WJ Chapter 41

Kudzu Vine (4)

The long flight began at sunset and continued until the middle of the night.

This group of assassins of unknown origin clung tightly to them. Guan Wujue had shaken them off several times, but once he let his guard down even slightly, they quickly caught up again.

The brutal fighting had scarcely ceased. The darkness spread ever deeper, and flying arrows and darts that could emerge at any moment were like the claws of demons.

Without a shield, these hidden weapons were often far more insidious than open blades and swords.

Especially since Guan Wujue was now on horseback, the enemy’s cold arrows aimed for the horse’s legs. Deflecting them became increasingly difficult, and the wounds on his body multiplied.

His ink-plum red robe had been soaked through with blood several times over—the enemy’s blood, his own, and that of the Yin Ghosts beside him.

It wasn’t until nearly midnight, when they entered a deep forest, that those assassins were finally shaken off for some distance and temporarily disappeared from view.

Only then did Guan Wujue dare let Liuhuo slow down slightly. The bright moon overhead cast mottled tree shadows on his pale face as he gasped raggedly, his hand weakening as he sheathed his sword.

Guan Wujue had expended too much physical strength along this journey. The constant jostling had caused his wounds to bleed continuously, and now his body felt ice-cold.

The Protector fumbled for the wine pouch at his side and tilted his head back to force down several large gulps of harsh liquor.

In truth, with his injuries, he shouldn’t be drinking like this, but he couldn’t worry about that now. If his body froze, he’d never survive the next round of attacks.

The wine would accelerate blood loss, but it could warm his body and clear his dizzy mind.

Suddenly, with a thud, a Yin Ghost covered in blood knelt before Guan Wujue’s horse, crying out hoarsely in anguish, “Protector! It is this subordinate’s incompetence…”

Following the lead Yin Ghost’s words, the remaining four Yin Ghosts also knelt. Though their faces were covered by black armor, the gazes they turned toward the Four Directions Protector were filled with nothing but remorse and self-blame.

Guan Wujue shook his head wearily and spoke in a low, hoarse voice, “It’s not your fault. These people’s martial arts are very strange… Ugh, cough cough cough cough!!”

Before he could finish the sentence, his chest suddenly convulsed. He began to cough uncontrollably, coughing until his vision darkened repeatedly.

When he raised his hand to cover his mouth, blood trickled through his fingers. Guan Wujue froze slightly, realizing he’d already sustained internal injuries.

Perhaps because the Protector’s condition looked truly terrible, the lead Yin Ghost hurriedly scrambled up to support him from the side, afraid he would topple from his horse at any moment.

“Enough…” Guan Wujue frowned and steadied his breathing, then firmly pushed the Yin Ghost away. “From here on, you need not follow me.”

At these words, the Yin Ghosts were all shocked!

The lead Yin Ghost cried urgently, “Protector, you cannot! We can still protect you for a while longer, why…”

Guan Wujue shook his head gently: “There are too many enemies, and they came prepared. We definitely cannot shake them off easily. Now there’s only one solution… and that’s to take the shortest route back through the night. Once we’re in Mount Shenlie, surely they won’t dare to pursue further.”

Though the Yin Ghosts had excellent qinggong, in terms of endurance, they ultimately couldn’t match a divine steed like Liuhuo.

If they followed Liuhuo running at full speed all night, the Yin Ghosts—already being countered—would have their internal energy depleted further. By then, they’d only be fit for blocking blades for him. Why make them go to their deaths?

Guan Wujue caught his breath and said calmly, “From now on, I won’t stop the horse again. You may scatter and return to the sect by different routes. This Protector wants to see you alive at the main sect. Do you hear me?”

Though the Yin Ghosts were death warriors, they weren’t mindless killing machines without brains. How could they not understand that the Protector was willing to fight to the death to leave them a way to survive!

The Yin Ghost leader suddenly knelt in the dirt, his forehead striking the ground with great force, immediately breaking the skin and drawing blood. He said in a trembling voice, “We wish to die for the Protector!”

The other four Yin Ghosts also kowtowed heavily. “We wish to die for the Protector!!”

The moonlight was bleak as frost. In the desolate forest, the five Yin Ghosts, covered in wounds, made their blood oath with resounding force that shook the heart.

Guan Wujue felt a wave of bitterness in his chest. “The Yin Ghosts are the elite of Ghost Gate. If you all perish here with me, how can I explain it to the Sect Leader?”

He steeled his heart and coldly commanded, “Don’t make me waste time arguing. This is an order!”

Guan Wujue had once been a Yin Ghost of Ghost Gate himself, so naturally he knew that for Yin Ghosts, orders outweighed everything else.

Sure enough, the five Yin Ghosts were grief-stricken at these words, but could only tearfully kowtow to accept the command. Leaving behind the words “Take care, Protector,” they each concealed themselves and disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, there was no one around.

Guan Wujue delayed no further. He drank the remaining wine dry, casually tossed the wine pouch aside, and spurred his horse onward with a “Hya!”

The night grew deeper, and the cold grew heavier.

Throughout the journey that followed, Guan Wujue truly never stopped his horse again. Even so, that brief rest in the wilderness earlier had allowed the assassins to close in again, and only after another bitter battle could he break free.

This mad riding and fighting drained massive amounts of strength, blood, and willpower with every passing moment.

With internal injuries, Guan Wujue began coughing up blood intermittently. His vision grew increasingly blurred. His eardrums filled with the howling wind, his own chaotic panting and violent heartbeat, while the pain from his wounds had already begun to numb.

He clearly felt his consciousness being worn away bit by bit, death steadily closing in on him. Only one thought became clearer and clearer:

He could not die yet.

He could not die here.

****

Dawn.

When the sky was between white and not-yet-white, the cold cut to the bone.

The torrential Red River remained crimson. The dark mass of Mount Shenlie towered into the clouds, its peak invisible.

The red-maned horse finally turned onto the winding mountain road.

Its hooves frantically trampled broken stones and crushed the mountain’s unmelting snow, galloping ceaselessly toward Xifeng City.

The divine steed was drenched in sweat, its nostrils laboriously expelling hot breath. Its body bore several new wounds, and though its speed remained swift as wind and lightning, it was clearly beginning to struggle.

Guan Wujue lay weakly across Liuhuo’s back, eyes tightly closed, his face frighteningly pale. The rise and fall of his chest was nearly imperceptible—he looked as though he’d already lost consciousness.

From yesterday afternoon until dawn the next day, his physical strength had been pushed beyond its limit.

Liuhuo leaped onto a steep and dangerous stretch of road. On one side were gnarled ancient trees; on the other, a perilous cliff.

Just then, that group of persistent shadows appeared once more from behind.

They were already very close to the Zhuyin Sect, yet these assassins still pursued relentlessly!

The assassins with crossbows loaded their arrows again.

Their eyes were uniformly cold as they all aimed at the horse ahead.

In an instant, another volley of arrows was unleashed!

The cold arrows cut sharp sounds through the dawn like a grand and terrifying rainstorm, striking toward the person lying weakly and near death on horseback, seemingly without the strength to even struggle.

A moment of mortal peril. A certain-death situation.

Yet in the next instant, Guan Wujue’s tightly closed eyes suddenly flew open.

——He could not die here!

As if supported by some obsession, Pixing and Daiyue were unsheathed once more. The Four Directions Protector twisted at the waist and turned, sweeping both swords diagonally in opposite directions, managing through bold, sweeping moves to deflect most of the arrow assault.

However, both man and horse were ultimately exhausted, strength failing.

Swish!

A cold arrow grazed Liuhuo’s hind leg, splashing a line of vivid blood. The red-maned horse galloping on the mountain road immediately toppled sideways!

Guan Wujue was thrown off. Fortunately, he reacted quickly—with a push, he rolled on the ground and rose into a half-kneel. Looking up, he saw his beloved horse cry out once and slide down the cliff along with the broken stones!

Guan Wujue’s heart felt pierced by a blade. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. “Huo’er!!”

The assassins swarmed forward. Several sharp blades came down toward the Protector’s head one after another. Guan Wujue was forced to the cliff’s edge. He crossed both swords and raised them to block. Immediately, several forces struck the blade edges in succession. The violent internal energy impacted his organs, and fresh blood surged from his lips again.

From below the cliff came the horse’s anxious, high-pitched neighing.

Guan Wujue glanced sideways and breathed a sigh of relief.

The unfortunate fortune was that the cliff slope wasn’t high, and Liuhuo was an extraordinary steed. After sliding down, it quickly shook off the dirt on its body and stood up, dragging its injured hind leg.

However, though the cliff wasn’t high, it was quite steep and covered with some ice. The injured horse couldn’t leap up and could only neigh continuously at its master, whose situation was growing increasingly dangerous.

Guan Wujue steadied himself and mustered all his strength to shake his twin swords.

Pixing and Daiyue rang out with a clear chime. The weapons of those assassins pressing on the twin swords were immediately forced to loosen their pressure!

The Four Directions Protector seized the moment and thrust his swords straight forward. After a few clanging sounds of clashing blades, he had already pierced through the encirclement from an unexpected angle.

However, this left Liuhuo below the cliff exposed to the assassins’ line of sight. If they launched hidden weapons now, without Guan Wujue to deflect them, Liuhuo would be turned into a pincushion.

“Huo’er… go quickly!”

Unable to bear watching his beloved horse go to its death, Guan Wujue snapped off a tree branch and forcefully hurled it, striking the ground in front of Liuhuo with a crack.

The horse was immediately startled. After neighing uneasily a few times, it finally raised its hooves and left via the small path below the cliff.

Seeing Guan Wujue had lost his mount, the assassins exchanged glances, no longer bothering with Liuhuo, and instead drew their blades.

Soon, nearly a hundred black-clad assassins had gathered on this rugged mountain road, forming an even larger, more impenetrable encirclement.

Guan Wujue pulled weakly at the corner of his lips and struggled to raise his eyes toward Xifeng City.

Everything before him was already a blur.

He still couldn’t see the outline of Xifeng City.

Sect Leader…

Guan Wujue knew they were already very close to Xifeng City. If the horse hadn’t been lost, it would take less than half the time to brew a cup of tea to enter the range patrolled by the Zhuhuo Guards.

Yet this small stretch of road now seemed so impossibly long that even taking one more step forward was extremely difficult.

Excellent assassins would never easily give their target a moment to breathe. Once the formation was set, they launched their coordinated attack.

Fierce winds howled in his ears, killing intent overflowing.

Guan Wujue bit down hard on the tip of his tongue and raised his swords to meet them once more.

He was trapped in an encirclement of nearly a hundred people, trapped in a desperate situation where not a glimmer of hope could be seen, yet his swordsmanship remained fierce and dazzling.

Blood splattered again.

Again came the tearing sound of blades piercing through bodies.

Guan Wujue’s five senses were already dulling. He could only swing his swords by instinct. He kept coughing up blood, his entire body trembling with cold. Sometimes he felt he’d just lost consciousness, even doubting whether he was already dead.

But not only had he not fainted or died, he was still walking step by step toward Xifeng City.

Unfortunately, this was as far as he could go.

With a heart-stopping thud, Pixing finally fell to the ground. About two breaths later, Daiyue was also knocked into the air by the enemy.

Dozens of weapons stabbed toward the Four Directions Protector, now disarmed.

Yet at this moment, in a flash of lightning.

A line of silvery-white light appeared, like a roaring dragon, sweeping forward with heaven-shaking, mountain-splitting force.

Wherever it passed, the wildly raging energy actually cracked open hideous fissures in the hard stone of the cliff that hadn’t worn away in thousands of years, spreading in all directions like a spider’s web with cracking sounds!

CRACK!!

No one could see clearly what that silvery dragon-like streak of light actually was. They only saw the black-clad assassins surrounding Guan Wujue suddenly sent flying several zhang away by that violent energy, blood spraying endlessly!

Some had their spines directly broken and died before hitting the ground; others had their skulls smashed, brains and blood exploding everywhere.

Suddenly, white robes danced wildly against the wind, the intricate crimson-gold Candle Dragon pattern upon them glittering brilliantly in the dawn’s white light.

Yun Changliu, with exceptional qinggong, descended gracefully from the high cliff, wielding the silvery-bright Dragon-Chasing Whip, landing before Guan Wujue.