Chapter 101: Afei

The cold wind is like a knife, using the earth as a chopping board, viewing all living things as fish and meat.

Ten thousand miles of drifting snow, using the firmament as a great furnace, melting all things into silver.

……

Snowflakes drift, and the world is so quiet that one can almost hear the sound of snowflakes falling to the ground.

Yu Liancheng walks through the snow, leaving not a single footprint behind.

In snowy weather, he always wants to drink.

And his luck has always been quite good, so after walking for a while, he saw a small tavern.

It was a few open pavilions built at the foot of the mountain, with wide corridors on all sides outside, vermilion railings, and emerald-green gauze windows.

Yu Liancheng has already arrived in front of the tavern; the white snow is crisscrossed with carriage tracks and hoof prints, and the sound of horses neighing drifts out from behind the house with the wind. It seems this tavern already has guests.

The tavern door is open, but there are no tables or chairs set up inside; clearly, the owner of this tavern does not wish to do business in this kind of weather.

But there are guests in this shop.

In the very spacious room, there is only one table of dishes set by the window, but most of the dishes have not been touched, and even the wine in the cups has not been drunk.

Four guests are lying on the ground, but unfortunately, they have already become four corpses.

When he saw these four corpses, Yu Liancheng lost his appetite.

In fact, he has seen quite a few corpses, but such ugly, such disgusting corpses are truly rare to see.

The four corpses are all burly men with thick eyebrows and large eyes, their appearances ferocious and vicious, yet they are dressed like little children, wearing colorful, gaudy clothes, with aprons tied around their feet. If others saw this, they would likely vomit even their previous day's meals.

The corpses' heads are facing outward, their feet inward, with ferocious smiles on their faces; the gold bracelets on their wrists have already been slipped off and lie beside their hands.

Their cause of death is also very simple: a sword through the throat.

Judging from the expressions and positions of these four people, it was almost in an instant that a fast sword consecutively pierced into the throats of these four.

Beside a pillar in the corner, another corpse has fallen; it is a withered, small middle-aged man with no meat on his face, his hands clenched tightly, seemingly still clutching a handful of weapons.

He was also killed by a sword through the throat.

Yu Liancheng does not know if he is surprised or delighted, and he murmurs in his heart: "What a fast sword... what a fast sword..."

His thoughts turn with great speed, and coupled with the knowledge that this is the world of "Sentimental Swordsman Ruthless Sword", based on the characteristics of these five corpses and the fatal sword wounds, he has not only guessed the identities of these people but also guessed that there is another corpse by the stables in the back.

Those four dressed in gaudy clothes are disciples of Wudu Tongzi from the "Jile Tong" of the Miao Border, known for using poison.

The withered, small old man is Yu Erguaizi, who is known as "God Shadow Formless". This person's light-body technique is superb, leaving no traces on the snow, and his hidden weapons are also very famous.

As for the corpse by the stables in the back, it is Zha Meng, the chief escort of the Golden Lion Escort Agency, whose name has been famous in the Edo for over twenty years as the "Golden Lion".

They were all killed by a sword through the throat.

There are not many people who can wield such a fast sword.

Yu Liancheng already knows who it is.

"You guard this person. When the Number Three Scholar returns later, you will hand this person over to the Number Three Scholar. If anything goes wrong with this sword, I will take your life."

This voice came from the kitchen.

The voice is very cold.

And very young.

Yu Liancheng drifts to the front of the kitchen; there are three people in the kitchen in total.

A young man holding a sword.

A timid old man.

And a very thin, small middle-aged man tied up on a chair.

Among these three, the most eye-catching is naturally the youth.

Yu Liancheng is also watching him.

This youth is very handsome, very good-looking.

Thick eyebrows and large eyes, his face is cold and stubborn.

He wears only a thin and old garment, his spine as straight as a javelin, as if nothing could make him yield.

In his hand is a sword.

Strictly speaking, that really cannot be considered a sword.

It is just a piece of iron more than three feet long, with no sword edge, no sword guard, and not even a hilt; only two pieces of cork are nailed onto it, serving as a hilt.

This sword looks exactly like a child's toy, and yet it was such a "toy" that killed Zha Meng, Yu Erguaizi, and the four Jile Tong disciples.

This "toy" is also truly very dangerous.

Now, this sword has also become the most valuable thing on the youth's entire body.

"The wind and snow are biting; I have no choice but to disturb the host, I hope you will forgive me."

This is Yu Liancheng's first sentence.

The youth suddenly turns his head, looking coldly at Yu Liancheng, not saying a word.

This pair of eyes is truly very cold, even three parts colder than the wind and snow outside.

And in these cold eyes, there is also a trace of imperceptible surprise.

The youth does not understand martial arts very well, and his sword only knows how to kill, but he has the intuition of a wild beast.

The slightest movement within several yards cannot escape his Perception.

Yet he did not hear Yu Liancheng's footsteps, and did not discover the other party.

"This... this young master, this old man... is really... really not convenient to receive guests right now."

The old man says tremblingly, his voice also shaking a little.

It seems he is the owner of this small shop, having lived a mediocre life for most of his years, and today Afei has killed several people in his shop; how could he not be afraid?

"No matter." Yu Liancheng smiles and looks at the youth, cupping his hands: "Hello, my name is Yu Liancheng, I would like to ask you for a person."

The young man continued to look at him coldly.

Yu Liancheng still wore a smile as he pointed at the man tied to the stool: "It is this person."

The young man's hand had already gripped his sword hilt: "I do not know you."

"But I know you; your name is Afei," Yu Liancheng smiled. "Perhaps there is a surname 'A' in this world, but your surname is not A. Your surname should be Shen; you are called Shen Fei."

A look that was difficult to describe suddenly appeared on Afei's face.

Inferiority, pain, pride, reverence... these complex expressions were all mixed together, making it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking at this moment.

"You want this person?" His tone grew increasingly cold, as if a freezing wind were invading the marrow of one's bones.

Yu Liancheng frowned, then immediately smoothed his brow: "That sounds rather awkward. To be more precise, I want an item on this person."

"Fine! I will give it to you!"

Afei said coldly.

The next moment, the sword in his palm had already thrust out.

The sword was like lightning.

The sword was like a stream of light.

It thrust over with incomparable speed.

Yu Liancheng only felt his entire body enveloped by Sword Qi; the sword was but an inch from his throat.

What a fast sword.

This sword strike was truly astonishingly fast, casting aside all complex sword moves to become the simplest of thrusts.

And the simplest moves are often the most lethal moves.

Not only can they take others' lives, they can also take one's own.

Once the sword is struck, one not only seeks another's life, but even disregards one's own.

Although this sword strike is not enough to dominate the martial arts world, even a long-renowned martial arts master would have to drink the bitter cup of death.

Clearly, Yu Liancheng is not among them.