Chapter 833, (3): Hunter and Prey

Even though Zu An thought that, his expression became progressively more firm. He raised his head toward He Li and the others and used his Fragrant Barf skill.

At that instant, all of them turned around to glare at Zu An in anger. They became so enraged it was as if Zu An had killed their family. All of them only had a single voice echoing in their heads exclaiming, Kill him! Kill him!

Even He Li, who had been quite scared just a moment ago, had all sorts of thoughts. That kid is already so strong at his age; what about when he grows up? We have to use this chance to nip this talent in the bud before he grows out of control.

After Zu An used the skill, he used Grandgale to run in the opposite direction from where Bi Linglong and the others had escaped. He wasn’t stubbornly throwing his life away; rather, he had some confidence. As long as he entered the mountain, he could use the terrifying beasts inside to deal with these people by using Jiang Luofu’s map and the jade badge’s skill.

Zu An ran for his life. Just as he was about to enter the forest, however, a flying sword attacked him, piercing straight through the middle of his back. His body trembled. Blood burst out from his chest. Then, he dropped powerlessly into the lake below.

Lu Xiao, who had been sitting still the entire time, slowly stood up. That flowing light returned to his side, returning to the form of an iron sword.

Wei Pingyang, He Li, and the others were shocked. Wei Pingyang asked, “Brother Lu, you’ve already recovered?”

Lu Xiao said coldly, “You had so many people on your side, but all of you were beaten up so badly by a junior. Wouldn’t he have gotten away if I hadn’t recovered earlier?”

He Li’s face heated up. Wei Pingyang said with a smile, “Brother Lu is formidable after all. You originally needed an hour of time to recover from these injuries, yet you recovered in just over half an hour.”

Lu Xiao smiled. “It’s thanks to the medicine King Qi bestowed upon me back then. That was why I recovered faster than expected.”

Wei Pingyang and He Li were both envious. “Brother Lu truly has received King Qi’s favor.”

Wei Pingyang cursed inwardly. Lu Xiao, you cunning bastard. You clearly could have recovered in just half an hour, yet you didn’t tell me the truth and instead kept me in the dark. You probably did that on purpose, fearing that I might turn against you. I have to be more careful when dealing with you in the future.

He Li’s eyes landed on the iron sword that revolved around Lu Xiao. “Brother Lu, wasn’t your soulbound sword destroyed? I didn’t expect you to have refined another iron sword so quickly. Your skills really are unfathomable!”

Lu Xiao gently stroked the sword, saying, “This sword was what I used in my earlier years. I planned to get rid of it, but it grew on me after I used it for so long, so I always kept it at my side. I didn’t expect it to become so useful this time. I guess people should cherish memories after all.”

It would have been hard for him to refine another sword to this level of proficiency so quickly. Furthermore, it would have been difficult to strike down Zu An at that moment.

“That little scoundrel indeed had some skill. He has such powerful cultivation at his age. We wouldn’t have been his match even if all of us fought him together at his age,” Wei Pingyang couldn’t help but say with deep sentiment.

Lu Xiao remarked indifferently, “Has this world ever lacked stunning geniuses? But if they aren’t allowed to grow up, even the greatest talent becomes meaningless.”

He Li arrived by the lake. He saw that it was already dyed red with blood and asked, “Is that guy really dead?”

Wei Pingyang looked around as he said, “We haven’t seen a corpse yet. I’ll head down and take a look.”

“What, you two doubt my judgment?” Lu Xiao harrumphed. “That sword of mine already crushed all of his meridians. Not even an asura or immortal can save him.”

When the others heard him speak, the Fragrant Barf that Zu An had used on them finally disappeared. The crazy killing intent they felt disappeared. They were even confused themselves, not knowing why they had suddenly acted like that.

Wei Pingyang laughed in embarrassment. “Of course not; it’s not that I doubt Brother Lu. But this matter is related to King Qi’s future. We absolutely can’t let anyone live to tell of what happened here. It’s best if we check and confirm it.”

“There’s no need for you to threaten me with the king. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.” Lu Xiao harrumphed. “You merely want that kid’s dagger and want to use this chance to snag it.”

Wei Pingyang’s expression changed. Are you going to fight me over it?

He was just about to say something when Lu Xiao said, “The most important mission this time is to capture the crown prince and princess. They’ve already escaped, so we should be chasing after them. As for everything else, you can just come back for it once you complete the mission.”

“What Brother Lu says is correct.” Wei Pingyang couldn’t say anything since Lu Xiao had already said such a thing. The most important part was that Lu Xiao’s cultivation was higher than his, so he could only agree.

He thought to himself, It’d better not be because this guy also wants that dagger. He had to keep an eye on Lu XIao to make sure he didn’t secretly come back and steal away that treasure.

Then, Lu Xiao took the lead to run in the direction Bi Linglong and the others had disappeared into. Wei Pingyang and He Li followed close behind. Trailing behind them were the rest of King Qi Manor’s experts.

Soon afterward, they arrived at a fork in the road. After King Qi Manor’s deathsworn soldiers looked around, they came back and reported, “They split up into two groups and ran in different directions.”

“Brother Lu, what do we do?” Wei Pingyang asked.

Lu Xiao harrumphed. “It’s just a small trick of that girl Bi Linglong; they just want us to split up. Unfortunately, they only have so many people, and we have a huge advantage in both cultivation rank and numbers. So what if they split up? You two go to the left; I’ll be in charge of the right. Don’t leave any of them alive.”

“Fine!” Their group also split up into two groups, one with Lu Xiao, and one with Wei Pingyang and He Li. As the pursuers, they all had confident smiles on their faces. After all, victory was within their sight. Once they got rid of the crown prince and princess, King Qi’s rise would be practically guaranteed. Wouldn’t they be the right hand men of the very emperor then? Being granted dukedoms wasn’t out of the question. They could establish clans and legacies of their own!

But their moods soon turned sour, because both sides quickly discovered that there was another fork in the road. Those people had split up again.

“She really is a crafty woman!” Both Lu Xiao and Wei Pingyang cursed inwardly. Only Bi Linglong could have thought of something like this.

“Hmph, it’s all useless!” He Li exclaimed with a laugh to boost his men’s morale. They had the absolute advantage. If their target split up, then they obviously could as well. They still had the advantage no matter how they split up.

Just like that, there were several more forks in the road. Even Wei Pingyang and He Li separated from each other. Wei Pingyang had been thinking about Zu An’s pitch-black dagger the entire time, that dagger that had made him feel the fear of death.

Lu Xiao, that bastard, he won’t use this chance to secretly seize that dagger, right? Otherwise, why would he have stopped me from jumping into the water?

Hmph, that fella has always been on his guard towards me, worried that I’ll surpass him in cultivation and affect his position. King Qi even gave him a life saving medicine, but didn’t give me anything! It’s only because he’s the first guardian. I need to take his place.

All kinds of thoughts rushed through his head. He found it harder and harder to hold himself back. As such, he chose a moment when he was apart from his subordinates to head back the way they had come

Flight was possible once one reached the master rank. As such, he just flew back and quickly arrived at the previous battlefield. The bloody scene had drawn many beasts, but they didn’t pose a threat at all to a master rank like him.

Then, he arrived at the lake and jumped into the water where Zu An had fallen. As a master rank cultivator, his mastery over the power of the world wasn’t something a normal cultivator could compare to. A trifling lake obviously wouldn’t stop him. He didn’t even need to create a protective formation around him; he could just use ki to communicate with the water element, allowing him to breathe underwater.

He swam deeper and deeper. The world around him also grew darker and darker. But this didn’t affect him too much. He released his divine senses to scan the surroundings and didn’t need to use his eyes to see at all.

“Found you!” Wei Pingyang exclaimed joyfully. Then, he quickly dove down, rushing toward his target.

Soon, he ‘saw’ the submerged Zu An. His skin was as pale as a corpse, and there was a huge hole in front of his chest left behind by Lu Xiao’s flying sword. He had already stopped breathing, but Wei Pingyang didn’t find that strange. It had already been some time, so all of the blood had probably already left his body.

He didn’t waste any time. He reached his hand into Zu An’s clothes and groped around, trying to find that mysterious black dagger.

“Huh? Is this guy a donkey?” Wei Pingyang felt a huge explosion go off in his head when he touched something. He remembered the Soulspeak ability this brat had used that made his pants fall, exposing him in front of everyone. It was as if he could sense the ridicule in the eyes of his subordinates the entire time along the way. He really was incredibly embarrassed when he thought of that.

The moment he was distracted, the ‘corpse’ suddenly moved, wrapping tightly around him like an octopus.

“This guy hasn’t died yet?!” Wei Pingyang was horrified. But how was that possible? That was Lu Xiao’s full powered attack, something not even he would be able to take! Why had this young brat been able to withstand it?!

But it didn’t matter. He’d just finish the job here. He began to gather strength to kill Zu An. However, as soon as his strength gathered, it was as if it were sucked dry by a powerful force.

“What the hell?” Wei Pingyang was baffled. In that instant, he felt as if every inch of the person wrapped around him was like a black hole that continued to suck at everything he had. It was as if a dam had burst, as the ki within him instantly rushed out.

“Noooo!” Wei Pingyang’s expression was no longer as calm as before, and he struggled frantically.