Chapter 44: Night Ambush

The sixth day of the second lunar month, night fell.

Meng Chuan, Liu Qiyue, and Yan Jin walked out of Yunjiang Restaurant.

“Next time, I’ll definitely beat you,” Yan Jin said.

“But you’ve lost three times in a row in the last six months,” Meng Chuan chuckled. Since their battle side-by-side at Xianshi Garden, and Meng Chuan saving Yan Jin, their relationship had become much closer. Yan Jin occasionally came to Mirror Lake Meng Manor to spar with Meng Chuan. His Godfiend foundation was formidable, and his Twin Yin-Yang Swordsmanship was extremely powerful. However, he had no idea that Meng Chuan had already comprehended ‘Force’.

That’s why in their three spar sessions over the past six months, Yan Jin had always fought for a long time only to narrowly lose.

There was no way around it; Meng Chuan temporarily had to conceal his ‘Force’, only using a portion of his true strength. Even so, defeating Yan Jin, who hadn’t comprehended Force, was still easy. It was the act of ‘feigning weakness’ that was somewhat tiring.

“In today’s spar with you, I’ve faintly touched the threshold of Force,” Yan Jin said, looking at Meng Chuan. “So next time, I’ll be much stronger than I am now.”

“Then I’ll look forward to it next time,” Meng Chuan replied with a smile.

“Comprehend Force? Don’t boast,” Liu Qiyue interjected from the side.

“Hmph.”

Yan Jin, however, didn’t bother to argue. He simply turned and left alone.

Meng Chuan, however, could sense a powerful aura that had been silently following Yan Jin, dozens of yards away. In fact, when Yan Jin came to Mirror Lake Meng Manor to spar with him, that aura also waited outside the manor.

“That old servant isn’t following him anymore; instead, a mysterious and powerful expert is secretly accompanying him,” Meng Chuan mused inwardly. “It seems Yan Jin’s injury last time prompted his family to send a stronger guard?”

“A-Chuan, Yan Jin says he’s about to comprehend Force. What about you?” Liu Qiyue pressed. “Don’t let him surpass you.”

“Let me tell you a secret,” Meng Chuan whispered into Liu Qiyue’s ear. “I think I have a good chance of comprehending Force within a few months.”

“You’ve also sensed the threshold of saber force?” Liu Qiyue asked, surprised, her ears beginning to redden.

“Yes, but you have to keep it a secret,” Meng Chuan said.

“Absolutely, absolutely, I’ll definitely keep it a secret,” Liu Qiyue nodded repeatedly.

Seeing Qiyue’s reaction, Meng Chuan secretly chuckled.

The two walked side-by-side on their way home. It was still early spring, and the night was quite cold. They walked close together, leaning against each other.

Looking at Liu Qiyue at that moment, Meng Chuan silently sighed, “Qiyue has grown up.”

He still clearly remembered the little snot-nosed girl being led by the hand by Uncle Liu and brought to Meng Manor.

In the blink of an eye, she was already sixteen, an adult.

Although he had diligently cultivated all these years, Qiyue had been by his side every day. Every now and then, Qiyue would even drag him out for a ‘grand meal’. Though he felt a bit stingy about the money, his mood was always great when they ate and drank together.

The cold wind of the early spring night was somewhat biting on his face, yet Meng Chuan felt delighted.

“Hmm?”

Meng Chuan’s heart jolted. Within the one-mile range of his senses, three powerful and eerie auras appeared, rapidly approaching him.

“Is it that Skyfiend Sect expert from Xianshi Garden?” Meng Chuan immediately recognized one. That hunchbacked man’s fiend energy had once infiltrated his body, causing him considerable pain, until his grand-aunt personally helped expel it. Thus, as soon as Meng Chuan sensed the three eerie auras, he felt one was very familiar, confirming it was the hunchbacked man.

“Of the three auras, the two weaker ones felt comparable to my father and his peers. But there was another aura, stronger than both my father and Uncle Liu. This aura was very powerful and strange.” Meng Chuan felt a strong sense of threat.

“They’re rapidly approaching.”

“Are they targeting me?” Meng Chuan couldn't help but wonder. “Or someone else?”

Meng Chuan immediately made a decision and said to Liu Qiyue beside him: “Qiyue, I just remembered something. I need to go to the ancestral home right away. You should head back first.”

“To the ancestral home? Okay, okay,” Liu Qiyue nodded. “But don’t ditch me and run off to Bi Yun Tower to kill two Blood Cloud Bandits like last time.”

“Do you think Blood Cloud Bandits are something you just run into whenever you want?” Meng Chuan chuckled. “Alright, I’m off to the ancestral home.”

With that, Meng Chuan turned and walked towards the ancestral home.

Liu Qiyue didn’t think much of it and also headed back towards Meng Manor.

“They didn’t chase Qiyue; instead, they continued to pursue me,” Meng Chuan thought as he walked along a deserted street. After nightfall, most of Dongning Prefecture’s common folk went to bed early. Oil lamps and candles were expensive, so ordinary families had to be frugal.

Aside from a few restaurants and teahouses, most places were shrouded in darkness.

The cold wind blew.

Meng Chuan walked alone.

“Swish, swish, swish.”

The three Skyfiend Sect experts quietly landed on a rooftop, watching Meng Chuan’s solitary figure walking in the distance. The white-browed man’s eyes faintly shimmered with golden light; his bare eyes could see a mile or two even in the dark night, let alone during the day.

“Big Brother, he’s heading towards the Meng family’s ancestral home,” the hunchbacked man whispered.

Deputy Hall Master Tu quickly added, “We must act immediately. If he continues, he’ll get too close to the Meng family’s ancestral home. If we attack and he calls for help... Meng Xiangu might arrive very quickly.”

“Understood,” the white-browed man nodded. “I’ll launch a sneak attack and capture him alive directly. The two of you will ambush him up ahead. If the sneak attack fails, we’ll encircle him from three sides; he’ll have nowhere to escape.”

“Alright,” the hunchbacked man and Deputy Hall Master Tu both nodded. They both highly trusted their Big Brother’s strength.

“Move,” the white-browed man commanded.

The three quickly split up. The white-browed man silently and swiftly approached Meng Chuan, while the hunchbacked man and his companion rushed ahead to block his path.

“They’re here.”

Meng Chuan sensed them very clearly, remaining exceptionally calm at that moment.

The most powerful aura rapidly closed in, making no sound whatsoever.

“Hmm?” Meng Chuan seemed to sense something and turned his head to look in one direction, at the white-browed man darting towards him about seven or eight yards away. At that moment, the white-browed man was taller, his eyes had become narrow and elongated, and his pupils were golden. His long white eyebrows drooped, his entire body emanated grey fiend energy, and he clutched a curved saber in each clawed hand.

Their gazes met.

Upon seeing the golden-eyed, white-browed expert radiating fiend energy, Meng Chuan’s expression instantly changed. He instantly became a blur, shooting forward at extreme speed.

“I haven’t even attacked yet, and he already found me?” Murong You, like a large bird in the darkness, was astonished that he had been discovered while still seven or eight yards away. This left the white-browed man, Murong You, somewhat stunned.

Little did he know.

The moment he entered the ten-yard range, Meng Chuan had ‘seen’ him in precise detail and deliberately turned his head, feigning discovery of the enemy.

Murong You was quite skilled at sneak attacks and assassinations; he could often lie in wait behind enemies without them ever noticing. To be discovered from seven or eight yards away, in the cold, windy night, left Murong You feeling quite frustrated.

“He must have gotten lucky and just happened to turn his head at that moment,” Murong You thought, not bothering to dwell on it.

“Whoosh!”

The frantically fleeing Meng Chuan pulled out a distress flare and lit it. The flare shot into the sky, strikingly visible in the dark night.

“Stop him,” Murong You commanded coldly.

“Run!” Meng Chuan fled in a panic, but his escape speed was incredibly fast.

“Young Master Meng, your speed is even faster than last time,” a figure darted out from the darkness on one side. It was the hunchbacked man, radiating green fiend energy, his jade-green eyes fixed on Meng Chuan as he lunged forward.

“A genius naturally progresses quickly!” Another figure rushed out from the other side: a burly man enveloped in black fiend energy, Deputy Hall Master Tu, who chuckled as he wielded a large axe, resembling a huge bear.

“What?!”

Meng Chuan feigned a look of shock and fury.

Behind him, a terrifying golden-eyed, white-browed expert was in pursuit, while two powerful experts lay in wait, one on each side, attempting to intercept him. He was desperately fleeing.

“Skyfiend Sect! How dare you ambush me? My Meng family will never let you get away with this!” Meng Chuan roared furiously. He then directly chose one direction and dashed towards it, the side closest to the hunchbacked man.

“Haha, the Meng family won’t have time to save you!” the hunchbacked man laughed. Seeing Meng Chuan choose his direction, he immediately moved to intercept him.

More than half a year ago, the hunchbacked man had fought Meng Chuan. Back then, one flick of his fingernail had severely injured Meng Chuan, almost costing him his life.

This time, the hunchbacked man was, of course, brimming with confidence.

“Stop right there,” the hunchbacked man said, flicking his finger, sending a segment of his fingernail flying with formidable power.

At close range, Meng Chuan narrowly dodged it, but his speed was significantly reduced.

“Haha,” the hunchbacked man laughed loudly as he extended his sharp claws, which turned into a blurry claw-shadow, reaching for Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan, who had been desperately fleeing, unsheathed his saber in an instant, without any warning.

At this moment.

His Soul Power infused every part of his body. His True Qi, bursting with fifteen times its limit, perfectly merged with his physical body, uniting their power! It erupted along with his saber force! The ‘Saber Draw’ technique was the one Meng Chuan had practiced the most; it was his fastest strike. The insights from the seventeenth form of the ‘Thunderclap Annihilation Saber’ allowed Meng Chuan to learn a more advanced method of utilizing his physical body and True Qi. When employed, the lightning within his Thunderclap Godfiend Body became denser, and his own speed increased even further.

Since incorporating some of the insights from the Thunderclap Annihilation Saber, the Saber Draw technique’s power had increased by nearly fifty percent.

“Thunderclap Extreme Saber Draw!” Coldness gleamed in Meng Chuan’s eyes.

Following the saber force.

His entire body’s power erupted, and the terrifying saber strike, imbued with True Qi, also drew upon the power of heaven and earth, forming a horrifying saber light over ten yards long.

The saber light was so dazzling that it was impossible to discern the saber’s true form within it.

“Pfft.”

The hunchbacked man had been brimming with confidence, but suddenly, an incomparably dazzling saber light appeared before his eyes. He instinctively retreated violently, simultaneously raising both claws to block his chest and protect his vital points. Before he could even clearly see the saber’s true form, he felt a sharp pain in his waist.

“Gurgle, gurgle.” The hunchbacked man’s lower body was still retreating violently, but his upper body had already tumbled to the ground, rolling in a pool of blood.

One saber strike, two halves!