Between the mountains and fields was a creek, floating on the creek were many withered leaves. This feeling was like the yellow flower powder young ladies would apply to their foreheads, the scene extremely elegant and graceful.
A wave of sudden horse hoof noises shattered the peace within these mountains and fields.
More than thirty riders charged through this narrow and winding path, stopping in front of this clear creek.
Among these completely ordinary dressed individuals, even the horses only ordinary horses, their group looked like a normal merchant caravan, Xu Zhenyan organized his hair that became a bit tangled and hard because of dust. He swallowed with great difficulty, using his eyes that still carried a bit of fear to vigilantly examine the surrounding scenery.
Because his father, Xu Family"s most powerful figure Xu Tianw.a.n.g, was someone one of those nine senators favored, the one surnamed Jiang viewed as most capable and trustworthy, that was why Xu Tianw.a.n.g"s grasp over Wenren Cangyue"s situation was also greater than that of normal influential figures.
After expressing his disappointment in Xu Zhenyan and then ordering Xu Zhenyan to carry out this type of mission, Xu Tianw.a.n.g also completely informed Xu Zhenyan about the west"s situation.
However, it was different from how Tong Wei appeared in Sheep Point Field Mountain Army"s gathering point and told Lin Xi about the situation to the west. Green Luan Academy told Lin Xi about these things because they felt like Lin Xi had the right to know about these things, had the qualifications to make his choice, even though even Tong Wei was extremely sure that Lin Xi would definitely head west because of those friends of his. Xu Tianw.a.n.g told Xu Zhenyan these things because he wanted Xu Zhenyan to understand that he was always surrounded by the shadow of true death, to force Xu Zhenyan with the threat of true death and fear.
As for whether this would be good for Xu Zhenyan or not, Xu Tianw.a.n.g didn"t think too much about it. It was because in the eyes of someone like him who obtained the recognition of Jiang Family because of his own strength and coldness, if one couldn"t advance under the pressure of fear and instead become overwhelmed by fear, then this person was precisely trash, not worthy of any pity, even if this person was his own son.
Wenren Cangyue"s power and terror weren"t limited to his management over Jadefall City that used to be the territory of Xiyi"s Fifteen Divisions, not only in his Sky Wolf Guards that contained many cultivators, it also rested in the unknown number of personnel he arranged outside these past few years, it was unknown just how many people worked for him because of the benefits he granted or the deals they made.
He was the world"s greatest ambitious and ruthless individual after Yunqin"s late emperor pa.s.sed away and the new emperor Changsun Jinse succeeded the throne, not a martial idiot who only understood war and slaughter.
After Wenren Cangyue used dark and thunderous methods to directly kill all troops carrying the emperor"s will, fully expressing his decisiveness and craziness, all of the troops who arrived later moved secretly, not using the official paths and relay stations at all. Xu Zhenyan didn"t know just how many troops like them were currently moving through Yunqin Empire"s mountains and rivers, but he knew that many of these troops were killed not long after they just left Central Continent Imperial City. That was why their lives weren"t only threatened when they approached Jadefall City, but were rather constantly in danger no matter where they were during these twenty to thirty days.
…
Xu Zhenyan saw that the waters of the clear creek before him were quite deep, so there was definitely no way for their horses to cross it.
He saw that in a wild crossing not far away, was a bamboo raft, but there were no signs of human life. He also saw that there was a shaman temple on a distant hilltop, what was consecrated within should be the mountain deity wors.h.i.+pped by these mountain natives.
Then, he couldn"t help but turn to look at the one on a gray horse on his side.
Seated on the gray horse was a middle-aged man whose hair by his temples was turning slightly white. His facial features were lean, as if he was a scholar, right now, he looked like the manager or accountant of this "caravan". Most of the people here didn"t know this individual"s surname or ident.i.ty, to the extent where they didn"t even know that this was the one they were truly escorting to Jadefall City. The path they took and where they stopped at were all decided by this habitually silent tall middle-aged man. However, Xu Zhenyan could feel that this scholar-like middle-aged man possessed a bit of a different temperament, this individual should be a cultivator far exceeding himself.
Right now, only when Xu Zhenyan looked at this middle-aged man"s figure, did his constant feeling of panic slightly calm down.
At this time, several people in this group whose water sacks already didn"t have much water left already got off their horses, preparing to first fill their water sacks. That large and tall, warrior-like uncommunicative middle-aged man was currently seeing if there was any way to move around this stream, or perhaps if they could reinforce the bamboo raft to cross over.
At this time, Xu Zhenyan noticed some extremely slight movements from the scholar-like middle-aged man on the gray horse.
He saw this middle-aged man"s ears tremble slightly, his back becoming a bit rigid. Then, this male turned around, looking towards the jungle on the other side of this small clear stream.
“Be careful, something doesn"t seem right.”
He sensed that the fine abnormality was quickly becoming more and more real. This scholar-like middle-aged man immediately released a cold and heavy shout.
Everyone was momentarily shocked, all of their bodies going taut.
Ka… ka… ka…
Right at this time, in the opposite mountain forest the scholar-like middle-aged man was staring into, a burst of scalp numbing metal hinges and metal grinding sounds suddenly erupted.
However, it was also precisely at this time that the middle-aged scholar-like man suddenly turned around, his eyes coldly looking into another area.
That area was precisely on their side, that mountain slope not far from the bamboo raft.
Some strange gloomy droning sounds only he could hear sounded at the same time the intense metal grinding noises sounded from the other sh.o.r.e.
All of these noises, in an instant, became the sounds of wind and thunder.
Under everyone"s rapidly contracting pupils, in the forest on the other side, three black metal crossbows that were each the thickness of an infant"s arm tore through the wind, shooting out bolts like lightning!
On that slope behind the bamboo raft, a giant scythe that was at least the length of a horse, swirling with cold white radiance, hacked apart everything in its path. All of the brush and small trees were cleaved through without any resistance, scattering uniformly and collapsing.
Pu! Pu!
The three giant black metal crossbow"s bolts instantly rushed into their group. One missed, but two pierced through two riders, producing terrifying b.l.o.o.d.y holes. All of the internal organs within their chests were torn apart, becoming a b.l.o.o.d.y stream as they burst out of their backs.
The terrifying giant scythe of swirling cold white light descended at the same time, instantly cutting through two riders cleanly through their waists together with their horses" necks. Moreover, the wind and thunder might didn"t seem to decrease in the slightest.
Because Xu Zhenyan was always paying attention to this scholar-like middle-aged man"s fine movements, he noticed the terrifying giant scythe earlier than most people in their group. In addition, he had experienced much training in Green Luan Academy"s training valley, so the moment the giant scythe appeared while carrying a terrifying vortex of wind and thunder, Xu Zhenyan who was already scared to the extreme already made his move, jumping off the horse and lying on the ground.
However, when his body was just a few inches from truly touching the ground, before he truly landed on the ground from the air, the terrifying cold s.h.i.+ning white scythe already pa.s.sed through the body of the horse he was previously on.
His head was facing the ground, so he didn"t see that the st.u.r.dy horse neck was already easily cut through like rice straw. However, he could hear blood rus.h.i.+ng out from his horse"s neck like a fountain, he could feel the coldness of the giant blade flying above his back.
All of his body"s pores instantly became dripping with cold sweat, his hands and feet becoming momentarily limp and painful. His body even felt as if it didn"t have the strength to draw a blade.
The scholar-like middle-aged cultivator"s eyes even narrowed into a thread.
He definitely had the ability to avoid this terrifying giant scythe sweeping towards him, but he understood extremely clearly that there were at least five riders behind him who had no way of avoiding this giant blade. That was why at this moment, he didn"t evade. He released an exhale and a shout, producing a golden longsword from the cloth sack next to the saddle.
Following his fierce shout, the golden longsword became an extremely dazzling sphere of thunder, hacking upwards from below, aimed at the giant spinning scythe that was a breath away from reaching him.
Boom!
Two metal objects clashed, yet there was instead an exceptionally m.u.f.fled rumbling noise.
The cold s.h.i.+ning white giant scythe was forcibly sent into the air, spinning about like a giant clamsh.e.l.l.
The gray horse this golden longsword wielding middle-aged cultivator was on fell downwards, its four hooves snapping at the same time, but it didn"t release a cry at all. A blast of b.l.o.o.d.y mist shot out from its mouth.
The middle-aged cultivator was struck flying from the back of the horse, falling into the creek with a loud splash noise.
Xu Zhenyan who was lying on the ground was shaking all over, his brain completely filled with fear and disbelief.
Moon Slicing Crossbow!
Wenren Cangyue"s a.s.sa.s.sins actually used the Moon Slicing Crossbows whose powers were only below Mountain Piercing Crossbows!
There was even something above the Moon Slicing Crossbow, something that was extremely few in the entire military. It was a Revolving Blade Cart whose blade alone needed five or six ordinary soldiers to equip!
Regardless of whether it was the Moon Piercing Crossbow"s crossbow vehicle or the Revolving Blade Cart, they were both extremely ma.s.sive. Wenren Cangyue"s people could actually deliver this type of military equipment here without anyone"s notice and use it to carry out this a.s.sa.s.sination!
…
Two riders with their intestines smashed rotten fell to the ground.
The flickering white giant scythe landed on the ground with a crash noise.
The three headless horses and a horse whose hooves were crushed from the impact laid dead on the ground, while two riders whose bodies were cleaved at the waist were lying in pools of blood.
The instant a thick bloodiness surrounded this troop, more than ten hooks flickering with cold light rushed out from the forest, black chains behind them, flung towards the middle-aged cultivator who landed in the river.
Several dozen black clad a.s.sa.s.sins wielding long blades, their faces covered under iron masks, silently rushed out like dozens of streaks of black streams, instantly penetrating their group. An even bloodier slaughter immediately began.
Xu Zhenyan whose entire body was shaking just crawled up from the ground, drawing two three-edged blades. He saw that right in front of him, a rider thrusted his sword through the eye socket of an a.s.sa.s.sin. However, when he just broke out into a cold s.h.i.+ver, momentarily at a loss, a long blade hacked off this rider"s head together with half his shoulder, blood splas.h.i.+ng towards Xu Zhenyan"s face.
The a.s.sa.s.sin who cut down that rider directly knocked aside that corpse, rus.h.i.+ng up to Xu Zhenyan"s face.
Xu Zhenyan moved almost instinctively. His body pulled back and then the blade in his right hand fiercely thrusted into this a.s.sa.s.sin"s chest armor, stabbing into his body.
This a.s.sa.s.sin released a miserable scream. While on the brink of death, he erupted with powerful willpower. Using the last of his strength, the long blade in his right hand also stabbed outwards viciously, planting itself into Xu Zhenyan"s shoulder joint.
The ice-cold blade pierced through his flesh, cutting onto his bones and was then stopped. Half of Xu Zhenyan"s body twitched, a beast-like howl was released from his mouth as well. The blades in his hands continuously stabbed into the body of the a.s.sa.s.sin in front of him, falling onto the ground together with this a.s.sa.s.sin. When he fell over with the a.s.sa.s.sin"s corpse, he was still howling miserably, continuously stabbing this a.s.sa.s.sin"s corpse that already couldn"t react in the slightest.