Facing the incoming lashes of spiritual energy, Mu Chen held Sun'er and hurried backward, barely dodging them. Even so, the dirt thrown up as they blasted the ground showered him, leaving him covered in dust.
"Heh!"
"Ha-!"
First, a low, cold chuckle came from the bushes, hoarse and icy, as though shards of ice clogged the speaker's throat.
After that brief chuckle came the sound of clapping, accompanied by a drawn-out laugh.
The dust stirred up moments earlier still drifted through the air, slowly settling. Su Qing and the others peered through it and saw a group of people emerging slowly from the bushes.
The one who had chuckled was the sinister-looking man at their head. He dragged a long saber in one hand, his expression savage and excited.
Dozens of figures emerged behind him and spread out on either side, bristling with hostility and ill intent.
"Mu Chen, long time no see!"
The sinister-looking man grinned as he spoke.
"Where's my sister? Where did you take her?"
Before Mu Chen could speak, Sun'er anxiously questioned the sinister-looking man beside him.
Her large eyes flicked toward the Spirit Disk, then toward the group opposite them.
"Your sister?"
The man paused, then gave an exaggerated "Oh!" as though realization had dawned on him, and waved to his subordinates behind him.
A tightly bound, unconscious girl was passed forward. She was Sun'er's sister.
The sinister-looking man grabbed the knot behind the girl's back and held her up in front of him, smiling at Sun'er as he spoke.
"Little girl, look. Is this your sister?"
With that, he pursed his lips and smiled again.
Sun'er's sister hung her head. Dust clung to her pretty face, and a trace of blood marked the corner of her mouth. She looked utterly pitiful.
Sun'er's face turned deathly pale. She clutched Mu Chen's hem tightly and said in a trembling voice, "Let my sister go!"
"Heh!"
Amused by Sun'er's reaction, the sinister-looking man clapped his hands. Dozens more people emerged behind Su Qing, one after another, surrounding them.
Mu Chen's expression grew grave at the sight, and he spoke.
"Yu Yue! What are you trying to do?"
"What am I trying to do?"
Yu Yue touched the spot where his ear was missing.
"Get revenge, of course!"
With a hint of madness, Yu Yue shifted his gaze from Sun'er to Mu Chen.
"Tear off both your ears yourself, or this girl's sister will suffer in your place."
"Of course, it's fine if you don't care about her. You're only in the Spirit Wheel Realm now, anyway, while I've already reached the late stage of the Divine Soul Realm."
At this point, Yu Yue seemed filled with confidence, already dismissing Su Qing and the others.
Just two in the Spirit Wheel Realm and one at the Divine Soul Realm middle stage, plus a second-rank Spirit Array Master who barely counts.
What waves could that kind of strength stir up against the hundred or so members of my Yu Gang? Victory is certain!
At that thought, Yu Yue seemed to feel the exhilaration and joy of taking his revenge already.
So he decided to talk a little longer, to savor it even more.
"I never imagined it, Mu Chen. Even you would see a day like this! The mighty perpetrator of the Spirit Road Blood Calamity-how does it feel to be driven into a corner by a small fry you casually disposed of on the Spirit Road?!"
He fiddled with Sun'er's sister's hair as he rambled on, speaking faster and faster.
"I'd already given up hope, but Heaven blessed me with this wonderful opportunity."
"Mu Chen, are you going to abandon these people and run?"
As he spoke, Yu Yue took a packet of medicine from his robes and waved it beneath Sun'er's sister's nose.
The girl wrinkled her nose and sneezed hard, then slowly woke, her eyes unfocused.
Yu Yue grabbed her hair and forced her to look toward Sun'er.
The girl looked bewildered for a moment, then cried out in alarm, "Sun'er! Why are you here?"
As she spoke, she looked around at her surroundings, then wilted, as though she had lost all hope.
Yu Yue paid her no further attention. He had only woken her because he thought it would make things a little more entertaining, and continued speaking to Mu Chen.
"Ever since that moment, I've been waiting for revenge. Now that you're standing before me like this, I have to consider whether this is the only chance I'll ever-"
Yu Yue abruptly stopped there, his eyes fixed on the sword in Su Qing's hand, like a crazed drunk suddenly sobering up.
Then he asked quietly in a hoarse voice.
"Who are you?"
Su Qing replied flatly, "None of your damn business."
Yu Yue froze for a moment at Su Qing's answer, then asked another question.
"You want to fight?"
He stared blankly at Su Qing after speaking, as though he had slipped back into his drunken state.
"I'm in a good mood today. It's rare to run into an idiot like you. You gave me a good laugh."
Su Qing glanced at Yu Yue, his tone as indifferent as ever.
"So I'll do you the favor of teaching you something: villains die from talking too much."
The moment his words fell, dozens of transparent sword shadows appeared over the marks on the foreheads of Yu Yue's subordinates and stabbed down.
Su Qing also drew his sword, turning into a streak of sword light that swept past Yu Yue.
Amid a succession of crisp ringing sounds, streaks of light enveloped the members of the Yu Gang and carried them away.
Only a handful in the Divine Soul Realm reacted in time to dodge the sword shadows.
Yu Yue himself was also in a miserable state.
Both his arms had been severed at the shoulders. The cuts were smooth and even, perfectly symmetrical, without the slightest discrepancy. Had a chef been present, they would surely have exclaimed, "What superb knife work!"
Unfortunately, there was no chef there, and Yu Yue's frantic writhing had ruined that symmetrical beauty.
Su Qing caught Sun'er's sister with one arm and pushed her toward Tang Qian'er, then faced the few remaining Divine Soul Realm opponents with his sword in hand.
Even the expression Su Qing always wore around outsiders, unchanged for a thousand years, shifted slightly.
After all these years, this is the first time I've seen such a textbook dumbass. So villains really do "die" from talking too much.
Had those people not stood there motionless, and had Yu Yue not dawdled and spewed endless nonsense, buying Su Qing enough time, he could never have completed the Sword Shadow Light-Splitting Technique that produced over a hundred sword shadows.
Even as his thoughts wandered, Su Qing's hands did not rest. In a few swift moves, he finished off the remaining opponents.
Meanwhile, Mu Chen and the others untied Sun'er's sister and helped her beneath a nearby tree, where she leaned against the trunk to rest.
Once Su Qing was done, he walked over. As he passed Tang Qian'er and Mu Chen, he casually flicked several strands of plundered spiritual energy into their marks.
By now, the mark on Su Qing's forehead had reached level seven and shone purple-gold, while Mu Chen's and Tang Qian'er's marks had both reached level six.
All of this was the fruit of the plundering Su Qing had led them on.
Beneath the tree, Sun'er threw herself into her sister's arms and anxiously peppered her with questions, the tension in her expression suddenly easing.
Still somewhat weak from the drug, her sister greeted Mu Chen and Tang Qian'er softly and thanked them both.
But when she greeted Su Qing, he acted as though he had not noticed. He strode over to Yu Yue, took the packet of medicine from his robes, and tossed it to Mu Chen.