Chu Lingguang felt uneasy.
He was startled by the saber that had suddenly come flying out.
He looked toward the wheat field.
Under the cover of night, he saw two figures fighting within the wheat field. They had been clashing fiercely in an irrigation ditch below and only appeared in his line of sight when they scrambled up onto the open field.
"BOOM!"
Chu Lingguang heard the roar of Fist Force.
It sounded like the Iron Mountain Fist.
The Fist Force came from the person whose saber had just been sent flying. In a flash, he saw the man's fist miss its target; instead, his shoulder was struck by a blade.
"You damn official, I'll cut you down."
The one who had been slashed in the shoulder was an official. The attacker had a savage expression; he was clearly a rogue from the Jianghu. These kinds of people always had a ruthless streak, and Chu Lingguang wanted nothing to do with them.
Besides, like most people, he didn't think much of officials. It would be for the best if this one got himself killed.
So, he quickened his pace, intending to slip away.
Who would have thought that while the injured official's fist fighting was lacking, his Body Technique was quite good. He quickly darted out of the wheat field and appeared right in front of Chu Lingguang.
"I'm Wang Chao, Chief Constable of the County Yamen! This man is the wanted fugitive Cai Touli! There's a reward of ten taels of silver for his capture!"
the official shouted at Chu Lingguang.
Chu Lingguang ran even faster, not wanting to say a single word.
Even if helping the official capture Cai Touli could earn him a great deal of Favors, he wasn't interested.
After all, his life was more important.
However, the name "Wang Chao" sounded a bit familiar, as if he'd heard it somewhere before.
"Don't go!"
Wang Chao reached out to grab Chu Lingguang's shoulder, but his hand grasped at empty air.
"No one can save you now."
Cai Touli leaped out from the wheat field, slashing at Wang Chao's face.
Wang Chao had already picked his saber back up. CLANG! CLANG! He blocked a few strikes, but then—BAM!—he was kicked in the chest by Cai Touli and sent flying toward Chu Lingguang.
But Chu Lingguang was running even faster than he was flying.
"Young man! My master, Guo Wei, is nearby! Go tell him! He'll avenge me!"
Wang Chao shouted desperately at Chu Lingguang.
Hearing this, Chu Lingguang, who was already some distance away, was both furious and exasperated. Now he finally understood why the name Wang Chao sounded so familiar.
It turned out he was one of Guo Wei's disciples. After passing the examination to become a Martial Scholar, he had failed the Provincial Examination twice in a row. Disheartened, he had gone to the County Yamen to become an official, eventually rising to the rank of Chief Constable.
He never expected to run into him tonight, locked in a deadly fight with a wanted criminal.
Too bad he was no match for his opponent and was about to be finished off.
So Chu Lingguang ran even faster.
'Fellow disciples? That's just a title.'
Chu Lingguang wasn't about to risk his life for a senior brother he'd never even met. Even if it could earn him Favor Points, he didn't care.
Besides, Wang Chao had a rotten heart. His last shout was a clear attempt to drag him into the mess.
"WHOOSH!"
But when Cai Touli heard Wang Chao's words and saw how desperately Chu Lingguang was fleeing, he grew wary. Fearing that news would quickly reach Guo Wei if he killed Wang Chao, he threw his saber, aiming for the center of Chu Lingguang's back.
"This has nothing to do with me!"
Sensing danger, Chu Lingguang narrowly dodged the thrown blade. The saber landed in front of him, but he ignored it and kept running.
Without a single glance back.
"Hm?"
Cai Touli froze, not expecting Chu Lingguang to dodge the attack. In his haste, he gave chase to Chu Lingguang.
A look of delight crossed Wang Chao's face. He dragged his injured body away, limping in the other direction.
'Crap, I've run into a mad dog.'
Chu Lingguang heard a whistling sound behind him. He glanced back and saw Cai Touli pouncing like a hungry wolf, his speed greater than his own.
"Sir, this has nothing to do with me!"
Chu Lingguang begged for mercy.
"Too bad for you. I can't let you live."
Cai Touli struck at Chu Lingguang's face with an Eagle Claw.
Chu Lingguang's face paled. He saw the saber that Cai Touli had thrown earlier, stuck in the ground nearby. In a moment of desperation, he reached out, pulled the saber free, and unleashed the Twelve Iron Mountain Saber Techniques in a continuous flurry.
"Hm?"
Cai Touli was completely caught off guard. He never imagined that Chu Lingguang was actually a martial arts practitioner.
He was bare-handed and hadn't been on guard, so for a moment, he was at a disadvantage.
He took two slashes from Chu Lingguang, one on his arm and one on his leg.
By the time he reacted and tried to retreat, Chu Lingguang had already used his Basic Body Technique to stick close to him, landing several more strikes, all on his vital points.
PFFT!
Finally, Cai Touli felt a cold sensation on his neck. His eyes widened as he stared at Chu Lingguang in disbelief.
"AHHH!"
Chu Lingguang screamed, continuing to hack away at Cai Touli. He performed the Twelve Knife Skills over and over. He wasn't like the swordsmen in movies who strike a pose and slowly sheathe their blade after a single fatal blow. Instead, as if terrified, he wished he had two more arms to land a few more cuts on Cai Touli's body.
"THUD!"
It wasn't until Cai Touli fell backward and Chu Lingguang's next few slashes hit nothing but air that he could clearly see the man's body. There were more than a dozen gashes on Cai Touli, flesh torn and mangled. His neck had almost been severed.
"CLANG!"
Chu Lingguang collapsed onto his bottom. His face and clothes were splattered with blood that had spurted from Cai Touli's wounds.
"You… you actually killed him?"
Wang Chao said in disbelief.
He had run some distance, but when he heard Chu Lingguang's frantic cries, he couldn't help but look back. That's when he saw Cai Touli collapse in front of Chu Lingguang.
Coming closer, he saw that Cai Touli's chest and abdomen were a bloody mess. Chu Lingguang had somehow managed to slash him more than a dozen times.
Chu Lingguang looked up at Wang Chao, his blood-stained face filled with the urge to cut him down too. If it weren't for this guy dragging him into it, he wouldn't have nearly had a complete breakdown.
This life-or-death battle was countless times more dangerous than his previous encounter with the Li Brothers.
If Cai Touli hadn't been caught off guard, not expecting him to be a practitioner who had also trained in the Basic Body Technique, and if the man hadn't been unarmed, Chu Lingguang would never have been able to kill him.
"Little brother, your Saber Technique is quite good. Who did you learn it from?"
Wang Chao was frightened by the look in Chu Lingguang's eyes and forced a smile as he asked.
Chu Lingguang stood up, wiped the blood from his face, and after giving Wang Chao a hard look, he turned and walked away without a word.
"Little brother!"
Wang Chao called out after him a few times.
Chu Lingguang ignored him completely. If Wang Chao weren't his senior brother and a Chief Constable of the County Yamen, Chu Lingguang certainly wouldn't have let him off so easily.
'This looks like the Iron Mountain Saber Technique… Could he be Master's successor? But that doesn't seem right. The two disciples Master took on recently only started three months ago. There's no way they'd be at his level.'
Wang Chao muttered to himself after examining Cai Touli's wounds.
When Chu Lingguang got home, he immediately took a cold bath, finally soaking himself in the water vat.
Tonight was the first time he had ever killed someone.
And he had done it with no preparation, driven to a near frenzy as he executed the Iron Mountain Saber Technique just to survive. The sight of torn flesh and the feeling of blood splashing on his face hadn't scared him, but the sheer danger of the situation made him break out in a cold sweat for himself.
He couldn't help but check his Iron Mountain Saber Technique stats. He felt that in that life-or-death moment, his Saber Technique had seemed to improve by a huge margin, which was the only reason he was able to hack Cai Touli to death.