Chapter 428: Crisis

The Rakshasa Holy Lord, one of the Yellow Spring Tribe's Five Holy Lords, exploded with fury, arriving above his son's body, his entire body trembling.

A terrifying aura, like a raging storm, swept across the entire surrounding area in nearly an instant, forcing even the blind man to retreat for the time being.

The martial art the blind man cultivated was an extreme killing path technique, one that fed on the act of killing and the will to kill itself.

This was one of the reasons he had killed the Yellow Spring guardian and the host of Heaven-Human experts before going after Young Master Jinchuan himself.

He had sensed early on that Young Master Jinchuan possessed an extraordinary life-saving measure, and for the sake of certainty, he had first killed others to nurture a foundation of killing aura.

And the reason he had chosen to kill Young Master Jinchuan right before the gate of the Yellow Spring Tribe was to nurture a killing intent of equal depth.

After all, once he reached the Yellow Spring Tribe, there would be no path of retreat left for him. His killing intent toward Young Master Jinchuan had reached its absolute peak. He had to kill the man here, or he would never have another chance once the Yellow Spring Tribe's experts arrived.

This was precisely the extreme nature of his technique: only by pushing himself into a position with no way out could he unleash its most extreme killing power.

But facing one of the Yellow Spring Tribe's Five Holy Lords now, he understood clearly the enormous gap between their respective strengths, and so chose to flee at the very first opportunity.

Of course, this had also been within the blind man's expectations from the start. After all, having killed the man's son, the Rakshasa Holy Lord would never let him off easily.

Even so, his target this time had only ever been Young Master Jinchuan, fulfilling the final wish of the girl from the He family.

For him, as long as the task was completed, that was enough. As for being hunted by the Rakshasa Holy Lord afterward, he could only do his part and leave the rest to fate.

After all, he enjoyed killing, and this was the line of work he had chosen, one lived on the edge of a blade. Life and death were never something he could predict.

"This old man will skin you alive, strip your tendons, and tear you to a thousand pieces."

The furious Rakshasa Holy Lord's voice rolled like thunder, nearly echoing across the entire Yellow Spring Market, and not a few of the city's residents, terrified by the sheer force of the sound, fled into their homes and dared not come back out.

At the same time, enormous palms wreathed in overwhelming force descended from the sky one after another, reaching for the blind man's fleeing figure.

Wooden buildings and earthen houses crumbled into dust in an instant, streets and alleys collapsed into deep craters, and a dark, terrifying killing intent, as though rising from the depths of the underworld itself, pressed down over everything, enough to make anyone's soul tremble with terror and their heart shatter from fear.

The blind man, possessing senses far beyond those of ordinary people, combined with his own ghostly, untraceable movement technique, managed to escape the Rakshasa Holy Lord's onslaught through one perilous, narrow margin after another while fleeing with everything he had.

But the blind man understood clearly that this could not continue for long. First, this was after all the Yellow Spring Tribe's own territory. Second, the gap between his strength and the Rakshasa Holy Lord's was simply too vast for him to dodge every single strike forever.

Beyond that, the Yellow Spring Tribe did not have just one Holy Lord standing guard.

And so, to escape this seemingly inevitable death trap, the blind man would have to think of another way.

...

While the blind man was being hunted down, the large black cat, which had been trailing behind to watch the show, had long since fled in terror, scattering in every direction.

At the same time, Ah Xiu, the Fifth Elder, and the others had already safely infiltrated the heart of the Yellow Spring Tribe without incident.

Sensing the aura the Rakshasa Holy Lord had revealed outside the Yellow Spring Tribe's grounds, the Fifth Elder's eyes narrowed slightly, barely concealing his delight as he said, "Heaven truly favors our clan. With the Rakshasa Holy Lord drawn away, retrieving that item will be as easy as reaching into a pocket."

With that, he immediately led the group of hooded clan members out from the hidden passage and moved stealthily toward a particular part of the Yellow Spring Tribe's grounds.

As for the ugly-faced small figure and Ah Xiu, they were left behind to guard the hidden passage.

"They're treating us like outsiders."

The small figure, with his horn-shaped twists of hair, gave a cold laugh. Ah Xiu watched the Fifth Elder's group depart and shook her head, saying, "After all, we've spent these years stationed at the small town gathering information, hardly ever returning to the clan's ancestral grounds. It's understandable that Fifth Uncle would be somewhat wary of us."

At those words, the small figure gave Ah Xiu a long look and said, "You are the Daughter of Destiny personally designated by our Ancient Ancestor, carrying the burden of our clan's great revival from the moment of your birth. And yet rather than nurturing you carefully, those clan elders instead exiled you to that desolate, godforsaken little town. Their true intentions hardly need explaining."

Ah Xiu slowly withdrew her gaze, seemingly unmoved by the small figure's words, "I'm not the only Daughter of Destiny or Son of Destiny in this clan. Besides, with my natural gifts, even without the clan's resources tilted in my favor, I'm confident I'm no weaker than anyone else."

As she said this, Ah Xiu gave the small figure a flat glance, "The White Tiger Fang isn't only critical to the clan's plans, it matters a great deal to me personally as well. Once Fifth Uncle and the others retrieve it, I'll naturally benefit too."

"And besides, do you really think that just because the blind man drew the Rakshasa Holy Lord away, this place inside the Yellow Spring Tribe is necessarily safe?"

At those words, the withered-faced small figure's expression shifted with mild surprise.

The "White Tiger Fang" Ah Xiu had mentioned was indeed the goal of this expedition. What the small figure did not know, however, was that Ah Xiu herself also needed this item.

Even so, the small figure considered this for only a moment before deciding not to press the matter further, "You make a fair point. There may be some benefit in not joining the operation after all. At the very least, staying here is probably safer."

The two of them said nothing further after that, simply standing quiet guard at the passage entrance, waiting to meet the Fifth Elder and the others when they returned.

Before long, the hooded figure of the Fifth Elder, along with three clan members, came into view.

But to Ah Xiu's deepening concern, all four of them looked utterly disheveled and were covered in blood, clearly fleeing in a state of panic.

Just as she registered that something was wrong, a streak of blade light arrived ahead of any other sound, instantly slicing off the head of one of the clan members following behind the Fifth Elder.

"There's an ambush. Retreat now."

The Fifth Elder shouted toward where Ah Xiu and the small figure stood, then turned and threw out both fists in a single motion. In an instant, the true qi of heaven and earth transformed into rolling clouds of mist, erupting into a sky full of fist shadows that crashed down behind him.

In a moment, the courtyard spanning dozens of zhang behind the Fifth Elder was reduced to ruins, the rolling clouds of mist obscuring the entire space.

This bought the three of them a sliver of opportunity. The Fifth Elder grabbed the two remaining clan members and shot at speed toward the entrance of the hidden passage.

Ah Xiu and the small figure immediately opened the mechanism for the passage, letting the Fifth Elder's group of three through.

Then, without wasting time on further questions, the two of them followed close behind into the tunnel as they fled, simultaneously destroying the passage behind them to prevent any pursuers from following.

Barely moments after the Fifth Elder's group had entered the tunnel, a host of Yellow Spring Tribe experts arrived close behind, but by then the tunnel had already collapsed, leaving them unable to enter.

"Damn it, they actually got away."

One of the Yellow Spring guardians wore an unpleasant expression, but at that moment, an aged voice came from behind them, "No matter. They've been struck with the Yellow Spring Weeping Blood Technique. As long as they remain within the Yellow Spring Market, they cannot escape this old man's grasp."

At those words, the assembled experts all turned at once and dropped to their knees in reverence before a white-haired elder who had appeared without anyone noticing, calling out, "We pay our respects to the Blood Spring Holy Lord."