Chapter 954: Chapter 131: Power and Fear (1/2)
Not until Wang Anfeng walked away did Xiao Runlin lower his hands and force himself to stand up. Due to an inner injury, his complexion was deathly pale, rendering his blood-soaked clothes even redder, with brows like knife edges, exuding a faint murderous aura, making others feel uneasy.
After the nearby disciple got up, he was intimidated by Xiao Runlin’s cold deanor and didn’t dare approach. Xiao Runlin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked in the direction he should have gone, fell silent, then turned around, pulling the reins of a rising steed, rasping:
“Get him out here, we’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
The woman who had just battled with the martial artist from the Heavenly Dragon Institute responded and entered the teahouse. Many faces within the teahouse were sowhat frightened and hurriedly backed away. The disciple, with a somber expression, walked to a table inside the teahouse, picked up her unconscious senior brother, and tucked him under her arm.
As she was about to turn and leave, she heard a voice transmission, her steps faltered slightly, and she instinctively glanced outside. Xiao Runlin was already on horseback, his face indifferent, but he didn’t look at her, so she could only retract her gaze, take a deep breath, and look at the wandering rchant nearby, who was staring blankly, and said:
“How much do your goods sell for?”
The wandering rchant was taken aback, then ca to his senses. The beautiful goddess of death was speaking to him, making him both nervous and frightened. He lowered his head, stuttering:
“N-not valuable things, Miss, if you fancy anything, just take it.”
The Sword Forging Valley disciple instinctively wanted to scoff. What are these things, and how could they catch her eye? Suddenly, a cold snort with a hint of warning reached her ears, making her shiver and gather her thoughts, suppressing her anger and discomfort with the teahouse’s assorted scents. She softened her tone and spoke gently:
“I find all these things quite good, so I’ll take them all.”
“Is this money enough?”
Saying so, she took out a money pouch entwined with gold and silver threads from her bosom and tossed it onto the table with a clatter. Perhaps not used to carrying too much cash, the pouch didn’t contain much money, but it was at least ten tis the value of the rchant’s goods.
The wandering rchant’s tongue was tied, and he stuttered:
“E-enough… enough…”
The Sword Forging Valley disciple nodded, unwilling to say more. She reached out to pick up the carrying pole, then politely nodded to the dusty and sincere-looking man before turning to leave.
Outside, she saw that the man whose wrist had just been injured by a burst of Qi had already had it reset. The martial artist’s life force is inherently strong, surpassing that of ordinary people, but achieving this would still require a truly miraculous elixir.
Such elixirs are ant to save lives and are only available to elite disciples of the Sword Forging Valley.
The woman felt a sense of absurdity rising within her but didn’t dare to ask questions. She bowed her head, focused on circulating her Qi, and revived the unconscious male disciple. The group quickly mounted fast horses and galloped in a different direction.
Xiao Runlin said nothing, and even the lowest-ranking female disciple with little family background dared not inquire. She could only continue to hold the pole, now slightly slick with grease, which felt sickeningly slippery in her hand, yet she didn’t dare to let it go.
After galloping for tens of miles, Xiao Runlin suddenly reined in his horse. The others were still sowhat confused. Raising his right hand in a wave, he unleashed a burst of vigorous Qi that struck the pole directly. The startled female disciple let out a cry and threw the thing away in fright.
The pole hit the ground, squashing the two baskets. A jar of chrysanthemum wine, brewed with care by the wandering rchant, struck a rock, cracking open with a crunch.
Clear liquid flowed out, soaking the worthless trinkets in the basket. A cloth doll was directly soaked, coated with mud, looking as though it had been fished out of a garbage heap.
The female disciple felt sowhat bewildered.
Xiao Runlin closed his eyes and said:
“Sister Zhao, sorry to trouble you. I will compensate you later.”
“Let’s go.”
He nudged the horse’s flank lightly with his right foot, and the sensible steed snorted, stepping forward. The woman nad Zhao looked at the cargo scattered like garbage on the ground, her heart pounding, finally beginning to understand—
Understanding why the senior brother transmitted a ssage to her to spend all the silver on these goods, why he instructed her to be so polite to a lowly porter and wandering rchant.
Why he reset the rough man’s wrist with a life-saving elixir.
Just because that porter had dined at the sa table as the recent guest, and as the latter left, he had casually ntioned returning ho early—that’s all. And the rescue of that rough man was to ensure that no harm had co to him through so hidden connection with the recent guest’s actions.
Considering the earlier spoken words about this path being closed, it likely had no connection, but even that tiny, minuscule possibility was reason enough for the Sword Forging Valley to pay the price of a Heavenly King Heart-Protection Pill.
Even if it ant another elite disciple would be without a life-saving asure and could die, even if that reckless man deserved his fate.
A silhouette strode away with a palm on the bamboo hat, and a sense of overwhelming weight suddenly pressed down, making it hard for her to breathe.
……
“Don’t you want to ask why I did this?”
Xiao Runlin didn’t turn his head to look, his tone sowhat self-deprecating.
He and the woman beside him rode their horses side by side. Their mounts were of a unique breed, tall with long legs, and even when walking casually, their speed required other fine horses to press hard to keep up. Even so, there remained a not-too-short, not-too-long distance between them and the disciples behind.
Lu Yongi lowered her eyes without speaking, because she knew that Xiao Runlin was just bottling up inside and would definitely continue speaking.
Xiao Runlin did not mind the lack of response; he raised his head to look into the distant sky and said lightly:
“After being humiliated, I must still act respectfully, unable to get angry, unable to hold grudges, forced to bow and scrape, afraid of leaving a bad impression. I thought I couldn’t do this, but I didn’t expect it to co so naturally.”
“When the mont cos, I must act this way.”
His voice paused for a mont, then he said self-deprecatingly:
“Because I fear death…”
“The Qi chanism of the Divine Weapon in my hand was completely exhausted, yet he didn’t move even a single step. This is more than just an issue of strength…”
Lu Yongi’s heart skipped heavily. She did not know about this change; being a disciple of the Sword Forging Valley, they knew better than anyone the power of the Qi chanism of a Divine Weapon. She said,
“The Qi chanism of the Divine Weapon, completely ineffective?!”
Xiao Runlin said:
“Yes, we couldn’t use the Qi chanism of the Divine Weapon to perform techniques, but pure Qi chanism is already powerful enough, yet he didn’t move a single step. No… not only that, he was like a deep abyss, the Qi chanism sunk into it without the slightest reaction.”
“Even the teacher couldn’t handle this so effortlessly.”
Lu Yongi was silent for a mont, then said, “It could be because of his weapon… those gauntlets resemble the ‘Qilin,’ the National Treasure of Baiyue Country, of very high rank. Even if it’s not a Divine Weapon, it’s not far from it.”
Xiao Runlin was silent for a mont, then said, “I know what you an. You want to say that he achieved this relying entirely on external objects, but you should also realize, being able to make a weapon of such rank submit, he himself cannot be weak.”
“Moreover, you’ve forgotten the most important point.”
“He is too young…”
There was fear in Xiao Runlin’s voice, and ordinarily, Lu Yongi could hardly imagine soone as violent as him showing such an expression. His right hand trembled slightly, he closed his eyes, and repeated:
“He is too young.”
“His face… he’s definitely not yet thirty, far from reaching the peak age of a Martial Artist. He is sure to beco a Grandmaster, and with the weapon in his hand, he would be among the strongest even among Commanders of Troops.”
“I even suspect he might be one of the future Commanders of Troops of our Sword Forging Valley, or a subordinate sent out by Valley Master Ouyang, otherwise, there’s no reason not to kill us, let alone save Ouyang Guiyuan.”
Lu Yongi fell silent, she too believed this in her heart, yet the problem now facing them was that after their teachers from both sides paid a sufficient price to win this chance to accumulate rit and eliminate their opponent, they failed at the last mont.
It’s uncertain what awaits them when they return to the valley.
Xiao Runlin didn’t care about Lu Yongi’s thoughts, he said to himself:
“After returning to the valley, I will report to the teacher, hoping the teacher will pay attention to this person.”
Lu Yongi pressed her lips, and said:
“Pay attention to him? For revenge?”
Xiao Runlin’s teacher was one of the most profoundly skilled and protective of the twelve Commanders of Troops in the Sword Forging Valley. Within the sect itself, if a younger mber of the family was bullied, they would certainly go to settle the score, let alone outsiders?
If Xiao Runlin placed the bla entirely on the person just now, given the temperant of his teacher, they couldn’t possibly swallow this anger.
Xiao Runlin shook his head and said:
“No…”
“I hope the teacher can guard against him, be cautious of him.”
After a silent mont, he repeated once more.
“He is too young.”
PS: This is the first chapter update for today… about 2,800 words.
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