The Rain Was Heavy Tonight, Perfect for Washing the Blade

"What a downpour."

Liu Ye pushed open the door and looked out at the lightning and thunder, and the curtain of rain crashing down like a waterfall. He frowned and pulled his clothes tighter around himself.

Then he turned to the servant who had brought the news.

"Are you sure my brother Wang went to Vermilion Phoenix Tower and bedded a hundred women in just a few hours, until they couldn't even do business?"

"Master, I swear it's true!"

The servant hurriedly swore an oath. "He was incredible. No one in the tower was a match for him. Before I left, even Miss Feng had taken the field herself."

"Strange..."

Liu Ye could not make sense of it. By his reckoning, it had been less than half a month since he had given Wang Ping the Iron Ox Skill. Had he already mastered it?

How many times a day had he trained?

How could his body stand it?

Even so, Liu Ye dared not delay. He fetched a rain hat and straw cape, then leaped into the rainy night and sped toward Vermilion Phoenix Tower.

But halfway there, he noticed something wrong.

Looking ahead, he saw a whistling signal arrow rising from the direction of Vermilion Phoenix Tower. A trail of fire streamed behind it, painfully bright against the rain.

"Hm!?"

Liu Ye's expression changed. It was the signal agreed upon by the county constables, and right now, it told everyone one thing:

"They've found that White Lotus bandit!"

"He's at Vermilion Phoenix Tower!"

Almost at once, both the inner and outer districts of Longxing County responded. Figures darted through the rain, rushing toward Vermilion Phoenix Tower with near-fanatical zeal.

"Catch him! Catch that rebel!"

"A hundred taels of silver... No one's taking it from me!"

"Out of my way!"

Such a commotion could hardly escape Xie Shi, who was hiding in Vermilion Phoenix Tower. He saw the signal arrow too, and his expression changed drastically.

"Damn it! The county office has spies here!"

Already seething with resentment, Xie Shi's eyes turned red. He had never imagined his identity would be exposed so quickly.

He had disguised himself!

How had this happened?

"Damn it. I can't stay here. I need to get out and shake those black-clad dogs... That damned spy had better hope I never find out who they are!"

Xie Shi's thoughts raced, but his actions were decisive. With a sweep of his palm, he sent more than a dozen people crashing through Vermilion Phoenix Tower's doors, then blended into the crowd and ran into the rain, hoping the confusion would improve his chances of escape.

At his peak, the tactic would have worked without fail.

But he was badly wounded. His steps were far heavier than before, and he could not hide his trail. The pursuing constables picked him out almost instantly.

"Third from the left! That's him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

Boom!

Beneath the rain, turbid waves surged skyward. Invisible saber energy took shape against the falling water, becoming a visible tide of blade-light that slashed straight at Xie Shi's chest.

At almost the same moment, more than a dozen crossbow bolts tore through the air, sealing off nearly every direction he could dodge. Their tips gleamed with an armor-piercing sheen and were coated in deadly poison. Even a scratch would leave him unable to fight, a lamb awaiting the slaughter.

"Damn it! If I still had my Fine-Scale Armor..."

Xie Shi frowned. If Chen Haoyan had not pierced his protective inner armor with an arrow and scattered its scales, he would not have needed to dodge these bolts at all.

But when a tiger fell onto the plains, even dogs dared bully it.

He had no choice but to stop. Drawing his right arm back past his shoulder like a bowstring, he thrust his palm toward the oncoming bolts.

Bang!

A gale erupted from his palm. Against the rain, a clear palm print appeared, sweeping across the bolts and shattering them all.

The palm print then collided with the blade-light that had come at him first. The impact merged with the thunder overhead, and rolling force burst through the rain in spray after spray. But at that instant, a lotus suddenly bloomed amid the flying water.

Plain Moon Lotus Blade, A Thought Blooms a Flower!

The throwing blade hid beneath the rain and vanished in a blink. By the time anyone saw it, it had already swept across the neck of a constable taking part in the encirclement.

Splurt!

His head hit the ground. A mist of blood surged upward, staining the rain around him a glaring red and adding the first reek of blood to the hunt.

"Spread out! Don't clash with him head-on! Pin him down with bolts!"

A constable shouted from the shadows. The county constables mainly practiced Yama's Three Demon Blades, which did not temper flesh or skin. Their attacks were strong, but their defense was lacking.

Xie Shi, meanwhile, was a superb throwing-blade fighter. He had mastered the Plain Moon Lotus Blade and had its martial strategy behind him. Hidden weapons were hard enough to spot at night; without adequate protection, a single blade could kill. Better to harry him from afar with crossbows than charge in with sabers.

"He's badly hurt. He can't throw many more blades."

"He has no horse, so he's on foot. Wear him down with bolts. Make him dodge and fight back. Once he's spent, we'll go in and chop him to pieces."

Voices called out one after another.

Faced with this deployment, Xie Shi's face darkened. He had just displayed his might in hopes of intimidating his pursuers, and now he was both shocked and furious.

"These black-clad dogs... They're too experienced!"

There was no denying it: their tactics struck precisely at his weakness. In his current state, they really could drag this out until he died.

But he was a veteran rebel. He had faced desperate straits eight times, if not ten. Once he grasped the situation, he acted just as decisively. He planted his feet, drew a breath, and raised his palm. His pale face flushed red as though fire had swept over him, and his body suddenly rose three inches taller.

Then he let out a roar:

"Die!!!"

His thunderous voice raised a visible wave through the rain. At the same time, Xie Shi drove off the ground and rode that wave toward an alley.

In that explosive instant, he had clearly used some secret art. For the moment, he shook off his grievous injuries and brought back the might of External Arts Perfection at his peak. Wherever he passed, mountain-toppling force erupted again and again, knocking down every bolt that came near him.

"Trying to leave?"

A figure abruptly appeared beside Xie Shi. Rather than drawing a saber, he extended his long arm, clenched his fist, and drove it forward.

Boom!

With an explosive report, a fist print cut a stark path through the rain and struck Xie Shi squarely in the back from a distance.

"The Hundred-Step Divine Fist!?"

Xie Shi seemed to recognize the technique. He spat blood, feeling as if his spine had been crushed, but he dared not stop.

The next moment, far from slowing, he used the punch's force to burst through the encirclement even faster. He smashed through several walls along the way, throwing up clouds of dust that mingled with the rain, before vanishing from the constables' sight.

"Liu Ye, you old dog... This ends only when one of us dies!"

Xie Shi's hate-filled voice mingled with the downpour and was quickly drowned out. Liu Ye, who had thrown the punch, showed no joy at all.

"He survived that?"

The old constable grimaced, but his steps did not slow. He pursued Xie Shi directly, clearly unwilling to let him go.

After all, he might not have the nerve to fight for his life, but he certainly had the nerve to beat a drowning dog.

Plenty of it.

One fled and the other pursued him across nearly half the county town. As they ran, Xie Shi's despair only deepened.

I can't shake him...!

That old dog Liu Ye has too keen a nose. He must have practiced some unranked martial art as well. He's too good at tracking. I can't lose him!

What could he do?

Xie Shi was desperately searching for a way out when a figure suddenly entered his view through the hazy rain.

A black-and-red official uniform, a saber at the waist... A constable?

His face... Young, and a little familiar.

Perfect timing!

Xie Shi's eyes brightened. He stamped down, picked up speed, and raced toward the young constable, intending to seize him as a hostage.

Even if he's no use as a hostage, I can throw him at that old dog Liu Ye as a shield. He'll have to dodge, and that'll give me a chance to escape...

As he thought, the young constable's figure grew clearer. Xie Shi cut through the rain and reached him in a few breaths.

Liu Ye was closing in too.

His martial arts surpassed the badly wounded Xie Shi's, and his eyesight was better. Even from far away, he peered through the rain and saw who stood ahead.

Liu Ye's pupils abruptly shrank.

He recognized the young constable Xie Shi was targeting: Wang Ping! But wasn't he supposed to be at Vermilion Phoenix Tower, locked in battle with all those women?

Why was he here?

There was no time to think. Liu Ye could only shout, "Get out of the way!"

Even as he spoke, he sighed inwardly.

Too late.

What kind of fighter was Xie Shi? Even badly wounded, he was beyond an ordinary martial artist, much less a rookie constable who had not even crossed the threshold.

Wang Ping was doomed.

Given Xie Shi's savage desperation, dying might even be a mercy. If Wang Ping survived, he might suffer far worse.

Meanwhile.

Facing Xie Shi as he closed in, Wang Ping felt calmer than ever. His body felt light, without a trace of fear or tension.

Xie Shi, Senior Brother Xie... I've missed you to death.

To be fair, Wang Ping had no grudge against Xie Shi. But now that he was a constable, he needed a fine stepping stone to keep advancing.

Xie Shi's appearance now was truly charcoal delivered in a snowstorm.

A bloody clash in the county town, a rebel dead... What a lovely sound.

"What's going on!?"

At that instant, Xie Shi seemed to sense something. A piercing pain stabbed into the center of his brow, and an overwhelming sense of danger erupted within him.

This, too, was a White Lotus Sect secret art, one that sensed fortune and calamity. That night, it had saved him from being killed outright by Chen Haoyan's arrow. Now he felt as if he had returned to that night, facing that unstoppable shot and a suffocating vision of his own death!

Is it that old dog Liu Ye? Can his Hundred-Step Divine Fist reach this far?

Xie Shi's eyes reddened. The stabbing pain made his brow feel as though it would split him in two. His terror turned to rage.

Kill me? In your dreams!

With that thought, Xie Shi ignored his body, already a lamp running out of oil. He drove the secret art through it again, cast off his injuries, and unleashed every bit of strength he had left.

Boom!

The sound drowned out even the thunder overhead. Waves of water spread from Xie Shi beneath the rain, marking the rampage of an unmatched force.

A muffled beat like a war drum sounded in Xie Shi's chest. Crystalline beads of bloody sweat seeped visibly from every pore, then rolled down to mingle with the rain. His blood and vital energy had reached their limit, and the force bursting from him was ferocious!

Whatever it takes, I have to get out as fast as possible!

Xie Shi lunged forward. He would grab the young constable, hurl him at Liu Ye, then seize the opening to throw a blade with all his strength.

I'll send the blade through the young constable's chest. He'll never expect that.

Though his hand was already reaching for the young constable, Xie Shi's mind had moved on to Liu Ye, who was pursuing him from behind.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Driving rain, howling wind, two men.

Only then did Wang Ping raise his eyes. What his Spirit Sense perceived overlapped with what he saw, bringing Xie Shi's vicious face into focus.

He stepped forward instead of retreating.

Clang!

His saber left its sheath.

Every movement flowed like drifting clouds and running water, every movement seemed divinely guided. Yet all of it was compressed into an instant, too fast for anyone to follow.

To Xie Shi, the young man merely made a motion to draw his saber. Then its gleaming tip filled his vision, while the three blade intents of Greed, anger, and delusion struck his mind, sending scenes from his life flashing uncontrollably through it.

Yama's Death Writ!?

The martial strategy formed upon mastering Yama's Three Demon Blades was said to make its wielder "Yama walking with blade in hand," delivering Yama's summons to the dead.

But that was not the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying part was the ringing blade-song that erupted after the constable struck: every great sinew in his body had snapped into motion and resonated with the saber.

It was a strange sound, long and clear, faintly merging with the rain pouring from the sky.

"A dragon's cry... True Dragon Sinew!?"

Boom!

The blade flashed. The stabbing pain in Xie Shi's brow finally ceased, and his sense of danger vanished. Only endless emptiness remained, his thoughts falling still.

In a daze, he saw the other man's face again.

That face really was familiar, just a little older. If it were younger... Hm?

Xie Shi's pupils abruptly shrank. On the brink of death, he found one last flicker of clarity and stared at the man before him in disbelief.

Him!?

The mole the county office sent? That little junior brother who knew no martial arts, whom Master and I abandoned?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

He wanted to roar, but he could not. That final flicker swiftly went out, and the scene before his eyes sank into darkness.

Thud.

A body, split cleanly in two, toppled to the ground. Blood poured out like floodwaters through a broken dam and mingled with the torrential rain.

He's... dead!?

Liu Ye, close behind, stopped in bewilderment. He looked at the young constable standing beneath the rain with his saber planted before him, and for a long moment could not collect himself.

Then Wang Ping raised his head and gave him a faint smile.

"Don't worry, Master Liu. No need to dodge."

"The rain's heavy tonight. Perfect for washing the blade."