Chapter 429: A Chance at Life

The white-haired elder lowered his gaze, glanced briefly at the collapsed tunnel in the courtyard before him, and gave a casual wave of his hand.

The ground that had caved in trembled faintly, and threads of blood-red mist slowly began rising from beneath the surface.

The blood-red mist seeped up from the ground and spread outward in a visibly traceable pattern, marking precisely the direction the Fifth Elder's group had fled through the tunnel.

At the sight, the assembled Yellow Spring experts all showed expressions of delight and immediately set off in pursuit, following the trail of blood mist.

...

The guesthouse's main hall.

The large black cat, having been thoroughly enjoying the show, leaped down from a neighboring rooftop and landed on the street before the guesthouse's entrance.

After the chaos Young Master Jinchuan's group had caused, the guesthouse's entrance was now a battered ruin, the main hall completely empty. Even the proprietor and the servers were nowhere to be seen, having fled to who knew where.

The large black cat limped into the main hall on all four legs, walking unevenly. A large patch of fur had been torn from its tail and back, leaving the once thickly coated cat looking distinctly bald in places.

The moment it entered the guesthouse's main hall, it began limping urgently toward the stairs, heading for Li Musheng's room above.

In a room on the upper floor of the guesthouse, Li Musheng was deep in study of his martial arts.

When the door suddenly burst open and an enormous, bald-patched cat came charging in, his brow creased involuntarily.

Of course, he recognized the large black cat almost immediately. A cat this size was hardly something one saw often.

The moment it spotted Li Musheng, the large black cat let out a meow and rushed toward him, immediately extending a paw to gesture furiously, as though desperately trying to lodge some kind of complaint.

Li Musheng looked the cat over for a moment, and seeing the pitiful, bedraggled state it was in, couldn't help but laugh despite himself, finding it more amusing than anything.

But the large black cat, consumed with indignation and fury, was too focused on its frantic gesturing and meowing to notice Li Musheng's reaction at all.

It had been following the blind man to watch the excitement, thoroughly enjoying the sight of him cutting down opponents left and right.

But the good times had not lasted. The moment the Yellow Spring Tribe's Rakshasa Holy Lord appeared, everything had changed dramatically.

The Rakshasa Holy Lord's martial cultivation was simply too terrifying, and driven by the death of his son, every strike he made while hunting the blind man had been a genuine killing blow.

The large black cat, having been trailing not far behind the blind man to watch the show, happened to be hiding near his escape route when he fled.

As a result, the large black cat had been caught in the crossfire entirely by misfortune.

Not only had it been struck by the residual force of one of the Rakshasa Holy Lord's palm strikes, losing a large patch of fur to the sheer force of the wind it carried, but the impact had sent it flying and broken one of its legs.

The large black cat gestured frantically with its paws to convey its tragic ordeal, and after watching for a moment, Li Musheng roughly pieced together what had happened to it.

Even so, when the large black cat pressed its head against his robe, clearly hoping he would step in and settle the score on its behalf, Li Musheng did not agree. Instead, he pushed it aside and said, "A fall in the pit, a gain in your wit. I think this cat of mine should learn a lesson from this."

At the sight, a flicker of disappointment crossed the large black cat's eyes.

But it couldn't really keep pestering Li Musheng either. It had become a bald-patched cat now, and couldn't even be petted properly, which meant it had temporarily lost its usual value to him.

With that thought, the large black cat lowered its head and let out a meow, but privately resolved that once its injuries healed and its fur grew back, it would find the right moment to badger Li Musheng relentlessly until he helped it get revenge, settling the score with the Rakshasa Holy Lord for hurting it today.

There was no helping it. Its vengeful streak was simply too strong. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"All right, go find Miss Cang and have her give you some healing pills."

Li Musheng waved a hand, sending the large black cat off.

He could naturally tell at a glance that the cat had only suffered minor injuries, nothing serious. A few days of rest would set it right, and it wouldn't even need his personal attention.

At those words, the large black cat could only let out a resigned meow of agreement, and without pressing Li Musheng any further, limped off out of the room.

But at that moment, something shifted in Li Musheng's expression, and he turned to look out beyond the guesthouse, raising an eyebrow slightly.

At the same time, the pale-eyed blind man, coughing up blood, was fleeing at full speed through the alleys and streets of the Yellow Spring Market.

The bamboo staff in his grip had already cracked and broken into two pieces. One of his arms hung lifeless at his side, and his entire body appeared utterly battered and weak.

The martial cultivation of the Yellow Spring Tribe's Five Holy Lords had far exceeded even the blind man's expectations. Though he had given everything he had to dodge and flee, he had still taken a direct hit from one of the Rakshasa Holy Lord's palm strikes.

And that single strike had very nearly cost him half his life.

Had he not strained his movement technique with everything he had to dodge, paying the price of sacrificing one arm and his "Thousand-Year Bamboo Heart," he would almost certainly already be dead at the man's hands.

For the blind man, taking even one more strike from the Rakshasa Holy Lord would mean certain death.

And now, severely wounded with his strength greatly diminished, he could not hold out much longer against the Rakshasa Holy Lord's relentless pursuit.

"Where do you think you can run to?"

The Rakshasa Holy Lord's voice, dripping with cold menace, drifted through the air. The rolling malevolent energy above the surrounding streets seemed to blot out the sky, a torrent of terrifying force like a tidal wave crashing down.

A palm condensed from skyrocketing malevolent energy descended, and several earthen buildings collapsed instantly in a burst of dust, leaving behind a massive crater in the shape of a handprint in the ground.

The blind man narrowly dodged clear of the edge of the crater, his sightless eyes lifting briefly upward, suppressing the urge to cough up more blood as he once again concealed his form and continued his desperate flight.

By now, having barely escaped yet another deadly strike, the blind man had pushed himself far beyond his limits.

His consciousness was beginning to blur, and a shadow of despair settled over his deeply scarred face.

"When I made that promise to the girl, I already knew this day might come."

The blind man shook his head inwardly. Even so, he didn't actually want to die.

Perhaps it was the will to survive, or perhaps it was his senses, far beyond those of ordinary people, but as he stood on the very brink of death, he finally summoned the last reserves of his strength and fled toward a particular part of the Yellow Spring Market.

At the same time, the Fifth Elder, having escaped from the tunnel with two clan members, Ah Xiu, and the small figure, immediately destroyed the tunnel behind them.

But before they could even catch their breath, the Fifth Elder sensed the aura of the pursuing Yellow Spring experts closing in from behind.

By now, the group had naturally realized that the Yellow Spring Tribe's people must have some special tracking method that had locked onto them, which was why, even after they had destroyed the tunnel, their pursuers were still able to follow.

With that realization, the Fifth Elder's group felt their hearts sink to ash. They were now on the Yellow Spring Tribe's own territory, their auras tracked, with no possible escape from their pursuit given their level of strength. It was essentially a certain death sentence.