Chapter 274: Chapter 270: 1-Sword Instant Kill

A crescent moon hung high in the sky. It was a dark and windy night, the wind blowing dark clouds across the heavens, making them swirl and scatter. The hazy moonlight flickered in and out of view.

The night should have been silent, but this was a night of turmoil. The entire forest echoed with battle cries and the fierce sounds of combat, shaking the very leaves on the trees.

"Kill!" "AHHH!" "CLANG CLANG CLANG!"

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The Escort Masters and the bandits were locked in a fight to the death. The scene was utterly brutal and bloody. A bandit brandishing a Great Saber had just lopped off an Escort Master’s head, only for another Escort Master to run him through from behind. Then, that Escort Master was immediately cut down by two other bandits.

The slaughter was horrific. Severed limbs and flying blood were everywhere. Heads rolled across the ground as Escort Masters and bandits alike fell into pools of blood.

However, the bandits vastly outnumbered the Escort Masters. Under their combined assault, the Escort Masters suffered heavy casualties, and the situation grew dire.

The bandit leader, Golden Saber Yuan Hong, was especially vicious. With each flash of golden light from his saber, he cleaved an Escort Master in two from head to toe. Blood and guts spilled across the ground—a truly terrifying sight.

The scene was gory and horrifying, and the thick stench of blood was nauseating. The men in the caravan trembled in fear, the women screamed in terror, and the infants and children wailed ceaselessly.

"Fall back! Quickly, fall back!" shouted Yang Lei, the Chief of the Escort.

"CLANG!" "CLANG! CLANG!"

The Escort Masters fought as they retreated, but their numbers dwindled rapidly. In just a short while, another twenty or thirty bodies hit the ground.

"Chief of the Escort, we can’t keep this up! The men can’t hold them back much longer!" one of the Escort Masters, fighting desperately amidst the gore, cried out in panic.

"We have to hold them back even if we can’t! What other choice is there?!" Big-Beard Yang Lei was frantic with worry. The enemy’s assault was too ferocious. Watching his comrades fall one by one, his heart filled with grief and indignation, but he was utterly helpless.

"Chief of the Escort, I remember you said Young Master Ye is an expert. Is that true? Could we ask him to—" a young Escort Master named Little Fei chimed in.

"That’s right! Young Master Ye is with our caravan. I almost forgot!" Yang Lei’s eyes lit up. He slapped his forehead and rushed toward one of the carriages.

His axe rose and fell, cutting down two bandits as he finally reached the carriage.

"Young Master Ye! Young Master Ye, are you in there? Please, save our caravan! I’m begging you!" Yang Lei cried out desperately.

By now, the Escort Masters had formed a circle to protect the people from the caravan. But the battle was so fierce that men were dying every moment, and several bandits had already broken through their lines and charged into the crowd.

The carriage curtain was pushed aside, and Ye Xing, dressed in cyan robes with a Treasure Sword at his waist, stepped out.

Faced with Yang Lei’s desperate pleas, Ye Xing nodded and said coolly, "I will only deal with the bandit leader for you."

"Yes! Good! That’s wonderful! Thank you for your trouble, Young Master Ye!" Yang Lei was so excited his beard practically stood on end, and his face flushed. ’If Golden Saber Yuan Hong is killed,’ he thought, ’the remaining lackeys will be no threat at all. I, Yang Lei, can handle thirty or even fifty of them myself!’

The bonfires crackled, their leaping flames illuminating the dark woods.

The merchants and travelers of the caravan trembled under the protection of the Escort Masters, their pale faces illuminated by the firelight. The terror in their eyes revealed their profound unease and fear.

The woman in the purple dress, Lieu Nuoning, nervously clutched her younger brother, while the middle-aged woman, Aunt Qing, stood guard beside the siblings with a grim expression.

"Sister, look! That Chief of the Escort with the big beard is begging that man over there!" the little boy in fine clothes said, his eyes shining as he pointed. Lieu Nuoning, the woman in purple, also turned her beautiful eyes toward Ye Xing by the carriage.

Ye Xing, still in his cyan robes with the Treasure Sword at his waist, lightly tapped the carriage footboard with his toes and floated gracefully to the ground.

His cold, indifferent gaze swept the area, quickly locking onto the bandit leader who was running rampant through the crowd, slaughtering people with a Nine-Ringed Golden Saber.

"SQUELCH!" "SQUELCH!"

"AHHH!" "SQUELCH!"

Shrill screams echoed through the forest. Blood sprayed wherever the Golden Saber passed—the brutality was absolute. As one Escort Master after another was cleaved in half, a massive gap opened in the protective circle. The weak, the women, and the children of the caravan were suddenly exposed to the bandits’ blades.

"Hahaha! This is exhilarating! So exhilarating!" Golden Saber Yuan Hong’s eyes were bloodshot with lust for battle. Wielding his blood-stained Golden Saber, he charged into the crowd with a savage grin, ready to slaughter the defenseless.

But just then—

WHOOSH! A gust of wind rushed toward him. Golden Saber Yuan Hong’s vision blurred, and in the next instant, a young man in cyan robes had appeared before him, blocking his path.

The young man in cyan was exceptionally young, only in his early twenties. At that age, even for a prodigy in the Tang Country, reaching the Martial Arts Fifth Realm of cultivation was considered an incredible achievement.

"What little brat are you? Die!" Golden Saber Yuan Hong barked. He charged forward, bringing his Nine-Ringed Golden Saber chopping straight down on the young man’s head.

He loved the feeling of cleaving a man in two; the thick stench of blood was simply intoxicating.

The wind from the blade whistled as it descended. It was about to split the young man’s head open, and Golden Saber Yuan Hong could already picture the exhilaratingly gory result.

"Heh. Ridiculous."

A contemptuous sneer touched Ye Xing’s lips. He executed the Wind Shadow Step, and as a fierce wind swirled around him, he tilted his body slightly, effortlessly dodging Golden Saber Yuan Hong’s ferocious strike.

"This... this Body Skill? So fast!"

Seeing his Great Saber strike nothing but air, Yuan Hong’s heart sank. An ominous premonition suddenly washed over him, a powerful sense of crisis. It was the stench of death.

Just then—

"SHING!"

The ring of a sword echoed, as clear as a dragon’s cry.

The Cyan Blade Treasure Sword flew from its sheath in Ye Xing’s hand. Its cyan edge glinted coldly in the moonlight as it stirred up a gale, flashing like lightning toward Golden Saber Yuan Hong’s neck.

Yuan Hong’s pupils shrank. He tried to raise his saber to block, but he realized in horror that his movements were far too slow to match the speed of the sword.

"PSHIK!"

The Treasure Sword flashed past. Golden Saber Yuan Hong’s head tumbled to the ground, and his headless corpse collapsed, spraying blood as it fell. A dark stream began to trickle from the stump of his neck.

The wind died down. A few leaves drifted to the ground.

The entire forest fell dead silent. The bandits, the people from the Escort Agency, even Lieu Nuoning and the little boy—everyone stared, slack-jawed and dumbfounded, at the scene.

"Their leader is dead. The rest are yours," Ye Xing said calmly to Yang Lei, his gaze indifferent as he sheathed his sword.

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