Chapter 408

Mei Qinghe glanced at the old Daoist, then turned with her sword and rushed toward the direction where An Ziyang was.

She could not intervene here; since the old Daoist was a helper invited by Li Miao, dealing with a Heaven-Man from Yingzhou should be no problem, so for now, all she could do was go and support An Ziyang.

And turning the perspective back to An Ziyang's side.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding—

The masked man speaking to An Ziyang spun his sword into a flower, colliding with the incoming hidden weapons and sparking points of fire. At the same time, his gaze swept around.

His vision was obscured by the purple-blue thick 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 that vanished in an instant, blooming in the thick fog.

He was deaf.

The Gu insects An Ziyang kept had crawled into his ears and bitten through his eardrums. If he hadn't reacted in time, the Gu insects would likely have crawled into his skull along the ear canal.

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

Ding.

The last hidden weapon landed, and he took the opportunity to adjust his breathing, stepping toward the direction from which the hidden weapons had been shot.

He didn't dare walk too fast, because this courtyard was full of traps and mechanisms set by An Ziyang. Those sharp and transparent silk threads could also appear at any time at neck height; one careless move would mean death on the spot.

By now, he already regretted not underestimating An Ziyang.

An Ziyang's reputation in the Ordinary Jianghu was very poor, but not the kind of poor that made people fear him like Li Miao, but the kind that made people despise him.

He never faced enemies head-on; if he could gang up, he wouldn't duel; if he could use poison, he wouldn't draw his saber. Even when encountering second or third-rate opponents, he always drowned them directly with subordinates, mechanisms, hidden weapons, and poisons. So much so that Ordinary Jianghu people said he relied on bootlicking to board Li Miao's big ship and actually had no real ability himself.

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

Even now, the masked man still thought so.

An Ziyang indeed had never made a move personally... but that didn't mean he couldn't kill people.

The Tang Men's total supply, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's treasure vault gathered from all over the world, and the Miao King's true inheritance passed down in the Miao territory for a thousand years—on the path of "evil and unorthodox ways," An Ziyang could be said to have gathered all the most top-tier things of the Great Ming into one body.

They shouldn't have stepped into An Ziyang's home field.

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 the back of his neck from behind.

"It's here!"

The masked man turned suddenly, dodging the long saber with an iron-bridge maneuver, and returned a sword thrust!

Puchi.

Without the expected trouble, the long sword inserted into flesh and blood without any obstruction.

The masked man, however, had his pupils contract sharply.

Because the next moment, the person holding the saber acted as if they hadn't noticed the pain at all, and again held the saber to sweep toward his shoulder!

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

The mask had fallen off at some point; the whites of the eyes were full of bloodshot veins, saliva flowed from the corners of the mouth, and the skin underneath was constantly writhing, as if countless insects were crawling inside. The originally square face had become as terrifying as a demon's.

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

"Senior Brother Liu, it's me!"

"Senior Brother Liu" did not answer, even hissing and opening his mouth to bite toward his neck.

He gritted his teeth, parried the long saber, and thrust his sword into "Senior Brother Liu's" heart.

"Senior Brother Liu" then fell to the ground.

The masked man pulled out his long sword and gasped for breath.

"No, no... the matter cannot be done!"

"Must leave; if I stay any longer, not to mention whether I die or not, at least I cannot become the pathetic shape of Senior Brother Liu!"

He was already afraid, stretching his leg to kick the corpse on the ground away, watching the corpse roll on the ground a few times without triggering any traps, and then stepped on the path he had cleared, walking quickly to catch up.

Arriving beside the corpse, he kicked out again.

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

In his vision, the corpse was suddenly cut into several segments by the sharp mechanisms that rolled up from under the ground, thrown away, and blood bloomed. After the pieces of the corpse landed, they were again rolled into the mechanisms and cut into meat paste.

The masked man's teeth were almost shattered.

By now, how could he not understand that if he didn't kill An Ziyang, he was destined to be unable to walk out of this courtyard.

But his hearing had already disappeared, and his vision was blocked by the thick fog; how could he find An Ziyang's position!

Could it be that there really was no way out!

The masked man dared not move easily again, standing in place, concentrating and guarding, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

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

At present, he at least needed to find a companion who could hear sounds.

After a while, he finally saw a spark bloom in the thick fog.

He was overjoyed, rushed over with his sword, shouting while rushing.

"It's me, it's me, don't make a move!"

"Let's kill our way out together!"

The figure flashing in front stopped for a moment, as if looking toward this side, but did not move.

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

"Junior Sister Wan!"

His eyebrows danced with joy.

The person he found was a true disciple of a major sect that had good relations with his own sect. The two families had a very good relationship, and usually, the two were familiar with each other; working together would yield twice the result with half the effort.

He rushed over.

Junior Sister Wan was originally still guarding, but after seeing his eyebrows and eyes clearly, she also seemed to let out a sigh of relief, lowering the long sword in her hand. Then, as if she couldn't support herself, she stumbled.

He hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

By now, he finally saw Junior Sister Wan's situation clearly.

Her legs and feet were dripping with blood, several wounds were deep to the bone, and 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; you tell me, right now, besides you and me, are there any other movements?"

Junior Sister Wan was stunned, and then slowly shook her head.

His heart sank.

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

Too late for fear and grief, he continued.

"Junior Sister Wan, get on my back!"

The woman was not someone who hadn't seen blood, and she didn't hesitate, gritting her teeth and climbing onto his back.

He continued.

"If we don't kill An Ziyang, we will never be able to rush out. Now I cannot hear, you cannot move; we are one!"

He squatted down, gathered the scattered hidden weapons on the ground into his hands, and handed them to the woman.

"Now we will first move in one direction. I will find a way to avoid the traps. If any mechanisms or hidden weapons shoot over, you shoot them back with a backhand. If there is a sound of dodging or blocking, it is An Ziyang without a doubt!"

"At that time, you pat my shoulder three times, point out the direction, and I will rush in that direction. You block the mechanisms and hidden weapons around me, and we will fight for our lives!"

"An Ziyang, that evil thief, is obsessed with unorthodox ways; his own Wu Gong must not be strong. As long as we can catch him, the outcome is still unknown!"

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

He gritted his teeth, swept his sword across the ground in front, and rushed violently in one direction.

(End of chapter)