Chapter 62: Chapter Sixty-Three

Since you want to die, I'll grant you that." Bai Lang said softly. At that moment, with the six assassins' internal force surging, the carriage's four walls and roof were blown apart, revealing Bai Lang seated inside, having set down his cup. In everyone's eyes he wore a red official robe, a gold tiger badge on his chest marking him as a third‑rank military officer, a black gauze cap on his head, his black bristly beard standing on end, and his tiger‑like eyes glaring at the assassins rushing in.

Indeed he sat there like a tiger; in a daze the assassins' movements stalled. Bai Lang let out a roar, slapped the soft couch's armrest, and leapt upward using the momentum. At this moment, the internal force of his Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield surged to meet the masked assassin's sword thrust. "Rebellious ministers and traitorous sons!" Bai Lang bellowed, shaking the swordsman's motion so that it trembled; the sword's force, originally strong, dissipated three‑tenths in an instant. Bai Lang also tried to block the sword with his body—sure enough, the blade struck him but could not pierce; instead the force bent the sword.

Bai Lang's spirits lifted at once: "Good! So I've tested my ability—what's left to fear?" With that mental barrier gone, the internal force of his Golden Bell Shield grew wilder and more domineering. One could see his official robe puff up by a third under the influx of internal force; then the incoming blade, the Emei Thorn, the other sword, and the fist force striking his swollen robe were first deflected by a third, the remaining force striking like against an iron plate, with a bit of rebound shaking their internal force.

"What powerful external training!" one exclaimed. Bai Lang turned his head: "That strange tone—you're a eunuch, huh? Hahaha!" He swept his hand, grasping all the blades and swords; as he twisted them reverse, the assassins scrambled to channel internal force to pull back their weapons. It was practically like wrought iron—Bai Lang's strength combined with theirs directly bent those blades and swords.

He was unharmed—this was the further achievement of his Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield at this moment—though the fourth level remained unbroken, on the third level Bai Lang could be said to have made another step forward. The eunuch who had cried out, upon hearing Bai Lang speak, lunged with a claw at his face, a fishy wind arriving first. Bai Lang does not eat fish, his hands free of fishy odor; that aura came from his Tiger Form True Meaning. The eunuch performed an iron‑board bridge in midair, fully displaying his kung fu's suppleness and reaction speed.

Yet he could not block the claw's force; the mask was crushed to powder, leaving three bloody lines on his face—just shy of splitting his skull. "Sure enough, a eunuch!" Bai Lang laughed as he landed, then backhanded a punch into the palm of the assassin who used fist‑palm technique. The punch's force made the man's palm crack with a "kak‑ka" sound; the remaining force drove the palm bones into the wrist and arm bones, crushing them there, and the forearm bone transmitted force into the upper arm bone, instantly breaking the upper arm into several pieces.

Bone shards pierced the flesh; that hand was completely ruined. Bai Lang ignored the weapons slashing and stabbing at him, swung his hips, twisted, and with a spinning kick caught the one‑handed assassin, additionally kicking him into a folding‑rule shape. Among the assassins, this man was probably the greatest threat to Bai Lang—his fist‑palm skill could penetrate the Golden Bell Shield to reach the interior, whereas the shield, lacking internal‑force gang energy to rebound, was his natural nemesis.

Bai Lang's kick shattered the assassin's spinal bone and half of his ribcage; of course his innards were already a mess, now he was merely gasping his last breaths. "Old Zhang!" the remaining few cried out in grief. "What are you shouting for? The road to the Yellow Springs is short—you'll soon join him." Bai Lang sneered, his body expanding like a fierce tiger as he lunged at the two who were brandishing knives and swords.

The two were partners—the woman wielded a sword, the man a knife, and their blade technique seemed a coordinated joint attack. But Bai Lang didn't care how they coordinated; his hands moved like weapons, slapping, stabbing, pointing, and grasping, and in just a few breaths he flung aside their weapons, simultaneously blocking the Emei Thorn and another sword, forcefully breaking into the couple's center. "Senior fellow disciples? Go die together as lovebirds!" Bai Lang struck with a tiger claw; the first move deflected the long knife, the second already seized the man's celestial cap.

With a twist of four fingers, the man spun involuntarily, but Bai Lang's thumb, charged with Tiger Form energy, pierced his skull; a full turn later it split his cranium.... Bai Lang laughed loudly, crushing the skull in his hand to powder; the aura of Bai Junior Protector's might and killing intent was unmistakable—although Bai Lang is not yet the Crown Prince's Junior Protector, if he keeps cutting down enemies he should obtain the rank soon.

The woman screamed, thrusting her sword in a mutual‑destruction strike, ready for Bai Lang to kill her while she also sought to kill him—born of extreme grief, the thrust paradoxically gathered all her spirit and strength into a single point. Bai Lang slapped with a single palm like a tiger at play; the sword was batted aside by great force, yet its swift, hard thrust could not be fully deflected and still pierced Bai Lang's shoulder.

A sound like tearing silk rang out; the sword entered Bai Lang's flesh. "Hmph! Ha!" Bai Lang tensed slightly, then surged forward, exhaling sharply as the blade shattered into several pieces. The sword had penetrated his shoulder by over an inch, gathering all of the woman's essence—so it was. "That claw strike was good; otherwise I would have suffered. It's certainly not as simple as a one‑inch thrust." Bai Lang kicked her away, sending her flying; he saw her fall to the ground, unable to rise.

Meanwhile behind him, the assassin wielding an Emei Thorn lashed out with quick‑hand stabs all over Bai Lang, trying to find the opening in his defense. Not finding it, before he could locate it Bai Lang was already able to cope. The tiger claw's tendon‑splitting, bone‑misplacing horizontal sweep and straight chop raised a vicious wind that kept the wielder of the Dividing Water Emei Thorn from closing in, but Bai Lang anticipated his movement and lunged with a tiger pounce—this tiger pounce is an absolute technique, its speed and impact ferocious to the extreme. Consequently it was no surprise that the man's hands were seized and then crushed into a bloody pulp.

"Open!" Bai Lang roared like a tiger, his arms bulging with power, and the assassin before him was literally torn apart—though only his two arms were ripped; if he wanted to tear the person in half, his grip was off target. No matter, he added a palm strike that slammed the head into the chest, finishing the job. The last one was the eunuch, who by now could barely hold his longsword; courage drained with his companions' deaths, and now... the assassin screamed, dropped his precious sword, and fled.

Just as his ankle tightened, a hand seized his ankle......