Inside the Mountain God Temple, rain and wind raged outside, while the bonfire crackled within.
The sound of leaking rain echoed in the enclosed space as the two senior and junior brothers sat across from the bonfire, drinking wine and eating meat and flatbread together.
Not another word was spoken.
In a short while, the wine, meat, and flatbread were all finished, and as no more firewood was added, the bonfire was also dying out.
Yue Pingshan calmly pressed his hand against his sword hilt and looked at Ning Huaiyuan in front of him: "If you trust that I did not poison the food and drink, then our time as senior and junior brothers was not in vain."
"I only ask you one question: the Mount Hua Sect has treated you well, so why commit such beastly acts?"
Ning Huaiyuan smiled: "Is this why you, Senior Brother, traveled thousands of miles to hunt me down?"
"Just to ask me why?"
He toyed with the now-empty wine cup in his hand: "You act as a man of honor, so I do not have to worry about you poisoning the food and drink. Even if you really did, I have ways to deal with it."
"As for your next question," he looked up at Yue Pingshan, observing the man's square head and broad eyes, and smiled calmly: "Do you know the saying, 'Once in the Jianghu, one is no longer master of one's own fate'?"
Yue Pingshan said coldly: "What is there that you cannot control? My Mount Hua Sect is a renowned school in this world. If you had not done these dirty, pig-like things, even if you had pierced the sky, our masters would have been able to protect you."
"That is why you are a man of honor," Ning Huaiyuan laughed: "The so-called 'no longer master of one's own fate' means that now, I have no choice but to kill you."
As he calmly spoke these words, his right hand swept forward, and a section of a sword edge emerged from his wrist, continuously extending until it instantly transformed into a bright, snowy silk brocade, coiling toward Yue Pingshan's head. Usually, when a swordsman draws a sword, there is at least a drawing motion, just like when Yue Pingshan had previously drawn his sword to slice off the arm of the Mountain God statue from a distance; although his sword moves were fast to the extreme, there were still the distinct actions of drawing and sheathing the sword.
But for Ning Huaiyuan, drawing his sword to kill only required a flick of his wrist, which was not only unfathomable but also impossible to guard against.
Yue Pingshan had been prepared, so the moment Ning Huaiyuan drew his sword, he had already gripped his own sword and pulled it out to block in front of him. The two of them looked as if they had rehearsed and dismantled countless sword moves; although Ning Huaiyuan's first move was a pure sneak attack, Yue Pingshan still managed to block it.
However, Yue Pingshan had calculated everything, but he had not expected that the sword hidden in Ning Huaiyuan's hand was actually a soft sword.
The bright, snowy soft sword was blocked by the sword in his hand, but then the sword edge coiled around his blade like a spirit snake and slashed rapidly downward. If he did not withdraw his hand, it was clear that his five fingers and palm would be sliced off by this soft sword.
Regardless of how great Yue Pingshan's skills were, he did not truly possess the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill. Facing this situation, he could only retreat, drop his sword, and leap a zhang backward.
Ning Huaiyuan was not in a hurry to pursue. He calmly flicked his soft sword, sent Yue Pingshan's sword flying into the sky, then caught it and looked at Yue Pingshan before him: "Most of the Mount Hua Sect's martial arts are in the sword. Now that Senior Brother Yue has lost his sword, do you have any other advice?"
Yue Pingshan looked at his junior brother, his heart filled with despair.
Originally, he had believed his martial arts were firmly superior to his junior brother's, which was why he dared to come alone to hunt down this traitor. He had not expected that he would hide such exquisite and vicious weapon moves, and it seemed this was the result of diligent practice in his daily life.
Now, with his own Yinghuo long sword in his left hand and his sharp, strange soft sword in his right, the combination of hard and soft would surely make his moves even more unpredictable and strange. Moreover, the Mountain God Temple was an enclosed space; he feared he would not be able to escape.
From his initial full confidence to this moment of exchange, the momentum of offense and defense had instantly reversed. He had truly underestimated this junior brother, or rather, this junior brother had hidden himself too deeply.
Forget it, forget it. It seemed he would lose his life here today.
Yue Pingshan thought this, having almost lost the desire to resist.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
At this moment, outside the tightly closed doors of the Mountain God Temple, three knocks sounded at an inopportune time.
Then came a hoarse male voice: "Excuse me, is it convenient to stay the night?"
The atmosphere inside the Mountain God Temple was already extremely tense and serious. Yue Pingshan knew he might lose his life at any moment, and Ning Huaiyuan would certainly not show mercy. Yet, at this time, the knocking outside made both of them feel a mix of laughter and tears.
However, Ning Huaiyuan was calmer than Yue Pingshan. After all, he held the victory in his hands. He turned around and said as usual: "There are some matters here, it is not convenient to open the door for now."
Just as he said this, the tightly closed doors of the Mountain God Temple were pushed open from the outside with a creak. A little beggar with disheveled hair and a dirty face poked his head through the gap: "I smelled wine and meat from outside. Could you please, kind sir, spare some leftovers for me..."
He spoke his jargon fluently, but when he looked closely, he saw two people standing by the bonfire in the Mountain God Temple. One was holding swords in both hands, while the other had retreated to the edge of the temple.
Neither of them looked like they were joking.
"I think I walked into the wrong scene," the little beggar said to himself, then closed the door.
As he closed the door, both people in the Mountain God Temple heard the little beggar shouting outside.
"Help! Murder!"
Yue Pingshan sighed—just a moment ago, he had actually fantasized that someone outside could come in and save him.
But how could that be possible?
In the end, it was nothing more than the words "my life is over."
Ning Huaiyuan approached with both swords in hand: "To be honest, Senior Brother Yue, that really gave me a big scare just now."
Neither of them took the beggar's cry for help and murder to heart.
This was the middle of nowhere; if shouting for help were useful, Yue Pingshan would have shouted long ago, and it would not have been the little beggar's turn to do so.
"However, it is getting late tonight, so let's end it here," Ning Huaiyuan said with a smile, then reached out to deliver a sword strike.
At this very moment, the doors of the Mountain God Temple were suddenly pushed open with force. As the doors swung wide, cold wind and rain poured in, causing the curtains in the temple to flutter and rustle.
In the middle of the doorway stood the little beggar, looking at the two people inside the temple. For a moment, it felt like a stage play, and he was the only audience member.
"This kind of scene really makes my social anxiety flare up," he whispered, looking at the two people before him.
"I suddenly remembered what my mother used to tell me."
"A good child should be brave enough to do what is right and not stand by while others die."
"Can't we just sit down and talk about whatever is going on? Must you resort to killing?"
Saying this, he walked into the Mountain God Temple, soaking wet, leaving a muddy footprint with every step.
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