Chapter 19

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

Mei Qinghe tilted her head, met the attack head-on, and used both palms to catch Zhao Ying's wrist and twist, 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 slashed fiercely at her waist; she withdrew her right hand and pressed it against the blade, neutralizing the strike.

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

In such close quarters, Mei Qinghe was fighting empty-handed and had no way to block, while the guards behind attacked in unison, leaving her no room 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 lack of preparation to break free from her left hand, dodged the weapons attacking from all directions, and broke through the encirclement.

In Jianghu struggles, numbers are the logic; often only external masters with successful hard-body cultivation can ignore the gap 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 force.

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

She rushed to a crowded spot, deflected the weapons slashing around her, captured 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 and hung down.

Mei Qinghe grabbed the man's clothes and held him in front of her; the guards were afraid of injuring their companion and 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 of the man she was using as a shield.

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

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

Fresh blood gushed out, the man cried out in pain, covered his wound, and crouched down, having no more strength to fight.

Zhao Ying arrived before her at this moment.

Her long sword pointed toward Mei Qinghe's arm, but Mei Qinghe pulled the man to block, forcing her to withdraw her move. She switched to attacking Mei Qinghe's legs, but that was also blocked.

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

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

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

Afterward, she kicked the man into Zhao Ying, forced an opening, flashed aside, and captured another person, this time directly sealing his mute point and using him as a human shield in the same way.

Blocking Zhao Ying on one side while constantly disarming others and throwing their weapons away, in just a few rounds, three or four people were crying out in pain on the ground.

Seeing this, Zhao Ying knew that the martial arts of her subordinates were uneven; if she could not tangle with Mei Qinghe for a few rounds and drag it out until she arrived, then staying in the field was just a burden.

She let out a sharp cry: "Those who have been on the escort trail for less than five years, back off! Go get the lassos!"

Great bandits who rob escorts often act alone, and the escort agency naturally has ways to deal with such lone experts.

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

Zhao Ying no longer held back, only avoiding the vital points of the man Mei Qinghe was holding, and constantly closed in.

The effect of the human shield in Mei Qinghe's hands was greatly reduced, and instead, it 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 every opportunity to slash at Mei Qinghe.

Those among the escort agency group with poor martial arts had already retreated and were now constantly throwing lassos. The lassos naturally could not snare Mei Qinghe, but they were not retracted once they hit the ground, just waiting for Mei Qinghe to step on them.

Fighting one against many, without an absolute gap in strength, the most important thing is to dodge and shift, using the chaos of many people 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 chase after her.

The ground was covered in lassos; stepping on one meant being tethered and pulled. Weapons attacked from all around, and Zhao Ying was pressing closer step by step.

No matter how good one's internal energy is, one needs to recover breath. Mei Qinghe was unable to look after everything, and suddenly she was in a precarious situation.

As her breath was nearly exhausted, Mei Qinghe struck out with a palm, forced Zhao Ying back, and found an opening to prepare to recover her breath.

Suddenly, she tripped on her feet, her stance scattered, and she failed to recover her breath.

It was a clever guard among the outer circle who, without waiting for Mei Qinghe to step on it, spotted an opening and gave a direct flick, just enough to trip Mei Qinghe as she retreated.

Zhao Ying immediately pressed in.

With this breath not recovered, Mei Qinghe's strength would only grow weaker and weaker; she was afraid she could not last for long.

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

Wang Hai said in a loud voice: "Miss Mei, stop being so stubborn."

"In a life-and-death struggle, one must use every means possible."

"If you are still hesitant after seeing blood, and end up throwing your life away for nothing, wouldn't that also be letting down your sect's training?"

At this time, several people were lying scattered at his feet; they were all still alive, but their limbs were bent and their skin torn, most having already fainted from pain, with only two or three rolling on the ground, emitting heart-rending 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 down to pick up the sword, those few people had attacked, but they were knocked to the ground within a few rounds.

Mei Qinghe looked at Wang Hai, but Wang Hai did not move, having no intention of stepping forward to help.

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

She had originally intended to subdue Zhao Ying empty-handed and leave after tapping her acupoints, without exposing her sect. But this was her first time down the mountain, and she had no Jianghu experience, not knowing the escort agency's methods for dealing with lone bandits, and she had nearly fallen into a perilous situation.

Wang Hai also harbored the intention of polishing Mei Qinghe's temper, so he stood by and watched.

No matter how stubborn Mei Qinghe was, she would not throw her life away for nothing here.

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

Clang—!

The sword was just an ordinary long sword bought casually, sharpened hastily, neither sharp nor bright.

Yet it emitted a resonant 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-rate expert.

What is a first-rate expert?

Mei Qinghe lunged forward with the sword, thrusting straight!

It was precisely "Sword Roaring in the Cold River" from the Huashan sword techniques!

This peerlessly sharp sword strike could not be blocked by Zhao Ying; it pierced directly into her left shoulder, and the long sword in her hand fell with a clatter!

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

Immediately followed by "Three Falls of the Cloud Terrace," sweeping a large swath of blood across several people.

Several people covered their wounds one after another and fell to the ground, unable to rise.

Three moves.

In just three moves, she defeated everyone who had been tangling with her just moments ago.

Zhao Ying still wanted to force herself to move forward, but was tapped on the right shoulder by Mei Qinghe's sword, her hands hanging down powerlessly, having no more strength 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, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

Before long, only Wang Hai and Mei Qinghe remained standing.

Mei Qinghe sheathed her sword and mounted her horse.

Those two sword strikes of hers 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 did not want to truly 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 did not speak again and spurred her horse onto the road.

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

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

(End of chapter)