Chapter 349 - 214: Sword and Qin (4)

Chapter 349: Chapter 214: Sword and Qin (4)

The traveling merchants and guests in the inn, already scared witless by the bodies on the floor, were slow to react to this new development. Many of them crowded around the Shopkeeper, pestering him with questions.

"Shopkeeper, what’s going on? Are they here to investigate something?"

"Is this a local gang? We know the score. Is it money they want? When can we leave?"

The Shopkeeper’s lips trembled, unsure of how to explain. He just did his best to lead the utterly panicked guests toward an inner room.

"There’s... there’s a cellar there. A few people can hide..."

Suddenly, flames flared up outside the window. The guests fell into a panic, running around like headless chickens.

A large group of guests rushed the main door, but it was barricaded shut. They couldn’t budge the door panel an inch.

Some tried to climb out the windows, but a great fire was already raging along the inn’s outer walls, carrying with it the thick stench of oil.

Even if someone tried to brave the flames and jump, the Ship Gang members were waiting outside with weapons. The moment a head appeared, they used long forks and clubs to force the person back inside.

The middle-aged man stood outside, watching the inn become engulfed in a raging inferno. Confirming that no one had escaped, the flames danced in his eyes.

He coldly instructed the surrounding Ship Gang members:

"Add the oil slowly. Let it burn nice and slow."

The Ship Gang members didn’t know what this mysterious big shot was thinking, only that he was mentally twisted. But seeing that even their vice-chief was obeying without question, they didn’t dare to object.

Nearby residents, startled by the blaze, came running with buckets. They shouted "Fire!" and were about to help put it out, but they slowed their steps when faced with the wall of Ship Gang disciples.

"The Ship Gang will handle this fire! Everyone else, clear out!"

The Ship Gang members shoved the onlookers away. The crowd glanced at the inn’s entrance from a distance, shivered, and turned away without a word.

The middle-aged man watched the blazing inn, but his attention was constantly scanning the area.

Suddenly, he sensed something. He looked up to see a figure leaping down from a nearby building, a smug smile spreading across his face.

’Ah, another meddlesome youth. Always so naive and hot-blooded. You think everyone is like Meng Hesheng, some Loose Cultivator from a backwater town with no backing?’

The middle-aged man watched the figure rapidly approach. He flicked a Soft Sword from his sleeve, a glint in his eye.

’Attacking from above? I’ll sever your feet first and see how you run then!’

He thrust his sword out in a sudden, silent, upward slash.

For a moment, even the raging flames seemed to freeze, as if this single strike could slice open the night sky.

The Soft Sword snapped taut, about to slice the soles of the descending figure’s feet. But then the legs miraculously retracted, the body paused in mid-air, and then shot out again, accelerating abruptly. Dodging the Soft Sword, the feet came stomping straight for his chest!

’H-how did he dodge like that?!’

The middle-aged man’s eyes flew open. He stared at the shoe’s sole growing larger and larger, so close he could even make out the treads.

BOOM! Xie Yuan descended from the heavens, stomping the middle-aged man straight into the ground. The impact smashed a large crater in the earth, sending dust and debris flying.

It all happened in a flash. Besides Xie Yuan and the middle-aged man, the surrounding Ship Gang members only noticed a fight had broken out when they heard the noise—and by then, it was already over.

Xie Yuan pressed his sword to the middle-aged man’s throat and said sharply:

"Put out the fire!"

The middle-aged man’s eyes were wide with shock. He cried out in disbelief:

"How can this be! What minor sect are you from that you could break my—"

"Put out the fire!"

Xie Yuan raised his voice, cutting him off.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, his expression still one of shock. But hearing Xie Yuan’s command, he gave a cold sneer and turned his head away.

"Impossible."

Xie Yuan’s eyes flashed. With two swift slashes, he severed both of the middle-aged man’s arms.

A horrific scream rang out. Blood gushed from the middle-aged man’s shoulders, and his face instantly went white as a sheet.

"How dare you!"

The Ship Gang’s vice-chief stared blankly at Xie Yuan, who seemed like a Celestial God descending to earth. In an instant, this youth had trampled the mysterious, powerful expert—a man far stronger than the gang chief and himself—underfoot. The vice-chief’s eyes slowly widened in utter disbelief.

Before he could even process it, he saw Xie Yuan’s head snap toward him. His legs trembled, threatening to give out from under him.

’He killed the chief, and the master is wailing in agony at his feet. If I don’t surrender now, when will I ever get the chance?’

The thought had barely crossed the vice-chief’s mind when, with a SWISH, a Long Sword was already resting on his neck. Terrified, he immediately threw his hands in the air.

"Young Hero, don’t attack!"

Xie Yuan was also taken aback for a moment. Seeing how readily the man surrendered, he realized he must be a leader and immediately gave an order:

"Have your men put out the fire immediately!"

"Right away!"

The vice-chief immediately began organizing the Ship Gang members to fight the fire. The members themselves were utterly confused—one moment they were setting the fire, the next they were putting it out—and the scene became chaotic.

However, the vice-chief felt that piercing gaze fixed on his back. His spine stiffened, and he began kicking and hitting his men, shouting at them to fight the blaze with everything they had.

When they were attacked in their room, Xie Yuan and Situ Qin had deduced there was an ambush waiting outside the window. So instead, they broke out through the main door and escaped using the Celestial Concealment Skill.

The two of them didn’t go far after leaving the inn. They circled around to the woods behind it, wanting to confirm how many experts were part of the enemy’s formation.

On the surface, there was only the middle-aged man. But he was an expert of the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm, which meant the power behind this operation was truly not to be underestimated.

Not daring to be careless, the two of them scouted the entire area. They found no trace of any other experts, but then they saw the fire raging toward the sky.

When Xie Yuan saw that the middle-aged man intended to burn everyone in the inn alive, he was overcome with rage. He had Situ Qin provide backup from behind as he leaped out. Using the Cloud Dragon Step and a flash of insight from his Sword Heart, he dodged the man’s merciless strike and defeated him in a single blow before he could even react.

But now, he saw that the oil fire set by the Ship Gang was too fierce to be extinguished quickly. His brow furrowed. He glanced back and made a hand signal to a higher vantage point. After receiving a nod in response from Situ Qin, a golden light flashed around Xie Yuan’s body as he smashed through the main door and charged into the inferno.