Chapter 9: Blocking Qin Xiao

  "Plop plop"

  A man covered his left arm and fled desperately, his left arm had lost half of it, and the blood flowed out recklessly. But he couldn't afford to bandage the wound, still running frantically outside. Behind him was a pack of wolves closing in step by step, with nearly fifty of them.

  Even if he ran for his life, the man still collapsed from excessive blood loss and was lightly tripped by a stick, falling to the ground. He struggled to get up a few times but found that he had no extra strength left. Looking at the attacking wolf pack, he closed his eyes in despair.

  "Whoosh whoosh whoosh"

  Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past his ear, followed by the howls of wolves. The man weakly opened his eyes to see a flash of blue in front of him. Although there was only one person, the blue-clad man stood tall, and the wolf pack retreated several steps back, their eyes filled with fear. This man... could he be more terrifying than the wolf pack? But he had been rescued, wasn't that what he had always wanted? The man let out a slight sigh of relief, but before he could react, everything went black as a figure flashed by, and the sound of fabric tearing was heard. Before he knew it, he was lifted up straight, his eyes meeting the brown gaze of the blue-clad man, which held a hint of playfulness, yet an aura of killing intent that surpassed even the wolves'. The man took in a sharp breath - was this good fortune or bad?

  Kong Qing swiftly turned the spear, and the man was firmly pinned to the side of a large tree. The wolf pack beside him also retreated several steps due to the commotion. The man couldn't withstand the heavy impact and spat out a mouthful of blood. Kong Qing looked at the man with satisfaction and calmly said, "You only need to answer my questions."

  The man could only nod blankly under the pressure of Qing's aura.

  Qing raised the corner of his mouth and continued, "Tell me, where is Qin Xiao?"

  Upon hearing the name Qin Xiao, a hint of surprise flashed in the man's eyes, only to be replaced by confusion. Everyone in Feng Huang City knew who Qin Xiao was - the emperor's right-hand man and the city's number one guardian general. But how could someone like that possibly show up in person? The man shook his head weakly and said with difficulty, "Is General Qin here? I don't know...I hope you'll spare my life, noble hero."

  A flash of light, the man only felt a chill on his neck, but he couldn't say a word. He numbly stretched out his hand to touch, but got a surge of heat, and then fell straight to the ground, with a towering figure reflected in his pupils.

  Kong Qing didn't even glance at the man who had fallen to the ground and died, instead he gazed at his long spear with satisfaction. Although he had killed someone, there wasn't a single drop of blood on the spear, it was unscathed. However, being a cleanliness freak, he still pulled out a white, smooth silk cloth and elegantly wiped it clean. In the end, he ruthlessly discarded it, despite it being the snow-white silk bestowed upon him by the prince.

  Having dealt with the annoying man, Kong Qing shouldered his long spear and smiled slightly at the wolf pack that had retreated over a dozen meters. With a gentle lift of his foot, he left the ground, lightly darting between the trees, and in an instant, he vanished from sight.

  At this time, Qin Xiao was surrounded by a pack of wolves in the middle, and he couldn't move forward or backward, so he could only defend himself on the spot. However, he clearly felt a strong killing intent rushing over from the forest, straight towards him, and he recognized this killing intent, which only that man would have, it seemed... Anbang Wang had returned triumphantly. But he didn't expect it to end so soon.

  "Waaaah~"

  The wolf pack seemed to sense danger and let out a fearful howl, retreating repeatedly until they disappeared deep in the forest.

  Just as Liang Hu and others were at a loss, Qin Xiao suddenly jumped off the ground and quickly shuttled between the trees. When Li Guangzhong and others wanted to chase after him, they were blocked by Liang Hu, and the two glared angrily at Liang Hu.

  Liang Hu looked quietly in the direction where Qin Xiao had disappeared, and said faintly, "Now if you go there, you will only die faster. It seems that there is nothing for us to do here anymore. Let's just wait outside."

  Liāng Hǔ turned around and walked towards the edge of the forest. He knew that this was no longer a place where hunters could intervene, and even if he continued to stay, he would only lose his life here. After walking a few steps, he stopped and said, "Of course, I won't stop you from going to send yourselves to death."

  Li Yan is now a completely different person from before, not only has his aura changed, but even his eyes have become somewhat deep and cold, making them shiver. They thought that they were already unable to keep up with Qin Xiao's pace, and even if they did manage to catch up, they might just end up being a hindrance, so they left as well.

  However, on the other side, Qin Xiao had just walked out of a hundred meters when he stopped. In front of him was Kong Qing, who was wiping his long gun. There were also wolf corpses all over the field. Every single wolf had its throat slit open, and only Kong Qing could do such a thing, known as the number one long gun in Feng Huang Country.

  "It's really you." Qin Xiao saw Kong Qing completely unflappable, but the dozens of wolf corpses emitting a bloody smell made him very uncomfortable. It didn't smell like human blood, but rather a thick lead smell. "Looks like King Anbang has returned triumphantly."

  Whoosh

  Just as Qin Xiao finished speaking, he felt a cold killing intent rushing towards him, finally materializing into a bright long spear that stopped an inch away from his nose tip. The cold killing intent emanated from the spearhead, but Qin Xiao remained calm, having grown accustomed to such occurrences.

  "Still the same as ever, Kong Qing." Qin Xiao said slowly.

  His pale blue eyes narrowed into slits, icy cold. The next instant, a flash of light, the long spear had been recalled, the killing intent in his eyes disappeared instantly, leaving only harmless smile. It was as if the previous scene never existed. He slightly raised the corner of his mouth, looking at Qin Xiao, and hummed "I haven't changed, but you've changed quite a bit."

  "What makes you think so?" Qin Xiao didn't get angry upon hearing the sarcasm in his words, but felt that Kong Qing was acting like a spoiled child.

  "Do I need to spell it out for you, Brother? " Kong Qing emphasized the two words "Brother" with a heavy tone, his sharp eyes fixed on Qin Xiao. He spoke up, "When did you become so timid and fearful? Do we still need the help of some mountain bandits to deal with just dozens of wolves? Hmph! Or is this the Emperor's intention?"

  "Shouldn't you be by An Bang Wang's side?" Qin Xiao didn't respond to Kong Qing's question, instead shifting the topic to someone else.

  Looking at Qin Xiao's disdainful expression, Kong Qing mistakenly thought that Qin Xiao was provoking him. Kong Qing jumped up and came to Qin Xiao's face, staring at him and saying, "Hmph, our king has already taken the lead, hasn't he? Qin Xiao... oh no, it's General Qin. You'd better take your rustic thugs and leave, the king has already received the imperial edict. There's nothing for you here."

  "But I haven't received the order to leave yet." Qin Xiao said this sentence with a calm and collected tone, looking at Kong Qing. In his mind, he thought that An Bang Wang had already arrived, and must have gone to look for the demon girl. If he continued to stay here, it was possible that they would take the lead, even if in the end it was still thanks to An Bang Wang, he wanted to personally capture the demon girl, perhaps he could also ask her something.

  "Hmph. Qin Xiao, our king doesn't need to be disturbed by others when he's handling matters. You'd best leave now."

  "As a bodyguard by the king's side, you're not by the king's side protecting him, but instead playing truant here. Kong Qing, what crime do you think you should be guilty of?"

  "Our king likes to be alone, so I'm here to keep out the riffraff." Kong Qing wasn't one to back down either. He slung his long spear over his shoulder and lifted his leg, casually resting it on a nearby broken tree trunk. With a swift motion, he drew a line in front of him and raised his chin, saying "If you dare cross this line, my spear won't stop moving."

  Qin Xiao knew that Kong Qing was just trying to make things difficult for him, but he didn't have the leisure to accompany him here. Nor did he want to engage in a fight with him, although he had confidence in winning against Kong Qing, it would also be troublesome. He couldn't afford to waste time here.

  Kong Qing knew that Qin Xiao wouldn't let things go so easily, but the king's order was to stop anyone who tried to disturb him. He didn't have the mind to think about what the king wanted, however... So far, he had used his long spear to block over a dozen hunters, and now he was waiting for Qin Xiao. How could he possibly let him pass? Even without the king's order, he would still engage in battle with Qin Xiao.

  Because he hated Qin Xiao.

  He had once sworn to kill Qin Xiao.

  Killed his own senior fellow apprentice, once was????

  The two of them were each thinking their own thoughts, without saying a word.

  Although Qin Xiao knew in his heart that he couldn't fight with Kong Qing, he also knew very clearly that it would be difficult to achieve this.

  Kong Qing's mouth corners slightly raised, a few strands of sunlight filtering through the leaves rustling and sprinkling on Kong Qing's green robe, just now still looking like it was going to rain, but now there is sunlight piercing through the thick clouds, shining directly on the earth, and it's quite a sight to behold.

  After a long time, Qin Xiao suddenly leaned back and rested against the big tree, with a slight smile on his face, gazing leisurely at the blue sky. He plucked a nearby flower and played with it lazily in his hand.

  Kong Qing was stunned by this move. Qin Xiao, like this, seemed to have already given up on advancing. Like this??? It's completely meaningless!!! Kong Qing tapped his foot impatiently, his two hands constantly rubbing against the long gun, his whole body looking like an ant on a hot pot.

  Even if Kong Qing pretended to be calm, he couldn't hide the impatience on his face. Looking at Qin Xiao's slow progress, Kong Qing didn't know how many ways he had thought of to kill Qin Xiao in his heart, and even thought about where to stab him first. But now Qin Xiao was motionless, and he had no way to do anything. He was always an impatient person, and waiting for less than a cup of tea's time had already brought him to the limit.

  "You're finally taking action, aren't you? Weren't you supposed to catch some demon woman to take back to your emperor as a concubine? If you miss the timing, don't you fear that your emperor will chop off your head?" Kong Qing picked up his long spear and urged Qin Xiao impatiently, unintentionally crossing over the boundary he had drawn.

  Qin Xiao's mouth curled up in a triumphant smile, but he still kept his cool and waited until Kong Qing walked out of the boundary ten steps away. He had already gathered his internal energy in his palm. Seizing the opportunity, he suddenly raised his hand and sent all the wolves flying towards Kong Qing. Kong Qing was taken aback, but he quickly swung his long spear and slaughtered all the wolves that flew over. Suddenly, a black shadow flew over, and Kong Qing smiled triumphantly, finally willing to take action. Although he still used despicable means, he didn't think twice and leaped into the air, instantly killing the black shadow. However, he discovered that the feeling in his hand was off. It wasn't until he landed on the ground and stood firm that he realized he had just stabbed a piece of clothing. But by the time he reacted, Qin Xiao had already taken advantage of the earlier gap to fly far away.

  "Qin Xiao, you damn good-for-nothing, I'm going to cut off your legs today and see if you can still fly!" After cursing for a couple of sentences, Kong Qing slightly adjusted his breath and quickly chased after him.

  However, his lightness kung fu was not as agile as Qin Xiao's, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch up.

  "Junior brother, if you want to kill me, you must catch up with me first." Although Qin Xiao's sword speed was not as fast as Kong Qing's, he had the upper hand in terms of agility and wisdom. Otherwise, how could he have easily jumped over Kong Qing's defense line with just a simple feint and a clever trick?

  It's a pity about that garment of his, it was made from imperial silk bestowed by the emperor himself, and now he'll be scolded again.