Luo Yun's Injury

Luo Yun stood before the nine prisoners, the Moon Eclipse Sword angled toward the ground.

His breathing gradually steadied.

Not one of these men was innocent.

His father had told him they were enemy spies, Evil Soul Masters who slaughtered civilians, child traffickers, and bandits who had massacred entire villages.

Every one of them had innocent blood on their hands.

Luo Yun repeated the words silently to himself.

So they deserved to die!

Luo Yun charged straight at them with his sword.

His first strike went for the gaunt, middle-aged man closest to him.

The man carried a single-edged saber. His grip was awkward; he probably wasn't used to wielding one.

Luo Yun's thrust came at a tricky angle, a move Luo Shang had taught him.

A feint at the upper body, then a thrust at the legs.

The tip of his sword shot straight for the man's throat.

The middle-aged man raised his saber to block.

But the Moon Eclipse Sword suddenly dipped in midair, its tip darting toward his thigh.

The man reacted quickly, leaping backward just in time to avoid it. But the sword tip still sliced a slit in his trouser leg, exposing the filthy skin beneath.

"You little brat!" the man cursed, his face flushed red.

"I'll chop you to pieces today, you hear me!"

As he spoke, he charged forward, swinging his saber.

Luo Yun sidestepped the first slash, then held his sword crosswise to block the second. He pushed with the momentum, knocking the man's saber aside, and sliced a shallow cut into his arm.

The man yelped and stumbled back, clutching his arm. Blood seeped between his fingers.

Luo Yun didn't pursue him.

He turned to the second prisoner.

A huge, bald man with bulging muscles, holding a greatsword.

The greatsword weighed at least forty or fifty pounds, but in the man's hands it looked like a wooden stick. He swung it with ease.

"Not bad with a sword, kid." The man grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "But you're still wet behind the ears."

He brought his greatsword crashing down.

Luo Yun didn't try to meet it head-on.

He angled the Moon Eclipse Sword aside, guiding the force of the greatsword away from him.

But the man suddenly kicked him, sending him stumbling back two steps.

As he retreated, three other prisoners charged at once.

A saber, a sword, and a dagger came at him simultaneously from three directions.

Luo Yun's heart gave a violent thump.

He recalled what his father had taught him.

When you're surrounded, don't try to block everyone at once. Strike the nearest one first, then the most dangerous. Use your footwork to deal with the rest.

He ducked beneath the sweeping saber, raised the Moon Eclipse Sword to block the incoming longsword, and darted sideways, narrowly avoiding the dagger.

The whole exchange took less than a second, but sweat was already beading on Luo Yun's forehead.

Luo Shang stood behind him with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

The adjutant stood beside him, watching the fight with a deeply furrowed brow.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, then held back.

A little while later, seeing Luo Yun surrounded by three men and nearly hurt several times, he finally couldn't hold it in.

"Your Highness, Young Master Luo..."

Luo Shang raised a hand, cutting him off.

The adjutant froze for a moment, then looked at Luo Shang.

Luo Shang's gaze remained fixed on Luo Yun in the middle of the fight. His face showed no emotion, but the adjutant had served him for more than a decade and could naturally read some of what was on his mind.

Thinking of this, the adjutant sighed, took half a step back, and said no more.

In the middle of the fight, Luo Yun had already brought down three men.

He had only incapacitated them temporarily; he hadn't dealt a killing blow.

Luo Yun panted heavily, sweat streaming down his face.

It wasn't that he couldn't strike to kill. He simply didn't want to.

These men were guilty of heinous crimes, but the thought of driving his sword into their bodies with his own hands, watching their blood gush from their wounds, and hearing their screams...

He still couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

Luo Shang's brow furrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

The fourth prisoner, a middle-aged man wearing glasses, had been circling around the outskirts without rushing into the fight.

He was waiting for an opening!

Luo Yun had just driven back the fifth prisoner and was turning to face the sixth, his back to the bespectacled man.

A perfect chance!

The bespectacled man suddenly sprang into action.

The dagger in his hand darted forward without a sound, aimed not at a vital spot but at Luo Yun's back.

Luo Yun sensed the chill behind him.

He reflexively twisted aside. The dagger missed his back, but its tip slashed across his left arm, cutting it open.

Blood gushed out at once.

The cut wasn't especially deep, but it hurt.

Luo Yun grunted and staggered two steps to the side. He pressed his left hand to the wound as blood seeped between his fingers, staining his sleeve red.

It hurt.

The bespectacled man held up his dagger, staring at the blood on the blade with shining eyes.

He turned to Luo Shang, his face twisted into a nearly crazed grin.

"I hurt him! I hurt him!"

"Does the word of the mighty King Frost Extreme mean nothing? Let me go! Let me go!"

Luo Shang glanced at him without speaking, then gave a slight nod.

The adjutant understood and waved to the soldiers behind him.

Two soldiers came forward, seized the bespectacled man by either arm, and dragged him toward the prison exit.

The bespectacled man was ecstatic.

After spending so many years locked up, he was finally getting out.

His mind was already racing through all the things he would do once he was free.

Before leaving,

he glanced back at Luo Yun, who was clutching his wound in the middle of the fight, and grinned smugly.

"Kid, thanks for that."

Luo Yun watched him disappear through the doorway, tightening his grip on his sword.

The remaining prisoners went wild.

The bespectacled man's departure was like a shot of adrenaline injected straight into the veins of the rest.

Their eyes reddened, and their breathing grew ragged.

Freedom was right within reach!!!

A middle-aged man with a stubbly face charged at him with a saber. His technique was even more savage than that of the others, every strike aimed at a vital spot.

He wasn't trying to wound Luo Yun. He meant to kill him.

Luo Yun blocked his saber and was driven back two steps, his arm going numb.

Another prisoner rushed in from the side and kicked Luo Yun in the shin.

Luo Yun stumbled and dropped to one knee. The prisoner raised an iron rod and brought it down toward his shoulder.

Luo Yun rolled aside. The iron rod slammed into the spot where he had just been kneeling with a muffled thud, cracking a flagstone in the floor.

Fortunately, the blow hadn't landed on him. That would have hurt badly.

"Are these men trying to kill me?" Luo Yun thought, annoyed.

He rolled twice, but before he could get up, a third prisoner's saber was already upon him.

Luo Yun had no time to rise, so he could only raise his sword to block.

Saber met sword, sending sparks flying.

His arms couldn't hold against the force. The Moon Eclipse Sword was pressed down in front of his face, the saber's edge almost touching his nose.

The prisoner looked down at him with a cruel smile.

"Kid, your life is mine now."

"Heh!"

Gritting his teeth, Luo Yun braced one knee against the ground and used every ounce of his strength to shove the man's saber aside. Then he kicked the man in the knee.