Chapter 127: Is this your friendship and bond?

North side, Hundred Peace Village.

This is a fairly peaceful small mountain village; the villagers work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

But no one knew that this was merely a facade; the village had long been occupied by Japanese pirates, becoming a foothold for the Japanese pirates in the rear of Great Wu.

Several people wearing bamboo hats appeared in the distance; they were precisely the Northern He Ninja Squad.

He Er's voice was somewhat muffled: 'Chief, we've reached Hundred Peace Village ahead; we've finally arrived.'

'Now we just wait for Zhu Nei's message to arrive.'

'After we finish this mission, I want to return to my hometown to see the cherry blossoms and see my granddaughter.'

He Si, a female ninja, had a rather sweet voice: 'He Er, is that your granddaughter? She's probably also eighteen this year.'

He Er laughed heartily: 'That's right; he'll turn eighteen next month. We'll wrap up this mission quickly and still be able to go back for drinks.'

Chief He Yi laughed and said: 'Look around, the scenery of the Wu dynasty is truly beautiful; when we conquer this place, we'll bring your granddaughter along as well.'

They all burst out laughing.

Soon, they approached Hundred Peace Village.

Suddenly, He Si, whose sense of smell was unusually sharp, furrowed her brows: 'Do you guys smell a hint of blood?'

They shook their heads, but instinctively felt something was off.

As they drew nearer, He Yi also caught the scent: 'It's the smell of human blood—bad!'

They exchanged a glance and quickly ran into Hundred Peace Village.

However, Hundred Peace Village was now deathly silent, the ground covered in dried blood.

'What's going on? Where are the people?!'

'Damn it!'

At that moment, a cold voice sounded.

'You're the Northern He Ninja Squad? You're much slower than I imagined; I've been waiting so long I'm tired.'

They abruptly turned around and saw, in the village center, a small hill made of corpses—those corpses naturally being the people they had hidden in Hundred Peace Village.

And atop the corpse hill, Shen Qing stared at them with icy eyes, wearing a blood-stained Flying Fish Robe, his Crimson Sky sword still bearing dried blood.

He Er's eyes turned icy as he recognized Shen Qing: 'You're Shen Qing!'

He Yi gritted his teeth: 'Watch out for an ambush.'

Shen Qing being able to appear here shows they've been exposed, which also means they may have already entered an encirclement.

Shen Qing gripped his Crimson Sky sword, left hand clenched as overbearing true qi circulated: 'Are you perhaps overestimating yourselves?'

'Dealing with you four trash—do we even need outside help?'

'Hundred-Splitting Fist Bone!'

With a fierce shout, he threw a punch; a hundred fist shadows erupted in succession, carrying a violent aura as they pressed toward the four.

He San snorted coldly: 'Indeed, as confident as the intelligence said, but knowing our movements and still not ambushing us will be the worst decision you'll ever make in your life.'

'Watch my Crimson Wind Fist Blade!'

He San's movement was also swift; he threw a punch, and a fierce fist wind surged toward the hundred fist shadows.

He Yi and the others also wore confident smiles; in the Grand Master Realm, He San's fist technique had never suffered a loss.

In the next instant, the two fist shadows collided; only the sound of flesh and bone shattering was heard as He San's right arm began to explode segment by segment, flesh flying everywhere, his whole body flung backward while he let out a anguished scream.

He Si cried out directly.

'How is this possible?'

He San, who had always been invincible among Grand Masters, actually had his arm blown apart by a single punch?

This reminded them of what Gongben Sansong had told them: if they underestimated Shen Qing, they would surely suffer!

He Yi gave a low shout: 'All together, attack!'

He Er, a body refiner, let out a low shout; green light flashed across his body, forming layers of greenish carapace like a turtle's shell.

He Er took the lead, charging at Shen Qing, while He Yi waited on the side for an opening.

Shen Qing's body flickered with glazed white light as he sneered: 'What is this? A turtle shell?'

He Er's expression darkened: 'Whether it's a turtle shell or not, as long as it can stop you!'

In the next instant, Shen Qing flashed to He Er's front and threw a punch, the air echoing with the roars of dragons and elephants.

He Er's eyes widened in fear; he couldn't react in time to when Shen Qing had appeared before him, and his speed shouldn't have been slowed by He Si's true qi—so how could he still be this fast?

But there was no time to think; Shen Qing's punch landed on his shell, shattering it piece by piece, blood spurting continuously as he collapsed helplessly to the ground.

'If your shell were as hard as your mouth, that would be great.'

He Yi's eyes nearly burst; after just two exchanges, He Er and He San were down?

His ears kept echoing his own words from yesterday, 'ten-zero opening,' the grand boasts he'd made—now they seemed utterly ridiculous.

He Yi turned to He Si: 'He Si, where's your Mire True Qi? Quickly restrain his speed!'

But he could see at a glance He Si's face flushed red: 'Chief, my true qi simply won't come out!'

At that moment, He Yi's pupils widened; he sensed an overbearing aura—Shen Qing's overbearing true qi had, unbeknownst to him, already enveloped the entire Hundred Peace Village.

'What... is this... true qi...'

And He Si wasn't unable to release Mire True Qi; rather, as soon as his Mire True Qi left his body, it was obliterated by Shen Qing's overbearing true qi.

Truly, overbearing true qi—if it weren't overbearing, could it still be called overbearing true qi?

However, He Yi, being the chief, took a deep breath and began to speak.

'How long has it been since we've fallen into such a desperate situation? But we will survive.'

'It's just a desperate situation—how could anything possibly stop our Northern He Ninja Squad?'

'He Si! Think of what your master said—hold fast to your true nature! You're stronger than you think!'

He Er! Stand up! Think of the cherry blossoms of your hometown! Think of your granddaughter! Stand up!

He San! It's just losing an arm, right? Remember the Lone Shadow Wanderer from your hometown? He's just one arm, yet he's still our empire's strongest wanderer! You can too!

In an instant, it seemed that some bonds had increased throughout Hundred Peace Village.

He Si gave a low shout: "I can!"

The Mire True Qi actually managed to faintly break through Shen Qing's Overbearing True Qi.

And on the other side, the one-armed He San also slowly rose: "I was just tired..."

Finally, as He Er lay on the ground, a green light slowly appeared on him; the Green Armor actually showed signs of regeneration: "I can stand up..."

A smile appeared on He Yi's face; apparently affected by their aura, his sword intent also rose by three tenths.

But the next moment, a sneering sound echoed in the air.

What are you doing with your hot-blooded horse?

The red mist suddenly swept out, covering the sky of Hundred Peace Village; a huge blood dragon phantom appeared in midair, angrily glaring at the Northern He Ninja Squad.

Moreover, the Overbearing True Qi reached a peak; He Si's recently separated Mire True Qi was directly crushed by violence, even rushing into her body and continually destroying her meridians.

As for He San's remaining left arm, it was directly severed by a flash of red light and sent up into the sky.

And Shen Qing also appeared before He Er, stepping down heavily; the Green Armor that He Er had just condensed was trampled to pieces, and his whole back was stepped into a deep pit.

In an instant, the three completely lost their combat ability.

He Yi's eyes were about to split; he went mad, swinging his blade at Shen Qing's back, but in his terrified gaze, Shen Qing actually leapt up from the spot and flew straight up.

He Yi looked up at the sky in disbelief.

There.

Blood-colored mist permeated; Shen Qing's blood-stained blue-adorned flying fish robe fluttered continuously, while the blood dragon phantom behind him roared wildly, and a surge of overbearing qi shot straight into the clouds.

He Yi felt an unprecedented despair.

Shen Qing's icy voice sounded.

Is this your ridiculous friendship and bonds?

It seems nothing can be protected.