The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 580 Ascending the Steps (Continued)

Old man Yutian staggered forward.

His vision was already blurred and out of focus. With each step he rose and fell, the belt wrapped around his waist and abdomen loosened slightly, and a section of his tender intestines slipped out along the wound, rubbing against the rough clothing and bringing a strange and uncomfortable sensation.

But he can't stop.

Having already wasted twenty years of his life, he had to do what he hadn't done before in his final moments before he died.

Ahead, the middle-aged swordsman who had been sitting cross-legged in the middle of the passageway stood up. He must have been sitting there since early morning, as a thin layer of dew had accumulated on his shoulders, which slid off with his movements and dripped onto the katana resting on his knees.

Zheng.

It emitted a clear, ringing sound.

Why not make a move?

The middle-aged swordsman said to the elderly Yu Tian who was staggering towards him.

The old man, Yutian, had half of his jaw missing, leaving only his tongue and throat, making it impossible for him to answer his questions. However, the crowd following behind heard him clearly.

The swordsman who interrupted was taken aback.

He suddenly realized that he had overlooked one point from beginning to end—the old man Yutian had come this far by defeating two powerful enemies in succession, mostly by using strategies, but he had never actually made a move.

As a swordsman, why not use your own school's sword techniques when fighting to the death?

Conversely, since Elder Yutian defeated two Sword Saints without even using any moves, his strength must be far greater than he had anticipated... If he had used normal moves, he wouldn't have been injured like this at all.

Then why didn't he make a move?
"Make your move, Lord Uda!"

"Take action!"

"It's already like this...why?!"

A commotion erupted in the crowd, and several swordsmen shouted anxiously at the elderly Yu Tian, ​​who could barely stand. One of the swordsmen, seeing that the elderly Yu Tian did not respond, even took a step forward in desperation.

They stepped out of the crowd.

Zheng!
A flash of cold light appeared in the distance.

Wow!

A huge flower of blood suddenly bloomed on the swordsman's body as he stepped out of the crowd, and he collapsed to the ground before he could even scream.

Ten feet away, the middle-aged swordsman seemed to have never moved, only saying something indifferently.

"Only one person can ascend the steps at a time."

"You can look, but if you step out of the crowd, you will die."

The crowd watching from behind suddenly retreated.

The swordsman who had interrupted wanted to retreat with the crowd, but as soon as he turned around, he bumped into the old man's chest with a loud thud.

It was unclear what the old man's skin was made of; it was as cold and hard as a piece of cast iron. The unexpected impact made him dizzy and he stood there for several breaths.

In just a few breaths, the crowd had moved to the back, revealing him, the old man, and the man and woman.

The middle-aged swordsman's gaze instantly fell upon them, encompassing the four of them. The swordsman who had interrupted was feeling dizzy and disoriented when he suddenly felt a chill sweep over his back, instantly sobering him up, but he dared not move at all.

"oops."

The woman dressed in priest's robes said with a smile.

"The concealment technique is useless now."

"Lord Li, we've been exposed."

The man in the black robe replied with a smile.

“If the leader is afraid, he can hide behind me.”

The woman in priestess robes smiled sweetly.

"That wouldn't be good. I'm afraid Lord Li might turn around and elbow me when I'm not paying attention. When you were fighting the Emperor and An Qisheng, even they wouldn't have been able to withstand your flip-over elbow strike."

"Lord Li is too ruthless; I dare not gamble."

The man in black robes smiled and shook his head, but did not refute.

In just a few words, the dangerous relationship between the two was clearly outlined.

Unfortunately, no one present could understand it.

Fortunately, the middle-aged swordsman only glanced at him, frowned slightly, and then turned his gaze back to the old man, Yu Tian.

"Make your move."

he repeated.

Before the words were even finished, a flash of cold light appeared!
It was that slash again, the process of which was completely invisible!
The old man Yutian swayed as if he could no longer support his injuries and collapsed, but he just managed to dodge the slash.

With a thud, he fell to the ground.

After a long while, he slowly pushed himself up and got up.

During this process, the middle-aged swordsman did not make a move. Instead, he waited until the man had fully stood up before speaking in a deep voice.

"In your current state, you can still dodge my strikes, so your strength is far superior to those two trash... In a normal fight, they couldn't hurt you."

"Why aren't you making a move?" "Which sword style are you a disciple of, and why are you climbing the steps?"

Why do you want to die?

Old man Yutian still did not react.

His throat, exposed to the air, emitted heavy panting sounds. The movement that had just barely dodged the slash had exhausted his strength, and he, who practiced breathing techniques, could no longer even control his breathing.

A hint of anger appeared on the middle-aged swordsman's face.

"Fine... you don't want to make a move?"

"Let's see how long you can hold out!"

Swish swish swish swish! ——

The cold light changed from a beam to a ball, enveloping the old man Yutian. He managed to dodge, but it was to no avail.

Snap, snap, snap.

The middle-aged swordsman did not cut his vital points, but instead kept retracting his sword light and cutting along the contours of his body, so that bits of flesh were cut off and fell to the ground.

Ears, nose tip, hair, lips, skin.

As if the death by a thousand cuts had been shortened to a few breaths, the belt binding the wound around the waist was severed, and with a whoosh, the internal organs flowed down the waist and hips.

"Take action!"

The middle-aged swordsman roared angrily.

Almost all the flesh protruding from the old man's torso was cut off, but he still didn't let out a scream. He just kept using his broken body to make dodging movements and slowly approach him, but he didn't intend to use any sword moves at all.

This grotesque, unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood approached the middle-aged swordsman in a wretched, tragic, and terrifying manner, eventually standing before him.

"madman."

The middle-aged swordsman sheathed his sword and stared coldly at the skeleton.

"What do you want?"

The skeleton obviously couldn't answer; his tongue was gone, and only his throat was making weak, hissing breaths.

"...Die."

The middle-aged swordsman had lost his patience, gripped the hilt of his sword, and prepared to sever his neck.

The swordsman who had interrupted suddenly covered his mouth.

"Lord Uda..."

He was just as confused as the middle-aged swordsman.

However, it seems that today's "ascent of the steps" is about to end. No matter what Elder Yutian wants to do, he will be unable to complete it.

But the next moment, the black-robed man next to him suddenly raised his hand and put it on the shoulder of the old man who had been speaking coldly to Elder Yutian, and said in a strange tone of Japanese.

"Almost got it."

The woman in priest's robes standing next to him also smiled and said something.

“Kurama-san, Lord Li has always respected those opponents who are willing to die. Since he can’t stand it anymore, I will naturally stand with him.”

"How about it, give me some face?"

The wording is polite, but the tone leaves no room for argument.

The old man remained silent for a few breaths, looking at the fleshy skeleton barely standing in front of him, and finally a hint of softening appeared on his stiff expression.

He uttered a sentence in a deep voice.

"Okay."

what?
The swordsman who interrupted was momentarily stunned.

Who is he talking to?

What's okay?

What do you mean?
But the next moment, he was horrified!

He suddenly sensed that the aura emanating from the old man, Yutian, who had been reduced to a bloody skeleton, had changed.

It became incomparably sharp!

"Varied!--"

The middle-aged swordsman retreated rapidly. Faced with his opponent who was no longer human, he was suddenly overcome by an instinctive fear that drove him to retreat quickly!

why!
Why am I afraid?
Why should I back away!

He roared with anger and confusion in his heart, but the next moment, he understood why he had instinctively retreated.

A beam of cold light, far faster, sharper, brighter, and more deadly than his slash, shot out from the hand of the old man, now a flesh-and-skeletal skeleton.

In an instant, it caught up with his throat!

(End of this chapter)