“Are you here to save me?”
A large group of people rode abreast down the imperial highway. Dressed in formal attire and led by a figure of graceful nobility, they proceeded at a leisurely pace.
Only wealthy young men unconcerned with money could possess such relaxed elegance on an imperial highway.
“Does Your Highness truly intend to use that excuse suggested by Ying Laixian? It lacks any solid basis whatsoever. He is no longer traveling our path, and now that Your Highness’s forces are more or less assembled, I believe his usefulness has reached its end.”
Jiang Yunmiao’s expression remained pleasant, bearing no resemblance to a man trapped in an abyss. “Wei Heng’s disciple possesses seven-tenths of the world’s strategic brilliance. Had it not been for his assistance, I would have died when I traveled to Yunwu years ago.”
The person accompanying Jiang Yunmiao remained silent. They knew Jiang Yunmiao was not a man to feel deep gratitude over petty favors. Those who aspire to achieve great things do not sweat trivial details; to become a ruler, one must first master the arts of coercion and inducement.
“My teacher’s ambitions do not lie within the imperial court, but a free bird eventually grows tired of flying. Only then will it seek a tree to rest upon. To ensure a bird never flies away again, one must either break its wings or take its life.”
Jiang Yunmiao’s invitation to Ying Laixian to visit Yunchen this time was meant to test his stance and see whether he would choose him. Every ambitious person in this world required a personal strategist, and Ying Laixian was the finest piece on his board. A man who possessed such extensive knowledge of his secrets and recruited troops on his behalf, if he refused to stand by his side, he could only be made to vanish from this world.
The logic was as simple as that.
“Your Highness already has a countermeasure in mind. Ying Laixian will not remain in Yunchen; his stance was clear from the very beginning.”
Jiang Yunmiao gazed into the distance, where rolling mountains encircled the single imperial highway leading before him. “He believes me foolish and short-sighted in many matters, but how could I remain standing in the same place forever? My teacher is blessed with good fortune; if his life is not meant to end here, I shall reconsider matters in the future.”
“My fortune is not as great as City Lord Tan’s, so becoming a target is a common occurrence. Since City Lord Tan is a man of great righteousness, I trust he will not let me die here.” Ying Laixian showed no panic regarding the impending crisis.
Tan Congye turned his head to look at him, suddenly reaching out to catch an incoming arrow flying straight toward them. The missile missed piercing Ying Laixian’s eye by a mere fraction of an inch, yet Ying Laixian watched calmly, listening to the sounds of Jiang Nv and Fang Xu drawing their swords outside the carriage.
With a flick of his wrist, Tan Congye hurled the arrow back out of the carriage. It tore through the open sky and pierced clean through the throat of one of the attackers outside.
Jiang Nv witnessed the scene, her eyes locking with Fang Xu’s in a shared gaze of pure murderous intent.
“Young Master, they’re here and there are many of them.”
Although their itinerary had not been kept strictly secret, they had yet to leave Dongcang. To dare cause such massive trouble here, one hardly needed to use their brain to guess who was behind it.
“Silencing witnesses. It seems Jiang Yunmiao isn’t very fond of you as his teacher.”
Only Tan Congye would find the humor to joke in such a situation.
Ying Laixian replied without a hint of haste, “Then you’ve misjudged. He actually likes me very much.”
Tan Congye carried no personal sword, but he picked up a wine goblet from the table to deflect another arrow for Ying Laixian. In the next instant, he abruptly lunged forward, hooked his arm around Ying Laixian’s waist, and shattered the carriage roof with a single palm strike, carrying him out into the air.
The sheer pressure of his presence alone was enough to stun several of the attackers.
The road was densely packed with people, making it obvious that a heavy investment had been made this time. Jiang Nv and Fang Xu fought desperately to contain the assault, but they were vastly outnumbered. Fortunately, Tan Congye intervened just in time.
Fang Xu slashed open an attacker’s throat, groped blindly among the dark figures for a blood-stained blade, and tossed it to Tan Congye. “My apologies for the crude weapon!”
Tan Congye gripped the slippery hilt, turned with unhurried grace, and batted away an approaching assailant with a single palm, tearing off a piece of the man’s sleeve to wrap around the sword hilt. “The life of the Flowing Jade Gentleman commands a high price. While we have an agreement, I only promised to keep you from dying, I never said I would throw my life away for you.”
“Young Master!”
At Jiang Nv’s urgent cry, her sword lost its momentum. Watching helplessly as an attacker’s blade descended toward Ying Laixian, she took a sword wound of her own in her panic.
Ying Laixian stepped quietly backward until he stopped, pressing against someone’s back. Tan Congye pulled him behind him with one hand, wielding a sharp, formidable sword that radiated an aura of lethal exclusion.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ying Laixian said.
There were simply too many assailants. Their side consisted of only four people, one of whom possessed no martial arts skill whatsoever. Tan Congye showed no sign of taking the fight seriously, and if things continued this way, Jiang Nv and Fang Xu would eventually be worn down to death.
Swords and blades have no eyes. Fearing that Ying Laixian might be harmed even under Tan Congye’s protection, Fang Xu accelerated his attacks. His blade flashed with a cold gleam, and his wrist began to ache.
With a casual sweep of Tan Congye’s sword, the wind and clouds shifted. Condensing sword Qi into a tangible force, his gloomy gaze and perfect profile radiated utter disdain. “A pack of mongrels.”
As the words fell, his blade tore through the crowd with blinding speed. The unassuming wave of sword energy parted the surrounding enemies like ocean waves, carving a clear path through the throng.
Fang Xu wiped the blood from his face, the air thick with the stench of carnage. Turning back, he locked eyes with Ying Laixian. “Don’t worry, Young Master! We can handle this as a duo!”
“Save your breath!” Jiang Nv’s red robes were dyed a deeper, darker shade by blood. Standing back-to-back with Fang Xu, she held off the swarm of wolves threatening Ying Laixian.
Ying Laixian was yanked sharply forward as Tan Congye’s bloodied blade swept horizontally before him. The two pressed closely together, their breathing clearly audible.
“You bring a lot of trouble.”
“I know. Get me out of here, and then you can turn back.”
Tan Congye gave him a probing look, but ultimately offered no objection. Although the weapon was far from ideal, it could not diminish Tan Congye’s true prowess. Wrapping an arm around Ying Laixian, he cut through the crowd in a flash of lightning.
Splashes of blood stained Ying Laixian’s face, nearly burying the cinnabar mole between his brows. He clutched Tan Congye’s lapels, yet his gaze remained entirely devoid of fear.
With his superior lightness skill, Tan Congye quickly distanced himself from the pursuing enemies. The moment his feet touched the ground, Ying Laixian stepped away from him. “Their target is me. Even though I am gone, they may vent their fury on the others. Jiang Nv and Fang Xu are holding off too many; they won’t be able to cope.”
“That falls outside the scope of our agreement.” Tan Congye’s sword had long since been discarded somewhere along the way.
“Consider it my debt to you,” Ying Laixian answered honestly.
Tan Congye lowered his gaze to study Ying Laixian intently. Just as Ying Laixian felt a flicker of tension, Tan Congye raised a hand and wiped the bloodstains from his face.
“Fine.”
“I can’t go on.” Fang Xu panted, his strength nearly spent.
They could not afford to let these pursuers catch up, but just as one wave ended, another began. Jiang Nv’s shoulder blade had been pierced, and simply lifting her sword sent shooting pains through her body.
Clutching her wound with one hand, Jiang Nv shouted, “Even if we die, we must buy time for the Young Master!”
“We aren’t dying!” Fang Xu fiercely kicked away a nearby attacker. “My life belongs only to the Young Master; I won’t waste it ending up in a place like this!”
“Still got the energy to bark.”
The crowd was suddenly blasted outward as blades danced through the air. Tan Congye snatched a sword from the ground and unleashed a strike that shattered the sky, kicking up a blinding dust storm that forced everyone to close their eyes.
The shockwave of sword energy caused every weapon on the field to vibrate violently before instantly shattering into dust!
This was the true power of a sword saint.
“Senior.” Fang Xu knelt on one knee.
The tightly wound spring inside Jiang Nv finally snapped, and she collapsed directly to the ground.
“Is the Young Master alright?”
Tan Congye glanced down at Jiang Nv. “He’s in much better shape than you.”
The assassins who arrived were either dead or wounded, requiring no further attention.
“If you still have the strength, go fetch the horses. I’m going to check if your master is still alive.”
Ying Laixian felt as though he were dying. A hand was clamped tightly around his throat with enough force to snap his neck. His throat burned with pain, and the suffocating lack of oxygen closed in around him.
“Is this your limit? I’m waiting for you to surprise me. Did you really think Yunchen’s protection under Jiang Yunmiao meant I couldn’t touch you? If this is all the skill you have, how do you ever plan to avenge your family?” The figure in white spoke words that pierced the heart.
Ying Laixian grabbed the attacker’s wrist to snatch a sliver of breath, fighting desperately to lift the figure’s hood and see their face, whether in the past or the present, yet he failed.
“You.”
“Quiet.” The figure in white mercilessly tightened their grip.
Ying Laixian was lifted entirely off the ground, his back slamming hard against a sturdy tree trunk.
“I’ve let you run loose for all these years just waiting for the day you’d come for revenge.”
Ying Laixian drew a dagger from his robes and swiped swiftly at the figure’s hood. He failed once more, though the move successfully forced his assailant to toss him aside.
The moment he hit the ground, a foot came down hard on his chest. A sharp pain pierced his chest wall, making it feel as though his lungs had been punctured, yet Ying Laixian only frowned slightly without showing any further distress.
“You, you haven’t changed at all,” Ying Laixian wheezed, gasping for breath through the pain. “Still hiding in the shadows.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the figure in white kicked Ying Laixian squarely in the stomach. Instantly, a searing pain tore through his viscera, flooding his entire body with agony.
“Useless piece of trash. You talk big about revenge, yet given all this time, you still can’t even lay a hand on me.” The assailant’s voice was hoarse and terrifying. Grasping Ying Laixian’s disheveled hair, the figure forced him to lift his agonizing head. “Watching you roll around in the mud is my only amusement. Otherwise, you’d be dead by now.”
Ying Laixian clenched his teeth, swallowing the bloody foam and accepting every drop of humiliation. He knew painfully well that even if he held a sword, he could not scratch this person in the slightest. He had tried countless times in the past, and not once had he succeeded.
He was oppressed, abused, and tossed into the filth to crawl and struggle by this very person.
And the mastermind simply sat back and enjoyed the view from afar.
“Don’t disappoint me. I truly look forward to the day you can take my life with your own hands.”
White robes were never immaculate on this person; here, they were the symbol of a demon of erasure and cruelty.
Ying Laixian lay flat on the ground, dazed and motionless for a long time. It had happened too many times; he had been tortured by this demon far too often. Both tears and anger had long since been worn away by the passing years.
Those persistent, recurring nightmares of yesteryear accumulated layer upon layer, transforming into the sole force supporting his survival. Falling figures framed in pools of blood had carried away his final remnants of hope.
In the end, he still hadn’t managed to shake off that white silhouette.
His world was pitch black, yet it remained uniquely his own.
A figure suddenly broke into his field of vision. Ying Laixian lifted his gaze slightly to meet the eyes of the newcomer.
Tan Congye stood against the light, his features slightly blurred, though it took no guessing to know his expression was dark.
In a trance, Ying Laixian raised a hand as if to touch him, the light filtering across his palm appearing frozen in time.
“Are you here to save me?”