Chapter 430: Rendezvous

"Elder, what should we do now?"

One of the injured clan members clutched his chest, looking at the Fifth Elder with terrified eyes.

At those words, the Fifth Elder's already pale face grew even more grim.

But sensing the powerful aura of their pursuers closing in from behind, he dared not stop for even a moment. While urging the others to continue fleeing, he said in a heavy voice, "Whatever happens, we cannot simply wait here to die. Our only option now is to push everything we have into escaping the Yellow Spring Market. Perhaps there is still a sliver of hope."

Ah Xiu, the small figure, and the two remaining clan members had no other choice but to follow after the Fifth Elder, fleeing for their lives.

But the pursuing Yellow Spring experts were closing the distance at an alarming rate, and within just a few breaths, the gap had narrowed considerably.

Seeing that there was simply no way they could escape the Yellow Spring Market before the pursuers caught up, Ah Xiu's expression shifted rapidly through various states of distress, but in the end she spoke up to the Fifth Elder, "Fifth Uncle, I know of someone who might be able to help us."

At those words, the Fifth Elder's group all showed unusual expressions, and the withered-faced small figure, as though suddenly recalling something, turned to Ah Xiu with an unpleasant look and asked in alarm, "You don't mean those people from the guesthouse, do you? Are you certain they can withstand the Yellow Spring Tribe's experts?"

Ah Xiu's pretty face was grave. She glanced at the small figure and shook her head, "I don't know. But right now we have to treat a dead horse as a living one and at least try."

As she said this, Ah Xiu turned to look at the Fifth Elder, who had turned back to look at her. Catching the doubt clear on his face, she asked, "Does Fifth Uncle have another option right now?"

With that, Ah Xiu said nothing further, immediately throwing everything into her movement technique and changing direction, racing toward a passage ahead.

At the sight, the withered-faced small figure's brow furrowed, but after only a moment's hesitation he followed close behind Ah Xiu's figure.

"Elder..."

The remaining two clan members both looked at the Fifth Elder, waiting for his decision.

"So be it. Let's follow and see what happens."

The Fifth Elder let out a sigh and immediately called the two others to follow him after Ah Xiu's direction.

Just as Ah Xiu had said, he genuinely had no other option left. Either he faced the pursuing Yellow Spring experts in a final, desperate last stand, or he took the gamble of following her lead.

...

In the battered main hall of the guesthouse, bodies lay scattered across the floor among the wreckage of overturned dishes and cups.

Before long, the air suddenly rippled and tore, as though some sharp blade had cleaved through the void itself, and a blood-soaked figure, wrapped in a violent, roaring gust of force, dropped suddenly from the sky, slamming heavily into the guesthouse's main hall.

The blind man, having nearly exhausted the last of his strength, used his one remaining functional arm to brace himself, lifting his lead-heavy body as he hit the ground.

He then quickly raised his scarred, blood-covered face to look out beyond the guesthouse.

At that very moment, a flicker of afterimages suddenly appeared in the main hall, and Ah Xiu's panicked, fleeing figure materialized.

The blind man's expression flickered with surprise the moment he saw Ah Xiu appear, and Ah Xiu, finding the man still alive against all expectation, showed an equally startled look.

But before either of them could exchange a word, the small figure, the Fifth Elder, and the third clan member came rushing into the main hall close behind.

The Fifth Elder swept the room with a glance and was about to ask Ah Xiu where this person who could help them was.

But before he could even voice the question, the Rakshasa Holy Lord, who had been pursuing them from a different direction, arrived above the guesthouse, trailing roaring waves of malevolent energy that blotted out the sky.

"You killed my beloved son. I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes."

The Rakshasa Holy Lord had already sensed the blind man's presence within the guesthouse's main hall. At this moment, killing intent surrounded him like a raging storm, and his terrifying martial aura sealed off the entire guesthouse below.

He then raised a hand and pressed down, condensing the surging, violent malevolent energy into an enormous palm in an instant.

The void trembled and went silent, as though the entire world had narrowed down to this single palm slowly descending toward the guesthouse, as if intending to crush the blind man, already facing certain death, piece by piece into dust through sheer terror alone.

The blind man, with no path of escape left, could only turn his head and look toward the upper floor of the guesthouse, clinging to the last sliver of hope remaining in his heart.

Ah Xiu, the Fifth Elder, and the others all changed expression sharply at once, clearly never having imagined that the blind man had drawn the Rakshasa Holy Lord directly here with him.

They had come to the guesthouse seeking a chance at survival, only to find themselves stepping straight into a certain death trap instead.

The two clan members immediately wore expressions of pure despair, while the Fifth Elder and the small figure, faces grim, both turned sharply to look at Ah Xiu.

Ah Xiu's face had gone paper-white, and for a moment she found herself unable to speak at all.

At the same time, the Rakshasa Holy Lord, hovering in the air above, lowered his head and looked down like some vengeful demon, intending to watch with his own eyes as the blind man met his death.

But very quickly, his brow furrowed sharply.

The enormous palm, condensed from malevolent energy, suddenly stopped just as it was about to touch the guesthouse's rooftop below, as though blocked by something, and could no longer continue its descent.

"Who dares stop this old man?"

The Rakshasa Holy Lord's voice was deeply menacing. He naturally knew the blind man was already at the very end of his strength, in no condition to block this strike of his at all, which meant someone else must have intervened.

In an instant, an ominous glow rose in the Rakshasa Holy Lord's eyes. He swept the area with his gaze but sensed nothing unusual.

He then let his eyes settle on the guesthouse below.

Even so, beyond sensing the presence of several individuals with reasonably strong martial cultivation inside, he found no trace of whoever had actually intervened.

At this point, the assembled Yellow Spring experts who had been pursuing Ah Xiu's group had also arrived outside the guesthouse.

Seeing the towering figure within the sky-blotting malevolent energy above, they did not immediately move against Ah Xiu's group inside the main hall, but instead bowed in respect at once.

"We pay our respects to the Rakshasa Holy Lord."

At those words, the black-robed Rakshasa Holy Lord swept his gaze over the assembled Yellow Spring experts below, then turned to look toward the direction they had come from, where a white-haired elder's figure was approaching unhurriedly through the air.

"Brother Blood Spring, if you've come to help, there's no need. My son's death is something I will avenge personally."

The Rakshasa Holy Lord spoke in a heavy voice, then suddenly struck out with his palm, pressing down from a distance toward the malevolent palm of energy that remained suspended above the guesthouse's rooftop, unable to descend.