Jiang Jianxin couldn’t argue with that.
In truth, if Lin Xin’an was determined to stick to her, she really had no way of stopping him.
She had indeed awakened some of the Sword Master’s abilities from the diary, such as being able to wield a sword to strike people down, and she now understood some Swordsmanship.
But as a magnificent and upright Righteous Venerable, the Little Sword Venerate had never mentioned how to handle stalkers or people who stuck to you like glue.
In fact, when the Little Sword Venerate faced someone they didn’t like, they would simply raise their sword and cut them down without a second word.
Jiang Jianxin couldn’t bring herself to cut down Lin Xin’an, because he had once thrown himself into a sea of corpses to protect her.
Even if he had his own agenda, he was, at least, a good person.
So, after arriving at her apartment complex, Jiang Jianxin glanced at Lin Xin’an, who had followed her out of the car, her face a mask of exasperation.
“Your arm isn’t even healed.
Shouldn’t you go back to your Madhouse?”
Lin Xin’an ran a hand through his hair in the POURING rain.
He hated this kind of downpour.
It soaked him like a drowned rat, making it impossible to maintain his handsome appearance.
But unfortunately, the car Blind Sister sent to pick him up had no umbrella, so he had no choice but to get soaked.
At this point, he said with some irritation:
“No.
Let’s drop it and just get inside the building.”
Although all the Pollution Species for miles around had been annihilated by that one earth-shattering strike from Tang Guang, they were already regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Regenerated Pollution Species were already staggering around the complex.
The ground was littered with severed limbs and remains, where blood and mud mixed to form a small red river that flowed into the sewers.
Jiang Jianxin glanced at the severed limbs on the ground.
The moment she stepped out of the car, her foot landed on a severed hand.
It was soft and squishy, making her stomach churn, but she said nothing.
Lin Xin’an merely glanced at it, then raised his head to survey the apartment complex, saying meaningfully:
“This complex of yours…
The landscaping is quite nice.”
Jiang Jianxin shot him a sidelong glance.
“Speak plainly.”
Lin Xin’an said nothing.
Instead, he leaned in and gripped her arm tightly with his one good hand.
“We’ll go together.”
He gave her that pitiful look again.
Lin Xin’an only had one good arm, so his grip wasn’t very strong.
Jiang Jianxin could have easily pried him off if she’d wanted.
But she glanced at the torrential downpour and didn’t move to shake him off.
She straightened her back, letting him cling to her left arm as she raised the Tang Guang Sword with her right.
“There’s something wrong with those trees, isn’t there?”
Her residential community was indeed known for its landscaping; the main avenue was lined with willows.
It wasn’t the season for them to be lush, yet their branches had turned a vibrant jade green.
They were a bold stroke of color in this gray-and-red world.
Their slender branches were now swaying in the wind and rain.
At a glance, nothing seemed out of place.
“They’ve all been contaminated.
They’re Pollution Species now, and they’ll feed on the blood of anyone who passes by.
Look at the road—the severed limbs are all shriveled up because these trees have absorbed all the blood.”
Lin Xin’an said.
Jiang Jianxin frowned, her gaze sweeping over the avenue before them.
The countless remains, withered and gaunt, looked even more terrifying being washed by the rain.
They formed a stark contrast with the jade-green willows, creating a scene from a silent horror film.
Jiang Jianxin closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the contents of the Sword Master’s Diary:
[March 18 | Sunny]
[After reaching Qi Cultivation Fifth Stage.]
[Master has finally agreed to teach me the Sword Control Technique.]
[The spell is called…]
“Tang Guang, Immortal Movement.”
The Tang Guang Sword shuddered once, then slowly levitated into the air with a low hum.
Jiang Jianxin raised her foot and stepped onto it.
Though it was the first time in her memory using Sword Control, she moved as if she had done it a thousand times before.
Muscle memory helped her find her balance, and she stood steadily upon the blade as it hovered a few inches off the ground.
Then, she hauled the dumbfounded Lin Xin’an up onto the sword with her.
He stepped on, feeling how the long, thin blade could only support the balls of his feet.
He was completely reliant on the hand Jiang Jianxin placed on his shoulder to keep his balance.
He was too terrified to move a muscle.
“Y-y-you…
Since when did the War Camp evolve to be this incredible?”
Jiang Jianxin gritted out,
“Now’s not the time for that!
Just hold on.”
Cultivators drew power from their dantian.
Back when Jiang Jianxin used to read novels, she never knew where the dantian was located; she’d always assumed it was a special organ unique to cultivators.
That was until she became a Sword Master herself…
and discovered the dantian was just her stomach.
That one earth-shattering sword strike from before had already converted last night’s leftovers and this morning’s breakfast into energy and burned right through them.
A Sword Master could absorb Spiritual Energy from the surroundings, but this world seemed to be devoid of it.
Jiang Jianxin couldn’t sense any of that formless energy; all she could feel was her stomach getting hungrier and hungrier.
She still had a little energy left from her last meal.
Jiang Jianxin had no intention of fighting her way through, as it would consume too much Spiritual Energy.
Having the Tang Guang Sword fly her across would be far more economical.
She wasted no more time on words, immediately urging the Tang Guang Sword forward, weaving through the trees at an incredible speed.
“AHHHHHHHHH—”
Lin Xin’an, who had never ridden a high-speed sword before, let out a terrified scream.
Jade-green willow branches whipped past his face, a blur of dancing tendrils.
“SPLASH—”
Cold wind howled in his ears as raindrops slammed into his face like sheets of water.
Jiang Jianxin, however, was perfectly calm.
To her, the flailing willow branches seemed to move in slow motion, allowing the Tang Guang Sword to carry her and nimbly weave between them.
“HUMMM—HUMMM—”
Before Lin Xin’an’s first scream had even died out, they had already flown past the willow grove and arrived at the ground floor of Jiang Jianxin’s apartment building.
“THUMP—”
The building’s sheet metal entrance door was in tatters.
Jiang Jianxin leaped off the sword, pulling Lin Xin’an down with her.
The moment he was off the sword, he let out a “BLECH” and threw up a glob of unidentifiable matter.
Jiang Jianxin watched in disgust as he squatted on the ground, retching uncontrollably.
“Swordsick?”
Lin Xin’an glanced at her, once again wiping the rain from his face.
‘Ever since meeting Jiang Jianxin,’ he thought, ‘I haven’t been able to maintain my refined and handsome image for even fifteen minutes.’
“COUGH, COUGH…
I’m fine, I guess…
COUGH, COUGH…”
Lin Xin’an let out several pained coughs.
While he was recovering, Jiang Jianxin peered through the ruined metal door, sizing up the dim stairwell.
There were no Pollution Species in sight, but she could see a trail of severed limbs and bloodstains leading up the stairs.
She had used her last bit of Spiritual Power for the Sword Flight.
Jiang Jianxin felt weak, and her stomach wouldn’t stop rumbling.
RUMBLE…
Beside her, the Tang Guang Sword had lost its Spiritual Power support and was no longer levitating.
Jiang Jianxin now held it in her hand.
The three-foot blade gleamed with a cold light in the dim daylight.
“You wait here.
I’m going in to take a look.”
Jiang Jianxin instructed.
Lin Xin’an glanced at the Pollution Species still wandering the complex, then scrambled to his feet and grabbed Jiang Jianxin’s sleeve.
“Don’t leave me.”
Jiang Jianxin’s brow furrowed.
“I have a feeling there’s a big monster in there.
You can’t fight.
You’ll only slow me down if you come with me.”