Aoyama

Chapter 480 Jiang Liuxian

respite.

Chen Ji weaved through the flames and ashes, tearing a piece of cloth from his clothes and tying it over his mouth and nose, but his heavy breathing still carried the pungent smell of smoke and fire.

Did the night watchmen storm the mountain to rescue the Imperial Guards? Did the Imperial Guards break through the encirclement?
Chen Ji was unaware that he had already done his best.

In the darkness, a light suddenly appeared behind him.

Jiang Liuxian drew her long sword, its gleaming blade reflecting the firelight on the mountain and the bright moon in the sky. A massive blade aura, spanning more than ten zhang, roared in like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down.

The blade's edge was several feet wide, and even though Chen Ji lunged to the side, he was still grazed by its edge. Half of his sleeve, as if made of paper, was torn into shreds where the blade passed.

Chen Ji's right arm looked as if it had been plowed by a steel brush, with fine blood seeping out.

Excruciating pain.

In a subtle way, Jiang Liuxian's swordsmanship seemed more domineering than Liang Gou'er's; her blade carried not only the intent of the blade but also anger and hatred. This anger and hatred were hidden deep within her heart, a hatred for everything and everyone in this world.

She also hated herself.

This hatred eventually turned into ruthlessness; he wanted to kill someone, and he also wanted to kill himself.

Such a blade can cleave heaven and earth, sever ties of love, and cut off the one you love. There is nothing it cannot cut through; this is the true essence of the blade.

Liang Gou'er once said, "Knife skills are expansive and powerful. Those who learn the knife must first have the confidence to split mountains. The knife is domineering, and the knife skills of my Liang family are impartial and unyielding. No matter if you have any flaws, I will cut you with one stroke, and you will be full of flaws."

Jiang Liuxian's knife is sharper and purer than Liang Gou'er's.

Ignoring his injuries, Chen Ji could only continue his escape.

Just then, as Jiang Liuxian was about to swing her sword a second time, a cold arrow shot out from the forest, heading straight for her left waist.

The timing of this cold arrow was too perfect, too perfect. It seemed to be an intuition honed through years of battlefield combat and life-or-death experience, striking precisely at the moment when Jiang Liuxian was at her most vulnerable, forcing her to sheathe her sword and dodge the arrow.

It was Hong Zu'er's arrow.

The next moment, Jiang Liuxian swung a delicate crescent-shaped blade of energy into the forest with her backhand. From the shadows came a muffled groan from Hong Zuer, and his footsteps staggered away.

This arrow bought Chen Ji a brief respite and created a distance of more than ten zhang. However, Jiang Liuxian only glanced coldly at the forest and did not engage with Hong Zu'er, continuing to pursue Chen Ji.

In just over ten breaths, the damage from that arrow was wiped out.

Just as Jiang Liuxian was leaping across a mountain stream, a cold arrow suddenly shot out from the darkness of the forest. Hong Zuer had somehow taken a shortcut, forcing her to swing her sword in mid-air to meet the arrow head-on.

Jiang Liuxian's face showed a mocking expression.

The blade's energy clashed with the arrow's tip.

After the wooden arrow shaft shattered inch by inch, the blade's momentum continued unabated, even faster than the arrow itself.

Hong Zu'er hid half his body behind a tree, drawing his bow and shooting an arrow. When the blade's energy reached him, he quickly leaned back against the tree to hide, but the blade's energy was so fierce that it shattered the tree where he was hiding.

This strike reached its pinnacle, seemingly only a step away from the Divine Realm. The blade's energy severed the tree in half, yet the lingering intent still managed to carve a bloody gash on Hong Zu's back, running diagonally from his left shoulder to his right waist.

Hong Zuer gasped.

But he ignored his wounds and the excruciating pain, and didn't care whether he would die when Jiang Liuxian swung her knife again.

He whirled around amidst the flying splinters of wood, drew his bowstring again, and was determined to risk his life to give that armored soldier a chance to survive. That soldier had saved hundreds of lives; trading his own for the enemy's was a worthwhile exchange.

But this time, before the bowstring was fully drawn, the hard bow in his hand broke off at the waist.

Hong Zuer was taken aback. Jiang Liuxian's slash had actually cracked the bow in mid-air, rendering it unable to withstand the force required to draw it.

He looked up and saw that Jiang Liuxian, who had just lost track of Chen Ji, was leaping onto a pine tree branch, searching for Chen Ji's figure by the moonlight.

Jiang Liuxian, dressed in purple, held a long sword upside down behind her, her toes touching pine branches as she stood against the wind, a full moon beside her ear, as if it were a radiant light behind her.

Transcendent and detached from worldly affairs.

Just as Hong Zuer was pondering a solution, Jiang Liuxian calmly said, "When I left Chongli Pass last time, Zhang Lanjin gave me a way out. I will spare your life. Go back and tell him that Jiang Liuxian has repaid the favor she owed to Chongli Pass."

Hong Zu'er laughed bitterly, "My life is worthless, not worth the favor you owe Chongli Pass. Just kill me with one blow, I should have died long ago."

Jiang Liuxian's gaze finally found Chen Ji again: "The night watchman in the border town is alive, so someone must have died in your place. Rather than seeking death, you should live well for him."

Having said that, she leaped down from the branch and chased after the traces of the past.

Only then did Hong Zuer have time to reach behind him and touch his back. Through the wound, he felt the bone fragments of his ribs, which were so deep that the bone was visible.

He pondered for a moment, then casually wrapped his outer garment around his body twice to stop the bleeding. He then staggered and chased after Jiang Liuxian and Chen Ji in the direction they had gone.

……

...Chen Ji fled from Tiger's Back to Bailu Kiln, and then from Bailu Kiln to Guojia Kiln.

He could vaguely hear the rushing water of the Zhenggou River, and the approaching footsteps behind him. He circled back and forth through the forest, carefully and warily dodging the blade's edge.

He probably couldn't even withstand one strike from Jiang Liuxian's knife.

The next moment, a blade of energy slashed down.

This strike was no longer fierce; instead, it was like a gentle spring breeze and drizzle during the Qingming Festival, falling everywhere.

Chen Ji felt as if he were running in spring rain, his body being penetrated by the fine rain, fine blood droplets seeping from his body, his internal organs feeling like they were being pricked by needles, and his clothes were instantly stained red.

He finally couldn't hold on any longer and stumbled and fell to the ground.

Chen Ji struggled to his feet and continued to flee. His body was covered in blood, leaves, and dust, making him look extremely disheveled.

No, I won't be able to dodge the next blow.

Chen Ji gritted his teeth and said loudly, "I know an old friend who has an unsharpened knife. I asked him why it wasn't sharpened, and he said it wasn't necessary."

These were the words he asked Liang Gou'er at the Taiping Medical Clinic, and they now echo outside Chongli Pass.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liuxian's hand, which was about to swing the second knife, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

Chen Ji continued talking while fleeing for his life, distracting Jiang Liuxian: "After you left, he drank every day. When he had money, he drank good wine; when he didn't have money, he borrowed money to drink. When he was drunk, he would chant the name 'Liuxian' over and over again. I don't know if you saw him in Jingchao. If you didn't, then you should go and see him."

Liang Gou'er has many friends, and unless someone personally tests him, it's impossible to determine his identity from just a few words. However, if Jiang Liuxian still cherishes their past relationship, hearing these words might allow him to fight for his life.

As they spoke, Chen Ji finally saw the riverbank through the mountains and forests.

There was no one to meet him on the riverbank, only the rushing river.

But he didn't see Zhang Xia, and instead breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Jiang Liuxian's ruthless blade, which had been paused, finally fell. Its intent, rather than diminishing, intensified, becoming fierce and resolute. The dazzling blade light brightened the night, like moonlight illuminating the earth.

Chen Ji's eyes suddenly calmed down.

Jiang Liuxian made his choice, and so did he. Two sword seeds hidden in the tree canopy floated down, forming a strangling attack on Jiang Liuxian's head from the left and right.

Sensing the killing intent, Jiang Liuxian slashed upwards with her sword, the overwhelming blade light sending both sword seeds flying dozens of feet away. In an instant, fine blade marks appeared on the sword seeds, almost shattering them.

Jiang Liuxian then saw the appearance of the two sword seeds clearly, her pupils shrinking slightly: "Two... no, you've cultivated three sword seeds?"

Chen Ji did not answer, but fled for his life. The two sword seeds teetered on the verge of falling back into the patterned area to be nurtured.

When the sword seed was knocked away by the blade light, he felt as if his heart and lungs were being injured, and his consciousness was blurred for a moment due to the pain.

This was the first time he had encountered a situation where he was helpless even with all three sword types attacking at once. With no other way out, he had no choice but to jump into the Zhenggou River as Zhang Xia had suggested, as that was the only chance of survival.

Jiang Liuxian chased after Chen Ji and said in a deep voice, "Hand over the path to the sword seed, and the method by which you cultivate three sword seeds, and I will spare your life."

Chen Ji ignored him.

Taking advantage of the moment when Jiang Liuxian was distracted by the sword seed, he finally reached the riverbank and leaped into the turbulent Zhenggou River. A blade of energy attacked from behind, and just as Chen Ji's body disappeared into the white waves of the river, the blade's light followed closely.

When the blade struck the river, the surface was cleaved in two, as if the river had stopped flowing. Then, a blood-red wave surged up from the turbulent riverbed, before the current became rapid again.

Jiang Liuxian stood quietly by the river, watching, but Chen Ji's body did not float up for a long time, and she didn't know where he had gone.

She suddenly looked up and, in the darkness, saw a masked figure on the opposite bank, clutching a broken log, leaping into the river without a second thought. The figure discarded the log in the water and dove away, disappearing from sight.

Zhang Xia.

When they resurfaced, Zhang Xia reached behind Chen Ji's back, under his armpit, and carried the unconscious Chen Ji southward. She kicked the water with all her might to catch up with the piece of driftwood, and only after she hugged it did she finally exhale a breath of stale air: "I've given you back your life, and I still owe you one."

Zhang Xia looked down at Chen Ji and saw that his face was pale and there was a wound on his shoulder that revealed the white of his shoulder blade. She suddenly looked up at Jiang Liuxian by the riverbank and imprinted Jiang Liuxian's image deep in her mind.

The river carried Zhang Xia and Chen Ji further and further away, and Jiang Liuxian set off into the mountains and forests, heading south in pursuit. She knew the river's course and where to take a shortcut, hoping to intercept the two at the next bend in the river.

Before she could chase after him for very long, a figure in a white robe blocked her way.

Jiang Liuxian looked at the familiar white dragon mask as if facing a formidable enemy.

Under the moonlight, in the mountains and forests, the Black Serpent and the Precious Monkey, the Bright Rabbit and the Cloud Sheep stood respectfully behind the White Dragon. Behind the zodiac animals, there were hundreds of secret agents with their hands on their waist knives.

Bai Long laughed and ordered, "Gentlemen, kill this woman and all the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry."

Jiang Liuxian turned and fled north.

(End of this chapter)