Chapter Eighty-Nine: Three-Way Encounter (Part Two)

The setting sun draped the earth in its light, staining the horizon a deep, blood-red hue. More than a dozen masked men in black had surrounded a carriage.

The man driving it was Su Bai. At that moment he wore a human-skin disguise with a full beard, sitting upright at the reins, his left hand gripping the bridle tightly, his right hand holding a whip. His clothes were already tattered beyond recognition, the mud on them still carrying the damp heaviness peculiar to summer.

Xi Menghe stood atop the carriage, his eyes cold and sinister as he glared at the men in black around him.

He looked at the black-clad figures, then at Su Bai beside him, and could not help but wonder, Could these be the people this brat attracted?

"Who are you people, daring to block this old man's way?" In this situation, he had no time to question Su Bai, so he spoke first to the group.

But his words received no answer. Instead, they were the signal for the attack.

One man at the front, brandishing a long saber, sprang forward and leapt high, bringing the blade down in a brutal arc straight toward Xi Menghe’s face. Xi Menghe slipped off the carriage in a flash, his inner power surging through his body as if warning the others not to act rashly.

On the other side, Su Bai also rolled down from the horse, saying nothing, his stance ready for action at any moment.

The two of them evaded the blade, allowing it to split the carriage curtain cleanly in two and reveal Gu Fanshuang and Jiang Xixuan within.

When the leader of the black-clad men saw the two women in the carriage, his eyes lit up. He muttered under his breath, "Just as I expected."

He then drew the saber at his waist, pointing its edge at the carriage as he barked, "Move! Kill them all. Not a single one may be spared!"

"Understood, big brother!" more than a dozen voices answered at once.

"Wait! Is there some misunderstanding?" Xi Menghe immediately called out beside the carriage.

He quickly calculated in his mind: listening to them, it seemed they were after the two women in the carriage. Could they be their escorts?

So he said, "I know you’re here for them. We have nothing to do with these two. Please spare us."

In truth, Xi Menghe was not entirely without confidence in facing these men, but in a place like this, it was best to conserve his strength. If words could defuse the matter, he would rather not fight.

What he failed to understand was that when these men said, "Kill them all," they meant all four people, including Gu Fanshuang and Jiang Xixuan.

Yet Xi Menghe had mistaken them for the women’s guards, and because he had taken the women hostage, he assumed they were threatening to kill the two of them.

The leader gave a cold laugh. "Heh, and you think we’ll believe such nonsense?"

Before the words had even faded, the dozen men beside him drew their sabers and advanced at once, their movements perfectly synchronized, even more disciplined than soldiers trained in the army for years.

The strongest among the attackers had cultivation far above the man dealing with Su Bai, by more than half a realm.

And yet Xi Menghe ignored the enemies surrounding him, instead channeling all his inner power into a single palm strike, blasting open a path toward Gu Fanshuang’s position.

The unfortunate man in his way was only around the first or second level of the Heart-Guarding Realm. Seeing such profound power from Xi Menghe, he immediately wanted to retreat. But how could he possibly dodge the full-force strike of a Spirit-Consolidation expert?

With no choice, he could only steel himself and raise his saber to block.

The steel blade shattered instantly, yet the force of the palm did not diminish in the slightest, continuing straight toward him.

The next moment, a figure was sent flying backward, tracing a perfect arc through the air.

Even the leader frowned. "I never thought Jiang Xixuan would still have such a powerful protector. It seems I have underestimated this woman. Good thing I didn’t strike earlier at the previous location, or the whole plan would have been ruined."

After knocking one man away with a single palm, Xi Menghe immediately dashed forward and seized Jiang Xixuan.

In his eyes, Gu Fanshuang was dressed in close-fitting clothes, with a thin layer of callus on her hands. Though her face was no less striking than the woman beside her, her martial air made Xi Menghe mistake her for Jiang Xixuan’s attendant and maidservant.

As for Jiang Xixuan, though her clothing was not luxurious, it could not hide her pitifully lovely bearing and features. Especially her terrified, unconscious reaction—it was obvious she was an innocent young lady of fine birth, how could she be like Gu Fanshuang, who could stare him down so steadily?

And several people were rushing rapidly toward them, all with Jiang Xixuan as their first target. At a glance, it was clear they wanted to rescue her from his hands. Xi Menghe had roamed the martial world for so many years; how could he fail to see through such petty schemes?

So before those reinforcements could arrive, he made his move and broke through first.

Somehow, Gu Fanshuang and Jiang Xixuan’s hands had already been untied. Perhaps in the brief moment when he turned away, Gu Fanshuang had loosened the ropes herself.

But there was no time to care about that now. Xi Menghe seized Jiang Xixuan’s two wrists with one hand and clamped the other around her throat, shouting at the men in black, "If you continue to make trouble, don’t blame me for showing your young mistress no mercy!"

"Hm?"

"Hm?"

"???"

First, the leader of the black-clad men let out a puzzled sound, a faint suspicion rising in his heart. What on earth is going on? No... I’m getting confused. Isn’t he that woman’s bodyguard?

He had nearly killed Thirteen with that palm just now—wasn’t that to protect this woman? And now he’s pulling this stunt on us? What is this supposed to mean?

Then the other black-clad men looked utterly baffled. "Didn’t the boss just tell us that this old man and that young fellow were this woman’s bodyguards? How did things suddenly turn into this?"

Finally, Xi Menghe himself realized something was off. Things were not going in the direction he had expected.

"What’s happening? Why are these people looking at me strangely? They’ve stopped attacking me, but why does the atmosphere feel so wrong?"

At that moment, Su Bai was pinned beneath someone’s foot and unable to move.

Most of these men were above the Heart-Guarding Realm. Even at his peak, he might not have been able to contend with the two men here, let alone endure a three-way encirclement while powerless. Not being beaten half to death already meant Su Bai was sufficiently durable.

Still, in this situation, Su Bai’s mind remained remarkably clear.

At the beginning, when Xi Menghe abducted Gu Fanshuang and Jiang Xixuan, Su Bai did not know why Gu Fanshuang was together with this woman, but at the very least he knew the two were unrelated.

And judging from the people surrounding him now, it was obvious they had come for that woman. Otherwise, they would have been the ones sent by the Imperial Guards to kill him. But if they were really Imperial Guards, how could they possibly look like this?

It was obvious now: a huge misunderstanding had occurred. Xi Menghe thought these men were Jiang Xixuan’s escorts, while the other group thought Xi Menghe and Su Bai were Jiang Xixuan’s escorts.

In such a situation, Su Bai certainly could not step forward to explain. Besides, the more chaotic things became, the more advantageous it was for him. Why invite trouble upon himself?

Though the black-clad leader had initially been momentarily stunned, he quickly recovered, his eyes full of mockery as he kept urging, "Go on then, make your move! Why don’t you kill her already?"

"If you take one more step forward, this old man will truly kill her." Xi Menghe frowned tightly, instinctively retreating half a step in guilt.

Seeing him retreat, the black-clad leader became even more arrogant, his tone playful. "I’m begging you—please, kill her."

Jiang Xixuan, whose throat was in his grasp, shook her head desperately while muffling out, "No— I won’t allow it!"

Just then, a sharp arrow shot out from behind Xi Menghe, racing straight for the back of his head.

It came like a bolt out of the clouds, the piercing whistle of its flight seeming ready to tear through Xi Menghe’s skull.

But when the arrow was still less than a hundred paces away, Xi Menghe suddenly sensed a fierce warning of danger surging through his whole body. Instinctively, he twisted slightly to the left.

The arrow actually pierced straight through his shoulder. Xi Menghe cried out in agony. The ghastly sight made Jiang Xixuan clamp her eyes shut, her whole body trembling as she lost control in public.

The hands Xi Menghe had clamped on her wrists loosened for a split second. But he was, after all, a veteran of the martial world over a hundred years old. He immediately tightened his grip again, seizing her wrists so hard it seemed he might crush them. Jiang Xixuan could not help but whimper in pain.

With his right hand, Xi Menghe rapidly struck several acupoints on his own body. Then, with a flash of cruelty in his eyes, he grabbed the arrowhead and yanked it straight out of his shoulder in one motion, drawing the shaft through flesh and bone. In an instant, a gaping wound, blood pouring freely, was exposed before everyone.

Even the leader, who had spent years killing people, could not help but frown.

After being struck by the arrow, Xi Menghe could no longer maintain the image of a calm and steady elder. His face twisted into madness as his five fingers curled like claws and viciously clenched Jiang Xixuan’s throat, as though the next second he would snap it clean through.

At this point, he no longer cared whether his judgment had been right or wrong. He looked like a complete killing maniac.

And then, from behind him, came the clatter of hoofbeats, fast and heavy. It was the barbarian troop that had followed the beast-mark signal and come to rescue them.

Hundreds of mounted warriors surrounded Su Bai and the others in a tight ring, cheering victoriously as if celebrating the deputy commander’s incredibly accurate arrow.

"It’s you!" Xi Menghe first looked toward the leader of the barbarians—the very barbarian he had confronted when abducting Su Bai—then cast a hateful glare at Su Bai.

If looks could kill, Su Bai would already have died more than ten times over.

But because Xi Menghe had been holding Jiang Xixuan hostage while Su Bai had been entangled with the black-clad men, the distance between them had widened. Several black-clad experts stood in between, so even if Xi Menghe wanted to seize Su Bai and threaten the barbarians with him, he had no way to do it.

The only thing he could do now was break out alone. As for finding Su Bai again... that would have to wait for another day.

Thinking of this, Xi Menghe’s hatred for this barbarian—or rather for Su Bai—deepened to the marrow. If not for this man, even if he had been a little slower, he would have eventually succeeded.

At this point, Su Bai was the first to address the black-clad men.

"The woman in this old man’s hands is your target. If you want her dead and still want to walk away unscathed, then listen to me."

The man stepping on his chest heard this and ground his foot down harder. "Shut your mouth! Say another word and I’ll cut you down!"

He never expected that the next instant, hundreds of bows would all be trained on him.

He immediately sensed the danger and his hair stood on end. The foot on Su Bai’s chest lost all strength, and Su Bai shoved it aside with one hand. Brushing the dirt from his body, he looked toward the black-clad leader.

The latter also realized that Su Bai held an unusual status among the barbarians, and asked, "What do you want?"

Su Bai looked toward Xi Menghe and said, "Right now, this man has taken me hostage and is using me to move freely through Bing Province. And you also need the woman in his hands. Our goals are the same."

"Mmm." The black-clad leader looked at Xi Menghe again, then casually flicked his right hand and said in a light, indifferent tone, "Kill him."

Su Bai also turned to the barbarian deputy commander and spoke in the Mongol language, "Kill only this old man. I still have use for the others."

"Yes!"

After receiving Su Bai’s order, the barbarian troops surged forward as one, charging together with the black-clad men toward Xi Menghe.

Seeing the many enemies bearing down on him, Xi Menghe suddenly burst into laughter. Yet not a single person stopped because of it; they only treated him as a madman.

With a hard grip of his right hand, Xi Menghe twisted.

The next instant, Jiang Xixuan’s neck gave a sharp crack, and then her head tilted limply to one side. The woman in his grasp was clearly no longer useful. Xi Menghe had no intention of leaving such a person alive.

The black-clad men had come specifically to kill Jiang Xixuan, and now that she was dead, a stone seemed to fall from their hearts.

As for Gu Fanshuang, seated beside Xi Menghe, she had witnessed the entire scene. While grieving for Jiang Xixuan, she could not help wondering whether Xi Menghe would turn on her next. Su Bai was far away and had no chance of saving her, and even if he were at her side, he still would not be able to stop Xi Menghe.

Compared with Jiang Xixuan, however, she was naturally the luckier one. Xi Menghe was not the kind of man to fight to the death with no way out. If he had a chance to escape, he would never willingly battle this group to the end.

A peak Spirit-Consolidation martial artist could still flee from the encirclement of these people; it would merely cost him some face.

But Su Bai had ruined Xi Menghe’s crucial plan. How could he possibly let Su Bai off lightly?

While escaping, Xi Menghe twisted his right wrist, and a black sphere, about two inches in diameter, appeared in his hand.

Taking advantage of the moment when the black-clad men rushed in, he suddenly turned and hurled it out.

"Fall back!"

The black-clad leader was the first to suffer. He thought the object was the famous Thunder Bead of the martial world and had already braced himself for severe injury or death.

But the next second, the black sphere did not strike him. Instead, it flew past the crowd and sped toward Su Bai’s position.

"It’s telekinetic control!" the crowd cried in alarm.

For a moving object traveling at high speed, it was very difficult to alter its trajectory instantly with inner power. Only telekinesis could act with such rapidity. But telekinesis could only be comprehended at the Transcendent Realm. It seemed this old man had already reached that level.

At that thought, the black-clad men instantly took two steps back. Someone of that realm was no longer someone they could contend with. The ratio on the Earth Ranking alone made the disparity clear enough.

On Su Bai’s side, he was shocked beyond words. The black sphere was moving too fast, with no warning at all, and he could only roll sideways in a desperate attempt to avoid it.

The black sphere struck the ground and exploded. For a moment, Su Bai had his eyes tightly shut, as though he had already given up resisting.

Yet he was not torn to pieces as he had imagined. Instead, he emerged completely unscathed.

The black-clad leader was also full of doubt. "That’s all? A Transcendent expert—combined, we still might not be his match. And yet he fled like that, tossing away such a useless thing..."

Everything that happened today was just too strange...