My Blade is Fast, Endure It

Puchi!

Cai He unleashed his force.

Pop.

An invisible power, like a giant hand, nimbly swatted the arrow aside.

Immediately after.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several arrows were fired in rapid succession, streaking out from the dense forest.

The dull thuds of arrows piercing flesh and the sounds of miserable screams rose one after another.

The toxicity of the Mandala Flower Poison had already taken effect.

Those originally ferocious bandits saw their movements visibly slow down; their eyes grew unfocused, and their reactions to the outside world became sluggish.

In the blink of an eye, five of the vicious thugs failed to dodge in time.

Even a hardened bandit who had undergone Mortal Shedding six times was not spared, struck squarely by an arrow.

The poison quenched on the arrowheads spread instantly.

Those struck felt a tightness in their chests, their complexions rapidly turning blue and purple, until finally, they spat out foul blood one by one and breathed their last.

The arrows paused.

A desperate outlaw looked up in panic and saw three figures emerging from the depths of the forest.

He initially thought they were the Liu Family's men, but upon closer inspection, he realized the clothing and temperament of the trio were completely different from the Liu Family warriors he had seen before.

The leader was a young man in a black robe, holding a saber in his right hand with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground—a stranger.

"Brother Zuo, thank you for flanking the perimeter and sealing all escape routes. Don't let a single one alive."

"Brother Su, take advantage of the chaos to sneak behind the carriage and take that box of incense money."

Before making their move, Chen Ye had already given instructions to the two, and they nodded silently, understanding the plan and heading off in separate directions to carry it out.

The bandit opened his mouth to shout, only to find in horror that his hands were shaking.

It was not out of fear, but because from the moment he saw that young man, all the strength in his body seemed to have been drained away into thin air.

His limbs went weak, his internal energy stagnated, and he couldn't even hold his saber steady.

"What is happening? My body... why won't it listen to me?"

He desperately tried to circulate his internal energy, only to find that the flow of qi within him was congealed, as if it had encountered some obstacle, making it impossible to move freely.

Chen Ye suddenly accelerated, his figure like an arrow, charging straight at him.

The bandit tried desperately to lift his saber, but it felt as heavy as a thousand jun, impossible to raise, and he watched helplessly as a flash of cold light swept toward his throat.

Puchi.

A head flew into the air, blood spraying two zhang high.

Chen Ye did not stop, heading straight for where Cai He was.

Several saber-wielding bandits tried to block him, but the Mandala Flower Poison had by now fully taken hold.

As Chen Ye approached, they only felt their bodies growing increasingly limp, their steps staggering, and their long sabers impossible to lift.

Chen Ye swung his blade in a horizontal slash.

Wherever the cold light flashed, a head was sure to fall.

His movements were crisp and clean, even three parts more decisive than Cai He's had been.

Chen Ye moved as if in an empty land; no one could stop him.

From the edge of the forest to the carriage was only a few dozen paces, yet the ground was already littered with several corpses, each killed with a single strike.

Beside the carriage, Yin Xiaoran knelt on one knee, watching everything that was happening in disbelief.

He could tell that this young man was not a Dragon Elephant martial artist, yet those Mortal Shedding realm thugs didn't even have the strength to lift their blades in front of him.

His judgment was still sharp; he could see this wasn't a matter of overwhelming strength, but that something was wrong with the bandits' bodies.

Cai He's judgment was somewhat inferior; seeing his subordinates fall one after another beside the carriage, his face was filled with incredulous shock.

The entire process took no more than a dozen breaths, too fast for him to react.

"Who are you?" Cai He's voice was cold as he stared fixedly at Chen Ye.

Chen Ye did not answer, meeting him only with a cold gaze.

"Not talking?" Cai He laughed in extreme anger. "Then you won't have to talk ever again!"

He could see that this young man's strength was not truly formidable.

He was more than capable of dealing with him.

He channeled his internal energy, and his force surged upward.

The toxins of the Mandala Flower Poison had already spread through his body, but under the suppression of his Dragon Elephant realm true qi, he still retained some ability to act, feeling only somewhat weak.

He merely assumed it was the aftereffect of the successive fierce battles just now, completely unaware of anything unusual.

Cai He tapped his toes, swept up a long saber from the ground, gripped the hilt tightly, and exerted a sudden force under his feet.

The ground cracked, and his figure shot out like an arrow!

While in mid-air, he raised the long saber high, carrying a fierce wind pressure, and slashed directly at Chen Ye's neck.

If this strike landed, it would surely result in decapitation.

The blade fell.

"Die!"

Clang!

A standard-issue long saber extended from the side, steadily blocking his blade's edge.

The numbness traveling from the web of his hand caused Cai He's momentum to soften.

Cai He's expression stiffened; he had used seventy percent of his strength in this strike, yet it was blocked so easily?

What was going on?

Could it be that he... had been hollowed out by wine and women to this extent?

Had his physical strength decayed so severely?

Cai He fell into deep self-doubt.

What was even more terrifying was that he discovered his body was growing increasingly weak the closer he got to this person.

Cai He gathered his strength, intending to strike again, but his knees suddenly went soft, and he collapsed to the ground on the spot.

He looked down at his hands; the web of his hand was numb, and his fingers were trembling slightly.

Wrong!

This wasn't exhaustion; this was poison!

He finally realized he had been tricked.

But it was already too late.

Chen Ye chuckled, "Why must you offer such a grand gesture, Excellency?"

"Rest assured, my blade is very fast; just bear with it."

Cai He raised his head, his eyes filled with unspeakable terror.

He wanted to open his mouth to utter a harsh threat, but he found that even the strength to speak was draining away; his teeth chattered uncontrollably, and his entire body began to go numb.

Chen Ye did not give him another chance.

He raised the blade, concentrated all his internal energy into one point, and delivered a horizontal slash.

Cai He's head flew up, and a pillar of blood gushed from his neck, tracing an arc in the sunlight before thumping onto the ground.

A Dragon Elephant realm martial artist, dead just like that!

The two remaining desperadoes on the mountain path were scared out of their wits and fled in a panic toward the foot of the mountain.

However, Zuo Dongxi, who had been waiting there, blocked their path and killed them all.

Yin Xiaoran, kneeling half-collapsed outside the carriage, witnessed all of this; his heart was churning with stormy waves, yet he also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally... saved."

The young man, carrying his saber, began to walk toward him step by step.

Yin Xiaoran stood up with great effort, having already prepared words of gratitude in his heart.

However, the blood still surging in his throat prevented him from uttering a single word.

He wanted to raise his hand to acknowledge him.

But he saw the young man raise his saber, stop before him, and to his astonishment, thrust the blade into his chest without a moment's hesitation!

Yin Xiaoran's eyes widened.

Only then did he realize that the young man before him had not come to save them at all.

"Hah... hah... hah..."

Yin Xiaoran opened his mouth, only producing bubbling sounds, a dry, rattling noise escaping his throat.

He stared fixedly at Chen Ye's face; the gratitude in his eyes had not yet faded before it was replaced by shock and despair.

Chen Ye withdrew the long saber and flicked the bloodstains off it until it was dry.

Next, he intended to take the Cui Family's incense money.

This guard was still alive, which made it impossible for him to act freely; he was somewhat of an obstruction.

Furthermore, many details could not withstand scrutiny; once word got back to the Cui Family, he might very well transform from a "lifesaving benefactor" into a "suspicious character."

He could not let such a thing happen.

Therefore, he had no choice but to strike first and finish him off.

Only the dead are truly safe.

It just so happened that he was a guard, and a guard's duty is to protect his master.

His master had nearly died because of his incompetence, so he should have paid with his life to atone for it.

He had merely helped him fulfill that duty ahead of schedule.

Injured like that, living was only a form of suffering; giving him a quick end was actually for his own good.

When he made his move, he had already observed the surroundings beforehand.

The carriage of the Cui Family young lady was facing forward and could not see the scene here at all, and the front door had been secretly locked by someone, so it would not affect the plans for the rear.

Not killing him would have been the unwise choice.

Chen Ye scanned his surroundings; everything had settled.

After so much preparation, the entire process had gone smoothly to an unbelievable degree.

The heavy stone in his heart finally dropped halfway, and he signaled to Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang behind him.

The two understood and walked up to Chen Ye.

They glanced at the corpses strewn across the ground and then at the blood still dripping from Chen Ye's blade, but neither said a word.

Zuo Dongxi sheathed his thick-backed saber at his waist and bent down to clear the battlefield, while Su Guang walked to the carriage to begin moving the chests filled with incense money and jewelry.

Their movements were efficient and decisive.

Chen Ye joined them, quickly looting the corpses while cleaning up traces and gathering the valuables in one spot.

Once the battlefield was completely cleared, at Chen Ye's signal, Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang took the looted wealth and fled rapidly, leaving the area.

Seeing that the two had completely departed, Chen Ye took out the Black Fat Insect Powder hanging on his person and used his internal energy to disperse it completely into the wind.

After finishing this, Chen Ye sheathed his long blade and walked up to the carriage.

He examined it for a few moments, found the mechanism on the exterior of the carriage, and pressed it without a moment's hesitation.