Translator : Casualtranslator
~ Enjoy ~

Shi Niu, Madam Qin, He Tianshu and the others were naturally fighting for their lives but they were also constantly paying attention to the black clothed elder.

Now that the elder had used his qinggong to enter their encampment, their hearts shook and their movements became even more ferocious as they tried to retreat to intercept the elder. However, how could their opponents let them do as they wished, their opponents were also using their full might to contain their attention. Especially in the case of Shi Niu’s opponent, he quickly changed his martial art and his attacks became more overbearing causing Shi Niu to fumble for a bit and lose the opportunity to shed him off.

This had to be the black clothed elder’s intention all along.

When the black clothed elder reached the front of the tentage, he did not enter straightaway but rather walked to the back as though he already knew that the people inside had escaped from the back.

Ou Yan and Qiu Tong, under the protection of several female disciples, crawled out of the tentage and after taking a few steps, they saw the elder walking calmly towards them. They immediately covered their mouth to hold back their screams.

The female disciple who was called Chang Ge pointed to the tentage where Zhang Xiaohua was hiding and said to Ou Yan, “Villa master, the horses are at the front of that tentage, you bring Qiu Tong over while we block that old bandit.”

After finishing their sentence, the few female disciples ran over to Ou Yan’s side and obstructed the path between her and the black clothed elder.

When Ou Yan saw the backs of Chang Ge and the other female disciples, she opened her mouth to try and say something but her voice could not come out, so she clenched her teeth and ran towards the other tentage.

When the elder saw Chang Ge and the others blocking his path, he could not help but laughed saying, “Just the few of you girls want to block me? If you drop your weapons now, I will still let you live. I am only interested in catching the one whose surname is Ou, the rest of you do not interest me.”

Chang Ge and the rest did not reply and when they saw the elder come closer, they all pointed their longswords and thrust it towards the elder from different directions.

Unexpectedly, the elder did not counterattack. Instead, he walked forward calmly as the sword went closer to his body. Chang Ge and the others were feeling joyful but it turned to fear, the elder must have his own reasons for being so bold, could their attack really succeed?

Indeed, as the elder continued to walk forward, the longsword collided with the elder’s body but Chang Ge and the rest felt as if they were not piercing a human but a metal board instead. it was extremely tough and a metallic “ding” resounded as all the longswords that were strengthened by their inner energy became bent.

The elder was apparently very satisfied with the results, he laughed and picked up his arms to press on the bent longswords, and the swords “ka chang ka chang” broke apart. Furthermore, the inner energy in the swords were not fully dissipated and they rushed back into the female disciples’ arms and they felt as if they were crushed by some large object as they fell backwards, and one of them even spat out fresh blood and could not stand up anymore.

After the other few disciples fell down, they immediately leapt back up with their faces still pale, their hands holding onto their broken swords while they stood somewhat unsteadily.

As for Chang Ge, her condition was slightly better as her sword did not break, her body was still stable and she immediately rushed towards the elder. At that moment, the elder was already walking towards Ou Yan and his back was unprotected. Chang Ge charged towards his open back with her longsword but she did not dare to let her guard down and activated all the energy in her body to produce the strike.

Earlier on when the bevy of female disciples were holding back the black clothed elder, Qiu Tong was holding on to Ou Yan while taking large steps and running towards the tentage where the horses were kept. However, due to the heavy rain, the ground was extremely muddy and so its uneven surface was covered by puddles of water. Upon stepping accidentally into a whole, she lost her shoes after pulling her leg out, but where would they find the time to bother about such an insignificant problem? Hence, she could only run forward without caring about anything else.

Unfortunately, the two frail ladies did not know martial arts so how far could they have run?

When Chang Ge’s sword was about to pierce through the black clothed elder’s back, Ou Yan and Qiu Tong had only run half the distance to the tentage and at that moment, Ou Yan’s right foot sunk into the ground and her body lost its balance as it swerved to the right. Qiu Tong who was supporting her also succ.u.mbed to the momentum of the fall and her body fell forward.

At that moment, a frightened voice sounded from another tentage, “Elder sister Ou, elder sister Qiu Tong.”

A small figure ran from afar towards Ou Yan and Qiu Tong who were on the ground, it was Zhang Xiaohua was had been hiding in the tentage!

Actually, Zhang Xiaohua already wanted to rush out when he saw Ou Yan and the rest left from the tentage’s back, but the black clothed elder already reached there by using his qinggong before he even picked himself up. Zhang Xiaohua’s martial art skills were poor but his senses were sharp, he saw clearly how Chang Ge and the rest were attacked by the black clothed elder and his heart froze on the spot. However, he could not hold back anymore when he saw Ou Yan and Qiu Tong fell onto the floor so he shouted aloud and ran over to try and support them before they hit the muddy ground.

Unfortunately, Zhang Xiaohua did not know qinggong and even before he left the tentage, Ou Yan and Qiu Tong both “plopped” onto the muddy ground and their clothes became thoroughly wet, and their jade-like fair faces were covered with copious amount of mud. After Ou Yan fell down, she struggled to get up as the fall was too fierce and she was unable to recover within such a short while. Even though Qiu Tong was completely covered in mud, she did not dare to hesitate any longer and quickly pulled herself back up.

When Ou Yan fell onto the muddy ground, Chang Ge was activating all the qi in her dantian to push out her most formidable attack to use on the black clothed elder. However, the elder seemed to have eyes behind his back and when the sword that was inundated with inner energy reached his back, he suddenly turned around and his eyes stared at the sword tip. He raised up his right palm to block his front and with a “ding” sound, the sword collided like it just struck an adamantium rock when it hit the elder’s hand and sparks almost flew from the impact. The black clothed elder closed his palm and gripped onto the sword, then waved his hand and with a “ka-cha” sound, the sword broke in his hands. With another wave, the sword that was as sharp as an arrow flew back towards Chang Ge. Chang Ge was shocked, she quickly used the hilt of her sword to block the attack but it was already too late, the sword tip’s speed was too fast and when Chang Ge moved slightly, the sword already flew to right in front of her. She was only in time to avoid death, the sword tip pierced deep into her left shoulder with a loud sound coming from the impact, Chang Ge involuntarily left out a cry. The sword tip contained profound energy and Chang Ge could not even stand up straight as she was pushed back a few steps before falling onto the muddy ground.

The injury on her shoulder bled like a river and Chang Ge fainted on the spot.

The black clothed elder stood at the same position as he watched her get injured, and when Chang Ge finally fainted, he continued his steps towards Ou Yan.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua had already reached Ou Yan’s side and was extending his hand to help pull her out of the mud. The black clothed elder walked slowly towards them with a smug expression on his face. He had already noticed when Zhang Xiaohua ran out but could also tell from the latter’s heavy steps and jerky movements that he did not know qinggong. When he saw his figure, he could tell that it was a child who had yet to go through p.u.b.erty so he naturally did not put the new arrival to heart. The other Piaomiao disciples like Chang Ge could not do anything to him, not to mention a child like this. Perhaps he would only need a finger to take Zhang Xiaohua’s life.

After Zhang Xiaohua pulled Ou Yan from the mud, Qiu Tong had also freed herself and when the two people supported Ou Yan on both sides as they ran forward, they realized that Ou Yan’s right leg was already injured and she could no longer walk properly. It was probably due to this reason that she was unable to stand back up after falling. Hence, Zhang Xiaohua slung Ou Yan’s right hand over his shoulders and bent his body slightly. Qiu Tong was surprised but she understood his intentions, thus, she quickly helped Zhang Xiaohua put Ou Yan on his back. Zhang Xiaohua had yet to go through p.u.b.erty and he was almost half a head shorter than Ou Yan so it looked difficult for that skinny body to carry Ou Yan. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohua’s arm strength was unordinary so it was not too difficult a task.

After Qiu Tong placed Ou Yan on Zhang Xiaohua’s back, the black clothed elder had already neared them. When Zhang Xiaohua saw the impending situation, he immediately sprinted as if he was not carrying any weight, but he did not run towards the direction of the tentage but towards the river instead, while Qiu Tong followed behind.

The black clothed elder looked as if he was enjoying the chase as he watched Zhang Xiaohua and Qiu Tong’s desperate attempts, he did not stop them until he saw Zhang Xiaohua ran towards the river. His brows wrinkled slightly, the elder did not mind if they escaped via horseback because with his qinggong, he was fully confident of being able to chase after them even when they rode on a horse. However, if they were in the river, due to the rising tide and the rain, the river was flowing faster and stronger so if Zhang Xiaohua jumped into the river, it would be like a cooked duck that flew from his plate, and the black clothed elder would never allow that to happen.

Just as the black clothed elder activated his qinggong and was about to chase after them, a tall black clothed man riding on a horse reached the scene and shouted in a clear voice to the entire location, “Fellow brothers, there are ten over fast horses coming in our direction, probably the Piaomiao sect’s reinforcements have arrived. Everyone hurry and settle your business.”

This clear voice was familiar to the Huanxi mountain villa people, as they thought about it, was it not the first bandit they encountered on the day they were robbed in the forest?

Whether or not his words were to remind his fellow accomplices or to give hope to the Huanxi mountain villa people, as least all the people on the side of the mountain villa had their morale boosted again whereas the black clothed men became demoralized as though long standing tie was broken with the sound of his signal.

Only, this person who started the commotion did not feel any sense of shame or guilt, he patted his hands and turned his horse around to leave immediately after sending his report, and the onlookers did not know if he was continuing to scout or had already fled.

The originally amused expression on the black clothed elder’s face immediately turned solemn, he thought secretly, “Since it has come to thus, Ou gal, don’t blame me for being heartless.”

When he thought of the current situation, he did not dally any further and immediately used his qinggong to chase after Zhang Xiaohua, and in the blink of an eye, he was already at Qiu Tong’s position with Ou Yan right in front of him. The elder did not increase his speed to block of Zhang Xiaohua’s front, instead, he maintained his speed and circulated his qi secretly causing his hands to turn a faint gold colour. At that moment, Qiu Tong who was watching from a side shouted out immediately, “Xiaohua, behind you.”

Zhang Xiaohua who was in the midst of sprinting was still sensitive to his surroundings and he had already realized that something was going on behind his back. With Qiu Tong’s reminder, he immediately stopped in his tracks and at that moment, the usual martial arts practice he did, showed its results as he stopped steadily and turned around instantaneously. The black clothed elder did not stop, he continued to rush towards Zhang Xiaohua and Ou Yan with the faint golden palm in a position that was ready to strike.

Upon seeing the oncoming attack, Zhang Xiaohua did not have the luxury of putting Ou Yan back down softly, he relaxed his hands without considering the welfare of the pa.s.senger on his back and prepared his limbs to face off with the black clothed leader.

Ou Yan and Qiu Toing were well aware of Zhang Xiaohua’s martial arts skill level, he had never learnt any complete martial art fully before, not seen a single word on an inner energy cultivation method, and the way he was preparing to launch himself to the other party was without a doubt only to buy a sliver of time of Ou Yan.

Ou Yan and Qiu Tong both shouted out, “Zhang Xiaohua…..”, and the pain in their voices was clearly audible.

Actually, Zhang Xiaohua had already made up his mind when he was carrying Ou Yan as he ran. Even though Ou Yan was the villa master of Huanxi mountain villa, she would treat him well on a normal day basis and for the long duration that he had been in the mountain villa, she had taken good care of his wellbeing just like how Liu Qing would be concerned for him. Not only did she instruct He Tianshu to teach him martial arts, she even shared her secret books with him and even wanted Ou Peng to let him learn an inner energy cultivation method, all these were things he could never repay in kind. Now that he was in such a situation, no matter if it was Liu Qing, Qiu Tong or Ou Yan, he would not hesitate to stand in front of them, even if there was no future he could see in front of the path!

As Zhang Xiaohua lashed out in this desperate situation and rushed towards the black clothed elder, he did not try to avoid the other party’s attack at all. His left hand was already feeling the familiar short sword in his breast and was naturally executing the fifth variation of the sword martial arts elder Yu taught him. A warm flow appeared from his left shoulder and travelled down his left arm which held the small sword that was being thrusted towards the black clothed elder’s throat.

The black clothed elder was not surprised when he saw Zhang Xiaohua turn around, but he became puzzled when he saw Zhang Xiaohua dropped Ou Yan down and threw himself towards him. However, a smile appeared across his face as he had already seen many people lose their lives to protect others, it seemed that another would join their ranks that day. This brat had close to zero martial arts so he was nothing but a moth flying towards a flame.

When he saw Zhang Xiaohua took out a toy from his breast, the smile in his eyes grew even more confident, how could this child’s toy hurt his body?

He initially wanted to ignore the sword and let it pierce onto his body, after all, what else was his body which trained in the metal coc.o.o.n art over decades for? However, when he saw the youth’s firm thrust, even though the sword was short, the angle and opportunity was very good and it was headed towards his throats he decided to play safe and protect his throat so he raised his left hand to grab Zhang Xiaohua’s toy like how he caught Chang Ge’s longsword. At the same time, the black clothed elder did not decrease his pace as his right palm turned to face towards Ou Yan who was beside Zhang Xiaohua.

At that point of time, his aim was no longer to kidnap Ou Yan but to let her die under his faint gold palm.

Before Ou Yan and Qiu Tong’s voice could reach the floor, they saw the direction of the black clothed elder’s palm and immediately understood his intentions. Their faces turned pale, if Chang Ge and the other female disciples could not stop him, what hope did Zhang Xiaohua have?

Could she escape his demonic palm at all?

Just as these thoughts flashed through her mind, Zhang Xiaohua’s short sword which had no sharp edge already collided onto the black clothed elder’s palm and the warm flow incidentally travelled into the sword. When the palm and sword contacted, there was no “dang” sound like in the case of Chang Ge’s longsword, and Zhang Xiaohua did not flew into the air like how the black clothed elder envisioned. Instead, the sound “phuua” of going through flesh appeared, the bladeless short sword actually bore a hole through his hands that were fully protected by inner energy and the injury it caused was not light as it pierced completely though the black clothed elder’s palm and continued straight towards his throat.

At that moment, the black clothed elder’s mood made a sharp 180-degree turn, how could the faint gold palm continue to bother about Ou Yan? It immediately changed directions and slammed onto Zhang Xiaohua’s chest, and at the same time, the black clothed elder summoned his inner energy to his throat until it became as tough as steel as it waited for the short sword to bounce off itself.

However, the unusual occurred and after Zhang Xiaohua’s sword pierced the black clothed elder’s throat, it only stopped for a moment before continuing to go through as though it was cutting tofu without any sense of resistance and buried itself deep into the black clothed elder’s throat.

The black elder’s expression was as if he just saw a ghost, his eyes were wide open and his mouth opened, “he, he” but he could not say anything at that moment. His right palm had already struck Zhang Xiaohua’s chest, but now that the small sword was embedded into his throat, the energy in his palms had already dissipated by forty percent. However, how could Zhang Xiaohua endure this remaining sixty percent?

When Zhang Xiaohua took the black clothed elder’s palm thrust, his body flew away and he fainted in mid-air with fresh blood spurting out generously from his mouth. Even Ou Yan who was standing beside him felt the impact and she fell onto the ground with blood spilling from her mouth.

As for the black clothed elder, his situation was no better and after his right palm threw Zhang Xiaohua into the air, the small sword was squeezed out from his throat. There was not much blood that flowed out of the wound, there was only a little bit of fresh red blood that could be seen.

However, this little bit of blood was enough to take the black clothed elder’s life, his bleeding left hand held on to his own throat as he looked in disbelief at Zhang Xiaohua who was still in mid-air before his legs softened and he crumbled onto the floor. Even right before his demise, his eyes were still staring indignantly at the boy.

One sword thrust, with just one sword thrust, Zhang Xiaohua took the life of this black clothed elder who had no opponent of his match in this battlefield.