Chapter 28: Battle on the Stone Bridge
Chapter 28: Battle on the Stone Bridge
The carriage advanced along the main street steadily.
A group of guards, dressed in either black or red, surrounded the carriage as it slowly proceeded.
The black-clothed guards were the Origin Bureau’s martial artists, while the red-clothed guards were naturally the Blood-Robed Guards.
“Stop the carriage,” Su Chen said when the carriage had come to a stone bridge.
The carriage came to a stop. Su Chen walked out from inside the carriage and gazed at the stone bridge.
A person was standing there.
Wei Liancheng.
He was standing on the bridge with his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the swimming fish beneath the bridge. Above his head hung fiery-red willow branches.
When Su Chen appeared, Wei Liancheng turned around and glanced at him, then smiled slightly.
He said, “Knowledge Executor Su, in the two days we haven’t seen each other, your presence seems to have become much more prevalent. This extravagance is much greater than it was before.”
“There’s nothing I can do. The roads of life are difficult and not peaceful, and there are always rascals looking to act against the law. It’s not that strange for a government official ot have guards, but you, Sir Wei, still dare to walk around in broad daylight even though you’ve offended the Long Clan? Are you treating those Bloodline Nobility Clans like they’re just spring onions?”
Wei Liancheng laughed. “I should be saying that to you. It seems like you’ve offended them more, haven’t you?”
“I’m just doing my job as a government official; what offenses are there to speak of?”
“Well said. Knowledge Executor Su has Knowledge Executor Su’s own source of confidence, as do I. But no matter what, I have aided Knowledge Executor Su before, so I would ask you to give me face and hand the item over,” Wei Liancheng spoke as he stretched out his hand.
“This?” Su Chen flipped his hand over, the metal block appearing in his hand. He tossed it over to Wei Liancheng.
Wei Liancheng caught it and glanced it over. He paused slightly. “It’s broken?”
Then, he shook his head and laughed bitterly, “Of course it should be broken. Otherwise, how could something like that happen?”
He said to Su Chen, “Many thanks, Knowledge Executor Su, for returning this item to me. Now, we are even.”
“No problem,” Su Chen replied. “You won’t be able to take this thing with you anyways.”
Wei Liancheng was stunned for a moment.
Then, he realized something and turned around to look behind him. A large commotion was beginning to stir behind him, and they seemed to be headed in this direction at high speeds.
“These bastards from the Long Clan really are fast,” Wei Liancheng laughed.
Su Chen reminded him, “They’ve come with preparations this time. The tactics you used to beat them last time might not be useful anymore.”
“I know,” Wei Liancheng replied. “Have you been waiting for this moment the whole time?”
“I just wanted to see what kind of person you are. Right, if you can’t hold on, you can give me this metal block for now. I can keep it safe for you.”
If he couldn’t hold on, he would die; without his life, what good would this metal block do for him? What was the point of keeping it safe anyways?
Su Chen’s words seemed illogical, but when Wei Liancheng heard it, he nodded his head. “Okay. Then, Knowledge Executor Su, I’ll leave it in your care for a bit longer.”
As he spoke, he actually tossed the metal block at Su Chen.
He turned around and walked towards the Long Clan’s entourage.
The one walking in the very front was a bearded bulky man. He was called He Lianwei, a Yang Opening Realm cultivator. A large group of Blood Boiling and Qi Drawing Realm cultivators were behind him, followed by nearly a hundred martial artists. At the same time, to the left and right of the path, as well as behind Su Chen, appeared groups led by a Yang Opening Realm cultivator. Everyone was surrounded by them.
Upon seeing Wei Liancheng come over, a savage expression appeared on He Lianwei’s face. “Wei Liancheng, if you surrender yourself and take away the prince’s curse, we can leave you an intact corpse!”
Wei Liancheng laughed. “I don’t need an intact corpse, and I don’t need you to let me pass.”
As he spoke, his figure flashed forwards, charging straight for He Lianwei.
“Seeking death!” He Lianwei’s expression only grew fiercer upon seeing this. “Let’s go, but don’t kill him! We need him alive!”
“Rah!” The guards swarmed forth with a cry. At the same time, an Origin Qi Scholar raised a pearl in the air. The pearl shone with a brilliant, divine light, scattering any dark haze that might appear. Evidently, it was brought specifically to deal with the tactic that Wei Liancheng had used last time.
But this time, Wei Liancheng didn’t use it.
He just charged right into the pile of people, a steel blade in his hand. The blade swung through the air, a snow-colored glow suddenly shining form the blade. A guard had already been sliced in two, but Wei Liancheng didn’t stop; he continued to advance, the snow-colored blade continuing to cut throw the crowd.
Blood splashed everywhere.
Wei Liancheng was like a fierce tiger, charging into the group of people and beginning to massacre everyone their.
His blade technique was extremely ruthless, and his figure was extremely agile. Blood sprayed from every blade swing.
In but a moment, nearly ten people had died to his blade.
He Lianwei was indifferent. Those martial artists were just cannon fodder anyways, like a meat shield. They were used to test Wei Liancheng and make sure that he didn’t come up with a new strange technique.
The Origin Qi Scholars off to the side had already begun to react to Wei Liancheng’s assault. Waves of Origin Energy began to rush towards Wei Liancheng. Even though their cultivation bases were weaker than Wei Liancheng’s, the combined attacks from ten of them gave him quite a bit of pressure.
As if he was suddenly carrying a mountain on his back, Wei Liancheng’s agile movements suddenly became extremely slow and heavy. Even his blade swings became stiff.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two streaks of blade light flashed through the air.
One was from Wei Liancheng killing his opponent, but the other was from a strike that landed on his back. Even though the guard who had successfully landed a blow was killed an instant later, the group of people began to yell in excitement.
Even more furious attacks began to land, and Wei Liancheng’s fighting became more and more strained.
He continued to hack unrelentingly, however.
Even more blood splashed everywhere, some of it from the enemies and some from Wei Liancheng himself.
Wei Liancheng, however, completely ignored it, as if he couldn’t feel pain. In fact, a faint smile was still on his face.
This smile sent a chill down He Lianwei’s spine when he saw it.
He yelled, “Wei Liancheng, you still aren’t stopping? If you keep on fighting, you’ll die!”
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping will happen,” Wei Liancheng said slowly. “Death…… isn’t the end, but the beginning! You mediocre people will never understand what I mean!”
As he spoke, his movements began to speed up again, and his aura began to surge. He charged at the Origin Qi Scholars in front of him, his blade surging with an unprecedented power. Two Origin Qi Scholars were struck by his blows and were both cleaved into two. Wei Liancheng then reached out his left hand and grabbed an Origin Qi Scholar’s skull, shattering it.
Boom!
A spear lodged itself in Wei Liancheng’s midsection, but Wei Liancheng ignored it. He pulled his blade horizontally, cutting open that Origin Qi Scholar’s throat.
Another Origin Qi Scholar charged forwards, his claws pulsating with purple light as he reached out for Wei Liancheng’s chest.
Wei Liancheng reached out with his left hand and grabbed the Origin Qi Scholar by the neck. Just as he was about to break his neck, however, a blade swung down, chopping off his left arm.
Wei Liancheng had no strength to crush the Origin Qi Scholar’s neck anymore. Instead, he gave his severed arm a shove, sending half of his arm right through his opponent’s throat.
Three martial artists came charging at him from behind, their iron spears penetrating Wei Liancheng’s back. One of them was particularly powerful and was actually able to penetrate his entire body, but he was actually an Origin Qi Scholar in hiding.
Wei Liancheng ignored it. The blade in his right hand swung behind him. Three heads were lifted from their bodies.
But at the same time, two palm strikes came thundering down at him. One slammed into his chest, while the other one slammed into his temple, almost causing Wei Liancheng’s skull to cave in.
“No! STOP!” Long Qingjiang bellowed from afar.
He wanted an alive Wei Liancheng, not a dead one.
But in a life-or-death battle, it was hard to hold back. Even an order from the Long Clan’s Patriarch wouldn’t be enough to make those guards hold back in the face of such a crisis. Anyone who did listen to that order would only be looking to die.
The Origin Qi Scholar who had struck Wei Liancheng on the head paused ever-so-slightly upon hearing Long Qingjiang’s howl. An instant later, Wei Liancheng planted a foot firmly on his nether regions, smashing his entire lower body into oblivion.
An Origin Qi Scholar flew by, swinging his large blade and chopping off Wei Liancheng’s leg. Wei Liancheng wobbled. With only a foot and an arm remaining, he had no strength to control his body anymore.
But he hadn’t given up on fighting yet. He leapt vigorously into the air. His blade swung in a complete circle, unleashing one final burst of energy.
It wasn’t until three more heads had been sent flying that he landed heavily on the ground.
This time, he remained motionless.
“NO!” Upon seeing Wei Liancheng fall, Long Qingjiang began to howl in despair, “If you die, what will become of my son? What will I do?”
Su Chen watched silently from afar, his gaze focused.
After a long time, he said, “The matter is finished. Let’s go.”
He returned to his carriage.
The carriage began to advance slowly along the long, winding road.
They were still surrounded by the Long Clan’s guards, servants, and guests, who were all staring at the carriage. In the end, however, no one made a move against them.
The procession slowly disappeared off into the distance.