Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 341 Unrivaled Throughout Chang'an

The fishing net was entirely black, quite fine, and had a cold metallic sheen.

Upon closer inspection, the crisscrossing network is covered with menacing barbs; if this thing were to trap someone, it would surely turn them into a hedgehog.

Peeling off the net is like peeling off a layer of a person's skin.

The person who uses this weapon is extremely vicious.

Su Changying's face turned cold as he watched. He suddenly pulled Zhou Zhao into his arms with his left hand, pressing her face against his chest, while his right hand slashed the metal fishing net with his long sword.

Upon seeing this, the leader of the men in black couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"This thing is impervious to swords and spears; Little Marquis Lu just wants to show off..."

Before he could finish speaking, his words caught in his throat. He felt his robes billowing in the wind, and a sudden, sharp pain shot through his face, as if an unseen blade had grazed his cheek.

He reached out and touched it, then looked down and saw that his hand was covered in scarlet blood.

This is Su Changying's sword energy!

The man in black's expression changed drastically. He looked up sharply and saw that the massive black net suddenly shattered into pieces just as it was about to make contact with the longsword.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "This is impossible! This can be made into soft armor..."

The leader in black gasped, his gaze towards Su Changying filled with wariness.

Marquis Lu, renowned for his martial prowess in Chang'an, was once hailed as the greatest martial artist in the land. However, this glory was shattered when he was easily abducted. Just recently, during the siege of Li Huaishan at the mourning hall, Su Changying even appealed to His Majesty for help, requesting assistance from top imperial guards.

Doesn't this further prove that he's just a name without substance?

But upon seeing him today, the man in black felt a chill run down his spine...

Su Changying's martial arts skills may not be as good as those old monsters who have practiced for decades, but he is much more powerful than they expected. He can be said to be the number one among the younger generation. There are probably only a handful of people in the world who are stronger than him.

The leader of the men in black felt a chill in his heart and shouted, "Go!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw fragments of the exploding net hurtling toward his face. He knew something was wrong and dodged to the side, but his companion standing behind him on the rowing boat couldn't dodge in time and was struck hard on the head by the net.

The man screamed, leaned back, and fell into the lake.

Screams rose and fell, and almost instantly, four of the sixteen people fell into the water and never resurfaced.

Su Changying loosened her left hand, Zhou Zhao took a deep breath, the dagger in her hand slipped from her grasp, she turned around and formed a triangle with Su Changying and A Huang back to back, and then the three of them rushed out at the same time like arrows released from a bow.

The man in black in front of Zhou Zhao only felt a blur before his eyes, and the long sword he thrust out suddenly missed its mark.

The small boat where Zhou Zhao and the other two had been was now empty. He panicked and felt a tightness around his waist; Zhou Zhao was on his back!
The man in black was terrified. Before he could even turn his head, he felt a chill on his neck, blood splattered out, and he collapsed uncontrollably.

As he fell, Zhou Zhao, who was on his back, also lost his balance and fell forward. Seeing this, the other man on the boat with the man in black thought he had found an opening and thrust his long sword fiercely at Zhou Zhao.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhou Zhao flipped over, turning the black-clad man's corpse over and plunging his longsword deep into it.

The second man in black sensed something was wrong. If he drew his sword, he would be frozen in place; if he didn't, he would be unarmed...

Before he could think it through, a bright-eyed little girl leaped up from under the corpse and plunged the dagger into his abdomen from below. He pulled out his sword and tried to stab Zhou Zhao.

But the young girl didn't even blink, and immediately struck a second time, plunging the dagger into his neck. The man in black stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his hand still raised high, the tip of the sword about to touch Zhou Zhao's clothes.

His hand loosened, and the longsword clattered onto the deck.

Zhou Zhao didn't even glance at him, and in a flash, he attacked the next man in black.

Almost instantly, only six of the sixteen men in black remained.

The six men looked at each other, then steeled themselves, raised their hands to their mouths, and made a swallowing motion.

Zhou Zhao frowned, twirled the dagger in his hand, and stabbed at the black-clad man closest to him. The black-clad man looked up sharply and met Zhou Zhao's gaze. The black-clad man's eyes were completely red, and two lines of bloody tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.

It looks incredibly creepy.

"So what kind of forbidden drugs did you take to improve your martial arts by burning your life essence? It seems your master never intended for you to return alive!"

Are you willing to die like this? When a person dies, all the credit goes to others.

The man in black remained expressionless and silent, only shedding tears of blood, looking more like a ghost than a ghost himself.

When Zhou Zhao exchanged blows with him, he immediately sensed the difference; this man in black was clearly much more powerful than the previous ones.

She thought to herself, and gave a mocking smirk.

But even if they used secret techniques to enhance their martial arts, so what? They were still no match for them.

As Zhou Zhao thought this, he plunged the dagger into the neck of the man in black in front of him. The sounds of fighting had ceased all around.

Zhou Zhao turned around and saw Ah Huang standing at the bow of the boat, carrying a large sword. His bamboo hat was covered in blood, and the lake water nearby was stained red with blood.

Su Changying stood behind the leader of the men in black, her long sword resting against his neck.

"Are you injured?"

Su Changying and A Huang shook their heads at the same time.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao curled the corners of his mouth. Indeed, how many old monsters like Qin Tianying and Li Huaishan are there in this world? The three of them combined are still as invincible as before, dominating Chang'an.

"Who sent you?" Su Changying asked.

Zhou Zhao looked at the leader of the men in black and saw that his eyes were covered in blood, and blood was flowing from his seven orifices. As if he sensed that Zhou Zhao was looking at him, the man's lips curled up slightly, revealing a strange smile.

Zhou Zhao's heart tightened, and he called out, "Changying!"

Su Changying and A Huang moved at the same time, and the three of them immediately returned to the small boat in the center where they were staying.

The moment the three landed on the small boat, the man in black instantly melted into a pool of blood, like a burning candle.

Zhou Zhao was horrified. Looking around, the corpses of the men in black were also mangled and unrecognizable.

"They came prepared, thinking that Ah Huang was here, so they wouldn't let us find out their identities by examining the corpses."

These people didn't intend to leave alive, so there must be a second group hiding in the shadows, waiting for us to perish together before coming out to loot the spoils.

As Zhou Zhao spoke, the coffin nail in his hand suddenly shot out in a certain direction in the water.