Chapter 52: Arrows in Chaos
"Attack!"
With a single command from the masked Luo Bingsheng.
Yao Chen and Luo Fang, both Innate Experts, made their move, while Luo Bingsheng was one step behind, but he did so deliberately.
Because Gu Chuan was too strong.
The three of them had previously fought Gu Chuan, knowing that his reputation was well-earned. Even as three against one, they ended the battle with two of them heavily injured and defeated.
However, to them,
there was no talk of shame or dishonor, because Nine Hundred Households Gu Chuan was recognized throughout Linjiang County as one of the top three in combat strength.
Linjiang County wasn’t especially big nor small; the number of Innate Martial Artists was still quite countable, each one a rarity found only through countless battles and bloodshed.
In such circles, Gu Chuan could firmly hold a top-three position.
The three joining forces and losing to Gu Chuan could be described as a defeat filled with honor.
Now, in the snowy night,
Luo Fang and Yao Chen struck at the same time, flanking Gu Chuan from two directions.
They were both swordsmen,
Their two long swords wailed through the darkness like meteors streaking across the black night, locking down Gu Chuan’s routes of retreat to both sides.
But Gu Chuan did not retreat nor advance; the thin sword in his hand finally revealed itself, flashing through the flying snow like lightning!
In an instant, sword qi filled the air,
his sword was very thin. After parrying Luo Fang’s long sword, it bent with a bizarre angle, and the tip struck Yao Chen’s long sword from the opposite direction.
He struck only once, yet blocked two blades.
At that moment,
Luo Bingsheng’s killing intent emerged, a step later,
He stabbed forward directly with his sword,
Dressed in nightwalker attire, he appeared before Gu Chuan like a specter amid black night and white snow,
On the sword tip, a ray of sword light roared and raged,
Aimed straight for Gu Chuan’s throat.
Facing such lethal intent, Gu Chuan stayed calm and unhurried, expression unchanged, body leaning slightly back, heels touching the ground, quickly retreating at a forty-five-degree angle to the earth, dragging two long trails in the snow.
At the same time,
His sword pierced through sparkling, glass-like snowflakes, continually deflecting the deadly attacks of the three Innate Experts. The sharp, swift thin sword clashed brutally against three long swords in the night, producing a series of ear-splitting crashes!
As the clash of the four Innate Experts began,
In the darkness, the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s force also engaged the hundreds of martial men, a massive fight erupting instantly. Amidst the endless snowy night, the scent of blood began to spread.
"Lord Gu, give up already!"
Luo Bingsheng’s grip on his sword remained tight, yet his words continually tried to distract Gu Chuan.
"Lord Gu, you lose, it’s nothing but returning to the Capital to continue as the young master of the Gu Family. But if we lose, it’s the danger of our entire clan being wiped out. We can’t abandon this, we have no retreat, so if this continues, we won’t hold back. Life and death are fate; for you, a noble young master of the Gu Family, to fall in such a small place—is it really worth it?"
Gu Chuan’s face was expressionless.
He knew well that in past feuds with the Hundred Households Office, there was no mortal danger; whether Luo Bingsheng or Yao Chen, both would still consider his identity. But tonight was different,
Tonight’s battle was a fight to the death,
Neither Yao Chen nor Luo Bingsheng dared care about anything else now. Even if they offended the Gu Family and paid the price, at least the clan wouldn’t be destroyed; after all, the Gu Family was not Demon Dao, they had to follow some rules.
Compared to that, the Luo Family—a local powerful clan—was nothing to the Gu Family, but even so, the Gu Family could only suppress by other means, not outright exterminate the clan.
In comparison, killing Gu Chuan, offending the Gu Family, the price was much lighter.
Gu Chuan understood this truth,
But when he undertook these matters, he had already made up his mind,
If death comes, so be it—true men must act according to their principles!
But still,
Gu Chuan sneered, "With just the likes of you, what right do you have to kill me?"
The thin sword in his hand hummed, facing three opponents without pressure, moving with ease.
Luo Bingsheng spoke in a deep voice, "Lord Gu... your cultivation is profound. The three of us really can’t kill you, but neither can you take us down quickly. But what about your men? How long can they last?"
With that, Luo Bingsheng chuckled, saying, "Are you relying on Gu Zhan? You think that since I came here, I’d let Gu Zhan have any hope of escaping Linjiang City? I won’t hide it: I’ve prepared to step down, even to accept the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigation. I... have already wiped out the South City Hundred Households Office!"
Gu Chuan’s face changed faintly; he could tell Luo Bingsheng wasn’t lying. He cursed, "You’re insane!"
"I’ll step down, maybe even die, but at least, the Luo Family survives!" Luo Bingsheng replied coldly.
Gu Chuan was slightly stunned.
And at that moment of distraction,
In the dark, suddenly, from four directions, four more experts charged out. The four clearly used a joint sword array technique: four swords, transforming intricately in midair into four razor-thin blades that shot forward.
From nothing comes something; again and again, one becomes three, three becomes five, five turns into a dazzling blur of swords.
"Puchi!"—a sound,
Gu Chuan’s arm was wounded,
That brief lapse of attention led to a mistake, a hint of slackness, and at this level, any tiniest slip is magnified infinitely.
These four experts were all First Grade Experts,
The four were trained in the joint sword array; working together they could match an average Innate Martial Artist for a short time.
So, that one error from Gu Chuan,
Was tantamount to handing an opening to a hidden Innate Expert lurking in the dark.
This mistake cost him the advantage,
The tide shifted rapidly, and he instantly fell onto the defensive.
His disadvantage wasn’t like that of Luo Bingsheng and the others,
They had numbers, even if pressed they could cover each other, while Gu Chuan was alone; this one mistake cost him far too much.
In a short span, he took several strikes in succession.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard experts who wanted to aid him had no chance at all, all were tied down.
This was Luo Bingsheng and the others’ last, all-or-nothing gambit.
"Lord Gu, I told you long ago you should’ve given up. Now you have no chance—not even a chance to run!" Luo Bingsheng continued to interfere with Gu Chuan.
This interference, in this moment, indeed did its work.
Gu Chuan’s technique had fallen into chaos.
He gritted his teeth, a savage glare flashed in his eyes as he roared, "If I die, I’m taking you down with me!"
With that howl, Gu Chuan unleashed his True Qi in full, blasting flying snow aside within five or six yards.
Luo Bingsheng’s eyes flashed with a hint of joy,
He knew, Gu Chuan had lost all composure,
Which meant Gu Chuan had lost!
"Kill..."
Yet, in that instant, the Innate Experts suddenly heard an eerie wind cutting through the snowy night, whistling and moaning, like ghostly wails.
Before they could react,
A feathered arrow flashed in from afar, wailing, and pierced straight through the chest of a First Grade Expert.
At the same time,
Seven or eight terrifying feathered arrows hurtled in from several directions,
Two more First Grade Experts were pierced through,
The remaining arrows screamed toward three Innate Experts,
In the night, those chaotic feathered arrows seemed to fly about wildly!