224: Chapter 224 Watching from the sidelines, a dog-eat-dog game (4)

Lu Changyuan looked downstairs—through the window crack, he saw the direction of the gravel road exit.

At the edge of the gravel road—fragments of bone shields, broken bone hooks, and poisoned daggers were scattered all over the ground.

The grey-blue bodily fluids on the ground were mixed with dark red—the dark red was human blood.

"How many of the Haiyuan Clan are left?"

"About forty-something just now—around seven or eight were lost in the narrow alley and on the gravel road—plus those lying on the ground now—fewer than thirty can still move. Private Soldiers—three can still fight. Scarface—Shorty has fallen, and Scarface is retreating."

"Scarface isn't retreating. He is moving toward Shorty—there is a Storage Pouch where Shorty is lying. The Storage Pouch fell by Shorty's right foot—the pouch is open."

Leng Feng adjusted the focal length of the observation scope one level higher—he saw it clearly.

Shorty's left hand, stretched out on the ground—his fingers were crawling toward the Storage Pouch.

The fingers crawled two inches on the muddy ground—reached the drawstring of the Storage Pouch, pulled it toward himself—but didn't pull it to his face.

But his fingers reached into the pouch—what he pulled out—was a tiny talisman paper.

Engraved on the talisman paper was a miniature Light-Returning Array—the spiritual energy pulse was extremely short and weak—the pulse width of a transmission talisman did not match that of a detonating talisman.

It was transmitting in a certain direction—the direction pointed straight to the horizon.

Leng Feng shifted the observation scope toward the horizon—he didn't spot any ships.

But the pulse direction of the guiding talisman—was consistent with his previous judgment.

The buyer behind the scenes—was waiting somewhere on the sea.

Lu Changyuan did not look at the observation scope.

The direction he was looking at was the direction of the Royal Capital Fleet on the horizon—the massive black shadow of the spirit boat had changed from the blurry outline of yesterday afternoon to the kind that could now be seen clearly through the observation scope, with triangular flags hanging from the tips of the masts.

The four-day countdown—less than three days remained.

The flank—after the Haiyuan Clan wiped out the Private Soldiers—would still charge toward the Lords Mansion.

Only one isolation light barrier remained in front.

The Haiyuan Clan would hit the light barrier—unable to break through.

Unable to break through—they would pace back and forth in front of the light barrier.

Once they were exhausted—Leng Feng would lead the personal guards out to harvest them.

Right now, the Haiyuan Clan was still fighting the only enemy in their eyes—the Private Soldiers.

Once the Private Soldiers were wiped out—only then would they look toward the Lords Mansion.

"How long can the isolation light barrier hold?"

"Su Qingli said—it's a one-way physical isolation, it doesn't withstand spiritual energy attacks. If the Black-Armored Commander uses his bone spear for a full-force thrust—the light barrier will break. But that would require him to have the surplus energy to attack in the direction of the Lords Mansion. He is currently killing Scarface—by the time he finishes fighting Scarface—he won't have much spiritual energy reserve left."

Lu Changyuan nodded.

Then he looked out again.

The open ground—Scarface retreated to the position where Shorty had fallen.

He didn't help Shorty up—because he couldn't.

After his right leg was pierced by the bone spear—Shorty's femoral artery was gushing blood, and the speed of the bleeding had already exceeded the speed at which a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's body could clot blood on its own.

Self-clotting was only effective for shallow wounds—it couldn't stop a puncture wound.

Shorty's complexion changed from a normal sun-tanned color to ashen white within ten breaths—the rate of blood loss was too fast.

Shorty released the talisman paper from his palm—and pushed it toward Scarface.

The talisman paper slid less than half a foot on the muddy ground—Scarface bent down—and picked up the talisman paper.

The pulse of the Light-Returning Array was still emitting outward—in the direction of the sea.

He folded the talisman paper—and stuffed it into the innermost layer of his belt.

Then he stood up.

The remaining two Private Soldiers had all been beaten down.

One had his abdominal cavity pierced through by the False Core Vice-Commander's bone spear—the bone spear went in from the front and came out from the back.

The other was hooked by three Haiyuan Clan members simultaneously using bone hooks on his left and right shoulders and head—lifted up from the open ground—and then smashed against the stone wall.

The brick surface of the stone wall slammed heavily against his back—no breathing could be heard anymore.

The Black-Armored Commander knelt on one knee—pointing his bone spear at Scarface.

The distance between the spear tip and Scarface's chest was less than five zhang—exactly the same as the position at the very beginning in the narrow alley.

Only this time—there was no one behind Scarface who could form a shield wall.

The False Core Vice-Commander was also injured—a large piece of bone armor on his right arm was missing—having been pried off by Scarface with a single blade strike from under his armpit upward just now.

The crystal shard on the Black-Armored Commander's left hand had almost dimmed to the lowest point—his spiritual energy reserve was at most only twenty percent.

He raised the bone spear—aimed it at Scarface—and thrust it diagonally upward.

This was the final full-force thrust.

Scarface did not dodge—he did not side-step.

He raised his right hand above his head—the short blade slashed from bottom to top—sliding up from beneath the spear tip of the bone spear.

He did not deflect the spear tip—he sent his own wrist toward the spear tip, while simultaneously letting the blade reach the Black-Armored Commander's wrist.

As the spear tip pierced his arm, the blade tip pierced the Black-Armored Commander's wrist.

A trade of blows intended for mutual destruction.

The spear tip pierced into Scarface's left forearm—the moment it pierced through, an extremely heavy sensation of bone fracturing was transmitted back along the spear shaft.

Scarface's left forearm was pierced through—the bone spear passed between the ulna and radius—the forearm lost its gripping ability on the spot.

But at the same time—his short blade pierced into the Black-Armored Commander's right wrist.

The blade tip pierced in from the gap in the bony wrist armor—penetrating the tendons behind the wrist joint.

The five fingers of the Black-Armored Commander's right claw relaxed simultaneously—the bone spear slipped out of his left hand.

Scarface flicked his pierced left arm to the side—the arm slid off the spear shaft—the spear shaft slipped out of his hand—the Black-Armored Commander wanted to grab the bone spear back into his hand—but not a single one of the five fingers on his right claw could bend.

The Black-Armored Commander knelt on the spot—his right claw open with the palm facing upward—the fingertips trembling slightly.

He glanced at his bone spear—the bone spear lay horizontally on the muddy ground less than one step away from Scarface.

But for this step—he was missing a leg—and also missing a hand.

The False Core Vice-Commander came up from the side—preparing to smash the bone spear down onto Scarface's head.

Then he stopped.

At the corner of the gravel road—the silver-grey line of the isolation light barrier slowly dropped by half an inch.

The light barrier emitted an extremely low resonance from the inside—the frequency was very low, like a hum in a quiet room.

Not a single person was left at the exit of the gravel road—

Outside the open ground—behind the light barrier—a faint circle of illumination leaked from the bright cold-light stone lamp in the Chart Room on the second floor of the Lords Mansion.

Lu Changyuan's figure had moved away from the window, but the light was still on.

Scarface pulled the short blade out from the Black-Armored Commander's wrist armor.

He turned around—and looked up at the second floor of the Lords Mansion.

The light barrier was slowly descending—it stopped at a semi-transparent height that could only block sound but not vision.

Through the light barrier—he saw two people in the Chart Room.

One stood in front of the window—with both hands behind his back.

One stood behind him—holding a long sword that had not yet been unsheathed.

Scarface roared—his voice extremely hoarse.

"You motherfucker—"

Lu Changyuan's gaze swept over Scarface.

He did not respond.

His fingers tapped twice on the window frame—neither fast nor slow—about one breath between the two taps.

Two taps—one order.

Then he turned—and walked from the window into the deeper part of the Chart Room—walking into a position that Scarface's line of sight could no longer reach.

Outside the light barrier—from the lawn to the open ground—and then to the edge of the shallows in the direction of the Pier.

Leng Feng pushed open the door—and with six personal guards—came around from the other side of the light barrier.

Leng Feng did not unsheathe his sword.

He simply picked up Scarface's poisoned short blade from the ground—flipped it over to look at the dark toxic rust on the blade surface—and then wiped the blade surface on the sole of his shoe, wiping away the applied layer of poison—revealing the original metallic color underneath.

"Well fought."

Leng Feng casually stuck the short blade into the pile of metal fragments in the center of the open ground—and pointed a finger toward his feet.

Scarface's left arm bone was broken—the blade in his right hand had just been pulled back—but he could no longer stand straight.

He raised the poisoned short blade toward Leng Feng—but the blade slipped from his hand halfway through being raised.

The tendons in his right hand were also injured—hit by the recoil of the bone spear—his right hand couldn't even grip the hilt.

Leng Feng didn't speak again.

He dragged Scarface up from the muddy ground—and walked toward the Lords Mansion.

The light barrier rose again behind him—to its full height.

At the edge of the open ground—the Haiyuan Clan False Core Vice-Commander saw the light barrier restore—and turned in another direction.

He could no longer afford to chase Scarface—his commander was kneeling on the ground—his knees poisoned, his wrist pierced, and his spiritual energy reserve was only twenty percent; the losses in the entire battle were too heavy.

Forty-one elites—at this moment, fewer than twenty were still standing.

Most of them were lightly injured—but having fought continuously until now, the spiritual energy patterns on the bone spears had all gone dark.

The detection bone fragments had also temporarily lost precision after being disrupted by spiritual energy.

The remaining Haiyuan Clan members were no longer a shock troop with formation—they were a group of exhausted stragglers.

Stragglers would not attack the formation—they would only retreat to places with water.

The Black-Armored Commander knelt on the spot—and picked up the bone spear—using his left hand.

His left hand could not hold the spear very steadily—but his body was leaning as much as possible toward the shallow water.

The shell fragments of the remnants behind him fell onto the open ground—mixed in the same area as the broken blades and shields of the Private Soldiers—it was impossible to tell whose blood was whose.

A gust of sea breeze blew in from the direction of the Ring Reef—blowing the remaining bandages wrapped around the spear shaft at the narrow alley exit so they fluttered loudly.

The golden light in the direction of the front reef flashed twice—and then dimmed again.

The front was still exchanging fire—the main force had not yet crossed the reef.

On the open ground—only the back of Scarface being dragged by Leng Feng into the Lords Mansion remained, and the final glance of the Black-Armored Commander, who steadied himself on one knee by the shallows—looking back at the Lords Mansion.