Chapter 13: Ruthlessness

Tian Si acted as if he had heard some great joke; his wild laughter attracted the gazes of the surrounding miners and the bandit guards.

"You dog-shit-eating thing, let me tell you, don't talk to me about being some bullshit scholar or some whatever-the-hell advisor. I've killed plenty of provincial graduates and lords in my time; you're nothing but a fart. What do you mean I can't beat your book boy? If you don't get lost, I'll kill you along with him!"

Wa Qingyun grew anxious, knowing this hardened thug had turned vicious and was about to step forward to intervene, but Li You waved a hand at him, and on the other side, Gao Conghu and the others, who had been worried, could only hold back.

After all, they all had chains on their feet, and their bodies were weak and frail from being locked in the water prison, so they truly could not help.

Li You loosened his grip on the whip handle, his expression suddenly turning cold, and he shouted angrily: "This scholar has studied the art of dragon-slaying since childhood, and I traveled thousands of miles to join the Great Leader Wu. You, a mere lackey, keep clamoring here—do you really think I, Li Hanchen, am just a bookish fool?"

After Li You finished speaking, with a "clink," he drew the waist saber from Wa Qingyun at his side, his body slightly arched, left foot forward, opening his right flank, holding the saber high with the tip pointed at Tian Si, as if his whole person were hidden behind the blade.

"The 'Twisting Step' saber stance... is this from a master?"

Li Qin was startled to see Li You's saber stance so practiced and his posture so steady; this was the single-saber style of Cheng Zongyou from Huizhou, a true master.

Li You did not rush to strike; he merely raised his saber stance without attacking first. This was his attitude, and also his bottom line.

It was not that he wanted to be so noble, but he had to establish an image of being "forced into it," otherwise, if he truly angered all the bandits, how could he possibly survive?

"Oh ho, a practitioner? You this..."

Tian Si also threw down his leather whip and drew his saber with his right hand. The goose-quill saber in his hand was twenty-eight inches long, the blade narrow and gleaming with a cold, piercing light; the body of the blade seemed to have been forged with high-quality steel.

Is this high-carbon steel?

Li You's eyes narrowed slightly.

Tian Si was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted with plenty of strength, so he naturally did not care about this scholar who looked refined and weak, thinking the stance Li You had taken was just an awkward, flashy display.

Just from this opening, many did not favor Li You. First, their weapons were not on the same level; Li You's saber was an ordinary one-handed blade, and the tip was even broken.

Furthermore, before Tian Si had even finished speaking, his figure suddenly moved; with a violent twist of his waist, the goose-quill saber in his hand slashed vertically toward Li You's exposed right flank.

With a solid foundation in martial arts, Li You's state of mind was extremely calm. As the center of gravity of the other's blade fully committed, he suddenly stirred his own single saber toward his right rear.

At the same time, his feet moved with extreme speed, stepping out with his right foot, then following with his left; in the blink of an eye, he had used a shearing step to move diagonally into Tian Si's side.

Tian Si was shocked to the core, but the center of gravity of his blade was gone, and his momentum had naturally spent itself. Unable to retract the blade in time, he could only roll on the ground, dragging his saber, barely dodging Li You's strike.

Li You had already formed the intent to kill; how could he stop now? He immediately pressed the attack!

Having licked blood from the blade for years, Tian Si was also quite agile. With a cat-like roll, he stopped and stood upright, gripping his saber with both hands. With a roar and a twisted face, he swept it fiercely toward the neck of the approaching Li You.

Li You did not retreat a single step, holding his saber in his right hand to block.

"Clang..."

As the blades collided, the crisp sound had barely rung out when Li You's single-handed saber snapped into two pieces from the impact, the immense force vibrating both their arms until they were somewhat numb.

"How could he have such great strength? And he's still using one hand!"

Tian Si was terrified to the extreme. From this collision, he clearly felt the webbing between his thumbs trembling, and the massive force, traveling up his arm, made his heart skip a beat, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the hilt.

But before he could recover from his shock, he saw Li You's broken blade push upward, pressing against his own blade, sparks flying as it slashed across like lightning.

"Swoosh..."

The sound of the blade embedding into flesh had not yet fully spread when the half-blade in Li You's hand was already lodged across the middle of Tian Si's neck...

Instantly, fresh blood gushed out like a spring, flowing along the blade onto the back of Li You's hand gripping the hilt, spilling onto the ground like a broken string.

"I... woo..."

Tian Si's eyes rolled upward, and he could only make muffled sounds, unable to speak. The saber in his right hand dropped to the ground as he tried to grab Li You's arm...

Li You stood upright and suddenly withdrew his blade. Tian Si’s body swayed and fell backward onto the ground. Under the force of gravity, the wound on his neck and head was pulled open to a gap one or two fingers wide; his blood vessels had long since been severed, and the gushing blood made a wet sound!

Decisive, horrifying, tragic!

The scene fell into a deathly silence.