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墨書 Inktalez
Xunuo had no understanding of hidden weapon techniques and was a novice in internal energy cultivation, but he could still release True Qi. With a flick of his Long Robe, he sent a bundle of chestnuts, infused with True Qi, whistling towards the two Gowned Men.
The two Gowned Men were taken aback when Xunuo suddenly stopped. Although they had some preparation in their hearts, they truly did not take him seriously. Instead, they felt a bit of dark glee and quickened their pace. By the time they saw Xunuo launching a barrage of chestnuts that resembled iron thorns, it was too late to dodge.
If there had been fewer chestnuts, they might have been able to swat them away. But this barrage contained hundreds of them, falling like a torrential rain. The two men had no time for anything else and quickly raised their Long Robes to shield their faces.
Even though they summoned their Inner Strength, the rain of chestnuts still caused them to tremble all over. Nevertheless, gritting their teeth, they charged forward without losing speed.
Once the first wave of chestnuts passed, the two men lowered their Long Robes only to find that a second wave was already upon them. They hurriedly closed their eyes and braced themselves, feeling the iron thorns raining down on them.
This time, they didn't even have time to raise their Long Robes again; the chestnuts struck directly against their heads and faces.
Before the second wave of chestnuts had even passed, they heard a sudden sound and realized something was amiss. The man in the red shirt rolled sideways without even opening his eyes. The man in the blue shirt opened his eyes just in time to see a Horse-Cutting Blade tumbling through the air behind the chestnut rain.
The Blue-Clad Man let out a strange cry and shrank back as the Horse-Cutting Blade whizzed past his scalp, taking with it a chunk of skin and hair.
Xunuo sighed at the missed opportunity and turned to chase after Jiang Tiesuo and the others.
The two men in Long Robes exchanged glances, both sporting bruised faces and blood streaming down. The Blue-Clad Man had lost a layer of skin and hair from his scalp, blood gushing forth and soaking part of his Long Robe.
The Red-Clad Man was covered in chestnuts; the shock from earlier had caused him to leak True Qi, and now he felt the pain. Looking down, he realized that during his roll on the ground, those chestnuts had embedded themselves all over him. He gathered his energy to shake off the chestnuts stuck to his body.
At that moment, footsteps approached from afar—two men in black clothing were drawing near. The Red-Clad Man pulled out a Porcelain Bottle from his pocket and poured out two pills. He handed one to his bald companion and swallowed one himself. The bald man swallowed his pill in one gulp and pointed at the Porcelain Bottle in the Red Robe Man's hand. The Red Robe Man winced but reluctantly poured out another pill for him.
The bald man took the pill and picked up the piece of scalp with hair attached from the ground, placing it back on his head before chasing after Xunuo's fleeing figure with disheveled hair.
The Red Robe Man glanced at the crazed Blue Robe Man running ahead and realized that he didn’t want anyone inside to see him in such a state. Sighing inwardly, he thought about how unpresentable he looked as well before jumping up to follow behind.
Although Xunuo's delay was brief, it was enough for Jiang Tiesuo and his companions to cross the river. Moreover, Xunuo was now quite certain that if he ran off alone now, those two old foes would undoubtedly pursue him. This time, he had thoroughly offended them; for these two men, it was now an irreconcilable situation.
Xunuo felt little psychological burden about this. Being the Arch-Nemesis already, he naturally didn't care if the other party added another grudge.
Before long, before Robe Man could catch up, Jing Lide and the others had already ridden onto the suspension bridge. When Xunuo reached the bridge and looked around, he nearly broke down. This was actually a cable suspension bridge, with iron chains as thick as a child's arm and wooden planks laid on top. The handrails on both sides were made of brown rope. Such thick iron chains would be useless against knives or axes.
Jing Lide came over and asked, "What's wrong, Master Lu?"
Xunuo replied, "This is a cable bridge."
Jing Lide said, "Yes, didn't I mention that?"
Xunuo pointed at Jing Lide but found himself momentarily speechless. He felt a surge of nausea and an impulse to hit someone. Finally, he managed to suppress his emotions and said, "After you cross the bridge, split up and run. Don't think too much about it; just go."
Suddenly, Jing Lide pointed behind Xunuo and said, "What about those two Shishu?"
Xunuo turned around to see that the two Robe Men were chasing from a distance. Although they were far away and not clearly visible, it was evident that their faces were covered in blood, their hair disheveled and looking wild. Xunuo sneered and said, "Those two have gone mad; if you run slowly, you'll end up dead."
Upon hearing this, the group spurred their horses toward the other side of the bridge.
Xunuo kicked apart two planks of the bridge but felt helpless when he looked at the thick iron chains. Seeing several horses had crossed the suspension bridge, he drew his Short Blade and cut through the two brown ropes. Then he infused True Qi into the Short Blade and swung it down at the iron chain. With a loud clang, the Short Blade snapped in half while only leaving a shallow mark on the chain.
Xunuo let out a bitter laugh and murmured, "Just as I thought."
He couldn't believe that a single Short Blade could sever such thick iron chains.
Rising to his feet, Xunuo glanced at both ends of the suspension bridge. Jiang Tiesuo and his three companions had indeed scattered after crossing as Xunuo had suggested. This way, even if they were pursued, two of them could escape. Meanwhile, the two Robe Men were getting closer to the bridge; their ferocious faces were now clearly visible.
Xunuo wasn't anxious; after all, he planned to jump into the river to escape anyway—whether he jumped in early or late didn't matter.
Suddenly, an idea struck Xunuo. He took out the Heavenly Shadow Spike from his pocket. After thinking for a moment, he infused all his True Qi into it. Perhaps due to gripping it too tightly, he accidentally cut his hand. At this moment, Xunuo didn't care about that; using the sharp tip of the Heavenly Shadow Spike, he forcefully struck at one of the iron chains. To his surprise, it snapped cleanly in half. Xunuo was caught off guard and nearly fell into the river.
The two Robe Men had reached the riverbank by now. Seeing Xunuo sever one of the iron chains filled them with surprise and rage as they stepped onto the remaining chain and charged forward. Not daring to delay any longer, Xunuo hung one hand in mid-air while gripping the Heavenly Shadow Spike tightly with the other hand and swung it at the last remaining iron chain. Then came a loud crash as the suspension bridge broke into two pieces. The three people on the bridge fell into the water.
Two Robe Men fell straight into the shallow water near the shore, while Xunuo sank with the iron chains into the deep waters of the river.
As soon as Xunuo hit the water, he dove straight to the riverbed and drifted downstream. This was already the best outcome he could hope for. He had no intention of provoking those two formidable experts. It was sheer luck that he had managed to escape with his life from their clutches. Any further attempts to attract attention would be tantamount to courting death.
After swimming for a while, a sudden sense of alertness arose within Xunuo, as if an unsettling feeling stirred in his heart. Ever since he began practicing the Huayang Classic, his vision and hearing had far surpassed that of ordinary people, allowing him to see quite far even underwater. He looked around and saw nothing unusual, but when he turned to glance behind him, he was startled.
The two Robe Men were following closely behind him, now less than thirty feet away and rapidly closing the distance. Their fierce eyes glinted with malice.
Xunuo quickly realized that he had underestimated the situation. Mengzhou was rich in rivers and lakes, and its people were well-versed in swimming; they were not like him, who could merely stay afloat without drowning. The people of Dingzhou only knew how to survive in water; they could not compare to those who had grown up in rivers since childhood.
Xunuo understood that he had miscalculated this time; if he had anticipated this step earlier and made it to shore, he might have escaped. Now, he could only adapt to the circumstances.
As Xunuo swam slowly ahead, he stirred up the silt at the riverbed while extending his Divine Sense. Instantly, a swirling mass of black muck rose behind him. In a moment, Xunuo discovered a cave underwater ahead and felt a surge of joy. He knew this was his only hope for survival. He quickly stirred up the water even more murkily and dove into the cave.
Once inside, Xunuo realized that the cave contained flowing water, with currents even stronger than those in the river. He thought to himself: if this Water Cave has an exit, that would be even better. He immediately let himself drift downstream.
Just as Xunuo felt a moment of relief, his joy quickly faded. To his dismay, his Divine Sense detected that the two Robe Men had followed him into the Water Cave. At this point, Xunuo had no expectations or plans left; he could only swim for his life. After some time, he gradually slowed down, an odd expression appearing on his face.
The Water Cave was circular and about thirty feet wide, but it was pitch black inside. Even with his keen eyesight, Xunuo could see only about ten to fifteen feet ahead. His navigation through this dark passage relied heavily on his Divine Sense.
The two men behind him were not only moving slowly but also drew their swords, seemingly probing their way forward while swinging their blades as they walked. This was far from what Xunuo had anticipated.
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