"Ding ding ding ding..."
With each clash of sword and blade at high speed, the crisp sound of their collisions was like countless wind chimes sounding at once.
Yang Tiansheng’s Swordsmanship, being a family heirloom, was extremely solid in foundation. His Sword Qi was utterly firm and masculine, with sword tactics that were both vague and real, impenetrable.
The middle-aged Dongying raider’s blade technique was also exceptionally cunning. His Blade Qi was fierce and strong, and his blade paths were unpredictable, creating a sense of both normal and strange tactics merging.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of moves had passed, and neither could catch the other’s flaws.
Just then, when Yang Tiansheng’s True Qi was exhausted, and he was about to retreat to regather his energy, the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded. A deep blue cold light shot up from below, aiming directly at his lower stance.
"I’ve been waiting for you!"
Yang Tiansheng laughed heartily as he leaped into the air, spinning, his body suddenly erupting with hundreds of fine Sword Qi strands that shot out in all directions, enveloping everything.
The equally exhausted middle-aged Dongying raider tried to advance and coordinate an attack with the Dongying Ninja emerging from the ground, only to be forced back by the dense, rain-like Sword Qi, leaving the Dongying Ninja in the dirt shredded by countless Sword Qi, spouting thick streams of crimson blood...
"Boom."
Yang Tiansheng landed on the ground, his jade crown shattered, and his long hair, normally tied back, was now disheveled and fluttering. A trace of blood was on his lips, presenting a very ragged appearance.
Clearly, that burst of power had exceeded the limits of the meridians throughout his body.
Yet his spirit was more invigorated than ever.
"Now it’s just you!"
He stared unblinkingly at the middle-aged Dongying raider in front of him, spat out a mouthful of blood-stained saliva, and lunged forward again.
The middle-aged Dongying raider took a deep breath with a serious expression, grasped his blade with both hands, and as Yang Tiansheng approached within a few yards, he suddenly leapt into the air and shouted, "Cut through the wind!"
His blade descended like the bright moon, his Blade Qi surged like a great river.
Midair, Yang Tiansheng’s figure swayed, and as he faced the descending Blade Qi, he suddenly split into several afterimages, dodging the overwhelming blade energy: "Ha, you missed!"
He normally used his family’s Sun Eclipsing Sword Skill against opponents, and external people had almost forgotten his father Yang Yinghao’s nickname wasn’t "Sun-eclipsing Sword."
It was "Golden Winged Roc"!
"Boom!"
The missed blade energy struck the ground, shattering two thatched huts and carving a crack more than ten meters long on the earth.
The middle-aged Dongying raider, whose Qi had been disrupted by Yang Tiansheng, had not yet managed to gather his True Qi, when he saw a bright little sun emerge above his head.
"Vie with the Sun!"
The sword and the man were one, and the Sword Qi, swift as a startled swan, swept past the unprepared middle-aged Dongying raider and instantly split him into two, blood spraying the sky...
With one stroke securing victory, Yang Tiansheng, now all alone, heavily slammed onto the ground, kneeling propped by his precious sword, gasping violently.
"That was close..."
He tried with great effort to stand using his sword, but once more his knees buckled and he knelt down again, muttering, "Why am I only seventh on the Heroic List, when I clearly should be first...ugh..."
He suddenly vomited a large amount of blood, quickly covered his mouth, and muttered unclearly, "Damn it, Yang Ge, you’ve really screwed me over. I can’t get through this without two plates of scallion beef. I just can’t, damn it!"
At that moment, he felt as if every tendon and piece of flesh in his body had been hammered by a great iron mallet.
Yet in his heart, he felt an unprecedented satisfaction, an unexplainable inner strength supporting his spirit like a spinal column.
In a lifetime, how many things are absolutely right?
This was one of them!
’Was Yang Ge feeling the same when he executed those corrupt officials?’ he silently mused.
"It’s not good, the Branch Leader is vomiting blood!"
"Branch Leader, hold on!"
"Branch Leader, you mustn’t die..."
The adept hands of the Ming Sect, who had already crushed a band of miserable Dongying raiders, saw from afar his ceaseless vomiting of blood, hurriedly rushed over, and clumsily helped him up.
Yang Tiansheng struggled tremblingly, extending his hand: "Medicine, medicine..."
Someone grasped his hand tightly, tears brimming in their eyes, and asked, "Branch Leader, what do you need?"
Yang Tiansheng’s eyes rolling back, his face red and ears flushed, he shouted, "Give me medicine, give me medicine, damn it!"
Several skilled members of the Ming Sect, as though awakening from a dream, hastily searched his body and found a pile of small bottles: "Master, which one would you like to take?"
Yang Tiansheng was almost driven to passing out from anger and snatched a small gold bottle from one of them, bit off the stopper, and poured two pills into his mouth.
After swallowing two of the Yang Family’s secret pills for internal injuries, whether it was psychological or the efficacy of the medicine was indeed that strong, Yang Tiansheng immediately felt spirited again.
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He shrugged off several subordinates who were supporting him, steadied himself with his treasured sword, and spun around to take another look at the tragic scene surrounding him...
He closed his eyes and squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth, "Chop all these Dongying invaders up and dump them into the latrine pit!"
"Yes, sir!"
The skilled members of the Ming Sect shouted in unison, raising their gleaming weapons and rushing toward the dozen or so stubbornly resisting Dongying invaders.
With the death of the middle-aged Dongying invader, their desperate and angry shouts quickly turned into wails of despair.
The skilled members of the Ming Sect truly lived up to their words; whether the invaders were alive or dead, they chopped all of them into pieces and shoveled them into the latrine pit...
Yang Tiansheng, leaning on his sword, sat on a millstone, directing his subordinates to search for survivors.
Soon, the only survivors left in Guihua Plain were found by the skilled members of the Ming Sect.
"Are they all here?"
He looked at his subordinates in disbelief.
He distinctly remembered that the message he received stated this Guihua Plain had several hundred people.
The skilled members of the Ming Sect hung their heads in gloom, not daring to meet his expectant gaze, nor able to answer his question.
Yang Tiansheng shakily extended a hand, counting one by one, over and over again.
Counting again and again, he found there were still only eight... eight children.
Some were drenched, clearly just pulled out from water tanks.
Others had their heads covered with grass and ash, clearly just dragged out from under the stove...
Yang Tiansheng could imagine the frantic scene of their parents and elders hiding them before facing those Dongying invaders with ferocious smiles.
The eight children huddled together, crying loudly...
Their childish, hysterical cries echoed back and forth in the silent village.
Yang Tiansheng wanted to comfort them, but when he opened his mouth, he could not utter a word, feeling as though a large rock was blocking his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.
He could only turn his head away and waved his hand forcefully, instructing his subordinates to find some clothes for these children.
After a while, he took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "Such a sin, truly a damn sin..."
He had never intended to be a good man.
Because being a good man is too tiresome, too difficult, too troublesome, too involuntary.
He just wanted to be an idler who was neither too good nor too bad; drinking, making friends, joining the crowd, living freely, unrestrictedly, and breezily enjoying his life...
But at this moment, he really hated himself for why he arrived so late.
Why did he arrive so late?
Was it because the top courtesan last night was too enchanting?
Was it because the baozi and fish slice porridge this morning was too delicious?
Or was it because the horses were too precious and he had to conserve their strength?
Perhaps all of these were reasons.
Each "yes" made Yang Tiansheng want to slap himself.
Notions of righteousness are too false, too abstract.
Whereas the suffering of the common people is too real, too concrete...
"This matter is not over!"
Yang Tiansheng, disturbed, hissed, "Send signals immediately for help from all branches, as many people as can come, the more the better. If they are willing to send help, from now on, even if they want Yang Tiansheng to fetch them a chamber pot, I will not say a single word against it!"
Despite the chilly spring air and howling north wind,
It couldn’t cool down the fiery blood in the hearts of courageous men!