Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Three (Part V)
Chapter Three: Eternal Longing (Part V)
Not knowing how much time had passed, the boy finally woke up. His head was still in a sharp pain as if it were splitting.
The boy very quickly discovered that his own arm was gripped within Zhan Rifei's left hand. His hand was icy cold.
Zhan Rifei still stood in front of him. His sword, however, pointed toward the ground.
The green-clothed man still stood opposite him. His blade was also not returned to its scabbard, also pointing toward the ground.
These two people were just as if they had never moved.
The only things that changed were that his Zhanlu, and his Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun, were both out of their scabbards and had not returned.
──Could it be that between the two of them, victory and defeat were already decided?
──Since victory and defeat were already decided, why were the blade and sword still not returned to their scabbards?
The boy's eyes looked over, and only then did he discover that everything was faint red. Raising his sleeve to wipe his face, he only then saw that what was stained upon his sleeve were bloodstains. The color assumed a faint red, surely having already been washed faint by the rain water.
Only within these bloodstains stained upon the cuff, there was faintly a trace of black. A dead black color.
This was not his bloodstain.
──Since it was not his own bloodstain, then whose could it be?
The boy seemed to have thought of something, and his face changed.
Just at this time, he heard someone let out a cold snort.
This snort was just like a ghost's cry heard while walking in a graveyard.
It was that green-clothed man opposite who let out a cold snort.
His voice remained peaceful, yet remained making a person shudder without being cold.
"To think that you were already heavily injured in body long ago, yet still dared to intercept and parry my 'Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle'!"
As one sentence left his mouth, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He only felt his internal breath suddenly seem like surging billows scattering in all directions, just as if the words he spoke just now were a primer, instantly triggering a massive tremor among his hundred bones.
A breath was gasped up, instantly carrying him to take a step back, and following that was taking another step back.
He was greatly shocked! When the internal energy of both sides intersected, the "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" instantly transformed into thousands upon tens of thousands of ice-icicles, strangling into the enemy's body; it was his certain-kill skill. But he did not expect that when the two of them fought with internal energy just now, he himself had actually also been injured!
Zhan Rifei's torso still stood straight and erect within the rain. The misty rain had already soaked him entirely through. Fresh blood still continuously flowed out from his nose, from his mouth, and from his back, immediately washed faint by the rain water.
But his hand still tightly held that boy's hand. His torso still blocked in front of that boy.
The boy had already felt his hand gradually become as cold as ice.
Was it because of the reason of such a cold and chilly rainy night, or because the person holding his hand had already reached the point where the lamp was exhausted and the oil was dry?
The Sun-Wielding Envoy opposite him, however, could not perceive it.
Perhaps from Zhan Rifei's face, which remained as calm as usual, this green-clothed man simply could not see a single flaw.
"Even being injured, I can still win against you," Zhan Rifei said word by word. "Let us come again. I will once more receive your 'Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle'!"
No one could receive his "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" twice.
The "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" made three moves into one momentum. Looking across the world beneath heaven, he truly could not think of what other move and style could surpass its hardness, sunniness, majesty, and vigor.
This black-clothed youth before his eyes was heavily injured first, yet actually wanted to receive this "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" once more. Could his torso be made of iron?
Within the Sun-Wielding Envoy's dead-man-like eyes, there was revealed human emotion for the first time; that was actually terror.
Zhan Rifei looked at him, and within his eyes there was also human emotion revealed. That was actually a trace of a mocking smile.
Who could say that the mutual gaze of these two people was not equal to another form of clash and engagement?
The green-clothed man finally did not possess the courage to unleash the "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" a second time.
He also no longer possessed the strength to unleash it.
The internal breath within his body tumbled, striking his five viscera and six bowels, wanting to make him vomit several times.
He could only retreat and leave. Carrying the Moon-Wielding Envoy to retreat and leave.
To retreat, meant to lose.
People of the Cold Water Palace, before the enemy, seemed to have never retreated. This was just like his "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle," which had also never been used a second time.
Only, he did not know whether he could unleash his "Thousand-Jun Dragon-Slaying Strangle" again; just as he could not be certain whether Zhan Rifei definitely could not receive his second launching of the move.
And his injury could already no longer be delayed, while the Moon-Wielding Envoy's injury was especially unable to be delayed further.
He could only leave.
People of the Cold Water Palace have all undergone strict training and know how to weigh advantages and disadvantages. Being the Sun-Wielding Envoy, he understood more clearly than others.
Gloomily, he only left behind one sentence before leaving. A sentence that burst out from between tightly gritted teeth.
"I will come back to look for you again."
Watching his silhouette vanish into the rain mist with his eyes, Zhan Rifei lightly let out a sigh.
He finally could not hold up, falling to the ground, and for a time could no longer climb up.
Upon his back it was already dripping with fresh blood, clearly due to the reason of forcefully breaking free from "Eternal Longing" just now, right? A section of "Eternal Longing," cast from heavenly silkworm silk, still remained pierced into his back, so with a light struggle by that boy, he left his grasp.
The boy's expression had already become unspeakably cruel and cold. He did not move, all along watching his struggle with indifference from the side.
Although Zhan Rifei had matched two enemies as one and saved him, within his thin, young, and small eyes, there could not be seen a single shred of gratitude or concern; rather, they were filled with disdain.
Finally, he squatted down, and lightly extended a finger onto Zhan Rifei's back. His finger was instantly stained with his blood.
Slowly, he placed that finger by his own lips to taste it.
As if verifying his own thoughts, upon his thin face that was full of freckles, there actually revealed a trace of a careless and cold smile.
Zhan Rifei upon the ground, however, was unable to see his countenance, unable to hear his movements.
He still struggled, trying to climb up.
──Because he had words he must definitely say out loud to this boy.
The boy squatting to the side had already stood up his body, preparing to leave, when he suddenly heard this person collapsed upon the ground say in a low voice: "You──why do you not leave quickly? Do──do not let them catch you again. They are not heavily injured, and will come again."
He had precisely been about to leave, but hearing Zhan Rifei's words, he gave a start, and a trace of hesitation could not help but flash across his brow.
Not knowing how much time passed, Zhan Rifei was finally able to struggle to sit up his body.
The moment he raised his head, he saw the boy still standing there blankly.
Within his tone of voice, there was already a trace of severity.
"Why have you still not left ?"