Surrounded and Hunted! Betrayal!
Although the Qie Clan was quite far from the city gate.
With Qie Qiong and the others riding hard, the gate came into sight in just half an hour.
"It's the Qie Clan's young master," said a Cloud Sea Prefecture City guard, watching the three riders approach from afar.
The Qie Clan had been rooted in Cloud Sea Prefecture City for a thousand years and was its most powerful clan.
The guards made sure to remember what Qie Qiong looked like. If they offended someone they shouldn't have one day, they would be in deep trouble.
The soldiers said only that one sentence before letting the three leave the city.
Of course, that was only because they were leaving. When entering, Qie Qiong had to dismount too, since there was an entry fee to pay.
Ten thousand years had passed since the founding of the Thunder Empire. The fundamental reason its city guards had not rotted away was that the three nations were still waging war against one another.
Thus, even great nobles like the Qie Clan, the greatest power in the city and the de facto Controller of Cloud Sea Prefecture City, still observed imperial law on the surface.
After Qie Qiong, Kang Zhixuan, and Qi Lingfei rode through the city gate and onto the main road leading to the mining area, they had traveled for less than half an hour when the piercing whistle of a signal arrow suddenly tore through the air.
"Whoa-!"
The three immediately pulled to a halt. Kang Zhixuan and Qi Lingfei rushed to Qie Qiong's side.
"Young master, it looks like we've run into bandits," Kang Zhixuan said with a smile.
He didn't care in the least. He and Qi Lingfei were both Meteor Rank Knights, and the young master had also become an Earth Rank Knight today. His combat strength was no weaker than either of theirs, and might even surpass them both.
Together, they had three people with Meteor Rank combat strength.
Why would anyone with that kind of strength become a bandit? And since they were still near Cloud Sea Prefecture City, powerful bandits were even less likely to appear.
"These might not be ordinary bandits," Qie Qiong said with a smile.
His realm had long since reached Unity of Heaven and Man, so he had actually detected the ambush before the signal arrow sounded.
As soon as he finished speaking, eight knights in dark brown leather armor and black cloth masks emerged one after another from the surrounding grass.
The moment they appeared, they formed a tight encirclement, completely sealing off the escape routes of Qie Qiong and his two companions.
Judging by their movements, they were clearly a group of well-trained knights.
The instant the eight appeared, Kang Zhixuan and Qi Lingfei positioned themselves in front of and behind Qie Qiong, protecting him between them.
The man at their head also wore a black cloth mask, but the viciousness on his face seemed ready to spill out from between his brows.
"Heh heh, isn't this the Qie Clan's genius young master? We've been waiting for you for quite some time."
He spoke unhurriedly, unable to conceal the viciousness in his voice.
"With just you lot of stinking fish and rotten shrimp?" Qie Qiong mocked. "Dogs of the Xiong Clan, did you think I wouldn't know who you were just because you covered your faces?"
The leader casually pulled off his mask. "So what if you know? You're going to die here today anyway."
His gaze held nothing but mockery, as though he were looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
After Qie Qiong achieved Unity of Man and Sword, the Xiong Clan had sent this group to lie in ambush near Cloud Sea Prefecture City.
Over the years, although Qie Qiong had left the city, he had never used the gate on this side. Every time they received word and rushed after him, he had already returned to the city.
Their original plan had been to lure him out, but since he had come out today, there was no need to go to all that trouble.
"You couldn't stay in the Qie Clan and be a good little genius swordsman, so let me give you a proper welcome here!"
Kang Zhixuan's face darkened, and he shouted, "The Xiong Clan! How dare you intercept and try to kill the Qie Residence's young master near Cloud Sea Prefecture City? Aren't you afraid the city guards will come, or that the Qie Clan will go to war with you?"
As he spoke, he took out a signal arrow used exclusively by the Qie Clan. Once it sounded, the Cloud Sea Prefecture City guards would come to their aid as quickly as possible.
Qie Qiong motioned for Kang Zhixuan to put the signal arrow away. "There's no need to go to that trouble. We're too far away. The city guards would take a long time to get here, and it would all be over by then."
When the three of them had set out, even the lowest-grade mounts they rode had been second-tier magical beasts. Qie Qiong himself rode a third-tier magical beast, a Cloud-Treading Steed.
They had ridden for half an hour already, to say nothing of the city guards on their ordinary warhorses.
By the time the guards arrived, the daylilies would have gone cold. Besides, the more people who came, the greater the risk of his true realm being exposed.
Seeing Qie Qiong's gesture, the leader smiled. "Looks like the Qie Clan's little genius knows which way the wind blows. Getting ready to surrender already? Fine, I'll make the decision to leave your parents an intact corpse."
"So you won't die a ghost without knowing the truth: the man killing you is Xiong Zhendong of the Xiong Clan."
There were eight on their side. He, Xiong Zhendong, was a peak Silver Moon Knight. Of the remaining seven, three were Meteor Knights and four were Heaven Rank Knights. Their overall strength far surpassed that of the other side, not to mention they still had a trump card.
Kang Zhixuan held his sword across his body and shouted, "Xiong Zhendong! If you kill us today, aren't you afraid our Qie Clan head will storm into your Xiong Clan?"
"What you're doing today will make a river of blood flow through your Xiong Clan."
Hearing this, Xiong Zhendong let out a grating laugh:
"Hahaha, go to war? As long as we kill you all today, who will know the Xiong Clan did it? Besides, would Qie Yunzhou dare storm into our Cangyun Empire? We're just afraid he won't have the guts!"
"Attack!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the seven knights charged at the three of them like enraged beasts.
In his view, seven were enough. Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken?
Two Heaven Rank Knights in front thrust their spears at Qie Qiong's vital points, one from the left and one from the right.
They dared do this only because they believed Qie Qiong had not yet cultivated Dou Qi.
The others attacked Kang Zhixuan and Qi Lingfei respectively.
"Young master, watch out!"
Qi Lingfei roared and swung a sword to block a strike aimed at Qi Lingfei, then instantly fell into battle with two Meteor Rank enemies amid flashing sword light.
In that instant, swift as lightning and sparks from flint.
Kang Zhixuan, who had been standing behind Qie Qiong and should have met the charging enemies, flashed a trace of vicious killing intent in his eyes!
He flipped his wrist, and a dagger glimmering with a sinister blue light appeared in his hand.
One glance was enough to tell it had been coated in deadly poison.
Then, at the limit of the speed a Meteor Rank Knight could achieve, he stabbed at Qie Qiong.
In the midst of the chaos, the strike was utterly silent and unseen.
Its timing, angle, and position were all precise to the extreme!
The strike contained all his strength. He seemed to see the dagger piercing the thin clothes and plunging into the heart.
Yet just as the dagger came within three inches of Qie Qiong's back.
It seemed to strike an invisible barrier and could advance no farther.
Kang Zhiyong's eyes abruptly narrowed.
"So it really was you, Uncle Kang." Qie Qiong's calm voice sounded in Kang Zhixuan's ear.
A smile curved Qie Qiong's lips, but it was frighteningly cold.
After all, Kang Zhixuan was a sparring partner he had known since childhood, and was said to be an honored retainer of the Qie Clan.
But within the Qie Clan, Kang Zhixuan and Qi Lingfei were honored retainers directly under him, Qie Qiong.