Seeing Tang Lici deploy his copper flute, Yu Furen thought to himself that everyone said Tang Lici could resist Liu Yan’s sonic killing techniques, and indeed it was true. This strange sound was exactly the same as Liu Yan’s sonic killing—it was the same school of martial arts. Watching Lin Shuangshuang’s swords move like dragons and snakes, being a swordsman himself, Yu Furen hoped Tang Lici would finish the battle quickly, yet unconsciously became absorbed by Lin Shuangshuang’s swordsmanship, watching with increasing fascination. As Tang Lici wielded his copper flute to parry Lin Shuangshuang’s twin sword attacks, Yu Furen’s spiritual platform became crystal clear. Gradually his eyes held only the techniques and body movements of both sides. No matter how fast the movements or how cunningly the paths changed, he could see everything clearly and understand it in his heart. In this brief moment, his comprehension of martial arts deepened another layer.
“Ding—” A crisp sound of metal striking metal shattered the balanced situation of offense and defense. The tranquil clarity in Yu Furen’s heart suddenly exploded, leaving his mind blank for an instant. He heard a series of urgent clanging metal sounds by his ear—not the clash of weapons, but a series of rhythmic striking sounds with varying intensity and tempo. The impact on his ears made his chest ache, as if he couldn’t bear such reverberations.
Lin Shuangshuang’s twin swords suddenly met Tang Lici’s powerful counterattack. The copper flute struck the twin swords, and since the sword materials were different, they produced different sounds. Tang Lici advanced eight steps while Lin Shuangshuang retreated ten steps. Those music-like yet not-music-like striking sounds shook hearts and stirred lungs. After retreating ten steps, Lin Shuangshuang had blood at the corner of his mouth and laughed miserably. “Good flute! Truly a good flute! In thirty-eight years, I’ve never heard such a good flute! Tang Lici, what martial art is this?”
Tang Lici held his flute and smiled. “I thought—you should have already heard this tune and suffered under it, isn’t that so?” His lips lightly touched the copper flute. “With Ghost God Twin Swords’ foundation, there was no need to retreat ten steps, unless—you have reservations in your heart, knowing what this tune will strike out next, so—you’re afraid.”
Lin Shuangshuang sheathed his blue sword with a “swoosh” and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Bah! Ridiculous!” He held a single sword and thrust it out with a “swoosh,” not admitting defeat, but no longer giving Tang Lici the chance to strike his twin swords. Tang Lici’s lips touched the copper flute, and an extremely gentle flute sound emerged. The rhythm and melody of this flute sound were exactly the same as the sounds he had made striking the twin swords earlier, but for some reason, when actually played it was gentle and low-key. Yet this gentle flute sound, when heard, made one unable to catch their breath—it was extremely oppressive.
Yu Furen felt dizzy and his vision blurred upon hearing it. The true energy in his chest boiled and wanted to scatter. He struggled to stand steady, but his eyes saw only darkness. Lin Shuangshuang bore the brunt of it. With a “wah” he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, but his sword moves didn’t stop as he still charged forward. Tang Lici’s flute sound became even lower, almost inaudible, making the oppressive feeling even more obvious. Yu Furen couldn’t resist and sat down on the ground. Lin Shuangshuang’s silver sword drooped, nearly slipping from his hand. Just as both were resisting the flute sound with all their might, suddenly a figure flashed in the forest. A masked man in black leaped out, reached out to scoop up Lin Shuangshuang, raised his hand to strike two acupoints on his back, then let go. Tang Lici stopped his flute sound. Yu Furen breathed a sigh of relief and looked intently, seeing Tang Lici staring fixedly at the black-clothed man with slightly furrowed brows.
The sonic killing technique relied on the practitioner’s superior musical skills and the listener’s comprehension of the music to stimulate their own true power and blood circulation to shake and counterattack their dantian and heart meridians. This black-clothed man who appeared in the forest struck two acupoints on Lin Shuangshuang’s back, preventing the blood from flowing backward to his heart meridians. Though this sealed fifty percent of Ghost God Twin Swords’ power, it saved his life and broke the sonic killing technique. Who was this person? Yu Furen gripped Xiao Tao Hong—this was the black-clothed man who had appeared in the battle at Haoyun Mountain, who had never revealed his true face and disappeared halfway through. Without doubt, he was from the Elegant Shop.
An Elegant Shop member had saved Lin Shuangshuang. Indeed, the Central Plains Sword Society’s sixth sword, “Ghost God Twin Swords” Lin Shuangshuang, was connected to the Elegant Shop. Yu Furen felt a chill in his heart: If it was Elegant Shop members who captured Chi Yun, how could they imprison him in the Camellia Prison? Unless—unless that person held extremely high standing in the righteous martial world, or else—the master of the Camellia Prison was also… involved. This matter implicated too many people. The road from the foot of the mountain to the Camellia Prison wasn’t long, but it was like crossing thousands of mountains and rivers—visible but unreachable.
In the forest, Tang Lici and the black-clothed man continued to stare at each other. Lin Shuangshuang held his silver sword with a cold smile on his face, as if saying: Tang Lici, having lost your sonic killing technique, what do you have left? Tang Lici held his flute, his eyelashes slightly lowered. The moonlight shone on his cheek, making his normally gentle eyebrows and eyes appear dark and cold. “What a calm master.”
The masked black-clothed man didn’t answer. Sharp eyes shot out from behind the face veil. His right hand lifted, assuming a ready stance. The meaning was clear—he and Lin Shuangshuang would stop Tang Lici from going up the mountain together. “I’ve seen you once before—today is the second time, master of Wudang Sect.” Tang Lici said. “If I see you a third time and still can’t recognize who you are, then you’re truly skilled.” He extended his copper flute. “As long as you still have a third chance.”
After saying this, Lin Shuangshuang smiled coldly, seeming to think Tang Lici was talking nonsense.
Yu Furen suddenly turned back, hearing regular, orderly footsteps coming from the forest. Tang Lici sighed slightly, and saw a person carrying a sword walking slowly from behind, his whole appearance disheveled—it was Yu Qifeng, who had escaped death after the explosion at the sword manor!
Lin Shuangshuang, the black-clothed man, and Yu Qifeng formed a triangle surrounding Tang Lici and Yu Furen. Yu Furen showed a bitter smile—with this formation, probably not even an ant could crawl out from within the triangle.
“Let’s begin.” Tang Lici took a light breath and slowly exhaled. “I imagine tonight’s would-be killers aren’t limited to just you three gentlemen.”
Lin Shuangshuang laughed shrilly and coldly. “Haha, I hear Tang Lici is extraordinarily intelligent. In your own estimation, who would be the best candidate to kill you?”
Tang Lici smiled slightly. “Let’s fight first. After we fight, whatever the result, we’ll both accept it.”
Yu Qifeng said hoarsely, “Good spirit!” He turned grimly toward Yu Furen. “Do you want to fight me?”
Yu Furen’s face was deathly pale. “You—I have something to say to you.”
Yu Qifeng pointed his sword at Yu Furen. “Cough cough, I told you to kill someone, but you protected him all the way here. Cough cough… Your filial piety is all fake, all just lies to deceive me, unfilial son!”
Yu Furen trembled with anger. “You… The one who truly planted explosives in your sword hall and blew you up like this wasn’t Tang Lici, but Miss Hong! You’re already ruined and disgraced. Colluding with the Elegant Shop will only make you a tool used until death! Disfigured and blinded—can’t this make you wake up? Could killing Tang Lici restore your sight? Could it restore your reputation and status as Sword King?”
Yu Qifeng’s sword drooped to the ground. “Cough cough… What do you understand, unfilial son! I’ll even kill you—”
As soon as these words were spoken, Tang Lici put his sleeves behind his back, his bright eyes slightly closed, his demeanor calm and serene as a gentle breeze passed behind him, stirring his silver hair. Before Yu Qifeng could finish speaking, the long black sword in his hand that looked like a walking stick thrust forward. As the sword wind moved, Tang Lici’s silver hair floating in the wind suddenly broke off. This sword momentum was wild and magnificent, similar to Kuanglan Wuxing’s eight-foot long sword, but even more vast and mighty. The black-clothed man’s light palms had already reached Tang Lici’s back. Earlier Tang Lici had said he was a “master of Wudang Sect,” and he hadn’t responded, but now this palm was light as floating catkins—indeed the authentic Wudang cotton palm, with extremely profound power. Lin Shuangshuang’s silver sword pointed grimly at Yu Furen’s chest, while his blue sword seemed ready to strike yet not strike, impossible to fathom.
As king sword and cotton palm attacked together, Tang Lici spun around and struck back with one palm. With a “pop” he exchanged a palm strike with the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man made a surprised sound and retreated half a step, his clothes and hair flying. Tang Lici’s palm met his magnificently and grandly, without any deception, with pure and powerful palm force and deep, solid strength. Yu Qifeng’s sword thrust from the front. Tang Lici blocked horizontally with his flute. With a “ding,” the sound shook for a hundred zhang in all directions, shocking everyone’s hearts. However, both the black-clothed man and Yu Qifeng were no ordinary fighters. After being frustrated for a moment, they developed instant coordination. Sword blades and palm shadows became increasingly sharp and fierce. Tang Lici wielded his copper flute to parry them all. With one person’s strength opposing two great masters, he showed no sign of falling behind. Yu Furen glanced over, his heroic spirit surging. He shouted, “Make way!” Xiao Tao Hong’s beautiful light flashed as he joined battle with Lin Shuangshuang.
The moon’s shadow leaned east. In the pitch-black dense forest, dozens of eyes still quietly watched this fierce battle. Dozens of black longbows and dozens of black short arrows were positioned in the forest. The hands drawing the bowstrings were very steady, pulling inch by inch, fraction by fraction, silently. In another moment, they would be at full draw.
The arrow points aimed not only at Tang Lici and Yu Furen, but even… at every inch of this clearing less than two zhang wide in the forest.
The continuous “ding ding ding” sounds rang out. Facing the increasingly coordinated pincer attack of Yu Qifeng and the black-clothed man, Tang Lici gradually took a defensive stance. The copper flute met the long sword for shorter and shorter periods, parrying more and more urgently and quickly, which meant the sword blade was getting closer to his body. Yu Furen wanted to help but even Lin Shuangshuang with only fifty percent of his power was no easy opponent—he couldn’t spare any attention. At this critical moment, the black-clothed man struck out with a palm, just reaching Tang Lici’s back but not yet exerting force, when Tang Lici gave a muffled grunt and staggered forward several steps. The black-clothed man was startled—he hadn’t yet exerted force, so how was Tang Lici injured? Before he could understand in that instant, dozens of black arrows shot from the forest in unison, aimed at the staggering Tang Lici. The remaining arrows forced even the black-clothed man, Yu Qifeng, and Lin Shuangshuang to deflect arrows.
In this brief moment, Yu Furen felt his waist tighten as Tang Lici grabbed him. Their figures rose like startled geese, weaving through the encirclement of the black-clothed man, Yu Qifeng, and Lin Shuangshuang, flying straight into the dense forest.
“Ah!” The archers in the dense forest had already released their black arrows and couldn’t reload in time. The black-clothed man suddenly understood and immediately shouted with Yu Qifeng and Lin Shuangshuang, all three striking with full force toward Tang Lici’s back! In the darkness, Tang Lici’s white robes made an excellent target. Yu Furen changed color—who in the world could block a combined strike from these three? Though prolonged battle would surely end in defeat, taking such risks would only lead to quicker death! Before his thoughts could finish, he heard a shocking “whoosh.” The black-clothed man, Yu Qifeng, and Lin Shuangshuang’s three swords and one palm all struck a large expanse of suddenly raised red fabric. The material seemed like silk but wasn’t silk—smooth and tough. The black-clothed man withdrew his cotton palm, and saw Lin Shuangshuang’s twin swords stabbed the fabric without any damage, while Yu Qifeng’s sword, despite its power, only made a walnut-sized hole in the fabric. Seeing the situation was wrong, all three retreated. The red fabric flew away with Tang Lici, disappearing into the dense forest.
When the three attacked together, two symmetrical large pieces of red fabric suddenly rose behind Tang Lici’s white robes. Impervious to blades and swords, carrying mighty internal force, they completely blocked the three’s vision, like suddenly sprouting a pair of giant bright red wings on his back. This red fabric not only received the combined strike of three people but also blocked the hidden arrows shot from the dense forest. No one knew what it was, and its material was extremely light and soft, disappearing with Tang Lici in a flash.
“What was that thing?” Lin Shuangshuang asked in shock.
The black-clothed man shook his head and remained silent.
Yu Qifeng coughed several times. “Heh heh! Who would have thought Tang Lici carried such a treasure? No wonder he was so fearless. With this thing on him, blades and swords can hardly harm him. To kill him, one must abandon weapons and use fists and feet.”
Lin Shuangshuang said ominously, “If it were protective armor, how could it be so wide and long? That was clearly a piece of fabric.”
Yu Qifeng looked at him coldly, knowing his thoughts, and said coldly, “Correct. If you had obtained that red cloth just now, you could make at least two sets of precious armor worth a fortune.” Greed had already appeared in Lin Shuangshuang’s eyes.
In the dense forest, red fabric flew behind Tang Lici as he swept forward swiftly. The long, wide red cloth fell as soon as it rose. Without looking back, he shook his hand and the red cloth wrapped around his body several times, covering his white robes and completely blending into the forest darkness. Yu Furen was firmly held by his powerful hand as they rushed toward the mountain peak together, wondering in his heart—when had he detected the arrow formation in the forest? Where did his confidence come from to receive the combined force of three people? What exactly was this red cloth that suddenly opened behind his back?
“Floating Red Silkworm Silk, a piece of silk unique in the world.” Tang Lici seemed to know what he was thinking and suddenly said gently, “Blades and swords can hardly harm it. If it weren’t for Yu Qifeng’s sword, no one could make even a scratch on it.”
Yu Furen patted his hand, indicating his injuries weren’t serious and he could keep up with his speed. Tang Lici let go, and they ran side by side as Yu Furen said, “So you had already calculated your escape route. This silkworm silk could actually neutralize Wudang cotton palm force and dissipate Ghost God twin sword energy—truly remarkable.”
Tang Lici smiled slightly. “It’s just very long. When shaken out by my true force, it extends more than ten zhang. Wudang cotton palm isn’t splitting palm force—what effect could Wudang cotton palm and Ghost God twin swords have from more than ten zhang away?”
At the same time the Floating Red Silkworm Silk behind him was shaken out by his true force, Tang Lici had already carried someone and leaped more than ten zhang. Because the red silk blocked their vision, the three’s combined attack misjudged and missed. A momentary spatial illusion, a momentary error, almost created a martial arts legend.
Yu Furen exhaled. “You were gambling on luck.”
Tang Lici smiled. “Correct.”
Yu Furen said, “What if you had failed? What if they weren’t affected by the red silk and immediately caught up—what would you do?”
Tang Lici said gently, “Besides gambling, I also know how to fight desperately.”
Fight desperately? Yu Furen silently continued forward, that question rising in his heart again: Was he someone who could brave fire and water for righteousness, sacrificing himself for duty?