Chapter 180 - 179: Such Terror
Chapter 180: Chapter 179: Such Terror
Qingfeng Manor, atop the wall.
Xu Le, the manor’s Young Master, was patrolling the top of the wall with several guards, inspecting for weaknesses and assigning reinforcements.
This was to ensure that any gaps left by casualties were filled immediately. Otherwise, their defenses would be insufficient to repel the next assault from the raiders outside, which could lead to the manor’s fall.
"Why is someone missing here?"
She stopped at a section of the wall.
There was a clear gap in the defenses. She vaguely recalled that the post belonged to a rather capable young man, the same one who had recently asked her for two Martial Arts manuals that were of little use to the manor at present.
Xu Le looked around, but seeing no sign of the young man, she frowned and turned to the guards at the adjacent posts.
"Did the man stationed here die? Where’s the body?"
"Young Master Xu, that fellow isn’t dead. He went down from the wall and into the mountains outside..."
One of the men pointed toward the forest and said in a hoarse voice, "Someone in the mountains just shot an arrow at the kid from hiding. He charged over there, probably to hunt them down."
As he spoke, the man pointed to a spear-like arrow stuck in a crack between the stone blocks of the wall, offering it as proof.
Xu Le scoffed, a flicker of contempt in her eyes.
’Hunt them down?’
"More like he took the manor’s three Martial Arts manuals and plans to run away!"
Xu Le tore her gaze away from the frighteningly thick arrow, and after her sarcastic remark, her expression went blank.
"Such a shortsighted fool."
She shook her head and sighed.
After all, a single Cultivation Technique was enough for a Martial Artist to gather all the essence required for the Blood Coagulation Realm.
To advance to the next realm, the most crucial and indispensable resources were consumables like medicinal pills.
And they were needed in vast quantities.
If the young man had been willing to stay, Qingfeng Manor had the resources to help him coagulate three drops of essence without any issue.
And as the Young Master of Qingfeng Manor, she could have promised him even more.
’A pity he’s just a pretty face. I never thought he’d be such a coward at heart...’
’The number of raiders outside the manor is only growing. Does he really think he can fight his way out on his own?’
Xu Le toyed with a lock of hair at her temple. After a moment of silent regret, she turned to the guards who had come with her.
She was about to assign one of them to stand guard here, to prevent this section of the wall from being compromised due to a lack of manpower.
SCREEE! SCREEE! SCREEE!
But at that very moment, a mournful wail echoed from the distant forest. The sound was sharp and ear-piercing, enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
Even at such a great distance, everyone on the wall felt their hair stand on end and their legs grow weak.
The Qi and Blood within their bodies was thrown into chaos by the cry, scattering and reversing its flow uncontrollably!
"The Blood Evil Saber Technique! It’s a fiend from the Blood Slaughter Sect!"
"Why is there a Blood Slaughter Sect fiend here?"
"I heard the Blood Slaughter Sect of Purple Mist Mountain provoked someone they shouldn’t have. Weren’t they wiped out half a month ago?"
"Judging by that power, this fiend must be at the Blood Coagulation Realm!"
"..."
On the wall, the men immediately recognized the origin of the sound. They cried out in alarm, their eyes filled with panic.
They had, of course, heard the rumors that the Blood Slaughter Sect of Purple Mist Mountain had been utterly massacred.
Although they didn’t know who was responsible, some curious souls had gone to the Blood Slaughter Sect’s headquarters to see for themselves. The sight of the corpse-strewn grounds had confirmed the rumor was true.
They never expected that the Blood Slaughter Sect, an old evil that dies hard, would reappear outside Qingfeng Manor!
And judging from the power behind that saber technique, the attacker had to be at least an Elder within the Blood Slaughter Sect.
A man with eight hundred, if not a thousand, lives on his hands!
Soon, everyone’s gazes converged on the hilltop where the sound had originated. Suddenly, someone cried out:
"If I’m not mistaken, isn’t the direction of that Blood Evil Saber Technique the same one the young man went?"
"That’s right, that’s the spot!"
After confirming the direction the young man had gone, the men all shook their heads grimly, knowing he was most likely on a one-way trip.
The young man had charged off in a fit of youthful anger to settle the score. He might have been able to handle a few common thugs, but who could have guessed that a bloodthirsty Elder from the Blood Slaughter Sect would be lying in wait?
One could only say he was horribly unlucky to have run right into the path of such a killer.
Now that the Blood Slaughter Sect Elder had unleashed a killing technique, it seemed that no matter how strong the young man was, his fate was to die in those mountains.
"Heh, what rotten luck for that kid..."
Seeing the men around her staring at the commotion on the distant hill and hearing their hushed whispers, Xu Le understood what had happened.
Although she inwardly cursed the fact that even someone from the Blood Slaughter Sect had come to besiege her family’s manor, she also found the situation comical.
It was comical how unlucky the young man was: trying to run off with three Blood Coagulation Cultivation Techniques, only to run straight into a fiend from the Blood Slaughter Sect.
Her expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of distress at the appearance of a Blood Slaughter Sect fiend in the forest.
This was a fight for their lives; any sign of fear from her would shatter morale.
As the Young Master of the manor, it was her duty to remain composed.
"Cheng Lou!"
She looked behind her.
"Here!" a burly man immediately answered.
"You will take over the defense of this post..."
Just as Xu Le was about to assign the guard to the empty post to prepare for the next wave of attackers, a sudden cry of astonishment rang out:
"He’s back! That kid is back! He’s got to be the luckiest guy alive!"
As the voice faded, everyone’s eyes snapped back to the distant forest. They saw a familiar figure emerging from the trees, running toward them. For a moment, they could only click their tongues in amazement.
"He faced an Elder from the Blood Slaughter Sect and survived! That kid’s got some serious survival skills!"
"Even from this far away, my Qi and Blood are in turmoil. How does that kid have the strength to run back after taking a direct hit from the Blood Evil Saber Technique?"
"Absolutely terrifying!"
The nearby guards all leaned over the wall, craning their necks, their faces etched with disbelief.
After all, a Blood Evil Saber Technique of that magnitude was something that likely only a Golden Eagle Captain—or someone of higher rank—from Cangwu City’s Demon Suppression Bureau could handle!
Just to survive an attack like that, one would need at least half the strength of a Golden Eagle Captain!
"He’s not dead?"
Xu Le was also stunned by the news and moved to the edge of the wall.
’Did he just suffer a setback and barely escape with his life?’
Filled with doubt, she reached the edge of the wall and was about to lean over to find the figure they were talking about.
SWOOSH!
A violent gust of wind blasted past her, stinging her cheeks and whipping her hair into a frenzy.
Xu Le stumbled back two steps from the force of the arrival. She turned to look at the figure who had landed on the wall, ready to offer a few sarcastic remarks.
But when she saw the figure clearly, her gaze turned vacant.
She had expected him to return in a wretched state—terrified, disheveled, and likely heavily wounded.
Surely, after surviving a fiend’s blade, he would at least look relieved to be alive.
But the Wu Chen before her showed none of that.
His face was impassive, his breathing was even, and his expression was utterly calm.
There was not the slightest hint of panic you would expect from someone who had just fled for his life from a fiend.
Her gaze shifted from the young man’s face to the black iron bow clutched in his hand, and then to the iron arrow still embedded in the stone wall.
It wasn’t just her; everyone’s eyes were now locked on the longbow in Wu Chen’s hands.
’So he wasn’t running away after all...’
Xu Le’s throat suddenly felt dry. She knew her earlier judgment had been far too narrow-minded.
’He didn’t just survive his encounter with the fiend in the mountains—he even took his iron bow!’
’To have such skill...’
Her eyes lit up.
’Could he be the person from the Jiang Clan auction house... the one from private room ’A-3’?’