Chapter 28: Night Battle

What the hell is going on? Why am I thinking about all this nonsense right before a fight? Lu Zi’an shook his head, trying his best to shove that vivid yet oddly hazy scene out of his mind and refocus on the cave entrance. His body tensed slightly at the top of the cave, like a leopard ready to pounce on its prey at any moment. The campfire was still burning, crackling every now and then. Crack. Crackle. Crack crack crack… A scene suddenly flashed before Lu Zi’an’s eyes, and he let out a low grunt without realizing it. He was still caught in that moment, unable to pull himself free. Pinggu’s waist really did move like a snake... should I just marry her? But she’s a widow, not untouched. I’ve got a Foundation Establishment Pill now, a bright future ahead… Her twisting body suddenly wrapped around him. Lu Zi’an felt his face heat up, dizzy and lightheaded, unsure for a moment if he was dreaming or awake. Then, without meaning to, his hips moved on their own. Just as he was about to thrust— Thud! He slammed to the ground, falling hard from the top of the cave. The sound of him hitting the ground echoed clearly outside. In fact, his heavy breathing and even a satisfied sigh or two had already drifted out well before the fall. If the others didn’t know better, Zuo Gaofeng, Tan Bajhang, Xishan Hermit, and the rest would’ve thought something wild and indecent was going on in there. They glanced at Liu Xiaolou, who was still squatting at the cave’s edge in that strange posture. Their eyelids twitched almost in unison. This guy was seriously freaky. This wasn’t the time to be distracted. Wei Hongqing, the one who knew Liu Xiaolou best, had already made his move. He knew exactly how Liu Xiaolou’s knockout incense worked. It wasn’t perfect, and expecting more from it was wishful thinking. Now was the perfect moment to strike. Three iron darts shot into the cave, slicing through the air with a sharp whistling sound. The noise jolted Lu Zi’an out of his daze. Alarmed, he instinctively tilted his head. His true qi surged out, forming a weak protective shield of energy that managed to deflect one of the darts just enough. It grazed the top of his head, clipping off a few strands of hair. The other two he couldn’t dodge in time. One hit his left shoulder, the other his right. Both sank deep into the muscle. Gritting his teeth, Lu Zi’an forced his true qi to circulate. The energy pushed the darts back out from his shoulders with a sharp *thwick-thwick*, sending them flying out of the cave and vanishing into the dark. Two jets of blood sprayed from the wounds, instantly soaking half of his robes red. “Who dares attack me!” he roared, his voice full of fury. As he shouted, Lu Zi’an spat out a flying sword. The short blade flashed coldly in the firelight before streaking out toward the cave entrance like a shooting star. At the tenth level of Qi Refinement, he couldn’t fully control a flying sword in the air yet, but he had enough command of it to make a big difference in a fight. His target was the attacker to the left of the cave entrance. From Lu Zi’an’s quick judgment, that one was the strongest of the bunch; he had to be taken out first. But before the sword reached the opening, a figure suddenly appeared. It was Wei Hongqing, who yanked a woman up and dragged her into the sword’s path. Lu Zi’an’s heart lurched. He forced the sword to veer off, and it barely managed to swerve in time, slashing into the stone wall with a shower of sparks. “Pinggu!” he cried, stunned as he saw her face. He froze. It wasn’t just the pain of seeing her like that, sweat-soaked, face streaked with tears. What hit him harder was the sudden memory flashing through his mind. A shameful vision of her from earlier overlapped perfectly with how she looked now, the two images blurring into one disturbing reality. It really does look like..... Another wave of heat surged through him, leaving him flushed and restless. And in that split second of distraction, another dart struck his left leg. Wei Hongqing was using Pinggu as a human shield, forcing Lu Zi’an into a corner. Afraid of hurting her, he couldn’t use his flying sword freely. Gritting his teeth, he lunged straight at Wei Hongqing. But Wei dragged Pinggu backward, always staying behind her. The moment Lu Zi’an burst out of the cave, two flashes of silver swept toward him from the left side, spinning like silver wheels. It was Zuo Gaofeng, lying in wait. Even in his muddled state, Lu Zi’an hadn’t forgotten there was another attacker hiding nearby. He turned sharply toward Zuo Gaofeng, flicked his tongue, and shot a short sword. With two sharp *clang-clang* sounds, the sword knocked both of Zuo Gaofeng’s axes flying. The flying sword spun sharply in the air, circling once as it gathered true qi. Just as it was about to slash Zuo Gaofeng down in one clean stroke, a burst of crossbow bolts whistled from the trees—*thwip, thwip, thwip*—three arrows fired in quick succession. Lu Zi’an had no choice but to abandon the kill. The sword shifted to intercept, slicing all three bolts mid-air. Out of nowhere, a massive net dropped from above, completely trapping Lu Zi’an. Tan Bajhang leapt down from the cliff, swinging his iron staff hard across Lu Zi’an’s waist. “In the dark, I’ll still beat you down!” Lu Zi’an couldn’t dodge. He gathered all his true qi in his waist and abdomen and took the hit head-on. The iron staff bounced off him with a jolt, knocking itself backward, but Lu Zi’an still coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Tan Bajhang didn’t come out unscathed either. The rebound sent the staff smashing into his own forehead, leaving a big blue welt across it. He grimaced in pain, teeth clenched. “This really hurts..." Lu Zi’an’s flying sword whipped back, slashing desperately at the net, but this was no ordinary rope. It wasn’t imbued with any remarkable abilities, but whatever material it was made of, it was tough. Far too tough to cut through in a hurry. Liu Xiaolou’s Three-Mystery Sword stabbed through the net toward Lu Zi’an, but each thrust was blocked by Lu Zi’an’s flying sword. The force of the clashes reopened the injury on Liu’s palm that hadn’t yet fully healed, blood oozing from the split skin. Though the hree-Mystery Sword failed to land a hit, they kept Lu Zi’an from focusing on the net. At last, he got a good look at the man holding Pinggu. It was Wei Hongqing. “Wei Hongqing! Pinggu’s your sister-in-law too. I’m entrusting her to you for now. Look after her for me!” Lu Zi’an shouted. With that, he tucked his body in, curling into a tight ball. Still wrapped in the net, he rolled at high speed across the ground, gaining distance in a blink. “Stop him!” Wei Hongqing shouted. He didn’t even need to say it. Everyone knew they couldn’t let Lu Zi’an escape. If he got away, the bounty would vanish with him; everything they’d done would be for nothing. Zuo Gaofeng’s twin axes spun like twin silver blossoms, darting around the rolling net, slashing when they saw an opening. Tan Bajhang gave chase from behind, leaping forward whenever he could to hammer down with his iron staff. Wei Hongqing was slightly slower but kept hurling iron darts one after another, aiming for any gap in the net. Each dart struck home, leaving fresh wounds all over Lu Zi’an’s body. As for Liu Xiaolou, he lagged stubbornly at the rear of the group. Though he managed to keep up, his Three- Mystery Swords never got another chance to strike. He could only watch helplessly, eyes wide with frustration. They chased Lu Zi’an for five or six li, but Zuo Gaofeng still couldn’t close the gap. In a final attempt, he hurled his twin axes once more, aiming straight for the back of Lu Zi’an’s head. He’d tried this a few times already, and Lu Zi’an had dodged every time. This one wasn’t much different. Zuo Gaofeng had done all he could. Lu Zi’an heard the wind shifting behind his head and, just as before, twisted his body slightly mid-roll. It looked like he would dodge the axes again. But then, from out of nowhere, a pebble skimmed silently along the ground and struck him squarely on the temple. His vision exploded into stars. His mind blurred. The axes slammed into him with full force. The rolling net came to a halt. Inside, Lu Zi’an lay still, eyes wide, staring in the direction the pebble had come from. But the area was completely dark. He couldn’t see a thing. A few breaths later, Lu Zi’an was dead.