Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Yang Guo strode towards Leng Feng.

With each step, his aura deepened. There was no outward exertion of pressure, nor any superfluous movement, yet Leng Feng's warhorse began to tremble, pawing the ground and exhaling white breath from its nostrils.

Leng Feng was forced to dismount.

He could no longer sit on the horse.

Although the horse's back is high, it also restricts sword movement. Facing Yang Guo's close-quarters combat skills, staying on horseback would only make one a sitting duck.

Leng Feng gripped his sword in his left hand, his right sleeve hanging limply. He pulled his severed arm back slightly, the tip of his sword pointing to the ground, his feet pressing into the dust.

Cheng Ying whispered, "He's going to fight his meridians."

Lu Wushuang gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

"What do you mean?"

"He's taking medicine to prolong his life force, but he can't hold on for long. If this drags on, he'll collapse on his own without my husband even having to lift a finger." Cheng Ying looked at the scene, speaking softly, "So he'll pour all his remaining true energy into that one sword strike."

Lu Wushuang's face tensed up.

"Then why are you still going forward, sir?"

Cheng Ying did not answer.

Because she had already figured it out.

Yang Guo was also forcing Leng Feng to unleash this final sword strike.

If Leng Feng didn't draw his sword, he could hold out a little longer thanks to his mid-stage Innate Realm cultivation. Yang Guo had to protect her and Lu Wushuang, and also guard against the pursuers at Tongguan Pass; the longer it dragged on, the more troublesome it would become.

Forcing him to make a decisive move is actually the easiest way.

A low growl escaped his throat, dust billowing beneath his feet as he pulled himself from the spot. The longsword moved from bottom to top, then shifted to a straight thrust, the sword path extremely short, all the sword energy concentrated on a single point.

This sword strike abandons variation, seeking only to penetrate.

Before the sword even arrived, the wisps of hair on Yang Guo's forehead were already whipped up by the force of the energy.

Yang Guo did not dodge.

He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together, while his left hand hung down at his side, his palm secretly holding the reversed Nine Yin True Qi.

The tip of the sword was three inches in front of his nose.

Yang Guo then made his move.

Hold the sword spine between two fingers.

With a clang, the sword trembled violently.

Leng Feng's arm went numb as the medicinal power surged within him. He tried to draw his sword, but found the spine locked by two fingers. Yang Guo's fingertips didn't block directly; instead, he enveloped the sword with the energy of his One Yang Finger and then used the Nine Yin Soft Force to deflect the sword energy.

This clamp didn't clamp a sword.

It is the last valve in the cold-sealed system.

The cold-faced sword twisted, and he forcefully gathered the remaining strength in his dantian. The sword emitted a faint sound, and he actually wanted to shatter the longsword with his true energy and use the fragments to injure people.

Yang Guo sensed the change in the sword's aura, raised his left palm, and gently pressed it against the middle of the sword.

"A heavy sword has no edge, and true skill lies in simplicity. Your sword is too light."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Nine Yin True Qi in his palm sank downwards.

The longsword broke in half.

The remaining sword energy from Leng Feng was intercepted and returned to his meridians. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and his steps faltered.

Yang Guo took half a step forward and slapped his chest with his right palm.

This palm strike was delivered with full force.

The orthodox Nine Yin True Qi enters first, protecting the palm's energy pathway; the reverse Nine Yin True Qi arrives later, simultaneously exploding along the cold-sealed heart meridian and dantian. The Kan-Li Technique combines the two internal energies into one, with hardness and softness rotating, the initial force breaking bones, and the subsequent force destroying meridians.

Leng Feng's sternum collapsed, and he flew backward, crashing into an old tree by the roadside before falling into the grass.

Black blood gushed from his mouth, mixed with fragments. His dantian had been shattered by the Heart-Shattering Palm, and the medicinal power, no longer suppressed, surged back into his limbs and meridians.

Leng Feng twitched a few times, but still managed to lift his head.

Yang Guo walked up to him and looked down at him.

"I told you, if you dare to cause trouble again, I'll raze the General's Mansion to the ground. Go down and scout ahead. Wang Jian and his son will be joining you soon."

He opened his mouth, as if trying to say something.

But he only coughed up a few bloody bubbles, then his head tilted to the side and he stopped breathing.

The official road quieted down.

Several stray warhorses circled by the roadside, snorting. In the distance, the Tongguan city gate was half-obscured by a thin mist, and no pursuing troops were visible for some time.

Yang Guo did not delay.

He first kicked aside the porcelain bottle at Leng Feng's waist and smashed it with the tip of his knife. Two crimson pills rolled out of the bottle, releasing a pungent medicinal smell as they landed.

Cheng Ying walked closer and took a look.

"Crimson Blood Meridian-Regenerating Pill. A forbidden drug in the army. It allows one to forcefully circulate internal energy for half an hour after taking it, after which the meridians wither and decay. The Prince's Mansion even gave him this, it seems they not only want to arrest him, but also want to silence him."

Yang Guo stepped on the broken porcelain and sank it into the mud.

"Wang Jian and his son aren't stupid. If word gets out about what happened last night, the Tongguan General's Mansion will have a bad reputation for colluding with Jianghu retainers to ambush the Quanzhen Sect Leader. If we make it to Xiangyang alive, they'll be in trouble."

Lu Wushuang ran over, her face full of joy, leading two horses.

"My lord, these horses are all quite fine. The Prince's mansion is certainly willing to spend money."

Yang Guo gently ruffled her hair.

"Choose three horses with steady hooves. Let the rest go, so they don't get too accurately tracked by the hoofprints."

Lu Wushuang nodded and turned to choose a horse.

Cheng Ying stood by the tree, her gaze sweeping over the corpse on the ground before returning to Yang Guo.

She has witnessed murder.

Peach Blossom Island is not a pure land of the imperial court, and Huang Yaoshi's disciples never show mercy to women. But Yang Guo's actions just now were too swift. Killing the guards was to cut off the pursuit; breaking the elixir bottle was to confirm the Prince's methods; releasing the horses was to disrupt their retreat.

Every step this person takes is useful.

He was usually frivolous and dissolute, but when it came to life and death, he was like a completely different person.

Cheng Ying suddenly realized that her idea of ​​using the life-saving grace to control him last night was far too simplistic.

Yang Guo walked up to her and whispered, "Miss Cheng, have you seen enough?"

Cheng Ying looked away.

"You killed too cleanly. If the Prince's mansion finds out this way, they'll only close the road even faster."

"Therefore, we do not take the official road."

Yang Guo raised his hand and pointed to the mountains and forests to the south.

"There's an old post road about twenty miles ahead, abandoned for many years, that leads to Shangzhou. The people from the Prince's Palace will think we're in a hurry to get to Xiangyang and will set up roadblocks along the official road. We'll take a detour through the mountains and then switch to the waterway."

Cheng Ying frowned.

When have you ever seen a map of Guanzhong?

"Last night at the inn, that good-for-nothing Wang Zhaoxing was bragging while drinking. He talked in great detail about which roads near Tongguan were suitable for smuggling wine and salt, and which roads allowed you to avoid tax checkpoints."

Cheng Ying fell silent.

She originally thought Yang Guo was just playing along with that good-for-nothing, but she didn't expect him to remember all those words.

Seeing that she remained silent, Yang Guo took half a step closer.

"Miss Cheng, did I scare you just now?"

Cheng Ying turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"I've seen life-or-death battles myself. I don't need your feigned concern."

Yang Guo chuckled and reached out to put his arm around her waist.

The blow wasn't heavy, but it left Cheng Ying with nowhere to retreat. Just as she was about to struggle, Yang Guo whispered, "Don't move. There are still people in the woods behind."

Cheng Ying paused.

Yang Guo placed his palm on her waist, which appeared intimate to outsiders, but in reality, he lightly tapped her with his fingertips twice.

This is the code word we just agreed on.

Two taps indicate the presence of a hidden sentry.

Cheng Ying suppressed her anger, turned to the side as he gestured, and used her sleeve to cover her right hand. The copper coin was quietly tucked away in her sleeve.

Yang Guo whispered, "Thirty paces to the left rear. It's not a guard from the Prince's mansion; their footsteps are light, like a scout from the martial world."

Cheng Ying had good hearing, and when she listened intently, she could indeed hear the soft rustling of grass.

The person was well hidden; if Yang Guo hadn't reminded her, she might not have been able to find him.

Yang Guo leaned close to her ear, his words regaining their flirtatious tone.

"Cheng Ying, do you think that by trading your body for my life, you have leverage to negotiate with me?"

Cheng Ying realized he was using words to cover up something, but she was still made to feel hot in the ears.

"I don't."

"You have," Yang Guo said, pressing his hand on her waist. "You've calculated things very cleverly. You saved your life, dispelled the cold energy in your body, and even tried to use it to control me. Unfortunately, you overlooked one thing."

Cheng Ying gritted her teeth and asked, "What is it?"

"I'm the kind of person who never plays by the rules," Yang Guo whispered in her ear. "When we get to Xiangyang and meet your dear senior sister, Chief Huang, what do you think she'll think if I spanked you in front of her?"

Cheng Ying's face stiffened, and then, by tilting her head, a copper coin popped out from her sleeve.

The copper coin flew into the forest, skimming the grass.

A muffled groan came from inside the forest, and a man in gray turned and fled.

Yang Guo had already raised his hand.

A burst of energy from the One-Finger Divine Skill swept past and struck the man's knee. The gray-clad man fell to the ground, trying to get up, but Lu Wushuang rushed over from the side, a willow-leaf knife pressed against his neck.

"My lord, we've captured him alive!"

Yang Guo released Cheng Ying, his expression remaining largely unchanged.

"Just kill him, no need to ask any more questions."

Cheng Ying straightened her clothes, which he had messed up, and her chest heaved twice.

She then realized that Yang Guo's outrageous words were partly meant to deceive her and partly meant to distract the people hiding in the shadows.

But his last sentence was clearly not entirely without meaning.

"You...you dare!" Cheng Ying's voice trembled.

"You'll see if I dare," Yang Guo whispered, raising his hand to hold down her collar.

"My lord, the people have been dealt with, and the horses have been brought over!" Lu Wushuang's voice came from not far away.

Yang Guo released Cheng Ying and casually straightened her disheveled clothes.

"Let's go, my dear cousin." Yang Guo emphasized the words "cousin".

Cheng Ying took two deep breaths, suppressing the humiliation and panic in her heart, and followed Yang Guo toward the horses.