Chapter 49: Slaughtering on All Sides (2-in-1)

The slaughter was on the verge of breaking out!

The heroes of the pugilistic world were people who lived by licking blood off the edge of a blade; their inner ferocity erupted in an instant.

"Damn it!

Forget whether he's right or wrong, hack him to death first."

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen people charged up.

A Steel Saber, carrying an inexplicably intense killing intent, slashed down at his head.

Lu Li didn't even glance at it; he tapped the side of the blade with his scabbard to deflect the edge, then flew his right leg up to kick the man away.

Before his right leg had even landed, a Copper Staff stirred up a whistling wind as it smashed toward his leg!

Lu Li flicked his wrist, sweeping the scabbard horizontally to strike the man directly on the head.

He suddenly raised his right leg to step on the Copper Staff, followed by a kick from his left foot, pinning a man using a ground-hugging saber technique to the ground and knocking him unconscious.

"Amitabha!

Donor Lu, your killing intent is too heavy; this monk shall teach you a lesson."

A Buddhist chant suddenly arrived, and a middle-aged monk lunged forward, holding a Buddha Seal and smashing it toward Lu Li's chest.

"Where did this monk come from?"

"Senior Brother, this is Master Xu Ming of the Shaolin Temple, a personal disciple of Abbot Fangzheng, who came to Hengshan to provide reinforcements."

Behind Lu Li, Liang Fa shouted: "Besides Master Xu Ming, the Daoist on the left is Daoist Shouque of the Wudang Sect."

Lu Li nodded; it seemed that all the major sects had sent people to reinforce Hengshan, and now they were all trapped here.

"Monk, Daoist, I advise you both to mind your own business."

"Amitabha!

Donor, put down your butcher's knife and you will reach the shore."

"Monk, so many butcher's knives are pointed at me, why do you only tell me to turn back?"

Although Lu Li was speaking, he kept his attention on the paths of the enemies' attacks.

While speaking, he used his scabbard to knock away two more people, deflected a cluster of Iron Caltropol, repelled a Wudang Soft Fist with his palm, and bent his elbow to knock a swordsman unconscious.

Lu Li knew that not all of these people were villains, so he always held back, using only his scabbard to swat everyone away without delivering a lethal blow.

He had already knocked away over twenty people, yet he had not taken a single life.

However, the heroes had seen blood after all, which had stirred up their ferocity, and now they were charging up in a swarm.

Lu Li knocked away twenty, and another twenty fresh troops charged up.

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of martial artists trapped in Hengshan City; when would the killing ever end? However, there were those in the crowd who had seen Lu Li's swordsmanship and dared not step forward to fight.

For instance, Mr. He from the Baofu Building that day and his good friend Mr. Pan pulled their junior, Xiao Zhang, to the side.

Mr. Pan whispered: "Don't go. Listen to your uncle's advice: the water here is very deep, and we can't handle it."

The slaughter became increasingly chaotic, and the cursing in the crowd grew filthier.

Shi Dengda was seen shouting viciously in the crowd: "Brothers, don't be impatient. We have the numbers, so let's wear him down slowly. Sooner or later, we will drag this evil thief to his death."

Shi Dengda's thinking was simple.

His Songshan Sect was indeed in an adversarial relationship with the Sun Moon Holy Cult, but he had an even greater grudge against Lu Li.

Rather than dying in a struggle against the Sun Moon Holy Cult, it was better to take advantage of the heroes' fervor to eliminate Lu Li first.

Even Zuo Lengchan was busy dealing with the other four sects, wasn't he? Moreover, Lu Li's swordsmanship was superb; if he relied on himself, he certainly couldn't kill Lu Li. By inciting everyone to attack together now, perhaps Lu Li would be afraid of collateral damage—this was the perfect opportunity!

"Right!

Let's tire this dog bastard to death."

Lu Li had fought several rounds, and the anger in his heart had long since risen, only to be suppressed by him.

Now, seeing that he had shown mercy while the enemies' blades were all vicious, lethal strikes, and hearing the heroes hurling insults, his rage became uncontrollable!

"Fine!

Since I am an evil thief, I will start by carving you up first."

Suddenly, Lu Li thrust his scabbard straight into a man's shoulder.

The scabbard, meant to be a protective shell for the blade, was forced by Lu Li into the man's flesh, wedged between his tendons and bones.

Following this, Lu Li drew his long sword and slashed toward Shi Dengda!

This sword was swung in anger, its edge fully revealed.

The next moment.

Shi Dengda's head was severed from his body!

This bloody battle only truly began with the death of Shi Dengda of the Songshan Sect!

Xu Ming said angrily: "Amitabha, what a sin, what a sin!

Lu Li, you have committed a great evil."

Lu Li laughed loudly: "Everyone wants to kill me, yet you won't allow me to kill? Everyone had a hand in today's slaughter, so how did it become an evil I committed?"

Xu Ming said: "A sin, a sin. Did this fight today not start because of Donor Lu?"

"A fine 'started because of me'!

Very well, let it all be put on my account, and what can you do about it?"

"You dare not swing your blades at the Demonic Cult, yet you point your sharp edges at me alone?"

"But who gave you the illusion that I am easier to deal with than the Sun Moon Holy Cult? Or do you think that killing scum like you, who are worse than pigs and dogs, would weigh on my heart?"

Lu Li roared, and his sword light descended like a storm.

"Those who block me die."

Once Lu Li drew his long sword, he no longer held back.

He was seen to have peerless swordsmanship, sometimes delivering a strange and perilous strike, impossible to guard against, directly piercing the throats of several men.

At other times, it was ancient and vicissitudinous, almost impossible to avoid.

Suddenly, the Sword Intent shifted, disappearing as if by magic, only to reappear abruptly, leaving the crowd dizzy and disoriented.

When several men attacked in unison, the Sword Intent suddenly turned into a continuous defense, parrying all enemy strikes, before shifting into a Cotton-Hidden Needle, piercing into the bodies of the crowd.

Amidst the fierce battle, Lu Li was like a starving wolf charging into a flock of sheep, his sword strikes frantic, as if entering a land with no one to stop him.

He was seen charging into the crowd alone with his sword, sword light flashing and blood splattering, his momentum truly unstoppable.

Hengshan was originally a place of pure cultivation, but now the mountain gate was already splattered with drops of fresh blood.

Countless corpses lay on the ground, some decapitated, others with chests ripped open and limbs severed, stretching all the way from the mountain gate to the mountain path.

At this moment, Lu Li's eyes were bloodshot from killing, and he killed anyone he saw.

That monk Xu Ming and the Taoist Shouque, he did not know which sword strike had already killed them under Lu Li's blade.

Among the heroes who charged in this time, eight or nine out of ten had killed people with their own hands and tasted blood!

But this fierce battle today was something they had never seen in their entire lives.

Clearly, the enemy was only Lu Li, yet he was already like a mad tiger, like a ghost.

One could only see him striking without form, seemingly hacking and killing at random.

Many experts stepped forward, only to be cut down by his faster, fiercer, more ruthless, and more precise swordsmanship!

At this moment, on Hengshan, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the sounds of dying screams were everywhere.

Looking up, one could see Lu Li, his green robes stained with blood, standing with his sword in hand.

His originally handsome face was as terrifying as a soul-reaping Shura.

There were about a thousand heroes in the group, yet now more than half had perished under Lu Li's sword!

The remaining three or four hundred all had the intention to flee, feeling that whether it was Lu Li or the Demonic Cult, they never wanted to pick up a weapon again in this life.

"Stop fighting, I'm not fighting anymore."

"Damn it, how is this Lu Li so devilish!"

"It would be better to go kill the Sun Moon Holy Cult; at least I could trade one for one!"

"Lu Li's swordsmanship, I can't even understand it..."

"What kind of swordsmanship is that? I fear only the legendary Grandmasters could have such terrifying martial arts."

The crowd of heroes slowly retreated.

They had already been chilled to the bone by Lu Li's killing!

On the Hengshan mountain path, a bizarre scene appeared.

Lu Li was seen slowly walking down the mountain, while the heroes blocking his path were slowly retreating down the mountain.

With every step Lu Li took, the heroes retreated a step in panic and confusion.

Lu Li did not continue to charge into the crowd to kill them all; he was not a man addicted to killing, but he was certainly not a man who feared killing.

Looking at the appearance of the heroes, Lu Li only felt disgust.

"Get lost."

Lu Li waved his hand, sheathed his long sword, and pulled the scabbard out forcefully from that person's corpse.

The heroes felt as if they had been granted amnesty, and unexpectedly, without a single sound of protest, they retreated down the mountain.

He, Pan, and Zhang, who had been hiding on the side earlier, were now dumbfounded.

What kind of rhythm was this? Lu Li, alone, faced the siege of nearly a thousand martial arts heroes, not only not retreating a single step but killing more than half the enemies, making the crowd tremble with fear!

Among these martial arts heroes, it was not as if there were no experts leading the charge.

But those few high monks from Shaolin Temple, the Taoists from Wudang Sect, even the priests from Songfeng Temple, and Shi Dengda of the Songshan Sect... all these experts had already been cut down by Lu Li's sword, and at this moment, one did not even know which pool of blood they were lying in.

He Xiansheng said with a trembling voice: "Such terrifying swordsmanship, he is a Shura in the flesh."

Having drifted for half a life, he had seen everything in the martial arts world.

But a slaughter like this purgatory today was the first time he had seen it.

Pan sighed: "Fortunately, we didn't go up; to be honest, with our martial arts, I fear we would have died under Lu Li's sword too."

"Uncle Pan is right."

Xiao Zhang echoed from the side.

The three of them sighed, feeling they had saved their lives, and not daring to follow the crowd, they chose a small path and carefully went down the mountain.

Seeing the crowd gradually disperse, Lu Li also caught his breath.

Although he had killed and repelled this wave of enemies, Lu Li also knew that this matter was not over yet.

At the foot of Hengshan, he estimated there were still people waiting for him.

"Senior... Senior Brother, are you alright?"

At this time, Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi, who were standing behind him, finally came up to pay their respects.

To be honest, Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi were already stunned.

Especially Lin Pingzhi, he was completely dumbfounded.

Even when Lu Li looked at him, he could not help but shiver all over.

What is a big shot!

It is that just by being looked at by him, one feels as if one is already dead.

Don't believe it? The blood of the hundreds of corpses on the ground hadn't even dried yet!

Liang Fa was better off than Lin Pingzhi; after all, he had already witnessed the fierce side of Lu Li on the Helan Ancient Road.

It could be said that when Lu Li drew his sword today, Liang Fa had already guessed this unimaginable fact.

But the situation on the Helan Ancient Road that day could not be compared to today; the heroes surrounding Hengshan today numbered nearly a thousand, like a dark, oppressive army.

As for Lu Li himself, he was an army.

He alone was an army, an elite tiger-warrior force sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of a thousand men!

Yet even though he had already guessed as much, Liang Fa was still frightened.

It was only because the killing today had been too ruthless.

Lu Li saw that his two junior martial brothers also had quite a bit of blood on them, and their clothes had been slashed by blades; presumably, someone had attacked the two of them during the chaotic melee.

"How are the two of you? Are your injuries serious?"

Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi shook their heads at the same time and said, "Not serious, just some superficial wounds. It is only a pity that we could not help you, Senior Martial Brother."

"This group of people is truly excessive. They have thousands of men, yet they dare not go down the mountain to fight the Sun Moon Holy Cult to the death."

Both Liang and Lin were somewhat indignant.

However, Lu Li smiled nonchalantly: "Perhaps they feel that because we are few in number, we are easier to bully.

Moreover, we are bearing the name of Huashan, while the other side is the Demonic Cult; people will subconsciously assume the Demonic Cult is more cruel and terrifying, so they draw their blades against the weaker party."

In later generations, a great literary master who said many things once said: "The brave, when angry, draw their blades against the stronger; the cowardly, when angry, draw their blades against the weaker."

Clearly, Lu Li belonged to the former.

Lu Li took a deep breath and said softly, "Two junior brothers, do you dare to follow me down the mountain to charge and kill the Demonic Cult?"

Lu Li's smile was gentle and his tone was relaxed; his heart was not in the slightest obscured by the slaughter just now.

Yes, he was not a demon who insisted on killing, but the Jianghu was just like this; sometimes it forced you to kill.

Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi were both shaken, suddenly remembering a sentence Lu Li had said during the Sword-Qi Conflict.

"With a clear conscience, if I must kill, then I kill."

Since these people wanted to kill Lu Li and hand him over to the Sun Moon Holy Cult, why could Lu Li not kill them? He had clearly killed the great demon Ren Woxing; he was a hero who should be pursued and praised by the righteous path.

Now that the Sun Moon Holy Cult had come for revenge, how could everyone be so easily led by the nose and want to send Lu Li out? Was there someone pulling strings from behind, or was it the inherent baseness of people? Could it be that they could not stand an up-and-coming talent like Lu Li? But regardless of which it was, Lu Li had a clear conscience.

Is the side with more people always right? Not necessarily!

And at this moment, like a lone hero, Lu Li was asking Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi if they would charge out with him. Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi only felt the fear in their bodies rapidly dissipating, and the blood in their veins gradually beginning to boil.

Although Lin Pingzhi had never seen the passionate anime of later generations, he suddenly had a feeling at this moment.

I, Lin Pingzhi, have been chosen by destiny!

I have been summoned!

The two gripped their sword hilts tightly and said in unison, "We are willing to follow our elder brother down the mountain!

To sweep away all the demons."

Lu Li patted the two on their shoulders and said loudly, "Good."

Afterward, he turned and bowed toward the Hengshan mountain gate, "Hengshan was originally a place of purity; today, Lu Li has been presumptuous!

I beg the various Reverend Nuns to forgive me."

Having said this, Lu Li laughed wildly and strode down the mountain.

Liang Fa and Lin Pingzhi followed closely behind.

Beneath the three men's feet lay flowing blood and countless corpses that still held warmth.

As the three men's footsteps drifted further and further away, the figures of the Reverend Nuns gradually appeared at the Hengshan mountain gate; one would imagine these corpses would take them a long time to deal with... At the foot of Hengshan.

The Jianghu heroes who had fled a step ahead of Lu Li were scurrying like stray dogs.

Even though Lu Li's figure was no longer in sight, they could still feel that terror of losing their lives at any moment.

However, just at this moment, the crowd suddenly stopped in unison, and then revealed expressions of terror and confusion.

Because at the foot of Hengshan, a dense mass of people stood.

"It's the people from the Sun Moon Holy Cult."

"Weren't they outside Hengshan City? How did they surround the foot of Hengshan today?"

A few Jianghu figures who had been driven by the Sun Moon Holy Cult and had just arrived at Hengshan cursed: "Damn it, these Demonic Cult people are crazy."

As it turned out, the government had always ignored the Jianghu vendettas between the Sun Moon Holy Cult and the major sects.

But the Sun Moon Holy Cult had been besieging Hengshan City and obstructing the flow of merchants and citizens, which was truly too inappropriate; how could the government sit idly by forever? And although the Sun Moon Holy Cult had many experts, they were unwilling to clash head-on with the iron cavalry of the prefecture and suffer needless sacrifices.

Therefore, the Sun Moon Holy Cult directly drove the numerous Jianghu figures to Hengshan.

As long as they besieged Hengshan and did not bother the commoners in the city, the government would no longer manage this matter.

After all, the Sun Moon Holy Cult was also considered a famous terrorist organization in this world; it was not easy for the government to get involved in the vendettas between terrorist organizations and gangs.

Anyway, they just needed to be responsible for cleaning up the ground in the end.

Among the heroes, someone gathered the courage to ask: "What exactly does your Sun Moon Holy Cult want? Do you really want to kill us all?"

"Do not bully people too much; we are not easy to provoke either."

One could see a sedan chair among the Sun Moon Holy Cult crowd, with a masked woman with a seductive figure sitting on it.

Standing beside the sedan chair was a burly man; it was none other than Xiang Wentian.

Xiang Wentian snorted coldly and looked at the heroes with contempt.

His nickname was Heavenly King, meaning he feared neither heaven nor earth.

Aside from revering Ren Woxing and his daughter, he had only ever suffered losses at the hands of Lu Li.

And this group of Jianghu people before his eyes was not even worth his notice.

It was pure kingly contempt.

He pointed to a cliff not far away and shouted: "If you want to leave Hengshan, I will give you three choices."

"One, kill Lu Li!

Two, be killed by us!

Three, jump down."

The members of the Sun Moon Holy Cult suddenly burst into laughter, like a dance of demons.

"What is to be done? Is the Sun Moon Holy Cult truly not going to stop until someone is dead?"

"Even if we call upon the Hengshan Sect, we still won't be able to stop the Sun Moon Holy Cult."

It must be said, the deterrent power of the Sun Moon Holy Cult is truly terrifying.

In the original work, when the Shaolin Temple was besieged, they also had to summon various righteous sects to come and help.

Someone who had arrived up the mountain later gritted their teeth and said: "Could it be that we really have to kill Lu Li?"

As soon as these words were spoken, he discovered that several blood-stained people coming down the mountain nearby were looking at him with the gaze one would use for an idiot.

Many people were pondering in their hearts... Kill Lu Li? It seems that would be even worse than fighting the Sun Moon Holy Cult to the death!

While the crowd was clamoring, someone suddenly let out an exclamation from the rear.

"Lu Li is coming down."