CH 120

Right after he said this, Zhaoye arrived, her saber arm chopping down toward the Garuda’s face, the light of her saber as piercingly cold as ice!

Shen Jue leaned on his saber and sat down against the carriage armrest. His entire body was already bloody, big and small wounds rushing as they flowed with blood. Shen Wenxing dragged out bandages and medicine for metal-inflicted wounds, bandaging his injuries for him with Mingyue, one on the left and one on the right. There were already only a few cavalrymen left, and they all surrounded Shen Jue. Lifting his eyes and looking at the killing field, the Garuda and Zhaoye were bathed in moonlight and hacking at each other. The ghost-like girl and man continuously passed each other and switched positions, the silver light sliced by the blades practically about to cut through the dark night.

He then looked toward Xiahou Lian. That guy was sprinting in the killing field like a headless fly, over ten assassins following behind him. 

“Lapdog, what are you running for! Fight us!” the assassins roared.

Xiahou Lian turned a deaf ear and dragged the assassins in circles around the Garuda and Zhaoye. His speed was extremely fast, as agile as a vigorous cat, and no one could keep up with his steps. 

Shen Wenxing felt puzzled when he saw this and asked, “What is he doing?”

Shen Jue’s gaze followed Xiahou Lian’s figure, and he said in a low voice, “He’s arranging an array. Keep your eyes open and look at the ground carefully.”

Shen Wenxing hastily rubbed his eyes. Under the moonlight, corpses were strewn across the mountain road, and the blood reflected a bright light. In the gaps between the corpses and blood, another kind of luster flowed faintly. This luster was criss-crossed, covering the entire ground like a spiderweb, hiding a killing intent that permeated bone marrow. Shen Wenxing widened his eyes, about to blurt out an answer.

Shen Jue said, “At the time, he used this move to kill Shi Xin.”

Shen Wenxing looked at the center of the killing field, where Zhaoye was luring the Garuda to slowly approach the center of the silk net that lay on the ground.

“Now, he’s going to use the same move,” Shen Jue enunciated, “to kill the Garuda!”

Saber light splashed in all directions, as cold as frost and snow! Zhaoye chopped down a slash as powerful as a thunderbolt, and the Garuda raised his saber to stop the blow. The man was saber-to-saber and face-to-face with the puppet. The puppet was expressionless, her pitch-black eye holes an expanse of darkness, yet they made one feel even more bone-piercingly cold. This puppet had been forged using steel refined from meteorite iron, so it was invulnerable to sabers and spears, and the Garuda’s saber actually couldn’t harm it at all. He blocked with his saber, breathing heavily, and several strong winds swept past him; that was Xiahou Lian dragging the assassins as they sprinted.

He wrestled with the puppet, but the steel puppet’s strength was extremely large, and his saber trembled in the wrestle, his blade reflecting the desolate moonlight that swayed nonstop on the ground. The Leading Mechanism Silk shook abruptly, and Zhaoye suddenly relaxed her strength, his saber chopping toward the top of Zhaoye’s head. Yet the next moment, he heard the sound of a blade slicing through the wind, as if a venomous snake had suddenly appeared in the darkness, flicking out a poisonous tongue. 

He was suddenly shocked and swiftly retreated. The instant he retreated, he saw the saber hidden below Zhaoye’s leg. It turned out that the woman’s calf area had been replaced by a short saber by Xiahou Lian. Her skirt had concealed Zhaoye’s calf, so no one had noticed this killing intent hidden below her skirt. Now, it flashed out of her skirt as Zhaoye bent her knees, flowing with a cold yet brilliant light under the moon.

He had dodged too slowly, so the blade sliced a bloody wound on his chest. Pain stimulated his nerves, and he looked down at the blood that was dripping onto his own palm.

At the same time, Shen Jue said softly, “He’s entered the circle.”

Shen Wenxing was horrified and gritted his teeth tightly. Mingyue hugged Yu-jie’er, not daring to look at the terrifying sight of blood and flesh separating that would follow.

Xiahou Lian flipped as he leapt backward, landing in front of Shen Jue. “Young Master, you’re okay, right?”

“I’m fine,” said Shen Jue.

“A coward who flees in a panic.” The assassins sneered, “Is this the virtue of the Eastern Depot’s lapdog?”

Xiahou Lian let out a low laugh and said to Shen Jue, who was behind him, “Young Master, would you like to watch some fireworks?”

Shen Jue glanced at him and said, “Stop talking nonsense.”

Xiahou Lian laughed and suddenly clenched his fists. All of the Leading Mechanism Silks instantly quivered and hummed as the invisible silk net rose from the ground. The fine and smooth silver light intersected as it flashed past, enveloping all of the assassins. That was an inescapable net that they wouldn’t be able to leave for the rest of their lives, and the assassins looked in shock at the killing silk that surrounded them, fear traveling around their bodies like an icy snake.

No one could survive such an inescapable net, as this was Xiahou Lian’s unreplicable and unique skill——

“Leading Silk Array • Fireworks Slaughter of a Hundred Ghosts.” Xiahou Lian said in a low voice, “Everyone, farewell.”

Xiahou Lian pulled the Leading Mechanism Silk tightly, crossing his fists in front of his chest. The killing silk moved silently in the air and tightened, instantly shrinking like a huge cage. The assassins were torn into pieces one by one, and blood exploded in bursts. Glancing over, it was as if countless gorgeous fireworks were quietly blooming in the darkness. The silver silk was dyed red by the blood, and blood dripped along the silk, rapidly flowing. The cage finally collapsed to its center, and the eyes of the silent assassin in the center reflected the dark red silk grid, like glittering flowers.

The assassin’s wails sounded through the entire mountain road, and the sticky and cold sounds of silk cutting through blood and flesh could be heard incessantly. Xiahou Lian sighed in relief and turned around, wanting to take a look at the wounds on Shen Jue.

Suddenly, the silk on his ten fingers suddenly loosened, and a gorgeous saber light exploded in the center of the silk net.

He turned around, his pupils shrinking abruptly.

The instant the silk net had shrunk to the center, the Garuda had made a move .The dense saber light in his hands splattered out, profusely and disorderly, like frost and snow fluttering in the air. The Garuda’s entire body was enveloped by the snow-like light of his saber, and the Leading Mechanism Silk under his saber was cut apart thread by thread. The clangs of the silk fracturing were like sonorous chords, rapid and turbulent. Finally, with a downward swing, the Garuda stood quietly in the center, the broken Leading Mechanism Silk landing on his shoulders and head one by one like snowflakes, as if frost and snow was covering his entire body. 

No one would have thought that the Garuda’s saber could be fast to this degree; he had actually used his quick saber to cut all of the Leading Mechanism Silks. His speed was greater than the speed at which the Mech Silk had shrunk, and his speed had endowed his saber with overwhelming sharpness, so the Mech Silk had actually been like fine hairs under his saber, crumbling in the blink of an eye. 

For the first time in this battle, Xiahou Lian felt fear. That man stood amid the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, silent yet as strong as Asuras and evil spirits. Now, he had lost his Mech Silk, so he had to win against him using his saber!

Shen Jue stood up with difficulty, leaning on his saber. “Me and you together.”

“Sit down.” Xiahou Lian drew out Bushenglian from behind his waist, the black saber silently sliding out of its scabbard, a Buddhist lotus blooming quietly on the edge of the saber. “If I can’t even protect my own wife, what kind of man am I?”

“I’m your husband.” Shen Jue grabbed the front of his robes.

“I don’t care, you’re my wife.” Xiahou Lian turned his head and pulled his robes out. “Darling, wait for me here.”

The flute sounds in the forest were mournful, and Xiahou Lian stepped on blood and moonlight as he walked across from the assassin.

“Hey, have you seen a person named Chi Yan? His saber is a little slower than yours,” asked Xiahou Lian.

The Garuda ignored him and looked up at the moon in the sky. “Is Shen Jue very important to you?”

Xiahou Lian was taken aback and replied, “Mn, he is even more important than my life.”

“Then win against me,” the Garuda retracted his gaze, held his saber in both hands, and crouched down deeply, “and bet your life!”

Xiahou Lian undid his saber belt and threw it onto the ground, holding Bushenglian as he faced the Garuda. The melancholic moonlight perfused the black saber, containing an indescribably cold silence. 

“Please!”

In the tranquil night, the two of them lunged at each other brazenly, like two wrestling wolves. Their tearing was swift and rapid, and the lights of their sabers flashed quickly under the moon, their clothes tearing into pieces when they passed each other. No one could clearly see the momentums of their sabers and could only see their fluttering saber lights flying in the air like frost flowers. 

Only Xiahou Lian knew how strong his enemy was. His fast and round chops depleted all of his strength, and his speed slowly decreased, yet the Garuda’s speed was increasing! Amid the snow-white saber light, the Garuda’s figure suddenly turned into a blurry mass of black, and at the same time, he heard the Garuda let out a shout, his long saber containing the might of a thunderbolt as it pressed down toward the top of his head. In that moment, he finally lost his rhythm, and his steps abruptly stagnated, Bushenglian just barely fending off the Garuda’s blade.

However, he didn’t have time to sigh in relief. The next moment, the Garuda suddenly appeared behind him, holding the hilt of his saber in his hand as he struck toward the center of his back.

As if struck by a thunderbolt, severe pain spread across his entire back, and he fell to the ground, the rusty and sweet taste of blood filling his mouth.

“Leading Mechanism Silk could kill the abbot, yet it cannot kill me.” The Garuda looked down at him, his white porcelain mask indifferent and impassive. “You are too weak.”

Xiahou Lian struggled to stand up, and the Garuda met him with another blow. When the two sabers collided, Bushenglian emitted a forlorn and shrill hum, like the scream of a dying patient.

“Are you this weak without Leading Mechanism Silk?” The Garuda said, “Too weak, you will die, and the person you are protecting will also die, you are unworthy of fighting me.”

The Garuda took another swing! As if thousands of ferocious ghosts were gnawing on his balde, Xiahou Lian lost the strength and rhythm to fight back, and he retreated step by step amid the slashes. This frightening assassin’s strength was as powerful as a mountain. In this moment, he was a teeth-gnashing, blood-sucking wolf, and Xiahou Lian was only a dying and sick animal.

He was going to lose, he was going to lose! Xiahou Lian was at a loss; there was too much of a disparity between their strengths, like a world of difference. This man’s strength was like a ghost’s, and how could an ordinary person win against a ghost!

The Garuda was still going to swing, and his gloomy and cold long saber sliced out a line under the moon, the point of his saber as cold as frost.

“Stop!” A sharp shout suddenly sounded from behind, and the Garuda turned around, seeing Shen Jue stand up, limping forward. Shen Jue said through gritted teeth, “I will fight you!”

“Governor!” All of the cavalrymen stood in front to protect him.

The Garuda looked at him from a distance and suddenly turned, walking toward him.

“Hey…” Xiahou Lian spat out a mouthful of bloody sputum, wiping his mouth as he stood up, “your enemy is me. I won’t lose, nor will I die.” Xiahou Lian once again resumed his offensive stance, the eyes next to his black saber so sharp it seemed to be able to chop everything to pieces. “Let’s go again!”

In that moment, he seemed to return to many years ago, to the time he had been on the top of Black-Faced Buddha. He had fallen again and again, gotten up again and again, and roared “again” again and again. Thick calluses had grown when his hands rubbed against the hilt of his saber, and his body had been covered in scars from the beating. Amid the wind and snow, a silent assassin had stood in front of him, his eyes that were as silent as ancient mirrors gazing at him, sending out an overwhelmingly strong blow amid the sorrowful wind.

Time seemed to be a circle, flowing and returning to where it had come from.

He suddenly remembered many years ago under the blue and starlit sky, and the words that the assassin had said to him——”Do not worry, Xiao Lian. If your saber can cut through the night, then it is invincibile.”

The Garuda paused his steps and turned his head. The young man that had once had no strength at all to fight back in his hands had suddenly changed; something surging in Xiahou Lian’s body had reignited. The Garuda gripped his saber, crouched down slightly, and said in a low voice, “Garan Saber • Inverse One-Heart Chop.”

Xiahou Lian also crouched down, his black saber horizontal across his chest. “Garan Saber • Inverse One-Heart Chop.”

The two of them charged at each other at the same time, their torn sleeves containing the howling night wind, and revolving flute sounds flowed poignantly between them. They were like two moths, silently flying in the night air.

If the blade in his hand was wielded by true love, could it cut through the deepest nights, and, from then on, be immune to ice and fire, invincible?

In the darkness as heavy as crude iron, the two of them sliced past a line, and the whistling of their blades cutting through air abruptly stopped. Shen Jue and the others saw the two dark shadows stand with their backs facing each other, as silent as two rocks. In the silence, the people heard a “crack,” as something had broken. The mask on the Garuda’s face suddenly shattered into two halves and fell onto the ground, fracturing into pieces.

His loose hair fluttered, and the people finally clearly saw the face behind his mask. He had two large and black pupils, a straight nose bridge, and thin lips. There was a light on his right ear, twinkling slightly in the darkness.

“Hey, Chi Yan,” Xiahou Lian carried his saber on his shoulder, turning around, “I’m qualified now, right?”

“Barely.”

“Fuck your uncle, you were so fierce with your moves, I almost thought you were going to kill me,” Xiahou Lian rubbed his shoulders and back as he complained.

Chi Yan reached out and rubbed his back, and Xiahou Lian cried out in pain.

Shen Jue sighed. “Stop talking nonsense, they’ve come out.”

Amid the thin fog in the forest, eight assassins with black clothes and porcelain masks slowly walked out, like ghosts showing their true forms in the night.

Shen Wenxing was still in the dark, unable to understand. “What… What’s going on? He’s Chi Yan?! And, why did another wave of assassins come?”

“Didn’t you notice that the flute sounds have stopped?” Shen Jue said indifferently, “They are the sheaths, though now they are the sabers.”

Xiahou Lian and Chi Yan walked toward the assassins, one on the left and one on the right. Only then did the people discover that, under the moonlight, their backs looked exactly the same, similarly tall and slender, similarly as ferocious as wolves. They stepped forward at the same pace, slowly advancing. The black saber and Shana were one curved arc under the moon, flowing with a strange luster, like a woman’s beautiful eyebrows.

Xiahou Lian licked his teeth, his eyes appearing bloodshot. “We brothers send you all… to be reborn in the Land of Bliss!”