Chapter 183: Plum Blossom Willow Leaf Blade

It was not just because Ximen Yong was Ximen Kankan's father that he could not sit idly by.

At the end of the year, he had to participate in the registration for the Taiyi Sect's Registered Disciple selection; if something happened to Ximen Yong during this ambush, wouldn't he have to entrust his registration to someone else?

Even if he wanted to entrust it to someone else, would there still be anyone who could, like Ximen Kankan, lobby their own father to help him?

Even if they were willing to help, it would require their father-son relationship to be good enough. He had heard that the relationship between Jiang Qingyu and his father, Jiang Heng, was very tense.

These various factors prompted Duan Rong to finally decide to intervene in this matter.

Of course, more importantly, Duan Rong had analyzed the strength comparison between the two sides in detail inside the carriage.

With his current realm of Inner Breath Third Layer and Blade Technique Great Success, plus his Plum Blossom Needle technique and Cloud Snake Step, once he suddenly intervened in the battle from the shadows, Duan Rong felt there was a very high probability of turning the tide of the battle.

And this last point was the one that played the most critical role in Duan Rong's decision.

One's own strength is the foundation of everything.

Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu and continued to practice Standing Stake until the Hour of the Rat before sleeping.

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Duan Rong came to a Weapon Shop on West Street.

This Weapon Shop on West Street was the largest weapon shop in Xiangu County.

Ordinary blacksmith shops that forged hoes, iron shovels, and some common blades were naturally not worth mentioning, but this Weapon Shop had already reached a certain scale, with as many as twenty or thirty mature blacksmiths in the shop.

Several major forces in the county, including the Ya Men, would place expensive orders at this shop every year.

Jiuzhou values martial arts, and around this "martial" character, many highly profitable industries have developed.

The business of blades is naturally one of them.

Duan Rong came to this Weapon Shop prepared to buy some javelins or throwing knives and similar weapons.

After all, unless it was a life-or-death moment, it was best not to use his Plum Blossom Needle randomly in the future.

In Xie Lei's case, Xie Daohan had even dug up the Corpse Rot Poison, let alone throwing needle-type hidden weapons. Although he had picked up the needles he fired at the scene, truly formidable people would likely still be able to infer what he had used at the time from the clues.

Duan Rong wandered around the throwing dart section in the Weapon Shop for a long time before finally choosing the Willow Leaf Knife.

This type of Willow Leaf Knife used as a throwing dart was only one-third the size of a javelin, about just a circle larger than a real willow leaf.

This knife had a small shape, but the thickness was moderate and it did not appear thin.

After repeated selection, Duan Rong believed that this type of throwing knife was currently the most suitable for him, and the feel was also the best.

A big shop is a big shop; although the price is a bit expensive, the service is good and the accessories are complete.

As long as you buy forty Willow Leaf Knives, you get a Belt for free.

That Belt was like a waistband, with openings inside and out, allowing Willow Leaf Knives to be placed on both sides—twenty in the inner layer and twenty in the outer layer, placed in a staggered manner, totaling exactly forty.

When Duan Rong walked out of the Weapon Shop, he had a waist-cinching Belt wrapped around his waist.

Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu, closed the courtyard gate, and stood in the courtyard when his figure suddenly flickered...

As he moved through the courtyard, afterimages gradually appeared behind him...

Duan Rong leaped or slanted, turned or stepped sideways, his figure as fast as a ghost, and as his figure flickered, Plum Blossom Afterimages began to bloom from his hands...

One by one, the Willow Leaf Knives shot out from the Plum Blossom Afterimages, the slight, almost inaudible sound of breaking through the air... just like bubbles bursting in water... that dense, inaudible "puff" sound was the whisper of all things in nature, not a sound audible to the human ear.

After Duan Rong achieved the Inner Breath Third Layer, this throwing knife technique became even more ghostly; there was no short, whistling sound of breaking air, only the tranquility of bubbles bursting, simply a silent, soul-reaping ghost shadow...

As the throwing knives passed, pieces of willow leaves drifted down from the treetops, only to be nailed to the tree trunks by the following throwing knives...

Duan Rong shot all the throwing knives in the Belt in one breath, and he performed quite smoothly.

After all, this Willow Leaf Knife was a throwing knife forged by a Weapon Shop; as the saying goes, there is a specialty in every trade. The tail of the Willow Leaf Knife had anti-slip patterns, and it was clearly polished, not only beautiful but also having a great feel as soon as it was in hand.

It really could not be compared to embroidery needles.

However, throwing needles are thin and almost invisible; among hidden weapons, they are the most treacherous and insidious, killing without a sound.

In the Weapon Shop, Duan Rong did not see any needle-type hidden weapons.

"Perhaps the forging craftsmanship of this world cannot yet create anti-slip patterns on the tail of something as thin as a throwing needle," Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead and speculated with flickering eyes.

Then Duan Rong's figure flickered, and he retrieved all the Willow Leaf Knives stuck in the willow tree.

Afterward, Duan Rong practiced a few more times, and only after feeling very proficient did he put away the Belt.

After practicing the throwing knives, Duan Rong made some more preparations, then went to a carriage rental shop to rent a horse, rode out of the East City Gate, and headed toward Heihu Gang, which was still some distance from Xiangu County. Duan Rong galloped from the morning, and by the time the twilight gathered in the wild mountains, Duan Rong estimated that he was still five or six miles away from Heihu Gang.

He had passed by this Heihu Gang when he was escorting goods to Ruyang Prefecture, so Duan Rong was quite familiar with the distance.

Seeing that it was about to be night, Duan Rong found a piece of wild land by the side of the road and tied the jujube-red horse, which was already foaming at the mouth, there.

Then Duan Rong took out a night-traveling suit from the package on his back and put it on. He then covered his mouth and nose with a black cloth, folded the clothes he had changed out of and put them into the package, and then with a leap, like an ape climbing a tree, he tied the package to the treetop of a birch tree beside him.

Duan Rong stepped on the birch tree, and his whole body leaped out, landing gracefully like a willow leaf riding the wind off a treetop.

Duan Rong then exerted his figure, leaping through the wild mountains like a ghost. With his Proficiency-level Cloud Snake Step fully unleashed, his speed was much faster than the jujube-red horse, which was already at the end of its strength and foaming at the mouth.

In about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Duan Rong had already arrived at Heihu Gang.

At this time, the night had already surged up, and the ridge was pitch black, with one unable to see one's own fingers. As soon as Duan Rong arrived at the edge of Heihu Gang, he slowed his pace, and at the same time, his Divine Sense suddenly expanded.

The expanded Divine Sense immediately enveloped a radius of one hundred meters centered on him.

Duan Rong hid in the forest beside the Official Road, moving his feet slowly, not letting himself make a single sound.

After Duan Rong walked a certain distance, his Divine Sense suddenly scanned two people; those two were tying a thick hemp rope covered with iron caltrops to a tree beside them.

The two people were also wearing black clothes, at the edge of his one-hundred-meter range.

The moment Duan Rong scanned these two, he immediately stopped.

Although he was now in the pitch-black wild forest, at this moment, with his Divine Sense released and then using the Plum Blossom Willow Leaf Blade to reap lives, it could be called invincible.

But Duan Rong also knew that among these people, it was very likely that Huang Gaozu had already arrived.

If he reaped lives in the dark night, he would likely expose his own position, and Huang Gaozu had excellent Lightness Skill; once locked on by him, it would be troublesome.

The best plan was to hide his figure here and secretly wait for Ximen Yong's party to arrive.

When the time came, the moment Huang Gaozu made contact with Yuan Shouzhi would be his opportunity to strike.

Duan Rong thought it through, then leaped and hid in the lush canopy of a tree beside him, and the moment he was hidden, he withdrew his Divine Sense.

With prolonged Divine Sense Projection, his Divine Soul would be unable to endure it.

He needed to withdraw his Divine Sense at this moment to restore the energy of his Divine Soul, so that when he made his move, he could still rely on Divine Sense Projection to coordinate with his Cloud Snake Step and Plum Blossom Willow Leaf Blade.

(End of chapter)