Chapter 32 – Xiang Xiang’s Determination
Kicking open the blood soaked door, Lin Mu Yu fled with Chu Yao. The streets were already filled with mounted soldiers, clearly Hua Tian had mobilized fairly quickly. Soldiers had surrounded nearly the whole city, so if the two did not make use of the chaos to escape, Silver Fir would be their burial ground.
……
The two hastily rushed past the confused civilians as they went from alley to alley.
However, when they came to the city gate, they found that a group of guards were closing the large gates. Luckily, an ox-drawn cart had fallen over on a broken wheel in the middle, with bags of heavy grains weighing down on the cart. The only problem now was that the top of the walls were filled with armed soldiers, many of them with arrows readied on their bows.
“We can’t leave now!” Chu Yao grimaced.
“No, we have to go!”
Lin Mu Yu tightly held onto Chu Yao’s hand and said, “Follow me. Don’t hesitate or retreat.”
“Alright.”
Two people dashed out of the crowd. They were so fast that the guards did not even have time to react to them as they passed the gates with lightning speed.
“Those two are the Empire’s serious felons Lin Mu Yu and Chu Yao. Shoot and kill them immediately!” A familiar shout was heard from the top of the city walls. It was Lord Hua Tian, with Hua Wan standing nearby with an ice-cold smile.
Arrows rained from the walls on command. Lin Mu Yu ran with Chu Yao as he simultaneously called forth the Green Gourd. The spirit formed a two meter tall Ebony Scale behind him and shook off all the incoming arrows.
“Renegade, you still want to run!?”
Hua Wan pulled out his sword and jumped down upon a war-horse. Pointing his sword directly before him, he commanded, “Armored Cavalry Battalion, follow my attack and cut down Lin Mu Yu!”
However, Hua Tian shouted, “Son, stand where you are. Why would you need to personally go if you want to keep them here? Bring that lowly slave girl up here!”
Two cavalrymen carried a girl onto the city wall. Lin Mu Yu recognized her as Xiang Xiang. At the moment, her face was covered in bruises; rows of bloody lash marks scarred her chest and arms.
Lin Mu Yu subconsciously heated up and pointed at Hua Tian as he bellowed in rage, “Hua Tian, you dog. Come at me if you have a problem, why are you torturing a maid for no reason!”
Hua Tian faintly smiled, “Lin Mu Yu, I know that Xiang Xiang had given her body to you, so she is your woman. If you are a man, then obediently turn yourself in. Or else this twenty-meters-high wall will be where Xiang Xiang fall to her death!”
Lin Mu Yu tightly grasped Chu Yao’s hand. There was no way he would give up Chu Yao to save Xiang Xiang.
……
Looking at the hesitant Lin Mu Yu, tears rolled down Xiang Xiang’s face as her body trembled weakly. She whimpered, “Sir, do you still not trust Xiang Xiang to this day? You still don’t believe that Xiang Xiang is willing to do anything for you, right?”
Lin Mu Yu clenched his teeth, “Xiang Xiang!”
Xiang Xiang laugh a miserable laugh, “Sir, Xiang Xiang’s body isn’t clean anymore, so she is not fit for you. Perhaps it is like you had said before, Xiang Xiang’s life should be chosen by herself.”
Hua Tian was enraged, “You cheap whore, what kind of crazy was that? You’re a maid of the manor, so when did it become your turn to decide how your life should go? Guards, rip off her clothes. Show me how she is going to choose her own life!”
A guard walked forward and ferociously grabbed Xiang Xiang. With a loud tearing sound, he tore the clothes off her back.
Xiang Xiang was surprisingly taciturn. When the clothes were fully ripped and she stood bare, she slowly bent down to pick up the strips of cloth and covered her chest. Although she moved slowly, those last few strips of cloth were like her last bits of dignity. She was willing to give up everything, but she would never give up her dignity.
“My body was born free.” Xiang Xiang looked at Hua Tian. Her eyes did not hold respect as she calmly stated.
She gradually walked near the edge of the wall and chuckled. Her voice was exceedingly gentle as she said to Lin Mu Yu, “You have once said, dignity was something worth using life to fight for… Since you sir don’t believe Xiang Xiang, then Xiang Xiang will prove it to you!”
Hua Tian’s ice-cold gaze fell onto her body. He knew that women like her were all afraid of death. They would sell their body just to scrape a living. The fact that this girl gave her virginity to him was a solid testimonial to his belief.
But right before his eyes, this weak woman leapt forward. Just like a fleeting rainbow, this young life passed away in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the body that laid in the blood pool, Hua Tian was blown away but the awe quickly turned into anger. He shouted, “Take this woman’s corpse and feed it to the dogs!”
On the ground, Hua Wan lead the cavalry as they charged towards Lin Mu Yu..
……
Lin Mu Yu looked at Xiang Xiang from afar as he stood in shock. It was as if millions of arrows had pierced his heart. He slowly turned towards Chu Yao, and said, “Chu Yao, run into Seven Star Forest. I’ll catch up in a short while. I can definitely catch up with Starfall Steps. You’re just going to be baggage to me if you stay.”
Chu Yao knew that he spoke the truth. Her strength was too greatly lacking compared to him.
“Alright, try and catch up quickly.”
Drops of rain began to fall from the sky as Chu Yao sprinted towards Seven Star Forest. She did not know whether it was rain or tears running down her face. Although she knew that Lin Mu Yu wanted to take revenge for Xiang Xiang, she could not try to stop him. The only thing she could do now was to pray for him in her heart and hope that he could make it out alive.
……
The charging power of cavalry was extremely frightening, especially Silver Fir’s plate-covered armored-cavalry. The increased impact strength was even more scary than normal.
Lin Mu Yu stood his ground and waited. When Hua Wan’s horse was only ten metres away, he raised his fist and created a loud explosion in the air. Hua Wan’s war-horse was immediately frightened and kicked its rider off as it knelt down on the ground. Hua Wan flipped off the horse skillfully with a spirit-charged sword in hand and struck out at Lin Mu Yu.
Crash!
Hua Wan’s attack landed heavily onto the ground as Lin Mu Yu dodged in a flash with Starfall Step. Hua Wan’s straightforward attack was truly too clumsy for Lin Mu Yu. Although they were both practitioners of the first stage of Earth realm, the actual disparity in battle strength was greatly alarming.
Poof!
Slamming his elbow onto his opponent’s back, Lin Mu Yu swiped his sword swiftly. The attack shattered Hua Wan’s energy shield and slashed over a bloody gash on Hua Wan’s abdomen.
“Ah Ah AH…”
Hua Wan swung his sword in anger but was not able to hit anything. He breathed heavily as the rain trickled down his face. Just as he was about to move, Hua Wan found an ice-cold blade placed on his neck.
“Kneel.”
Lin Mu Yu’s cold voice greeted Hua Wan as his knee was hit from the back. He involuntarily fell onto his knees as he looked up with disbelief at his father on the city wall, “Father…”
Hua Tian was greatly shocked. He had never thought that his son would be so helpless.
“Release the young lord and I will let you live!”
Hua Tian leapt down the wall with a roar. He was already at the stage of a level 47 Battle Master. With a long spear in his hand, Hua Tian’s face carried anger as he bellowed, “Lin Mu Yu, you’re just a lowly peasant. If you kill a noble, you will involve your whole family. Release my son. I will pardon everything that’s happened and let both you and Chu Yao go!”
The rain became heavier. Lin Mu Yu’s eyelashes were covered in rain drops, but his eyes were cold as ice. Abruptly breaking into a hearty laughter, Lin Mu Yu retorted, “Let us go? Hua Tian, you will die here today, do you understand?”
Hua Tian roared, “Who do you think you are? You want to kill me? You’re too brazen, you little bastard!”
Lin Mu Yu lightly pulled on his sword and sliced the carotid artery on Hua Wan’s neck. Blood squirted out wildly as Hua Wan immediately limped onto the ground and frantically tried to cover his wound with his hands. Blood and rain mixed together as his life quickly seeped away. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a cold corpse and splayed out across the wet ground.
“Ahhhhhh AHHHHH AHHHHHH…”
It was as if Hua Tian had transformed into a wild beast as he coated himself in lightning and charged at Lin Mu Yu, “You brazen little bastard, I’m going to kill you!”
Brazen!
Lin Mu Yu’s bones were seething with brass, but his arrogance was definitely not recklessness. Looking at Hua Tian’s imposing manner, he knew that he definitely could not compete head-on. Taking several steps back, he used Wind Sword Style’s Windward Art and attacked with a wave of shapeless gale in conjunction with a Lightning Chop.
However, Hua Tian’s speed was not much inferior. He swung his spear and swept away the Lightning Chop. Hua Tian sent out a speedy kick as he sprung into the air. His Lightning Hammer shot out of his feet and crashed onto Lin Mu Yu’s Ebony Scale. It was only one hit, but small cracks had appeared on top of the scale. Hua Tian snorted with scorn as he continued with his spear attacks. The long spear was like a vicious serpent as it stabbed into Lin Mu Yu’s shoulder.
A swing and a kick were able to make Lin Mu Yu roll around in the mud. This defeat was too tragically fast!
“Break!”
Hua Tian landed on one feet and a formless energy instantly erupted from the ground. Lin Mu Yu did not dare to receive the attack directly. He hastily ducked to the side, but the scorching hot lightning still burnt him as blood ran down his shoulder wound.
Hua Tian did not stop once he got the upperhand, and followed attacks with attacks. After a few minutes, at least seven or eight wounds had appeared on Lin Mu Yu’s body.
Whoosh!
A green vine broke out from the soil and bound Hua Tian’s right leg. The sharp thorns on the green vine directly pierced the skin.
“What is this?!”
Hua Tian easily cut apart the vine, but he didn’t know that energy was quickly seeping out of his wound.
Lin Mu Yu remained defensive and utilized Verdant Shell and Ebony Scale to defend against Hua Tian’s relentless attacks.
Conversely, since Hua Tian had the upperhand, the hundreds of armored cavalrymen all watched silently as the lord personally obtained revenge for the young lord.
……
Finally, after a long while, Hua Tian’s vitals became disorderly. Although Lin Mu Yu was covered in wounds, he still remained focused enough to hold on. Throwing out his left fist, he used Sonic Punch. It was time for the counter attack!
Bang!
The punch struck Hua Tian’s chest, but it only hit the energy shield. Hua Tian’s force energy was much greater than his son’s, so his internal organs would naturally not be so easily attacked by Sonic Punch.
“Humph, insignificant skill, not even worth a mention!”
Right as Hua Tian belittled and scorned him, Lin Mu Yu suddenly gave a little push behind his back and combined the four throwing knives into a bladed wheel. The blade sweep across the air as he used it for a sneak attack!
Keng!
Hua Tian immediately used his spear to sweep the thrown blade aside, and cursed, “Assassination weapon? You despicable little bastard. You think you can defeat me with a mere hidden weapon?”
Without a word, Lin Mu Yu attacked with Lightning Chop and send out two Sonic Punches with his left hand!
Bang! Bang!
Hua Tian’s blood surged inside as he received the continuous attacks, but a single Lightning Hammer attack was still able to blow Lin Mu Yu several meters back. Holding onto his spear, Hua Tian coldly chuckled, “To fight with me? Who do you think you are? You killed my son, so I will cut you up and serve you to the dogs!”
But then, Lin Mu Yu’s mouth curved into a smile.
“Huh?”
Hua Tian felt that something was wrong. Without giving him any time to react, a whistling sound came from behind him. With a snapping sound, the Sonic Blade sliced across the air. Lin Mu Yu leapt up to catch the blade, disassembled it back into four knives, then stored them back in his pouch.
……
Hua Tian silently stood there as the crowd of guards stood speechless. Reflecting through their pupils was the the sight of the Lord’s head gradually sliding off its base.