Chapter 161: Something's Wrong?

However, as these words were spoken, a calm and untroubled voice emerged from the carriage on the street: Hu Rui'an.

"Continue forward."

This order was naturally directed at Wu Shang and the others, and upon hearing Hu Rui'an's command, Wu Shang and the group immediately responded with assent.

They merely cast a quick glance at the old woman and the others before continuing to drive the horses forward.

The hooves clattered, the wheels rolled, echoing on the already empty street, heading straight toward the bronze-masked man blocking the way ahead.

Seeing this, the old woman and Bai Li Wei, standing atop the roof, both furrowed their brows at once.

After confirming they could not capture Lady Murong Feng, they had planned to shift their target; while Lady Murong Feng behind them had not yet caught up, they intended to rush forward at maximum speed to seize Lady Murong Xiaoya.

In this way, although their mission would not be fully accomplished, capturing Lady Murong Xiaoya would still count as achieving part of their objective, allowing them to provide some explanation upon their return.

But to their surprise, these few people before them seemed to have a very deep relationship with the Lady Murong family.

After they had clearly stated the pros and cons involved, the other party had simply ignored them outright, obviously determined to protect Lady Murong Xiaoya.

"Enough. Since they are stubborn and unteachable, there is nothing more to say. Attack!"

A flash of cold light passed through Bai Li Wei's eyes as he waved his hand.

In the next instant, the two men blocking Hu Rui'an's front and rear suddenly moved, sprinting rapidly toward each other across the empty long street.

The gray-robed man with a bronze mask over his face held an iron flute horizontally to his lips; at the same time, his own body transformed into a series of fragmented afterimages, approaching Wu Shang and the others at extreme speed.

"Thousand Killings of Flute Sound!"

In an instant, flute sound flowed forth; sound waves bursting from the flute holes turned into rows of sharp, invisible thin blades, shaving the tiled eaves surrounding the street and the hanging bronze bells into dust. Where the sound blades passed, the ground cracked into spiderweb patterns spreading in all directions, then shattered into ash.

At this moment, the burly man behind the carriage dragged a purple-copper battle axe along the ground. Although he wore heavy copper armor and a copper helmet, and the battle axe weighed several hundred jin.

His running speed was in no way inferior to that of the gray-robed man wearing the bronze mask.

Moreover, the copper-armored man possessed immense strength; with every footfall, he crushed the street bricks into powder, and deep footprints exploded with vicious cracks.

"Axe Splits the City!"

The purple-copper battle axe, dragged along the ground, scraped out a line of scorching bright sparks, leaving burning traces like molten lava on the street surface.

The axe blade generated wind, whipping up a ground full of gravel, which actually condensed into two gravel long dragons several zhang in length, rushing toward Hu Rui'an and the others.

At the same time, the old woman did not sit idly by; she too struck with the force of thunder.

After all, Lady Murong Feng and the others behind would catch up very soon; the time left for them to act was short. They had to combine their forces for a quick victory to capture Lady Murong Xiaoya in the carriage within the shortest time.

The old woman was seen lightly raising her hand to brush her hair; in that instant, her hunched back suddenly straightened, and the true qi of the surrounding heaven and earth instantly and rapidly condensed.

Her head full of white hair shot up toward the sky, then, like a galaxy breaching its dam, crashed down. The silver-white hair strands, like steel wires and iron threads, pierced the air, fast as thunder and lightning.

In just an instant, the violent wind raised by the surging hair waves lifted every single brick on the long street below.

And Hu Rui'an and the others' horses and carriage, in the next moment, seemed about to be shot into flying ash by thousands upon thousands of hair strands.

"White-Haired Yama — Bai Li Wei."

At the same time, Hu Rui'an, inside the carriage, furrowed his brows. Sensing the white hair covering the sky like falling arrows, a sense of crisis like needles on his back instantly arose throughout his body.

He immediately glanced at Li Musheng opposite him and prepared to act.

However, just at this moment, Li Musheng shook his head and said:

"No need. Your intervention would waste too much time."

At the same time, the white hair covering the sky, like a galaxy pouring down, had just approached the vicinity of Wu Shang and the others when it suddenly stopped.

Then, as if losing all supporting power, the white hair strands, each like a steel wire, went limp and quickly fell from mid-air.

At the same time, whether it was the gray-robed man holding the iron flute and executing "Thousand Killings of Flute Sound," or the copper-armored man dragging the purple-copper battle axe and rushing toward Hu Rui'an and the others.

All fell silent simultaneously. The all-penetrating sound-wave blades and the gravel long dragons swept up by the battle axe all vanished in that very instant.

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, riding horses at the front, and Cao Gaoshan, sitting at the front of the carriage, all showed expressions of astonishment at once.

Even Shen Anran, who knew Li Musheng well enough, had a flash of amazement pass through her eyes at this moment.

It was seen that in just an instant, the entire street had become utterly silent.

And within the sight of Wu Shang and the others, whether it was the bronze-masked man holding the iron flute ahead, or the burly man holding the purple-copper battle axe behind the carriage, or the old woman and Bai Li Wei on the roof.

All suddenly stopped in place at this moment, like wood carvings and clay statues, not moving an inch.

And what they could clearly see was that at the center of each of these four people's foreheads, a blood hole piercing completely through front to back had appeared at some unknown time.

For Wu Shang and the others, although they trusted Hu Rui'an enough, when they had directly faced the attacks of the bronze-masked man and the white-haired old woman, they could not help but be awed by the powerful martial arts strength displayed by the opponents.

But this scene before them made the feeling of being forcibly suppressed by the opponents' martial arts aura vanish completely in an instant.

In the next moment, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong both instinctively turned their gaze toward the carriage behind them.

In the hearts of the two, at this very moment, almost simultaneously arose a thought:

Is this the true strength of Imperial Prince Eighth?

Acting silently and without sound, whether a Half-Step Heavenly Human or a Heavenly Human expert, all were instantly suppressed and killed with a single finger.

Moreover, from beginning to end, they had not perceived the slightest hint of the opponent's action!

Cao Gaoshan, sitting at the front of the carriage, felt his entire spirit shake at this moment, and a look of realization appeared on his face.

This time, when they were attacked by Bai Li Wei and the others, the situation was very similar to the ambush they encountered on the rainy long street in the Imperial Capital last time.

Only now did he truly confirm with his own eyes:

"So from beginning to end, it was the Prince who acted. Last time, it was also because of the Prince that I and Sun Changyu were able to escape disaster."

And more importantly, the single slash that Li Musheng cut through him with his hand had been deeply imprinted in his mind ever since that rainy day.

Perhaps for the one who struck, it was just a simple and ordinary slash, but deep in Cao Gaoshan's heart, he had actually regarded that person as his half-master.

And at this moment, he finally confirmed that the "master" who casually taught him that one slash was undoubtedly Li Musheng!

"Stop staring. Continue forward."

At this time, Hu Rui'an's voice came from inside the carriage.

Hu Rui'an had naturally already perceived everything outside; however, although his martial arts cultivation was not weak, he was no different from Wu Shang and the others; he simply did not see how Li Musheng acted.

At this moment, the feeling of looking up to a towering peak that he felt toward the Eighth Imperial Prince sitting before him suddenly grew even stronger.

Hearing this, Wu Shang, Cao Gaoshan, and the others came to their senses, immediately withdrew their gazes, and urged their horses forward again along the silent long street.

At this moment, Shen Anran, riding a white steed with features as painted, reached out and gently smoothed the raven-black long hair falling over her shoulder.

Her gaze occasionally turned toward the carriage interior, and the admiration in her eyes grew even more resolute.

Soon, the group passed through the long street unimpeded and disappeared at the end of the street.

Only the gray-robed man wearing a bronze mask and the bronze-armored man holding a war axe remained standing in the center of the street.

Just like the old crone and Bai Li Wei, who stood motionless on the roof at this moment, they too were nothing but lifeless corpses.

Inside the carriage, Lady Murong Xiaoya huddled in the corner, occasionally stealing timid glances at Li Musheng.

Although she had long had her own way of knowing Li Musheng was no simple person, in fact, just like Wu Shang and the others, today was the first time she had truly seen Li Musheng take action.

The opponent's formidable martial arts strength, which had silently and casually slain a Heavenly Realm expert just now, truly shocked her.

"Miss Lady Murong, to be honest, your stealthiness is far too heavy."

Li Musheng had naturally noticed Lady Murong Xiaoya's gaze; he rubbed his chin and said:

"You must change this habit of yours. If you want to look at me, you can do so openly; I am a very generous person."

Hearing this, Lady Murong Xiaoya was stunned for a moment, then her face turned red like a ripe apple; clutching the hem of her clothes, she hurriedly lowered her head.

Hu Rui, standing nearby, glanced at her imperceptibly, then simply narrowed his eyes and closed them to rest.

As the saying goes, heroes love beauties, and beauties love heroes.

And for a martial arts genius as unique as Li Musheng, he only regretted not having a daughter; otherwise, he would have been just like Shen Liancheng.

The carriage fell silent all at once; after a while, Lady Murong Xiaoya lowered her head and spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum:

"Th-thank you, Your Highness, for your assistance."

Previously, when Lady Murong Feng and the others were besieged together with them, Li Musheng had completely ignored the enemy and left on his own.

But this time, Bai Li Wei and his group had clearly come for her; the opponent had not, as before, simply abandoned her on the carriage and left, but instead had taken action to kill Bai Li Wei and the others.

To be honest, the difference in treatment between these two situations made Lady Murong Xiaoya feel quite moved in her heart.

Regarding Lady Murong Xiaoya's gratitude, Li Musheng merely shrugged and said nothing more.

After all, killing a few eyeless, blocking noobs was, for him, truly no different from the literal meaning of "a trivial effort."

At this moment, Hu Rui's expression shifted slightly; he glanced at Lady Murong Xiaoya once more and quietly transmitted a voice to Li Musheng using true qi condensed into a thread:

"Your Highness, the situation of the Lady Murong family seems somewhat off; next, we still need to handle the affairs of Shengzhou, which will likely be affected to some degree."

The reason for saying this was naturally that, from the current situation, the Lady Murong family seemed unable to even attend to their own affairs.

As for whether the other party could, as the Commander-in-Chief had stated, provide assistance to their group, he was also somewhat worried at this moment.

Upon hearing Hu Rui's words, Li Musheng glanced at the other party and said with narrowed eyes:

"Lord Hu, let us agree beforehand: I will stay here for at most two days; as for whether the matter can be resolved satisfactorily, I do not care."

Hearing this, Hu Rui sighed inwardly but immediately agreed with a hurried "yes."

The Eighth Imperial Prince before him possessed martial arts cultivation that was unfathomably deep; the only flaw was his somewhat scattered and lazy temperament, and he did not care much for managing affairs.

However, in Hu Rui's view, for an expert like Li Musheng, very few matters should be able to catch the other party's eye.

Probably only the matter of exterminating the Falling God Peak could cause difficulties and obstacles for the other party and be something the other party would care about.

Not long after Li Musheng and his group departed, the common people who had been driven away in panicked flight either quietly returned to the intersection of the long street or hid in the rooms on both sides of the road, cautiously observing the situation on the long street.

But upon seeing that the bronze-armored man holding the purple-copper war axe and the old crone and others were still there, everyone stood in place, daring only to watch from afar, utterly unwilling to approach.

Just then, a group of armored soldiers clad in heavy armor and wielding sharp weapons, escorting a magnificent carriage, came marching in great force from the other side of the street.

Seeing this, the common people gathered at the intersection immediately scattered in a panic.

Perceiving this scene, Lady Murong Feng, inside the carriage, frowned, lifted the carriage curtain, and turned back to speak to those inside:

"Why do I have a bad premonition? Could it be that Bai Li Wei and the others refuse to let this go and are continuing to attack my younger sister?"

As he spoke, he raised his head and gazed toward the long street ahead.

At the same time, the armored soldiers leading the way ahead, upon seeing the scene on the street, changed expression, immediately stopped, hurriedly turned back, and reported to Lady Murong Feng.

Soon, Lady Murong Feng moved his body from atop the carriage, transforming into a lingering shadow that appeared on the empty long street ahead.

And upon seeing the bronze-armored man holding the purple-copper war axe and the others, his entire expression changed.

Then, Lady Murong Feng's previously furrowed brows suddenly furrowed even deeper.

In the next instant, he waved his hand to order the armored soldiers to remain in place temporarily, and at the same time turned his head to glance at the carriage behind him.

Immediately, he himself began to circulate and condense martial true qi to protect every part of his body, advancing toward the front with a vigilant expression.

The bronze-armored man and the others ahead stood motionless in the center of the street, but Lady Murong Feng dared not let his guard down in the slightest.

Only when he arrived close did he truly confirm that the other party had long since lost all breath, their foreheads all pierced through, obviously dead beyond any doubt!

A look of shock and doubt immediately appeared on Lady Murong Feng's face; his gaze swept across the bronze-armored man's face before him, slowly scanning the area, and he could not help but speak out:

"Blood Axe Splits the City, Butcher Mountain!"

"Iron Flute Cuts Off Sound, Lu Baiming!"

Then, he raised his head and looked toward the roof nearby.

Upon seeing that the old crone and Bai Li Wei had likewise been pierced through the brow by a single finger and were already devoid of life,

his pupils shrank slightly:

"Even the White-Haired Yama and Bai Li Wei have been killed!"

And just then, Lady Murong Feng's expression suddenly shifted; he immediately turned his head to look beside him.

He saw an old man whose entire body was wrapped in a crimson long robe, who had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

"All four were killed in a single strike; this person's methods are truly sharp!"

The old man's face was indistinct, and a hint of surprise tinged his aged voice.

Hearing this, Lady Murong Feng's expression shifted, and he said:

"Judging from the scene, it seems Bai Li Wei and his group ambushed my younger sister's party, only to be slain in return."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the old woman, a deep astonishment surfacing in his eyes, and he said:

"It seems I underestimated that Lord Hu; his martial arts prowess is actually superior to that of the White-Haired Yama!"

(End of this chapter)