“Good for you, Ye Menghua!”
The man in black, his face masked, glanced at Ye Menghua, who was wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. His gaze was calm:
“Tonight, amidst the chaos, when you broke through the encirclement, you were already severely injured.”
“You’ve been traveling non-stop through the night, no doubt exhausting yourself.”
“And yet, even now, after receiving my strike, you still stand unwavering.”
“The Ye family’s twin pearls truly live up to their name.”
His gaze shifted, cool and indifferent, towards Su Lun:
“And you, who are you?”
“Such a fortunate fellow…”
Su Lun was momentarily speechless, about to speak up, when Ye Menghua quickly stepped in front of him:
“He is just an innocent bystander here, with no part in our matters.”
“Your martial skills are impressive, I trust you wouldn’t involve an innocent.”
While speaking, she hid one hand behind her back, subtly signaling to Su Lun to escape while she distracted the man in black.
From their brief conversation, she had realized that Su Lun was neither a disciple from a prestigious sect nor a member of any major faction. He was of a similar age to her, with a cultivation level likely not high enough to contend with the black-clad man.
She knew this was her chance to let Su Lun slip away while the black-clad man’s attention was focused on her.
But the black-clad man merely chuckled softly, his tone neutral:
“Anyone who meets me tonight has already sealed their fate.”
“You can only blame your bad luck for crossing paths with me.”
“Meeting someone you shouldn’t have, learning things you shouldn’t know.”
He paused briefly, as if waiting for Ye Menghua to get angry, before giving a sly laugh. His eyes gleamed with amusement:
“But… the world says the Ye family is a house of chivalry, but I don’t believe it.”
“Ye’s daughter, I’ll give you a choice.”
“Kill this boy, and I’ll spare your life. How about it?”
Su Lun furrowed his brow, looking towards the black-clad man.
Ye Menghua’s expression darkened:
“What do you want?”
“Since you say this boy is just an irrelevant passerby, and tonight is merely an accidental encounter,
“Then there’s no reason to hesitate. Kill him, and it’s no different from ‘killing a friend but not a priest.’”
“If you truly have feelings for him, though, I’d like to see if you’ll be willing to sever ties with him to save your own life.”
The black-clad man spoke confidently, as if Su Lun’s death was already a foregone conclusion.
Ye Menghua fell silent for a moment, then suddenly took a deep breath. She turned to Su Lun:
“Tonight… I truly owe you an apology. To preserve my own life, I must ask you to die.”
As her words fell, her long sword whistled through the air, the cold light flashing in an instant. Her internal energy surged, wrapping the sword’s gleam as it aimed straight for Su Lun’s throat.
Su Lun, having not sensed the killing intent in the sword, made no move. From the black-clad man’s perspective, however, Su Lun seemed frozen, standing still without reacting.
Her sword was fast, but just as it was about to pierce Su Lun’s throat, it suddenly changed direction!
The sword’s blade gleamed brighter, and with her internal energy fueling it, the sword energy surged like waves in a sea, layer upon layer, vast and unstoppable. The sword aimed straight for the black-clad man’s head.
Although Ye Menghua was from the Ye family, she had been sent to the Liuyun Sword Sect to train in swordsmanship since childhood.
Liuyun Sword Art had eighteen moves, and this one was the ninth move, "Wind and Clouds Shift."
The key to this move was in the sudden reversal of the sword’s trajectory!
It was specifically designed to counter an ambush from behind, making it both fast and unexpected, catching the enemy off guard!
From her words to the strike, it was truly an unexpected move for the black-clad man.
He had mocked Ye Menghua, thinking that the so-called righteous ones of the Jianghu, full of chivalric talk, would never allow themselves to be manipulated.
He had never imagined she would actually act.
In the blink of an eye, he couldn’t help but show a crack in his composure.
By the time he reacted, the sword was just three inches from him.
Within three inches, the sword was both precise and swift.
But the black-clad man’s cultivation was still higher. He gathered his internal energy, his palms turning dark green and black as he clapped his hands together with a sudden force. His palms locked around Ye Menghua’s sword, effectively stopping its momentum.
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However, Ye Menghua was fighting for her life, and all her internal energy surged into the blade, making it hum with power. The sword energy continued to churn and swirl around her, relentless.
Under such pressure, the black-clad man could no longer stay in place.
He was forced to retreat, his feet grinding into the ground as he was pushed back by the sword’s force.
He slid back for about seven or eight feet before halting with a stomp.
A thunderous sound echoed in the air, shaking the ground with a dull roar.
Using the force, the black-clad man twisted his hands, and surprisingly, he managed to deflect the sword’s trajectory.
He clenched his fists, and Ye Menghua’s precious sword, which had cost a fortune, seemed no more than paper in his hands, bending and deforming with a single squeeze.
But it didn’t stop there. His hands moved again, and with a series of crackling sounds, the sword was completely tangled between his palms.
A sword harder than steel was bent as if it were made of soft thread!
Ye Menghua’s face was filled with shock:
“Dark Qi's Infinite Hand!”
“You’re the former leader of Tianwang Village, Zhang Dongxuan! How are you still alive?!”
“The Ye family is still alive in this world. How could I die so easily?”
The black-clad man laughed maniacally, his hands twisting. He yanked the sword with such force that it snapped inch by inch.
The long sword had shattered, and the man in black freed both hands. He slapped Ye Menghua’s shoulders with both palms, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood. Her body flew backward, and just as she was about to hit the ground, a palm landed on her back, steadying her fall.
She looked up, and who else could it be but Su Lun?
“Young Man… why haven’t you run yet?”
Su Lun ignored Ye Menghua’s question. He helped her sit against the wall, his left hand checking her pulse.
“Your internal injuries are severe, but it’s nothing serious. I have medicine to treat internal wounds.”
While speaking, he squatted down, his back to the black-clad man, and took a small vial from his pack. He uncorked it, shook out a red pill, and pressed it into Ye Menghua’s mouth.
“You think you can just heal and ignore me?” A sinister voice echoed through the broken temple.
Zhang Dongxuan had not come out of the previous sword strike unscathed. The black cloth covering his face had torn under the sword’s force, revealing a wound about an inch long on his face, blood pouring out.
“Zhang... Dongxuan!”
Ye Menghua’s shoulders slumped in exhaustion.
“Years ago, the government sent soldiers to destroy the Heavenly King’s Stronghold, but someone leaked the information. You were the only one who escaped.”
“Later, the government issued a bounty of a thousand taels of silver for your capture. All these years, you’ve been hiding, and that’s fine. But now, you join forces with a group of evil bandits to wipe out my Ye family!”
“After committing such heinous acts, aren’t you afraid someone will expose your whereabouts and take your head to collect the bounty?”
“A thousand taels of silver?” Su Lun’s eyes brightened. “He’s a wanted criminal?!”
Ye Menghua sensed that Su Lun’s tone had suddenly become urgent. Though he had said “he’s a wanted criminal,” it almost sounded like he was saying, “he’s a big pill of elixir” in her ears.
But she answered firmly, “You don’t know his background. If you did, you’d realize that a thousand taels of silver is too little for this man.”
“Humph! What happens next is none of your business, you dying fool.”
Zhang Dongxuan coldly snorted. He pressed his palm downward, a dark green-black energy spreading across his hand. His inner strength surged, the black clothes rustling as if the air itself was about to change, dark clouds rolling ominously.
The force of his palm was terrifying.
Zhang Dongxuan struck at Su Lun, aiming to crush both of them with a single blow.
Ye Menghua instinctively tried to rise to block the attack, but as soon as she moved, a muffled groan escaped her lips, and her brows furrowed tightly. Though she had swallowed the pill Su Lun gave her, it was still too soon for it to take effect, and with her new injuries piled on top of old ones, she could barely move.
At that moment, Su Lun had already risen to his feet. His broad back blocked her view, and with a surge of energy no weaker than Zhang Dongxuan’s, he struck out with a palm faster than the eye could follow.
Ye Menghua felt a massive force of inner energy coming from Su Lun. Her beautiful eyes widened in shock, her mouth opening in surprise but unable to speak.
Zhang Dongxuan, on the other hand, burst into wild laughter.
“Looking for death!!!”
As his voice fell, their palms collided with a deafening roar.
The impact was so powerful that Zhang Dongxuan’s inner energy, upon touching Su Lun’s palm, seemed to evaporate like snow under the sun.
There was a series of explosive sounds as the meridians and acupoints along his arm shattered, and blood mist erupted into the air.
Zhang Dongxuan’s mad laughter continued as blood poured from his mouth.
A tremendous force pushed him back, and his body flew through the air.
When he landed, his knees buckled, and with a crash, he collapsed to the ground in front of the broken temple.
His face, still twisted in an unrestrained grin, showed no sign of stopping…
Su Lun looked down at his hands, which were now as strong as iron. He muttered to himself:
“Why am I so strong…”
