historical

Chapter 169 Light, Big Umbrella, Flying Arrow

This was the first time Wei Nianci saw a cultivator in middle-level Qi-refining kill a person.

She had seen cultivators in middle-level Qi-refining fight. When she was with Xu Xianjian, the latter used the swordplay of the Wukong Sword Sect to show his outstanding skill. When Xu Xianjian cut down with his sword, stone and wood split up with extraordinary momentum. Wei Nianci and Lyuluo could not help applauding at the time.

When a person’s cultivation had reached middle-level Qi-refining, he won’t easily fight all out with others, and he would control his power when fighting in Jianghu. Having been in Jianghu for many years, Wei Nianci hadn’t seen a mid-level cultivator killed, but she had seen a lot of cultivators killed in the Mortal Realm.

Tonight, however, Wei Nianci witnessed it.

Witnessed it very clearly.

And it was because she saw it saw clearly that she failed to comprehend.

When the swordsman in cyan wearing the bamboo hat started fighting outside the door, Wei Nianci only saw a stream of light flashing away. At the same time, the disciple of the Penglai Taoist sect dodged quickly to the front, so fast that only his shadow could be seen.

Then the swordsman in black went to where the shadow was. After that, he returned his knife to the sheath while the disciple of the Penglai Taoist sect stood motionless at the threshold. Then he fell, covering his bleeding throat with his hands.

The fight only took a strike from each side and that was enough to decide victory and defeat, also life and death. The speed was unimaginable. Wei Nianci couldn’t understand how the swordsman in black moved, and she understood even less how the disciple of the Penglai Taoist sect got struck. All she saw was the result.

And the result was clear. One person stood and the other one fell.

Wei Nianci didn’t have time to feel astonished because she also saw several streams of light flashing away at the same time in the courtyard outside the door.

Knife Qi was not a straight line but a crescent curve, wide in the middle and narrow on both sides.

This was all Wei Nianci saw. In the dark courtyard, there was a moment of light as the Knife Qi flashed, which was much brighter and briefer than lightning.

The knife light flashed. In the courtyard, all the swordsmen of the Black Office changed positions, so did the disciples of the Penglai Taoist sect. The difference was that the former placed their knives back into the sheaths while the latter fell convulsing in the heavy rain.

All that time, the swordsman in black stood unmoving on the roof.

The battle in the courtyard was but a reenactment of the battle at the door.

Lightning flashed suddenly and the courtyard was lit up for a moment. It was then that Wei Nianci saw two swordsmen in black, who stood like demons, also had bleeding wounds.

Wei Nianci could not help but take two steps backward and fell down on the wooden chair, her face pale.

At this moment, she clearly realized that compared to the killing skills of the swordsmen in black, Xu Xianjian’s sword skill could only be described as showy but not practical.

She found it absurd and strange. The swordsmen in black killed people for real. Though they would get hurt, they had to kill the enemies in one strike. It was as if for them, after one strike, either they or their enemies would die and there would be no second chance.

This was a group of cultivators whose purpose were to kill enemies. They didn’t care about their lives. As though their appearance meant death. They were evil spirits, the Yama.

Wei Nianci thought that she had a high enough regard for the Black Office and that her fear of the Black Office had been deep enough, but now, she realized how wrong she had been.

The terrible thing about the Black Office wasn’t that they threw their weight around, or their powerful strength, or the casual way they killed people. It was their disregard for life.

For the cultivators in Jianghu, none of the practitioners of Qi was willing to die, to say nothing of the cultivators in middle-level Qi-refining. Because as long as they lived, they could enjoy an extravagant life. Even if they were publicly defeated by others, they would still endure the humiliation of defeat and live on.

They cherished their lives.

How can a person who cherishes his life compare with someone who cares nothing for it?

The cultivation of the Penglai Taoist sect’s disciples here wasn’t as good as that of the swordsmen of the Black Office? Far from it.

However, the disciples of Penglai Taoist sect rarely experienced the battle of life and death. They had lived a rich and comfortable life for too long; for too long they had not faced danger; for too long they had lost the ability to fight for their lives.

The Black Office and the Penglai Taoist sect were two extremes.

Even though the Penglai Taoist sect had many cultivators, how could they fight against the Black Office?

The courtyard was empty, and the swordsmen of the Black Office had left. Only the bean-sized raindrops kept falling.

Wei Shinan had already fallen powerlessly on the ground. Lyuluo was in such a fright that rushed over to embrace Wei Nianci tightly, crying, not daring to look towards the door anymore. Stroking Lyuluo’s back, Wei Nianci was tried to control her hands from trembling. Her mind was still haunted by the words the swordsmen in black had said as they left.

“If you can’t keep the invitation safely, what kind of a hero are you?”

The courtyard was quiet, and the rain was heavy with thunder and lightning. The bean-sized raindrops were falling on the eaves, crackling wildly, making people nervous.

Wei Nianci had never come across a night as terrible as this one.

...

Outside the county, in front of a forest by the official road.

Someone was standing with an umbrella.

It was a patternless, black oil-paper umbrella. Its one outstanding feature was that it was so big, there enough room for more than three people to stand under.

The umbrella was big, but the person under the umbrella was particularly thin.

He was not only thin but also white-haired.

He glanced unruffled at the county’s city wall and soliloquized, “There’re five states and 29 counties in Pinglu, and there’re 96 Jianghu forces with the scale above the county. All 96 Jianghu forces are targets of the Black Office. There’re 98 practitioners of Qi techniques in the Black Office. If one person deals with one force, we can barely accomplish the task, which is very difficult. This old body of mine hasn’t toiled like this for many years.”

Two swordsmen in black wearing bamboo hats and coir raincoats were standing with their hands clasped behind their backs five steps behind him.

When he spoke, his voice was clear, but the two swordsmen didn’t respond.

He laughed and continued to talk to himself, “If I knew it would be such a toil staying with Prince An, I would flee. The farther the better. Even if I had to go to Nanzhao or the Western Regions, I would still flee.”

Having said this, he paused and smiled oddly. “But now, I don’t want to flee because I’ve suddenly realized that the toil can be very interesting. Prince An can torment and he will torment us to death. But that’s nothing. It is our opponents who are tormented by us who should feel uncomfortable.”

He didn’t stop talking to himself. And his voice was normal as if someone was standing in front of him, all ears. No matter what he said, the other side could listen carefully.

The two swordsmen in black behind him still had no intention of talking.

Because they knew that the old man didn’t like to be interrupted while he was talking.

Because he didn’t like talking to others and he only liked talking to himself.

He talked to himself all the time. While walking, eating, taking a shower or going to the bathroom, he never stopped talking. A nag usually nagged others, but he only nagged himself.

The two swordsmen in black had gotten used to the old man’s habit.

If a young person did this, people would certainly regard him as a madman.

But he was very old with white hair, so no one thought his habit was crazy.

They would only think that he was a loner and also very lonely

Even when he was in the middle of a crowd, surrounded by laughter, he still remained alone and lonely, extremely so.

Someone went out of the county, jumped directly from the city wall, and rushed over here. The city wall of the county wasn’t high, and there were normally not many guards, more so on a rainy night like this. The swordsmen with bamboo hats and coir raincoats took action without a single sound.

They rushed to the thin white-haired old man holding the big umbrella and bowed. Their head said, “Master Mo, mission accomplished!”

This maverick old man was Mo Dongli from the Zhenwu Army, one of the four great masters of the Black Office.

Mo Dongli didn’t speak. He didn’t like to talk to people unless it was absolutely necessary.

With a wave of his hand, a map opened in front of him. The rain was like a waterfall, but not a drop of rain could fall on the map. It was not because of Mo Dongli’s outstanding cultivation but because his umbrella was so big that it blocked the heavy rain.

Glancing at the map, Mo Dongli said to the people in front of him, “The Mojiao Gang in Gu river.”

In front of him, the swordsmen in black saluted with folded hands. “Yes!”

What Mo Dongli mentioned was their next target. The swordsmen in black didn’t say much. They had learned to talk as concisely as possible in front of Mo Dongli.

Mo Dongli looked at the sky and suddenly smiled. His smile was odd. If someone looked at him, no one would think that he was smiling at others, it was as if he were only smiling to himself. “60 kilometers and four hours.”

All the swordsmen in black had a stern expression.

The distance from here to the Mojiao Gang was 60 kilometers, time given was four hours. Not four hours to reach the destination, but four hours to accomplish the mission. On such a rainy night, it was not easy for practitioners of Qi techniques to travel 60 kilometers within four hours, much less accomplish the mission.

But no one objected.

They turned immediately and went into action.

Time was short, so there was no room for delay.

Mo Dongli didn’t close his umbrella. He walked slowly, more than 30 meters in one step.

He held the umbrella with his right hand all the time, so there was a lot of space on the right. He had no intention of holding the umbrella in front of him like there was someone on his right all along.

...

After a backward somersault, Zhao Polu landed on the ground, bending, and he kept sliding backward. On the muddy official road, his feet plowed out two ditches which covered his feet. Mud splashed at the side of his feet into lines.

He held his long spear firmly and stared in front, his posture like a tiger’s and his gaze like a wolf’s.

A hundred steps away in front of him, two Taoists in black robes fell on the ground.

In the space of those hundred steps, more than a dozen bodies had fallen on the ground. Some were swordsmen in black and some were Taoist in white robes.

Zhao Polu’s retreat came to an abrupt end. As soon as he stopped, he jumped 60 meters high in an instant, leaving two deep holes under his feet. He didn’t raise his long spear but held it flat across his chest. Like a sharp arrow, his long spear shot towards the two black-robed Taoists who fell to the ground and hadn’t time to get up.

On the right, just ahead of Zhao Polu, the black-robed Taoist patted on the muddy ground, causing muddy waters splashing everywhere. He bounced up with a straight body and his long sword headed directly for Zhao Polu’s chest!

Before the sword reached its target, the long spear had pierced the Taoist’s throat, violently thrusting his body, which had bounced up, back to the ground!

Zhao Polu stepped forward, bent his knees and leaned over. His right elbow slammed into the Taoist’s arched chest.

With a dull thud, the Taoist fell to the ground. Bright-red blood spurted from his throat when the spear was pulled out. Flesh and bones curled outward, causing a shrill sound.

On the left, the other Taoist wielded his sword towards Zhao Polu.

The light of the Sword Qi illuminated the place, showing his high-level Qi-refining cultivation. The woods by the road were the first to be cut by the Sword Qi. It left a striking gap.

But the sword light didn’t fall on Zhao Polu’s head.

While his right elbow was slamming into the chest of the Taoist on the right, Zhao Polu struck out his left arm. The crossbow on his arm flashed across the flash of shadow and instantly pierced the throat of the Taoist on the left!

The arrow flew out the back of the Taoist’s neck carrying a large amount of flesh and blood with it!