The Sounding Gong

The forbidden move of Autumn Water Swordplay: Autumn Water Flowing Glow! Once Autumn Water Flowing Glow was unleashed, her killing power could rival that of an inner qi master who had broken through the first barrier. With it, she could shake off Wu Haihua's entanglement and seize a sliver of a chance to survive. Power like that naturally could not come without a price. If she used it, she would need at least two or three months to recover. And for a martial-path genius like her, one whose progress advanced a thousand li a day, time was what she lacked most. These two or three months were not something to be taken lightly. It meant that for those two or three months she would have to devote herself entirely to healing her wounds and restoring her drained reserves. Through that whole process, her martial-path realm would make no progress at all. She would not advance, yet others would — meaning the gap between them would only widen. Such a loss was something she could not accept! Only, at this point, there was no other way. Just as Mu Wanjun was about to use the forbidden move Autumn Water Flowing Glow to break out, a series of loud, crisp gong notes rang out one after another from not far away. Dense as falling rain, without the slightest pause. Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!... "This is bad!" At the sound of the gong, Wu Haihua's expression shifted. "It's the Suppression Office! Damn it!" At the most critical moment, how could Suppression Office people just happen to find them? But to simply give up like this — he absolutely refused to accept it. "End it quickly!" Wu Haihua let out a low shout, and inner qi surged through his body as though it cost him nothing, driving his attack tempo to the limit. The two first-rank deacons of the Ten Thousand Demons Cult, one fat and one thin, each unleashed their own attacks, hammering down without pause. At qi and blood sixth layer perfection, having completed marrow-cleansing and blood exchange, their strength was boundless — every single blow carried the force of ten thousand jin. Boom! Under the pounding, an entire wall came crashing down. Knowing that rescue from the Suppression Office had arrived, Mu Wanjun's state of mind was no longer what it had been; her Autumn Water Swordplay flowed without a single gap. Even as Wu Haihua forced his way in, for the moment he simply could not bring her down. Hearing the unceasing gong all around him, he grew anxious and frantic, and instead threw his own rhythm into disarray. "Skinny, you go deal with that kid first!" Wu Haihua ordered. The slightly thinner of the two first-rank deacons, who was pressing Mu Wanjun, heard this and was about to disengage and go finish off the one ringing the gong. How could Mu Wanjun let them have their way? Swish~ A flash of sword light blocked the thin deacon's path. "Courting death!" Wu Haihua gave a sinister laugh, seized the opening, and drove his short spikes in a flying thrust straight at Mu Wanjun's chest. Mu Wanjun's brows knitted, and quick to react, she shifted her body slightly, trying to evade Wu Haihua's flying thrust. But she avoided only the greater part of its point; the very tip still pierced her body in the end. "Die!" Wu Haihua wanted to press further, to strike straight at her heart and lungs. But Mu Wanjun did not give him the chance. Sword aura surged, thrusting toward his throat. Caught in the rush of the moment, Wu Haihua swept his short spikes downward, seeking to leave the deepest wound he could. Rip! A large stretch of fish-scale uniform was torn open and slashed away. "Soft armor!" Retreating to evade the sword aura, Wu Haihua looked at the sight before him, his face grim. There, beneath the fish-scale uniform, Mu Wanjun was wearing a piece of soft armor. But the soft armor was exquisitely fine, covering only her core area. Yet that alone was enough to send Wu Haihua's schemes and calculations completely to ruin. He had meant to forcibly kill Mu Wanjun before the Suppression Office reinforcements could arrive. But with the soft armor protecting her, and her martial strength not to be underestimated either, they truly could not bring her down in a short time. And if he lingered here too long, once the Suppression Office's experts gathered, they likely would not be able to leave at all. From the moment the gong had started ringing until now, they had already dragged things out long enough. Time to go! Wu Haihua had not expected that this Mu Wanjun, a mere slip of a girl — her martial-path realm aside — would have combat experience this rich as well. Talent like this could probably rank in the top ten among the younger generation of Weishui Commandery City! "Fall back!" Wu Haihua forced the words out, unwilling. But before he left, he would first kill the one who had ruined his plans! Hm!? Wu Haihua suddenly froze. Just now, the dense gong notes that had been ringing without pause had abruptly vanished. Wu Haihua fixed his eyes on the spot where the gong had last sounded, and with a flicker of movement was about to give chase. Swish~ Mu Wanjun thrust out her sword, like waves of autumn water, blocking Wu Haihua's path. "Want to kill someone? Get past me first." "Damn!" Wu Haihua could not help but let the curse slip out. But after a moment's hesitation, he made his decision. With the gong now silent, hunting the man down would take some time. Add Mu Wanjun's entanglement, and if he insisted on killing the ringer, it would likely cost him even more time. For such a trifling "matter," the risk simply was not worth it. Forget it! Another day, then! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Three figures moved at incredible speed, leaping between the houses. Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!... Shortly after they left, the dense gong notes rang out once more. Wu Haihua, caught mid-leap, was so enraged he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "You f***ing—" "So despicable! This old man is about to burst with fury!" ... "Finally gone." Chen Ping'an, ringing the sounding gong, was a little nervous, his palms slick with sweat. Seeing the situation had settled, he lowered his head slightly, breathing to calm his nerves. He had come walking toward the sound. The closer he got, the clearer the sounds of fighting had become; he had heard them from far off. From those sounds, he could tell these people were no ordinary fighters. His very first thought had been: were these people at the qi and blood fourth layer!? Or the fifth!? So he had crept over quietly. Not drawing close had been fine enough — but the moment he did get close, he got a fright. There were dazzling sword shadows dancing, sword light flickering amid the dance, while on the other side short spikes spat their keen points. These methods... Above qi and blood! Having gotten a clear look at the scene, Chen Ping'an was badly shaken. In the dead of night, in a forgotten corner of Jiming Lane like this, how had several masters like these popped up!? What kind of luck was this! While he was still some distance off, Chen Ping'an's first move had been to snuff out the candle in his lantern. Then he looked at the sounding gong in his hand, and his first reaction was: I can't ring this! If he rang it, he would not even know how he died! For beings above qi and blood, killing him would be all too easy! And for the paltry monthly stipend he drew — why risk his life? Just as Chen Ping'an was about to quietly slip away, to get as far from here as he could, he suddenly spotted, among the figures, a black-patterned fish-scale uniform. A black-patterned fish-scale uniform! They were Suppression Office people! "Fortune favors the bold — going for it!" After a fierce struggle in his mind, weighing the gains against the risks, Chen Ping'an finally made his decision. He rang the sounding gong in his hand. But he was no fool either. Even as he rang it, he kept watch over the situation on the field. If things turned bad, he was ready to bolt at any moment. Later, when Wu Haihua moved to come kill him, Chen Ping'an keenly caught it and, without the slightest hesitation, resolutely stopped his ringing hand and quickly made a run for it. But the man was stopped by the one in the black-patterned fish-scale uniform. Seeing the enemy flee, Chen Ping'an grew bold again, and once more rang the sounding gong. Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!... "All right, they've run off. You can stop ringing now." Chen Ping'an raised his head and found that a figure of exquisite, delicate beauty had appeared not far from him.