Chapter 684: Friends Who Share Life and Death Together 684
"Grandmother, unless I die, I will never abandon you," Huayue said resolutely.
He was an orphan. If it weren’t for the old woman who adopted him, enduring hardships to raise him to adulthood, he would have long since died in the wilderness, or even been buried in the belly of wolves. In his heart, Grandmother was his only relative and the person he revered the most. How could he possibly leave her behind?
"Heh heh, you’ve indeed taken in a filial grandson. He might have had a chance to escape, but he’s chosen death instead. Well, that’s not my fault," a swordsman dressed in black said with a sinister laugh.
"Spare them, and I’ll go with you," the old woman said to the black-clothed swordsman.
"It’s not necessary. Since they are all dead, you being alive is of no use. You might as well serve them properly," the black-clothed swordsman said, and with that, he thrust his sword at the old woman.
Great Swordsman! Hidden beyond the earthen wall, Mu Hanyan tried hard to conceal his qi, but he was shocked.
It wasn’t the man’s strength that shocked him — anyone who could push Hua Yuezi and Jiang Yuzhe to this point was not just a Great Swordsman but even a Sword Master — what truly surprised Mu Hanyan was that the target was Huayue’s grandmother.
He had presumed it was his own enemy that had come knocking or that Hua Yuezi had inadvertently offended some formidable adversary. He never dreamt someone was actually after Huayue’s grandmother.
To Mu Hanyan’s knowledge, Huayue’s grandmother was just an ordinary village elder. How could she possibly have such powerful enemies?
"Kill!" Hua Yuezi shouted in unison, and with that, they slashed their swords toward the adversary.
Seeing that both were heavily injured and unlikely to be a match for their opponent, Mu Hanyan’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword, preparing to take action. As a fellow Great Swordsman, Mu Han was confident of his invincibility at the same level, and he was unafraid of the man before him.
Just then, a bizarre figure appeared out of nowhere and stabbed at the black-clothed swordsman from behind. The only one capable of such a strange movement technique was naturally Jiang Yuzhe.
Mu Hanyan immediately held back. He had not seen Jiang Yuzhe earlier and had thought he fled upon seeing how dire the situation was. Only now did he realize that Jiang Yuzhe had not left but, like himself, was waiting for an opportunity. Fortunately, he had been a split second slow, or else his blade would have struck Jiang Yuzhe in the back.
"Humph, it’s you again. This time, I’ll see where you can run!" The black-clothed swordsman smirked coldly upon seeing Jiang Yuzhe’s ghost-like figure.
A sudden flash of light emerged from his sleeve, and an invisible ripple appeared around him. It was like a pebble dropping into still water, causing ripples to spread out.
Hua Yuezi in the front and Jiang Yuzhe in the back — the three of them were instantly enveloped by the ripple, their movements slowing down incredibly, as if trapped in an invisible quagmire. The black-clothed swordsman took a slight step to effortlessly dodge the peaks of all three swords, then turned his body and sliced a sword slash towards Jiang Yuzhe.
Clearly, he had been prepared for Jiang Yuzhe, or perhaps, this sword was meant to lure him into attacking.
Barrier! Mu Hanyan nearly cried out in alarm.
No wonder the opponent, with just the strength of a Great Swordsman, had driven the three of them into a corner. She had found it strange before, but now she understood completely: it was because of the Barrier.
Mu Hanyan had seen the wonders of Barriers on Ye Yanran more than once, but this time, the opponent’s Barrier gave her a completely different feeling. Within that Barrier was an extremely peculiar aura; even from outside, Mu Hanyan could feel her qi was not circulating smoothly, and her body felt unusually heavy.
Mu Hanyan’s heart skipped a beat in fear. It was a good thing Jiang Yuzhe had struck first. Otherwise, if she had acted, facing this strange Barrier, she certainly would not have gained any advantage.
Seeing Jiang Yuzhe was in a dire situation, but given his unpredictable Shadowless Sword Technique, he should still be able to defend himself, Mu Hanyan suppressed the urge to intervene, silently reminding himself, "Wait a little longer, wait for the best opportunity to make a move!"
The Barrier set by the opponent was too peculiar, and Mu Hanyan noticed, the moment it appeared, a strange light flickered within his sleeve. If he wasn’t mistaken, this Barrier must be activated by an Alchemy Artifact, not restricted like Ye Yanran’s methods. If he couldn’t kill with one strike, once the opponent used the Barrier again, it could likely end up trapping him as well.
Trapped within the Barrier, Jiang Yuzhe’s face changed; it was already too late to back down, and as he couldn’t halt his momentum, he could only twist his wrist and thrust his Longsword at a bizarre angle, holding it in front of himself just in time.
With a "clang" of dragon’s roar, Jiang Yuzhe wasn’t cleaved to death, but he was still violently knocked away, his Longsword breaking into several pieces.
"Yu Zhe!" Hua Yuezi reached out to catch Jiang Yuzhe, also staggered back several steps by the powerful force.
"It’s no use, I can’t handle him. Don’t blame me for not being loyal if you guys die," said Jiang Yuzhe, spitting out blood, yet bearing a smiling face.
"Why didn’t you leave?" Zirong asked.
"Do you really think I, Jiang Yuzhe, am that disloyal?" Jiang Yuzhe puffed out his chest, but the movement agitated his wounds, causing severe pain in his organs, and he immediately recoiled.
"Good, I have no regrets befriending you. To have you accompany me on Huangquan Road would make me, Zirong, die without complaint," Zirong said with a hearty laugh, though his face was pale, and his smile carried a tragic air.
"Actually, you both should have left," Hua Yuezi said guiltily, looking at them.
"If it were you, would you leave?" Zirong asked, his smile unchanged.
Hua Yuezi shook her head, saying nothing, her eyes filled with emotion.
It wasn’t just them who were moved; even Mu Hanyan, hidden in the shadows, revealed a warmth in his eyes. Mu Cheng, however, wore a look of envy—having such friends to die with made death worthwhile.
"Heh, such brotherly affection. Very well, I shall grant your wish," said the Black-clothed Swordsman with a shrill laugh, slowly raising his Longsword.
Hua Yuezi, Zirong, and Jiang Yuzhe exchanged glances, all aware that this time, they probably no longer had any chance left.
"Who exactly are you?" Hua Yuezi took a deep breath, gripping her Longsword and standing in front of Zirong and Jiang Yuzhe. Even now, they still didn’t know the origin of their foe, and dying without knowing was truly unbearable.
"Yue Ji, did you really not tell him anything?" the Black-clothed Swordsman turned to Hua Yuezi’s grandmother and asked.
"Nothing," the old woman shook her head, saying.
"Good, in consideration of you not completely betraying the temple, I’ll leave your body intact, sparing you the pain of the Burning Heart Soul Devouring," the Black-clothed Swordsman nodded and addressed the old woman.
"Thank you for granting me this mercy, but this child is innocent. I hope you can spare him a path to life," the old woman pleaded earnestly, with a look of utter sorrow.
"Now that I have mentioned the word ’temple,’ do you think I could possibly let him go?" the Black-clothed Swordsman said with an indifferent face.