191: Chapter 191 Let's Try

Three men wearing the same dark grey tight-fitting clothes as Zhou Heng stood in a row, blocking the official road.

Leading them was a bald, burly man holding a mountain-splitting axe, with a cultivation at the Half-step Martial Spirit realm.

Two people stood beside him; one held a chain while the other carried dual blades, both with cultivations at the Great Martial Master Ninth Level Peak.

Ye Yun came to a halt.

Behind him, Zhou Heng had also caught up, landing ten zhang away from him.

“Keep running, why have you stopped?”

Zhou Heng's tone was full of mockery, as if he were teasing prey that had already fallen into a trap.

Standing between the pincer attack from front and back, Ye Yun’s expression remained calm.

The burning snow sword pointed diagonally at the ground, the firelight on the blade flickering slightly in the cold late-autumn wind.

“Four.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear.

“With just the four of you, you think you can keep me here?”

Zhou Heng's smile grew even colder.

“Let's test it out.”

The bald, burly man's mountain-splitting axe had already swung down toward the top of Ye Yun's head.

Ye Yun parried with his sword horizontally, and the burning snow sword collided violently with the mountain-splitting axe.

Sparks exploded, several cracks fractured the ground beneath Ye Yun's feet, and his web of the thumb felt a wave of numbness.

This bald man's cultivation wasn't at the Great Martial Master Ninth Level; he was a genuine Half-step Martial Spirit.

Ye Yun's heart sank slightly.

A single Half-step Martial Spirit was nothing.

But adding Zhou Heng behind him, who was also at the threshold of the Half-step Martial Spirit realm...

Combined with two Great Martial Master Ninth Levels providing support from the sidelines, this lineup wasn't for testing—it was for an assassination.

The bald man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

“Kid, you've got some strength. Come again!”

He swung the mountain-splitting axe in a wide arc, bringing it down once more.

Ye Yun didn't take it head-on; he executed the Flowing Cloud Steps, shifting his body three feet to the side.

The axe blade grazed his robes and struck the ground, blasting a deep pit three feet wide into the earth.

Gravel splashed, and one piece grazed Ye Yun's cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood.

Ye Yun ignored the wound on his face, his gaze sweeping past the bald man to scan the wilderness on both sides of the official road.

Empty and flat, there was no terrain that could be used for cover.

This group had been very particular about choosing the ambush site; here, he had no geographical advantage whatsoever.

From behind, Zhou Heng's voice drifted over leisurely.

“Stop looking. Within five li of this area, there isn't even a single tree. You can't escape. Surrender obediently, and I can give you a quick death.”

Ye Yun didn't look back.

His gaze continued to scan the surroundings as his mind rapidly calculated a counter-strategy.

Facing a four-man siege head-on was not a wise move.

The tall, thin man with the chain was constantly circling the periphery; his chain gleamed with the same dark green light as Zhou Heng's, clearly poisoned as well.

The man with the dual blades was short and agile, crouching behind the bald man as if ready to launch a sneak attack from an unexpected angle at any moment.

This wasn't a disorganized mob.

They were well-trained assassins.

Ye Yun took a deep breath, holding the burning snow sword horizontally in front of him.

Since there was no escape, he would fight.

The bald man was the first to strike.

The mountain-splitting axe, carrying the dense Mystic Power of a Half-step Martial Spirit, bore down like a small mountain.

Ye Yun didn't retreat but advanced, pushing the Flowing Cloud Steps to the limit. His figure turned into a grey afterimage, brushing past the edge of the axe blade.

The burning snow sword flicked upward from below, stabbing directly at the bald man's wrist holding the axe.

The bald man flipped his wrist, using the axe handle to parry the sword strike.

Ye Yun used the force of the parry to flip through the air, stepping onto the face of the mountain-splitting axe to leap upward.

The burning snow sword drew a fiery red arc in the air, slashing down toward the short man with the dual blades.

The short man's pupils constricted as he crossed his dual blades to block.

With a 'clack', he was forced to one knee by the strike, his knee slamming into the ground and shattering the blue bricks.

Just as Ye Yun was about to follow up with another strike, the sound of breaking air came from behind his head.

The chain—the poison-tipped chain.

Ye Yun tilted his head, and the chain whipped past his ear, the wind it carried making his earlobe sting.

The chain curved in mid-air like a living venomous snake, lunging toward his neck again.

Ye Yun swung his sword at the chain, sending sparks flying. The chain was knocked away, but because of this moment of Divided Soul, his left arm was struck by a punch from the bald man.

That punch slammed solidly into his left shoulder.

Ye Yun was sent flying backward.

He flipped twice in the air and landed on one knee, sliding several feet across the ground before stabilizing himself.

The sleeve on his left arm had been shredded, revealing skin that was already bruised dark purple.

His shoulder blade throbbed with pain; he didn't know if it was fractured.

Ye Yun expressionlessly moved his left shoulder.

The bone wasn't cracked, but it would be hard to say if he took another punch.

The bald man strode forward, the mountain-splitting axe resting on his shoulder, the flesh on his face bunching up.

“Heh heh, you're quite durable. But you're alone; how long can you last?”

Zhou Heng also walked forward slowly, his hands still clasped behind his back, his posture as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll.

Behind him, the two men with the chain and dual blades had each taken up advantageous positions, completely sealing off all of Ye Yun's escape routes.

“Young man.”

Zhou Heng's tone carried a hint of condescending admiration, like a hunter looking at prey in a trap.

“Your talent is indeed good. At this age and with this cultivation, if you were given time, you might have become a prominent figure one day. Unfortunately, you insisted on offending someone you shouldn't have.”

He paused, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening slightly.

“Besides the Wu Family matter, someone else paid a high price for your life. Can you guess who?”

Ye Yun looked at Zhou Heng, his gaze calm.

“Murong Yun.”

“Smart.”

Zhou Heng clapped his hands. “Since you know, then you can go on your way in peace. When you get down there, remember to find those you've offended and apologize properly.”

A thick killing intent suddenly rose around him.

Zhou Heng thrust out both palms, and the eerie dark green light in his palms was several times more intense than it had been in the alley.

The light on the entire official road dimmed, and the air was filled with a decaying, fishy-sweet scent.

“Attack together, finish this quickly.”

The bald man roared, an earthy yellow light glowing on his mountain-splitting axe as he charged at Ye Yun like a maddened bull.

The short man with the dual blades slunk along the ground, his blades crossed in front of him, the edges flickering with a ghostly blue cold light.

The tall, thin man with the chain flicked his wrist, and the chain transformed into a sky full of chain shadows, descending upon Ye Yun from all directions.

Standing at the rear, Zhou Heng turned the dark green light on his palms into slender vines of poisonous mist, winding toward Ye Yun from various tricky angles.

Ye Yun took a deep breath, circulating the Tai Xuan Hehuan Scripture to its limit.

The golden sea of Mystic Power in his Dantian began to boil.

A surge of scorching Pure Yang Power rushed out along his Meridians, pouring into the burning snow sword.

The fiery red light on the sword blade suddenly flared up, forcing back all the poisonous mist within three feet.

Qingfeng Sword Art Third Form — Wind Sweeps Remaining Clouds.

Ye Yun's body spun, and the burning snow sword turned into a fiery red whirlwind, carrying sharp Sword Qi that swept out in all directions.

The chains were blown scattered by the Sword Qi.