Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Five (Part II)

Chapter Five: Resentment Comes Late (Part II)

Outside the temple doors, the light of the mountain moon had already grown somewhat dim, as if it could not bear to see everything that was about to happen. The air was suddenly filled with bloodlust and killing intent.
 
Little Brother Huo's two hands were casually folded behind his back. Before him were twelve people. Twelve people riding on fast horses.
 
Uniformly black steeds, with a flying cloud with open wings branded on the horse's flank. The people on the steeds were dressed in deep-purple tight-fitting attire, completely silent. Only the torches in their hands were constantly making cracking and popping sounds.
 
On their faces, there was not a single trace of expression, just like stone statues.
 
Except for one of them.
 
A short and majestic person.
 
This short and majestic person sat precisely on the horse in the center. Although his body was short, he always held his chest high, letting other people see his presence, yet unable to see his shortness.
 
On the hilt of the long sword he wore on his body, pearls were embedded one by one. The killing intent, steady as an abyss and imposing as a mountain, set against his square face, carried an even more unmatchable domineering aura and pressure.
 
Little Brother Huo smiled. It was the kind of smile upon seeing an acquaintance. As soon as he smiled, those two cute buck teeth were revealed again.
 
——The acquaintance who came was naturally the Master of Xingyun Villa, Jiao Chaogui, known in the martial world as "Yinxingyun."
 
In Little Brother Huo's words, his surprise and admiration were also not concealed in the slightest.
 
"Master Jiao arrives so quickly!"
 
——It was only a short while ago that Jiao Chaogui suffered a setback and returned from the inn at Xiaolangtou Mountain, losing Mu Xiuquan and Ge Yunfei.
 
For him to actually rally his men and horses so quickly and find their tracks was in itself a remarkable thing.
 
Little Brother Huo's gaze immediately locked onto a strange silhouette behind Jiao Chaogui.
 
This strange silhouette seemed to be sharing a horse with Jiao Chaogui, yet possessed a pair of flat and brutal eyes.
 
——"I wonder who the friend behind Master Jiao is? Looking at him, he truly seems very unfamiliar."
 
On Jiao Chaogui's face, which was overflowing with domineering aura, a burst of cold laughter was emitted. Within his cold laughter, there was unexpectedly a sense of complacency.
 
His head tilted slightly, and the figure behind him was revealed.
 
The smile on Little Brother Huo's face vanished instantly.
 
——That was unexpectedly not the shadow of a human!
 
Perched behind Jiao Chaogui was a massive black eagle.
 
The eagle's head was extraordinarily large, thereby making the eagle's eyes prominently expose a brutal and eerie gaze like that of a wild beast, matching this upright, strange bird, making it exceptionally ferocious.
 
Within Little Brother Huo's mind, everything became clear instantly. For Jiao Chaogui to be able to discover their whereabouts so quickly turned out to have an extraordinary relationship with this secretive dark bird.
 
——No wonder he felt just now that the night birds kept flying up in alarm, and even though he was someone who possessed the cultivation of "Listening to Flower Whispers in a Small Tower Overnight," he could not, under any circumstances, hear any movement of night travelers within a radius of several miles!
 
——The alarmed flight of the night birds was presumably because this brutal black eagle was circling and appearing high in the sky. Furthermore, because that black eagle's feathers were of the same color as the dark night and drifting clouds, flying within the dark clouds, not a single trace of this eagle could naturally be seen beneath the moon.
 
Little Brother Huo said, "So Master Jiao has not only come fully prepared, but also intends to rely on numbers to win."
 
Jiao Chaogui said, "Anyone who offends Xingyun Villa will not have a good end. What is more, that item of Xingyun Villa must be returned to its original owner!"
 
Little Brother Huo said, "It is very strange; how did an item of Hanshui Palace suddenly become an item of Xingyun Villa? Could it be that Master Jiao is not afraid that Hanshui Palace will come knocking on your door?"
 
A sharp light flashed in Jiao Chaogui's eyes, unexpectedly as fierce as knives and swords. His domineering aura, within this single instant, was fully revealed beyond doubt. One could only hear him saying word by word, "By the time Hanshui Palace comes knocking on the door, it will already be too late. Speak, where exactly is that item of Xingyun Villa?"
 
Little Brother Huo smiled and said, "An item of Xingyun Villa, I have not seen; however, an item of Hanshui Palace, I have indeed seen one."
 
He stared into Jiao Chaogui's eyes, and within the tone of his words there was already an unspeakable irony, "Could what Master Jiao is talking about be the Chang Hongbi of Hanshui Palace?"
 
The moment the three words "Chang Hongbi" came out, Jiao Chaogui's face changed.
 
"Correct, where on earth is it?"
 
Little Brother Huo blinked his eyes, as if considering it for a very long time, and then held his head high, baring those two cute buck teeth, and said slowly, "I——will——just——not——tell——you!"
 
Jiao Chaogui's face turned ash-pale instantly.
 
——It had already been a very long time since anyone dared to be so presumptuous in front of him!
 
He said slowly, "For you to regret now is also too late!"
 
——He spoke very slowly. Because as the Master of Xingyun Villa, he would take responsibility for every single word he spoke.
 
Following that, his hand was likewise slowly raised and waved.
 
In a sudden flash, upon those steeds that had clearly undergone a long gallop, there were no longer any people; there were only the torches originally held in those people's hands, which within the blink of an eye had already been inserted into one side of the saddles.
 
The people on the horses had already arrived below the horses, standing in strange positions, completely surrounding Little Brother Huo.
 
Eleven people.
 
The eleven people were dressed in deep-purple tight-fitting attire, and upon their front lapels, a cloud with wings was embroidered with gold thread.
 
Within Little Brother Huo's eyes, the dancing flames beneath the torches were reflected, and an excitement and tension were also reflected. Simply because he had already recognized the newcomers——the Feiyun Riders of Xingyun Villa!
 
Throughout Little Brother Huo's entire body from top to bottom, a sense of vigilance was already fully charged. His eyes merely stared at the swords in these eleven people's hands.
 
The swords were as wide as knives, yet the lengths of the swords unexpectedly varied from long to short. The shortest was only two feet, while the longest was actually six feet.
 
These strange long swords must be paired with peculiar stances. The killing intent forced out from the swords became heavier and heavier, making any object that fell into the circle of the long swords seem unable to move even half an inch.
 
Beneath the night wind, every single one of the Feiyun Riders had their strands of hair blown into disarray by the wind. Their eyes, however, all shimmered with a wolf-like light, staring at the person inside the circle without blinking even once.
 
They were waiting for a person.
 
Waiting for this person's command.
 
The wind blew rattlingly, and the night birds had also quieted down. The original restless clamor in the air had begun to grow peaceful. Within this kind of stillness, an unknowable crisis and peril were gestating. Even Little Brother Huo did not know what kind of stances would be conjured up beneath these eleven swords of varying lengths.
 
Jiao Chaogui finally spoke.
 
——His decision was clearly directed toward Little Brother Huo. He had already heard that inside the temple hall behind that yellow-shirted youth, there were still two people. Except that when one of them spoke, he possessed absolutely no martial arts, and the other was noticeably deficient in internal breath, appearing as if a heavy injury was upon his body. The one he needed to deal with naturally left only the youth before him who did not know what was good for him.
 
His voice had already become gloomy and heavy.
 
"Do not leave any survivors."
 
Suddenly, all sounds completely ceased. Between heaven and earth, a bleak and harsh killing intent was already fully charged.
 
Eleven paths of sword light interwove into a dense and closely-knit net, already like a sheet of white silk, stabbing toward Little Brother Huo. The snow-bright brilliance reflected so much that the curved mountain moon in the sky was utterly devoid of light.
 
The rapid sword light had already woven into a screen of light around Little Brother Huo. Within this screen of light, however, an unspeakable madness was revealed, which was already beyond the ability of anyone in the world to stem!
 
The "Yinyang'an" in Little Brother Huo's hand unexpectedly, under the forcing of this frenzied net-screen of sword light, let out a piercing long howl, as if it were a startled beast, or like a demon that had just been released from hell.
 
His person, without time to think, dodged and flew upward, wanting to evade this endless sword light. His toes tapped the ground, his body leaped up, and he had already stabbed out eleven swords toward these eleven people in a single breath.
 
His movement technique of "Jinghongyipie" softened up again, looking as if he was just about to fly up and charge straight into the cloudy sky.
 
Except that in mid-air, someone was already waiting for him.
 
No, it was two individuals!
 
That flying eagle swooped down rapidly toward the ground; when it neared Little Brother Huo, it immediately soared straight up into the sky, while hidden behind its black, large wings was the "Liuyun Fast Palm."
 
The fierce wind was as sharp as a knife cut and as fast as a startling dream, already splitting down to blanket his head and cover his face.
 
——Jiao Chaogui's "Liuyun Fast Palm"!
 
But no matter how fast this Liuyun Fast Palm was, how could it be faster than the supreme lightness skill of Linglong Villa! Little Brother Huo became suddenly alert; his body moved with his thoughts, and he had already floated down like a light feather. His body was as light and slow as a wild goose's feather, yet it happened to be faster than the speed of the Liuyun Palm!
 
But the purpose of this palm strike, after all, was achieved: Little Brother Huo could only land, landing back into the center of that frenzied net of light!
 
The shock in his heart could no longer be expressed in words.
 
——Could Jiao Chaogui actually see through his ghost-like movement technique, and could he actually anticipate the enemy's moves, gaining the upper hand over him beforehand?
 
And the shock in Jiao Chaogui's heart far exceeded his!
 
——With the swiftness and hardness of his Liuyun Palm, carrying his decades of internal cultivation, and being a strike from a commanding height with full preparation, it had actually still missed, still not being as fast as the movement technique of this youth from Linglong Villa.
 
Falling once again into this net-like screen of sword light, only now did Little Brother Huo discover that he seemed to have no way out.
 
——The position where every Feiyun Rider stood was very clever, all crossing and rapidly shifting in ways that exceeded expectations, sealing his every path of retreat without a single error!
 
——Their continuous links of long and short swords seemed like the water of rivers, never having a moment of stopping. While the "Yinyang'an" in his own hand, although a divine weapon of the epoch, paired with the lightness skill of "Jinghongyipie,"
 
seemed completely unable to clash with the enemies' weapons.
 
——Even if they clashed, it could only sever one sword of the opponent in an instant, while the remaining various swords had long since advanced in a continuous chain, stabbing toward his own body.
 
Within the sword light and sword shadows, Little Brother Huo's unbelievable changes of steps and movement from "Jinghongyipie" were now completely displayed! This sword light, which was like alternating flashes of lightning, unexpectedly could not harm a hair of his. However, his own counterattacks were entirely sealed off by the opponents. Within the opponent's silk-like sheet of sword light, Little Brother Huo finally understood the function of these eleven long and short swords. It was not merely using speed against speed under the drive of internal strength, but precisely because the lengths of the swords were uneven, his own grasping and judgment could not be made accurate and error-free in an instant.
 
Little Brother Huo's heart suddenly sank. He had already recognized it; this sword formation of the Feiyun Riders was precisely the sword formation that countered the Huo family's "Jinghongyipie" lightness skill!
 
His thoughts could not help but stir.
 
——Although the Feiyun Riders held a resounding reputation in the martial world, they had always fought single-handedly; he had never heard anyone mention that they also practiced such a sword formation.
 
——The person who created this sword formation had absolutely spent more than just a day or night's effort, and moreover, must have previously seen the strike of "Yinyang'an" with their own eyes, knowing the curse attached to this sword, so that it was possible to use this kind of strange long sword and strange sword technique to completely seal off all the possible paths where "Yinyang'an" could strike.
 
The moment he thought of this, for some unknown reason, a burst of cold shivers instantly rolled across his spine!
 
——"This 'Yinyang'an' was originally a sacred artifact enshrined in the ancestral hall. For decades, except for when the eldest daughter of the Huo family married, it has never left the ancestral hall, let alone been seen by others. Even I do not know where its magic power lies; how could there be an outsider who could understand the secrets within this?"
 
For a time, the words of Zhan Rifei during their first meeting echoed in his ears again: "Brother Huo is surely clearer than I am about the secret struggle between Linglong Villa and Xingyun Villa." The doubts in his heart were already like rolling dark clouds, obscuring everything.
 
——Although the Hanshui Palace was located in a remote area, its actions were ruthless, and its martial arts were so strong that no one dared to defy its sharp edge. Yet, Xingyun Villa dared to claim the rare treasure of Hanshui Palace, Chang Hongbi, as their own. How did they also manage to abduct Chang Hongbi from the heavily guarded Hanshui Palace without a single scratch?
 
——The Tang Clan of Shuzhong had always been someone few dared to provoke; learning that Chang Hongbi had fallen into the hands of Xingyun Villa, did they actually have to dispatch three killers from the "Wuning Hall" to deal with Ge Yunfei, the third master of Xingyun Villa, alone?
 
——The reputation of the Huo family of Linglong Villa was renowned far and wide, and its power was so immense that, except for the Ding family of Feihua Island in Matsue, few people in the martial world could rival it. For nearly a century, relying on the marriages of the Huo family's eldest daughters, they had either formed alliances with many famous orthodox sects or taken them for their own use. The rise of Xingyun Villa, however, was merely a matter of the past few decades; based on what did they actually manage to struggle secretly with the Huo family?
 
——Behind this Xingyun Villa, was there an unspeakable secret, a greater ambition, and a backing unknown to people?
 
The moment his mind was divided, his hands could not help but slow down. At the hair-breadth instant, with a soft "chiss" sound, a blood mark had already been carved onto his right arm by a short sword. Within this, a child's startled cry was immediately mixed.
 
Succeeding in one strike, the faces of the eleven people still did not have a single shred of expression. Only the wolf-like ferocity in their eyes, along with the splashing of the blood light, became even more arrogant.
 
Amidst the sword light, Little Brother Huo glanced sideways, only to see Chang Hongbi's pale face and concerned eyes at the temple entrance. The startled cry just now was precisely emitted from this child's mouth.
 
His heart stirred: "This child is truly very good to me."
 
However, his heart immediately sank again: "Why is he still here? Where is Zhan Rifei?"
 
——Just now, he had put forth his full effort to fight hard against the Feiyun Riders of Xingyun Villa; the cultivation of "Listening to Flower Whispers in a Small Tower Overnight" had already made him turn a deaf ear to everything around him except for the enemies. At this moment, he heard Chang Hongbi's cry, and only then did he realize that the two people in the temple hall had not taken advantage of the chaos to leave first!
 
——What on earth happened to Zhan Rifei?