Neither close nor far, only a hundred feet away – to ordinary people, this number didn’t have any other meaning, but this distance in fact represented danger and even death. Because no matter whether it was a Sword Master, a Talisman Master or an Enchanter, as long as they stepped into the Mysterious Cavern realm, then they could within 100 feet launch an attack at will.
The boundless spring rain fell splas.h.i.+ng on top of that horse carriage, fell onto that tall and st.u.r.dy coachman atop the carriage coachman’s seat. The curtain of the carriage occasionally being lifted up by the wind, only being able to see a corner of a simple long gown, but unable to see the person inside clearly. The owner of the simple clothes was an old person with plain facial features, his brow anxiously drooping, and his face riddled with wrinkles, just like an old root of goldthread, rough and bitter.
He was called Xiao KuYu, the power supporting the Great Tang nation’s military. Twenty years ago he already entered the Mysterious Cavern realm. A few days ago, because of tonight’s planned purge, he was secretly recalled back to the capitol by secret military order from Yang Pa.s.s.
Outside of the carriage was miserable with the cold wind and bitter rain, but inside of the carriage Xiao KuYu felt indifferent. The two thin, dried up hands placed on his knees slightly trembled, his thumb from his index and middle finger moving unceasingly pinching on the four horizontal lines, just like a withered branch unceasingly tapping onto dry yellow earth. Both his eyes were closed, facing him was the thick carriage’s curtain, but with just a light pinch of the fingers, he could precisely see the entrance of the main gate of the Chao residence, and see Chao XiaoShu sitting cross-legged in the pounding rain.
The raindrops in the direction of the side street of Spring Wind Pavilion were impacted by some kind of formless force. At first they became more blatantly slanted, such that no one could see or even sense the fluctuations, beginning to condense the energies of heaven and earth.
Sitting in the pounding rain, Chao XiaoShu’s lip slightly pursed. Tonight up to this point, the middle-aged man’s slightly pale handsome looks for the first time appeared with a heavy, serious expression. Towards that Enchanter in that mysterious carriage, he had to concentrate all of his psyche to deal with, so his eyes slightly lowered, no longer looking at those ten plus despairing elite Tang troops in front of him. His right hand showing beyond his sleeve whizzed, thumping into the acc.u.mulated water at his side, splas.h.i.+ng up the muddy colored rainwater.
With his palm heavily smas.h.i.+ng into the rainwater, within the rain-listening pavilion, the deeply embedded single, thin, blue steel sword in the ascetic monk’s head swiftly returned with a chi sound. In the rainy sky it spun about like a flash of lightning with a shrill whistle, a never before seen speed transformed into flowing light, instantly flying above the courtyard walls, piercing towards that carriage in the rain.
Calmly within the carriage in the rain sounded one indifferent word: “Tsk.”
The blue steel sword flowed like a rainbow, struck into the seeming power that this word held. In the rainy sky of threads of rain, seemingly being restricted by fluctuations of formless power, just a moment ago it was soaring over the courtyard walls, now it suddenly stopped. Then like a broken string on a kite, it flew miserably tilting, cras.h.i.+ng into the wall of the opposite side of the street, following the rain and falling to the ground!
In the carriage in the rain, that one sound of ‘tsk’ from 100 feet away, seemed to have already transcended the categories of s.p.a.ce and time, but at the same time in the Sea of Qi in Chao XiaoShu’s ears, it was echoing like thunder in his ear drums.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Chao XiaoShu felt his own heart seemingly being held by a formless hand, beginning to violently beat like war drums incessantly thumping, instantly losing control of the flying sword. He knew that if he didn’t manage another response, the next time, this war drum would then heavily thump till it split, and his own heart would then be crushed to bits by the person in the carriage.
The person in that carriage – just where did they find such a great Enchanter?
Chao XiaoShu’s thin lips tightly pursed, lifting his right hand like a flash of lightning, and smacked his own chest three times, pa pa and the rain water smacked out of his blue robe. He forcefully sealed his own Sea of Qi, but his body was already using those previous strikes floating tilted apart from the ground, floating out of the gate of his own courtyard, floating to the alley shrouded by rainwater.
Two palms heavily beat the ground – Chao XiaoShu sensed fluctuations of energy in the air that left no place untouched, sensed that dark cold energy threads were making a net all about his body. Taking in a deep breath, he lifted his step and walked forward.
He went towards that carriage in the rain, his complexion becoming more and more pale, but his two eyes became brighter and brighter. On an ordinary day, they were calm and unhurried, by now they had long been replaced with cold determination – even though with each step, the fluctuating energies in the alley would cause his body ma.s.sive injury, he would still walk with another step. In the carriage, that powerful Enchanter that had pierced his Sea of Qi would make it still sharper, but he still persisted to walk forward, because he had to get close to that carriage.
Just in the instant that Chao XiaoShu’s heart in his chest began to violently beat, Ning Que also felt the same. In the cras.h.i.+ng rain, he heard that thumping like a war drum – he knew that horrifying sound came from within Chao XiaoShu’s body, because that Enchanter controlling the energies of heaven and earth directly attacked the internal organs of his enemies!
This kind of move appeared to be the type that was impossible to defend against. He, standing in the rain, his body began to stiffen. His hands grasping the blade’s handle suddenly felt extremely cold. He knew that the truly terrifying enemy finally arrived.
Chao XiaoShu went towards that carriage in the rain, and didn’t give Ning Que any kind of explanation, because his psyche was completely focused on confronting the enemy within the carriage. He didn’t have any spare concentration to tell Ning Que because he had done this.
Ning Que had seen Lu QingChen in action before, he knew what a terrifying existence an Enchanter was, so he knew that in this instant and moment he must suppress all the fear in his heart. He was very clear that before a powerful Enchanter, resisting with a weaker body was a weak point of them all. If he wanted Chao XiaoShu to live, and wanted himself to live, then he must have a way that used all of his thinking to harm that person’s body within the car, and wreck their opponent’s body.
The Chao Residence’s main gate and the dividing heavy rain curtain in between from the carriage was a distance of 100 feet. A Great Enchanter could control the energies of heaven and earth and ignore this short distance, ignore any restrictions of time and s.p.a.ce and directly attack the enemy, and he was just an ordinary person. What means could he use to attack the opponent’s meditation?
His right foot heavily stomped onto the limestone tiles, his sole bursting up a ring of slightly muddy acc.u.mulated water. Relying on the ma.s.sive countershock force, Ning Que’s body resembled the leaves swirling from violent winds – with a whoos.h.i.+ng sound, he forcefully flew out horizontally of Chao Mansion’s main gate, leaping into mid-air.
Once he was in mid-air, with a zeng, his right hand carrying his blade precisely stabbed back into the sheath behind him. Then gripping a feathered arrow from his quiver, his left elbow turned, and a yellow hardwood poplar bow rotated in the rain and appeared in front of him.
He floated through the rain, fiercely pulling that yellow hardwood popular bow. His muscles flexed tightly and then released, and the bowstring fired a volley of four feathered arrows!
Four arrows like lightning shot towards that carriage in the rain!
Ning Que’s two feet stepped into the water, the center of his body falling onto the ground. Those four arrows had already pa.s.sed Chao XiaoShu’s side – one could imagine his reaction speed and firing speed were truly astonis.h.i.+ng!
Since the requirement was speed, then there was no reason to stop. Only seeing Ning Que’s two feet stepping into the street full of rainwater, his body was leaning forward like a leopard, rus.h.i.+ng violently towards that carriage. The yellow hardwood poplar bow again spread out in front of him, the bowstring making humming sounds, with feathered arrows firing out like lightning again!
He charged in the rainy night, he fired arrows as he charged.