The reeds were swaying under the gusts of wind and snow was still falling, landing on the woven clothes of everyone around. It was an exceptionally cold day. Pei Zi Yun whipped out his long sword and jumped with incredible agility. He landed on the reeds and felt that it was very soft. His feet submerged under the reeds.
"d.a.m.ned High Scholar, give me your life!" The leader of the mob shouted and laughed, unable to accurately express his grief and anger. With a raised blade he dashed towards Pei Zi Yun. Many others were behind him, roaring in anger, all with their blades raised as well.
It was as if an entire army was coming after him. Pei Zi Yun"s pupils dilated, he stepped forward to meet them.
"Kill this thug, do not let him get away, for he will harm more innocent people." The leader shouted angrily. Hearing this, Pei Zi Yun felt that something was not quite right. He was about to open his mouth and ask, and yet he knew that his voice would be drowned by their roars. They descended upon him.
Almost instantly, he heard the shouts of two men, and two blades appeared before him, working together seamlessly. They had put all their strength into a single attack, not wanting to give him any chance of survival.
Stepping into mud, Pei Zi Yun squinted his eyes as a sinking feeling overwhelmed him. He raised his sword to deflect the blows. Pei Zi Yun felt much lighter, moving with such agility. With a glow of a sword, he brought it down on the nearest attacker.
"Ah….." The person nearest to him cried out in pain, a large gash appeared on his left chest. Blood and organs spilled out from the cut.
"No, fourth brother!" He started hacking and slashing at Pei Zi Yun. The sound of swords colliding with each other could be heard. Pei Zi Yun waited for the opportune moment, while still parrying the blows away from his attacker.
"Pu" Pei Zi Yun jabbed his sword into the left shoulder of his opponent. He then drove it in deeper, before pulling the sword out. Fresh blood flew in all directions.
"Kill them!" At this moment, the boat had finally reached the reeds. He turned around to see five men running towards the boat, and the two soldiers were readying themselves to defend the official.
Pei Zi Yun swung his sword and the man who had fallen before him was decapitated instantly. He then started making his way towards the boat. Unlike himself, Liao Ge was an ordinary official who wasn"t even capable of killing a chicken.
There were screams of anger everywhere, "Quick, quick, block him."
"Chen Ping, hurry and kill that dog official. This High Scholar knows martial arts and is very strong. We cannot defeat him. You should kill that dog official and consider it revenge exacted for the innocent lives that had been lost."
"Yes, big brother." Chen Ping was a big man. Hearing this words, he made a dash for the boat. The pair of soldiers had been retreating a few steps back. Seeing Chen Lian rushing towards them, their faces turned pale with fright.
"Kill, protect his excellency!" Ever since the establishment of the dynasty, these two soldiers know that they had to protect this official at all costs. Pei Zi Yun was secondary. As long as an official died under their watch, they would be tried and executed for failing to protect him.
Seeing Chen Lian charging towards them, they gave out a loud cry of courage, not refusing to retreat any further.
"To h.e.l.l with you. Eagle"s Claw!" Chen Ping knew martial arts as well and fought with such ferocity that made it difficult for these two soldiers to handle. After showing just a few strokes, a gap formed between the soldiers.
"Go to h.e.l.l!" Chen Ping laughed coldly, before swinging his blade down on the soldier. The soldier nearest to him lost his fighting arm, as it was hacked off, and dropped to the ground. Blood was gushing from his shoulder, where his arm once was. Being subjected to such an outcome, his face was full of desperation and he charged forward in anger.
"Pu" Chen Ping dodged his charge and made for the gap between the two soldiers, where Liao Ge was standing vulnerably. Just as he was about to drive his knife into the gap, the soldier laughed, "Bandit, die together with me."
Using his remaining left hand to hold the blade, he charged once more towards Chen Lian. Chen Lian was unable to press forward towards the official, neither was he able to retreat. He looked on in confliction as he soldier charged towards him.
"Pu" Chen Ping shouted in agony, he had been stabbed through the chest, and was screaming in pain.
"Not good!" The description of events took much longer than the time it actually took for this to happened. Pei Zi Yun was being blocked by some men wielding knives. He stopped and started muttering some incantations. The blade of his sword started glowing in light, "To h.e.l.l with you!"
All of a sudden, the blades being held by the two men were forced out of their hands by an invisible force. The reflection of both the blades were pouring down upon the both of them. All of a sudden, the reflection vanished and was replaced by a pair of surprised shouts. The blades had stabbed the both of them as they both of them fell to the ground, dead.
"Ah!" At this point, a shout came from the boat. Liao Ge was retreating in fear, as if he was begging for his life. His red-eyed attacker did not care for him, and continued approaching before shouting, "To h.e.l.l with you dog official!"
"Pu!" With a huge jab, he stabbed Liao Ge in the chest. Blood splattered everywhere.
"Kill!" Pei Zi Yun saw with his own eyes Liao Ge being killed and his eyes turned red with anger. This was an official they had just murdered. He smiled, "I wanted to ask them for the reason behind this attack. It looks like I do not have to anymore."
"Everyone here shall die!"
"Pitfall technique!" Pei Zi Yun raised his hands. The swamps and reeds started trapping anyone who was nearby. The leader of the group tripped as his legs were caught by some vines.
This man"s pupils dilated. Just as he was about to jump out and free himself, it was too late. With the swing of a sword and the gleam of the blade a head was flying in the sky, blood pulsating in all directions.
Seeing this scene unfold before their eyes, the men who were watching shouted, "Big brother Ji!"
These men"s eyes all turned red in anger as they charged towards him.
"All of you, perish!"
"Blinding Light technique!"
These men charged towards him when all of a sudden, a blinding light illuminated the area before them, as they shielded their eyes. Someone then shouted, "This is bad, this person is a demon. Hurry, retreat."
This man shouted in a high pitched voice. The minute he had finished speaking, his head flew up into the sky as well. Pei Zi Yun held his sword and charged towards them. All that could be heard were the sound of swords connecting with necks. Three times in rapid succession, these three men who had shielded their eyes were all dead.
Combining Dao Arts with martial arts and killing all these people was too easy. Only one of them had rolled away and retreated after being exposed to the Blinding Light technique escaped.
Rain and snow continued showering upon them. The person who had rolled away and escaped was covered in mud. Panting, he shouted, "You"re a demon. There"s a demon a.s.sisting the pirates. You are indeed Ji Bei Hou"s demon. We are right."
Pei Zi Yun gave a cold laugh, "Oh, I concocted the policy to Exterminate the Pirates. I even became an enemy to Ji Bei Hou because of that. How is it possible that I am a.s.sisting Hou Mansion? Who bewitched all of you into thinking this way?"
This man paused, "How"s that possible. You are clearly an accomplice to the pirates. It"s impossible that we are mistaken."
The man hesitated. All of a sudden, a scream rang out and Pei Zi Yun turned to look. The second soldier could not hold on for much longer. A head was rolling onboard the deck. The man aboard the ship shouted, "Li Cheng, hurry and kill the demon. He must be stalling for time to recover. We would not want to be subjected to his demon"s magic again. Hurry!"
"Yes, at this point, whether it"s a mistake or a grievance, it"s too late to turn back." Within seconds, several people around him charged towards Pei Zi Yun.
"Zhng!" Their swords collided in aggression. In that short fraction of a second that their blades touched, the attacker felt his entire body tremble, as if he had lost all his energy. The next second saw Pei Zi Yun plunge his blade into the stomach of the attacker. Although such a blow would not kill instantly, the pain was excruciating. This man fell over and shouted, "Save me…"
"Kill!"
As a blade charged towards Pei Zi Yun, he stuck his sword in between the ribs of the man on the floor. The blade charging towards him was now an inch away from his left shoulder. He spun around and countered the blade deftly. Although Pei Zi Yun did not use much energy, Li Chen looked like he had been struck by lightning. The minute their blades met, Li Chen"s sword flew into the sky, as he lost control of his weapon.
Pei Zi Yun gave a shout of victory. Just as he was about to plunge his sword into the defenseless Li Chen, he felt his legs go weak. Although this fight seemed to span a short time, he had already used his Dao Arts a total of 8 times. Although it hadn"t been very obvious, his last few strokes had all been infused with some Dao Arts. This was why he was completely drained of energy now. He was unable to use his Dao Arts anymore.
"Kill him, this High Scholar is unable to use his demonic magic anymore." Li Chen was filled with joy. The few people beside him gave a shout as they dashed towards Pei Zi Yun without a care for their own safety, their blades raised as if to claim his life.
Pei Zi Yun stumbled backwards in a bid to retreat. It was all water behind him, as he plunged into the water. Li Chen was the first among them to reach Pei Zi Yun. Sensing that danger was near, he turned around and slashed Li Chen, whose entire chest was split opened. Screaming in pain, he fell backwards and perished.
"Kill!" Two more men charged towards Pei Zi Yun. Pei Zi Yun submerged his sword under the water before flicking it up towards them. The water droplets from the river were like bullets, splashing into their eyes.
The two men screamed out in fear, being momentarily blinded, as they attempted to retreat. With a flash of the sword, their necks had been slit as they fell face first into the river, causing the area around them to turn a deep red.
"Hua" Pei Zi Yun stood up, and the water on his body dripped back into the river. At this point, four men was rushing towards him from the boat.
"Oh, you do not know how to work together. All of you charging towards me one by one is making it to easy." Although he no longer had any energy left to use his Dao Arts, one attack was enough.
"Kill!"
"KIll!"
With one movement and a single slash, the sounds of three men shouting in agony could be heard. One of them had been slashed in the heart, the other had been slashed in the abdomen as they dropped to the ground. The last man started running away. Pei Zi Yun managed to catch up with him in a few strides.
"Die!" All of a sudden, the man who was running away turned around and threw a secret weapon at Pei Zi Yun. With quick reflexes, he managed to dodge it. Another blade was slicing through the air as it reflected light and strike Pei Zi Yun hard in the chest, and was stuck on his leather armour.
Pei Zi Yun was sweating cold sweat. This is not right. How does this person have such skills to use a stealthy secret weapon lIke this. Just as he was chasing, the man in front turned around again and threw his weapon towards Pei Zi Yun once more. This time however, he was prepared for this and leapt out of the way.
"Pu!" Pei Zi Yun dove and stuck his blade into him, as he screamed out in pain.
"Tell me, who sent you here?" Pei Zi Yun asked. He stopped screaming before collapsing onto the ground.
Pei Zi Yun prodded him with his sword suspiciously, and he didn"t budge an inch. After slashing his hands and legs, Pei Zi Yun turned him over. He was bleeding from every orifice on his face. The blood that he was bleeding had a black tinge to it. It was clear that he had bitten down on a poison pill that he kept concealed in his mouth.
"A death warrior?" Pei Zi Yun"s face fell.
At this point, snow and rain was still descending upon them. Deep within the recesses of the reeds, a pair of frightened eyes were staring right at Pei Zi Yun.
Pei Zi Yun heard a sound, but did not head in the direction of it. It was coming from the person who had been stabbed in the stomach. He had not perished yet but was struggling with agony, "You are an accomplice to these pirates and will not have a good ending. It"s a pity us brothers are not your match. You cannot escape."
Pei Zi Yun extended a hand and pressed down on his wound to stop his bleeding. He then asked, "Who told you that we are accomplices to pirates?"
"Ha ha, you think we do not know?"
"Cough, cough, was a poem written by you. Ji Bei Hou and the pirates were working together to attack the county, and you composed a poem for him. After that Ji Bei Hou asked you to become his advisor. You think we did not know about this? If it weren"t for fifth brother… Cough cough." The man then started spitting out a large mouthful of blood. Pei Zi Yun wanted to ask further but he had already perished.The entire ground was full of corpses, as snow covered the ground. Pei Zi Yun boarded the boat and looked down at Liao Ge, "Your excellency Liao?"
Liao Ge hasn"t died yet, but one look and it was clear that death was fast approaching. Just moments before they were discussing about the scenery and poems and wine. Now he lay here close to dying. Pei Zi Yun sighed, "Your excellency Liao, do you have any desires or wishes that I can fulfil for you? I will do my best."
Pei Zi Yun looked at Liao Ge who was struggling to speak. He then pressed down hard on his wound and a white light glowed at it. Liao Ge"s cheeks started to turn flushed, "Cough cough, thank you master Top Scorer. I have no wishes or desires. It"s just that all these years my wife had been living in hardship, and I didn"t have the chance to let her live a good life."
"Now, I am unable to give my daughter a good life as well. I only have this daughter, and her mother died when she was young. I only ask that master Top Scorer look after her."
Liao Ge said this before his flushed cheeks became white and he started panting, his eyes were wide open, almost as if he won"t rest in peace until Pei Zi Yun a.s.sured him.
"I will look after your daughter, Brother Liao Ge, go in peace." Liao Ge"s inner organs had been wrecked and there was no saving him. Not even the Sweet Dew Technique would have been able to save him. What Pei Zi Yun did previously was not the Sweet Dew Technique. Rather, it was the Final Flash which allowed him to temporarily extend the life of Liao Ge long enough for him to reveal his dying wish.
"Thank you master Top Scorer." Liao Ge said before breathing his last breath, as he spat out blood and died on the floorboard of the boat.
Beyond the reeds, the lady stared fearfully at the wreckage of dead bodies strewn on the ground, and could not believe her eyes. She then glared at the boat as she covered her mouth with her hands.
That night, the pirates had killed her entire family. The scene before her was exactly the scene she was looking at now. Her mother had hid her behind the foliages. She had covered her mouth with her hands the same way, so that she would not make any sound and thus managed to survive.
Without a sound, a large teardrop trickled down her face, as it mixed with the rain and snow. Seeing her enemy aboard the boat, she slowly turned around and walked away.