Encountering the Enemy

Chapter 80: Encountering the Enemy

That token was Sect Leader Wang's personal mark of authority. The bearer could temporarily issue orders to any disciple below the rank of Elder. The fat man was the Sect Leader's trusted personal attendant, rumored to be a relatively close relative as well. Thus, whenever the Sect Leader had a verbal message or command to deliver, it was this man who conveyed it.

Not long ago, the Sect Leader had hastily bestowed this token upon the man and sent him to invite Li the Elder up the mountain to discuss matters. But after delivering the order, the fat man felt that climbing down from Sunset Peak and then immediately heading back was far too strenuous. Relying on his favored status, he insisted on resting a while at Li's residence before returning to the peak.

Li the Elder had no choice but to agree. He himself dared not tarry, and with Zhang Xiuer and a few other disciples, he hurried off to Sunset Peak.

Not long after, a great upheaval occurred on the mountain. The fat man was extremely cowardly by nature, so he naturally had even less desire to return alone.

The people in the courtyard were family members of Seven Mysteries Sect members who lived nearby. Most of them knew no martial arts. When the sounds of chaos erupted, these people panicked and had no idea what to do.

Fortunately, Ma Rong was resourceful. He quickly requested that the twenty-odd men left behind by Li Feiyu lend their aid, gathering these people together in one place to prevent them from running about in the dark and meeting with some mishap.

Because this place was remote—houses built in a mountain hollow—although they could hear the alarm bells and the cries of battle, the people here had no understanding of the specifics of what was happening outside.

So Ma Rong, having finished settling things, planned to send a few men out to scout for information. But this fat man, who had not a shred of martial skill, popped up again. Not only did he stop the scouting operation, but he also used the token to wrest command of the Outer Blade Hall disciples from Ma Rong's hands. He then planned to hunker down here, burying his head in the sand and doing nothing at all.

Ma Rong fully understood the importance of knowing the enemy's movements. He argued with the man several times, but this cowardly fat man used the Sect Leader's token to suppress him every time. He would not even allow Ma Rong to scout personally, apparently viewing Ma Rong as another tool for his own survival.

Thus, Ma Rong paced back and forth in the main hall like an ant on a hot pan, utterly helpless against this ignorant fat man. He knew that in the Seven Mysteries Sect, disobeying a superior's orders and acting on one's own was a grave offense. At the lightest, one would have their martial arts廢掉 and be expelled from the sect. At worst, one would lose their life and be subject to the executioner's blade. So even though he knew that something earth-shattering was happening outside, that the sect itself might be on the brink of life and death, he was powerless to move.

Just as Ma Rong was on the verge of killing this so-called superior with a single palm strike, Han Li and Li Feiyu remained completely unaware of everything happening here, still rushing toward this location.

Along the way, whenever they encountered traces of the enemy, they evaded and hid, doing their utmost to conceal their movements. It was not until they were only about a li from Li the Elder's residence that a group of men in blue robes happened across them head-on, making it impossible to remain hidden. They finally had their first direct confrontation with the enemy.

These dozen or so blue-robed men, each wielding a steel blade, surrounded them from all directions, trapping them in the middle.

Judging by their footwork, the majority—those with a single white line embroidered on their sleeves—had the weakest martial arts. The two with two white lines on their sleeves were considerably more skilled. But the strongest was the man with three white lines and a scar on his face; he was clearly the leader of this group.

The scar-faced leader was also carefully sizing up the few people his men had trapped. He felt somewhat puzzled.

And it was no wonder. Among these people, Li Feiyu had disheveled hair, was dirty and tattered, looking like a cook from the mountain. Han Li had dull eyes and dark skin, resembling a peasant who knew no martial arts. The only one who could give them any pressure was Qu Hun—tall, wearing a bamboo hat, and covered in bloodstains.

This motley collection of three people standing together left even this self-proclaimed veteran of the jianghu scratching his head.

He shot a cautionary glance at his men, then called out loudly to the opposite side: "No matter who you are, the Seven Mysteries Sect is finished! Surrender, and we will spare your lives!"

Han Li smiled, then turned to Li Feiyu and said, "Who's doing this? You or Qu Hun?"

Li Feiyu's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He said harshly, "Judging by their attire, these are low-level disciples of the Duan Shui Sect. I've been chased by the Wild Wolf Gang for so long. Let me vent some of this anger on them first. Plus, their weapons are just what I need."

As soon as he finished speaking, his body shot out like a rainbow, instantly appearing before the nearest blue-robed man.

The man was greatly startled. He tried to raise his steel blade, but suddenly felt his hand go empty. The blade was already in the hands of the enemy before him. He hurriedly retreated, but it was too late. A flash of white light passed before his eyes, and his head was separated from his body.

Li Feiyu's entire sequence of movements was clean, crisp, and lightning fast. Before the other Duan Shui Sect disciples could even react, he had already taken a blade and killed a man.

The remaining men's faces changed dramatically, especially the scar-faced leader. Because his martial arts were a cut above the others, his heart sank the most. He knew very well that they had encountered a truly formidable expert, someone his men were not even remotely capable of contending with. Thus, he gave orders decisively:

"Retreat, all of you! Save yourselves if you can! Send the signal! Call for reinforcements!"

These words woke the other blue-robed men. With a collective surge, they abandoned their encirclement and scattered in all directions, fleeing frantically. Some, as they ran, reached into their bosoms, presumably to retrieve the signal device.

One blue-robed man with two white lines on his sleeve ran the fastest. In a few bounds, he had already escaped several zhang away.

He rejoiced inwardly, feeling that he was about to make good his escape, when suddenly he felt a chill on the back of his neck. Half an inch of sword tip protruded from his throat, then vanished just as swiftly. He was horrified and tried to scream, but his entire body felt as though it had been drained dry, turning limp and powerless. He could only watch helplessly as his body slowly sank, collapsing face-up onto the grass, unable to move any longer.

Only then did he realize that someone had killed him from behind with a single thrust through the throat.

This blue-robed man felt deeply unwilling. He had run so far! How had he died so quickly?

He strained to turn his head and finally caught a glimpse of the last scene he would ever see: a black shadow, flickering in and out of visibility, appeared behind a blue-robed man who had run the farthest. After a single, light sword strike, the shadow flickered slightly and vanished, then immediately reappeared behind another of his comrades. Another flash of white light followed. By then, the body of the comrade who had just been run through the throat was already falling to the grass like his own, blood spurting profusely from the neck.

After witnessing all this, the blue-robed man died with a faint smile on his face. He knew he would not be lonely. Soon, many others would come down to keep him company. That ghost-like black shadow would not let a single one of them escape.