Chapter 115 - 114: Intercepted

Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Intercepted

「The next day, early in the morning.」

South of Mountain Mist City.

Eighty li out, in the desolate wilderness.

Wu Chen wore a woven bamboo conical hat, a thick black cloth obscuring his face, and a wide, dark cloak.

He was completely covered, his build and appearance hidden from view.

The reason for this concealing attire was, naturally, to kill someone.

To kill He Kui.

Wu Chen’s original plan had been to cleanly dispose of He Kui last night.

After all, killing an early-stage Jade Bone Realm cultivator was a simple matter for him.

He would wait for him to be alone, gut him with a single slash, and frame a demonic cultivator for the crime. Before anyone discovered the body, he would slip away into the mountains and forests outside the city.

By the time the Demon Suppression Bureau discovered that their chosen bailiff was dead, what could they do, even in their fury?

In this vast world, where would they even begin to look for the assassin?

However, after tailing He Kui for half the night, Wu Chen learned that ever since the man heard that a lock of the county magistrate’s hair had been silently cut off, his behavior could be described in a single word: cowardly.

He Kui was in a constant state of panic, terrified that the blade that visited the county magistrate would visit him next. He started spending all his time with a dozen of his shady friends, never leaving their side.

When the group from the Demon Suppression Bureau arrived, He Kui went even further, using the excuse of hosting a lavish banquet to stay glued to them.

This made it impossible for Wu Chen to kill him and then slip out of Mountain Mist City unnoticed.

But he had to be killed regardless.

After tailing him for half the night, Wu Chen decided to leave the city in the dead of night and wait here early in the morning, precisely to make He Kui understand something.

’Even the Demon Suppression Bureau can’t protect him!’

Leaning against a tree, Wu Chen focused his gaze on his panel:

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Jade Bone Realm, Sixth Layer

(Qi Power: Earth-Shaking Wild Bull) (Stamina: Enduring Qi Power)

[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] ’Bone-Eroding Wind Blade - Intent’, ’Spirit Swallow Leaf-Plucking Step - Intent’, ’Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill - Perfection’, ’Iron Shirt Bone Grinding Skill’...

After glancing at his realm on the panel, Wu Chen nudged the conical hat on his head and looked up in the direction of Mountain Mist City.

’By my calculations, the group should be arriving soon, right?’

The sun was now approaching its zenith. The Demon Suppression Bureau’s party had set out at sunrise.

Even with the families of the newly selected Demon Suppression Guards slowing them down, they should have reached this godforsaken spot by now—the perfect place for an ambush and robbery.

But looking out, the main road was completely empty. There wasn’t a single soul in sight.

’Did they change their route at the last minute?’

Wu Chen frowned. He decided not to wait any longer and to go see what was happening.

He let out a loud, sharp whistle.

As the sharp sound faded, the sound of galloping hooves thundered from the distant woods, and then a crimson figure appeared.

A magnificent, date-red steed galloped toward Wu Chen.

"Let’s go. We’ll head over and see."

Wu Chen vaulted onto the horse, landing lightly on its back. Without the slightest pause, the steed galloped off toward Mountain Mist City.

Man and horse moved like a fleeting shadow.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

"Don’t let a single one escape!"

"Kill every last one of them!"

"..."

He galloped for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn before the clash of weapons and furious battle cries from up ahead reached his ears.

’Hm?’

Wu Chen urged his horse faster, pulling on the reins at the top of a slope. Looking down, the scene of the slaughter below was laid bare before him.

He saw a group dressed in dark brocade robes fighting with another group in assorted clothing.

The two sides were locked in a life-or-death struggle. Severed limbs were scattered all around, and both sides had suffered casualties.

The thick stench of blood spread on the gentle breeze.

Looking at the clothing and fighting styles of the two groups,

Wu Chen finally understood why the Demon Suppression Bureau party hadn’t arrived. They had been intercepted.

’The Blood Slaughter Sect sure is bold...’

From the sharp whistle of blades that rang out from time to time, Wu Chen recognized the other group as the demonic cultivators of the Blood Slaughter Sect.

Wu Chen was rendered speechless by the situation.

He understood the situation perfectly. The Blood Slaughter Sect’s demonic cultivators were brazen enough to target the Demon Suppression Guards on their way back to Cangwu City, treating them as "great medicine."

After all, in the eyes of the Blood Slaughter Sect, there was little difference between the Demon Suppression Bureau and disciples from other sects.

’The members the Blood Slaughter Sect gathered are a motley crew, but they have the advantage in numbers—forty or fifty of them! The Demon Suppression Guards are about to break...’

Wu Chen could tell at a glance that the Demon Suppression Guards were struggling to hold on.

Although the Demon Suppression Bureau’s side also had thirty to forty people,

aside from the ten Demon Suppression Guards and one Demon Suppression Captain,

the other twenty to thirty people were the bailiffs who had just been selected yesterday, along with their families.

These bailiffs had enough fighting prowess to handle common bandits, but against this desperate horde from the Blood Slaughter Sect, they were hopelessly outmatched.

Seeing the two sides fighting to the death, Wu Chen’s eyes lit up.

’This is a rare opportunity!’

After all, it wasn’t easy to find so many members of the Blood Slaughter Sect gathered in one place to be killed.

Moreover, with so many demonic cultivators here, Wu Chen saw over a thousand Contribution Points ripe for the taking!

HYAH!—

He immediately slapped the horse’s rump with his scabbard. The steed understood the command and charged toward a group of people at the bottom of the slope.

After charging only a few steps, Wu Chen glanced at the battle and saw He Kui lying in a pool of blood amidst the crowd. A gruesome gash marred his chest; he had clearly been killed by the Blood Slaughter Sect’s demonic cultivators.

"Fuck..."

Seeing this, Wu Chen was instantly enraged.

He had secretly followed He Kui for a couple of hours last night, prepared an assassination plan, procured a killer’s outfit, and even chosen an ambush route.

You could say he had put a great deal of effort into the foreplay.

He had even thoroughly planned how to engage without harming the other Demon Suppression Guards and how to retreat after killing He Kui.

It was supposed to be a perfect "finish the deed and vanish, hiding all merit and fame."

But who would have thought that he wouldn’t even get the chance to act cool? The Blood Slaughter Sect had beaten him to it and cut He Kui down.

How could Wu Chen possibly accept this?

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

But what was done was done. Wu Chen could only charge down the slope on his horse and vent his anger on the demonic cultivators who had suddenly appeared and ruined his plan.

His mount charged down the slope with the force of a rolling boulder, reaching a demonic cultivator in just two or three bounds.

Though the steed wore no heavy armor, the force of its downhill charge, combined with its own powerful build, sent the demonic cultivator flying.

Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and he was still upon landing.

PFFT! PFFT!

The steed snorted, pleased with its one-hit kill, and was about to charge again to trample the next demonic cultivator.

"Whoa!"

But Wu Chen quickly reined it in.

"Go wait for me off to the side."

Wu Chen released the reins and leaped from the horse’s back, not allowing it to attack again.

A horse’s methods of attack were, after all, very limited.

Charging and trampling—that was about it.

It could kill an unprepared demonic cultivator in one blow, but it would be useless once they were on guard.

Besides, it had no armor; a single slash could be fatal.

Unable to fight alongside its master, the horse, though reluctant, understood his intent. It turned and galloped away to the distant open woods to await its master’s command.

SWISH! SWISH!

Wu Chen landed among the demonic cultivators. A black gleam flashed, and three of them froze, their heads tumbling lightly to the ground.

Before the heads even hit the ground, Wu Chen, with swift eyes and nimble hands, snatched them up and put them in his storage bag. The entire motion was seamless.

’Perfection-stage Meridian Passage Realm strength.’

From the brief exchange, Wu Chen could sense that half of the demonic cultivators here were at the Perfection stage of the Meridian Passage Realm.

They were just a hair’s breadth away from breaking through to the Jade Bone Realm.

’So they’re recklessly attacking the Demon Suppression Guards to refine that "great medicine" and break through to the next realm, huh?’

Wu Chen understood. The Blood Slaughter Sect’s Blood Road trial must be imminent. These demonic cultivators launched this attack to gain a slight edge in strength, hoping for greater rewards in the trial.

But regardless, the Blood Slaughter Sect’s plan was indeed a success.

At the very least, the Demon Suppression Guards clearly hadn’t expected to be ambushed just thirty or forty li out of the city by a large group of Blood Slaughter Sect cultivators disguised as a merchant caravan.

Caught off guard, the Demon Suppression Guards were stretched thin, having to protect the newly selected bailiffs and their families as well.

Overwhelmed by numbers, their defeat was apparent. They probably wouldn’t last another half-hour before the entire Demon Suppression Bureau contingent was wiped out by the demonic cultivators’ blades.

The sole Silver Wolf Captain wasn’t faring much better. He was single-handedly fighting three late-stage Jade Bone Realm demonic cultivators.

Although he had severed one of their arms, he had also taken a slash to the chest, and blood was gushing out.

Fortunately, because the demonic cultivators wanted to capture their "great medicine," they hadn’t coated their blades with poison. Otherwise, the battle would have likely already been decided.

Even though the demonic cultivator had lost an arm, he fought on ferociously as if he felt no pain, trading injury for injury.

This left the Silver Wolf Captain struggling to hold on by himself.

Looking at the fearless, death-defying demonic cultivators around him and his own constantly retreating Demon Suppression Guards, he knew he had to call for reinforcements. He roared:

"Is there a newly selected guy named He Kui? Is he still alive?!"

"If he is, two Demon Suppression Guards, cover him! He needs to break through and get help from the Mountain Mist City Defense Department!"