The Imperial Guards, like Yama, slaughtered until the Empress cried out for help.

Xu Lao Er ran haphazardly into the mountains, his body already bearing several fine wounds.

Having lost an arm, the loss of blood made him increasingly confused.

But every time he was about to give up, Shen Qing would come up and stab him.

It's not fatal, but it hurts a lot.

A sense of humiliation welled up in Xu Lao Er's heart.

Suddenly, a flash of silver light appeared in the woods, and Shen Qing stabbed him in the buttocks again.

"Xu Hu, how did you end up in such a miserable state?"

Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from the woods.

A middle-aged man dressed in a blue robe appeared on the road leading to the mountain peak, with a red jade longsword at his waist.

He said with a smile.

"Brother, I'm really sorry, but I, Blue Rain, will protect this person today."

A glimmer of hope finally appeared in Xu Lao Er's eyes, which were filled with shame and indignation: "Save me!"

With a flash of silver light, Shen Qing severed Xu Lao Er's knee with a single stroke. Xu Lao Er lost his balance and fell face-first into the dirt.

Lan Yu's smile froze, and her face turned slightly red.

"Didn't you understand what I said? I said I'm protecting this person!"

"If you touch him again, you'll face the consequences!"

But the next moment, Shen Qing swung his Wind Blade, and Xu Hu's head was chopped off.

Only the rumbling sound of rolling could be heard in the clearing in the woods.

Shen Qing kicked Xu Lao Er's head so that it landed at Lan Yu's feet, and then looked at Lan Yu with a mocking expression.

"Oh dear! You're too late, he seems to be a little dead."

As Shen Qing spoke, Lan Yu's expression grew even colder.

"Very well, very well, what an arrogant junior!"

"Then you can stay here today too!"

Before he could finish his harsh words, Shen Qing moved, moving so fast that he even appeared as a phantom.

Lan Yu's eyelids twitched. Holy crap, so fast?

He then reached for the long sword at his waist.

Before the sword was even drawn, Shen Qing had already arrived.

With three swift slashes, Lan Yu's right hand, which was holding the sword, was cut into three pieces.

The fierce wind from the blade even tore the trees behind Lan Yu into three pieces, and the bushes and grass were reduced to fragments.

Shen Qing scoffed, "Drawing your sword now? Don't you think it's too late?"

In a life-or-death struggle, there are only two situations in which you don't draw your sword beforehand.

Either you have a special skill similar to a quick draw slash, which allows you to strike extremely fast.

Either you're an idiot, or you're playing house in a life-or-death struggle, expecting me to draw my sword.

Clearly, Blue Rain did not use the Draw Sword Strike.

The answer is obvious.

Blue Rain is an idiot.

Lan Yu winced in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender, I surrender! I'll pay to save my life!"

Shen Qing's single strike brought Lan Yu, who was in a daze, back to his senses.

"Don't make a move, don't make a move! Your Imperial Guards are targeting the Xu brothers, I haven't provoked you."

"I'm just a thug hired by the Xu brothers."

"Here's what I'm going to do: I have a bag of gold here. I'll use it to buy my life, okay? Just pretend you've never seen me."

As she spoke, Lan Yu opened the bag with her hand, and the dazzling gold shone brightly in the night.

Lan Yu was certain that no captain could refuse this gold.

After all, this bag contained nearly a hundred taels of gold, enough for a captain's salary for several years.

Shen Qing raised his knife and brought Lan Yu's head to the ground.

[Slay a fifth-level martial artist in the Acquired Realm and plunder the entry: First Encounter with the Sword (Green)]

"Don't you even bother to think before you lie? Hired thugs? What thug is so bold as to take on a job dealing with the Imperial Guards?"

Shen Qing flicked the tip of his knife, lifting the bag from Lan Yu's hand, and chuckled softly.

"And even if I kill you, the gold will still be mine, won't it?"

Raise your head.

The battle atop Niujiao Mountain seems to be nearing its end.

There's no time to waste on this blue rain.

From the moment Shen Qing arrived at Niujiao Mountain, the sounds of battle cries had been deafening from the mountaintop.

It's getting weaker and weaker now.

If we arrive too late, the battle might already be over.

Shen Qing took a step using the Free and Easy Step, stepped on a thin branch, and leaped onto the treetop.

With a few leaps, it soared straight towards the mountain peak.

After quite a while, Xu Quan and the black dog finally arrived.

The black dog squatted down and picked up Xu Lao Er's head.

Xu Quan flashed forward, grabbed Xu Lao Er's head, and wiped the blood off his face.

"It's definitely Xu Lao Er."

Xu Quan squatted down again to examine Xu Lao Er's corpse. It was covered in wounds, a large number of them, but none of them were fatal.

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind: this is a cat playing with a mouse.

Shen Qing didn't consider Xu Lao Er an enemy at all; he was just toying with him.

Xu Quan felt very uncomfortable. His group had been chasing the Xu brothers for two months, and he had fought with Xu Lao Er several times, but he had always been at a disadvantage.

As a result, Xu Lao Er was killed like a rat by an even younger captain today.

The sharp-eyed scholar seemed to have spotted Lan Yu's remains and pointed, "Isn't there another corpse there?"

The crowd gathered around and, after searching through the surrounding bushes, finally found Lan Yu's head.

Old Li pieced together Lan Yu's remains, looking puzzled.

"Are these also the Xu brothers? Their builds don't seem quite right."

Xu Quan, standing to the side, frowned and remained silent, only feeling that Lan Yu's face looked unusually familiar.

The next moment, Xu Quan's voice rose a few decibels.

"He is Blue Rain! Blue Rain, the Sword of Listening to the Rain!"

"The Listening Rain Sword? Blue Rain?"

Black Dog and the others were completely baffled.

"Indeed, Tingyu Sword, he was quite famous in Qiushui City a few years ago, but then he disappeared. There are rumors that Lan Yu joined the White Dragon Sect."

"The most recent appearance was three days ago, during the siege of the White Dragon Cult's stronghold. All the big fish were caught, but some small fish escaped, and this Listening Rain Sword was one of them."

"But how did Tingyujian end up with the Xu brothers?"

Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out on his back. Could the Listening Rain Sword be here to kill them?

Xu Quan thought about it more and more and felt that this was possible.

With the White Dragon Cult's stronghold destroyed, the Listening Rain Sword could not possibly remain nearby, but fleeing would require a lot of money.

It's quite possible to make some extra money before running away.

From this perspective, Shen Qing's act of killing someone not only helped him but also saved his life.

I owe this person a huge favor.

Suddenly, several screams came from the mountaintop.

"What was that? So fast!"

"Run!"

"Don't come any closer!"

...

These screams all stopped abruptly, as if they had encountered something.

The answer is obvious.

Xu Quan's eyelids twitched.

"Damn, how long has it been? They've already cut their way from the foot of the mountain to the top!"