Chapter 76: Sword Light Like a Long Rainbow

Night fell, the bonfire burning strong.

Its light fell across the faces of the few men.

The remaining Captains took turns guarding key points, gazes sharp as torches, not letting even the slightest movement slip past.

"Think it'll come to a fight?"

Wang Meng rubbed his hands uneasily. "Shouldn't, right? The Qingfeng Sect head must be out of his mind—picking a fight with General Chen over a single disciple?"

"A disciple with the best shot at succeeding him as sect head."

Liu Daqian corrected him. "Half of Qingfeng Sect's chivalrous reputation over the past century was carved out by his sword—a genuine swordsman."

"How could a man like that be a transformed flood dragon?"

Wang Meng smacked his lips, then suddenly whispered, "Even if he really is a flood dragon, wouldn't that count as turning over a new leaf?"

"Hiss!" Liu Daqian kicked him.

General Chen is here to slay demons, and this kid is singing the demons' praises—wants to start a rebellion or what?

"Still, he's got a whole harem of wives and concubines, and they keep getting abducted. With his chivalrous fame and all, maybe he offended some flood-demon of the Yangchun River, and while he was away it forced itself on his concubine on purpose, just to disgust him?" another Captain leaned in closer.

"Either way, hand the man over, bring him back to Zhen Mo Si for a round of interrogation—won't that clear everything up?"

Liu Daqian shot his two colleagues a helpless glare. "If they just refuse to hand him over, and General Chen decides to kill, Qingfeng Sect's going to have to rename itself Blood Peak Sect."

"I was scared out of my wits before we came, but looking at it now, we picked up a real bargain."

Wang Meng grinned. "From what Vice General Hong meant, the old sect head is only dithering for another two days or so. We're lucky—still got two Jade Liquid Realm experts with us, nothing big can happen!"

At his words, the men all turned their gazes toward the young man standing nearby with his hands at his sides.

Shen Yi listened to the talk, but his deep eyes quietly watched the dense forest.

Really can't come to blows, then?

So what is she panicking about?

Hand over that swordsman, and Zhen Mo Si will naturally withdraw from the mountain.

Qingfeng Sect remains the number one sword sect of Outside Qingzhou—what's there to panic about?

Time slipped by swiftly.

A few Captains rose to change shifts; those who returned ate a little to fill their bellies, then went into the tents to rest.

Dai Bing returned from the dense forest, sword in hand.

She didn't seem to have much appetite.

She sat down by the bonfire. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shen Yi, leaning against a tree with arms folded, slowly shift his posture. She suddenly said, "You refuse to close your eyes all night—did Hong Lei tell you to watch me?"

Shen Yi walked on without comment.

Dai Bing's lips curled in self-mockery. "Afraid of letting one slip through. You really want to lay hands on a group of innocent people that badly? No—not just innocent, but a group of sword-scholars who rid the world of evil."

She watched the young man walk farther and farther away.

She suddenly grew a little agitated, gripping the three cloud-patterns on her sleeve. "Twenty years serving Zhen Mo Si, and I still can't earn your trust? Why can't you just trust me once!"

Shen Yi tilted his eyes slightly. "I trust you."

"..."

Dai Bing's breathing grew ragged; she was slightly dazed, then heard the second half of the sentence.

"Then I'm the fool."

Shen Yi turned and stepped into the moist dense forest.

This woman has practically written her thoughts all over her face—let alone him, even Chen Ji would see through her if he came over.

Shen Yi wasn't in the habit of passing judgment on something lightly before knowing the truth.

The only thing he knew was—

After hearing so many rumors, that swordsman still hadn't given a reasonable explanation for how his concubine crawled into the government office, gave birth to a flood dragon, and was swallowed up without even bone fragments left.

Even an ordinary Captain could spin up some excuse on the spot, but he refused to.

He just stayed up on the mountain, sheltered by Qingfeng Sect's protection, continuing to face Zhen Mo Si in a standoff.

This is a man who'd rather die than wear a cuckold's horns.

Oh, almost forgot.

Apart from that, there was one more thing Shen Yi knew.

He pressed his lips in silence and reached up to cover his chest.

That familiar presence, faint yet never ceasing—whether the swordsman is a flood demon is debatable, but there's definitely a flood demon on Qingfeng Sect's mountain.

He could actually sense it.

He just didn't know if the sensing was one-sided, or if the other party could sense him too.

Just for this discovery alone, the trip was worth it.

The sun and moon turned; three days slipped by in a flash.

The Captains caught rabbits and pheasants from the dense forest, but not a single Qingfeng Sect disciple.

Hundreds upon hundreds of disciples showed not the slightest movement. The Fury Sword Elder on the high cliff was like dead wood—his sparse silver hair didn't even stir. It seemed his only purpose in showing up was to hold Sword-Watch Gorge, to keep Zhen Mo Si from disgracing the sect's name.

Wang Meng grilled chicken on a stone slab.

He first handed a piece to Shen Yi, then handed another out to Dai Bing.

Two Jade Liquid Realm experts were the capital they relied on to survive—how could they not eat their fill?

"..."

Shen Yi chewed the bland, faintly gamey piece of meat, and suddenly thought of Lin Baiwei.

No wonder she could taste such joy in everything.

If he ate like this for half a year, he feared he could learn the other's craft himself.

At his side.

Dai Bing chewed the chicken with an expressionless face, one hand steadying the scabbard.

As if wanting to stuff everything that could replenish him into his own stomach.

This familiar scene.

Made Shen Yi involuntarily glance toward the other's sleeve cuff.

The rest could be forgiven, but twenty years of hard toil was truly a bit of a pity.

When the stone slab was taken down, the oil stains gradually congealed, and the campfire grew slightly dim.

A few captains rose as usual to patrol the dense forest.

But they suddenly heard Shen Yi's voice.

"I'll take the patrol tonight, all of you go back and rest."

Hearing this, Wang Meng and the others all froze, smiling bitterly one after another: "Lord Shen is far too polite. We've been on duty for decades and truly never seen the like."

After several days of getting along, they also knew Shen Yi never spoke empty words.

After thanking him in unison, they all crawled into the tents.

Dai Bing's grip on her sword tightened further. She looked at the young man slowly rising nearby; under the dim firelight's reflection, that fair face shifted between light and shadow.

Though she didn't understand how, when she had clearly tried her utmost to conceal it, the other had guessed it.

Yet she suddenly softened for an instant: "You rest too. Leave tonight to me."

The youth was handsome in appearance, astonishing in talent, so clever, and so young—apart from being a bit annoying when he talked back, one could hardly find any fault.

To die for nothing like this at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain would be a pity.

After the other had personally said he didn't believe her, her words could almost count as an explicit hint.

Under Dai Bing's gaze.

Shen Yi patted his sleeve and said softly, "Be quick, I'm in a hurry."

Even the Zhen Mo Si couldn't intimidate this woman; he couldn't be bothered to waste more breath.

"……"

The words fell.

The young married woman slowly closed her eyes—sure enough… still very annoying.

She drew her sword from its sheath.

Yet the sharp sword-cry came from the dense forest opposite.

Blazing golden light merged into a single point, then transformed into a long dragon soaring skyward—its momentum absolute!

The man in an executor's everyday robe had sharp, piercing eyes, an indifferent expression, and held a three-foot green blade in his hand.

The formidable aura of the Jade Liquid Realm was unleashed without reserve; trees in the dense forest thick enough for one person to embrace snapped and collapsed in droves before the mere aftershock of the sword gang!

This single sword carried a century of cultivation!

Before that surging, onrushing sword gang.

Shen Yi's hair fluttered slightly, his figure straight, a black robe rustling audibly.

Only within those pitch-black eyes did golden light slowly well up.

……

(Tomorrow night at eleven, five updates—big shots who are stockpiling the book, consider slaughtering some votes)

(End of chapter)