69: Assassination, Master, Wandering Soul Bell Wugu

In the dense forest, Lu Jiuyuan and Ximen Chuixue met again: “Have you found his tracks?”

“No!” Ximen Chuixue shook his head: “In this environment, it's hard to find him!”

“But by my reckoning, he should be arriving soon. If we keep chasing him, Lu Xiaofeng will truly become a dead chicken!” Lu Jiuyuan said softly:

“Killing people is not as good as killing ghosts!”

“You go left, I go right. Kill anyone we meet, kill any ghost we meet…” Ximen Chuixue finished speaking and searched to the right.

Lu Jiuyuan nodded and searched to the left.

Within the dense forest, ancient trees towered to the sky, and light and shadows were mottled and danced erratically.

The air was filled with the smell of decaying leaves, earth, and an indescribably damp and gloomy scent.

Lu Jiuyuan moved with his light footwork, leaping among the branches, observing the movements below. He searched for about ten li, but still found no trace.

He sat on a branch to rest, pulled a dry biscuit from his in my arms, and ate something to restore his Internal Energy.

There was no rush in here. The location Lu Xiaofeng fled to had his own purpose; he wasn't just running blindly.

Lu Jiuyuan didn't need to think too much; he just needed to play along. The scenery ahead was quite different from where he had been.

This place was a canyon; the mountains on both sides weren't too high, but they looked very steep.

Mists filled the canyon, and the scenery was indeed quite unique.

After eating for a short while, Lu Jiuyuan searched this dense forest for another two hours, but still had no harvest.

Neither human nor ghost was seen.

Lying on a branch, feeling slightly fatigued, he rested his head on his arm, his gaze watching the distant clouds through the gaps.

“Sword Devil Lu Jiuyuan! To have intruded here, then leave your life behind.

My name is no longer in the human world, but it should resound in the underworld.”

“After killing you, who in Youling Villa would dare not look up to me? The little fox might even throw herself into my arms.

There are no heroes in the world, so a commoner may become famous.”

From the shadows, a figure slowly approached. He merged with the surrounding environment, almost indistinguishable.

Lu Jiuyuan lay on the branch, seemingly unaware, his entire back exposed to this person's sight.

A gray shadow, like a poisonous snake emerging from rotten tree roots, shot forward silently, clinging to the ground!

His speed was astonishing, the faint breeze he created not even enough to stir a fallen leaf.

His target was Lu Jiuyuan's back, and in his hand was a ghastly green glow, a short sword coated with potent poison!

The timing, angle, and speed were all perfect.

This was a killing blow honed through countless times of reaping Souls, and twenty years ago, he was a famous assassin in the Jianghu!

However, just as the tip of that poisoned blade was about to touch three feet from Lu Jiuyuan's back,

“Buzz!”

A low sword hum suddenly exploded!

Lu Jiuyuan didn't even turn his head!

His right hand, which held the sword, merely flicked backward with extreme naturalness, the movement as fluid as brushing off a fallen leaf from his shoulder.

The unique four-sided prismatic tip of the Guhong Sword, like a poisonous Dragon emerging from its lair, extended and stabbed with incomparable precision!

It struck later, yet arrived first!

The gray-clad man's pupils suddenly constricted to the size of needlepoints!

He saw the fleeting silver gleam and felt the instantly descending, Soul-freezing Sword Intent!

His proud speed and stealth were as fragile as child's play before this absolute speed and terrifying foresight!

“Pfft!”

The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh was soft and muffled.

The gray-clad messenger's forward momentum abruptly stopped.

He lowered his head in disbelief, looking at the cold, blood-stained, sharp-edged sword that had passed through his chest.

Fast! Unimaginably fast! It surpassed all his understanding of “fast”!

He didn't even see how the opponent drew his sword—no, the opponent didn't draw his sword at all!

The sword, it seemed, was inherently present in that position, waiting for him to impale himself on it.

Excruciating pain engulfed him like a tide, followed by the chilling sensation of his strength rapidly draining. His body fell due to its weight, naturally separating from the sword.

He opened his mouth, and a gurgling, leaking sound came from his throat, carrying a strong smell of blood.

He hit the thick layer of fallen leaves and decaying earth with a thud, his eyes wide, looking at the person above.

Lu Jiuyuan still lay on the branch, merely holding his sword in his hand, gently flicking off the drops of blood from the blade.

“What kind of thing dares to assassinate me? You're not even worthy of wasting a handkerchief.”

Lu Jiuyuan sat up, his green robe still pristine, unstained by dust.

His gaze fell calmly on the gray-clad man sprawled on the ground, blood gushing from his chest, as if looking at a squashed bug.

“Who are you? What force do you belong to? You can tell me! You don't have much life left, so speak a bit more.

Let me hear who dares to pull the tiger's whiskers? If I'm in the mood, I can send them down to accompany you.”

The gray-clad man's body twitched a few times, but he didn't speak, the light in his eyes completely dimming, leaving behind solidified terror and disbelief.

Back then, I was also a famous master in the Jianghu. If I let you know that I was killed by you like a squashed bug, wouldn't it needlessly ruin my past reputation.

Why speak? Say nothing at all!

Yet, until his death, he couldn't understand why his proud silent assassination technique had shown no effect before this Sword Devil, why he died so carelessly, without even the qualification to be looked at directly.

“Stubborn indeed!” Lu Jiuyuan couldn't help but praise the gray-clad man, who hadn't said a single word.

Following the direction of the dead man's gaze on the ground, Lu Jiuyuan saw the mists between the two mountains.

A person appeared in mid-air, appearing like a majestic immortal descending to the mortal world, set against the backdrop of the clouds.

“Gou Hun messenger, finally appeared!” A slight smile tugged at Lu Jiuyuan's lips.

“Lu Xiaofeng is indeed Lu Xiaofeng! He had already found the general area, which is why he kept running closer to this place.”

“It is indeed here, iron chains suspended between two peaks, playing tricks and scaring people.

The so-called Youling Villa should be in the valley.”

“You truly came for us.” A faint voice came from not far away.

A figure in a black robe walked out. This person looked to be around fifty, with a tall frame, unkempt, but very thin, so thin he was skin and bones, reduced to just a skeleton.

With his steps, a mysterious Sword Intent immediately enveloped the surroundings.

Lu Jiuyuan's expression instantly became serious: “Who is Your Excellency?”

“Just a wisp of a wandering Soul in the mountains!”

“If others ask who I am, I won't answer, but if Sword Saint asks me, I must answer.

In the human world, they call me Zhong Wugu!”

Zhong Wugu pressed his hand to his sword: “Flying Jade Tiger Fang Yufei's father, the founder of Black Tiger Hall, and some also call me the foremost lay Disciple of Wudang in three hundred years.”

“Sword Saint Lu, I have heard of you for a long time. With Yufei's death and the destruction of Black Tiger Hall, I have wanted to see you for a long time!”