On the ice, Liu Hongluan's footsteps grew heavy. Carrying Long Fei such a great distance had utterly drained her strength.
With a dull thud, Liu Hongluan collapsed.
Long Fei came crashing down onto the ice alongside her.
Panic seized Liu Hongluan at once. Cradling Long Fei's head, she cried, "Brother Fei, are you all right? We've reached the icy mountain deep within Mount Wu. Hero Lu might be right here—wake up, please..."
Yet no matter how she called out, Long Fei showed no signs of waking.
Moreover, his entire body was icy cold, his face pale as paper.
Though he was not yet dead, if this dragged on any longer, he would not be far from it.
Out on the ice, the figure of "Ghost Face" appeared.
He seemed in no hurry, walking toward Liu Hongluan one deliberate step at a time.
He glanced around. Snowflakes were still drifting from the sky. He held out a hand, catching cold flakes in his palm.
Ghost Face gave a long sigh and said, "You fled all the way into the depths of Mount Wu. You must think someone here can save you, don't you?"
"Where is he?"
Liu Hongluan gritted her teeth, clutching Long Fei's head tightly to keep him as warm as she could.
She said nothing, only glaring furiously at Ghost Face.
"Silent?"
"No matter! You've made it this far, and you can run no further. If the person you're looking for isn't here, I won't let you live any longer either."
Ghost Face kept advancing step by step.
Concealed weapons appeared in his hands. A mere flick of his wrist would be enough to end Liu Hongluan and Long Fei.
Ten paces, nine paces, eight paces, seven paces, six paces, five paces...
Now Ghost Face was a mere five paces from Liu Hongluan and Long Fei.
Suddenly, Ghost Face came to a halt. He seemed to be waiting for something.
The wind howled on.
Snowflakes fluttered through the sky.
Liu Hongluan began to feel the biting cold seep into her flesh, her entire body trembling.
After a long time, Ghost Face sighed softly. "It seems truly no one is here."
"You went through untold hardships to flee here, yet no one has come to save you."
"Since that's the case, I shall send you on your way!"
The next instant, Ghost Face raised the concealed weapons in his hands.
Liu Hongluan embraced Long Fei tightly, awaiting the descent of death.
*Whoosh...*
The fierce gale howled.
Yet though Liu Hongluan waited for what felt like ages, death did not arrive.
She opened her eyes and looked toward Ghost Face.
Ghost Face still stood in place, concealed weapons still in his hands.
However, the weapons were now pointed in a different direction.
In fact, Ghost Face's gaze looked past Liu Hongluan and Long Fei, fixed behind them.
Liu Hongluan whipped her head around.
All at once, a shudder ran through her entire body.
This time, the trembling was not from the cold, but from sheer excitement!
She saw a familiar figure walking toward her, step by step.
"Hero Lu..."
Liu Hongluan was overcome with emotion. Had she not fled deep into Mount Wu carrying Long Fei precisely to find Lu Changsheng?
Lu Changsheng naturally saw Liu Hongluan and Long Fei.
Furthermore, Long Fei's condition looked dire.
Yet his gaze remained focused on Ghost Face.
"You wounded Long Fei?"
"That's right. I wounded him."
"You injured him but spared his life just to draw me out?"
Ghost Face nodded. "If you're the one who killed Shen Lun, then I am indeed looking for you."
Lu Changsheng said nothing more; he had indeed killed Shen Lun.
At that moment, Liu Hongluan called out a warning: "Hero Lu, he is 'Ghost Face,' the man backing Shen Lun! Brother Fei once said that below the Divine Strength Realm, Ghost Face is among the very top martial artists. You must be careful!"
Lu Changsheng nodded, his expression remaining placid as he remarked faintly, "It seems Long Fei holds you in high regard."
"Long Fei is somewhat capable himself. If I hadn't taken the field in person, no one below the Divine Strength Realm could have handled him."
"As for that fool Shen Lun, his strength was mediocre at best, but an injured Long Fei certainly couldn't have killed him. Since you managed to slay him, your skill must be decent enough."
Ghost Face's gaze looked down on Lu Changsheng with condescension.
Lu Changsheng slowly gripped the short sword at his side. Calmly, word by word, he said, "I've killed someone before who was hailed as the top martial artist below the Divine Strength Realm."
"I wonder if you're stronger than he was?"
Ghost Face raised an eyebrow, sneering. "Not just any stray dog can claim to be the top martial artist below the Divine Strength Realm."
"Is that so?"
Lu Changsheng suddenly smiled. "By the way, he had a moniker in the martial world as well. He went by the 'Blade-Trailing Heavenly King,' I believe. Do you know him?"
"What? 'Blade-Trailing Heavenly King' Li Ji?!"
Ghost Face's expression shifted drastically.
The claim struck him as utterly absurd.
How could the Blade-Trailing Heavenly King, Li Ji, have been slain by an unknown martial artist standing before him?
Yet at the very instant his expression warped and hesitation seized his heart, Lu Changsheng moved.
This was the opportunity he had been waiting for!
A lion must use all its might even when hunting a rabbit, let alone against a top Refining Organs martial artist like Ghost Face.
*Swish!*
The short sword in Lu Changsheng's hand slipped from its sheath in a flash.
The perfected Instant Kill Technique had practically become second nature to him.
The instant the short sword left the scabbard, Lu Changsheng covered several zhang in a flash, appearing right before Ghost Face.
At this moment, Ghost Face felt only one thing.
Danger!
Extreme danger!
Lu Changsheng moved so fast that Ghost Face could hardly track his outline.
A surge of warning flared in his mind.
With scarcely a thought, Ghost Face flung his hand out, releasing a dense volley of concealed weapons.
Ghost Face was a master of thrown weapons.
His strikes almost never missed, hitting precisely where he aimed every single time.
In this instant, his concealed weapons rained down like a vast net, blanketing Lu Changsheng from above.
Such a dense barrage was virtually an undifferentiated attack; dodging it was all but impossible.
Yet without even thinking, Lu Changsheng raised his short sword.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
His short sword whirled into a cluster of sword-flowers.
Tightly woven like a curtain of light, it met the oncoming projectiles head-on.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!*
The concealed weapons struck the sword-flowers, unable to pierce his defense in the slightest.
One after another, they fell clattering to the ground.
Yet Ghost Face made his move as well.
The very moment he threw the volley of weapons, instead of retreating, he lunged forward, a short sword already drawn in his grasp.
Cloaked by the swirling snow, he moved silently, closing the distance to Lu Changsheng in the blink of an eye.
*Whoosh!*
The short sword thrust forward.
Fast!
Ghost Face's strike was blazingly swift, far faster than Shen Lun's sword had ever been.
People in the martial world knew only of Ghost Face's supernatural skill with concealed weapons, how he never missed once they left his hands.
Yet almost no one knew that Ghost Face's sword was what truly made him terrifying.
His blade never left its scabbard unless life and death hung in the balance.
Almost everyone who had ever seen his sword drawn was dead.
The blade had already reached within an inch of Lu Changsheng's chest.
In such a situation, perhaps no one below the Divine Strength Realm could block it.
Lu Changsheng was no exception; he could not block it either.
Even though he had undergone a blood exchange and forged jade bones, vastly enhancing his physical condition to the verge of shedding his mortal frame, he was still not in the Divine Strength Realm.
His body remained flesh and blood; against cold steel, his flesh could not withstand the blow.
At this sight, Liu Hongluan's mouth fell open, pure terror washing over her face.
A faint smile curled the corners of Ghost Face's lips.
It was over!
No matter who the opponent was, once his sword was drawn, they were doomed to die!
Yet from start to finish, Lu Changsheng's expression never flickered.
In fact, Ghost Face thought he glimpsed a trace of mockery in Lu Changsheng's eyes.
Yet facing imminent death, how dared Lu Changsheng mock him?
What right did Lu Changsheng have to mock him?
The very next instant, Ghost Face learned why.
*Chirr!*
A flash of white light flared and vanished.
Lu Changsheng remained standing where he was, as though his figure had merely swayed for a fraction of a second.
Yet Ghost Face's short sword, poised a mere inch from Lu Changsheng's chest, froze.
That brief inch felt like an impassable chasm that Ghost Face could never cross.
"That... wasn't a sword technique..."
Ghost Face managed to speak, his voice hoarse.
"As long as it kills, what does it matter if it's a sword technique?"
Without anyone noticing, a dagger had appeared in Lu Changsheng's left hand.
The flash of white light earlier had been none other than the reflection off that dagger.
At this moment, fresh blood trickled down the blade drop by drop, spattering against the ground.
With a heavy thud, Ghost Face collapsed to the ice.
Across his throat, a thin streak of blood had appeared without a sound.
Chapter 36