473: Chapter 473 Your death will prove that I, Xu Ruyu, am not someone to be bullied.

The angle was devious to the extreme, the force precise to the ultimate degree, as if he had calculated every detail of this punch long ago.

His fist did not pause in the slightest, nor did it hesitate; it was clean, efficient, and performed in one fluid motion.

Fresh blood gushed out, splashing onto Xu Ruyu's face.

The warm blood slid down his cheeks, appearing exceptionally jarring under the moonlight.

But he did not blink, nor did he even frown.

He simply watched Zhao Qian quietly, watching his eyes shift from terror to despair, and from despair to emptiness.

Zhao Qian lowered his head, looking at his own chest.

There, a fist-sized bloodied hole existed.

Xu Ruyu's arm had pierced through his body, exiting from his back.

He could feel that arm inside him, cold and hard, like a sharp sword thrust into his heart.

Blood gushed out from the wound, staining his robes red and dripping onto the ground, making a "drip, drip" sound that was exceptionally clear in the silent night sky.

He felt that the hand was gripping his heart.

That warm, beating, and slowly ceasing-to-beat heart.

It was his own heart.

He had lived for hundreds of years and never imagined that one day, someone would grab his heart with their hand.

That feeling was impossible to describe with words.

Fear, despair, cold, emptiness... all these sensations mingled together, leaving his mind completely blank.

"You..." Zhao Qian opened his mouth, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, as blood overflowed from the corners of his mouth and dripped down his chin, "You..."

His vitality was rapidly dissipating.

His consciousness was becoming blurred.

His body was becoming cold.

He could feel his life slipping away bit by bit, like sand sliding through one's fingers—impossible to grasp, impossible to keep.

Xu Ruyu looked at him, his gaze as calm as water.

In that calmness, there was no hatred, no joy, only a coldness that saw through everything.

"Zhao Qian," his voice was very soft, so soft that only Zhao Qian could hear it, "you just said you wanted me to wish I were dead. Now, who do you think is wishing they were dead?"

Zhao Qian's eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, wanting to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

In his eyes, there was fear, despair, unwillingness, and also a deep... regret.

He regretted why he had come back.

Xu Ruyu had clearly already let him go, had clearly already given him a path to survive.

Why didn't he leave? Why didn't he turn around and leave without looking back? Why did he listen to Tian Jianzi and return to reap the benefits?

He regretted why he had been so smug.

If he hadn't been so smug, hadn't lowered his guard so much, perhaps he would have noticed Xu Ruyu's abnormality and perhaps he could have dodged this punch.

But he didn't.

He had been blinded by victory; he thought Xu Ruyu was already meat on the chopping block, ready for him to slaughter.

He hadn't expected that that piece of "meat" was a fierce tiger disguised as a lamb.

He regretted why he hated Xu Ruyu so much. If not for hate, he wouldn't have followed; if not for hate, he wouldn't have wanted to torture Xu Ruyu so much; if not for hate, he wouldn't have died.

But it was all too late.

Xu Ruyu looked at the regret in his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly to reveal a faint smile.

"Zhao Qian, rest assured, you will not die in vain. Your death will let many people know—I, Xu Ruyu, am not someone to be trifled with."

His hand tightened suddenly.

"Pfft!"

That heart was crushed to pieces in Xu Ruyu's hand.

Fresh blood gushed out from between his fingers, splashing onto Xu Ruyu's face and body, appearing exceptionally shocking under the moonlight.

That blood was still warm, carrying Zhao Qian's final body heat, and it rapidly cooled in the night wind.

Zhao Qian's body stiffened violently.

His eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, the expression on his face frozen in the moment of terror and despair.

His pupils dilated rapidly, the light in his eyes fading quickly, like an extinguished candle flame.

Then, his body began to slowly go limp, as if all his strength had been drained away.

His legs bent, his knees slamming into the ground with a dull "thud." His body toppled forward, his head drooping, like a collapsing sculpture.

Xu Ruyu withdrew his hand, and Zhao Qian's body completely lost its support, falling to the ground with a "bang" and kicking up a cloud of dust.

His eyes were still open, staring fixedly at the night sky, unable to close them even in death.

The moonlight shone on his pale face and into his hollow eyes, appearing exceptionally desolate.

Blood gushed from his chest, pooling into a small puddle on the ground, shimmering with a dark red luster under the moonlight.

His fingers were still twitching slightly; that was the final nervous reaction, but everyone knew he was already dead. Dead beyond a doubt.

From the moment Xu Ruyu erupted with his Qi, to punching through Zhao Qian's chest, to crushing his heart, and then to Zhao Qian falling to the ground—the entire process took no more than three breaths.

Three breaths ago, Zhao Qian was still standing in front of Xu Ruyu, holding his sword, smugly wanting to torture him. His sword was still pressed against Xu Ruyu's ankle, a cruel smile still hung on the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were still filled with the joy of revenge.

He thought he was the hunter and Xu Ruyu was the prey.

Three breaths later, Zhao Qian had become a corpse, lying on the ground, his blood staining the gravel beneath him red.

His sword lay beside him, gleaming with a cold light under the moonlight, as if mocking its master's stupidity.

Everything had happened too quickly, so quickly that Tian Jianzi had not been able to react at all.

He was still waiting for Zhao Qian to cripple Xu Ruyu's tendons, still waiting for Xu Ruyu to beg for mercy on his knees, and still calculating how to force those secrets out of Xu Ruyu's mouth.

He was even thinking about how to interrogate him once he brought Xu Ruyu back to the Tianshu Sword Sect, what methods to use, and how many secrets to dig out.

A cold, superior, and all-controlling smirk still hung on his lips.

And then—Xu Ruyu erupted, and Zhao Qian died.