Blood Splatters the Hundred Flowers Pavilion

Without Bai Zhixing as a burden for the moment, Cheng Qingshi and Chen Jing fought as they retreated, falling back toward the window.

Cheng Qingshi set his fists, his vital blood steaming all around him, almost tangible. The Nine Forms of the Mountain Lord unfolded in his hands, making him seem like a majestic, awe-inspiring tiger.

Each punch and kick he smashed out landed on a body with a muffled boom like thunder, caving in chests and sending men flying backward.

Chen Jing saw it clearly from the side, and only then did he understand that when Cheng Qingshi had sparred with him at the start, the man had practically let an ocean loose for him.

If Cheng Qingshi had used such strength back then, even if Chen Jing had unleashed [Tiger Valiance] with all his might, he probably still might not have gained the slightest advantage.

On Chen Jing's side, things were even bloodier and more horrifying.

Mountain Lord Energy circulated through his entire body, and the [Mountain Lord] talent steadily increased his strength and speed by 15%.

With a pig-slaughtering knife in hand, the [Butcher] talent increased his striking speed, strength, and Bone-Breaking attribute by another 50% each.

Added to the fact that his own foundation had already reached minor accomplishment in vital blood, under such a terrifying boost from his talents, the pig-slaughtering knife in his hand became a blurred black shadow.

His hand rose, the blade fell, and severed arms and mangled limbs flew everywhere.

Fresh blood sprayed across the walls, leaving scarlet marks like splashed ink all over the place.

One blade-wielder was split open from shoulder to waist by a single slash, his organs spilling out with a wet crash across the floor. Another had his neck chopped through by Chen Jing's backhanded cut, his head rolling into the corner while his headless corpse still raised its blade and took two steps forward before crashing to the ground.

The scene was bloody and brutal to the extreme. The few blade-wielders charging at the very front had scalding-hot blood splashed across their faces, and their legs went weak on the spot.

The hands gripping their blades shook so badly they could not even hold the hilts. They scrambled and crawled backward, only to be shoved back by the people behind them.

Zhou Yunhan was so frightened his lips turned white, but he was, after all, an old hand of the jianghu who had been around for more than ten years, and he knew there was already no turning back tonight.

He gritted his teeth, his voice shrill enough to crack.

"Get up there, all of you! If this fails, do you think Six Gates will still let you leave Green Mountain City alive?"

"If we can't kill them, all of us die!"

When the blade-wielders who had originally been scared out of their wits heard this, a trapped-beast ferocity surged back into their eyes.

Death waited either way. If they risked it all, there was still a road to survival.

They howled and surged up again.

Their assault was even more frenzied than before.

Cheng Qingshi's fists were already covered in blood, impossible to tell whether it was his or someone else's.

Breathing slightly hard, he said coldly, "Up to the eaves!"

Chen Jing had already had the same idea.

The two of them kicked over the blade-wielders in front of them at the same time, then nimbly shot out the window and landed steadily on the eaves.

Both of them had solidly trained stance work.

Even though the glazed tiles beneath their feet were smooth, their figures were as steady as boulders.

Bai Zhixing had already crawled to the end of the eaves and was crouching in the distance, hugging an outer pillar. When he saw the two of them come out, he nearly cried out loud.

But the pursuers behind them did not have the same solid foundation as Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi. The blade-wielders pushed and crowded toward the window, and several of them stepped into empty air, screaming as they fell straight down from the third floor and smashed onto the bluestone street below, dying on the spot.

The pedestrians on the street were scared into shrieking by the corpses falling from the sky. They fled in all directions, and the entire Flower Moon Street instantly turned into a pot of porridge.

Chen Jing made the decision at once. "Split up!"

The eaves were narrow. If the two of them crowded together, they would only hold each other back. It was better to separate; instead, they could slaughter in every direction.

He and Cheng Qingshi split left and right, each occupying a stretch of the eaves. Chen Jing held the pig-slaughtering knife and stepped back as though wading through mud.

On these long, narrow eaves, the pursuers could only come two abreast each time. Chen Jing cut through them like chopping melons and slicing vegetables, one man per blade, without the slightest pressure.

The proficiency of the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique kept rising, simply making his heart blossom with joy.

Bai Zhixing clung to the outer pillar, watching Chen Jing kill several men in succession on the eaves as if butchering pigs and slaughtering dogs. He could not help shouting praise again and again in excitement.

On Cheng Qingshi's side, although he was using his fists, every punch contained a thousand catties of force. When it struck a body, it caused either broken bones or internal injuries.

Moreover, he was not pedantic. More often, he swung his fists and swept his legs, knocking the blade-wielders rushing at him off the eaves.

It was as if a rain of men had begun falling from Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Every now and then, a blade-wielder screamed as he plummeted from the third floor, striking the street below with one muffled thud after another.

Those who had not fallen to their deaths groaned in agony on the ground, while those who had died from the fall breathed their last on the spot. The people behind them watched until their hearts and guts split with terror, and no one dared approach Cheng Qingshi's side by even half a step anymore.

The burly man from earlier clung to the window and leaned out, shouting sternly, "Leave this one to me! You go capture Bai Zhixing!"

His arms shook, and his joints let out a crackling series of sharp pops. His vital blood surged all over his body, making him seem like an enraged giant python.

He suddenly lunged toward Cheng Qingshi.

The Six Gates hidden sentries who had originally been keeping watch in secret outside Hundred Flowers Pavilion had already sensed something was wrong when they first saw the grand tutor chair smash through the window and fly out.

They immediately broke into a run toward the nearest outpost to report the news.

Soon after, Duan Mu hurried over with a squad of constables.

At the same time, Liang Youheng and Liu Yunfei returned from work at the docks. When the two of them heard from the gatekeeper that Chen Jing and Cheng Qingshi had gone to Hundred Flowers Pavilion, they came along the way to provide support, lest Chen Jing suffer another dirty blow.

Only, never in their wildest dreams had they expected that as soon as they stepped onto Flower Moon Street, they would see the terrifying spectacle of men raining down from Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Seven or eight corpses already lay in the street. Some had fallen so hard their faces were beyond recognition; others were still twitching and groaning.

The pedestrians on the entire street had long since run clean away.

The two groups met head-on at the entrance of Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Liu Yunfei grabbed Liang Youheng and rushed into the building with the Six Gates men.

The proprietress threw herself at them at once, crying so hard the powder and rouge on her face smeared into a mess. "My Lord! Shopkeeper Zhou from White Horse Pharmacy has gone mad! He's slaughtering people on the third floor!"

Duan Mu shoved her aside.

With his men and Liu and Liang in tow, he charged straight for the third floor.

At the stairway to the third floor, a dozen or so swordsmen rushed forward one after another, guarding the narrow entrance with their lives.

They held the terrain, striking down from above. Every wave of Six Gates constables that charged up was hacked back down.

When one swordsman died, someone behind him immediately took his place. Not yielding an inch, they used their flesh-and-blood bodies to block the stairway by brute force.

"Master, the Six Gates men are charging up!"

A swordsman turned back and shouted hoarsely toward the private room.

Zhou Yunhan stood behind the crowd, both eyes blood-red, the expression on his face already close to deranged.

He stared fixedly at the shadow on the roof outside the window, the one holding the butcher knife, and roared as if staking everything on one throw. "Chen Jing!"

"Set the fire! Set it for me!"

"Burn them to death!"

The gauze curtains, screens, and wooden furniture in the private room were doused with wine and lamp oil. A fire striker was tossed.

With a whoosh, tongues of flame leapt up!

The fire spread at an astonishing speed, burning from the private room into the corridor. Thick smoke billowed, and the firelight dyed the night red.

Chen Jing, who had originally been moving with ease outside the eaves, suddenly smelled an acrid burning stench.

He whipped his head around.

He saw firelight flickering behind the window paper, orange-red tongues of flame licking at the lattice, thick smoke pouring from the broken openings.

Clinging to an outer pillar, Bai Zhixing cried out in despair:

"Brother Chen! Zhou Yunhan's gone mad! He's going to burn the building!"

Chen Jing's heart tightened.

If the fire truly caught, the roaring flames and thick smoke would block the way. When the time came, they could only jump. The three-story Hundred Flowers Pavilion was at least a dozen meters tall.

Jumping down from this height—

An ordinary person without martial strength like Bai Zhixing would definitely die through and through. Even if he and Cheng Qingshi did not die, both their legs would be broken.

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