they had been soaked in water, they still seemed usable.
Shen Yi peeled open the plasters.
He applied them over several of Qin Jianghe's fatal wounds that had split open.
Their healing effect was naturally far superior to the herbal medicine ground by Old Jiang's family.
After stabilizing Qin Jianghe's injuries,
Shen Yi looked toward Old Jiang and Jiang-aunt and smiled faintly.
"Sir, let me take Hall Master Qin away. If he remains here, I fear more people will come swarming in."
Old Jiang's mind was still muddled. He merely nodded in silence.
By then, dawn was beginning to break.
The fighting here had alarmed many neighboring households, but everyone kept their doors shut. No one dared come out to investigate.
Shen Yi looked around.
At the corpses covering the ground.
"Sir, I'll help you deal with these bodies."
"Should we bury them, or dump the bodies?"
Old Jiang and Jiang-aunt looked at each other. After a long pause, Old Jiang finally muttered, "Please trouble our benefactor to sink them in Clear River with me."
Shen Yi said:
"Fine."
That would be convenient enough.
Shen Yi first searched the men. They were remarkably clean, with not even a tael of silver on them—at most, a few copper coins.
He grabbed one corpse in each hand.
He left the small courtyard and crossed the reed marsh.
With a powerful throw, he hurled the bodies into the river.
Old Jiang came to help as well.
Even Jiang-aunt and Axiu worked together to carry a corpse to the riverbank, where Shen Yi helped toss it into the middle of the river.
After dealing with the bodies,
they returned to the courtyard.
Shen Yi lifted the still-unconscious Qin Jianghe and slung him over his shoulder. He nodded to Old Jiang and Jiang-aunt, then gave Axiu a faint smile.
He then strode away.
Old Jiang's family could only stare blankly at Shen Yi's departing back as it gradually vanished into the distant reeds.
Not long after,
Shen Yi appeared again. Carrying Qin Jianghe, he jogged all the way back and said sheepishly:
"Sir, could you give me some more dried provisions?"
"In this godforsaken wilderness, I haven't seen any game along the way. It isn't for me, mind you—I'm afraid he'll starve to death."
Shen Yi pointed at Qin Jianghe over his shoulder.
With a snort,
Axiu burst into laughter.
The originally tense atmosphere relaxed with that laugh.
Jiang-aunt hurriedly said:
"Yes, yes, Benefactor, please wait a moment."
Before long,
Jiang-aunt emerged from the kitchen carrying a bundle of dried provisions, which she handed to Shen Yi.
Shen Yi accepted it and slung it over his shoulder.
He tossed a piece of broken silver to Old Jiang over his shoulder.
"Sir, I'm truly leaving this time."
Axiu could not help asking:
"Big Brother, where are you going?"
Shen Yi pondered for a moment.
"The world of jianghu."
Axiu's eyes brightened, and she said in a clear voice:
"If you ever meet someone called Ah-Huo in jianghu, help me ask him when he'll come back!"
"Axiu is still waiting for him in Little River Village!"
Shen Yi froze slightly.
The Nine Provinces are so vast, and the sea of people is boundless. How could I possibly meet the person you long for day and night?
Still, he smiled and said:
"If I see him, I'll pass along your words."
With that,
his figure disappeared into the distance once more.
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