Chapter 356

Mei Qinghe glanced at the old Daoist, then turned with her sword and charged in the direction of An Ziyang.

She could not help here, and since the old Daoist was a reinforcement invited by Li Miao, dealing with a Celestial from Yingzhou should be no problem, so all she could do now was support An Ziyang.

Turning the perspective back to An Ziyang.

Ding ding ding ding ding—

The masked man speaking to An Ziyang spun his sword in a flourish, sparks flying as it collided with the incoming hidden weapons. At the same time, he scanned his surroundings.

His vision was obscured by a thick, bluish-purple fog.

An eerie and terrifying silence.

But this was not because everyone else was dead; at least he could still occasionally see a few sparks vanishing as quickly as they appeared, blooming in the thick fog.

He was deaf.

The Gu insects An Ziyang kept had crawled into his ears and bitten through his eardrums. Had he not reacted in time, the insects would likely have crawled into his skull.

The outcome... he didn't even dare to think about it.

Ding.

As the last hidden weapon hit the ground, he took the opportunity to regulate his breathing and stepped toward the direction from which the weapons had been fired.

He dared not move too fast, for this courtyard was filled with traps and mechanisms set by An Ziyang, and those sharp, transparent wires could appear at neck level at any moment; a single moment of carelessness would mean death on the spot.

He was already regretting having underestimated An Ziyang.

An Ziyang's reputation in the Wu Lin was poor, but not the kind of terrifying poor that Li Miao had; it was the kind that made people despise him.

He never faced enemies head-on; if he could gang up on someone, he wouldn't duel; if he could use poison, he wouldn't draw his blade. Even when encountering second or third-rate opponents, he always drowned them with subordinates, mechanisms, hidden weapons, and poisons. Consequently, people in the Wu Lin said he only hitched a ride on Li Miao's ship by bootlicking, and that he actually had no real ability.

This was also the reason the masked men dared to break into the empty house tonight.

Even now, the masked man still believed this.

An Ziyang had indeed never made a move himself... but that did not mean he couldn't kill.

With the full supply of the Tang Men, the treasures gathered from across the world by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the true teachings of the Miao King passed down in secret for a thousand years, An Ziyang could be said to have gathered the very best of the Great Ming's "heretical paths" in himself.

They should not have stepped into An Ziyang's home turf.

The masked man gritted his teeth, carefully tapping the ground in front of him with his long sword to confirm there were no traps before taking a step.

But the next second, a long saber swept violently toward his neck from behind.

"He's here!"

The masked man spun around, dodged the long saber with an iron bridge maneuver, and countered with a sword thrust!

Puchi.

Without the expected trouble, the long sword plunged into flesh without any resistance.

Yet the masked man's pupils shrank.

Because the next moment, the person holding the saber, as if he hadn't felt any pain at all, swung the saber toward his shoulder again!

And in that instant, he saw the face of the person holding the saber.

The face mask had fallen off at some point; the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth, and something was squirming beneath his skin, as if countless insects were burrowing inside. His originally square face had become as terrifying as a ghost.

As blade and sword clashed, the masked man shouted in a low voice.

"Senior Brother Liu, it's me!"

"Senior Brother Liu" did not answer; he even hissed and opened his mouth to bite at his neck.

Gritting his teeth, he deflected the long saber and thrust his sword into "Senior Brother Liu's" heart.

Only then did "Senior Brother Liu" fall to the ground.

The masked man pulled out his long sword, gasping for breath.

"No, no... the situation is impossible!"

"Must leave. If I stay any longer, not to mention whether I die, I at least cannot become like Senior Brother Liu in this pathetic state!"

He was already afraid; he stretched out his leg and kicked the corpse on the ground away. Watching the corpse roll a few times without triggering any traps, he stepped onto the cleared path and hurried in pursuit.

Reaching the corpse, he kicked it again.

The corpse rolled several feet and lay on the ground. The next moment—clatter!

In his line of sight, the corpse was suddenly cut into several pieces by sharp mechanisms that flipped up from beneath the ground, throwing them into the air as blood sprayed. After the pieces of flesh hit the ground, they were swept into the mechanisms again and minced into meat paste.

The masked man almost bit his teeth to pieces.

By now, how could he not understand that if he didn't kill An Ziyang, he was destined to never walk out of this courtyard.

But his hearing was gone, and his vision was blocked by the thick fog; how could he find An Ziyang's location!

Was there really no way out!

The masked man dared not move easily again, standing in place, focusing his guard, and scanning his surroundings.

Relying only on himself, he could no longer break the situation.

For now, he at least needed to find a companion who could hear sounds.

A moment later, he finally saw a spark bloom in the thick fog.

Overjoyed, he charged over with his sword, shouting as he ran.

"It's me, it's me, don't attack!"

"Let's kill our way out together!"

The figure flashing in front paused for a moment, as if glancing in this direction, but did not move.

The masked man charged into the thick fog and finally saw the person clearly.

"Junior Sister Wan!"

His face lit up with joy.

The person he had found was a true disciple of a major sect that had good relations with his own; the two families were very close, and they were usually familiar with each other, making their cooperation twice as effective.

He charged over.

Junior Sister Wan had originally been on guard, but after seeing his face, she also seemed to heave a sigh of relief and lowered the long sword in her hand. Then, as if she couldn't support herself, she stumbled.

He hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

Now, he finally saw Junior Sister Wan's condition clearly.

Her legs were drenched in blood, with several wounds deep enough to see the bone; although she had pressed her acupoints to stop the bleeding, it was clear she could no longer move.

No wonder she hadn't approached him just now.

He leaned into Junior Sister Wan's ear and said urgently.

"Junior Sister Wan, I have lost my hearing. Tell me, besides you and me, is there any other movement now?"

Junior Sister Wan was startled, then slowly shook her head.

His heart sank.

This meant that besides the two of them, everyone else was already dead.

With no time for fear or grief, he continued.

"Junior Sister Wan, get on my back!"

The woman was no stranger to blood; without hesitation, she gritted her teeth and climbed onto his back.

He continued.

"If we don't kill An Ziyang, we will never make it out. Now that I cannot hear and you cannot move, we are one!"

He squatted down, gathered the scattered hidden weapons from the ground, and handed them to the woman.

"Now we will move in one direction first. I will find a way to avoid the traps. If any mechanisms or hidden weapons are fired, you shoot them back. If there is the sound of dodging or blocking, that is undoubtedly An Ziyang!"

"When that happens, pat my shoulder three times to indicate the direction, and I will charge in that direction. You block the surrounding mechanisms and hidden weapons for me, and we will fight for our lives!"

"That villain An Ziyang is obsessed with heretical paths; his own martial arts must not be strong. As long as we can catch him, the outcome is still uncertain!"

The woman's fair hand patted his shoulder three times.

Gritting his teeth, he swept his sword across the ground in front and charged violently in one direction.