Translator : Casualtranslator
~ Enjoy ~

Outside the tentage, the rain had formed lines as it flowed down the sky and covered their visions so neither could make out anything far ahead.

However, the sounds of the horses galloping were orderly and a faint tremor appeared on the ground. Although they could not see clearly, the sounds of the horses were plain and clear.

Zhang Xiaohua did not understand what was happening but he could sense oncoming danger, whereas the experienced He Tianshu’s face lost its colour earlier on. He shouted to Zhang Xiaohua, “Zhang Xiaohua, hurry and go back inside, find somewhere to hide yourself in or escape from another side later on. You won’t be able to help much since you don’t know martial arts, so try your best to keep your life and pa.s.s a message to our sect master Ou.”

After finishing his sentence, he pulled out his longsword and rushed forward.

Zhang Xiaohua was stunned to the spot, hide himself? Escape?

His mind was in turmoil.

Zhang Xiaohua could not grasp the severity of the situation, didn’t they meet mountain bandits a few days ago and chased them off easily, so why is the situation now so serious that he was even required to escape?

Actually, he did not know that when He Tianshu heard the sounds of the horses, the latter knew immediately that they were well-drilled and should be here for Ou Yan. Such a motive could only mean that their pursuers were from a large sect in Jianghu, and since it was a battle between sects, then the enemy must have planned their a.s.sault well beforehand to not leave any gra.s.s remaining. Even though there were many people in Huanxi mountain villa on the journey, it was likely that none would be able to escape and apart from a few hostages, everyone else would probably lose their lives in this collision. Since Zhang Xiaohua was still a child, his physique was small and might be able to escape under the cover of the night. Firstly, he might keep his life, and secondly, he could pa.s.s the message back to the sect so that their deaths would not be in vain. Actually, when He Tianshu wanted Zhang Xiaohua to escape, the situation was still unclear so if it turned out fine, wouldn’t it be a joke if Zhang Xiaohua left first? Moreover, he was only doing the necessary preparations because if he escaped now, there might still be some time before the enemies surrounded the area so they would not be caught in the same net. If he had left later instead, they might all be caught together.

However, how would Zhang Xiaohua know that these were what He Tianshu was thinking of?

The situation was too critical and he was unable to instruct the boy in detail, and if He Tianshu turned around to see Zhang Xiaohua’s dazed look, his blood would definitely boil in rage!

Zhang Xiaohua looked at the pouring rain before waking up from his daze, he walked to the interior of the tentage and extinguished the oil lamp before standing carefully in the darkness and peeping at the situation outside.

After He Tianshu ran out in the rain, he immediately used his qinggong and reached Ou Yan’s tentage. Even though it was only ten steps away from his place, He Tianshu did not dare to waste any time.

When He Tianshu reached the front of Ou Yan’s tentage, he heard a voice asking, “Who is it?”

He Tianshu quickly stopped and shouted, “It’s me, He Tianshu.”

At that moment, the voice reappeared, “He Tianshu, quickly enter.”

When He Tianshu closed in on the tentage, he saw that the curtains of the entrance pulled back, and it was Shi Niu at the entrance.

After He Tianshu entered the tentage, he saw that there were many people inside, Madam Qin, Ou Yan, Qiu Tong and several female disciples were inside waiting for instructions.

He Tianshu did not delay any further, he said to Shi Niu, “Senior brother has also heard the movements right.”

Shi Niu nodded solemnly without speaking, and He Tianshu did not mind knowing the former’s personality. Instead, he turned around to Madam Qin and asked, “Hallmaster Qin, what should we do?”

Madam Qin said, “Send our troops when enemies come, block with mud when water flows, we have been too careless previously since it has come to this. Chang Ge, bring some disciples and prepare the horses, when we begin to fight later, protect the villa master and break through the enemy ranks. Return by the same route and head towards the small village where Lan Dong and the rest are at.”

A female disciple within the tentage called out in agreement and brought two people out to the rain.

Madam Qin ordered the other disciples to go to the different tentages and inform everyone to get their weapons and prepare for battle.

At that moment, the sounds of the horses which were covered by the rain stopped, He Tianshu walked out of the tentage and looked at the scene outside, he could not help but let out a cold sigh.

Not far ahead of him was a row of horses but he was unable to count the exact number under the darkness. The horses stood steadily despite the wind and rain, presumably well trained before and on top of the horses were people in black camouflage clothes and masks on their faces so it was impossible to see where they came from.

At that moment, Shi Niu, Madam Qin and a group of female disciples came out with their weapons in hand and walked to the front of the tentage, they stood under the rain and faced the black-clothed people.

Upon seeing that the other party had not made any movement, He Tianshu turned his head to look back at Shi Niu and the rest before activating his inner energy and shouted out, “Friends from the other side, why have you surrounded our encampment, what is the matter?”

There was still no movement from the other side so He Tianshu wrinkled his brow, and just as he was about to say something else, the sound of a horse galloping appeared from the back and got closer to them. The black clothed men seemed to know the new arrival and they made way for the horse to reach the front.

When the person went up to face everyone else, one could make out a slightly short figure on the horse wearing completely black with a black mask on his face as well. When the horse finally steadied itself, the man in black snorted lightly and He Tianshu felt like a nail has struck through his eardrum causing his blood to freeze. He Tianshu activated his inner energy again before subduing the foreign pressure.

He Tianshu was extremely worried, such inner energy was at the top of Jianghu but he did not know which top tiered expert had come to kill them tonight. It seemed…

When he thought up to here, He Tianshu held his sword in his hands, he cupped his fists and said aloud with his inner energy, “The person in front must be some respected elder, so why would you want to make things difficult for this common Piaomiao sect disciple? I apologize in advance if I had offended you in anyway previously.”

The black clothed man began to speak, his voice was hoa.r.s.e and old as he said, “You are only a low level disciple from Piaomiao sect and do not have the qualifications to speak to me, not to mention negotiate anything. You can see clearly for yourself the current situation, so just surrender now and follow me back obediently or you cannot blame me for being too heartless.”

Before he finished his sentence, Madam Qin crisp voice sounded, “The rat elder at the opposite, since you are to attack us sneakily, why bother hiding your face? Since you are from Jianghu, don’t you dare to reveal your own name as well?”

The same old voice said in a neutral tone, “Madam Qin still sounds as good as before. Perhaps you have idled in Piaomiao sect for too long so you have forgotten what it feels like in Jianghu. It is ineffective to try and play games at this time, don’t bother trying to stall for time. Do you think you can call for reinforcements within the wilderness? Cut your c.r.a.p and surrender now or I will send out my orders.”

After finishing his sentence, the person raised his right hand.

Since the matter had reached this level, there was naturally nothing else left to discuss. Actually, He Tianshu was trying to stall for time during that moment, but he also knew that it was wishful thinking. He only possessed that little abilities, and when confronted with the black clothed man, he was afraid not of losing but losing too quickly.

As he watched the man’s right arm slowly go down, He Tianshu did not dare to make any calls himself so he looked back to Madam Qin and Shi Niu who exchanged glances between themselves before jumping up and leaping towards the black clothed men. Thus, He Tianshu did not hesitate any longer and he also leapt forward but to another direction.

The other disciples shouted in unison as they brandished their weapons and flew over leaving behind only a few female disciples who were wielding longswords and guarding Ou Yan’s tentage.

When the black clothed man saw the oncoming Piaomiao sect members, he immediately dropped his hands and shouted a single word, “Kill!” The sound felt as though it could vibrate in everyone’s hearts.

The other black clothed men nudged their horses and rushed onward to welcome the Piaomiao sect members, and within a short moment, both parties were mixed in each other’s midst.

He Tianshu was rushing forward when a black shadow appeared and shouted aloud, “The one surnamed He, your opponent is me.” Even before the sentence was finished, a longsword slashed towards He Tianshu like lightning onto his chest. He Tianshu was frightened and he dodged immediately before executing his sword martial art. The two men exchanged swords and the sword light flashed about continuously with no victor emerging even after ten over exchanges.

Shi Niu was also rushing towards an opponent halfway when the man took out a rod and brandished it about, causing “wu wu” sounds as it moved. The falling rain were struck by the rod, and even though Shi Niu did not have any weapons, his adamantium hands were no less inferior as he went ahead to attack the man who provoked him. As for his body, apart from vital areas, Shi Niu rushed onward without protecting himself and the rod strikes only made him wrinkle his brow without incurring much injury.

Under this reckless a.s.sault of Shi Niu, the black clothed person could not help but retreat.

Madam Qin still abandoned her snake fist that day, she took out her weapon which was a flexible sword and under her dance which was as fast and lethal as a snake out of its cave, her each stance drew blood and many people were killed or injured after a short contact. Just as she was breezing through the opponents, a red spear suddenly thrust towards her face like a dragon flipping its body. Madam Qin was not fl.u.s.tered, she flexed her legs and flipped her body though the air and while she was still airborne, she countered with her sword as it was thrusted towards the opponent’s wrist. However, the black clothed man was not simple, when he saw that his spear had struck air and the flexible sword coming towards him, he squatted and avoided the sword tip while his left leg took the opportunity to step forward right where Madam Qin’s belly was. Madam Qin saw that he was highly skilled so she immediately adjusted her stance and the two began to engage in a serious duel.

At that moment, all the black clothed men apart from the old-sounding leader had already gotten of their horses, he sat stealthily on his horse and looked at He Tianshu, Shi Niu and Madam Qin who were preoccupied with their opponents before turning away to watch the others.

Ou Yan did not bring many villa disciples during her journey but they all had undergone training from Piaomiao sect. Furthermore, who among them had common skills if they could come along with her? Looking at the black clothed man, although they outnumbered the people from the mountain villa, they could not bring too much people with them in a sneak attack so they could not overcome their targets by pure numerical advantage. Moreover, to prevent themselves from being revealed and failing in their mission, one could tell that many of them were not disciples from the opponent sect which is why their level of ability was not comparable to the Huanxi mountain villa disciples. Hence, when both sides clashed with each other, two to three black clothed men would team up to fight a mountain villa disciple and they would end up in a tie.

When the black clothed elder saw the scene in front of him, he seemed to have decided on something. Why was his master so cautious for that they even got one or two top elders from the sect in this mission, they were already able to deal with their target without going through all the trouble, and so what if their ident.i.ty was discovered? Since they had already attacked, what other ripples will the other party be able to make?

However, their master was always cautious in his plans so he still had to follow the instructions that were given to him. No matter what, the entire situation was currently in his hands so all he has to do was kidnap the leader and return back to make the exchange. As he held on to that though, the black clothed elder moved his gaze towards the tentage where He Tianshu and the others exited from and where several female disciples were guarding to prevent the entry of a few black clothed men.

Just as the black clothed elder was about to act, a change in the situation occurred at He Tianshu’s side.

After fighting hid opponent for a period of time, He Tianshu suddenly felt that the sword martial arts his opponent was using seemed familiar and he shouted, “You… you are the sub leader of the bandits during that day? You were actually hiding your martial arts by wielding a blade instead! no wonder I feel like your sword martial arts seemed familiar.”

The black clothed man smiled and said, “Well done, Piaomiao sect disciples are indeed not ordinary, you could even tell after I went through all the trouble to mask myself. That person was me, and after fighting to a standstill that day, I will show you who is more powerful during our fight this time.”

After finishing his sentence, his sword martial art actually changed and under the darkness of the night, He Tianshu became careless and was pierced on his right arm. Fortunately, his reactions were fast so his quickly pulled his sword back to protect himself and thus only suffered a light injury. Even so, the blood mixed with the rain as it dribbled down his body, and upon seeing that the situation had turned bleak, He Tianshu did not hold back anymore as he displayed the Piaomiao sect disciple’s secret sword martial art to meet the opponent’s each and every stance.

Since He Tianshu opponent was the sub leader of the bandits that day, Shi Niu’s opponent was most likely the main leader. Unfortunately, the main leader was using a rod this time so his stances were completely different, and even though their figures were the same, how would Shi Niu be able to recognize him? Even if he was using a sword again, Shi Niu would still be too lazy to think, that sort of “how can the same person who spurt blood after one palm thrust become so powerful today” thinking was not something Shi Niu would do, he would rather just throw an extra punch over instead!

Even though the person had previously experienced Shi Niu’s martial arts, it was very brief and he underestimated the latter. At that moment, he was at an advantage but despite that, his task was more important and he was glad as long as he kept the latter preoccupied. In the worst scenario, could Shi Niu’s martial art be sufficient if the elder who was still on horseback came over?

That’s right, the elder on horseback had yet to make his move.

At that moment, the people from the mountain villa were like meat on a chopping block, they were slowly being sliced off by the black clothed men and at the very last moment, the butcher’s knife will swing down and end everything. The black clothed elder had smiles in his eyes as though he was enjoying the game of cat and mouse, it was as if he could hear the sounds of his opponent’s laments and was enjoying it thoroughly.

At that moment, the battle on the ground had reached its later stages, a grief cry would sound out every once in a while and it belonged to both the black clothed men and the Huanxi mountain villa people. However, apart from the black clothed elder, oh right, there was still Zhang Xiaohua who was hidden in the darkness of his tentage, everyone else was preoccupied with the fight in front of them. As long as they could keep their lives after this night, nothing else would be more important.

And our poor Zhang Xiaohua was at a loss of what to do at that moment.

In his thirteen years of life, he had only experienced the scuffle in Lu town and the event with the Xicui bandits during his eldest brother’s wedding day. Even though he could be considered a partic.i.p.ant in those two fights, he only played the role of a white rat that was being kicked around and could not contribute at all to protect his loved ones. Now that he gained a shred of self-defence, he secretly wanted to try and test it out. On one hand, his life was not in danger during the incident in Lu town, and even though the altercation with the Xicui bandits was b.l.o.o.d.y, Lu Yueming had the entire situation under his control so Zhang Xiaohua had never felt as though his life was in danger. However, the current situation was different, every so often would one person become injured and succ.u.mb to his opponent. When Zhang Xiaohua was faced with such a cruel and dangerous situation, he felt an incredible sense of pressure and had difficulties breathing, forcing him to want to leave the scene immediately.

Furthermore, hadn’t He Tianshu instructed him to wait until the situation was chaotic before finding an opportunity to leave?

But, what about elder sister Ou, elder sister Qiu Tong and the rest?

Zhang Xiaohua was in a dilemma at that moment.

However, he had forgotten to consider how helpful he could be if he chose to stay, he only thought of his conscience and neglected his own abilities.

Fortunately, the two sides still seemed to be in a stalemate even though they both suffered heavy losses. The black clothed men did not have additional manpower to search the tentages so Zhang Xiaohua remained safe.

There were about seven to eight tentages in the Huanxi mountain villa encampment and they all surrounded Ou Yan’s tentage which was in the middle, and the tentage that Zhang Xiaohua was hiding in happened to be one of them.

Just as Zhang Xiaohua was hesitating, he suddenly saw a flash of sword light across Ou Yan’s tentage and a large hole appeared from behind, followed by several people who left secretly. Zhang Xiaohua could not make out their faces under the cover of the night but he guessed that it was Ou Yan and a few others.

Zhang Xiaohua felt overjoyed, his body immediately moved as he ran towards the party.

However, right at that moment, the black clothed elder who was sitting on his horse shifted his eyes and jumped off his horse, his arms flapped up like a bird that was flying off as he flew over in the direction of the tentage and landed right in front of it.