Chinese Superman

next moment.

Two clear, overlapping sword sounds rang out.

The jade-hilted iron sword and the Spring and Autumn period gold-hilted iron sword were drawn from their sheaths on their own, transforming into two sharp sword lights, one blue and one gold, which silently pierced through the air!

The sword light was as fast as lightning, yet incredibly agile. Under Xia Xinghan's "real-time navigation," it followed the most concealed path, bypassing obstacles that might alert the target, and precisely pounced on the first target!

At ten o'clock, behind the brown rocks.

Three Ying soldiers, dressed in mountain camouflage and with their faces painted, were squatting in the pit.

One of the burly men, carrying a rocket launcher on his shoulder, muttered a complaint in Mandarin: "Using this kind of force to ambush a three- or four-year-old kid? Isn't the Heavenly King being a bit too cautious?"

A skinny man observing through binoculars nearby didn't even turn his head: "Shut up! The Heavenly King himself gave the order, emphasizing the importance of the target. We must ensure absolute success! Do your job!"

"If we fail, we'll all have to commit seppuku!"

Another short man inspecting rifles scoffed, "Even if he's dangerous, he's just a kid. Can he fly or disappear? I think it's making a mountain out of a molehill. I could easily handle him by myself..."

His voice stopped abruptly before he could finish speaking.

Two thin streams of light, one blue and one gold, emerged from the crack in the rock without warning, like the hiss of a venomous snake!

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"

As the three voices rang out almost simultaneously, crimson blood flowers bloomed.

The ancient sword is sharp; it can kill instantly upon drawing blood!

The three men froze simultaneously, their eyes widened, and a bloody hole appeared in each of their throats, pierced by a sharp blade.

Various expressions remained on their faces, but they had instantly lost all vitality and collapsed limply, without even having the chance to pull the trigger or sound the alarm.

The two sword lights gracefully turned in the air without stopping, and shot off at the next coordinate indicated by Xia Xinghan!

"Pfft pfft pfft..."

In the desolate mountains and wilderness, death spreads silently; though nothing grows, there are blooming blood flowers.

Where the sword flashes, life vanishes.

Whether they were armed militants wielding modern firearms or weapon wielders possessing relics, they had no time to react to Gu Zhi Qiu's swordsmanship, which had become even more refined and sharp after he entered the Innate Realm. They were simply destined to have their throats slit by a single sword strike.

And so, the flying swords weaved through the desolate mountains and strange rocks as if they were in an empty land, like two deadly streaks of light chasing after souls.

The victim couldn't even scream; the communicator remained silent, as if nothing had happened.

until……

"Lynx One, respond if you hear me! Lynx One!"

"Hound Team Three, report your situation!"

"Why is there no scheduled communication for the vulture's location?!"

The core area of ​​the ambush zone is a temporary command post set up inside a natural cave.

The personnel responsible for communications made several calls to key peripheral locations via the communicator, but all of them went unanswered.

"Something's not right...it's too quiet."

A middle-aged man with a sinister face suddenly stood up, sensing something was amiss.

Although the command post inside the cave was a temporary setup, it had a certain elegance reminiscent of a Japanese tea room.

A dark landscape scroll hangs on the rough rock wall, a clean rush mat is laid on the ground, and a low beechwood tea table is placed in the middle.

Several people sat around the table.

A samurai dressed as a ronin, with a wiry build and a cold, sculpted face, had an ancient long sword slung across his waist, the inscription "Dojigiri Yasutsuna" faintly visible on the scabbard.

His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were resting, and he seemed oblivious to the conversation inside the cave.

Opposite him, a woman dressed in a Tang Dynasty-style high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with a light purple half-sleeved outer garment was carefully wiping a magnificent musical instrument in her arms.

It was a five-stringed pipa inlaid with mother-of-pearl and made of rosewood. The flowers and birds inlaid with mother-of-pearl shimmered with a faint light in the dim light of the cave.

Without looking up, her voice was melodious, like pearls falling on a jade plate: "I only care about Mr. Chen's safety and when he can reunite with us."

Beside her, a woman dressed in an elegant kimono and behaving respectfully was quietly brewing tea, her movements meticulous, the aroma of tea wafting through the air.

Seated in the main seat was a young man dressed in solemn royal attire, with a somewhat effeminate air.

He said to the middle-aged man with a hooked nose who suddenly stood up and looked anxious, "Yamada-kun, aren't you being too cautious? After keeping watch all night, they might have just been a little lax and dozed off, which is why they didn't respond in time."

"Hey!!"

Upon hearing this, the hook-nosed man called Yamada immediately turned around, bowed deeply to the young royal, bending at a ninety-degree angle, and said with utmost respect: "Your Highness Renhui is absolutely right! I was overthinking it."

The "Prince Renhui" he mentioned is the son of the current King of Japan and is considered one of the successors to the next King.

The hook-nosed man straightened up, a smile plastered on his face: "King Deming has sent you personally to oversee this operation, which shows his determination to capture the extraterrestrial life. With Your Highness in charge, the mission is sure to succeed!"

"only……"

The man with the hooked nose changed his tone, remaining very cautious.

"I believe our carefully selected team members would not make such a basic mistake as taking a nap. As the old saying goes, 'Caution is the best policy'..."

"snort!"

The ronin samurai standing to the side scoffed disdainfully.

He kept his eyes closed, a disdainful smile playing on his lips: "Yamada-kun, aren't you being far too cautious, even cowardly?"

"According to the Xia Kingdom's realm classification, apart from the attendants, who among you is not at the Transcendent Realm or the Innate Realm? His Highness Renhui has even broken through to the Lesser Completion Innate Realm, with his spiritual senses just beginning to awaken, able to sense danger within a hundred meters before it even arrives!"

"Moreover, what Your Highness holds is a priceless treasure of our Ying Kingdom—the Golden Seal of the King of Han-Wa!"

The ronin samurai finally opened his eyes, his sharp gaze sweeping over Yamada, then glancing at the woman wiping the biwa.

"In addition to Lady Yagyu's mother-of-pearl inlaid sandalwood five-stringed lute, my own Dojigiri Yasutsuna is also a heirloom."

"In addition, there were nearly ten colleagues carrying Class A relics to provide support. The other party was just a woman with a child of three or four years old."

"Yamada-kun, do you really think that with such a disparity in strength, we can't defeat these two mere children? Are you questioning His Highness's abilities?!"

The hook-nosed man's face turned pale instantly, and he hurriedly bowed to Prince Renhui: "I wouldn't dare! I had no such intention! Lord Musashi, you flatter me!"

A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he was also having some doubts.

Although the ronin samurai's words were arrogant, they were indeed reasonable.

Our lineup is truly impressive, and His Highness the Prince is at the Innate Realm, possessing spiritual awareness and early warning capabilities, making him virtually impossible to ambush.

There were only two people on the other side, and they knew all the information. One was Gu Zhi Qiu, the legendary master, and the other was just a little kid who looked five or six years old.

"Perhaps... I'm just being too nervous, and the mission is so important that I'm becoming paranoid?"

"However, the loss of contact with multiple outposts is hardly a coincidence."

The hook-nosed man instructed the communications officer to continue contacting other outposts, while he prepared to leave the cave for some fresh air and to conduct a brief reconnaissance.

Prince Renhui put down his teacup, unimpressed, and simply nodded: "Yamada-kun is doing his duty well. Go on, but don't go too far."

"Hey!"

Yamada felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He bowed again, turned around, and strode towards the cave entrance.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(A five-stringed pipa inlaid with mother-of-pearl and made of rosewood, the only surviving example of a five-stringed pipa from the Tang Dynasty, now in the North Repository of the Shosoin Repository of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan)