Chapter 31: 3V4, White Shadow Suddenly Appears

Dragon King cupped the map in both hands, eyeing how near the Southern Frontier City was getting, and muttered, "Hmm, still more than ten li away before we get there?"

"Soon!" Chen Yi He thought, feeling excited; after all this trouble, their destination was finally right before their eyes.

Even the usually quiet and reserved Dongfang Xing, who had barely spoken a few words along the way, laughed; she had endured even more hardship than her two companions, after all, she came from the even farther Dong Hai.

But Dongfang Xing's laughter stopped midway.

Dragon King also quietly put the map away and slowly drew his Qinglong sword from beneath his seat.

Chen Yi He also gripped tightly the long sword he had just bought in Shanggu City.

The three of them tensed up simultaneously!

The slender Li Lan stood directly in front of the carriage, holding not a whip but a bright, slender, silver soft whip.

On the right side of the carriage stood a fat man weighing over three hundred catties, his upper body bare, a big round belly straining, his eye sockets squeezed by fat, eyes squinting; he wielded a meteor hammer attached to an iron chain, gripping the chain's tail with his right hand and dragging the hammer with his left, his sharp gaze fixed on the carriage.

The man standing to the left of the carriage, about forty-five years old, held a knife in each hand, raising both blades so they scraped against each other, a honing sound.

Behind the carriage was a woman with heavily smoky eye bags, a pair of emerald-green eyes like cold jade, a long, slender tongue slipping from her mouth to trace around her alluring lips—no one knew whether the color on her lips was rouge or blood. She was eerily catlike; the fingertips of her hands crossed over her chest suddenly splayed, ten sharp claws tearing through the skin at her fingertips.

"Those who come bear ill intent!" Dragon King whispered to his two companions.

"I never expected Li Lan to be waiting for us here." Chen Yi He knew that evading the Embroidered Uniform Guard's pursuit half a month ago had involved luck, and today Li Lan had specially brought people to wait for them on the route they must pass outside Southern Frontier City, making his intentions crystal clear.

The arrow is nocked; they have no choice but to release it.

"Fatty Zhao Kuang has reached the Perfected stage of the Third Heaven; Twin‑Blade King, also Perfected Third Heaven; Catwoman, Mid‑stage Third Heaven. They're out to kill us!" Dragon King wasn't guessing their strength—they're notorious in the jianghu; for enough money, they'll kill anyone.

They take money to ward off disaster for others—but these three usually operate alone, never crossing paths, yet today they've gathered together.

Fatty, Twin‑Blade King, and Catwoman all glanced at Li Lan at the same time.

Li Lan nodded.

Chen Yi He and his three companions hadn't yet gotten off the carriage.

That fatty suddenly flung the meteor hammer resting in his left palm into the air, his right hand whipping the iron chain! The meteor hammer came crashing down onto the carriage!!!

"Crack!" The carriage's roof plank shattered into pieces; the horses were terrified.

Fortunately Chen Yi He and the others fled quickly, or they'd have been pulped!

Glittering gems lay before everyone's eyes, along with bundles upon bundles of silver notes.

"See? This is plenty to pay you, right? I'll add another hundred thousand taels of gold for each head!" Li Lan pointed his soft whip at the wrecked carriage and asked.

"Enough!" The Twin‑Blade King finally finished honing his twin blades and charged straight at the carriage.

"Oh…" a sultry voice came from the sultry Catwoman as she licked her sharp claws, "First come, first served?" Though she started slower than the Twin‑Blade King, in an instant she was ahead of him.

"Li Lan, you actually hired assassins with our money to kill us?" Dragon King shifted his stance and shouted across the space, "Isn't that too shameless?"

"Heh heh. This is a voluntary transaction; I'm not holding a knife to their throats to force them to act!"

Dongfang Xing stepped forward to share the pressure from the Catwoman with Dragon King.

Chen Yi He clashed with the big fatty Zhao Kuang!

Dragon King, meanwhile, faced the hardest opponent, the Twin‑Blade King.

The three Third Heaven experts—two at Perfected stage and one at Mid‑stage—Li Lan would have to summon an unparalleled master to match them!

Catwoman's peril—she employs every shameless trick, using her extraordinary flexibility and keen reflexes to aim her kicks at Dongfang Xing's chest or lower body! While her ten fingers spare no effort to claw at Dongfang Xing's face!

Her fingertips were a dull reddish‑black, coated with venom—deadly poison! If scratched, death is certain.

The poisonous claws came in a blur of successive afterimages, each strike lethal! The venom that leaked out vaporized in the air, giving off a foul stench.

"Whoosh!" Another swipe nearly tore Dongfang Xing's fair face.

Dongfang Xing is petite and agile—needless to say—but her greatest trait is her immense strength and imposing presence, an innate gift of the Dongfang Clan! She also displayed the brute strength she showed when she first met Chen Yi He and Dragon King.

If she kept being suppressed by the Catwoman, she couldn't claim to be a member of the Dongfang Clan.

The Catwoman lunged with both claws, yet Dongfang Xing dared to meet her with a single palm!

Jet‑black true qi burst from her palm!

The Catwoman was blasted away on the spot! It's unimaginably strong!

On this side, Dragon King didn't fare so well—though he was a Third Heaven cultivator, facing the Perfected Third Heaven expert Twin‑Blade King, even with his Qinglong sword he was momentarily at a disadvantage.

This was the first time someone had pressed down his blade, leaving him unable to retaliate.

The Twin‑Blade King's blades moved like gusts of wind—left blade swift, right blade fierce! Opening and closing, their power was endless.

Dragon King's single blade could only defend, waiting for a chance to counter, but that chance was impossible to seize.

Over there, Chen Yi He fared even worse—Zhao Kuang's move "Heaven‑Shattering, Earth‑Rending" nearly crushed him, while he also had to guard against the incoming meteor hammer and the charge of this three‑hundred‑catty fatty.

His "Cloud‑Parting Palm" strike hit Zhao Kuang's belly, nearly snapping his own wrists—this was hardly an opponent of the same level!

"Ah, pain pain pain! Such thick hide!"

Zhao Kuang lifted Chen Yi He, threw him halfway up, then swung the meteor hammer, aiming to smash him to pieces in midair!

Dongfang Xing briefly shook off the Catwoman, stepped and leapt up, catching the falling Chen Yi He around the waist and pulling him down!

The whistle of the meteor hammer still rang in Chen Yi He's ears!

Chen Yi He nearly lost his life!

"Thank you!" Chen Yi He thanked Dongfang Xing for saving his life.

Dongfang Xing said nothing, her face flushed again, and before she could help Chen Yi He, the pursuing Catwoman tangled her up.

The big fatty came again!!!

"Halfway through the Hua‑Shan Sword Technique, his long sword was snapped by the fatty sitting on it……"

"Before the Mountain‑River Sword Technique could even start, not only the blade but even the hilt was bent……"

Chen Yi He had to rely on the "Wither‑and‑Flourish Heart Sutra" to dodge left and right, yet though he wanted to buy time, the big fatty gave him no chance! The escape skills he'd practiced on Tiger Mountain were utterly useless against absolute strength.

"Don't run! Just surrender peacefully!" the big fatty halted, then heaved the meteor hammer high into the air, gripping the chain's tail with both hands and swinging it around!

"Swish swish swish!" The faster it spun, the more frantic the swinging became!

Then, suddenly, he jerked it to a halt and slammed it hard onto the ground! He split the entire road in half with his meteor hammer! This is the strength of Third Heaven Perfection!

"My silver notes!" Chen Yi He shouted desperately.

The carriage was flung overturned! Gemstones and silver notes scattered everywhere! And he was shaken up high! "Pfft!" When he fell to the ground, he spat a big mouthful of blood!

The Dragon King in the distance was also affected; if he hadn't lowered his center of gravity, he would definitely have been shaken away!

"Chen Yi He!" Dongfang Xing, distracted by Chen Yi He, was caught off guard by the Cat Woman! The Cat Woman's right hand clawed at her cheek!

A stream of black true qi burst from Dongfang Xing's face!

In an instant, the Cat Woman felt as if her hand were on fire! But it wasn't just a burning pain; it was a heart-rending, bone-splitting agony! She cradled her blackened right hand with her left, unable to believe it!

But when she looked at Dongfang Xing again, her face was still as fair as ever—where was any black true qi?

At that very moment! Everyone was focused on their own battles, completely failing to notice this tiny detail on Dongfang Xing's face!

Zhao Kuang had already stepped in front of Chen Yi He, "Kid, you really can run, huh?"

Chen Yi He fell to the ground, with nowhere left to retreat!

Having said that, Zhao Kuang threw a punch at Chen Yi He's head!

Dongfang Xing tried to rush over, but Li Lan's soft whip snagged her ankle! Li Lan's unexpected move ruined things!

"Yi He!" The Dragon King couldn't free himself; his Azure Dragon Sabre was blocked by the Twin Blade King's twin blades, and he couldn't break free!

In the face of absolute strength, Chen Yi He had no ability to resist.

"Whoosh!" A white sword streak flashed before Chen Yi He's eyes! Like a white rainbow piercing the sun, like a white silk a thousand feet!

Zhao Kuang's whole body was overturned by the sword streak! Like a collapsing giant mountain! With a "Boom!" he crashed down! The ground beneath his buttocks was shattered into pieces!