The moment Wei Chiming walked out the door, Gui Yuanshu knew there was no going back to what had been.

He was never a man given to being mawkish. Yet at this moment, his chest ached sharply.

Both men had said harsh things, as though bidding farewell to who they had once been — not only to each other, but to themselves.

Outside, all the intelligence guards were watching Gui Yuanshu. This unexpected exposure could very well bring catastrophe down on everyone.

“If today, because of me, any of you are implicated, I will die before any of you. Only death can atone.”

Gui Yuanshu drew a deep breath and looked at the intelligence guard brothers arrayed before him. “Tonight, this inn — it may well be our tomb. I am sorry.”

He bowed low.

“We live and die with our commander!”

Everyone raised their fists in salute.

Zheng Shunshun and the others, who had just returned, also witnessed this scene. They walked quietly to Gui Yuanshu’s side — no words were needed. Standing together said everything.

Wei Chiming was already a great general, and he had entered the city with an army in tow. Even if it was a fresh army, there were enough of them. No matter how elite Gui Yuanshu’s intelligence guards were, they could not hold off a collective charge of troops.

And besides, they were only new recruits — not lacking in equipment. With bows and arrows alone, they could cut Gui Yuanshu’s group down to the last man.

And yet they waited for nearly two full hours — from just after nightfall all the way to near midnight — and still no soldiers came.

And so Gui Yuanshu understood: Wei Chiming had said that the next time they met it would be to the death, yet he did not want that next time to come so soon.

If Wei Chiming had been truly heartless, how could two hours have passed without him acting?

He could have surrounded the inn with his army. Perhaps not even two quarter-hours would have been needed.

Gui Yuanshu recalled the bitter words he had hurled out just now, and felt a pang of sorrow, and a pang of regret.

Life — of those who were brothers at the very beginning, how many make it to the end together?

“There’s trouble in the back courtyard!”

At that very moment, someone let out a piercing cry of alarm, followed immediately by a shriek of agony — clearly, the one who had cried out had already been struck down.

Gui Yuanshu and the others rushed to the back courtyard, where they found more than ten intelligence guard soldiers already surrounding a black-robed figure.

The man seemed somewhat baffled himself, not understanding how he had come to be encircled by so many people. But he was obviously unafraid.

The black-robed man was Duan Hen. He had come looking for the woman in purple — not for Gui Yuanshu.

“You people carry weapons, and don’t look like any merchant convoy. Even if you fly a convoy flag as cover, you cannot hide your true nature. You are soldiers.”

Duan Hen said imperiously: “I am a first-rank earl, personally ennobled by the Emperor, and a fourth-rank Zhonglangjiang of the Imperial Guards. When you see me, why do you not kneel?”

He assumed these people were imperial troops — disguising themselves as a convoy, they must be carrying out some other mission.

After all, Wei Chiming was right here in this county town. After all, this was the heartland of Jingzhou, barely thirty-some li from Daxing City.

He could never have imagined that this convoy was actually the people of Ning Wang Li Chi.

“You killed one of my men?!”

Gui Yuanshu’s gaze swept toward the body lying not far from the black-robed figure, and his killing intent rose ever thicker.

Duan Hen was entirely unconcerned, and said with equal arrogance: “I am a first-rank earl. What does it matter if I kill a few people? What’s more, I am acting on the Emperor’s orders — I am a direct imperial envoy. Your people dared to make a move against me, which is tantamount to defying the imperial presence. They deserved to die.”

He stepped forward. “Tell me who you people belong to. Are you under the Minister of War Wei Chiming? Why did he have you disguise yourselves as an escort convoy? Could it be that you were planning to leave Jingzhou to collude with the rebel forces?”

“Blood debts are paid in blood!”

Gui Yuanshu let out a thunderous roar.

In this moment, the resentment in his heart — combined with the fury of seeing a brother cut down — all poured out onto this inexplicable black-robed stranger.

Seeing someone actually dare to make a move against him, Duan Hen let out a cold snort. “You actually dare to raise a hand against me?”

That blade came sweeping straight at him, but Duan Hen paid it not the slightest regard. In his twenty-some years on the martial road, which was nothing but a killing road, what manner of killing strike had he not seen?

From his teens he had been killing, and had killed on until this very year, approaching forty — a body full of murderous energy.

He suddenly lunged a step forward, and in the instant of that lunge, he dodged Gui Yuanshu’s blade, seeing in that fierce technique nothing but a mass of openings.

He extended his left hand, reaching to seize Gui Yuanshu by the throat. By this point, Gui Yuanshu already knew something was very wrong.

The man had taken a single step, dodged the blade’s edge, closed the distance, and now his left hand was reaching for his throat. His right hand was surely holding another move in reserve.

A few simple moves, not a single excess gesture, and he had already seized the upper ground entirely.

This was what it looked like — the densest fighting experience of a ferocious man who had fought and killed for over twenty years.

In that instant, Gui Yuanshu also made a bewildering move.

The hand holding the blade wrenched sharply backward, unleashing every ounce of wrist power, hurling the blade back toward himself.

The blade’s handle struck Duan Hen’s wrist — just enough to make his hand veer slightly off course.

In that split second, a fierce light entered Duan Hen’s eyes.

“How dare you!”

His hand had gone off course. Yet he changed the grab into a fist, and drove that fist into Gui Yuanshu’s shoulder.

As Gui Yuanshu staggered back, Zheng Shunshun and the others charged forward — several blades coming down in near-simultaneous strikes.

A more ferocious light entered Duan Hen’s eyes.

He surged forward while dropping into a crouch, and all those blades passed behind him.

He sprang up suddenly, his shoulders lifting both arms from beneath. At the same moment, both palms struck upward from below with tremendous force.

Two blows — catching Zheng Shunshun and Ding Man square under the chin, and sending both of them flying straight into the air.

Duan Hen’s body shifted abruptly sideways, his shoulder ramming into Zhao Shanying’s chest. Zhao Shanying was sent skidding along the ground, both feet dragging against the surface as he flew.

Gui Yuanshu ignored the pain and lunged back in, launching a flying kick at Duan Hen’s neck.

His speed was already extraordinary — but compared to Duan Hen’s speed, it was just a fraction too slow.

When experts of this caliber clash, a fraction too slow is the difference between life and death.

Duan Hen shot out his hand and seized Gui Yuanshu’s ankle. With a furious shout, single-handed, he spun Gui Yuanshu through the air.

In that very instant, a dark silhouette swept in from behind Duan Hen. This person carried no weapon — but in mid-dash they bent low, snatched the long blade that had fallen to the ground during Gui Yuanshu’s attack, and in the next breath brought it slashing at the back of Duan Hen’s neck.

Duan Hen possessed fighting experience that few in the world could match. Hearing the movement, he immediately took a large stride forward and pivoted his body, turning Gui Yuanshu in his grip like a counterweight, slamming him back.

That dark silhouette caught Gui Yuanshu in one arm and asked urgently: “Are you alright?!”

Only then did Gui Yuanshu see clearly — the one who had come was none other than Wei Chiming.

“Wei Chiming?!”

Duan Hen recognized him too.

He gave a cold snort. “So you really are colluding with the rebels. No wonder the Emperor had me watching you in secret — clearly the Emperor had already seen through you. You traitor!”

At those words, Wei Chiming’s expression changed instantly.

“The Emperor had you watching me?”

He asked, almost reflexively.

Duan Hen said: “You arranged for these people to disguise themselves as a convoy — it was actually to collude with the rebels. I’ve already seen through your scheme. If you don’t want to be beaten to death by me right here, drop your weapons now and come back to Daxing City with me to face the Emperor.”

Gui Yuanshu knew that explanations were entirely pointless at this juncture. He lunged forward immediately: “Kill him — don’t let him go back and make his report.”

In that instant, his instinct was to protect his elder brother.

He drove his fist straight at Duan Hen’s neck. Duan Hen raised his hand, ready to seize Gui Yuanshu’s wrist — but he hadn’t expected it to be a feint.

After throwing the punch, Gui Yuanshu immediately pressed his arm downward — the motion was like striking out, but was in fact a forward toppling lunge.

Wei Chiming swept in from behind him and brought the blade slashing down.

The two of them had not seen each other for years, had not even exchanged any communication, yet in this moment their coordination was astonishingly seamless.

Seeing the blade come in fierce and sharp, Duan Hen swiftly pulled his hand back — but at this moment Gui Yuanshu, having thrown himself flat on the ground, had wrapped both arms around Duan Hen’s legs and was wrenching them toward himself with full force.

Duan Hen’s body lurched backward. Yet even in such a compromised position, he still managed to drive a kick into Gui Yuanshu’s jaw, sending Gui Yuanshu spinning and tumbling.

Duan Hen fell back. His palms hit the ground and he used them like oars, rowing his arms against the earth, sliding his body rapidly backward — the blade came crashing down and buried itself in the ground.

Wei Chiming glanced back at Gui Yuanshu, saw his brother covered in blood, and spun around immediately. “Are you alright?!”

But Gui Yuanshu pushed through the pain and shouted: “Watch your back!”

After sliding back, Duan Hen drove his five fingers into the ground and dug in deep, stopping himself cold. Then he exerted force again, and his body shot back forward like a bolt.

Wei Chiming turned and cut — but Duan Hen seized the flat of the blade with one hand.

Duan Hen yanked with force, tearing the blade clean out of Wei Chiming’s grip. Carrying the momentum of Duan Hen’s pull, the blade went flying — and with a resonant crack, punched clean through the courtyard wall.

Wei Chiming dodged aside, but Duan Hen’s target was the already-wounded Gui Yuanshu.

This was fighting experience.

Deal with the more seriously wounded one first, then focus on the one remaining.

In this entire courtyard, only those two were worth fighting.

In that instant, Wei Chiming also understood — if he dodged, Gui Yuanshu would die.

And so Wei Chiming, already shifted somewhat aside, forced himself back.

The impact hit.

Though Wei Chiming had raised both arms to block before his chest, the force behind the blow was simply too overwhelming and unyielding.

Moreover, Wei Chiming — who had turned back at the last moment — could only defend so passively.

Wei Chiming’s arms could not hold. The force drove through, shattering both forearm bones. Then Wei Chiming was hammered backward and fell.

Duan Hen kicked Wei Chiming’s body, and Wei Chiming rolled and tumbled away.

The next instant, Duan Hen closed his hand around Gui Yuanshu’s throat. His fingers pressed inward, nearly sinking into the flesh and blood.

Wei Chiming coughing up blood, crawled back and wrapped his arms around Duan Hen’s legs, throwing his full strength into trying to drag the man down. Duan Hen looked at him. “Looking for death?!”

He bent his knee and drove it into Wei Chiming’s skull. Wei Chiming let out a muffled groan.

“Let go! I’m not killing you — I only want to bring you back for the Emperor to deal with. I am not unwilling to kill you; I simply have not done it yet. If you dare to obstruct me again, I will take your life right now!”

Duan Hen raged.

Wei Chiming’s head was spinning, his eyes rolling back. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, stretching into a long thread. “Don’t… even think of… hurting my brother.”

“Then you die!”

Duan Hen roared in his fury, wrenched his foot free, and brought it crashing down toward Wei Chiming’s skull.

Gui Yuanshu swung himself up with everything he had, and with every last ounce of strength, drove both feet into Duan Hen’s chest.

Duan Hen was sent staggering back two steps — and the stomp missed Wei Chiming.

“Killing you first, the Emperor can’t blame me for that.”

Duan Hen flung Gui Yuanshu aside, bent down, and hauled Wei Chiming up by the collar. Wei Chiming, lifted into the air, had almost no strength left. That knee Duan Hen had driven into his skull had been savage beyond measure.

Blood still ran from the corner of Wei Chiming’s mouth. Yet he strained to turn his head and look at Gui Yuanshu: “I am sorry… Elder Brother failed to protect you. Elder Brother… made you suffer.”

Tonight he had come back alone, only wanting to say: I am sorry.

And fortunately, he had said it.

He was the eldest brother. To apologize — it should be the eldest brother who goes first.