Chapter 1018 – Miscellaneous Freeloaders, a Willingness to Pay Five Hundred Years (2/2)

……

Blood painted the street in front of the courtyard.

Ten-some Xiang clan experts lay collapsed in their blood.

Xiang Qiu's injuries were the heaviest. His clothes were in tatters, his harder-than-steel body covered in several dozen extremely fine wounds. Blood was gushing out from those fine and straight wounds, swiftly turning into all manner of garish colors the moment it touched the air. He had clearly been poisoned.

He stared at the government laborers and peddlers with eyes of pain and shock.

He had never imagined that he would witness such frightening techniques and arts in such a short moment of time.

If his eyes were not going blurry from the loss of blood, then could that really be… the Blazing Sun Style!

The techniques of those Tang clan experts were truly too terrifying. Before he and his subordinates even had time to enter berserk metamorphosis, they had suffered a crushing defeat!

Xiang Qiu's gaze ultimately fell on the blind zither player standing apart from the crowd and the old zither in his bosom.

The strings of this old zither seemed so sharp that they seemed impossible to stain with blood, no matter how many bodies they hacked through.

When he looked at the old zither, Xiang Qiu suddenly felt rather cold.

A note was played from the zither.

He realized that even if those peddlers and government laborers were not here, the blind zither player alone was enough to kill all of them.

Even if he and his subordinates had entered berserk metamorphosis beforehand, they would have still been killed to a man, none of them able to escape.

Even if his father were here, he might not be a match for this blind zither player.

An intense regret appeared in Xiang Qiu's eyes.

He had not noticed this blind zither player earlier, so he had not noticed that the zither player had been drooping his shoulders.

This posture might have meant fatigue, but it also made it easier to hold the zither.

Humans that liked to droop their shoulders were often truly extraordinary individuals.

Like Wang Po, Bie Yanghong, or this blind zither player.

He stammered out, ”Truly powerful… Just who are you?”

The blind zither player did not answer his question.

Perhaps some people would be willing to answer the question of a person on the verge of death to exhibit their kindness or grace.

But not the blind zither player.

Many years ago, during an internal conflict within the sect, he had been ambushed and heavily injured by the sect master. Only after terrible struggle had he managed to survive.

From that moment, he forgot the word 'kindness'.

Many years ago, because he was in seclusion to recover from his injuries, he had avoided the disaster that was Su Li, and then he had gone to Wenshui City, where he had lived like an old dog struggling at death's door.

After that, he lost the right to any sort of grace.

The Tang Old Master's request for him to come to White Emperor City and protect Chen Changsheng was nothing but a job in his view.

He was just doing his job, making some money to provide for his retirement.

So he would not answer Xiang Qiu's question.

He had even once felt that there was nothing that could still draw his interest.

But today, something seemed different.

He looked at the courtyard, his gaze piercing through the gate and onto that tree deep within.

A figure was beneath that tree.

His sea of consciousness had grown calm and serene ages ago, almost frozen, but now, it gradually began to thaw.

His mind had become a dried-up small stream ages ago, but now, water began to flow and beat against the rocks on the banks.

Because a spark had been lit on the withered wood that was his heart, the fire getting larger and larger.

The moment he saw that figure, he seemed to come alive, and his emotions began to surge.

There was no wind, but his clothes began to flap in the air.

His complexion grew rosier and rosier.

His eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He became much younger.

It seemed like he could live another five hundred years.

But he did not want these five hundred years.

If he could kill that person today.