Chapter 135: Gone with the Sword
In such a thunderstorm day, Zhong Yashe and the others who were trembling in fear under the deterrence of the Thunder God. Their gazes were frozen. All that was reflected in their pupils were the oppressive and immense thunder spreading across the sky.
The thunder smashed through the roof and spilled into the hall, turning the hall as bright as in daytime with surging Thunderbolts Pythons.
Looking at the wonderful, silver-like sea of the Thunder Light near the steps, Zhong Yashe took back a few steps with an idea reverberating in his mind.
The Exterior, the Exterior!
A lamenting sound came from the magic blade at his waist as if its essence had been hurt by the thunder’s pure Yang power.
But the sound was not enough to shake Zhong Yashe out of his trace. Reflected in his eyes were still the shadows of the lighting. The scene unfolding before him seemed as if it had come out of the legends of Gods and Devils.
Bai Bazheng, the owner of the Fish Sea, felt the same. Only about three meters away from Yuan Mengzhi, he could clearly feel the might of the Nine Sky Thunder God. Watching the sea of serpent-like thunder light, both his hands trembled. He dared not take a single step forward, deeply afraid he would anger the expert of the Exterior and as a result, get himself stricken by the Thunderclap.
Du Mo was loyal to Yuan Mengzhi, but he was also trembling and afraid to rescue him in the face of such powerful thunder. Rushing over now simply meant rushing to his death.
Yuan Mengzhi was lifted high in the air, with the silvery serpents hissing and winding around his body. It was only after he fell on the ground with a thump that others were able to take a better look at him. His body was completely burnt black and his Horse-cutting Blade was shattered into pieces. Whether the objects on his body or his skin, nothing was left intact.
His hair and clothes were still burning. His eyes were wide open but there was no longer any trace of emotion in them. Knife marks marked the skin between his eyes, straight through his mid-brows. Thunderbolt Python was still gleaming. His wounds were charred and not even a single drop of blood oozed out of them.
Meng Qi stood in front of Yuan Mengzhi, with his Red Sun Evil Blade in his right hand. There were still faint thunderclaps around him. In Zhong Yashe and the others’ eyes, he looked indescribably majestic!
“Senior Brother, I just know you’ll come and rescue me!” Zhen Hui happily headed for Meng Qi.
The horse bandit who was escorting Zhen Hui was about to seize him subconsciously but Meng Qi’s emotionless stare made his legs suddenly soft. Who dared stop Meng Qi from rescuing his junior? Boss Yuan Meng with Nine Acupores opened was still lying there!
“Let’s go,” Meng Qi said, smiling at Zhen Hui. He put his Red Sun Evil Blade on his back and the Ice Palace Sword in the scabbard at his hip.
He did not even spare a glance at Bai Bazheng, Du Mo, Zhong Yashe, and the other horse bandits. It seemed as if there was no one else in the hall. It was as if those who remained were clay and pottery, unworthy of his attention.
“Sure!” Zhen Hui nodded with vigor, sparing a pitying look at the delicacies charred by thunder.
Meng Qi turned around and leisurely walked out, with a sword in his hand. Zhen Hui quickly caught up with him, chattering about his experience after they had parted in a hushed voice.
Watching them leave as if no one was present, neither the nine acupores expert Bai Bazheng nor the loyal Du Mo showed any response. Instead, subtle relief crossed their faces. It was great that those two had left. Everything was fine as long as it did not implicate them!
In this world, those who seemed unafraid to die only said it as lip service. If there was any other choice, who would voluntarily fight to their death?
Zhong Yashe and the rest felt even more embarrassed, some retreating a few steps and some just collapsing in defeat. No one dared to look Meng Qi in the eye. They were now clear that this was the little monk on the Evil Sword Hunting Order. They were grateful enough for Buddha’s blessing that he did not take the initiative to kill them. Who would still dare to go up and provoke him?
The difference between the Exterior expert and the Enlighten the Acupores expert was like the difference between an ordinary human and an immortal!
From the fight earlier, Bai Bazheng could tell Meng Qi’s strength was less than the Four Acupores. One of his blade tricks came from the bladesmanship of the Exterior capable of challenging the superior level but did not belong to the Exterior itself. The thunder that killed Yuan Mengzhi might have been the effect of a widget or talisman. Unfortunately, no one knew if he had anything more up his sleeve or if the talisman could be reused. Thus, it was not worth risking his neck to rescue Yuan Mengzhi. He was better off informing the top expert of the Exterior, Ze Luoju, and let him deal with it.
This way, the horse bandits with extraordinary strength watched helplessly as Meng Qi left. Nobody said anything or tried to stop him. In fact, most were so scared that they could not even look at him.
With a blade and a sword crossed on his back, a blade behind his hip and a sword in his left hand, he gracefully walked out of the hall and disappeared in the darkness outside in spite of the nearly 100 enemies surrounding him.
The sight of Meng Qi’s back was carved deep in the minds of the horse bandits, such as Zhong Yashe, Gong Shayue and so on.
After a long time, someone said, “The force of the heaven and earth is truly formidable!”
“I didn’t think he could utilize Thunderclap!”
Most of the horse bandits did not care whether Meng Qi was truly an expert of the Exterior. What was important was he had shown the lethality of the Exterior. After all, no one dared to bet if he would come again!
“As expected, the names Meng and Zhen Ding will soon spread across Immensity Sea… ” Zhong Yashe made an odd remark. To kill Yuan Mengzhi, a top expert of the nine acupores, in only one trick, was perhaps something impossible even for those who ranked at the bottom of the Ranking List of Young Masters.
Of course, there were extraordinary talents on that Ranking List of Young Masters like Gu Xiaosang who had wiped out a martial artist of the Eight Acupores and two experts of the Nine Acupores in her three moves.
…
Out of the Castellan Mansion and into the shadow outside, Zhen Hui was still blabbering about his Jianghu experiences.
He saw Meng Qi suddenly wobble beside him, his body weakening as he almost fell to the ground.
“Senior Brother, what’s wrong?” Zhen Hui asked with concern.
Meng Qi forced a wry smile. “I’m just a bit tired.”
The damned Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms said he could use the thunderbolt mark to invite the Sky Thunder’s help on thunderstorms days three times, but never mentioned that it would cost so much of his energy!
After he used all his strength to use his “Peace Quietude Split”, he still had some ordinary fighting capability left. But now, he did not have any other strength except for walking.
And with so many vigorous opponents surrounding him earlier, he would immediately be dismembered by the disorderly blades and plundered if he showed any hint of weakness.
Therefore, Meng Qi forced himself to shoulder on and put on the act of a top expert as he had always done. He left elegantly with the remaining prestige of the Sky Thunder without caring for any of them. As expected, his act had deterred them.
Based on his temper, Meng Qi would not have done so if he still had any strength to fight. He would have pointed at the bandits with his sword and said, “If I want to take revenge, I’ll do it on the spot!” or “You’re clay chickens and pottery dogs who don’t deserve my sword!” or “Who dares to come up for a fight?”
But since he was so worn out, he could not deliberately provoke them. If some reckless lad came up and answered his challenge, then he would have played himself.
Zhen Hui quickly steadied Meng Qi and under his instruction, he deftly found the Haunter’s Replenishing Bolus and fed him one. He cast away his Lightness Skill of the Flower-pinching Finger by itself, rushing to Lao Cao’s hotel together with Meng Qi.
After taking the elixir, Meng Qi heard crying, wailing, and howling sounds reverberating in his ears. He steeled his will and meditated in Dhyana to ignore the sounds. He then sensed something turning into a warm current, gradually replenishing his body and soul.
At that moment, it was raining cats and dogs with the thunder overhead. There were few people on the street, allowing them to quickly get back to Lao Cao’s hotel. Meng Qi had restored some of his strength thanks to the elixir, so he breezily entered through the gate and approached Drunk Xie with a sword in his left hand.
He could not show that his strength was minimal, otherwise Drunk Xie might plot something against him.
Having seen the huge stripe of thunder split the Castellan Mansion, Gu Changqing turned back to Lao Cao’s hotel and he believed that Zhen Hui must have been rescued with the help of Meng Qi’s secret weapon or the expert of the Exterior.
Having made this bet, he had been confidently waiting for a while. When he saw Meng Qi walking in leisurely with a sword in hand, he mentally praised him. Meng had such good grace!
“Let’s leave the city.” Meng Qi did not want to delay any longer. He did not want his true identity to be exposed.
Drunk Xie hiccupped and staggeringly got up, saying, “Follow me to get a change of clothes.”
After changing into the local attire that masked their swords, Drunk Xie led the three of them to the nearest gate of the city.
When they reached the edge of the city, Meng Qi defensively held the handle of his sword. By then, he had recovered some of his strength.
The gatekeeping soldiers did not even ask anything. They quietly opened the gates and watched them leave. The city of Fish Sea was so small that there were no troublesome procedures for opening the gates.
Out of the city, Meng Qi became more assured in Drunk Xie’s ability and followed him to the lake where a small boat was berthed.
“Don’t ask anything after boarding. You’ll be ferried to the other side. From there, it’s only a day away from Tan Han. Tan Han is a complicated place. No one will be able to find you there.” Drunk Xie said in a low voice, in a rare show of seriousness.
When he said they wouldn’t be found, he meant no one would find them with the limited time available. After all, it would take at least six days before the Shaolin relief troops would arrive. Who would dare risk searching for the Shaolin heirs?
“Should I pay you the rest of the money now?” Meng Qi asked calmly.
Drunk Xie shook his head. “When you get to the other side, give it to the boatman. I’m not afraid you’ll repudiate a debt. Whoever dared to do that now lies at the bottom of the Fish Sea.”
Meng Qi secretly estimated the strength of the force behind him and said no more. With Gu Changqing and Zhen Hui, he boarded the boat.
The dark-skinned, reticent boatman wore a bamboo hat as if he was from the Central Plains. He was properly rowing with a pair of paddles at the back of the boat.
Meng Qi closed his eyes and harmonized Qi-circulation, trying his best to restore his strength. Gu Changqing and Zhen Hui were silent as they tried to adopt a relaxed posture.
Just then, the fog suddenly enveloped them. Meng Qi immediately pulled out his sword and eased him into a proper stance, vigilantly watching the front.
“Don’t worry! I mean no harm.” A drifting voice came to their ears as if it had come from a dream. A figure in the feathered robes and crest appeared in front of Meng Qi. His appearance was vague for they could not see him clearly.
“What are you trying to do?” Meng Qi asked softly. Zhen Hui and Gu Changqing seemed to fast asleep beside him.
The man with feathered robes and crest smiled. “We think you’re promising and want you to join our organization’s reserve team.”
“Reserve team? What organization?” Meng Qi frowned.
“I can only tell you after you agree and make an oath to the Vital Spirit,” the man said leisurely.
“Huh. Do you think I’ll agree with a condition like that?” Meng Qi wore a scornful smile on his face.
The man chuckled. “Our organization has vast powers. We have enough resources to help you progress to be an expert of the Exterior. Won’t you give it a second thought?”
“Multi-level marketing was not done this way!” Meng Qi grumbled internally, not answering the man.
The man sighed. “Fine. I know you won’t be able to make up your mind on such short notice. I’ll leave you a talisman. If you’ve made your decision, light it. Someone will meet you then.”