Chapter 245

First Volume, Chapter 245: A Blood Feud as Vast as the Sea

Meanwhile, the bandits caught in the ambush plunged into chaos.

"Ambush!"

"This man's archery is superb—stay alert…"

The dark-skinned bandit had just shouted a warning to his comrades when an arrow pierced his right eye, sending him toppling backward to the ground, dead.

But that single arrow revealed the attacker's position.

The bandits turned toward the direction the arrow had come from and spotted a figure in black robes perched on a tree branch—Elder Fourth.

The bandit chief frantically nocked an arrow and fired at Elder Fourth, while the surrounding bandits rushed forward to attack.

Elder Fourth ducked beneath the arrow, leapt down from the branch, and vanished into the Cao Cong in an instant.

Soon after, screams from the bandits echoed continuously through the thickets.

At the same time, Li Xiaolan seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack from the Rear, lunging forward with a single step and driving her short sword through the bandit chief's back, piercing clean through his chest.

Seeing their leader dead and their comrades being picked off one by one by Elder Fourth, the remaining bandits turned pale with terror, their will to fight gone; they were just preparing to scatter like birds and beasts when flying daggers struck them from both front and rear, killing them instantly.

Seeing the bandits all eliminated, Li Xiaolan did not hesitate a moment—she turned and walked away.

But the moment she took her first step, a strange voice came from behind her: "Lan'er, after all these years, can't you even say hello?"

Li Xiaolan froze in place but did not turn around. Coldly, she said: "Why are you in Beixi County?"

Elder Fourth stood less than two zhang behind Li Xiaolan, his eyes exposed from his hood glowing with an eerie light: "Someone put a bounty on Qin Feng's head. I chased him all the way from Jingdu to Beixi County, expecting he'd launch an assault on Feiying Stockade—so I laid an ambush here. I never expected to run into you."

"Seven years have passed—how have you been?"

In response to Elder Fourth's concern, Li Xiaolan did not soften—she whirled around, her hawk-like eyes locked onto him: "You know I'll kill you for Qin Feng!"

Elder Fourth showed no surprise at her reaction; he let out a strange laugh: "You're no match for me—I could kill you in ten moves, and we both know it. As for Qin Feng? He's just a brat of the Qin Family—why are you so worked up over him?"

As he spoke, Elder Fourth took a step forward, his eyes narrowing: "I spared your life back then—is this how you repay me?"

The moment he said that, Li Xiaolan's eyes blazed with furious hatred: "You killed my mother—this blood feud cannot be resolved! And you've hunted me all these years only to complete a task you were meant to finish—so long as I live, your master won't lift the kill order."

Elder Fourth drew a deep breath, his voice growing deep and resolute: "I've told you countless times—I'm just a blade, a killing blade! Your mother died by my hand, but she'd have died just the same by anyone else's. Your enemy isn't me."

Li Xiaolan's gaze remained unshaken, as firm as ever: "You're right. So as long as I get the chance, I'll kill both you and your master without hesitation—unless you kill me right now."

Li Xiaolan silently pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her short sword, her cold eyes fixed on Elder Fourth—she was ready to fight to the death.

Elder Fourth, however, remained calm and composed. He was confident he could send Li Xiaolan to Yin within ten moves—but he had no intention of doing so. Instead, he let out a chilling laugh: "I taught you all your martial arts, and now you turn against me? I'm very displeased. Since Qin Feng means so much to you, I'll make you watch him die."

With those words, Elder Fourth turned and walked down the mountain.

Li Xiaolan's eyes burned with murderous intent. She cried out sharply: "If you want to kill Qin Feng, you'll have to walk over my corpse!"

In the next instant, Li Xiaolan flicked her left hand—her sleeve dagger flew free, hurtling toward Elder Fourth.

Elder Fourth seemed to sense it from behind—he reached back with one hand, swatting the sleeve dagger aside, and in his grip was another sleeve dagger.

Li Xiaolan's attack missed, but she did not falter. She hurled three steel nails in quick succession, and as Elder Fourth deflected them, she drew a blowpipe from her waist.

Elder Fourth moved with effortless calm, knocking away the steel nails; when the blowpipe dart struck his chest, he simply reached out, pinched it between his fingers, pulled it out, squeezed the wound firmly, then sneered: "Naive! You've never seen my true techniques—today, I'll let you witness them."

Elder Fourth pulled two items from his waist—a blowpipe and a set of darts.

He stuffed all the darts into his mouth, clamped the blowpipe between his teeth, and blew hard toward Li Xiaolan—row after row of darts shot forth in rapid succession.

Li Xiaolan could fire only one dart at a time; Elder Fourth fired continuously.

Despite Li Xiaolan's desperate defense, she was struck four times.

Most shocking to Li Xiaolan was how swiftly the poison took effect—unlike her own poisoned arrows, within just a few breaths, her body began to go numb.

Elder Fourth tucked away the blowpipe, ignored Li Xiaolan as she slowly collapsed, and walked down the mountain, leaving behind a cold, icy remark: "Don't worry—it's only a paralytic. It won't kill you. I said I'd make Qin Feng die before you."

At this moment, Qin Feng and his guards were nearing the MountainTop.

Ning Hu, quick-eyed, dragged a bandit corpse from the Cao Cong. Seeing the still-bleeding wound, his gaze sharpened: "Brother Qin, this man died recently—Third Miss or Elder Fourth must be nearby."

At these words, all the guards immediately went on Readiness.

Qin Feng scanned the pitch-black forest around him and ordered in a low voice: "From now on, no one speaks. The forest is utterly dark—visibility is near zero. Even if Elder Fourth is skilled, he's still human. If he reveals himself, even if our assault on Feiying Stockade is disrupted, killing him will make this trip worthwhile."

Qin Feng knew clearly—if Elder Fourth got the upper hand, he was dead.

But in open combat, with his well-trained guards, they could kill him in an instant.

As the saying goes: two fists can't fight four hands—even the best martial artist fears a cleaver.

Not even Elder Fourth—or a Shanyin Expert—would dare face the Regular Army, or he'd be beaten to death by an Armed to the Teeth force.

But because they had to guard against Elder Fourth's Stealth, Qin Feng's advance was severely slowed.

The original plan was to pass East Mountain and reach BackMountain by the end of Xu hour, approaching Hai hour.

Now, Hai hour was nearly over—and they were still wandering East Mountain.

If they reached the middle of the night, the miasma would spread with the dampness—a serious problem for Qin Feng.

At this Deadline, scattered flickers of firelight appeared in the distant forest.

Whispered voices echoed through the dark, tangled mountainside…