Chapter 114 Crossbows from Coffin Fire into the Street, Lin Chen Uses Knife to Slash the Coffin to Protect Zhou Ping'an

The sound of the gong stopped.

White funeral banners hung in the wind, and paper money covered half the street, as if burned in advance for the living.

Just as Zhao Gang shouted for the whole team to stop, the coffin lid was flipped open from the inside. Four wooden bolts popped out simultaneously, the black-lacquered lid flipped up by half a foot, and two iron-armed crossbows poked out from both sides of the coffin walls.

The crossbow triggers were pulled.

Four repeating crossbow bolts fired in a volley, spreading out in a fan shape, covering a three-zhang-wide area in the center of the street.

The leftmost one flew close to the ground, aiming straight for the bottom crossbar of the cloth sedan.

The second one grazed the side, aiming for the palm-width gap between the sedan curtain and the curtain rod.

The third one fired horizontally, its height aligned perfectly with the heart of the person sitting inside the cloth sedan.

The fourth one angled upwards, sealing off the only gap for the person in the sedan to roll and dodge to the right.

The landing points of the four arrows connected, perfectly blocking every direction Zhou Pingan could dodge in the cloth sedan.

Zhao Gang's eyelids twitched.

"Protect the sedan!"

Before his voice had even fallen, Lin Chen had already moved.

black abyss was unsheathed, the saber light sweeping up from bottom to top in an arc across the center of the street. With two crisp sounds of "ding," the two crossbow bolts closest to the sedan curtain gap were slashed into four pieces, the iron tips tumbling away and embedding themselves into the door panel of a grocery store by the street.

Zhou Tie's iron spear swept out almost simultaneously, the shaft striking the third bolt from the side. The bolt deflected by half an inch, grazing the cloth curtain of the sedan and piercing into the inner side panel.

The arrow tip was less than an inch from Zhou Pingan's neck.

The fourth arrow followed an upward angle. Shen Yue lunged from the side of the formation, gripping her short blade in a reverse hold and knocking it upward. The back of the blade struck the shaft, causing the bolt to deflect, flying over the top of the cloth sedan and embedding into the brick seam of the opposite wall.

The fletching at the end of the arrow was still trembling.

Zhou Pingan sat inside the sedan, his face pale and bloodless, his body frozen in place, even his breathing stopped.

The crossbow bolt embedded in the side panel was right beside his ear, the residual black medicinal liquid on the arrowhead slowly dripping down along the wood grain.

Zhao Gang turned back to glance inside the sedan and cursed.

"Are you hurt?"

Zhou Pingan's lips trembled; he couldn't squeeze out a single word from his throat.

Three people vaulted out of the coffin.

They were dressed in black and masked, with narrow blades hanging at their waists. Their footsteps carried a steady Killing Intent when they landed, clearly Death Warriors who had undergone long-term training.

The leader held a short blade in each hand, the blades wider than ordinary narrow blades, with the edges shimmering with a pale cyan luster.

He didn't look at Zhao Gang, nor did he look at Zhou Tie. His gaze passed over everyone and landed straight on the cloth sedan.

"Kill Zhou Pingan."

The three moved simultaneously.

At the same time, the funeral procession wearing hemp and filial piety on both sides of the street suddenly scattered. Four of them pulled out hidden narrow blades from the bamboo poles of the white banners, flanking the escort team from the left and right.

The white banners fell to the ground, and the paper money was trampled into the mud.

Zhao Gang drew his saber to meet the nearest white-banner assassin. The man held his narrow blade horizontally, intending to seal off Zhao Gang's path.

Zhao Gang slashed down, the blade cutting half an inch into the opponent's scapula. The sound of bone shattering spread across the street.

The white-banner assassin groaned and retreated, his shoulder collapsed on one side.

Zhao Gang pulled his saber, his boot tip pinning the man's knee, pressing him to the ground.

"You dare bring a funeral procession onto my turf!"

A second white-banner assassin lunged from the side, the tip of his blade aiming straight for Zhao Gang's lower back.

An East Courtyard patrol guard blocked behind Zhao Gang, raising his saber to parry. His web of his thumb was torn open on the spot, and he was knocked back two steps, his back hitting the sedan pole of the cloth sedan.

But that slash was blocked.

The patrol guard gritted his teeth, using his shoulder to prop up the sedan pole, preventing the cloth sedan from collapsing.

Shen Yue did not stay in the front.

The moment the crossbows volleyed, she had judged that the coffin and the white-banner assassins in the front were a feint; the real killing move wouldn't be just these.

She flipped onto the eaves of the storefront by the street, sliding with her toes on the tiles, her gaze sweeping over the dark corners on both sides of the alley entrance.

Sure enough.

At the corner of the alley on the left, two crossbowmen dressed in gray cloth tunics were crouching behind the wall base, the iron-armed crossbows in their hands having already fired a round and were now reloading.

The sound of the crossbow strings being pulled back was clearly audible on the tiles.

Shen Yue didn't call anyone.

She fished a flying knife from her sleeve with her right hand, flicked her wrist, and the blade flew out, skimming the edge of the eaves and embedding into the wrist of one of the crossbowmen holding a crossbow.

The man screamed, the iron-armed crossbow slipping from his hand, the string snapping back and cutting his own fingers.

The other crossbowman was so frightened by the scream that he shrank back half a step, the crossbow muzzle veering off, not daring to pull the trigger.

Shen Yue dropped from the eaves, holding her short blade horizontally, the edge aimed at the man's throat.

"Put the crossbow down."

The crossbowman looked at the second flying knife still spinning in her hand, his fingers slowly releasing from the trigger, and he placed the iron-armed crossbow on the ground.

Shen Yue kicked the crossbow into the drainage ditch.

"Get down, hands behind your back."

The melee on the street continued.

The three Death Warriors who had vaulted from the coffin pressed toward the cloth sedan with every move, their blade techniques heavy, pressing step by step, with only one goal.

Zhou Tie's iron spear swept out, the shaft pinning one man's waist blade, forcing him back two steps.

But the other two had already bypassed him.

The leader of the Death Warriors crossed his twin blades, slashing horizontally with one and chopping vertically with the other, two blades of light cutting toward the cloth sedan from different angles.

Zhao Gang rushed over from the side to intercept, raising his saber to parry the Death Warrior leader's horizontal slash.

Blade met blade, and a deep, thick True Qi surged from the opponent's blade, numbing Zhao Gang's entire arm.

Zhao Gang gritted his teeth and held on. The second blade slashed down, and he raised his saber to block again.

The third blade.

The old calluses on the web of Zhao Gang's thumb split open, beads of blood seeping from between his fingers and dripping down along the hilt.

He retreated half a step and squeezed a sentence out of his throat.

"Inspector, this one is tough!"

Lin Chen had arrived.

black abyss lay horizontally in front of him, blocking the Death Warrior leader's direct slash toward the cloth sedan. Sparks erupted where the blades met.

The Death Warrior leader's gaze finally shifted away from the cloth sedan and landed on Lin Chen's face.

He didn't speak, his twin blades rotating—the left blade sealing his throat, the right blade aiming for his ribs—the two blade lights intertwined, forming a killing move with few gaps.

Lin Chen turned sideways, black abyss sweeping up from bottom to top, the back of the blade knocking away the left blade, and the edge of the blade took advantage of the momentum to push forward half an inch, forcing the Death Warrior leader to retract his right blade to defend.

The two exchanged blows seven times.

Each collision carried a dull vibration of True Qi. The stone slabs on the street began to crack from the third time, and by the seventh time, the stone slab under Lin Chen's feet had already shattered into three pieces.

The Death Warrior leader's aura was deep and powerful, each slash landing with heavy force, clearly having already stepped onto the edge of the Tongmai Peak.

Lin Chen's internal True Qi surged violently in the extreme confrontation. The True Qi in his twelve main meridians felt like boiling water being stirred, and a burning sensation rose from the depths of his Dantian, tightening his abdominal cavity.

The feeling was strange.

It was as if something was striking against the inner wall of his Dantian, one after another, trying to break through some invisible bottleneck.

He suppressed that burning sensation, and black abyss slashed out again.

The City Defense Battalion had flanked from the perimeter.

The spear formation pushed in from both ends of the alley simultaneously, the spear tips forming a line of cold light, sealing the entire street like an iron barrel.

The white-banner assassins attempting to flee from the side alley were blocked by the spear formation and retreated back to the street.

A Death Warrior tried to vault out from the drainage ditch at the end of the street. Just as he crouched down, Sun Qi's knee was already pressing on his back, a short blade pressed against his spine.

"What are you running for? Your master hasn't called for a retreat yet."

The Death Warrior struggled, and the tip of the blade on his spine pressed in by half a point; he didn't dare to move on the spot.

Sun Qi twisted his arm behind his back and wrapped the rope around it three times.

"Clench your teeth tight, don't bite through anything you shouldn't."

He freed one hand, used a strip of cloth to wrap the Death Warrior's jaw twice, blocking the position where a poison sac might be hidden.

The escape routes on the street were sealed off one by one.

The Death Warrior leader's twin blades slashed faster and faster, the wind of the blades pressing Lin Chen's robes to flutter violently.

He suddenly stepped back, took a copper whistle from his bosom, bit it between his teeth, and blew twice in short bursts.

The whistle sound was sharp, piercing through the entire street.

Zhao Gang's expression changed.

"There's a backup!"

On the roof of the tallest storefront at the end of the street, a figure stood up.

Wrapped in a gray robe, the hood pulled down to his brow, he held a longbow in his hand, the bow arms longer than ordinary hunting bows, with a long black arrow nocked on the string.

The arrow tip was coated with black medicinal liquid, shimmering with an oily luster in the twilight.

The bowstring was slowly pulled to full draw.

When the string was pulled to the limit, it emitted a low hum, like a bowstring stretched to the limit, carrying far across the quiet street.

The direction the arrow tip was aimed at was the cloth sedan.

Zhou Tie saw the archer, raised his iron spear, but found the distance too great; the spear couldn't reach.

Zhao Gang saw it too, his teeth clenching and grinding, his feet taking a step toward that side, only to be entangled again by the white-banner assassin in front of him.

Shen Yue looked up at the alley entrance, her flying knife already thrown, but the angle was blocked by the eaves, the tip hitting the tiles and bouncing away.

"Can't reach!"

Lin Chen heard the hum of the bowstring in the gap of his entanglement with the Death Warrior leader.

His gaze passed over the Death Warrior leader's shoulder and swept to the gray-robed figure on the roof with the fully drawn bow.

The distance was too far; the saber couldn't reach.

There was no time for anyone to intercept either.

The burning sensation in his Dantian surged to the limit at this moment, True Qi rushing wildly along the twelve main meridians, like steam blocked at the boiling point, finding its only outlet.

Lin Chen did not suppress it.

He forcibly pushed the surging True Qi in his body toward his Dantian, raised black abyss with his right hand, and pointed the blade toward the roof.

True Qi poured from his Dantian into his arm and into the blade, and a layer of visible golden halo appeared on the blade of black abyss.

He slashed out.

Saber Qi left the body.

A semi-transparent golden saber radiance flew out from black abyss, skimming across the sky above the street for three zhang, and slashed onto the long arrow that hadn't been fired yet.

"Pop."

The arrow shaft snapped in the middle.

The poisonous arrowhead lost its momentum, falling crookedly toward the ground, embedding into the mud by the street, the tail of the arrow still trembling.

The half of the broken arrow shaft, carrying black medicinal liquid, tumbled and flew out over the eaves, landing in front of the City Defense Battalion's spear formation.

The archer on the roof froze completely.

He looked at his long arrow broken into two pieces, then looked at the person on the street holding a saber with one hand, his face turning deathly pale under the gray hood.

He turned and ran.

Zhou Tie had been waiting for this moment. He disassembled a section of his iron spear, the shaft spinning half a circle in his palm, and he threw it with all his might.

That section of the spear shaft flew out from bottom to top with a rotating force, smashing into the archer's lower back.

The archer groaned, lost his balance, fell from the edge of the roof, hit the wooden railing by the street with his shoulder, and tumbled down in front of the City Defense Battalion's spear formation.

Three spears pressed against his back simultaneously, his face pressed into the ground.

Zhao Gang breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Caught him!"

But before his voice had even finished falling, he heard a dull thud behind him.

Lin Chen knelt on one knee on the street.

black abyss was inserted into the shattered stone slab, supporting his body.

His right hand was still gripping the hilt, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, his knuckles turning white from overexertion.

The Saber Qi from that slash had drained most of the True Qi accumulated in his Dantian, and the twelve main meridians in his body felt as if they had been scorched by a fire line, sharp pain radiating from the meridian walls.

But the burning sensation in his Dantian did not fade.

Instead, it became more intense.

The True Qi rotated and compressed automatically on the inner wall of his Dantian, circle after circle, as if some irreversible chain reaction had been ignited.

Zhao Gang rushed over and supported his shoulder.

"Inspector!"

Lin Chen's complexion flickered in the light of the golden halo, a streak of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto the shattered stone slab.

Zhao Gang saw the blood, and his voice changed.

"What's wrong with you?"

Zhou Tie also rushed over, holding his iron spear horizontally in front of Lin Chen, scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

"Inspector, is it an internal injury or..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because he saw the layer of golden True Qi halo emerging from Lin Chen's body.

The halo did not disperse; instead, it was contracting.

All the golden light was gathering, contracting, and compressing toward the direction of Lin Chen's Dantian, and the dust in the air was shaken outward by this aura, forming a visible ripple.

The commoners blocked by the City Defense Battalion outside the alley entrance witnessed this scene, and some exclaimed in low voices.

"Is he having a Breakthrough?"

"A Breakthrough on the street?"

"Can people from the Patrol Division break through even while fighting?"

The Death Warrior leader saw it too.

His expression changed drastically behind his mask, his grip on his twin blades tightening, and the True Qi on the tips of his blades surged wildly.

He hissed.

"Kill him, kill him now!"

He raised his twin blades high, crossed them, and slashed down, smashing toward the kneeling Lin Chen with all his might.

"Don't let him break through!"

The remaining Death Warriors who could still move lunged over regardless of the consequences.

Zhao Gang turned to block one, blade colliding with narrow blade, sparks flying, and he was knocked back a step, his boot heels sliding a mark on the broken stones.

Shen Yue swept back from the alley entrance, throwing a flying knife, pinning another Death Warrior's wrist, and the man's narrow blade slipped from his hand.

Sun Qi's short blade cut in from the side, severing the third Death Warrior's Achilles tendon, and the man collapsed to the ground, his knees hitting the broken stone slab, rolling and screaming.

Zhou Tie stood with his spear horizontally in front of Lin Chen, the tip aimed at the Death Warrior leader's face, the iron patterns on the spear shaft flashing with cold light in the twilight.

The Death Warrior leader's twin blades had already slashed into mid-air.

Zhou Tie did not retreat.

"Try coming over."

The spear and the twin blades collided in mid-air, the sound of metal clashing causing the windows of the storefronts on both sides to rattle.

Zhou Tie was knocked back two steps, a deep blade mark appearing on the spear shaft, the skin on the web of his thumb splitting open, and fresh blood flowing down along the spear shaft.

But his footing remained steady.

Zhao Gang had chopped down the Death Warrior in front of him, and with the taste of blood in his mouth, he looked back at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen was kneeling on one knee on the broken stones, black abyss inserted into the stone slab supporting his body, and the True Qi in his Dantian had already been compressed to a certain extreme critical point, emitting a low, dull thud, as if it had come from his bones.

Golden light spots appeared in his eyes, one by one, like ignited sparks.

The bloodstain at the corner of his mouth had not yet dried.

The critical point of the Breakthrough had arrived.

But the Death Warrior leader's twin blades had already broken through Zhou Tie's spear defense, the blades carrying the full force of True Qi from the Tongmai Peak, slashing straight down from above.

The target was the top of Lin Chen's head.

Zhao Gang's roar came from behind.

"Inspector!"