Chapter 30
: No need to hold back, kill the child!
The battle inside the compound continues.
In the midst of the melee, a boy at the peak of body tempering crashed through the partition from the side. He tore off the iron bars with his bare hands and used them as a stick. With one sweep, he sent three Black Cavalry Guards flying, crashing into the wall and sliding to the ground.
A boy at the Qi Refining Realm grabbed a brick and lunged at Yang Xu.
Yang Xu parried with his sword, and the brick smashed into several pieces on the blade, but the boy's other hand followed up, his five fingers joined together, and he slapped Yang Xu in the chest.
Yang Xu was sent flying backward and crashed into the wall, coughing up blood before sliding down the wall and sitting down.
"Tsk... these kids are fucking tough."
Yang Xu used the knife to support himself as he stood up, his left arm hanging limply at his side, unable to be raised.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and watched as the seven or eight-year-old boy picked up another brick and walked towards him, his steps stiff, like a little wooden puppet being led by strings.
Xu Xian used a palm strike to knock back the two children beside him, then glanced back at the battlefield. Nearly half of the Black Cavalry Guards were injured, and only seven or eight were still standing.
Lu Jing was entangled by the three children. He had already used his swordsmanship to its fullest extent, but the children were not afraid of pain or death. They would rush back as soon as they were driven back.
Liu Shan had a cut on his forehead, and blood smeared half of his face. Yang Xu leaned against the wall, panting.
The Gu Master stood leisurely in the shadows deep in the back room. Behind him, the shopkeeper was stuffing bottles and jars from the table into a bundle, looking somewhat flustered and glancing back at the battlefield from time to time.
The Gu Master remained calm, a smile playing on his lips.
Xu Xian looked at the Gu Master, then glanced back at the children rushing forward, the instructions of Pharmacist Sun flashing through his mind.
"If these Gu worms come to life, the damage they cause to the human body is irreversible. If they are not activated, it's fine; the worms can simply be dug out. But once activated, their brains are gone, and they will only become walking corpses!"
He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and spoke.
"These children are gone forever; the damage to their minds is irreversible! Send them on their way!"
Yang Xu suddenly turned his head to look at him, and Lu Jing, Liu Shan and the others were also shocked.
"There's no need to hold back."
Xu Xian gripped his goose-feather saber tightly. "Kill them."
Yang Xu was stunned. "Mr. Xu, these children are innocent, we..."
"I'll go and explain to Lord Mo."
Xu Xian cleaved a girl who lunged at him with a single stroke of his blade. The blade sliced across the girl's neck, and her head flew off, blood splattering on his face.
The girl finally collapsed and wouldn't get up again.
His voice drowned out the clash of weapons, "These children's lives matter, and so do our brothers' lives. I'll take the blame!"
Lu Jing stood surrounded by the three children, his long sword still stained with the blood left from when he knocked the girl unconscious.
Hearing Xu Xian's words, he closed his eyes. Two breaths later, he reopened his eyes and gave the order in a deep voice.
"Let's do it!"
Lu Jing swept his sword out, and the boy's head flew off. His body was still in a forward-leaning posture, and he took two steps before crashing to the ground.
Lu Jing didn't stop. With a flick of his sword, he pierced the second child's heart. He pulled out the sword and struck the third child's temple with his backhand. The girl flew out and crashed into the wall. When she landed, her eyes were open, and the silver in her pupils had finally faded.
Lu Jing, now at the Bone Tempering Realm, no longer held back and quickly carved a bloody path straight to the Gu Master deep within the back hall.
The Gu Master's smile finally froze. He took a step back and shouted at the guard beside him, "Stop him!"
He never expected Xu Xian to have such courage, to disregard everything.
Two guards at the Meridian Opening Realm bravely faced Lu Jing, but Lu Jing killed them one by one with his sword. The first man's sword was knocked away, and the second man's shoulder was pierced. The two of them together did not last five moves.
Lu Jing stepped over the two guards with his sword and thrust it towards the Gu Master's shoulder.
But at that moment, a heavy blade cleaved his sword in two from the side.
Swords clashed, sparks flew.
The man wielding the knife was one-armed, dressed in a gray robe, and carried a heavy, unsheathed sword.
It was Helan Heng, the Bone Tempering Realm swordsman who ambushed the envoy's convoy in the Green Wolf Forest and ambushed Yang Xu at the Jingzhou Post Station.
"The weedy Helan..."
Lu Jing narrowed his eyes. "This time, I'm really angry!"
Helan Heng gripped the heavy sword in one hand, looked at Lu Jing, and paused for a moment before saying, "Commander Lu, I'm sorry!"
"Go to hell!"
Lu Jing thrust out his sword, shouting, "Dare to stop me from capturing this beast? Die here!"
The two engaged in a fierce battle in the narrow back room, one at the Bone Tempering Realm and the other at the Bone Tempering Realm. Sword light and blade aura crisscrossed, and air waves surged.
Lu Jing's sword was fast and ruthless, while He Lanheng's knife was heavy and steady; for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
The Gu Master squinted at the stalemate in the battle, then glanced at the children being systematically killed by Xu Xian and Yang Xu in the front hall. His expression darkened, and he nodded slightly to the shopkeeper.
"Walk."
The two turned and went into the inner room.
He Lan blocked the doorway to the inner room, his heavy sword held horizontally in front of him. Lu Jing tried to chase after him, but was forced back by He Lan's sword.
Yang Xu also wanted to charge, but the girl at the Meridian Opening Realm was still attacking relentlessly, and he couldn't defeat her in time, so he couldn't break free at all.
Xu Xian raised his palm and slapped a child away, then glanced back at He Lanheng—who was blocking the doorway, refusing to budge.
...
The elegant Gu Master strode through the inner room, pushed open an empty dye vat in the corner, revealing a hidden door.
Behind the hidden door is a secret passage wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
As he walked out, he pulled a white handkerchief from his sleeve and elegantly wiped the silver powder off his fingers.
"We can't stay in Kyoto anymore. It's a pity about that batch of experimental samples. Half of them haven't been refined yet, but it's okay... Let's go to Quzhou first and come back after things calm down."
The shopkeeper followed behind, carrying the bundle, glancing back at the entrance to the secret passage to see if anyone was chasing them. "Young Master, could the Investigation Department have already taken notice of Quzhou as well?"
"The Investigation Department's reach isn't that long, and with His Highness protecting them, how could they have investigated so quickly..."
The Gu Master casually tossed his handkerchief aside. "If we keep a low profile for now, once these Gu soldiers are fully trained, not only the Inspection Bureau, but even the Zhenbei Army will have to think twice!"
The shop owner breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something when suddenly the ground beneath his feet shook, and the soil in front of the secret passage collapsed.
Dust billowed up, and bits of soil and stones fell from above.
The shop owner coughed repeatedly from the choking, and the Gu Master covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and took a step back.
"laugh..."
A childish voice came from the dust.
"Sure enough, someone came. My brother said to keep them alive, so we should just make them pass out, right? ...No, no, if they pass out, I'll have to keep an eye on them, in case they wake up too early and run away. That's too much trouble. It'll be much easier if they can't move..."
A little girl emerged from the dust.
She was twelve or thirteen years old, not even reaching the Gu Master's chest, and was holding a turtle the size of her palm.
The turtle poked its head out of its shell, rolled its beady eyes, sized up the two people in front of it, and yawned.
The Gu Master squinted, using the dim light filtering through the cracks in the secret passage to scrutinize Hua Xi from head to toe.
A little girl, wearing an ill-fitting old robe with the sleeves rolled up several times and her hair tied crookedly, looked no different from the other children who had been locked in the cubicles.
"Little girl..."
The Gu Master removed the handkerchief from his mouth, revealing a gentle smile. "Are you here to capture me too?"
Hua Xi shook her head. "You're wrong. I just wanted you to stay here and wait for my brother."
"Stay here?"
The Gu Master paused for a moment, then his smile deepened. With a flick of his finger hidden behind his back, a silver Gu larva silently slipped from his sleeve and fell into the mud of the secret passage, wriggling toward Hua Xi's feet.
Hua Xi looked down at the insect, then stepped on it.
With a soft splatter.
The silver worm larva was crushed into a small puddle of silvery-gray liquid.
"You haven't answered me yet..." The Gu Master's smile faded slightly.
"I already told you, you're waiting here for my brother. You're a bit silly, why are you still asking..."
Hua Xi tilted her head and looked at him. "Are you going to lie down yourselves, or should I help you?"
The Gu Master remained silent for a few moments, then gestured to the shop owner behind him.
The shopkeeper put down his bundle, took out a pill from his pocket, swallowed it, and felt a jolt throughout his body. His blood surged, and he immediately sneered, drawing a short knife from his waist and charging towards Hua Xi...
In the midst of the melee, a boy at the peak of body tempering crashed through the partition from the side. He tore off the iron bars with his bare hands and used them as a stick. With one sweep, he sent three Black Cavalry Guards flying, crashing into the wall and sliding to the ground.
A boy at the Qi Refining Realm grabbed a brick and lunged at Yang Xu.
Yang Xu parried with his sword, and the brick smashed into several pieces on the blade, but the boy's other hand followed up, his five fingers joined together, and he slapped Yang Xu in the chest.
Yang Xu was sent flying backward and crashed into the wall, coughing up blood before sliding down the wall and sitting down.
"Tsk... these kids are fucking tough."
Yang Xu used the knife to support himself as he stood up, his left arm hanging limply at his side, unable to be raised.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and watched as the seven or eight-year-old boy picked up another brick and walked towards him, his steps stiff, like a little wooden puppet being led by strings.
Xu Xian used a palm strike to knock back the two children beside him, then glanced back at the battlefield. Nearly half of the Black Cavalry Guards were injured, and only seven or eight were still standing.
Lu Jing was entangled by the three children. He had already used his swordsmanship to its fullest extent, but the children were not afraid of pain or death. They would rush back as soon as they were driven back.
Liu Shan had a cut on his forehead, and blood smeared half of his face. Yang Xu leaned against the wall, panting.
The Gu Master stood leisurely in the shadows deep in the back room. Behind him, the shopkeeper was stuffing bottles and jars from the table into a bundle, looking somewhat flustered and glancing back at the battlefield from time to time.
The Gu Master remained calm, a smile playing on his lips.
Xu Xian looked at the Gu Master, then glanced back at the children rushing forward, the instructions of Pharmacist Sun flashing through his mind.
"If these Gu worms come to life, the damage they cause to the human body is irreversible. If they are not activated, it's fine; the worms can simply be dug out. But once activated, their brains are gone, and they will only become walking corpses!"
He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and spoke.
"These children are gone forever; the damage to their minds is irreversible! Send them on their way!"
Yang Xu suddenly turned his head to look at him, and Lu Jing, Liu Shan and the others were also shocked.
"There's no need to hold back."
Xu Xian gripped his goose-feather saber tightly. "Kill them."
Yang Xu was stunned. "Mr. Xu, these children are innocent, we..."
"I'll go and explain to Lord Mo."
Xu Xian cleaved a girl who lunged at him with a single stroke of his blade. The blade sliced across the girl's neck, and her head flew off, blood splattering on his face.
The girl finally collapsed and wouldn't get up again.
His voice drowned out the clash of weapons, "These children's lives matter, and so do our brothers' lives. I'll take the blame!"
Lu Jing stood surrounded by the three children, his long sword still stained with the blood left from when he knocked the girl unconscious.
Hearing Xu Xian's words, he closed his eyes. Two breaths later, he reopened his eyes and gave the order in a deep voice.
"Let's do it!"
Lu Jing swept his sword out, and the boy's head flew off. His body was still in a forward-leaning posture, and he took two steps before crashing to the ground.
Lu Jing didn't stop. With a flick of his sword, he pierced the second child's heart. He pulled out the sword and struck the third child's temple with his backhand. The girl flew out and crashed into the wall. When she landed, her eyes were open, and the silver in her pupils had finally faded.
Lu Jing, now at the Bone Tempering Realm, no longer held back and quickly carved a bloody path straight to the Gu Master deep within the back hall.
The Gu Master's smile finally froze. He took a step back and shouted at the guard beside him, "Stop him!"
He never expected Xu Xian to have such courage, to disregard everything.
Two guards at the Meridian Opening Realm bravely faced Lu Jing, but Lu Jing killed them one by one with his sword. The first man's sword was knocked away, and the second man's shoulder was pierced. The two of them together did not last five moves.
Lu Jing stepped over the two guards with his sword and thrust it towards the Gu Master's shoulder.
But at that moment, a heavy blade cleaved his sword in two from the side.
Swords clashed, sparks flew.
The man wielding the knife was one-armed, dressed in a gray robe, and carried a heavy, unsheathed sword.
It was Helan Heng, the Bone Tempering Realm swordsman who ambushed the envoy's convoy in the Green Wolf Forest and ambushed Yang Xu at the Jingzhou Post Station.
"The weedy Helan..."
Lu Jing narrowed his eyes. "This time, I'm really angry!"
Helan Heng gripped the heavy sword in one hand, looked at Lu Jing, and paused for a moment before saying, "Commander Lu, I'm sorry!"
"Go to hell!"
Lu Jing thrust out his sword, shouting, "Dare to stop me from capturing this beast? Die here!"
The two engaged in a fierce battle in the narrow back room, one at the Bone Tempering Realm and the other at the Bone Tempering Realm. Sword light and blade aura crisscrossed, and air waves surged.
Lu Jing's sword was fast and ruthless, while He Lanheng's knife was heavy and steady; for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
The Gu Master squinted at the stalemate in the battle, then glanced at the children being systematically killed by Xu Xian and Yang Xu in the front hall. His expression darkened, and he nodded slightly to the shopkeeper.
"Walk."
The two turned and went into the inner room.
He Lan blocked the doorway to the inner room, his heavy sword held horizontally in front of him. Lu Jing tried to chase after him, but was forced back by He Lan's sword.
Yang Xu also wanted to charge, but the girl at the Meridian Opening Realm was still attacking relentlessly, and he couldn't defeat her in time, so he couldn't break free at all.
Xu Xian raised his palm and slapped a child away, then glanced back at He Lanheng—who was blocking the doorway, refusing to budge.
...
The elegant Gu Master strode through the inner room, pushed open an empty dye vat in the corner, revealing a hidden door.
Behind the hidden door is a secret passage wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
As he walked out, he pulled a white handkerchief from his sleeve and elegantly wiped the silver powder off his fingers.
"We can't stay in Kyoto anymore. It's a pity about that batch of experimental samples. Half of them haven't been refined yet, but it's okay... Let's go to Quzhou first and come back after things calm down."
The shopkeeper followed behind, carrying the bundle, glancing back at the entrance to the secret passage to see if anyone was chasing them. "Young Master, could the Investigation Department have already taken notice of Quzhou as well?"
"The Investigation Department's reach isn't that long, and with His Highness protecting them, how could they have investigated so quickly..."
The Gu Master casually tossed his handkerchief aside. "If we keep a low profile for now, once these Gu soldiers are fully trained, not only the Inspection Bureau, but even the Zhenbei Army will have to think twice!"
The shop owner breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something when suddenly the ground beneath his feet shook, and the soil in front of the secret passage collapsed.
Dust billowed up, and bits of soil and stones fell from above.
The shop owner coughed repeatedly from the choking, and the Gu Master covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and took a step back.
"laugh..."
A childish voice came from the dust.
"Sure enough, someone came. My brother said to keep them alive, so we should just make them pass out, right? ...No, no, if they pass out, I'll have to keep an eye on them, in case they wake up too early and run away. That's too much trouble. It'll be much easier if they can't move..."
A little girl emerged from the dust.
She was twelve or thirteen years old, not even reaching the Gu Master's chest, and was holding a turtle the size of her palm.
The turtle poked its head out of its shell, rolled its beady eyes, sized up the two people in front of it, and yawned.
The Gu Master squinted, using the dim light filtering through the cracks in the secret passage to scrutinize Hua Xi from head to toe.
A little girl, wearing an ill-fitting old robe with the sleeves rolled up several times and her hair tied crookedly, looked no different from the other children who had been locked in the cubicles.
"Little girl..."
The Gu Master removed the handkerchief from his mouth, revealing a gentle smile. "Are you here to capture me too?"
Hua Xi shook her head. "You're wrong. I just wanted you to stay here and wait for my brother."
"Stay here?"
The Gu Master paused for a moment, then his smile deepened. With a flick of his finger hidden behind his back, a silver Gu larva silently slipped from his sleeve and fell into the mud of the secret passage, wriggling toward Hua Xi's feet.
Hua Xi looked down at the insect, then stepped on it.
With a soft splatter.
The silver worm larva was crushed into a small puddle of silvery-gray liquid.
"You haven't answered me yet..." The Gu Master's smile faded slightly.
"I already told you, you're waiting here for my brother. You're a bit silly, why are you still asking..."
Hua Xi tilted her head and looked at him. "Are you going to lie down yourselves, or should I help you?"
The Gu Master remained silent for a few moments, then gestured to the shop owner behind him.
The shopkeeper put down his bundle, took out a pill from his pocket, swallowed it, and felt a jolt throughout his body. His blood surged, and he immediately sneered, drawing a short knife from his waist and charging towards Hua Xi...