Chapter 415: 389 Fire

Two people walked from behind the door; one was a charming and moving woman in white, naturally Black Widow, and the other was an unremarkable young man, who was of course the helper she had found, Tang Zhao.

Black Widow had not made a move the entire time, so she was exceptionally relaxed, only smiling and saying: "Yo, Siyao, why are you in such a sorry state? Who is this young man in the floral clothes? Didn't you come up alone? Who was it that said they didn't need a helper before, and that one person would be enough?"

Xu Siyao remained silent, looking abruptly at Tang Zhao, and asked cautiously: "This... where did you find him?"

Just a moment ago, when she first saw Tang Zhao make a move and clamp the sword, she thought he had used Qi to protect his hands, which was the only way he could avoid being cut by the sharp blade. Immediately after, she saw the white gloves on Tang Zhao's hands and thought they were made of some mysterious, impenetrable material that protected him. It was only at the moment Tang Zhao let go that she clearly saw that the reason Tang Zhao's fingers were not severed was simply because he had accurately clamped the flat side of the sword.

This move was the truly brilliant one; not only did it require extremely fast reactions, keen eyesight, and speed of movement, but the strength required was also absolutely immense. Because it is difficult to exert force when clamping the flat side, if the grip was not firm, the moment the fingers loosened even slightly and the sword blade turned, given the sharpness of that edge, it would have cut both fingers off just like a pencil sharpener.

Moreover, the young man had been attacked the instant he entered the door, and then he had clamped the sword; it was all passive defense without a single error. His movements were light and effortless, but in reality, he had already seized control of the situation in an instant. Finally, using his fingers to clamp the sword and contend with Yue Lai, who was holding the hilt, and then voluntarily letting go, could almost be considered showing off his skills.

This indicated that the other party's martial arts completely crushed the three people present.

Although he had only crushed Yue Lai on the surface, Xu Siyao and her partner had just been chased and hacked at by Yue Lai.

Xu Siyao felt her heart jump with fear for a moment, and she immediately thought of her own situation; if this person were to kill her in this dark corridor, there would be absolutely no way to stop it. She had asked about Tang Zhao's background as a conditioned reflex in her nervousness, and immediately felt some regret—would she be beheaded by a single sword strike for rashly inquiring about the background of an expert?

Fortunately, Tang Zhao did not speak, and only Black Widow said with a smile: "I saved you, you answer my question first—who is this of yours?"

Xu Siyao glanced at the tattered "peacock freak" and replied: "He is my good friend, Yu Sichen."

Although Yu Sichen was in a sorry state, he still lifted his head when he heard his name; if it weren't for the fact that the fancy clothes on his body had been stabbed to shreds, he would really look a bit like a peacock spreading its tail.

Black Widow gave a "yo" and said: "What a maverick young man, and he's handsome too. Is he the outside help you found? Is he from Yunzhou?"

She had never heard the name Yu Sichen, and having just seen his extraordinary skills, it stood to reason that he shouldn't be unknown in the world of martial arts. But it didn't sound like a pseudonym; it was quite flashy, so perhaps he was some young master from a wealthy family who hadn't left home before.

Xu Siyao did not wish to say more and said: "He is my friend. I have one quota for outside help."

Black Widow said: "Where was this outside help hiding at the beginning? How did you manage to have a divine soldier descend from the heavens at the critical moment? This move of feinting to the east while attacking to the west was used really well."

Xu Siyao gritted her back teeth and could only lower her head for the moment. Black Widow pursed her lips to signal at Yue Lai, who was holding his sword and panting heavily in the dark, and said: "What is going on with this kid? Did you run into Cha Feiyan? Where is Cha Feiyan?"

Xu Siyao said: "Who knows? We never saw Cha Feiyan at all. This kid appeared out of nowhere and said we..."

At this moment, Tang Zhao suddenly said: "Fire!"

Although he spoke softly, everyone turned to look at him as soon as he opened his mouth.

Tang Zhao pointed outside the window.

Outside the corridor window, bright flames suddenly ignited in the courtyard!

A streak of firelight rushed over from the end of the corridor, like a ball of ghost fire, yet much faster than ghost fire.

Beigong Qi looked closely and saw a person wrapped in the ghost fire, thick-set and ferocious-looking; it was actually the Five Steps Tower Master, Jin Fusheng. He said in surprise: "What kind of Qi is this..."

Before he could finish, he saw Jin Fusheng's eyes staring blankly, and the smell of scorched skin wafting from the flames; his state appeared highly abnormal.

Qin Jiujiu frowned and said: "It doesn't look like his Qi; it seems like he is on fire." As she spoke, she reached out gently and pulled the Emei piercer from her sleeve.

Beigong Qi immediately understood what she meant—out of control? Very well, it was the perfect time to kill him while he was at it.

Never mind the reason, whether he was plotted against or had suffered a cultivation deviation; since he had come, take his life while he was sick.

Beigong Qi did not stop Qin Jiujiu and kept his own eyes on the space behind Jin Fusheng.

If Jin Fusheng had been harmed by someone but had escaped, then someone must be chasing him from behind, and that person would also be an enemy. One must not do the foolish thing of letting the snipe and the clam fight, only for the fisherman to reap the benefits.

Jin Fusheng rushed over, indeed staring straight ahead, and Qin Jiujiu thrust her Emei piercer, aiming for his waist.

This thrust was fast, but Qin Jiujiu also left herself some leeway, specifically controlling her force and speed, appearing both offensive and defensive, for fear that Jin Fusheng was putting on an act and waiting for her to make a move so he could counterattack. Who would have known that Jin Fusheng would not dodge at all, and the thrust went straight into the firelight.

Qin Jiujiu was delighted, but immediately after, she heard a sizzling sound, and a wave of heat surged over. She cried out in alarm and immediately let go, only to see that a layer of fire Qi had already attached to her hand; it looked as if the flames were about to burn onto her body and make her a torch just like Jin Fusheng.

The Emei piercer she had thrust also entered the fire source and began to burn, but the momentum had not yet dissipated, and it continued to plunge into Jin Fusheng's body. However, Jin Fusheng's hard-body training was remarkable; his body was like it was covered in thick scales, and the thrust only went in half an inch.

Clearly, Jin Fusheng was relying on his powerful defense to survive in the flames, while those flames were an evil, ever-spreading thing!

Qin Jiujiu was terrified in an instant; how could she care about Jin Fusheng? She immediately wiped her burning hand against the ground.

Yet the flames could not be extinguished; she wiped it several times, but the flames did not die out and instead grew more vigorous, and a smell of scorched flesh mixed with intense pain wafted over. She trembled all over and looked to the side, only to see a window nearby; through the cracks in the window, she could see a pool of water outside the courtyard.

This villa had many windows, and one could see the courtyard from outside the corridor, but all the windows were locked; once opened, they would trigger mechanisms and alarm buzzers. Not only was it dangerous, but it would also expose one's position. None of them would act rashly. But at this moment, Qin Jiujiu could not care less and pushed toward the window with all her might.

The window sash was heavy, and her push did not move it, but her other hand had already caught fire and started burning the window lattice. The window made a sizzling sound, and in an instant, it seemed to show signs of wavering.

Qin Jiujiu was overjoyed, forgetting the pain for a moment, and she actively raised her hand to burn the window paper, when she heard a low roar from behind, like a wounded tiger bellowing.

A fierce wind rose behind her; Qin Jiujiu instinctively dodged, and a ball of firelight roared past her, smashed through the window, and crashed into the courtyard.

It was Jin Fusheng, who had used all his strength to escape through the window!

His target was also the pond!

"Ding-a-ling—ding-a-ling—"

In an instant, the alarm bells rang out loudly, sounding like noise in such a quiet night.

Never mind the small villa; I'm afraid the entire Jingzhe Villa heard it!

The bell was close at hand, and a thought flashed through Beigong Qi's mind: Danger, hide quickly!

Yet he saw Qin Jiujiu, without the slightest hesitation, carrying the firelight and stepping in Jin Fusheng's footprints, vaulting out of the window and running toward the shallow pool in the courtyard.

Beigong Qi was stunned for a moment and sighed: "Jiujiu." He hesitated, but still followed her out to chase his companion.

Qin Jiujiu and Jin Fusheng had both erupted with what was likely the most terrifying speed of their lives; Beigong Qi was not as desperate, so he naturally fell a step behind.

Just at this moment, a black shadow swept past him, and a familiar voice shouted loudly: "Two guests have died, eight remain; two guests have died, eight remain..."

Beigong Qi was first surprised: Wasn't there a total of nine people? How could there be eight left after two died?

But immediately after, listening to the noisy voice and thinking of the trouble before him, anger rose from his heart and malice grew from his guts. He raised his sleeve, and "da-da-da," three streaks of black light shot toward the black cloak.

The black cloak lightly shook the cloak, sweeping the black light into it; this movement tugged at the fabric, revealing most of the face.

Beigong Qi was shocked and said: "You—"

The person grinned and said: "Originally, you were not the target, this is something you brought upon yourself!" Having said that, he pulled an object from under the cloak and slashed over—

It was actually a large axe!

When Beigong Qi decided to launch a sneak attack, he had already drawn his own weapon—also an Emei piercer—and thrust it forward.

But he had not expected that a large axe would be hidden under that loose cloak, and a long-handled one at that!

Moreover, when the long-handled axe was drawn, a bright radiance shone upon it; that was surging, heavy Qi. Without decades of accumulation, one could not have such quality!

This axe strike was a dual crushing force of power and mass!

When that great axe cleaved down from above his head, the wind shrieked; he met it with his Emei piercer, which immediately met the same fate as the previous one—it was completely pulverized.

Beigong Qi wanted to withdraw his hand, but he was not as lucky as Qin Jiujiu. The disparity in power between him and this axe was too great!

With a boom, the great axe cleaved into his body.

At the critical moment, a light shone before him, and a thumb ring on his hand suddenly shattered; a white light flashed, as if opening a mouth, swallowing a large portion of the force, including the sharpest edge of the axe.

This was his life-saving Art Tool coming to his rescue!

The remaining force still cleaved toward Beigong Qi. Beigong Qi let out a muffled groan and flew backward.

The cloaked figure, having swung the axe, felt it was half-real and half-illusory, not having achieved full effect, and seeing that Beigong Qi had not shattered like his previous enemies, he swung the axe again, his Gang Qi burning once more.

Just as he was about to pursue and cleave down, a sound came from behind him.

A sneak attack?!

The cloaked figure was so experienced that he immediately whirled the axe around and slashed backward.

Crack—

The sound of flesh being struck!

And it was very clean; not only did it strike flesh, it also severed a limb.

In the cloaked figure's career, his great axe had severed countless human bodies, and he made a judgment without even turning his head—it must have been a thin limb like an arm, not a strike into the chest or abdomen, so it might not have completely incapacitated the opponent; he swung the axe, using the force of the rotation to turn around, and then raised the great axe again.

Upon turning his head, he saw the person behind him, a thin woman, currently half-kneeling on the ground, covered in blood.

She had only one arm, using her remaining hand to press against the shoulder on the other side; the other arm had likely already been severed, as the gushing blood made her look like a blood-soaked person, to the point where even her features could not be seen clearly.

The cloaked figure had no intention of seeing her face clearly anyway; he had seen such miserable states countless times in his life, the vast majority of which he had created with his own hands; he couldn't be bothered to see the woman's final expression, so he raised the axe high, intending to send her off for good.

Just at this moment, a searing, piercing pain traveled along his arm; he looked up abruptly and saw that his own fingers had turned into torches!

"Fire!"