Just as the tip of the sword was about to pierce home, despair welled in Guan Tianyue's eyes.
Yet at that very moment, a mouthful of blood erupted from Xu Chongshan's lips.
The qi circulating through his body snapped, and he was instantly blasted backward by Black Fiend true qi.
Having narrowly escaped disaster, Guan Tianyue sprang forward and struck out with a palm, bent on finishing off this formidable enemy.
Just then, a figure flashed. Zuo Qingshuang caught Xu Chongshan mid-stride while thrusting out a palm of her own.
The two blasts of true qi collided, unleashing an earth-shattering roar that shook the entire hall.
Guan Tianyue stumbled back two paces, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Zuo Qingshuang stood her ground, but her gaze snapped toward Li Nanchen.
"When did you...?"
Before she could finish, she abruptly coughed up a mouthful of blood!
Xu Chongshan's sword strike had been fueled by thirty years of bitter hatred; Guan Tianyue should have died without question.
Even from her own palm strike, he ought to have suffered far worse.
Formidable though the Black Fiend Demon Skill was, it was not without limits. Thirty years ago, whether it was Xu Chongshan or Zuo Qingshuang fighting him one-on-one, they had suffered more defeats than victories. But after thirty years of quiet diligence and steady cultivation, the Gold and Jade Divine Skill—the consummate supreme art of Zhujige Pavilion that she and Xu Chongshan practiced—was far superior to the profane arts of these demonic heretics.
Now Xu Chongshan had collapsed, and though she had forced Guan Tianyue back, she had ended up vomiting blood herself.
It was not that their martial arts were lacking, but that they had been poisoned.
Who had administered the poison was already blindingly obvious!
She only did not know when she had been poisoned, or what poison it was.
Li Nanchen did not answer her question. Instead, he looked outside the main hall.
The sounds of slaughter came wave after wave from all directions, like a rising tide.
The faces of everyone inside the hall had long since darkened with these developments.
Some, baffled, called out in confusion:
"Li Nanchen, why are you doing this?"
Others, consumed by fury, roared curses:
"Li Nanchen, you deserve to die ten thousand deaths!"
Still others said nothing, attempting to force a breakout.
Yet the moment their internal breath circulated, their meridians felt as though they were being twisted into knots, and like Zuo Qingshuang and Xu Chongshan, they spewed mouthfuls of blood.
Li Nanchen sighed softly.
"Everyone, you had best spare your strength. The poison coursing through you is called Qi-Severing Powder. Though it is not a lethal venom that seals the throat upon drawing blood, channeling internal skill will tear your meridians and sever the flow of your true qi.
"The harder you force your qi, the graver your injuries will be.
"Now, from top to bottom, the whole of Zhujige Pavilion is steadily falling into the hands of our Black Fiend Cult.
"I have only one question for you all...
"Are you willing to submit to my Black Fiend Cult?"
"You belong to the Black Fiend Cult?"
Zuo Qingshuang stared at Li Nanchen in disbelief.
The black-robed man standing to Li Nanchen's left chuckled softly, took a step forward, and spoke slowly:
"He is my son."
"Who are you?"
Zuo Qingshuang found the man's voice faintly familiar. Yet after thirty years, whose memory could be sharp enough to recall a person's voice?
The man drew back his hood, revealing a face that had once been refined.
Unfortunately, a scar ran straight across his countenance, destroying one of his eyes and twisting what would have been a gentle face into something monstrously hideous.
Zuo Qingshuang's pupils constricted slightly.
Slowly, that face merged with an arrogant figure from her memories.
A name spilled from her lips:
"Feng Mantian?!
"You are Feng Mantian, Cult Master of the Black Fiend Cult!"
Feng Mantian, Cult Master of the Black Fiend Cult!
Thirty years ago, relying on his peak mastery of the Black Fiend Demon Skill, he had skirmished against the experts of the seven great sects on Ziyang Mountain.
In that battle, the former pavilion master had not taken the field; the one sent out was the current pavilion master of Zhujige Pavilion—Zuo Qingshuang and Xu Chongshan's senior brother, Lou Yuxiao!
In the end, this man had been struck by a sword and a palm, plunging down a bottomless precipice.
The sword slash across his face was a gift from Lou Yuxiao.
Feng Mantian burst into hearty laughter.
"I never imagined Lady Zuo would still remember this old man to this day.
"Thirty years ago, your Zhujige Pavilion allied with the other six great sects to besiege my Black Fiend Cult.
"You laid waste to my cult's foundation!
"Thirty years later, this old man has made a comeback. Not one of you seven great sects will escape!
"And the first to fall will be your Zhujige Pavilion!"
Zuo Qingshuang, hearing this, laughed heartily instead.
"A mad cur barking insolence—how pathetic!
"Thirty years ago, our late master refused to bully the small with the great, which was why he sent my senior brother into battle.
"And now... you dare not even show your face before him.
"Relying on petty plots and deceit, you dream of sweeping through the seven great sects?
"Do you even believe your own drivel?
"Let me ask you: if my senior brother were not in secluded cultivation, would you have the courage to stand before him?"
A faint dark gleam flickered in Feng Mantian's eyes.
"Sharp tongue!
"Monk of Ultimate Bliss, what do you think of this woman?"
"Not bad."
The Monk of Ultimate Bliss was a plump, portly monk with a ruddy, glowing face and an amiable smile.
His long, narrow eyes gave him the appearance of a serene Buddha.
Yet within those eyes, there was not a shred of mercy.
"Then she is yours,"
Feng Mantian said indifferently.
A frigid light glinted in Zuo Qingshuang's eyes, but she did not deign to reply.
They were fish on the chopping block now; ten thousand words would not wound the enemy in the slightest.
Xu Chongshan pushed himself up with great effort.
"If you want to lay a hand on my junior sister, you will step over this old man's corpse first!"
"Senior Brother!"
Zuo Qingshuang said urgently:
"Focus your mind and regulate your qi, pay no heed to me!"
"...That again."
Xu Chongshan cast a helpless look at Zuo Qingshuang.
"You little girl, you've defied discipline since childhood... Of all us martial brothers and sisters, your temper has always been the most stubborn.
"Yet there was nothing we could do. You were the youngest; whether it was Master or Senior Brother, everyone doted on you most...
"Even I, severe though I seemed on the surface... in truth let you have your way.
"But now is no time for mischief.
"I will never allow these beasts to defile you in the slightest!
"Unless... I am dead!"
Having said this much, he lowered his voice:
"I will use this life of mine to buy you a glimmer of hope.
"Once you escape, you have two choices. First, seek Eldest Senior Brother in the back mountain... though I fear that path may already be blocked.
"Second... leave Jiuning Mountain.
"Broadcast this matter to the jianghu!
"The righteous path of the jianghu will surely join forces to eradicate these demons!"
With no more words to spare, he twirled the longsword in his hand. Enduring the agony of the Qi-Severing Powder tearing through his meridians, he channeled his true qi and unleashed his sword.
Blood poured incessantly from the seven orifices of his face, yet he would rather fight to the death than surrender!
Zuo Qingshuang did not flee; instead, she stepped forward to stand alongside him.
"What happens today will get out sooner or later. When has the jianghu ever had a wall that didn't leak wind?
"We were raised by the same master and have tumbled through half a lifetime together. Don't you dare think of walking the Yellow Springs alone!"
Seeing Xu Chongshan and Zuo Qingshuang choose death over submission, the pavilion disciples in the hall shouted in fury:
"We of Zhujige Pavilion would rather die on our feet than live on our knees!"
"Rather die on our feet than live on our knees!"
"Good, good, good!"
Feng Mantian laughed heartily.
"Since that is so, this old man will grant your wish!"
Black Fiend true qi coalesced around his entire body. Xu Chongshan and Zuo Qingshuang were soaked in blood, yet their sharp resolve blazed undiminished.
Just as both sides were about to clash in slaughter,
a whistling rush tore through the air from afar.
A figure clad in green traced a perfect arc and crashed into the very center between the two factions with a tremendous boom.
Everyone traced the trajectory back toward the entrance, only to see a plainly dressed young man stepping into the hall. He led a young woman by the hand, carried another young woman on his back, and dragged the corpse of Green-Faced Ghost in his other hand.
Noticing their gazes, the young man looked up with a smile.
"Quite a crowd in here."
Chapter 36