Chapter 333: No Retreat!

History is written by people.

Or to put it another way no matter how grand and magnificent the canvas of history may appear, every stroke upon it is ultimately made from one small person after another.

Take the present scene.

A meeting between two armies.

Tens of thousands watching.

And yet the two commanders had not even exchanged a single sentence.

They had not so much as greeted each other.

In the blink of an eye, both commanders wheeled their horses around and fled toward their respective armies.

Instead, the two standard-bearers who should originally have been nothing more than supporting characters perhaps even mere background scenery began a duel!

Anyone unaware of the inside story would probably stare in disbelief.

But the world was often exactly this strange.

Impossible to predict.

The instant the Sword Saint realized Gelimu was running, he drew his sword.

The khata Zheng Fan had prepared, together with all his diplomatic lines and carefully prepared deception, never found a chance to be used.

Red wine.

Candlelight.

Piano music.

Roses.

A waterbed.

Ribbed protection.

Everything had been prepared.

And yet nothing happened.

But this was not the time for regret.

When immortals fought, mortals needed to get out of the way first!

Snow Sea Pass’s gate opened immediately.

At the same time, Liang Cheng personally led two hundred cavalrymen charging out ahead of everyone else.

Whether the savages pursued or not, those two hundred men had to come out as a safeguard.

If a savage expert or enemy troops really did chase after their General, these two hundred riders would have to remain behind and cover his retreat.

They were, in effect, two hundred death-sworn soldiers.

For Zheng Fan, they were prepared to throw away their lives.

Fortunately, Gelimu’s side genuinely did not seem to have intended to kill Zheng Fan.

Unlike Zheng Fan, Gelimu had made no advance arrangements for such a move.

Even so, Liang Cheng refused to take chances.

Although Zheng Fan had already crossed paths with the two hundred cavalrymen Liang Cheng personally led, Liang Cheng still did not order them to halt or turn back.

Instead, they continued charging forward.

Only that could eliminate every possible accident and guarantee their Master’s back was completely safe.

On the savage side, Gelimu’s abrupt retreat also caused a brief wave of confusion among the troops waiting behind him.

The negotiation had not even begun.

Why was their commander already returning?

Only after quite some time did two thousand savage cavalrymen split from both wings of the formation and charge forward, intending to cover Gelimu’s return.

At the true center of the stage the Sword Saint had already become one with his sword and swept forward.

Hasi burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahahaha!

“Yu Huaping!

“It really is you!

“It’s actually you!

“You really went and became a dog for the Yan!”

The Sword Saint’s gaze sharpened.

His entire aura locked onto Hasi.

“A defeated opponent.

“Take another sword from me!”

*I don’t know who you are.*

*But you look familiar.*

*Therefore, you should be someone I defeated before.*

*I have too many defeated opponents to remember them all.*

That was the Sword Saint’s logic and worldview.

It sounded extremely arbitrary.

Unfortunately, it was completely accurate.

“Yu Huaping!

“Your State of Jin is already gone!

“And you still dare flaunt the prestige of some Sword Saint?

“This time, I will not lose to you again!

“Stars above— protect your people!”

The incantation rang out.

Blue light erupted brilliantly around Hasi.

Among the jianghu, swordsmen were publicly recognized as possessing the fiercest offense.

And the Sword Saint naturally stood at the summit of that path.

When fighting the Sword Saint, anyone whose brain functioned normally understood that the first thing to do was prepare his defenses.

Back then, when the Marquis of Jingnan fought the Sword Saint outside the capital region of Jin, even Tian Wujing had first relied upon the physique of a Martial Artist to exhaust the Sword Saint.

He had not begun the duel by immediately staking life and death upon a single exchange.

“COME, YU HUAPING!”

Hasi roared.

The Sword Saint arrived.

Hasi spread both arms.

The radiance of the stars expanded outward, ready to receive the Sword Saint’s blow!

And then, in the next instant—

Hasi froze.

Because the Sword Saint, who appeared to have completed every preparation necessary to fight him again, suddenly curved aside.

He slipped directly past Hasi.

The Sword Saint’s blade never descended upon him.

His toes touched the ground once.

Then again.

After bypassing Hasi, he accelerated even more violently and continued pursuing Gelimu, who was fleeing on horseback.

“YU HUAPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hasi released a furious roar.

*You are the Sword Saint!*

*The lofty Sword Saint!*

*How can you toy with me like this?!*

Hasi still remembered seven years ago.

Back then, the people of Jin had still stood proudly above the snowfields, pressuring the savages beneath them.

The Sword Saint of Jin had entered the snowfields.

The first person he sought out was the old High Priest—

Hasi’s master.

His master had surrendered immediately.

He knew he was old.

He knew his body could no longer endure the Sword Saint’s sword qi.

But Hasi had been young and hot-blooded.

He stepped forward voluntarily and challenged the Sword Saint of Jin.

One strike.

The other man had used only one sword-strike to break Hasi’s protection of the stars.

Yet the Sword Saint did not kill him.

He merely left behind two words:

“Boring.”

Then, he departed.

The Sword Saint had become the heart demon within Hasi.

But that heart demon was not some terrifying nightmare.

Instead, it had constantly driven Hasi to study the power of the stars.

He had always hoped that one day he might once again seek out the Sword Saint of Jin.

Not because he wanted revenge.

He wanted to defeat the man face-to-face and return those two words to him.

No one understood that Hasi felt no hatred toward the Sword Saint.

Yes, he had been defeated.

But he had also been conquered by admiration.

White robes drifting.

One sword sweeping beneath Heaven.

From ancient times to the present, how many people had dreamed of such an image?

How many youths had chosen to practice the sword because of that dream, then spent their entire lives beside a blade?

Hasi was the same.

He simply did not practice swordsmanship.

But just as someone incapable of painting could still appreciate a masterpiece, Hasi admired the sword.

And he admired the Sword Saint.

Even though he was a savage.

Not even Zheng Fan could have imagined that, in this place and under these circumstances, the Sword Saint would encounter one of his former defeated opponents and that man would also be one of his admirers.

Yes.

Months of life as a city guard water vats, children’s toys, old women’s nagging, the gentle warmth of ordinary women had taught the Sword Saint how to restrain his edge.

But your aura was your aura.

Your bearing was your bearing.

Your face, however, had not changed at all.

It was like a stealth fighter from later generations.

Its “stealth” existed only against radar detection.

If you looked at it with your own eyes, you could still see it perfectly well.

That was precisely why, when Hasi first noticed the Sword Saint, he had joked about it while warning Gelimu.

It was not because he could not distinguish the seriousness of the moment.

He had simply been genuinely... excited.

What a magnificent surprise this reunion had seemed!

And yet the dream shattered with astonishing speed.

The mighty Sword Saint had actually deceived him in this manner.

Bypassed him.

Then continued pursuing the target he truly wanted.

This was not what a Sword Saint was supposed to do.

How could the Sword Saint behave like this?

In truth, the root of the Sword Saint’s transformation came from one particular man.

Unfortunately, that man had no time to explain anything right now.

He was still whipping his horse into a desperate gallop and could not even spare the effort to turn around and see what was happening behind him.

Gelimu’s horse was fast.

But the Sword Saint was still gradually closing the distance.

Every time the Sword Saint’s toes touched the ground, a thread of sword qi erupted beneath him, forcibly adding another burst of speed.

The distance grew shorter.

Closer.

Closer.

Gelimu felt every hair on his back stand upright.

He had crawled out of piles of corpses before.

Over these years, following the Savage King, he had passed through Heaven alone knew how many situations of life and death.

Naturally, he understood exactly what this warning sensation meant.

Yu Huaping.

The Sword Saint of Jin.

Damn it.

It really was the Sword Saint!

Hasi’s joking words had actually become reality!

Ahead, savage cavalry were already racing toward him.

Seeing them, Gelimu finally glimpsed hope.

He did not dare turn around and fight the Sword Saint.

Because he understood perfectly well that if a terrifying existence like this truly fixed his heart upon killing you, then even if you gave him only one chance to strike, he could seize that chance.

When a Sword Saint went mad and decided someone had to die, that person no longer got to decide otherwise.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer!

Because Gelimu had turned and fled without the slightest hesitation, he had bought himself precious reaction time.

He could already hear the thunder of his own cavalry’s hooves ahead.

Yet the sword intent behind him showed no sign whatsoever of changing direction or slowing down.

It continued straight forward.

Unbroken.

*Damn you.*

*Why aren’t you retreating?*

*Why aren’t you leaving?*

*Two thousand cavalry are enough to grind you into meat paste!*

*Even if you are the Saint among swords, you cannot possibly survive!*

In open terrain, faced with a charging force of a thousand cavalrymen, even a Third Grade Martial Artist would find it impossible to remain unmoved.

Back then, Sha Tuo Queshi had fought three thousand Zhenbei troops alone.

The scene had certainly been heroic.

But the ending?

His qi and blood were exhausted.

He died.

A swordsman’s body was never suited to fighting massed armies in the first place.

Swordsmen were not built for battles like this.

And yet the Sword Saint still did not slow.

If anything, he continued accelerating according to his own rhythm.

Ahead, thousands of hooves thundered, kicking clouds of dust into the air.

In the Sword Saint’s eyes, they might as well not have existed.

His vision contained only one man and one horse.

Zheng Fan had said:

Kill him.

Then the tens of thousands of savages outside the fortress would lose their commander.

Their assault upon Snow Sea Pass would be delayed.

And this man was himself of Jin birth.

That meant he understood siege warfare better than the savages.

Kill him.

Then Snow Sea Pass would have an excellent chance of holding.

Hold Snow Sea Pass and every savage army that entered the pass this time would be locked inside Jin territory forever!

All that was required was for the man ahead to die.

The distance kept shrinking.

It had already reached the point where, even if the Sword Saint successfully killed Gelimu, the two thousand savage cavalrymen ahead might immediately surround him.

Yet the Sword Saint continued forward.

He kept closing the distance.

Everything else had already been cast aside.

A man holding a sword must hold no second thought in his heart.

Only then could the blade become unstoppable.

Gelimu’s heart had already risen into his throat.

He could sense that the sword intent behind him had not weakened in the slightest.

Instead, it was growing stronger.

That meant the terrifying existence behind him the monument once worshiped by every martial practitioner across the lands of the Three Jin was drawing closer.

Closer still.

Suddenly the first rank of savage cavalry crossed past Gelimu.

They let their commander continue riding through.

Then they began crossing in front of one another to intercept the Sword Saint.

Two streams of sword qi shot forward.

They pierced directly through the chests of two savage riders ahead.

Two lines of blood followed.

This time, the Sword Saint’s toes landed atop a warhorse’s skull.

In the next instant the horse’s head exploded.

And the Sword Saint’s speed rose to its absolute peak.

In the span of a breath, he once again closed the distance between himself and Gelimu.

Longyuan trembled.

Sword intent became one.

And then, he thrust!

In the past, beneath the walls of Shangjing, the Hundred-Li Sword had faced several thousand Zhenbei iron cavalry.

He had not drawn his sword even once.

He had turned and fled back into the city.

Today he, Yu Huaping, would not retreat!

[End of Chapter 333]