Chapter 169: The Mountain God Temple at Night
Ripped from its hinge, the door was crashed open and four people rushed in like the whirlwind, standing firmly before the Sword General.
They looked almost the same, all ugly and ferocious. They all carried nothing in their hands.
“It’s too late for you guys to run now.” The one standing at the far left laughed wickedly.
“That’s because we’ve arrived,” the one next to him continued.
“With us around, you’ll definitely die,” the third person stressed.
“So it means nothing whether you run or not.” The person on the far right arrogantly sized up Meng Qi and his companions.
Meng Qi was holding the sword hilt of Ice Palace Sword and eyeing the sword point intently as if nothing else could attract his attention. On the other hand, Lu Zhongqi continually retreated and insensibly hid behind him. Taoist Hu closely guarded Lu Guan and glanced at Meng Qi subconsciously. With willful blindness, Ruan Yushu gently played the zither.
Looking at the corpse of the Sword General, the newcomer on the far right said, “He’s dead.”
“He died because his Kung Fu wasn’t good enough,” the second person on the right added.
“We won’t die because our martial arts are better than him,” the second person on the left said.
“Absolutely, you’ll die!” The left-most person viciously stared at Meng Qi and others.
Strangely, they always stood in a semi-circle and spoke in a certain order.
As Lu Zhongqi and Taoist Hu had expected, Meng Qi stood up with the Long Sword in his hands. He neither moved too quickly nor slowly as if the four men before him were nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs.
“Is Evil Prince here?” Meng Qi asked, staring at his sword.
“The Master isn’t here,” the eldest of the Four Villains of the Zheng Family on the far left answered.
“Because there’s no need for him to come,” the second person on the left explained.
“You all aren’t worthy to contest with him,” the second one on the right expressed with great reverence.
“We’re more than enough to deal with you!” The youngest on the far left side was very proud.
Meng Qi looked up, inclining his sword, and said indifferently, “What a pity. No one will be around to carry away your bodies.”
He spoke matter-of-factly. Lu Guan, Lu Zhongqi, and Taoist Hu shared the same confidence after witnessing how easily he killed the Sword General. However, when they recalled the infamy of Four Villains of the Zheng Family, they began to feel ill at ease.
“That won’t be necessary.” The second youngest on the right snorted.
“We’ll definitely win.” The second person on the right lifted his palms and posed to fight.
“You’re the ones who need someone to collect your bodies,” the second one on the right retorted sarcastically.
“Too bad you don’t have one.” The eldest on the left side stepped ahead. The four of them appeared like one being. They placed their palms up in an identical row, like an inescapable trap without any flaws.
With a voice like spring thunder, Meng Qi spoke up.
“Flurry!”
The sounds of Ruan Yushu’s tweedle suddenly turned ear-splittingly jarring and harmonized with Meng Qi’s roar, cutting deep into everyone.
The Four Villains of the Zheng Family felt their ears buzzing and they could no longer hear any sound. They became dizzy and their reactions slowed. If not for their strong inner force, they would be instantly stupefied.
Seizing the opportunity, Meng Qi went up to them and brandished his sword to demonstrate his “Arrow-breaking Move”.
“Ah!”
Shrill cries came out of the Four Villains of the Zheng Family almost simultaneously. Though their eyes were closed, blood and other liquids were trickling down their faces.
Now blinded, all of them waved and moved at random. It made for an incredibly chaotic scene.
His body bending, Meng Qi charged at them and waved his sword four times. He then proudly straightened up with his sword sheathed.
The Four Villains of the Zheng Family thudded on the floor one by one. They were all killed with by identical sword cuts to their throats. If someone saw this, perhaps they would think this was a corpse accompanied by his three shadows.
Three moves. It took only three moves to kill the shocking and atrocious Four Brothers of the Zheng Family. From the start to the end, they basically had no chance to fight back.
Taoist Hu thought the cumulative of all the shocks he had experienced in his life could not be compared to what he felt today. Everything felt like a dream.
Since when had the Sword General and the Four Villains of the Zheng Family that he could only dream of became so ordinary? They were so defenseless in the face of Little Meng’s attacks.
The brothers were said to be comparable to Moon-bathing Taoist, the Demon King, when they worked together. If so, what did that say about Little Meng with his single sword?
He and Lu Zhongqi both had completely changed what they thought about Meng Qi. No matter how unbelievable it was, it was undeniable. The young man before them could well be the future “Sword Emperor”! His importance might even be on par with Devil Empress and Prime Maester!
Meng Qi turned and walked back to the fire. He gently nodded in acknowledgment of Lu Guan’s gratitude and was silent as usual.
To be honest, they did not die because his Thundering scream was so powerful. Nor was it because Ruan Yushu’s tweedle doubled the lethality of his attack. The truth was the Four Villains of the Zheng Family could only be considered as a true master as a team. If they fought against the Thundering scream and tweedle alone, they would only a little better than Du Wuchang. If it came to masters at the level of Demon King and Evil Prince, the Thundering scream could only make them dizzy and momentarily stunned, resulting in them losing the opportunity to attack.
Once they became dizzy, they would not be able to the team up for the moment. That sealed the fate of the Four Villains of the Zheng Family.
Lu Zhongqi searched the corpses of the four brothers once again. Unluckily, they were typically reckless. There was nothing on them except food and more food.
“I found a letter!” Lu Zhongqi was pleasantly surprised when he searched the last person. It could perhaps be evidence of some scoundrels from the court ordering the assassination. When they presented the letter to the His Majesty, those scoundrels would have to pay for their crimes.
“What’s it about?” Lu Guan calmly asked.
Lu Zhongqi opened the letter after checking it and his face suddenly paled. “It’s from Evil Prince.”
He subconsciously read the letter out loud. “I beg your pardon for my reckless subordinates. I’ll definitely visit you soon, General Lu. Please await my arrival.”
Arrogance and overconfidence underlaid the polite words as if Evil Prince was telling General Lu he was bound to take his head.
Moreover, this letter was written before the failure of the Four Villains of the Zheng Family. It seemed as if he had the ability to predict the future!
“It’s merely someone trying to deceive us with petty tricks,” Meng Qi said coldly.
Taoist Hu came to understand what happened. “Evil Prince wrote this letter to be the safe side. If the Four Villains of the Zheng Family win, naturally we wouldn’t be able to read this letter. They can just burn it when they return. But if they lose, that means we have masters as strong as they’re on our side. Then this letter would disturb our minds.”
“Vile Characters of the Demonic Arts!” Lu Zhongqi cursed in rage.
He sighed after calming down. “But this at least proves that Evil Prince will definitely make a move personally.”
“Yes.” Taoist Hu heaved a deep sigh too. Except for the sound of Chinese zither with a lofty artistic ambiance, Mountain God Temple descended into silence once again.
No one said anything. Though Little Meng was powerful and his sword art enigmatic, he was still lacking compared to Evil Prince, who was famed for his Immortal Pressing Art and Hallucination Body Movements for many years.
Guan Ying, also known as “Evil Prince”, once made a successful escape from Prime Maester and Devil Empress. He also won a battle against Demon King, Severing-Blade, and Ruyi Monk. Thus, his strength should not be underestimated.
Bitter winds followed the miserable rains. Outside the Mountain God Temple, an autumn rain was falling and the night had darkened.
Lu Zhongqi no longer brought up rushing to the capital city under the cover of night. In such an environment, it was easy to get attacked if they walked at night. When that happened, Little Meng would not have enough time to rescue them. It was better to stay put in the temple.
The heavy rain and strong winds rattled the roof tiles, further deepening the dead silence of the night.
Just then, the four windows were smashed open and five to six figures leaped in.
They were just about to make their moves when they saw Meng Qi completely motionless with his Long Sword placed across the knees. He stared coldly at them without any signs of wanting to draw his sword.
Stunned, the men looked around and found the five corpses scattered near the gate of the temple.
One of the corpses was tall and large, with a rough face and wide-open eyes. The cut on his lower jaw was deep. The other four looked the same, ugly and ferocious. They all shared the same deep sword cuts in the same place on their throats. Upon first glance, they thought it was an illusion.
They turned to look at the most eye-catching one in the temple, Meng Qi. Stern and silent, he looked at them in a way that frightened even them. A few wisps of blood slowly flowed to the tip of the blade, forming a falling drop.
With a slight sound, the blood droplet fell to the ground.
“Run!” They shouted in unison and leaped out the same way they had entered. The only difference was their lack of murderous intent or agility. They simply looked panicked and pathetic.
Silence returned to the temple again. This time, Lu Zhongqi and the rest felt a lot more at ease. The sound of Ruan Yushu’s zither became clear and melodious, like the murmuring of running water. Lu Guan picked up a book on the art of war and carefully read it by the fire.
Outside, another crowd of people had arrived. When they saw the broken windows and gates, they were stunned to hear seemingly nothing from the inside. They quietly moved to the window to take a peek inside.
They were utterly frightened when they saw what was going on inside. Lu Guan and his men looked so at ease as if they were on an outing. There was not at all any signs of panic nor tension that one would expect from people under obstruction and interception.
The most attention-grabbing person was the young man with a Long Sword across his knees. His eyes were half open and he appeared indifferent. He incited a deep and chilling fear in them. Compared to the hard-to-come-by beauty inside, he was far more fascinating.
They swallowed and carefully looked inside the ruined temple.
Their gazes became fixed and their pupils shrunk. They involuntarily cried, “The Sword General!”
“The Four Villains of the Zheng Family!”
Many turned away without looking back after a brief silence. Who still dared to attack after seeing the corpses of the Four Villains of the Zheng Family?
Of course, some of the more courageous ones remained. They found it odd. If those people inside could kill the Four Villains of the Zheng Family, why were they not coming out to kill them? Perhaps the death of the four brothers was the result of someone else’s handiwork. That was why those people inside only dared to scare them off, and not attack.
Someone took up the courage to fly to the roof. They found the right place and smashed the tiles before diving inside the temple.
The others promptly turned around and looked inside. Once those people showed weaknesses, they would act immediately.
“Ah!”
A terrifying scream rang through the night. They simply saw the one who tried to ambush the people inside lying on the floor. They did not even see the fight that had happened! The man’s head was smashed blood and his limbs were all fractured. But the fatal injury was the cut at the mid-brows.
The indifferent and ruthless young man was remained sitting cross-legged with the Long Sword across his knees. The only difference was the slightly more blood on his sword that quickly merged to form droplets, falling drop by drop on the ground.
Pit-a-pat. The weak sound seemed to reverberate in their hearts and led them to turn away silently.
Several more groups of people came later, but no one dared to enter the temple. In the rain, they all silently left away after observing from the sidelines for a while.
When the morning dawned after the rain had stopped and the clouds had lifted, Meng Qi slowly stood up.
He calmly said, “It’s time to go.”