Aoyama

Chapter 418 Three Souls and Seven Souls
The main house under the gray tiles was quiet, with only the flames flickering and the smoke billowing. The people inside seemed to have guessed that someone was lying in ambush outside, and were reluctant to come out.

The two Dao Seeking Realm officials knew that a fight would be a matter of life and death.

So they competed with each other in patience, cunning, and boldness, scheming about everything they could.

Chen Ji stood guard in the alley, his eyes fixed on the door of the main house without blinking. The woman who had been driven back by Lu Shi earlier slowly woke up, knelt down again, and silently kowtowed to Chen Ji repeatedly.

Three silent people, a silent house, silent gray tiles.

The eerie scene was as if someone had removed the sound from this alleyway.

The next moment, twelve masked assassins in gray clothes emerged from the end of the alley, holding two-foot-two-inch short knives in their hands, their eyes sharp and fierce.

Drawn by the firelight, they came to silence the witnesses. Upon seeing the Lu family's house on the roof and the traces of the past in the alley, they immediately charged forward.

Lu originally wanted to go and help, but she suddenly realized that Chen Ji in the narrow alley had no fear in his eyes, so she squatted down again.

Chen Ji stood in the alley, neither dodging nor retreating, his mind racing. These people were neither Jie Fanwei nor secret agents.

Could it be the prince's men?
White walls, gray tiles, narrow alleys.

The assassin swung his short sword at Chen Ji, who rammed into his opponent's arms, curling his right index and middle fingers and striking Chen Ji's Adam's apple with his knuckles.

Simple and direct.

With a snap, the assassin's Adam's apple shattered and went upside down into his trachea, causing his face to turn bright red.

The assassin's dagger fell from his hand, but just as it slipped from his grasp, Chen Ji caught the hilt firmly in mid-air. Chen Ji leaned close to the assassin and slashed upwards with his dagger, cutting open the assassin's chest and abdomen.

The assassin tried to cry out in pain, but could only manage a weak hoarse sound.

Chen Ji ignored him, instead pushing his head aside and heading towards the next person. The assassin slowly fell to the ground, trying to grab Chen Ji's clothes, but grasped only air.

Lu's eyes flickered on the rooftop.

She had killed people before, so she knew that killing was not easy. It's not that taking a life is difficult, but rather that a normal person wouldn't kill unless absolutely necessary.

In her memory, Chen Ji was still that little boy who would come home covered in mud after playing outside, and that kind boy who would never fight back even when bullied.

Only now, seeing Chen Ji expressionlessly open someone's chest and abdomen, did she finally realize that the child in her memory had grown up.

And in the process of growing up alone, they must have experienced countless "forced circumstances" to become the way they are today.

……

……

The second assassin swung his blade horizontally, aiming for Chen Ji's throat. Chen Ji had a knife in his hand, but he didn't use it to block, because he didn't want the sound of metal clashing to rang out.

Chen Ji lunged forward again, and when he reached the assassin, he suddenly ducked, barely avoiding the blade that slashed across his head.

His short knife sliced ​​through the inside of the assassin's knee, severing the ligament in one stroke.

The assassin's legs went weak, and he involuntarily fell to the side. Chen Ji got up and pulled his head into his arms, as if the other person had deliberately fallen into his arms.

Chen Ji used his chest to block the assassin's mouth, silencing the scream of pain that was already on the tip of his tongue. With a slight exertion of force, the assassin's head twisted eerily to one side and snapped off.

The assassins didn't even have a chance to cry out in pain.

Lu Shi crouched on the rooftop and watched silently. Chen Ji's fighting style was clean and efficient. With each opening and closing movement, the weapon in his hand was like a knife for butchering cattle, flowing smoothly and without any hindrance.

No wonder the other party said that killing with fists and feet is too slow.

In less than half an incense stick's time, all ten-odd assassins in the alley were dead, leaving only Chen Ji standing.

Chen Ji's forearm was cut open, and blood flowed down his wrist to his hand, then dripped onto the rammed earth road.

Madam Lu stared intently as he casually tore off a piece of his clothing, wrapped it twice around the wound to stop the bleeding, and then turned to smile at her on the rooftop, indicating that everything was taken care of.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from Daoyi Lane.

Liao Zhong seemed to have finally lost his temper. The door at Lu's feet was suddenly pushed open, and thick smoke billowed out along the roof beams and rolled into the sky.

The man of the house rushed out coughing. The first thing he did was look around, then he looked up at the roof: "On the roof!"

The words have not yet fallen.

Lu stretched out her body and did a backflip, throwing a chair straight out of the house, smashing through the roof where she had been standing, scattering broken tiles everywhere.

After throwing the chair away, Liao Zhong grabbed Ping'er and rushed out of the main room. He didn't know who was on the roof or what level the newcomer was, but he knew he couldn't afford to linger in battle.

As he ran outside, he hissed to the man, "Only the person holding up the roof can live!"

Liao Zhong ran outside, leaving the man behind to face Madam Lu alone.

Lu rushed down the roof tiles.

The man glanced back at Ping'er in Liao Zhong's hand, gritted his teeth, drew his dagger, stepped onto the table in the courtyard, and leaped into the air to meet Madam Lu.

But he was too slow. When he leaped into the air, Lu Shi was like a swift in the air. She turned around and kicked his wrist, breaking his bones and tendons.

When Lu turned around, he stepped on Liao Zhong's head and pounced towards Liao Zhong, who was further away.

At that moment, Liao Zhongcai had just rushed to the courtyard gate.

The moment he stepped out the door, a sharp whistling sound suddenly rushed towards him. Chen Ji, hiding outside the door, slashed at his chest and abdomen with a knife, forcing him back into the courtyard! "You're courting death!" Liao Zhong roared in fury.

But just as he was about to rush out of the courtyard again, Madam Lu had already leaped over his head, her slender arm like a counterattack, turning around and slapping his head with a palm.

This palm strike was incredibly powerful, and suddenly the Yin-Yang symbol of the Eight Trigrams appeared on the outer edge of the palm. The eight trigrams, Qian, Kun, Zhen, Gen, Dui, Li, Xun, and Kan, rotated in turn, finally settling on the Zhen trigram, which shone brightly.

"Who are you?!" Liao Zhong's expression changed, and he dared not confront him directly. He immediately flicked his sleeve, changed into a red-faced, fanged mask, turned into a cloud of black smoke, and flew backward with Ping'er in tow.

Between the lightning and flint.

"Stay here!" Madam Lu shouted, reaching out to grab Ping'er's ankle and forcefully pulling her out of the black smoke.

She grabbed the child by the ankle and threw him out: "Catch!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" The previously injured woman caught the flying child in her hands, picked him up, and ran outside. But before she even left the alley, she knelt down and burst into tears. Looking down, she saw that the child in her arms had no facial features.

The method of "visiting the emperor" is so insidious that it is beyond cure and impossible to break.

The woman's cries drifted from afar, and the man in the courtyard looked ashen-faced.

Liao Zhong transformed into a cloud of black smoke and soared into the sky, attempting to fly over the rooftop. However, the man suddenly lunged at the black smoke, forcefully blocking its path with his body.

Black smoke swept over the man, writhing as if drawing something from his body. In just three breaths, the man's corpse emerged from the black smoke, his features gone, while the smoke continued to rise towards the roof.

But at this moment, Lu had already taken advantage of the three breaths to arrive on the rooftop and wait, blocking Liao Zhong's only way.

Chen Ji instinctively warned, "Be careful!"

Lu remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged.

"Die!" Liao Zhong shouted, his voice billowing black smoke as he enveloped the Lu family.

The next moment, Lu drew the Yin-Yang symbol with both hands and pressed down sharply, his palms striking the oncoming black smoke. A powerful, invisible force emanated from his palms, forcefully pushing the invisible black smoke back into the courtyard from mid-air.

Liao Zhong found it hard to believe.

In the distance, the Jie Fan Guards attacked. As soon as they reached the alley entrance, they saw Lu Shi on the rooftop, took out their crossbows, and shot.

Ignoring the crossbow bolts, Lu chased Liao Zhong back into the courtyard.

She landed lightly beside the black smoke, drawing a yin-yang symbol under her feet, and swam around the smoke.

His steps were like wading through mud, his waist like a rotating axle, his palms moved in a spiral, and his body was like a swimming dragon.

With each step she took, she unleashed a palm strike at the black smoke, the sound of which was like a resounding bell when her palm met the smoke.

The moment his palm collided with the black smoke, the Yin-Yang symbol of the Bagua reappeared on the outer edge of Lu's palm, and then vanished.

Before his annihilation, Chen Ji saw the Xun trigram on the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) shining like a star.

He then looked at Lu's footsteps, as if each step corresponded to a different trigram: north was Qian, south was Kun, and as he walked, it was as if the stars and constellations were turning!
……

……

Lu's palm strikes were so fast that time seemed to slow down in front of her.

She placed her palm, imprinted with the trigram Xun, on the black smoke, from which came Liao Zhong's furious roar.

Xun represents wind, wind and thunder bring benefit, and heavenly thunder brings no falsehood.

After the palm strike, a phantom image of Liao Zhong flew out from the black smoke. The flying phantom image did not resemble Liao Zhong himself; it was entirely gray-black.

Lu struck out a second palm through the black smoke.

The Yin-Yang symbol reappears on the outer edge of the palm, with the Li trigram shining brightly.

Li represents fire, volcano is associated with travel, and heavenly fire is associated with people.

After the palm strike, Liao Zhong's phantom image flew out again from the black smoke. The flying phantom image was pale and looked exhausted.

The third palm.

Zhen represents thunder, Lei Shui Jie represents thunder, and Ze Feng Da Guo represents lake wind!

After this palm strike, another phantom flew out from the black smoke, its face ferocious and terrifying.

Each time Lu struck out with his palm, a Bagua Yin-Yang symbol would appear and disappear at the point of impact, and with each strike, Liao Zhong would let out a mournful howl from within the black smoke.

In the blink of an eye, all six palms were unleashed, and Liao Zhong's six afterimages flew off in six completely different directions.

Lu's six palm strikes actually blasted Liao Zhong's six souls—Corpse Dog, Hidden Arrow, Sparrow Yin, Devouring Thief, Non-Poison, and Purifying—out of his body, leaving only three souls and one spirit in the black smoke.

With a thud, Liao Zhong's body fell from the black smoke and crashed heavily to the ground, his eyes closed, his life hanging in the balance.

Chen Ji looked surprised, leaned forward, and pointed at her as if she were a sword to test her breathing.

Still angry.

Madam Lu gasped, "His six souls have scattered, but his three spirits and his stinking lungs are still there. He won't die. After sunset, his six souls will return to his body, and he will wake up on his own. It won't delay the interrogation. Hurry up, the Jie Fan Guard and the secret agents are here."

(End of this chapter)