Chapter 583: I Rarely Make a Move

Amid the sudden upheaval, only the flower-robed man remained as composed as Niu Youdao. Ignoring the danger erupting around them, he rode abreast of Niu Youdao and kept their pace steady, neither hurried nor flustered even in the midst of crisis.

Strands of fierce wind shot rapidly from his fingertips like invisible arrows.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A dense series of explosions rang out. The dozen-plus blades of sword qi slashing toward them were shattered in an instant by the sudden finger force.

More than a dozen assassins charged them together. The broad sleeves of the flower-robed man's robe swept back and forth, his ten fingers flickering like phantoms. Each lightning-fast finger strike seemed capable of annihilating everything before it.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Swords rang as they tried to block.

Puff! Puff!

Blood burst through bodies.

A bloody hole exploded over one man's heart. Another's forehead was pierced through, red and white matter spraying out. Several bloody cavities burst open across another man's chest in an instant.

The dozen-plus assassins failed to come within one zhang of the two horses riding abreast before they were swept away like fallen leaves in a gale, crashing to the ground in disarray.

Guan Fangyi, who had just whipped around with a startled cry, sucked in a cold breath at the sight. She was genuinely shocked. Who in the world was this flower-robed man?

Amid the gusts exploding around them, Niu Youdao rode calmly through. His frightened horse had blood at the corners of its mouth where the reins had been forcibly hauled tight. Bodies that had only just fallen were trampled directly beneath its hooves.

Whenever another assassin approached, the flower-robed man merely swept a sleeve, and someone would tumble from the air. Killing these assassins was as simple for him as chopping melons and vegetables.

At that moment, five enormous flying beasts swept urgently overhead, practically covered with people. Even men hanging from the beasts' claws had come along for the rush.

Almost everyone on the flying beasts was sustaining himself through qi-powered flight, merely borrowing the beasts' momentum. There were too many of them, and they feared burdening the mounts' flight.

Such a method was suitable only for short-distance emergency travel. Over a long distance, even cultivators would be unable to sustain the expenditure of spiritual power.

The five flying beasts swept past overhead and dropped a mass of dark figures. Fifty black-clad masked men plunged down at once and joined the battle.

Seeing reinforcements arrive, Niu Youdao made a gesture.

Guan Fangyi immediately shouted, “Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion disciples, withdraw!”

What Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion disciples were left to withdraw?

Of the original ten, only three managed to break free. Seven had died in that brief span, while the remaining three were injured as well. They hurriedly fell in behind Niu Youdao's group.

Niu Youdao continued riding forward. Whenever the fighting had blasted a pit into the road, he simply urged his horse over it. From his appearance, he paid no attention whatsoever to anything happening around him.

A group of uniformly black-clad masked men guarded them as they continued down the road, while groups of masked assassins in mixed-colored clothing kept attacking without pause.

Before long, the five flying mounts swept overhead again, and another group of black-clad masked men was dropped from the sky.

By now, the two sides were roughly equal in number, but the masked men protecting Niu Youdao were clearly stronger overall than the assassins.

After surveying the surroundings, the flower-robed man finally spoke. “Where did you find so many experts?”

Niu Youdao replied, “Before you, how would they dare call themselves experts?”

He gave no direct answer, so the flower-robed man did not ask again.

When a third group was air-dropped into the battlefield, the assassination was plainly impossible to carry through. The situation had become completely one-sided and unfavorable to the attackers. They could no longer even approach Niu Youdao, much less kill him. Retreat was their only option.

“Go!”

At the shrill command, the assassins rapidly fell back.

Niu Youdao, who had watched coldly and calmly from beginning to end, uttered a single icy order.

“Kill without mercy!”

Twenty black-clad masked men continued flanking him and darting about as guards. All the rest immediately reversed direction and chased after the fleeing assassins.

The assassins racing through the mountain forest were forced to fight for their lives again. They had barely entered the dense woods when another group of black-clad masked men rushed toward them from ahead.

These men had not been dropped from the air. They were another force already closing the encirclement from this direction.

The assassins had run straight into a group exceptionally skilled at interception and killing.

Once the fighting ended, the black-clad masked men rapidly withdrew. As they pulled back, they carried away every last corpse of their own people, leaving none behind.

After leaving the mountain forest, twenty black-clad masked men escorted Niu Youdao and the others along the official road all the way to a relay station.

The masked men charged into the station and swiftly searched the entire compound, badly frightening everyone inside. Sun Linxian, whose arm had been injured, stepped forward in his capacity as a disciple of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion to calm them.

Niu Youdao remained seated on his horse and surveyed the surroundings. Only when one of the black-clad masked men came over and nodded, confirming that the relay station was secure, did Niu Youdao dismount and tell everyone to rest briefly before changing horses and continuing onward. After all, they had already spent nearly half a day on the road since leaving Jinzhou.

Niu Youdao turned back and spoke briefly with one of the masked men. Before long, a fire was lit inside the relay station, sending a column of black smoke into the sky.

Not long afterward, five flying beasts swept in from the distance. As they dove over the relay station, all twenty black-clad masked men sprang into the air, caught hold of the five beasts, and withdrew with them.

Standing inside the station with his arms folded, the flower-robed man watched the scene for a while, then looked back toward Niu Youdao, who was speaking with Sun Linxian.

“You've worked hard. Is your injury serious?” Niu Youdao asked.

Sun Linxian shook his head gloomily. “I'm fine. Before we set out, Master explicitly told us there would be danger. We were mentally prepared.”

Niu Youdao said, “I've already sent word to your master. He'll handle what comes next. You can stop escorting us here. Your master will send people to receive you.”

Sun Linxian looked up in surprise. “Weren't we supposed to escort you all the way to Qingshan Commandery in Nanzhou?”

“You're already in this condition. How are you supposed to keep escorting me? You saw it just now. The people secretly protecting me have already arrived. There's no need for you to keep taking risks. I saw how desperately you fought to protect me. I'll contact Sect Leader Situ afterward. Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion will reward you heavily.”

With that, Niu Youdao nodded and turned away without any further display of gratitude.

In truth, it was not that the people secretly protecting him had only just arrived. They had been there all along. They simply could not conveniently travel beside him in the open. Yet he could hardly travel with no visible escort at all, and bringing too many unfamiliar faces might make the enemy cautious. The disciples of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion had therefore been the most suitable choice.

Those disciples had been bait placed openly in view.

To put it bluntly, Niu Youdao had used them as sacrifices.

Guan Fangyi walked over to the flower-robed man, intending to probe his identity.

He ignored her completely. His gaze went instead to Niu Youdao as the latter passed nearby, and he remarked coolly, “You used the lives of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion's disciples as bait.”

Niu Youdao stopped and planted his sword before him. He looked at the man with a faint smile, but the words he spoke were cold and ruthless. “This is only the beginning. Greater storms are still coming. Necessary sacrifices cannot be avoided. I have no way to protect everyone's life. I can only do my utmost to preserve as many lives as possible.”

The flower-robed man said, “Yet when danger came, other people were the ones risking their lives. From beginning to end, you didn't even move a finger.”

“Risking their lives?” Niu Youdao replied. “The moment you start fighting, you're gambling with your life. I don't like gambling my life against other people's. If it can be avoided, I avoid it. If someone else is already taking action, why would I need to act personally? I don't like bloodshed.”

“Having others kill for you doesn't count as bloodshed?”

“I don't like fighting and killing. I rarely make a move.”

The flower-robed man remembered how Niu Youdao had remained perfectly unmoved until he was forced to act for him. “You really are shameless.”

Niu Youdao nodded as though accepting a compliment and walked off into the relay station, preparing to wash his face.

Once he was gone, Guan Fangyi moved closer to the flower-robed man. “Who are you?”

“Does who I am matter? You, on the other hand, I've heard of. Hongniang of the Qi capital. Do you truly plan to stay with him for the rest of your life?”

“I don't want to stay with him either. Just as you said, he's shameless. I was tricked into coming by him. Ah, let's not talk about my bad luck. It only makes me sad.” Guan Fangyi gave a coquettish wave of her hand. Since the other man had no intention of revealing his identity, she stopped asking. She dipped slightly in farewell and left.

Inside the relay station, she found Niu Youdao washing his face and asked, “Who is that man outside, dressed up like some palace lady?”

A palace lady?

Niu Youdao lowered the towel covering his face, burst out laughing, then shook his head. “He won't let me say. I wouldn't dare tell you even if you asked.”

Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes. If he would not say, there was no point pressing him. She frowned instead. “You've already succeeded in drawing the enemy out. You're still going to keep traveling on horseback? Do you really think they'll fall for the same trap twice?”

Niu Youdao asked, “Do you think they'll let this go?”

“Probably not. But they've already tested your strength once. Why would they walk into the same trap again? There's no need to keep crawling along on horseback like this.”

“If they won't let it go, then give them time to prepare.” Niu Youdao wiped his hands with the towel and casually tossed it aside. “Do you think I only wanted to kill a few men and teach them a lesson? This time was merely a reminder. This level of strength isn't enough to deal with me. Next time they make a move, they need to remember: either don't act at all, or once they act, they should come at me with everything they have.”

“This time, there's no need to keep playing the divine dragon whose head is glimpsed but whose tail is never seen. I'll let them know clearly where I am. Since I can't avoid it, then let them come. Land one punch hard enough to clear the way, and you won't have to take a hundred more.”

“Send word to Huang Lie and have him come to Maolu Villa... Don't put it quite so directly, or Sect Leader Huang will be unhappy. Just say there's an urgent matter to discuss.”

...

In the mountains, Zhao Sen finished reading a secret message and handed it to Gao Shaoming.

Gao Shaoming read it and went pale with shock. “More than a hundred experts wiped out to the last man? Not one escaped? How is that possible?”

Zhao Sen said, “My people went to inspect the site. They even counted the bodies for you. There should be no mistake. I told you plainly that he had deliberately set a trap, yet you insisted on jumping into it.”

“How many men did your side lose?”

Zhao Sen looked away. “Once I saw something was wrong and discovered the other side had prepared a large force to close in, was there any need for me to send my people over to die as well?”

“You...” Gao Shaoming exploded in fury and pointed at him.

Zhao Sen looked back coldly. “You shouldn't have rushed into action in the first place. What now? You want to push responsibility onto me? You were desperate to claim merit, insisted on jumping into a trap, and now you want to blame me? You'd be better off thinking about how you're going to explain to the Yan court that so many men died and you still failed.”

“Hmph!” Gao Shaoming swept his sleeve with a cold snort, then frowned. “Where did he get so many experts to protect him?”

“Either Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion or Dachan Mountain. Other than those two, who else would put this much strength at his disposal?”

[End of Chapter 583]