Chapter 17: Chapter 15 Tea Stall Assassination_2
"Brother..." Qingcheng clutched Qing Yuan's arm tightly, his eyes filled with a desperate longing for life.
"Opportunity." Seeing this scene, Qing Yu remained impassive, instead finding the opportunity to attack.
"Divine Transformation," his figure shifted, circling around the horse to move behind Qing Yuan.
"Meteor Falling," his sword plunged like a meteor, aiming straight at Qing Yuan's neck.
Qing Yuan felt the sharpness at the back of his neck, the hairs on his neck standing on end, and he hurriedly dodged. However, Qingcheng's intense desire to survive made his fingers clutch Qing Yuan's arm tightly.
In the critical moment, Qing Yuan turned around. The cold long sword pierced through Qingcheng's neck, scraped past the side of Qing Yu's neck who had exchanged positions with Qingcheng, leaving a trace of blood.
As the sword was withdrawn, the blood spraying from the neck splattered onto Qing Yuan's face.
"You..." Qingcheng stared at Qing Yuan in disbelief, his eyes filled with disbelief, hatred, and intense unwillingness.
"Ah..." Qing Yuan shouted frantically, pushing Qingcheng's corpse violently toward Qing Yu, blocking his next move. The right hand that Qingcheng had used to clutch Qing Yuan's arm tore Qing Yuan's sleeve and left five long gashes on his left arm.
Qing Yuan stepped back rapidly, wiping the blood that had splattered into his eyes with his sleeve.
"It was you..."
The figure of the swordman under the bamboo hat was not unfamiliar to Qing Yuan. During countless nights, Qing Yuan cursed the owner of that face, cursing him for causing his own banishment to Qing Province, bearing the name of a True Martial Disciple but possibly having to stay in this remote Qing Province for a lifetime, away from his Sect. He transferred all his resentment and hatred for the Sect's ruthless decision onto this useless person in his eyes.
"You, are, seeking, death..." he spat out each word, his words laced with hatred and a murderous intent that seemed to wish to devour Qing Yu's flesh. Qing Yuan, who had lived with Qingcheng for three years, supporting each other, could not feel unemotional. Now, forced to use Qingcheng's body to block the sword, Qing Yuan's heart could not be but guilty. And this feeling of guilt was transformed into deeper hatred, hating Qing Yu for forcing him to commit such a ruthless act.
"Hmph," Qing Yu chuckled softly, accelerating with the Exorcism Heart Method. "Golden Wild Goose Skill"+"Divine Transformation" created multiple residual images, ghostly figures surrounding Qing Yuan, with cold sharpness appearing intermittently from different directions.
Qing Yuan parried left and right, but still ended up with several sword marks on his body.
"Damn it, what kind of ghost swordsmanship is this—so fast and bizarre." Qing Yuan could see that Qing Yu's realm was only at the Postnatal Sixth Realm, a level lower than his own. Yet, with this bizarrely fast swordsmanship, Qing Yu overwhelmingly suppressed him without giving him any chance to fight back.
After a while, Qing Yu inflicted several more wounds on Qing Yuan. Although the Xuanwu Sea Suppressing Sword of the True Martial Dao Sect was good at defense, Qing Yuan used it to desperately fend off under Qing Yu's rapid sword attacks. However, prolonged defense was bound to fail, and continuing like this, just the blood loss from the wounds would have forced Qing Yuan to admit his fault to his brother Qingcheng.
At that moment, Qing Yuan brandished his long sword, braving the sword light, and charged toward a nearby horse.
"Just waiting for you," Qing Yu thought to himself. The Xuanwu Sea Suppressing Sword was indeed a fine martial art of the True Martial Dao Sect, impermeable in defense. Although Qing Yu had the experience from Lin Pingzhi, this brother had only learned the Exorcism Swordsmanship not long ago and roamed around carelessly, blinding his eyes, and most of his fighting experience was akin to a blind man fighting blind. And as Qing Yu was not blind, what use was that experience to him?
Thus, Qing Yu could only rely on rapid and aggressive attacks, costing him severe exhaustion of his inner strength. If this continued, he would certainly be unable to hold on longer than Qing Yuan. Qing Yuan, impatient and trying to endure a few blows to break out, played right into Qing Yu's hands.
"River Flute," another strike was blocked. This time, however, Qing Yu did not pull back immediately but pressed hard against Qing Yuan, moving his left hand, sliding the Mystic Iron dagger hidden in his sleeve into his hand, replacing the silver needle, and used the Flying Needle technique from the Exorcism Sword Manual to target Qing Yuan's face.
The Mystic Iron dagger, obviously larger than a silver needle, was noticed by Qing Yuan beforehand. Hastily mustering his strength, he repelled Qing Yu and used the flat of his sword to block the incoming dagger.
The Mystic Iron dagger, capable of slicing through iron, achieved another remarkable feat, severing half of the sword's blade and striking Qing Yuan's left eye. Having exhausted its momentum, it was not fatal.
Qing Yuan screamed in agony, and Qing Yu seized the opportunity, circling to his blind left side. After several continuous stabs, he finally thrust the sword through the side of Qing Yuan's neck, piercing his throat, and directly killing him.
Qing Yu stepped forward to pull the Mystic Iron dagger out of the eye socket, stabilizing his breathing.
After a brief recovery, Qing Yu turned and walked toward the tea stall. The previous skirmish had taken place just outside the stall, which had been left undamaged.
However, Qing Yu looked at two big men who, unbeknownst to them, had fallen asleep on the ground, seemingly unaffected by the loud noises of the fight.
"Boss, the tea is pretty good," Qing Yu remarked with a smile that was not quite a smile, looking at the old man cowering under a table nearby.
The tea stall owner showed Qing Yu a bitter smile.
In a flash, a long sword pierced the tabletop, pinning the deceitful old man to the ground.
Qing Yu had sensed something was off earlier; the tea had been laced with a knockout drug, and the black dirt under the fingernails was the remnant of clotted blood. Thanks to Ping Yizhi and his medical skills, navigating the worldly society without some medical knowledge was a prayer to survive before gaining any experience.
After a thorough looting, Qing Yu complained, "Gao Fei, all these novels are deceptive; who actually carries a secret martial arts manual with them?"
Luckily, there were other gains. The two penniless big men weren't worth mentioning with their poor acting, easily overpowered by an old man; they surely had nothing valuable. Qing Yu, knowing the human anatomy well, sent them off to the west without pain. Between the deceitful old man and the two thuggish big men, none deserved mercy for their blood-soaked hands.
After completing the looting, it was time to eliminate the traces. As usual, he threw the bodies into the tea stall and set it aflame, turning them to ashes.
"Ding, congratulations host. Mission: Eliminate Threat, completed. Reward: Two chances for Basic Lottery." The system's notification arrived belatedly.
"Murder and arson, the host's heart is ruthless, and hands are black; rewarded 100 villain points." Please, I'm eradicating evil forces here, those three deserved to die. Still, since there are Villain Points on offer, I'll let it go this time.
"System, use up both Basic Lottery chances," Qing Yu decided.
"Basic Lottery, initiating. Ding, retrieved one-star item Bishui Sword, one-star item Little Li's Flying Knife (Fake)."
"What...what...what is this..." Qing Yu choked on his saliva, coughing repeatedly. "Little Li's Flying Knife?! I can even draw that!" Happiness struck so suddenly that Qing Yu felt he was the luckiest person in the world.
"That's wrong, how is Little Li's Flying Knife only one star?"
"'Little Li's Flying Knife' martial arts definitely deserves more than one star. However, don't get your hopes up, host. The Villain Inheritance System only draws items related to villains. Not even talking about the 'Little Li's Flying Knife' secret manual, even a randomly forged flying knife by Li Xunhuan wouldn't be yours. Please note, it's Little Li's Flying Knife (Fake)."
"What the hell is this fake Little Li's Flying Knife?" Qing Yu couldn't help but feel disappointed. Little Li's Flying Knife was legendary, and even if it wasn't a secret manual, having a flying knife as a souvenir would have been nice, but then there's a "fake" tag at the end.
Item: Little Li's Flying Knife (Fake)
Star Level: One star
Description: Though it looks similar, it's fabricated by Ding Lingzhong to frame Ye Kai. It's fake, totally fake!
Alright, no need to say more, it's junk.
Then there's the Bishui Sword, the personal sword of the junior sister from the story "Smiling, Proud Wanderer", which the straightforward senior brother knocked down to Sin Reflection Cliff within minutes of its appearance.
The sword sheath and handle were exquisitely made. Fortunately, it wasn't femininely decorated, probably because the junior sister had lost it before she had the chance to adorn it. Poor junior sister, not only did she endure widowhood, but she also became a villain because of her dubious nature.
That's enough idle chat. To avoid a second injury, Qing Yu trusted his legs and began his journey back to Yang City. After all, he had walked there, starting before dawn.
Chapter 18: Chapter 16 Crane Call
As dusk approached, Qing Yu finally neared Yang City.
He had set out early in the morning and waited by the tea stand for his prey. Yang City is the essential passageway from Qing Province to Ling Province. A normal person, who didn't possess any martial arts skills and intended to flee, would never escape into the perilous Southern Border Secret Forest. Instead, they would seek refuge in the peaceful Central Plains.
Therefore, Qing Yu was confident that he only needed to wait on this official road leading to Yang City for his prey to leap into the trap. Little did he imagine that Qing Yuan and his group, in their pursuit of certainty, had spent half the day making inquiries in Qingshui Town. Before returning, their horses had been running for an entire day, and in their rush, they hadn't even bothered to change horses and just whipped their steeds toward Yang City.
The horses were exhausted, and this haste had ultimately resulted in even more wasted time.
Qing Yu had waited from morning till afternoon and finally spotted someone before engaging in a one-sided battle. Then he had to walk back to Yang City; the majority of the day had been spent on travel and waiting.
"After this matter is settled, I must learn to ride a horse," Qing Yu swore, looking heavenward at a forty-five-degree angle.
However, right now the most pressing matter was to hurry back to the inn to rest, ideally with a bath. Recalling the feeling of full-body relaxation, his weary legs somehow mustered a new strength.
However, things don't always go as one wishes; just as Yang City came into view and Qing Yu contemplated running back using qinggong, a dark figure silently emerged on the right side of the road.
That was—Black-faced Brother.
Seeing him, Qing Yu felt his tired nerves further strained.
Indeed, Black-faced Brother, also known as Xiao Gao, looked at Qing Yu somberly, saying, "The Lord is waiting for you." His tone was cold and his gaze chilling, making Qing Yu feel his exhaustion recede somewhat due to the icy sting.
Although he was very reluctant, Qing Yu had no choice but to concede to the fist-that-speaks-louder-than-words principle and said without backbone, "Please, lead the way."
Black-faced Brother didn't respond, simply turning and leaping into the nearby woods. Qing Yu followed, using his Golden Wild Goose Skill to keep up.
Black-faced Brother forged ahead with swift leaps, not slow by any means. However, what Qing Yu was now best at was speed, and keeping up with him was not a problem at all.
Feeling Qing Yu's breath not far behind, and knowing his own current speed was not fast for him but nevertheless was beyond the capability of an ordinary Postnatal Realm martial artist, Black-faced Brother, with a thought of testing him, sped up again.
"Damn it, what trickery are you up to..." As the figure ahead swiftly pulled away, Qing Yu inwardly cursed. It wasn't impossible to catch up again, but doing so would expose his speed that far exceeded the norm for the Postnatal Realm—this was absolutely unacceptable. Resolved, Qing Yu slightly increased his pace, feigning an urgent expression.
Black-faced Brother quickly vanished from Qing Yu's sight. Maintaining his pace, Qing Yu's forehead began to sweat.
Further ahead, Qing Yu saw Black-faced Brother waiting on a tree branch. Qing Yu hurried a few leaps and landed on a solid, slightly behind branch.
"I say... Black-faced... Brother, could you slow down a bit, I... really can't keep up," Qing Yu supported himself on his knees, heaving deeply for breath.
Black-faced Brother silently nodded, then set off again at the pace he had initially maintained.
"Hey, wait for me..." Qing Yu called out from behind. For the following part, Qing Yu deliberately kept his inner strength erratic, imitating the appearance of disordered breathing, even a tad slower than before. In acting out this play, he couldn't suddenly appear fine after being so exhausted.
Black-faced Brother felt like he had trapped himself and, without any other choice, slowed down again to let Qing Yu catch up.
The two arrived at a nearby small mountain peak.
The mountain was not high, and standing on top, one could only see Yang City's towering walls. A clear view of the entire city, however, was hard to obtain.
Mr. Mo was still dressed in a black robe, with a black cloth hat covering his face, his back to Qing Yu, standing at the edge of the peak, with a cliff before him.
A light breeze blew, lifting the veil under the hat, revealing a very classic image of a mysterious figure.
"You've arrived," Mr. Mo said still facing away, addressing Qing Yu who had just arrived.
I've arrived, Qing Yu would like to respond similarly in keeping with the atmosphere, but lacking the qualifications to do so, he could only bow and fist his hands in etiquette, saying, "Yes, Master."
He paused, then continued, "The younger generation has already eliminated those two disciples of the True Martial Dao Sect. May I ask, when do we begin our actions against the Four Great Families?"
"No rush, you... Hmm!" Hearing Qing Yu's vigorous reply, Mr. Mo quickly turned around; his eyes, beneath the veil, staring intently at Qing Yu. 'I had just sensed his erratic breath and thought he might be injured. Who would have thought, he actually killed a Postnatal Sixth Realm and a Postnatal Seventh Realm without any harm. Moreover, in two to three days, he has reached the Postnatal Sixth Realm, and his breath suggests he has unblocked more than one of the Twelve Meridians. Even with the aid of elixirs, this young man's talent is extremely astonishing.' Thinking thus, Mr. Mo couldn't help but feel a sense of killing intent stir within him.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became tense, and Qing Yu felt a silent pressure bearing down on his back, causing his skin to prickle.
"He wants to kill me!" Qing Yu's instincts were sharp, sensing Mr. Mo's killing intent. Despite being cornered with no means of resistance, like a fish on the chopping board, even with one foot already in the Ghost Gate, he could only maintain his bowing gesture, the sweat on his forehead now streaming into his eyes; he dared not move rashly.
"It seems you've progressed remarkably fast. I imagine if your master has a spirit in heaven, he would also find solace in having such an outstanding disciple," Mr. Mo finally spoke, as the tension eased.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
9 Power
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