Chapter 64: The Madman

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Li You’s voice had just fallen.

Suddenly, with a "clang," his body lowered, the long saber in his hand had already left its scabbard, and a cold glint swept across Cui Sanzao’s neck.

Before the rest of his words could be spoken, his head was already flying high, and bright red blood gushed from his severed neck like a fountain, surging upward for a moment before the headless corpse swayed twice and then collapsed to the ground.

"Thump... thump..."

First, the head landed on the ground and rolled, then the body fell, pinning the head underneath like an unstable seesaw, rocking back and forth while spraying blood.

These two successive sounds were not loud, but they felt like an earthquake, causing everyone to shrink back involuntarily; Wu Dading, Gao Conglong, and the others not far away also saw it clearly and subconsciously ducked their heads.

"Screw your mother, Li You... you!"

Peng Yun let out a roar, also drew the long saber in his hand, and immediately swung it to hack.

Zheng Daniu, however, was flustered and failed to draw his saber in time, feeling great terror in his heart; as it turned out, Li You did not continue his attack but simply waited for the two of them to draw their weapons.

Both of them were using goose-quill sabers, far less long and slender than Li You’s Miao saber. After Peng Yun drew his saber, he swayed his right shoulder and hacked toward Li You’s face, and Li You met him with a vertical slash...

"Ding..."

Amidst a teeth-gritting sound of impact, sparks flew everywhere. Both men pulled back their sabers to build momentum almost simultaneously. Peng Yun knew his saber was short and had long intended to hack and scrape; he pulled back to build power, intending to deliver a right-handed upward slash to Li You.

But after Li You pulled back his saber, he immediately slashed vertically downward again, which was certainly much faster than Peng Yun, who was trying to change his stance.

Peng Yun was terrified, his heart trembling; by instinct, he could only retract his saber to block...

"Ding..."

Another violent impact occurred, and a force like a bursting dam poured into Peng Yun’s web of his thumb, his wrists, and even his arms, shaking him so much that he felt his internal organs jumping. Moreover, his goose-quill saber actually had a notch over an inch deep hacked into it by the Miao saber.

"Can't beat him!"

Peng Yun’s seasoned experience told him that if this continued, he was finished. He wanted to beg for mercy, but Li You had already pulled back his saber to build momentum and delivered another vertical slash...

"Ding... bang... crack..."

Peng Yun’s saber shattered directly, both his wrists were snapped by the immense force, and he sat on the ground, wailing with snot and tears streaming down...

"Mr. Li, spare my life... this lowly one had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Taishan... we are all our own people, the Great Chief is my..."

But Li You was like a robot repeating a task; he slashed down vertically once more. "Splat," Peng Yun’s head and chest were like stacked watermelons, both split in two. Only when he reached the abdomen and his strength was spent did Li You pull out his saber.

All of this sounds slow, but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye.

From Peng Yun drawing his saber to Li You’s vertical slash, both had absolute experience in killing, so the three consecutive strikes were as fast as lightning. Zheng Daniu had just drawn his saber and was about to charge forward when he saw Peng Yun die such a miserable death!

He looked at the blood-covered Li You as if he were seeing a demon from hell. Especially Li You’s cold gaze, which left him without the slightest courage to fight; he didn’t even dare to utter a word of mercy, but instead turned around, let out a crazed roar, and ran quickly toward the small path of the North Gate...

Li You stuck his saber into the ground, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow...

"Whoosh!"

Before he had run twenty paces, Zheng Daniu was pierced through the throat by an arrow. The massive thrust, combined with his own momentum, sent his entire body flying forward half a zhang, finally pinning him to a mulberry stump by the mountain path, his feet still off the ground.

"Gulp..."

"Gulp..."

"Gulp..."

The sound of swallowing saliva echoed incessantly. The entire Nanshan seemed to have frozen during these few dozen breaths of slaughter. Even the miners and salt slaves on the opposite bank had all turned into statues, trembling as they watched Li You’s figure.

As for the eighteen archers nearby, although they were mentally prepared that Li You wanted to establish his authority, who knew he would establish it like this?

He killed when he said he would kill, hacked when he said he would hack, and killed three people in one go.

Only one archer surnamed Miao, who had seen Li You’s skills at Mao'er Dam, seemed somewhat prepared, yet he never expected it to be so clean and efficient!

They were almost all scared out of their wits. As veteran bandits, they had all killed people, but few had experienced such close-quarters bloodbaths!

It must be known that all this sounds slow, but it actually happened in the blink of an eye. From the start of killing Cui Sanzao, to hacking Peng Yun, and shooting Zheng Daniu to death with an arrow, it was so fast it took only a dozen or so breaths.

"Murderous scholar!"

"He’s a madman~"