"What? They want us to enter the gorge first and draw the Blood Feather Eagles at the front!"
Xu Shixiong's cold, indifferent voice was overheard by some people near the caravan, and their expressions changed at once as unrest rippled through the crowd.
They had never imagined that, despite having such a powerful force, the Xu Family was not only unwilling to let them benefit in the slightest, but was actually making them cross Crimson Flame Valley in broad daylight to save time—and using them as bait and cannon fodder!
People quietly began backing away.
Even when entering the valley at night, they still had to look around for companions.
Who would dare enter the gorge in broad daylight?
But just as they began retreating, the leading Great Martial Master swept out a hand. Apart from one Fifth-Rank Great Martial Master who remained astride his horse beside the carriage, immovable as a mountain, all the other guards drew their blades on horseback and formed a fan-shaped encirclement, forcing everyone trying to retreat back toward the valley entrance.
"If you don't want to die right now, then enter Crimson Flame Valley!" The Great Martial Master, whose temples were half-gray, swept his hawk-like gaze over the crowd and spoke coldly without expression.
"Senior, please have mercy on this little one! This little one is only a Second-Rank Minor Martial Master and has elders and children with him. Entering Crimson Flame Valley in broad daylight will surely mean nine chances of death out of ten!" A man who looked to be in his thirties hunched over and repeatedly knelt and kowtowed before the Great Martial Master.
"So you choose to die now?" the Great Martial Master said coldly.
One guard had already gripped his saber and urged his horse forward.
"No, no! This little one is willing to enter Crimson Flame Valley." Frightened out of his wits, the man hurriedly shrank back into the crowd.
"Senior, this little one belongs to the Situ Family. I ask Senior to raise your hand in mercy and spare this little one." A young man stepped forward and cupped his fists.
"The Situ Family of Flowing Cloud Workshop?" The Great Martial Master lifted his brows slightly and asked.
"Yes, yes." The young man hurriedly nodded. A trace of radiance appeared on his face, as though being singled out before everyone by a Great Martial Master brought him great honor.
Seeing this, several others in the crowd also hurriedly stepped forward.
"Are you Situ Zhongliang's descendant?" the Great Martial Master asked coldly.
Situ Zhongliang, head of the Situ Family in Flowing Cloud Workshop of Li City, was a Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master.
The young man froze for a moment, then shook his head. "No, but this little one is—"
"Not his descendant, yet you dare flaunt the Situ Family's name before me? Get back!" The Great Martial Master's face darkened.
The young man still wanted to speak, but a guard had already drawn his saber and pointed it at him from afar, as though he would rush forward and cut him down if he dared say another word.
The young man's face went pale, and he hurriedly retreated into the crowd.
"And do you also have backgrounds to announce?" The Great Martial Master's gaze swept over the few people who had stepped out earlier and now stood rooted in place, pale-faced.
"No, no." They shook their heads again and again and hurried back.
"Sis, we're dead this time!" The pockmarked young man said to the glamorous young woman, his face white.
"At this point, fear is useless. Later, don't worry about me. If you get the chance, fight your way out." the glamorous young woman said.
"Sis, you're my only family left in this world. No matter what, I'll never leave you behind," the pockmarked young man said.
The glamorous young woman looked at him, and a touch of gratified emotion appeared in her eyes.
"Enough. You may set off now. Remember, you may only move forward, never flee backward! Whoever dares flee backward will be killed without mercy!" The Great Martial Master swept his cold and merciless gaze over the crowd and said harshly.
A powerful Killing Intent burst from his body, making the temperature around them seem to plummet in an instant.
Everyone's faces turned pale. Then they each took out whatever could serve as a weapon and entered the valley mouth in groups, moving with extreme caution.
Xia Daoming looked back at the caravan and at the Two-Winged Black Tiger Clan emblem on the carriage. Murderous intent flickered deep in his eyes.
Xu Shixiong, you dog-bred scum. I'll remember your name!
Xia Daoming gritted his teeth inwardly, but his footsteps ultimately followed the stream of people into Crimson Flame Valley.
The other side had two Fifth-Rank Great Martial Masters, more than ten Third-Rank and Fourth-Rank Martial Masters, and even a Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master. No matter how confident Xia Daoming was in his own strength, he would rather face Blood Feather Eagles than such a powerful and terrifying enemy.
After all, Blood Feather Eagles were demonic birds without intelligence. From what everyone had said, it was not difficult to infer that they could only be considered low-level demonic birds, likely possessing killing power no greater than that of a Fourth-Rank Martial Master.
With his strength, as long as his luck was not utterly abysmal, protecting himself would definitely not be a problem.
But if he defied the Xu Family's orders, his hopes of survival would be exceedingly slim.
Most of the Blood Feather Eagles nested in the middle section of the valley.
That was the true forbidden zone.
The crowd advanced cautiously, scarcely daring to breathe, occasionally lifting their heads to glance at the sky.
The closer they came to the central stretch of the gorge, the more tense and careful everyone became.
"Remember, we're about to enter the forbidden zone. Try not to make any sound, and whatever you do, don't run."
The Fourth-Rank Martial Master with mung-bean eyes gave the warning in a low voice. The frivolity he had shown while teasing the glamorous young woman was gone; his face was filled only with grave solemnity. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his cheeks from time to time, and veins stood out on the hand gripping his saber.
The Xu Family's caravan followed a hundred meters behind at an unhurried pace.
The carriage curtain was lifted once again.
That handsome face was revealed.
Its owner watched the people a hundred meters ahead inching forward with caution. His cold and merciless gaze carried a trace of mocking amusement.
It was as if the people ahead were not risking their lives, but performing a play, while he was merely an audience member enjoying the spectacle.
"Shriek!"
All of a sudden, an eagle's cry rang through the sky, sharp enough to pierce gold and split stone.
Several blood-red streaks then tore across the heavens like lightning, diving toward the people in the valley.
The Blood Feather Eagles beat their enormous wings, whipping up gusts of wild wind.
"Crash!"
Loose stones on the cliffside were swept up and came raining down.
"Ah! The Blood Feather Eagles are here!"
Panic broke out among the crowd. One timid man bolted toward the southern exit.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, a shadow engulfed him.
Before he could react, a Blood Feather Eagle's sharp claws had sunk deeply into his back, carrying him into the sky.
Blood streamed from his back and scattered through the air.
Bang!
The Blood Feather Eagle suddenly flung the man down from the sky.
Blood and brains splattered in every direction.
"Ah! Ah!"
At the sight of such a brutal and horrifying scene, many in the crowd were completely seized by terror and turned to run back the way they had come.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
But before they had gone far, arrows shot toward them like lightning.
One person was pierced through the chest by an arrow and fell dead on the spot.
More arrows embedded themselves in the ground, their fletching trembling faintly in the dappled sunlight of the valley, issuing a silent warning to those trying to flee at the brink of battle.
"Ah!" The fleeing people all stopped.
"Don't panic! Form groups, defend yourselves, and advance!" An experienced Martial Master roared.
The Martial Master's shout had a calming effect.
The panicked people quickly gathered into groups of three or five.
But the scent of blood in the air stimulated the Blood Feather Eagles, and more of them swooped down.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Some Martial Masters drew their sabers and slashed, colliding with the Blood Feather Eagles' claws with the sound of metal striking metal.
"Ah! Ah!"
Bang! Bang!
People were continually seized by the Blood Feather Eagles' claws, carried into the sky, then hurled down like sandbags.
The clustered groups were soon scattered to the four winds by the Blood Feather Eagles' assault, and everyone could think only of saving their own lives.
"Sis, save me!" The pockmarked man was knocked to the ground by a Blood Feather Eagle's enormous wing. Seeing its sharp hooked beak about to peck down at his head, he let out a terrified scream.
A beautiful figure darted over without hesitation, thrusting the sharp sword in her hand viciously at the Blood Feather Eagle's head.
It was the glamorous young woman.
Bang!
The Blood Feather Eagle spread its wings and struck out.
The glamorous young woman, along with her sword, was sent flying and crashed into the pockmarked man.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept over them, and a shadow fell.
At some unknown moment, a Blood Feather Eagle had dived toward the pockmarked man like lightning, its sharp claws gleaming with cold light.
The pockmarked man's hair stood on end in terror. Without even thinking, he suddenly shoved the glamorous young woman beside him toward the Blood Feather Eagle.
"Liu Zhong, you..." The glamorous young woman's eyes filled with shock and grief. She even forgot that the claws would descend upon her in the next instant.
Clang!
Just as the claws were about to touch the glamorous young woman's hair, a cold flash swept past.
"Shriek!" The Blood Feather Eagle let out a piercing cry and soared into the sky, droplets of blood falling from its claws.
But the glamorous young woman seemed stunned. Her blank, bewildered gaze followed the familiar figure rapidly fleeing away, while two crystal tears silently slid down her fair cheeks.
"Are you still not leaving? Do you want to die here?" A vaguely familiar voice boomed beside the glamorous young woman's ear like thunder.
The glamorous young woman shuddered violently. Her gaze shifted from that familiar, rapidly departing back to the young, ordinary face before her, and countless emotions surged in her heart.
The owner of this face had rejected her invitation not long ago, yet he had now saved her life. Meanwhile, the cousin who had sworn again and again never to leave her had pushed her toward the Blood Feather Eagle's claws!
"Thank you..." the glamorous young woman began.
"Run for your life!" Xia Daoming cut her off. He tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and raced toward the southern valley entrance.
Along the way, he casually saved several more people.
However, he did not dare stand out too much, revealing only twenty or thirty percent of his strength.
The reason Seventh Young Master dared drive everyone before him as cannon fodder was because, in his eyes, even if these people escaped alive, they would never dare seek revenge against the Xu Family. And even if they did dare, people like them could not possibly stir up any waves.
Xia Daoming knew very well that if he erupted with his full strength and displayed power greater than that of a Fifth-Rank Martial Master, the Xu Family's Seventh Young Master would definitely become wary and kill him, extinguishing the danger before it could grow.
Even so, Xia Daoming suddenly felt an inexplicable chill rise behind him as he ran, as if a venomous snake hidden in the darkness were watching him.
Just then, a Blood Feather Eagle swooped at him.
Its enormous wings lashed toward him.
Xia Daoming's heart stirred. He deliberately pretended he could not dodge in time, allowing the wing to sweep across him. His body staggered, nearly falling over.
Taking advantage of his stagger, Xia Daoming glanced from the corner of his eye toward the direction where he had sensed that presence.
There, the luxurious carriage, protected by numerous guards, was passing by the crowd engaged in a savage battle with the Blood Feather Eagles.
The carriage curtain had been lifted.
That handsome face was angled toward the direction where Xia Daoming had just been.
Xia Daoming's heart turned cold.
Damn it, I've been this careful, and that bastard still has his eye on me?
Cursing inwardly, Xia Daoming executed a frantic, bedraggled donkey roll and dodged the Blood Feather Eagle's sharp beak.
As he rolled, Xia Daoming saw from the corner of his eye that the carriage curtain was lowered.
I should have fooled him! Xia Daoming secretly sighed in relief.
Just as Xia Daoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a Blood Feather Eagle with a wingspan of two zhang suddenly dove toward the carriage.
PS: During the public release period, if you enjoy this, please help spread the word and leave more comments. A bow of thanks!
At the request of readers, I will try to release two chapters together each morning without spacing them apart, so the reading experience is smoother. Today's two chapters are already complete.
Also, thanks to readers Li Gongzi 2019, Wolf Moon 1, Autumn Divine Light, Little Lotus 005, and others for yesterday's rewards.
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