Chapter 19

Zhao Ying lunged forward, her sword blade slashing toward Mei Qinghe!

Mei Qinghe tilted her head, stepped forward to meet her, caught Zhao Ying's wrist with both palms, and twisted, intending to disarm her.

Zhao Ying retreated a step, flipped her sword, and slashed at Mei Qinghe's arm.

Mei Qinghe had intended to step forward to follow up, but a guard nearby suddenly slashed at her waist with a saber; she pulled her right hand back and pressed it against the blade, neutralizing the strike.

But Zhao Ying took this opportunity to grab Mei Qinghe's left hand with one hand, thrusting her long sword straight at her chest!

In such close quarters, Mei Qinghe was fighting empty-handed and had nowhere to block, while the guards behind attacked in unison, leaving her nowhere to retreat.

Swish!

Suddenly, a cloud of dust exploded from the ground, rushing toward Zhao Ying's face.

Mei Qinghe retracted her kicking leg, took advantage of Zhao Ying's distraction to break free from her left hand, dodged the weapons attacking from all sides, and broke out of the encirclement.

In Jianghu struggles, numbers are the logic; often only outer-sect experts with solid body-protection skills can ignore the disparity in numbers.

Especially since Mei Qinghe had abandoned her sword, seven or eight-tenths of her martial arts were gone, and she could only dodge, not block, when weapons reached her eyes. Zhao Ying's martial arts were already comparable to Zhao Dehua's, and with the surrounding guards attacking together, Mei Qinghe could only temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack.

But this did not mean Mei Qinghe had no way out.

She rushed to a crowded spot, deflected the weapons slashing at her, grabbed one person, and tapped several points on their body with both hands.

"Ah!"

The man wanted to resist, but after being tapped a few times by Mei Qinghe, his limbs went limp.

Mei Qinghe grabbed the man's clothes and held him in front of her; the guards were afraid of injuring their companion, so they could only aim their weapons at Mei Qinghe's exposed limbs, greatly reducing the threat.

Mei Qinghe took this opportunity to kick the long saber held by the man she was using as a shield.

The saber made a piercing sound as it cut through the air, flying straight toward someone's face.

The man panicked and tried to block with his weapon, but his strength was insufficient; he only slightly deflected the saber, which plunged into his shoulder with a squelch.

Blood gushed out, and the man cried out in pain, clutching his wound and crouching down, no longer able to fight.

Zhao Ying arrived before her at this moment.

She pointed her long sword at Mei Qinghe's arm, but Mei Qinghe pulled the man to block, forcing her to retract her move. She then attacked Mei Qinghe's legs, but was also blocked.

The man being used as a human shield by Mei Qinghe saw this situation, knew he had become a burden, and was tough-minded, shouting: "Young Chief, don't worry about me, avenge the Chief!"

Zhao Ying knew that blood had already been shed and it was not the time for hesitation. Gritting her teeth, she found an opening, pierced the man's upper arm with her sword, and thrust toward Mei Qinghe.

Mei Qinghe did not hold back either, striking the man's arm hard with her palm to deflect the long sword.

Then, she kicked the man toward Zhao Ying, forced an opening, dodged, and grabbed another person, this time directly sealing his mute point, and used him as a human shield in the same way.

While blocking Zhao Ying, she constantly disarmed the others and threw their weapons; in just a few rounds, three or four people were groaning on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhao Ying knew that her guards' martial arts were uneven; if she couldn't exchange a few moves with Mei Qinghe and drag her over, staying in the arena would just be a burden.

She shouted sharply: "Everyone who has been with the bureau for less than five years, back off! Go get the lassos!"

Bandits who rob security bureaus are often lone wolves, and the bureaus naturally have ways to deal with such lone experts.

The lasso was a thin rope soaked in tung oil, woven with pig bristles, making it difficult to break free once caught.

Zhao Ying no longer held back, only avoiding the vital points of the person Mei Qinghe was holding, and kept closing in.

The effect of the human shield in Mei Qinghe's hand was greatly reduced, and it actually affected her speed, so she slapped the man's shoulder to break it, threw him aside, and engaged Zhao Ying.

Several old guards surrounded her, taking cold shots at Mei Qinghe with their sabers.

The guards with poor martial arts had already backed off and were now constantly throwing lassos. The lassos naturally couldn't catch Mei Qinghe, but they didn't retract them when they landed, just waiting for Mei Qinghe to step on them.

Fighting one against many, without an absolute disparity in strength, the most important thing is to dodge and shift, using the chaos of the crowd to constantly create one-on-one situations and defeat them one by one.

But those remaining in the battle circle could all delay Mei Qinghe for a move or two, and before a winner could be decided, Zhao Ying would take the opportunity to catch up.

Lassos were dense underfoot; stepping on one meant being tied up and dragged. Weapons were constantly attacking from all sides, and Zhao Ying was pressing step by step.

No matter how good one's internal energy is, one needs to catch their breath. Mei Qinghe was overwhelmed, and suddenly she was in danger.

As her breath ran low, Mei Qinghe struck a palm, forcing Zhao Ying back, and found an opening to catch her breath.

Suddenly, she tripped underfoot, her stance scattered, and she failed to catch her breath.

It was a clever guard on the periphery who, without waiting for Mei Qinghe to step on it, saw an opening and threw it directly, just tripping Mei Qinghe as she retreated.

Zhao Ying immediately pressed in.

With that breath not caught, Mei Qinghe's strength would only get weaker and weaker; she probably couldn't last for long.

Just at this moment, a sword fell from high above, landing right in front of Mei Qinghe.

Wang Hai said loudly: "Miss Mei, stop being stubborn."

"In a life-and-death struggle, use every means at your disposal."

"If you hesitate after seeing blood, wouldn't it be a disservice to your sect's training if you were to throw your life away for nothing?"

At this time, several people were lying scattered at his feet; they were all still alive, but their limbs were broken and their flesh torn, most having passed out from pain, with only two or three rolling on the ground, letting out heart-wrenching screams.

Mei Qinghe had said she would take this matter on alone, and Zhao Ying had agreed, so no one had been spared to attack Wang Hai, with only a few people watching to prevent him from intervening.

Just now, when Wang Hai leaned over to pick up the sword, those few people had attacked, but they were put down on the ground within a few rounds.

Mei Qinghe looked at Wang Hai, but Wang Hai didn't move, having no intention of stepping in to help.

Mei Qinghe's personality was rigid and stubborn, unable to adapt.

She had originally thought to subdue Zhao Ying empty-handed, tap her acupuncture points, and leave without exposing her sect. But this was her first time down the mountain, and she had no Jianghu experience, not knowing the methods security bureaus used to deal with lone bandits, almost falling into danger.

Wang Hai also had the intention of tempering Mei Qinghe's temperament, so he stood by and watched.

No matter how stubborn Mei Qinghe was, she wouldn't throw her life away for nothing.

She sighed, forced Zhao Ying back, kicked the sword hilt, and drew the sword in mid-air.

Clang~——

The sword was just an ordinary long sword bought on the fly, crudely sharpened, neither sharp nor bright.

Yet it emitted a clanging sword hum.

With the sword in hand, Mei Qinghe's momentum changed instantly.

All her martial arts were in the sword; her internal energy, footwork, strength, and moves all relied on the long sword in her hand.

Li Miao had once said that she could barely be considered a first-class expert.

What is a first-class expert?

Mei Qinghe lunged forward with the sword, thrusting straight!

It was exactly "Sword Roaring in the Cold River" from the Huashan sword technique!

This peerlessly sharp sword strike, Zhao Ying could not block, and it pierced directly into her left shoulder, her long sword falling to the ground with a clatter!

Mei Qinghe turned and used "Swallow Returning to the Sun," sweeping away the weapons in the hands of several old guards.

Then she used "Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace," sweeping a large swath of blood across several people.

Several people clutched their wounds and fell to the ground, unable to rise.

Three moves.

In just three moves, she defeated all the people who had been fighting her.

Zhao Ying still wanted to force herself to move forward, but Mei Qinghe tapped her right shoulder with the sword, her hands hanging limply, no longer able to fight.

Seeing Mei Qinghe finally draw her sword, Wang Hai stopped watching the show, stepped forward, grabbed someone, and twisted their arm, then grabbed another and broke it, just like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

In just a moment, the only ones left standing were Wang Hai and Mei Qinghe.

Mei Qinghe sheathed her sword and mounted her horse.

Her two sword strikes had pierced Zhao Ying's shoulder meridians. After the injury healed, her internal energy would remain, but her sword technique would be seven or eight-tenths gone.

She didn't want to really have to kill Zhao Ying one day, nor did she want to be killed by Zhao Ying, so she simply cut off Zhao Ying's thought of practicing martial arts for revenge.

Mei Qinghe said nothing more and rode off.

Zhao Ying's hands were limp, and her subordinates were all injured, so they could only watch Mei Qinghe leave from where they stood.

"Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace... I couldn't be wrong, that was Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace, Huashan sword technique!" She stared fixedly at Mei Qinghe's back, muttering to herself.

(End of chapter)