Chapter 88: Assassination
On the banks of Qinnan River...
Chu Liang brought Liu Xiaoyu'er to the location mentioned in the letter. However, they didn't see the little girl's elder sister; all they saw was a finely dressed figure standing there.
"Lord Xia?"
Chu Liang wasn't surprised to see Xia An. He had already speculated that the letter might have been from the House of Mountain-Subjugating Marquess.
As the young lord watched Chu Liang and Liu Xiaoyu'er walk over, he made no attempt to suppress the sinister smile forming on his face.
"You're here..." Xia An said through gritted teeth.
His eyes had an excited expression. It was like he was finally about to unleash his pent-up rage, which had been accumulating for a long time.
Xia An continued, "In my life, only a few people have made me hate them as much as you do. You..."
How aggressive, Chu Liang thought.
Upon seeing Xia An's unconcealed malice, Chu Liang knew that the rage Xia An felt toward him had finally reached a boiling point.
So, Chu Liang raised his finger.
Evil-Dispelling Spell!
You'll explode with rage sooner or later, so you can just do it later. Let's clarify the situation first.
The cooldown period for the Evil-Dispelling Spell, which was essentially a forgiveness spell, was over, so Chu Liang made full use of the spell and cast it on the young lord again. It was quite a coincidence that aside from the trial run on Lin Bei to test the spell's effects, Chu Liang had only ever used this spell on the young lord.
Xia An could be considered as the "lucky" first person to receive the full unjust effects of the Evil-Dispelling Spell.
A green halo appeared out of thin air above the young lord's head. Right when he was just about to arrogantly make some savage comments about Chu Liang, Xia An suddenly froze. The connection to his anger was severed once again.
"You—ah, uh, ah, uh..."
The sudden change caused the young lord's words to once again get stuck in his mouth before simply disappearing entirely.
Xia An thought, This familiar feeling...
Gazing at Chu Liang who was in front of him, Xia An suddenly felt that all of Chu Liang's actions and conduct seemed reasonable.
Moreover, I've already decided to kill him today. So, why bother getting angry at a man who is about to die?
Indeed... The Evil-Dispelling Spell could only rid a person of their resentment, so it had little effect on Xia An's existing intention to kill Chu Liang.
After all, the young lord's desire to kill Chu Liang hadn't been born purely out of anger. The most important reason was that by investigating Liu Xiaoyu, Chu Liang posed a threat to the House of the Mountain-Subjugating Marquess!
Upon seeing a wave of calm settle over Xia An's eyes, Chu Liang said, "Lord Xia, you wrote a letter asking to meet with us. Does that mean you know the whereabouts of Miss Liu Xiaoyu'er's sister?"
"Ah..." Xia An uttered. He shook his head and smiled. Then he replied calmly, "I don't. But if I did, I would have killed her first."
Under the spell's effects, Xia An was in an extremely calm state of mind. Seeing as the two people he was confronted with were going to die soon, he didn't mind letting them depart as enlightened ghosts.
Upon hearing Xia An's words, Liu Xiaoyu'er immediately grew quite anxious.
She stepped forward and questioned sharply, "Why do you want to kill my sister?"
"I initially tricked her into returning to my residence. I didn't intend to kill her at that point. But who knew she would foolishly eavesdrop on my conversation, overhearing my household's secret? So, I decided to sell her to the Eastern Regions. However, she turned out to be a demon and unexpectedly managed to escape. I can't let my household's secret be exposed..." Xia An answered candidly.
He wasn't holding back anymore.
The young lord looked at Chu Liang and continued, "You really... absolutely shouldn't have interfered in this matter. If a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect were to successfully locate her, wouldn't that place my household, the House of the Mountain-Subjugating Marquess, in a state of no reprieve? So, I had no choice but to call you here today to kill you."
Xia An's intention to kill Chu Liang and Liu Xiaoyu'er hadn't been within Chu Liang's expectations. Yet, despite how astonished Chu Liang felt upon hearing that, he showed no signs of panic. Instead, he hurriedly seized the chance to find out more information while the Evil-Dispelling Spell was still in effect.
Chu Liang asked, "What unspeakable secret is the House of the Mountain-Subjugating Marquess hiding that requires such great protection?"
His right hand, which was out of Xia An's line of sight, moved stealthily.
A subtle crack rang out... It was the faint sound of something breaking.
"Oh, it's merely that we run a business selling girls from the Southern Regions to the Eastern Regions," Xia An said, downplaying the magnitude of what he was actually saying. Then he added, "Now that I've told the two of you this secret, it's time for you to die."
If it wasn't for the effects of the Evil-Dispelling Spell, the young lord wouldn't have wasted any time talking; he would have attacked straight away. It was all thanks to the spell getting rid of his anger that he patiently explained everything. Nevertheless, Xia An's plan to kill Chu Liang and Liu Xiaoyu'er hadn't changed.
Once Xia An was done talking, Liu Xiaoyu'er felt quite afraid, so she turned to look at Chu Liang for comfort. Yet, this one glance led her to see something that terrified her even more, and her eyes filled with great fear!
Just as Chu Liang caught a glimpse of Liu Xiaoyu'er's frightened expression, the Crimson Executioner sent him a signal.
Chu Liang instantly understood what was happening. There was incoming danger!
A split second later, a green light enveloped him!
...
It turned out that right after Xia An finished speaking, a black-clad arm had appeared out of thin air behind Chu Liang. In its hand was a sharp jet-black short saber.
This lone saber-wielding hand had made its sudden appearance silently, without any indication of its presence, and thrust the saber toward Chu Liang.
It was by a lucky coincidence that Liu Xiaoyu'er had turned her head to look at Chu Liang at that very moment and happened to see that black-clad arm.
Fortunately, Chu Liang had keen senses. Upon seeing Liu Xiaoyu'er's change in expression and sensing the Crimson Executioner move slightly, Chu Liang deduced there was incoming danger.
In a flash, he activated the green leaf, his enchanted tool, and had it wrap him up like a zongzi.
The saber's strike was seemingly ordinary with no flashy moves involved. However, it easily pierced through the green leaf's robust defense like it was cutting through tofu. The saber didn't manage to go all the way in, but it had struck its target.
The hand pulled the now bloodied saber out of the green leaf before stealthily vanishing through an invisible portal.
A black-robed figure appeared behind Xia An and scoffed coldly, "One strike didn't kill him. His enchanted tool is quite extraordinary."
As expected, this person was Master Lu—a heinous evildoer who had triggered the Crimson Executioner.
Meanwhile, Chu Liang deactivated the green leaf's defensive wrapping and sat down on the ground, panting heavily. There was a deep wound in his right side. In the blink of an eye, Chu Liang's blood dyed the grass beneath him a dark red.
"You were able to survive a strike from Master Lu, who has the Seven Stealthy Killings Transcendent Form... I think you can die without regrets now," Xia An said coldly.
Master Lu lightly wiped off the blood on his black saber and gazed at Chu Liang with a rather amused expression, like an old cat observing a young and agile mouse.
Master Lu had reached the sixth realm of cultivation, the Transcendence Realm, by cultivating the transcendent arts of the Seven Killings Star, specifically the Seven Stealthy Killings Transcendent Form.
During the Heavenly Star Divine Cult's era of glory, the Seven Killings Star wasn't considered a major faction internally, but they were greatly feared by outsiders. The Seven Killings Star was renowned as the strongest assassin faction! They specialized in covert assassinations, making them extremely difficult to guard against.
Master Lu's silent attack, which had appeared out of thin air earlier, demonstrated the formidable power of the sixth realm. If Chu Liang hadn't had that extra bit of luck from Liu Xiaoyu'er's presence, he would have undoubtedly lost his life.
In addition to luck, Chu Liang had an enchanted tool capable of defending against a fatal strike from a cultivator who had reached the sixth realm. Without it, his efforts would have been futile even if he had been prepared for the attack.
The green leaf hadn't been able to completely hinder the strike... but it was remarkable that it had even managed to hinder it at all.
"Haa..."
Chu Liang was breathing laboriously as he did his best to endure the pain caused by the injury and used his foundational qi to seal off the blood vessels around the wound. Then he looked at Liu Xiaoyu'er, who was so frightened that she just stood there stunned.
"Miss Xiaoyu'er, after you land, don't just walk off. Wait for me to find you," Chu Liang said with much difficulty.
"Huh?" Liu Xiaoyu'er uttered.
She didn't understand what Chu Liang meant at all.
Subsequently, Chu Liang raised his finger and pointed at Liu Xiaoyu'er. The little girl was enveloped in a green light. This was her third time getting wrapped up like a zongzi with fish filling.
After being pierced by the strike of a powerful sixth-realm cultivator, the green leaf was still largely intact, but it had a hole now.
Chu Liang gently made a hand seal and said soundlessly, "Launch."
Whoosh—
A beam of green light suddenly shot upward, heading straight for the distant skies!
"Don't let her escape!" Xia An shouted.
Master Lu, who was behind Xia An, raised one of his hands. It then vanished along with half of his arm. He seemed to be using the same divine skill from before. However, when Master Lu pulled his saber back out of thin air this time, there was no blood on it.
With a grim expression, Master Lu said, "She escaped very quickly. Surprisingly, my divine skill failed to catch up with that enchanted tool..."
His attempt to attack Liu Xiaoyu'er in the same way as he'd done with Chu Liang had failed. That zongzi had already turned into a star in the distant sky.
During that brief moment earlier, Chu Liang had filled Green Leaf to the brim with foundational qi, so it would likely keep flying for several hundred li before it would drop from the sky. Chu Liang hoped that Liu Xiaoyu'er would land safely.
Xia An clearly hadn't expected such a thing to happen. Despite having such a great way to escape, Chu Liang had given the opportunity to Liu Xiaoyu'er at this critical moment instead of using it himself.
Xia An growled, "We absolutely cannot let him leave alive!"
"He certainly won't be able to get away..." Master Lu replied, appearing calm and collected. He looked at Chu Liang and said, "Foolish disciple of the Mount Shu Sect, I didn't expect that you'd have such a way of escaping... However, what's even more unexpected is that you'd give the chance of survival to someone else while you remain here to die."
Chu Liang, who was sitting on the ground and unable to run because of his severe injury, lifted his head to face the mighty sixth-realm cultivator who was far more powerful than him.
Yet, contrary to Master Lu and Xia An's expectations, Chu Liang suddenly revealed a smile.
Chu Liang asked, "Who told you that?"
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