Chapter 16 Leaving the Knife

After that loud noise, the sound of bricks hitting the ground came from a distance—sounding like someone had blown down the outer wall of the main hall.

"Li Po! Get out of here! This is a conspiracy, don't fall into their trap." Old Liu's voice was clearly outside the main hall.

I was separated from them by the distance of a main hall, and even if I wanted to rush over, there would be too many variables.

Besides, Old Liu was right. Most of the people who died under my blade were from Yue Hai Tower, and only a few were disciples from various sects. The true core figures of the arcane world who died at my hands were less than a handful. I hadn't yet formed an irreconcilable feud with the arcane world of the provincial capital.

For the heads of Jianghu families, the death of a few disciples didn't count as a mortal enemy. If they were heroic figures, even if their own son had died, they might still be able to negotiate a truce.

However, if I left all these family heads here, no matter who inherited their sect, they would have to take my head to pay respects to their predecessor, otherwise, it would be difficult for them to gain the support of the masses.

Now was not the time for me to kill!

After a moment of hesitation, I put down my twin blades: "Listen up, I don't mind killing all of you, but I'm even more unwilling to be used as a pawn."

"Today, I can sheathe my blades, but if any of you force me to draw them again, more than one person will die."

After I scanned the faces of the family heads one by one, I turned to look at Ma Jiang: "Surname Ma, I'll say it again, your choice was not bad!"

I sneered and pointed to the Nine-Ringed Life-Severing Blades on the ground: "My blades are staying here. When I come back to retrieve them, I will surely bring a head with me. You better not make me bring back a few more heads."

As I turned around, the voice that had previously accused me of being untrustworthy at the most critical moment spoke again: "Leaving your blades as proof? You have some guts! When occultists make an agreement, ghosts and gods oversee it. Seven days later, the dead will return. If you don't give the deceased an explanation, the ghosts and gods will surely take your head to pay tribute to the departed souls."

My footsteps paused slightly, and I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back, as if someone had branded me with a mark that penetrated deep into my bones.

I could clearly feel the blood flowing down my spine to my waist.

I walked out of Yue Hai Tower without stopping and headed for the meeting point agreed upon by Old Liu and me.

Before we came to Yue Hai Tower, we had considered various possible situations. The only thing we hadn't anticipated was that I would clash head-on with the entire arcane world of the provincial capital.

According to our prior agreement, if we couldn't leave Yue Hai Tower together, we would meet at the entrance of a shopping mall.

When I arrived at the meeting point, Old Liu and Yun裳 (Yun Shang) were nowhere to be seen, but I felt someone behind me.

At that time, my back was to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the shopping mall. If there was someone behind me, they could only see my back through the glass.

I pretended to be nonchalant and secretly raised the mirror, which I used as a protective magic item, to my eyes.

When I saw the reflection in the mirror, my eyes suddenly widened—the person appearing in the floor-to-ceiling window was myself. Moreover, what I saw was not a back view, but my own face.

The reflection in the glass was not only pale, but also had a patch of gray dirt on its forehead.

The reflection sneered and reached out to pull open its collar, revealing a knife wound on its neck.

Its head had been chopped off!

I couldn't help but shudder, and the reflection's head fell to the ground as if it had been severed from behind.

As scarlet blood spurted from the headless neck cavity, the mirror in my hand turned a bloody red color.

Before I could react, the mirror shattered in my hand without warning, and the flying glass headed straight for my eyeballs. I instinctively closed my eyes.

It wasn't until the glass broke through my eyelids that I suddenly turned around to look behind me.

The reflection on the floor-to-ceiling window had changed to my shocked expression as I turned around, the same expression, the same posture. This was my shadow.

Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, the reflection on the glass gave me a sinister smile, and the collar behind him flipped down, revealing a red line printed between the second and third joints of his cervical vertebrae.

That was the position where the executioner would strike. When beheading someone, most top executioners would choose this position to strike, severing the head with one clean stroke.

The reflection on the glass seemed to be showing me the knife wound on purpose. After showing the blood line, it returned to its original appearance.

I subconsciously reached for my neck, and to my surprise, I smeared a handful of blood on my neck.

Was my neck cut?

This was the mark of a ghost or god. The meaning of "seven days to see the outcome" was that the cut would widen a bit every day, and after seven days, my head would be severed?

Was it really a ghost or god who placed the mark on me?

A chill rose in my heart for no reason, and I suddenly saw two figures in the glass.

Old Liu and Yun Shang, standing on my left and right sides, with blood streaming from their eyes.

Shocked, I suddenly turned around, but there was nothing behind me. When I looked back into the glass, all I saw were curious customers in the shopping mall. They couldn't figure out why someone would turn around in front of the glass window, and they couldn't understand what that person had seen that would make them look so horrified.

As I was at a loss, I suddenly heard someone say, "Are you Mr. Li Po?"