Chapter 1272: One Slash, and Our Grievances Are Settled!

Yucang also gave Dugu Jing a meaningful look.

Dugu Jing understood, nodded slightly, and turned away.

Yucang once again invited Yuan Gang to sit while they waited.

Yuan Gang refused.

With the saber strapped across his back, he simply stood there.

Yucang felt rather helpless. This fellow seemed impossible to get through to, standing there with that hard, unpleasant manner. Under normal circumstances, Yucang would hardly have indulged him. But Qin needed something from the man, so he could only remain standing there with him.

This time, the wait was rather long.

Nearly half an hour passed before Dugu Jing returned with an old man following behind him.

One look at the man's hanging beard was enough for Yuan Gang to recognize him as the person who had pursued and tried to kill him in the desert years ago.

That beard had left a deep impression.

Yuan Gang had never forgotten it.

The old man entered and immediately began studying Yuan Gang.

Dugu Jing had already explained the reason for summoning him.

"Pavilion Master."

The old man first saluted Yucang.

Yucang waved away the ceremony, then said to Yuan Gang, "Brother Yuan, this is Elder Bai Shangcheng of our pavilion—the man you asked to see."

Then he turned to the old man.

"Elder Bai, this is Brother Yuan Gang of Maolu Villa. You should know him."

Bai Shangcheng stared at Yuan Gang. "I do."

Yuan Gang stared back.

He remembered the man's voice too.

There was no mistake.

This was him.

Yucang said, "Dugu should already have explained things."

"Brother Yuan controlled sand scorpions before your very eyes back then. You knew he could command them."

"Why didn't you mention earlier that he might be able to use sand scorpions to help a great army cross the Boundless Desert?"

"Not only did Qin lose troops and generals for nothing, we even forced Brother Yuan to make the journey here himself."

Bai Shangcheng cupped his hands slightly. "I did indeed see him control sand scorpions."

"But whether they can be used to transport large numbers of men, I cannot say. I never made that connection."

Yucang was about to speak again when Yuan Gang cut him off.

"Elder Bai, what was Su Zhao's real name?"

Bai Shangcheng fell briefly silent.

"She was my niece. Her real name was Bai Su."

Yuan Gang asked, "If she was your niece, how could you bear to kill her?"

Bai Shangcheng said, "A traitor. No organization would tolerate one."

Yuan Gang said, "She never betrayed Xiaoyue Pavilion. She never sold out anything belonging to it."

Bai Shangcheng replied, "Then she should not have run."

"She should have stayed and explained matters clearly."

"The moment she fled without authorization, she became a traitor."

Seeing the two men's words turning increasingly sharp, Yucang coughed and lifted a hand to interrupt.

"Elder Bai, he has come as a guest. Is this how you treat a guest?"

He was reminding Bai Shangcheng that they currently needed Yuan Gang's help.

Bai Shangcheng drew a breath and softened his tone somewhat.

"She was my own niece. I did not want matters to end that way either."

"But a state has its laws and a family its rules. Many things leave people no choice."

"Brother Yuan, may I ask one thing?"

"Did you come here to help Qin, or did you come to seek revenge against this old man?"

Yuan Gang said, "I didn't come to help Qin. I came to help Luo Zhao."

"And while I was here, I came to settle accounts with you."

Bai Shangcheng asked, "What? Are you planning to use this opportunity to force Xiaoyue Pavilion to kill this old man?"

Yuan Gang reached behind himself and drew the long saber from his back.

Three tiger ornaments stood out conspicuously along the back of the blade.

The first was an Angry Tiger.

The second, a Running Tiger.

The third, a Crouching Tiger.

Seeing him draw the weapon, Yucang hurriedly said, "Brother Yuan, words can settle matters. There's no need to make this into a fight."

Yuan Gang ignored him.

Saber in hand, he stared only at Bai Shangcheng.

"Su Zhao was your own niece. She treated you as family."

"She wasn't as ruthless as you."

"She might not even have wanted me to kill you in revenge for her."

"So we can put Su Zhao's matter aside."

"But years ago, you hunted me down."

"You injured me and nearly took my life."

"I survived by luck."

"I should settle that account with you."

He raised the saber and pointed it at Bai Shangcheng.

"Take one slash from me."

"If you can withstand it, I'll let the past go."

Bai Shangcheng gave a quiet "Oh."

"Only one slash?"

Yuan Gang said, "One slash. Then our grievances are settled."

Bai Shangcheng looked toward Yucang.

"Pavilion Master, I have no objection. What do you say?"

The moment Yucang heard it would be only one slash, he relaxed considerably.

He chuckled.

"You meet and immediately draw blades. Brother Yuan, is that really appropriate?"

Yuan Gang said nothing more.

Carrying the saber, he walked straight past Yucang and headed outside alone.

He left the hall and went directly down the steps.

The men inside exchanged looks.

Yucang lowered his voice to Bai Shangcheng.

"Elder Bai, be careful."

Bai Shangcheng stroked his beard.

"I've experienced the force behind his saber before."

"To call it the absolute peak of what an ordinary mortal can achieve would not be an exaggeration. It truly is extraordinary."

"But I haven't fallen so far that I can't even withstand one slash from him."

"Pavilion Master, you underestimate me."

Yucang reached out and slapped him lightly on the back.

"Fool. I meant be careful not to injure him."

"For now, the greater situation comes first."

"I shouldn't need to say anything else."

Bai Shangcheng nodded. "Pavilion Master, rest assured. I know how far to go."

Only then did Yucang stride outside, with Bai Shangcheng and Dugu Jing following beside him.

The three descended the steps one after another.

Yuan Gang was already standing in the open square below, turned to face them with the saber held horizontally in his hands.

Yucang stopped.

Dugu Jing stopped beside him.

Bai Shangcheng continued forward.

When he was roughly ten zhang from Yuan Gang, he stopped as well.

His right hand rose to the sword at his left hip.

Slowly, he drew the treasured blade.

Then he extended his left hand toward Yuan Gang in an inviting gesture, ready to receive the attack at any moment.

Just then, two people appeared around the corner of a corridor beside the great hall, followed by a group of palace maids and eunuchs.

They were Qin's Empress Dowager Zhuang Hong and Qin's Emperor Xia Lingpei.

They had heard Yuan Gang had arrived and had specifically come to see him.

They did indeed find Yuan Gang here, but the sight of the two men facing one another with saber and sword drawn was rather unexpected.

Zhuang Hong became worried.

She had always held favorable feelings toward Yuan Gang, and those feelings included the attraction of a woman toward a strong, masculine man.

Her status had simply kept her restrained.

Xia Lingpei also liked Yuan Gang.

He had lived at Maolu Villa for so long that he naturally knew Yuan Gang was the brother of his teacher, Niu Youdao.

Neither mother nor son had expected to arrive in the middle of a duel.

As they approached along the corridor, Xia Lingpei called out loudly, "Mr. Yuan!"

Zhuang Hong called as well, "Pavilion Master, is this how you treat a guest?"

Yucang and Dugu Jing turned their heads to look.

Yucang did not mind the mother and son arriving at this moment.

If they could stop Yuan Gang, that would not be a bad thing.

And both of them were comparatively familiar with Yuan Gang.

Perhaps they could soften that immovable attitude of his.

Bai Shangcheng looked back as well.

But as he turned forward again, the corner of his eye swept toward Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang moved.

Like a beast that had been waiting for the instant to attack, the moment he saw the slightest slackness in his opponent, he shot forward.

A sneak attack?

Yucang reacted quickly and glanced back.

He could not help feeling this impossible bastard was being somewhat dishonorable.

What he did not understand was that Yuan Gang had never been pedantic about combat.

From the first day he had ever learned how to fight, the first person to train him had taught him one principle:

Against an enemy, there was only one objective.

Put him down.

Zhuang Hong and Xia Lingpei were startled to see Yuan Gang suddenly attack.

For the first few strides they could still make out his movements clearly.

After that, all they saw was a figure streaking across the square.

Yucang praised inwardly.

So fast!

After ten explosive strides, Yuan Gang suddenly launched himself from the ground.

Using the force of the leap to drive his body forward, he gripped the saber in both hands and hacked down violently at his target.

"ROAR!"

A tiger's roar exploded from the saber like a thunderclap.

The sound rolled across the entire square.

Every palace guard on duty around them instantly turned his head.

Zhuang Hong and Xia Lingpei both flinched in shock.

Bai Shangcheng's eyes remained fixed on Yuan Gang's attack.

A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth.

The opponent's speed could only be called ferocious and swift, but Bai Shangcheng's own reaction was hardly slow.

Meeting movement with stillness, he calmly raised his sword to block.

Yet at the very instant saber and sword were about to collide, Yuan Gang twisted sharply in midair.

He used that rotation to accelerate his arms.

The descending saber, already moving at terrifying speed, suddenly accelerated a second time out of nowhere.

"ROAR!"

A second tiger's roar burst from the blade.

This roar was nowhere near as explosively overwhelming as the first.

Instead, it was deep and muffled, like thunder gathering high in the heavens, hidden within black clouds and waiting to erupt.

It carried the same feeling as watching lightning flash inside storm clouds while knowing that sooner or later a thunderclap must follow.

The sound was not loud.

It was low and heavy.

Yet it shook the heart.

The flash of the saber abruptly quickened.

Under the sunlight it became like a bolt of lightning, or a rainbow gleam that vanished the instant it appeared.

"Careful!" Yucang cried out when he realized something was wrong.

Bai Shangcheng's easy confidence vanished as well.

He suddenly understood that Yuan Gang's strike contained a tactical feint.

He had been fooled.

He had underestimated the opponent.

But saber and sword were already colliding.

There was no time left to react.

He could only pour every shred of his cultivation into resisting the blow.

BOOM!

The impact exploded outward.

Powerful astral winds burst from the two men in every direction.

It was as though the thunder that had been brewing inside the black clouds had finally detonated.

The entire square shook beneath the sound.

The metallic shriek of saber striking sword reverberated through the air, prickling scalps and raising gooseflesh over every body nearby.

Bang!

The sword in Bai Shangcheng's hand was blasted away.

It smashed through a stone paving slab, ricocheted upward again, then clattered several times across the distant ground before finally coming to rest.

Yuan Gang remained frozen in a twisted stance, both hands gripping the saber.

His breathing was deep and heavy, rasping like a bellows.

Then he tilted his head slightly upward and stared coldly at Bai Shangcheng.

Bai Shangcheng stared back with eyes full of disbelief.

Strange choking sounds came from his throat.

He seemed to be trying to speak, but air only leaked through.

Both his feet had shattered the stone beneath them and been driven into the earth up to the knees.

The remaining force transmitted into the ground had tossed the surrounding paving slabs into disorder and bulged the earth upward in a ring.

Then the reflected force finished passing through him.

Half of Bai Shangcheng's body suddenly collapsed apart.

Blood gushed wildly.

His abdomen split open, entrails spilling across the ground.

His lower body, sheared away at an angle, remained nailed upright in the earth.

The sight of his death was ghastly beyond description.

The half of his upper body that had fallen to the ground still had moving eyes.

Those eyes remained fixed on Yuan Gang in utter disbelief while wet, bubbling sounds continued inside his throat.

Under the corridor, Zhuang Hong immediately covered her eyes and turned away, unable to look any longer.

Xia Lingpei also turned his head aside.

Dugu Jing was completely stunned.

Whatever Bai Shangcheng's personal skill in combat might have been, his cultivation truly had reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm.

And yet he had failed to withstand a single slash from Yuan Gang?

Only now did Dugu Jing finally understand why Yuan Gang had said:

One slash. Then our grievances are settled.

Indeed.

One slash, and there was nothing left to settle.

A dignified Elder of Xiaoyue Pavilion had been cut down with a single blow before everyone's eyes.

Yucang's Adam's apple bobbed.

He stared at the Three-Roars Saber held motionless in Yuan Gang's hands, hanging there like a great suspended bell.

Something seemed to return to his memory.

He muttered beneath his breath:

"Xi Wuxian's Three-Roars Saber..."

"Angry Tiger roars with ease; Running Tiger makes no sound..."

"When Running Tiger roars, nothing can withstand it..."

"When Crouching Tiger wakes, none beneath Heaven can stand against it..."

"Could Xi Wuxian's wild boast actually have been true?"

Yuan Gang's heavy breathing gradually settled.

He sheathed the saber.

Not the slightest trace of blood stained the blade. It remained bright and gleaming.

He did not spare another glance for the dead man before him.

One slash had ended everything.

Their grievances were settled.

Expressionless, Yuan Gang walked toward Yucang.

[End of Chapter 1272]