463 A Battle of Certain Death

"Ha ha ha… good! Good! Good! End the ties! Break it clean!" Xiao Xing Yun laughed heartily. A light flashed in his eyes, and an increasingly murderous desire flashed in them. He then shouted after waving his hand, "Come everyone! Kill these rebels! Don't let anyone live! Kill without quarter!"

A circle of white-clothed men with swords appeared behind him with an explosion.

Han Fei Yun's body had flown backwards the moment he had spoken of breaking the relationship. He then quickly arrived in front of Mu Xue Tong, and spoke-up in an urgent and low voice, "Things don't bode well. I fear that there's a traitor amongst the Seven Swords. So, it won't end well here. You must protect the little princess. Escape the first chance you get. The Silver City seems close, but it still isn't within reachable distance. So, you must turn around and rush to Tian Xiang City. Then, you look for Jun Wu Yi and Jun Mo Xie! They're the only ones who can help us now! Remember this when we go all out and hold these people off! You must remember this! This concerns the Silver City and Little Princess's future. You mustn't fail!"

He quickly finished speaking those words while he was surrounded by silver-robed swordsmen. Each of them had a gloomy expression in their eyes, and a savage look on their faces. They had greeted him with respect by calling him an 'Elder' in the past. However, they showed no quarter as they unsheathed their swords towards him.

Xiao Xing Yun whistled, and five white-bearded men rushed out with drawn swords. The surface of their swords had two colors. And, they seemed to be oozing the anger of a dragon!

"Spirit Xuan second rank! The Doubled Snow Swordsmen!" the Third Elder — Han Fei Yun — cried out in alarm.

These were five gifted experts of the Silver City. These five men had suffered a devil's bite during cultivation in the past. But, these five men were very tenacious by nature. So, they had found another method so practice cultivation. And, this strange cultivation method had opened a different channel of meridians inside their bodies. Their meridians had been sealed off during the devil's bite. However, those sealed meridian had also opened up as a result of their successful endeavor.

Each of these five men possessed the strength of a second grade Spirit Xuan expert. However, this strange cultivation method had made each of them twice as strong as a regular Spirit Xuan Expert. Moreover, half of their composition was cold, while the other half was warm. And, they were capable of making these two sides intersect!

[But, these men had gone to the desert fifteen years ago to deal with their defects. And, there hasn't been any news of them since then! Everyone in the Silver City thinks that they've died there, and have gotten buried in the sand. But, they've suddenly appeared here like this!]

"What?!" The Third Elder quickly jumped back in shock. His expression in his eyes was one of extreme alarm, "How are you here? Didn't you people die in the desert fifteen years ago?"

The five men were expressionless. It seemed that they had no idea what this man in front of them was talking about. Their swords formed a colorful net of sword-attacks, and a biting cold murderous aura plummeted downwards with an explosive sound.

The Seven Swords screamed in unison as their glittering swords intertwined. Then, they charged straight ahead. They had done this to create a time window for the task the Third Elder had previously spoken about.

The Fifth Elder's beard fluttered, while his sword appeared like a dragon as he charged towards Xiao Xing Yun. His target had been his revered elder brother until recently. Therefore, he had tears in his eyes even though he had brandished his swords.

However, Xiao Xing Yun's eyes were full of cruelty and venom. He quickly raised his sword, and a cold light emanated from it as he attacked without mercy.

Xiao Xing Yun had brought a lot of people with him. In fact, there were no less than a hundred men there. Moreover, most of them were Earth and Sky Xuan level fighters. In addition, he also the his own might to rely on apart from the Spirit Xuan strengths of those five Doubled Snow Swordsmen. This setup had clearly indicated that he had intended to kill the Third Elder.

However, the Third Elder had taken little rest on his long and arduous journey to the Silver City in contrast. Moreover, he only had the Fifth Elder and himself. And, both of them were at the Spirit Xuan level only. The Seven Swords' strength was formidable, but they too would struggle while facing those five Doubled Snow Swords. However, the opposition had too many in numbers. So, they managed to turn the tide against them in the wink of an eye.

Mu Xue Tong was holding his sword. He had also pulled the little princess towards him. He was concentrated on using all kinds of tricks while looking for even the smallest of opportunities to escape. In fact, the lives of the others didn't matter to him anymore.

After all, the Silver City's safety was more important!

The Silver City would one day know of this truth if he and Han Yan Meng were able to escape.

[Xiao Family's conspiracy mustn't prevail.]

Even Mu Xue Tong believed that he was the best person for Princess Yan Meng to escape with under these circumstances. The Third Elder obviously had more of a chance to break the siege and escape with the princess. But, he would continuously be hindered by the enemy the entire way. Moreover, Xiao Xing Yun was bound to keep his eyes on the Third Elder. It was possible that the Third Elder could still break away with some luck. However, he wouldn't have been able to escape far since he'd be burdened with the princess.

Therefore, the strong could only sacrifice themselves and delay the pursuers as much as they could in order for him to escape with the little princess.

However, this wasn't time for any courtesy. So, Mu Xue Tong understood what the Third Elder had said, and agreed to it in a tacit manner.

Han Yan Meng felt despair when she saw that group of people fighting to death around her. She was familiar with most of those people. They had regarded her as a treasured gem, and had carried her around in childhood. They were like close relatives to the little girl.

However, a few of her relatives had suddenly rebelled, and were attacking to kill the people who were trying to defend her…

[All of us are born from the same source. Yet, we're fighting to kill each other!]

Han Yan Meng started crying, and her vision became blurry. After all, she was pure-hearted, and didn't understand why this was happening… She only knew that the heavens had changed their colors…

The Third Elder had a sudden idea while fighting. And, he quickly drew back while the Fifth Elder and the Seven Swords took-on most of the fighting. He then suddenly issued a very violent and powerful sword light.

It seemed as if a sun had risen to the sky in the pitch dark of night!

Ten-thousand sword-lights rushed down… And, it seemed as if the galaxy itself was falling. The Third Elder had exhausted his strength with this sword attack.

This was a fight between life and death!

Mu Xue Tong silently grabbed the little princess, and dashed away like a whirlwind in accordance with his instructions when the Third Elder unleashed these sword-lights.

Xiao Xing Yun suddenly sensed that things were amiss. So, he roared, "Stop them! Capture that little wench!"

He then suddenly turned to the other side, and roared, "Do it!" And, things changed very suddenly with that order. One of the Seven Swords' sword-light changed directions, and attacked the limbs of his own brothers.

It was unknown how many years of brotherhood they had shared…

This attack drew out many screams. Three of the Seven Swords stared wide-eyed as blood flowed from their chests. They slowly turned to look mournfully at their younger brother. Their eyes were full of sadness, confusion, and anger….

That man's eyes were full of guilt. Then, a complicated expression bubbled up in his eyes as he confessed in a low voice, "I'm sorry. I'm a man of the Xiao Family."

The eyes of the three people filled with a sense of realization. Then, they fell to the ground with a serene expression in their eyes.

They hadn't had the slightest trace of resentment on their faces till the moment they died. Perhaps it could be said that they had regarded him as their brother until the moment they had died.

However, the last expression in the eyes of those three men had been one of endless pain…

"Ah…"

The Third Elder roared when he saw this frightening scene. He had already guessed that something like this would happen. He had already anticipated this misfortune, but still found it hard to endure the sight of it. He sprayed blood from his mouth and painted his beard red. The Elder waved his sword once, and two perfectly round sword-lights were shot from it. These sword-light made many people scream, and their blood splashed onto his body. However, the two escaping individuals had been intercepted by now.

Han Fei Yun roared when he saw this. His body got enveloped in a sword-light as he dashed towards Mu Xue Tong and the little princess like the wind.

Han Fei Yun entered into their encirclement, and quickly moved Mu Xue Tong and Han Yan Meng behind his own body. Then, the old man acted like an un-crossable mountain, and shouted as his hair and beard flared open, "Who dares to come and fight me to the death?!"

Mu Xue Tong carried Han Yan Meng away without looking back in the backdrop of the mountainous blockade of his body. He had slipped away into the distance like smoke. However, Han Yan Meng's voice could still be heard from far off. In fact, her delicate and anxious voice continued to echo, "Third Grandpa…"

But, the Third Elder wasn't able to hear that anymore.

His glare was unwavering as he looked at the youngest of the Seven Swords. His eyes were filled with so much hatred that it seemed as if he would eat him alive. If eyes could kill… then the youngest of the Seven Swords would've been delivered to the doors of death after slashing with a thousand cuts!

"Why?" The Third Elder trembled as his eyes filled with tears. He slowly took a step, and asked with childish innocence, "Why? Wan Cheng Guang! Why? Why did you do such a thing? You were freezing in the snow when the Old Lord had brought you into the city out of compassion. He raised you with great care, and you even became one of the Seven Swords! So, why did you do such a thing?"

This nearly hundred-years-old man had been shedding tears for the past few days. It was visible how violently vicious these repeated mental blow had been for his psyche. The Third Elder had cultivated his mind to for nearly a hundred year. However, he still couldn't bear these blows…

Wan Cheng Guang's face had become somewhat pale under the Third Elder's hateful glare. He couldn't help but take a step back. His eyes brimmed with guilt as he murmured, "I… I also didn't… want to do this… Third Elder… But, I'm from the Xiao Family… My real name is Xiao Jian Meng! In those days… I…"

"Ha ha… didn't you think it was strange how I got this information, Han Fei Yun?! Do you realize the answer now? This is only one of the many great secrets of the Xiao Family! In fact, this only one of our many trump cards! Your Han Family is as good as destroyed, Han Fei Yun. And, it will be forgotten soon enough. But, I will leave your corpse intact for the sake of our previous mutual affection."

"Ha ha… Do you genuinely believe that this will happen, Xiao Xing Yun?" The Third Elder had deliberately chosen the narrowest part of a ravine to make his stand. He was only one man and one sword. So, he knew that he was going to die…

"Kill him! Kill him quickly! We can't let those two fishes escape our net! The consequences will be unbearable if that happens!" Xiao Xing Yun waved his hand as his face filled with a murderous intention.

The remaining three people of the Seven Swords and the Fifth Elder had been bathed in blood by now owing to the many rounds of skirmishes. However, they stumbled to the Third Elder despite the exhaustion, and made a stand next to him. Their glare was on of determination. And, their expression was one of indifference.

They wouldn't even look at the traitor anymore.

[He's unworthy of our gaze!]

The Third Elder roared as the crowd of enemies swarmed-in, "Stop them at all cost! They mustn't take a single step forward from here!" The other four replied their assentation. Their eyes were brimming with determination, and their swords were like silver-ice as their sheen filled the sky with a bloody light.

They were destined to be unlucky today.

But, they'd never allow themselves to be sacrificed like an ordinary beast.

[We will strive to give the little princess more time as long we draw breath!]

[Each moment adds a little more hope!]

[For the Silver City's future!]

[For the Silver City's tomorrow!]

The two sides clashed like bloody tornados. The ground was slowly dyed the color of cherries. The blood slowly started to collect together, and started to form small streams soon after…

The cold wind screamed. The snow fell like leaves in autumn…