Chapter 141 Night Forest Ambush, One Slash Destroys Two Enemies

Lin Chen gripped the hilt with his right hand and pressed his left hand behind him.

Zhou Tie and Shen Yue stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

The trio merged into the withered yellow bushes on the back of the low hill. Branches scraped against their shoulders, making soft, rustling sounds that were quickly drowned out by the night wind.

Thirty zhang ahead, two auras stood on the left and right, blocking the narrow path leading to the back mountain.

Lin Chen slowed his breathing to the shallowest level, his ears tuned to the faint ripples of True Qi in the night wind, analyzing for three breaths.

"The one on the left is weaker."

His lips barely moved, his voice just audible enough for the two behind him to catch.

"Early stage of Condensing Dan, True Qi leaking out without restraint. He is young, likely a collateral descendant of the Wang family."

Zhou Tie flipped his short blade in his palm, edge facing down, his voice squeezed through his teeth.

"What about the one on the right?"

Lin Chen did not answer immediately.

The aura on the right was thick and long-lasting, carrying a metallic, rust-like stench that seeped out from the pine canopy thirty zhang away, so oppressive that even the insect chirps in the vicinity ceased.

Attendant Zhao Wuya.

And he was stronger than last night; his aura had already neared the Peak of the Core Formation.

His True Qi was mixed with an abnormal vitality, churning rapidly as if something was urging it to rush outwards from within.

Lin Chen frowned.

"Attendant Zhao Wuya has taken a strength-enhancing Medicinal Pill."

Zhou Tie's Adam's apple bobbed, and he gripped his short blade so hard his knuckles turned pale.

Shen Yue leaned half her face over Lin Chen's right shoulder, her breath brushing against his earlobe.

"Take a detour?"

Lin Chen shook his head.

A detour would mean spending an extra half-hour.

Sun Qi was crouching in the middle of the secret passage with that broken spearhead, waiting for the slot of the iron gate; every extra moment spent was a variable.

More importantly, there were those four children in the basement of the villa.

Since Wang Chongyuan had added secret sentries, it meant he had already begun considering relocating them or silencing them.

For every incense stick of time delayed, the probability of those children being bled dry increased.

"I will take the front."

Lin Chen's fingers loosened from the hilt and then tightened again, his five fingers embedding into the texture of the leather cord wrapped around the hilt.

"You two flank the one on the left, and once you've dealt with him, head immediately to the back mountain."

Zhou Tie ground his teeth, making a sound.

"Inspector, Attendant Zhao Wuya was already at the Late Stage of the Core Formation last night, and tonight he's even taken a Medicinal Pill..."

"I know."

Lin Chen had already risen from the bushes.

The sound of the black abyss blade leaving its sheath was extremely light in the night wind. He kept the dark golden glow on the blade restricted to the edge, with only a thin glimmer flickering there.

"Last night he tested me; tonight I test him."

Zhou Tie's mouth opened slightly, wanting to say something, but Shen Yue pressed down on his shoulder from behind.

Shen Yue's gaze swept over Lin Chen's back, landing on the dark golden glimmer on the edge of the black abyss blade. She pursed her lips but did not speak.

Lin Chen stepped out of the bushes.

This step did not land heavily; his boot sole crushed the withered leaves, emitting only a dull thud.

Yet, in the silent mountain forest, that dull thud was clearer than a beating gong.

An aura in the pine canopy on the left stirred in response.

The thick oppression from the right poured down from above, and Attendant Zhao Wuya's voice followed.

"Inspector Lin."

A grey-brown cloak drifted down from the highest branches of the pine tree, the fabric spreading out in the night wind.

The long, knife-cut face under the hood was half-illuminated by the moonlight.

The curved blade was unsheathed.

The grey-white True Qi wrapped around the blade surface was twice as dense as last night, and its flow speed was thirty percent faster, carrying an indescribable, bloody heat.

"I told you, the next time we meet, it won't be a test."

He held the curved blade horizontally by his side, the tip pointing at Lin Chen's chest.

Attendant Zhao Wuya's boot soles landed on the exposed mud of the pine roots without even crushing a single fallen leaf.

Lin Chen held the black abyss blade horizontally in front, the spine of the blade against the outside of his right arm, the edge aimed at the arc of the curved blade ahead.

At the same time, a person rushed out from behind a tree on the left.

That person had a sturdy build, a broad-bladed long saber raised above his head, his True Qi released to form a thin layer of protective luster. The saber path was fierce, aiming directly at Lin Chen's back.

A collateral descendant of the Wang family, Third Young Master Wang Chengye.

Early stage of Condensing Dan.

He was also the one holding the line among the secret sentries of the back mountain.

Lin Chen did not turn around.

He stepped out with the third variation of the Divine Movement Step, his right foot crushing the protruding tree root on the ground, his figure dragging an afterimage in the moonlight as he dodged three feet to the front right.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's broad blade struck empty air.

The Saber Qi brushed past Lin Chen's back, its residual force smashing into two pine trees as thick as a bowl behind him, sending wood chips and bark fragments flying.

At the same time, two figures darted out from the bushes on the left.

Zhou Tie's short blade slashed in from the direction of Third Young Master Wang Chengye's right rib.

Shen Yue's blade blocked his retreat from another angle.

The two cooperated with tacit understanding, compressing the maneuvering space for that broad-bladed long saber to less than three feet.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye let out a low shout, sweeping his broad blade horizontally to force Zhou Tie back.

Attendant Zhao Wuya did not glance that way.

His target was only Lin Chen.

The curved blade slashed in from the direction of the left rib.

The concentration of True Qi far exceeded the normal standard for the Late Stage of the Core Formation. The grey-white Saber Qi tore a visible white mark in the air, carrying that abnormal, bloody heat as it crushed down toward Lin Chen's chest.

Lin Chen met it head-on.

The black abyss blade parried horizontally.

The Saber Intent of the seventh form of the Shadowless Thunder Blade, Space-Rending, surged from the depths of his Dantian, pouring along his arm into the blade body, and the dark golden glow immediately lit up at the edge.

The two blades collided.

The sound was not like metal clashing, but more like a giant boulder smashing into the surface of a river.

The ringing sound, accompanied by a shockwave, surged outwards from the point of impact.

All the fallen leaves and gravel within a three-zhang radius were blown away; the pine branches swayed in the shockwave, and several finger-thick branches were directly snapped off and fell.

Lin Chen's feet plowed two half-foot-deep furrows into the ground.

His entire body was pushed back four steps.

His boot soles finally stopped when they embedded into a half-buried rock.

The web of his hand split open.

Fresh blood seeped out from between his fingers, flowing down the leather cord wrapped around the black abyss blade's hilt, dripping one by one into the soil at his feet.

Attendant Zhao Wuya frowned.

He thought that this blow, a full-strength strike reinforced by the Condensing Yuan Blood Pill, would be enough to send Lin Chen flying ten steps away and severely injure his Meridians.

But the opponent had taken it head-on.

Retreated four steps.

The web of his hand was split.

He was still standing.

The blade was still held horizontally in front of him.

The dark golden glow had not extinguished either.

"Interesting."

Attendant Zhao Wuya swung the curved blade back to his shoulder, the blade edge tracing a cold arc in the moonlight.

"But that's as far as it goes."

The second blade slashed down.

The angle was three parts trickier than the first, cutting from diagonally above toward Lin Chen's blade-wielding wrist.

The Saber Qi pressed over, half an inch away from the black abyss blade, forcing one to either let go and abandon the blade or hard-carry the second shock impact.

Lin Chen did not meet it head-on again.

He activated the Divine Movement Step with full force.

His figure wove and dodged between the pine trunks, his boot soles stepping over tree roots and gravel, each step changing his position, leading Attendant Zhao Wuya's curved blade into empty air.

The Golden Core in his Dantian spun with full power.

Circle after circle, compressing the True Qi to the position of the first inch at the very tip of the black abyss blade.

Attendant Zhao Wuya caught up.

The curved blade slashed three times in succession.

Each slash was half a point faster than the last, and the Saber Qi tore three white marks through the forest.

Lin Chen dodged the second slash between the tree trunks, turned his body to let the third slash pass, and the calm color in his eyes was illuminated by the moonlight with a hint of coldness.

He was counting.

Although Attendant Zhao Wuya's True Qi was strong after taking the pill, his breathing rhythm was slightly more chaotic than last night.

There was a short breathing gap after every three slashes.

About half a breath.

Half a breath.

Enough.

The third slash missed, the arc of the curved blade passing two inches above Lin Chen's left shoulder, the Saber Qi slicing off a strand of his hair.

Attendant Zhao Wuya's breathing had a gap at that moment.

Half a breath.

Lin Chen's right foot crushed the ground.

Gravel shot out, pine needles and soil splattered in all directions, and his entire body turned into a dark golden ray of light, rushing toward Attendant Zhao Wuya.

Space-Rending.

Not a horizontal slash.

It was a straight thrust.

The tip of the black abyss blade concentrated all his True Qi and Blade Intent at that moment, all power compressed to that one point on the blade tip.

One point breaks the surface.

Aiming straight for Attendant Zhao Wuya's chest.

Attendant Zhao Wuya's pupils shrank to two needle points in the moonlight.

The curved blade returned to defend, the blade surface held horizontally in front of his chest, three layers of True Qi stacked on top.

The moment the tip of the black abyss blade hit the surface of the curved blade, the dark golden Saber Intent exploded from the point of contact, like a red-hot iron nail piercing into an ice surface.

Attendant Zhao Wuya's protective True Qi was pierced with a fist-sized hole.

The residual force of the blade tip did not diminish, passing through the gap and slashing a three-inch-long gash on his chest armor.

Flesh and skin split open, fresh blood splattered.

Several drops of blood landed on Lin Chen's sleeve, warm and glaring.

Attendant Zhao Wuya let out a muffled groan from the bottom of his throat, his figure retreating violently by ten steps.

The curved blade supported him on the ground, the tip digging half an inch into the soil.

His entire weight pressed onto the hilt.

Blood from the wound on his chest surged out from the split flesh, flowing down along the patterns of the chest armor, shimmering with a dark red, wet light in the moonlight.

He looked down at the wound.

When he looked up again, the playfulness and condescension in his eyes had completely dissipated, leaving only gravity and a layer of something that was unclear whether it was anger or fear.

"Good blade technique."

He pulled the curved blade out of the mud and returned it to its sheath.

His left hand pressed against the wound on his chest, his palm soaked through with blood.

"You win tonight."

The aura of the Condensing Yuan Blood Pill was rampaging through his Meridians.

If he dragged it out any longer, he might not be able to kill Lin Chen and would be trapped in this mountain forest.

Attendant Zhao Wuya leaped, the hem of his cloak tracing an arc in the moonlight.

His entire figure merged into the night in the depths of the pine forest, and even the smell of blood was blown away by the night wind.

Lin Chen sheathed his blade and stood in place.

The dark golden glow on the black abyss blade receded little by little, and the brightness at the edge finally extinguished.

The web of his right hand had a split.

Blood seeped out from the gap, forming a dark red drop along the leather cord on the hilt, hanging below the blade guard.

The rotation speed of the Golden Core in his chest had not yet returned to normal.

True Qi was churning in his Meridians with residual waves, and there was a slight hot, bloated feeling in his Dantian.

Deep in his mind, that notification sound rang out amidst the whistling of the night wind.

[Detected that the host, with the cultivation of the Early stage of Condensing Dan, has directly wounded a powerhouse at the Late Stage of the Core Formation who had taken a strength-enhancing Medicinal Pill. Combat will is excellent, and the practical application of the Space-Rending form has improved.]

[Immediate reward of 3,500 points.]

[Current accumulated available points: 16,500 points.]

Lin Chen suppressed the hot feeling in his Dantian and turned to look at the pine forest on the left.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye was pinned to the ground by Zhou Tie and Shen Yue.

A short blade was held against his neck, and the broad-bladed long saber had been kicked three steps away, with the residual warmth of the dissipated True Qi still remaining on it.

Just now, when Attendant Zhao Wuya collided head-on with Lin Chen, the shockwave affected Third Young Master Wang Chengye's half-beat return of the blade.

That was the half-beat Zhou Tie and Shen Yue had grasped.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's face was buried in a pile of fallen leaves, his back pressed down by Zhou Tie's knee. He struggled twice but couldn't move, and he mumbled a curse.

Zhou Tie pressed the short blade closer to his neck, the edge icy cold, pressing against his carotid artery.

"Try cursing one more time."

Third Young Master Wang Chengye quieted down.

Shen Yue tore a thin rope from her waist, and in a few quick movements, tied Third Young Master Wang Chengye's hands behind his back, the knot tied tightly.

She looked up and saw that Lin Chen's right hand web was still dripping blood as he walked over, her lips moving slightly.

"Inspector, the wound..."

"It's nothing."

Lin Chen used his left hand to tear a strip of cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it twice to stop the bleeding from the web of his hand.

His movements were deft, and he didn't even stop his pace.

He walked to Third Young Master Wang Chengye, looked down at this collateral descendant of the Wang family who was pinned to the ground.

He didn't say another word.

His gaze turned to Zhou Tie.

"Tie him up and take him away."

Third Young Master Wang Chengye was a person from the back mountain defense line.

A living person was more useful than a dead one.

Zhou Tie pulled Third Young Master Wang Chengye up from the ground, pressed the short blade against his lower back, and pushed him forward.

Lin Chen sheathed the black abyss blade.

When the blade entered the sheath, the sound of metal clashing traveled far in the silent mountain forest.

His boot soles crushed gravel and broken branches as he took the first step toward the back mountain.

"Go to the back mountain, do not stop."

Shen Yue followed, her footsteps landing half a step behind Lin Chen's right, the blade in her hand not sheathed.

The wind blew from the north, the scent of pine resin mixed with the lingering smell of blood.

Attendant Zhao Wuya's blood, the blood from Lin Chen's hand, and the blood seeping from Third Young Master Wang Chengye's forehead when he struggled were mixed in the night wind, blown toward the deeper, thicker darkness of the back mountain.

Zhou Tie, escorting Third Young Master Wang Chengye, followed from behind, his voice kept extremely low.

"Inspector, Attendant Zhao Wuya is not dead. Once he goes back, Wang Chongyuan will know that the back mountain is exposed."

Lin Chen did not turn around, his pace not stopping.

"That is why we must be fast."

His voice was carried by the night wind into Zhou Tie's ears, every word carrying a thin layer of murderous intent.

"Fast enough that before Wang Chongyuan's order reaches the villa, our blades are already cutting the throats of his guards."

A sliver of moonlight leaked through the clouds, illuminating the increasingly narrow mountain path ahead.

In the darkness at the end of the mountain path, the outline of the back mountain was faintly visible.

The villa was in the deepest part of that darkness.