Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Five (Part III)

Chapter Five: Resentment Comes Late (Part III)

Thinking of him, Little Brother Huo's mind became even more chaotic. With this chaos, his sword momentum suddenly diminished.
 
The opponent's killing intent, however, did not diminish in the slightest!
 
This wondrous and frenzied sword formation, moreover, using the method of responding to myriad changes with constancy, from front to back, either leaning close to the body or striking directly from afar, sealed off Little Brother Huo's every step forward and backward without leaving a single gap.
 
Little Brother Huo's only way out was the upward way out. But now, up above, an even more difficult enemy to deal with was waiting——an enemy taking his time, waiting at his ease for the fatigued.
 
Jiao Chaogui's short body stood upon the branch of a tall old tree, calmly observing every move of the sword formation beneath the tree. His silhouette also rose and fell with the gentle swaying of the tree branch, as if it were a massive owl roosting beneath the moonlight.
 
That strange flying eagle of his perched right by his side; every time Little Brother Huo wanted to rely on his ghost-like movement technique to leap out into the air, this flying eagle had already swooped down with flapping wings, attacking in a pincer movement with Jiao Chaogui, one in front and one behind.
 
——This animal's instinct could actually anticipate the enemy beforehand; no matter how fast Little Brother Huo's lightness skill was, it could not be faster than this monster's instinct!
 
Little Brother Huo resisted for another stretch; the wound on his right arm throbbed with severe pain, making him almost unable to lift his sword, and he felt it to be even more difficult.
 
Within the eyes of Chang Hongbi inside the temple, a trace of fear had already surfaced.
 
He gritted his teeth. His action of gritting his teeth was very forceful.
 
Behind him, Zhan Rifei's panting had already become clearly audible. This black-clad youth clearly knew that Little Brother Huo outside the door was already beset with perils, yet he could not stand up no matter what. His hand wanted to go and grasp his sword that had fallen to the ground, yet it trembled, unable to stretch open no matter what.
 
——This toxic attack of "Yijianrugu" had not completely retreated from his body; for a time, it already did not allow him to have any more strength, or to be able to move at all.
 
Fighting for a brief moment longer, Little Brother Huo outside the door could not help but switch the sword to his left hand, being even more hard-pressed to parry left and right, beset with perils!
 
Chang Hongbi suddenly rushed to the corner of the room and picked up that fallen long sword.
 
He drew the sword.
 
With a clear howl of "clank," the sword was already out of its scabbard.
 
The icy sword blade flashed with a grim luster beneath the moonlight, just like a strange eye, looking at all of this coldly.
 
The sword blade reflected Chang Hongbi's pale face and the despair upon his face, flashing and flickering, as if it were a mockery from heaven.
 
Chang Hongbi gritted his teeth and raised the long sword in his hand.
 
The sword light flashed, and blood light splattered wildly!
 
The blood blossoms scattered before him like magnificent fireworks.
 
Amidst the dancing fireworks, for whom was this young and lonely heart intoxicated again?
 
Fresh blood had already been flowing unceasingly down from his withered, heavily scarred arm. Within the blood, there was unexpectedly a shimmering, faint green color!
 
Chang Hongbi rushed to Zhan Rifei's side, raised his arm, and aimed the wound upon his arm right at his lips.
 
The blood, in the blink of an eye, dripped and splattered onto his dry and cracked lips. Within the green-colored blood, a burning passion also seemed to flow.
 
Chang Hongbi lowered his voice, saying in a commanding manner, "Drink it!"
 
Within his daze, Zhan Rifei could unexpectedly faintly feel that something was wrong, saying in a sleep-talking manner, "You, you cannot——"
 
But no one could hear clearly what exactly he was saying.
 
Chang Hongbi became even more anxious, feeling himself that with every drop of blood that flowed, a portion of strength flowed away. Seeing that amidst the trembling of Zhan Rifei's mouth, a small half of his own blood had already overflowed from his completely bloodless lips, how could he still wait in time! He raised his uninjured hand, pinched Zhan Rifei's lower jaw, forcing him to open his mouth, allowing the blood within his own frail body to flow unceasingly into his mouth.
 
Zhan Rifei finally opened his eyes slowly, feeling a burst of blood stench in his mouth and a sweetness in his throat; his body could not help but tremble, and as soon as he raised his head, he saw Chang Hongbi's freckle-filled face and those cold yet anxious eyes.
 
This pair of eyes, for a moment, seemed extremely familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
 
Upon Chang Hongbi's arm, the blood was still flowing.
 
In an instant, he understood everything.
 
——This frail youth unexpectedly cut his own arm open, using his own fresh blood to feed into his mouth.
 
He originally possessed an extreme defense against anyone who attempted to cut open his arm to suck and drink fresh blood. But now, he actually cut his own arm open himself to save him.
 
——Why on earth did he do this?
 
Zhan Rifei said, "You——, you——"
 
Immediately he choked and coughed; although he was coughing, he was already able to struggle and sit up, wanting to lightly tap the acupoints on Chang Hongbi's arm to stop the bleeding for him.
 
Chang Hongbi, however, broke free from his palm and said in a low voice, "Save him!"
 
Zhan Rifei looked along his gaze; what he saw was unexpectedly the dangerous situation of Little Brother Huo parrying left and right.
 
Chang Hongbi said again, "Save him!"
 
Zhan Rifei still did not speak, as if in deep thought.
 
Within Chang Hongbi's expression, apart from sadness, grief, and anger, it was already filled with despair, "Why do you still not save him?"
 
Within Zhan Rifei's eyes, however, there was a trace of a complex expression. He said in a soft voice, "I will be fine once I circulate my breath for a moment." He then pointed to the long-standing offering incense sticks upon the incense altar, saying in a low voice, "Trouble you to help me fetch that bundle of offering incense sticks over here."
 
Little Brother Huo had almost already wanted to give up.
 
The opponents around him were still neither pressing nor slowing, maintaining their original rhythm.
 
And the "Yinyang'an" in his hand had already become unspeakably heavy; his movement technique had already become sluggish.
 
Right at this moment, by his ear, a tiny voice using the sound-transmission technique suddenly rang out: "I will count to three, and you will use your 'Jinghongyipie' to fly and charge upward."
 
This voice was unexpectedly Zhan Rifei's voice!
 
Little Brother Huo could not help but experience a surge of spirit; following Zhan Rifei's command, without a second thought, he flew straight up into the sky.
 
——Could it be that he had already forgotten Jiao Chaogui upon the high tree, and his secretive black eagle?
 
Along with this leaping up of his body, he felt as if a gust of fierce wind swept past his ear.
 
At the very same time, the eleven torches around unexpectedly extinguished suddenly, and the surroundings instantly fell into a blanket of darkness.
 
And what broke the darkness was unexpectedly a miserable screech from that black giant eagle. These black wings did not strike downward, but like a headless fly, flew and charged crookedly and obliquely up into the sky!
 
Anyone going from light to darkness will experience a sudden blackout before their eyes. The eleven Feiyun Riders were also affected by this sudden change; their hands could not help but slow down. By the time they realized their mistake, it was already too late.
 
——Little Brother Huo's silhouette was already outside the sword formation.
 
——Yet another even more magnificent sword light gallantly flew up beneath the moonlight!
 
The change arose so abruptly that even Jiao Chaogui was caught unprepared. He raised his head to look for his beloved flying eagle, only to see that the black eagle circling in the night sky seemed like it had gone mad. Looking closely, only then did he realize that within the prominent eyes of that beast, an offering incense stick was unexpectedly stabbed. Turning his head again, beneath the moonlight, upon the eleven extinguished torches, the exact same offering incense sticks were also stabbed in a neat and orderly fashion.
 
Beneath the moonlight, the sword light of the Feiyun Riders could no longer be seen: simply because no matter how bright their sword light was, it could not be brighter than a single cold sword light.
 
The sword light from the hand of a man in black clothing.
 
——This sword light was unexpectedly so brilliant.
 
Wherever the sword light reached, the Feiyun Riders fell to the ground one after another.
 
Jiao Chaogui let out a roar of fury; his two palms simultaneously unleashed the "Liuyun Palm," pouncing straight down from the high tree, launching continuous strikes toward that man in black clothing.
 
Except that before he could even attack in front of him, the sword light flashed, instantly illuminating his pale face.
 
Jiao Chaogui's brain went off with a boom; for a moment, it was just as if he had seen a ghost: "You——! It is you——!"
 
Zhan Rifei said slowly: "Correct, it is I."
 
Jiao Chaogui retreated a step in fear, then took a step forward again, gritting his teeth and saying: "So it is you!"
 
Without another word, the "Liuyun Palm" was struck out in an even more sky-covering and earth-blotting manner.
 
Zhan Rifei just watched coldly like this; his gaze, firm as a monolith, reflected the cold light of the "Zhanlu" sword in his hand, remaining steadily motionless.
 
Right at this moment, Jiao Chaogui suddenly heard a very strange sound. He had never heard this kind of sound before.
 
Only then did he feel a sharp pain in his chest; lowering his head to look, he unexpectedly did not see blood, yet he already saw a section of a black sword tip that had pierced through his chest.
 
——His face became distorted instantly, almost unable to believe his own eyes!
 
Upon the black sword tip, it was as if a black demon was attached, making his heart feel as if it had been hollowed out. Even death, for a moment, took a step slower.
 
He could still see Little Brother Huo behind him turn around, grab his collar, and say loudly: "Where did you get this sword formation from?"
 
Jiao Chaogui looked at him, and a strange and cruel smile already surfaced within his eyes, as he said: "No matter what you want to know, it is no longer important! Because even your Huo family's 'Linglong Eye' cannot see this secret of mine!"
 
He absolutely had to finish saying this sentence before he was willing to fall down.