Chapter 636: Fighting for Ruthlessness

"Haha!"

A manor lord had just entered the shadow space, and upon taking a closer look, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Before him was actually a young Sword Student, with his sword still strapped to his back, completely unable to draw it. He had black hair, looked to be about twenty years old, and his temperament could still be described as green.

Are there still Sword Students in this day and age?

This was a completely new face; he wasn't one of the manor lords from his own side, nor was he one of the white-haired ones, so naturally, he was an outsider. Perhaps he was just a lackey for some low-level slave trader?

Nowadays, even high-level slave traders can afford to hire Sword Guests as bodyguards.

And this manor lord, no matter how you put it, was a proper Sword Guest; even if he wasn't skilled in actual combat, it should be a sure thing when encountering a Sword Student, right?

"To think it's a fledgling; you're in for bad luck running into me..."

"Pfft—"

A dagger was suddenly plunged into his chest; not even a single drop of blood flowed out.

The manor lord's mind went blank, and immediately after, a hand pressed against his chin, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Yes, the manor lord had been stabbed in the chest, his heart pierced, yet he was still alive for the moment, because this strike was too fast and too precise; he would only die once the blade was pulled out.

Then, Weise calmly placed him on the ground and whispered softly, saying: "At killing, you are a fledgling."

At this moment, he had already restored his original appearance, no longer showing himself with the face of a young master. As a master of disguise, it only took him an instant to wipe away his makeup; even if some residue remained, his face was already unrecognizable.

The reason he wiped away the makeup was to wear a younger, more unfamiliar face to make people underestimate him, which made it convenient for him to launch a sneak attack at the first opportunity—the same logic as why he deliberately carried his sword on his back.

When all is said and done, he was still a Sword Student. Even if the rules were in his favor, and even if he was more proficient in Killing Techniques than the vast majority of people present, he still needed to make the most thorough preparations and fight for the best opportunity for himself to achieve a one-hit kill.

He pursued a one-hit kill because he almost only had the chance for one strike. If he couldn't kill the opponent and let a real Sword Guest counterattack, that would be a very, very dangerous thing.

A killer is a profession that dances on the tip of a blade and must make the most thorough preparations. Although Weise was no longer a killer, he still maintained a killer's instincts.

Originally, for a skilled killer like him, the first thing to aim for when having the chance to strike was the throat; that was the most vulnerable vital point on a person. Although the target of the chest was large, the heart as a weak point was not, and it was protected by ribs; if the strike was slightly off, it was easy to get the weapon stuck, so it could only be a secondary choice.

But he still chose to pierce the heart, letting the opponent remain alive for the time being. If the opponent died, the shadow space would dissipate, and he would lose an independent space.

Of course, Weise wanted to stay here, not to take a break from being tired of killing, but simply because Fu Xianchan told him to do so.

They originally had a communicator between them, and Weise had always been carrying the Communication Earphone for sending and receiving messages; Fu Xianchan asked him to test whether they could communicate with each other within the shadow space.

Regarding this decision by Fu Xianchan, Weise expressed his lack of understanding—although this space was independent, it was inside a shadow, right? It was fine not to worry about other people while talking here, but wasn't it too close to Wangliang?

Is there anything between us that can be openly said to the network?

But right now, Weise was at his wit's end; he was trapped in a Chess Game and knew well that his strength was low, and he couldn't help at all in this situation. If Fu Xianchan could still have a plan at a time like this, he was willing to support it.

"Hey—can you hear me?"

Fu Xianchan's voice rang in his ear, and Weise was also taken aback—

This shadow space could actually communicate with the outside world.

It was truly... not very independent.

But thinking about it, it made sense; weren't the shadow spaces of those manors connected to the outside world? If there were no waterproof walls, even the You Water would backflow when it flooded.

Of course, one could say there was no need for a manor to be completely isolated, but Wangliang Mountain was actually a vast shadow space, the lair of Wangliang; it should have used whatever means it had to make this place impenetrable. But it didn't; Wangliang Mountain was still connected inside and out, and with the Yinglang Bridge, it was basically like a sieve.

Therefore, when the White Fox first entered, it already looked down on Wangliang Mountain, saying that such a large Wangliang Mountain didn't even have a dedicated source and still had to channel Qi in from the outside, which could be said to be very crude. Rather than an independent plane, it was more like enclosing a piece of land in the Human World.

Thinking about it this way, Wangliang was originally a shadow, and a shadow cannot leave its main body; wasn't it a matter of course? It probably wouldn't build a truly independent space.

It was not that it didn't want to, but that it really couldn't.

Fu Xianchan had established communication and was also very happy, getting straight to the point: "You are also in the Golden Camp, right? Do you know who among our people is in the Silver Camp?"

Huh?

Weise had thought there was some secret mission, but he didn't expect that so much effort was spent to communicate with him just to ask this one question, much like a beautiful woman specifically calling someone over to say: "Excuse me, please give this love letter to your desk mate."

However, it seemed inappropriate to say too much in the shadow space, so saying these ordinary messages was just right.

At the time, the division of camps was very hasty; everyone was grabbing randomly and was suddenly separated, quite far apart, and now it was a mess, so it was normal for Fu Xianchan not to see the full picture.

Weise thought for a moment and said: "Most of the people on my side have chosen the Golden Camp. How are the people in the sky?"

The sky, that is, Baiyujing.

Fu Xianchan sighed: "It's not that we can't look for them... but it's safer with our own people. Do you have any acquaintances or relatively reliable people from that side near you now?"

Weise shook his head; his comrades all rushed toward the black side, and around him, there was nothing but black and gold, while some people who were originally manor lords and had to choose gold would go toward the silver side.

The silver side was the same; the people from the gold and silver camps were instead staying far away from each other.

"Wait, there seems to be one."

Weise said: "I see one in silver. It's that young man who was originally sitting at the offerings, do you remember? His face was cold. He was originally controlled by the Turtle Bandits, but I don't know if he broke free himself; he is already able to fight. As soon as the Chess Game started, he woke up and directly became a chess piece, and he chose the Silver Camp; he is not too far from me."

Fu Xianchan's voice paused for a moment and said: "You are talking about... Xiaosi."

Weise didn't know that person's name, nor did he know if his surname was Si or if he was called Si.

Fu Xianchan said: "He is not on the same path as us now and didn't participate in this mission. I don't know how he got here... but it's correct that he is one of our own. In that case, carefully approach him, confirm his identity with him, and then throw the earphone to him."

Weise nodded. Wangliang prevented them from standing together, but it didn't forbid them from passing things to each other. Now it seemed that Wangliang's desire for control was actually average; there were also neighboring rivals outside restraining each other, and in the current chaotic scene, throwing something and slacking off was nothing at all.

As for what Fu Xianchan would say to that Xiaosi using the earphone, and why it had to be someone from the Silver Camp, Weise would not ask about these specific details.

Finally, Fu Xianchan reminded: "Don't get too close when throwing things, and don't provoke his hostility. It would be bad if you two get trapped in a shadow space; one of you has to die to get out. I'm using my current Sword Image quite smoothly and don't want to change another one."

Weise didn't know what changing a Sword Image meant, so he replied: "That's right, we have to find someone from the Silver Camp; it was hard to find one, and if he's gone, he's gone."

"Hmm... hmm?" Fu Xianchan realized that Weise meant he was confident he would win if they met on a narrow path, and laughed: "So confident? You'd better be careful if you meet Xiaosi. Not to mention that he is different from those useless manor lords, he is completely different even from us. You say you kill as if it's nothing, and he also kills without blinking... in short, don't compete with him in ruthlessness."

After saying this, Fu Xianchan left, and Weise followed by twisting the manor lord's neck. He could have actually drawn his blade directly, but that would have caused a lot of blood to spray everywhere and would have dirtied his clothes.

Once a person is dead, the blood will become docile.

Once the manor lord died, the shadow space indeed dissipated, and Weise seemed to see a shadow rope dragging that corpse down. Before it was dragged out of the space, the corpse had already begun to undergo a qualitative change, becoming black, flat, and losing its shape...

By the time it was dragged to the end, the corpse had become a shadow just like the rope, and could no longer be separated.

"Pfft..."

Just as he exited the shadow space, a stream of blood sprayed over like a pillar of magma.

Wei Se instinctively dodged, brushing past the blood, and when he looked back, the owner of the blood was falling from the net, landing with a splash into the You Water covering the ground.

What is going on?

Wei Se was a bit surprised—only a living person could spray blood like that; the blood of a dead person would become tame.

Aren't battles supposed to take place in the Shadow space now? By the time one comes out, life and death have already been decided; the living remain alive, and the dead don't even have corpses left, so how could someone die outside again?

Could it be that someone dared to ignore the rules and take action against others right under the nose of Wangliang?

He didn't even see where that person had been wounded just now; with that much blood spraying, was a major artery severed?

He looked left and right, but didn't see anyone assuming a fighting stance; everyone was just like him, either confused, terrified, or at a loss.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted to one person; among the surrounding crowd, only this person was extremely calm, with an expression that could be called cold. Of course, one could say it was because that person was the most calculating, or naturally had a cold face, remaining unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.

But Wei Se's intuition as a killer told him: it is this person!

However, the young man was not only quite far from the dead person, but he also hadn't drawn a sword at all, had no weapon in his hands, and the people around him weren't looking at him with terrified eyes; clearly, no one except Wei Se regarded him as the killer.

How did he do it?

Why kill this person?

Beyond these questions, what surprised Wei Se even more was that this young man was actually the person Fu Xianchan had told him to contact:

Xiaosi.

"Did someone die on your side too?"

At this moment, Fu Xianchan suddenly spoke, and Wei Se nodded, then immediately realized: "What do you mean by 'too'?"

"Someone died on my side as well. A person came out perfectly fine, then suddenly sprayed blood and died. It must have been done by Xiaosi."

"Really... how did he do it? He was so far away, and he didn't even make a move?"

"That is the effect of his Sword Intent. It is possible that these people were blood relatives, so they were implicated."

What... implicated? Blood relatives?

Sword Intent?

"So, don't try to be tough with him; you just need to know that he is vengeful. Be careful when you go to contact him, don't cause any misunderstandings; we need to end this boring game as soon as possible."