Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 275 - 268 Turnaround Part 2

Chapter 275: Chapter 268 Turnaround Part 2

Zhao Ke didn’t say a word, and pressed his hand to his forehead, suddenly pushing down.

Faint ripples of spiritual fluctuation spread out and were instantly perceived by Lin Xin.

His expression slightly cleared, and his gaze slowly moved to the other members of the Mysterious Shadow Cult.

"Spare our lives!!" One person finally couldn’t bear the mental pressure and turned to flee.

Swish!

A red streak flashed, and Lin Xin didn’t even move, the Red Flower Sword automatically flew out, circled around the man then shot back, its speed so fast it seemed like a straight line had flashed for a moment.

With a hiss, the man’s body fell, quickly segmented into several parts with not a drop of blood spilling out.

"We are followers of the Mysterious Shadow Cult, our Sect Hierarch is a Daoist Master of the Kunming Mountain, I hope for your consideration in...." With a swish, his words cut off abruptly.

The speaker was a seriously injured Spear Spirit of the cult, who couldn’t finish his words as Lin Xin cut off his neck with a sword, his head falling to the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

Fu Big Brother broke out in cold sweat, his back against a tree stump, and he said nothing.

"I’m sorry," Lin Xin said indifferently."Everyone who has seen me in action must die."

He needed to keep mingling in the Righteous Path. If traces of Demon Path Spiritual Energy were to leak out, it would certainly implicate the people of the manor, and disrupt the original plan.

He stood still, with the Red Flower Sword cutting down one Mysterious Shadow Cult member after another at high speed. Every one of their bodies quickly turned into dried corpses, all blood completely absorbed by the eerie blade.

Zhao Ke, watching from the side, felt somewhat unbearably compassionate. These members of the Mysterious Shadow Cult, although they had been hunting him for a long time, had never truly struck with lethal force, partly because they were concerned for Fu Big Brother, but... Watching so many die in front of him like lambs to the slaughter, he inevitably felt some....

"Big Brother, can’t we find another way? Making them swear an oath of secrecy would have the same effect, why must we kill them?" Zhao Ke couldn’t help but interject.

"Swear an oath?" Lin Xin looked at him as if he were looking at a bizarre creature."I only trust the dead."

"But doesn’t this feel too cruel?" Zhao Ke said softly.

At that moment, the Red Flower Sword returned to Lin Xin’s hand.

He held it lightly, looking at Zhao Ke.

"You and I are brothers in the same society, so naturally I won’t kill you, but anyone else who has seen my Spiritual Energy must die."

"But..."

Zhao Ke wanted to say something else, but suddenly felt a tingling on his scalp.

With a swish, a red line grazed his scalp, then circled around swiftly, cutting all remaining Mysterious Shadow Cult members in two.

No blood flew out; it was like cutting through straw men, their bodies just crumbled under the sword with no resistance.

Zhao Ke was startled, his face paled slightly, then suddenly he remembered something and turned to look at Fu Big Brother.

Lin Xin had sheathed his sword and was slowly walking towards Fu Big Brother, obviously preparing to ask something.

"Big Brother!"

Zhao Ke urgently suppressed his fear and rushed to stand between the two.

"Big Brother! Fu Big Brother may also be a member of the Mysterious Shadow Cult, but he is different from the others, please, for my sake, spare him!"

He pleaded loudly.

"For your sake?" Lin Xin showed a slight sneer.

"I know my influence is negligible, but Fu Big Brother is a rare man of valor. We could completely have him join the Radiance Society too! To be one of us, under the testimony of Universal Heavenly Venerable, wouldn’t that ease your mind?"

Zhao Ke said earnestly.

"Young Brother Zhao, step aside. It’s not your place to protect me, a man who isn’t versed in Martial Arts. To live or die is determined by fate; I’ve lived long enough," Fu Big Brother on the other hand took it more lightly, leaning against the tree stump and laughing loudly."

Zhao Ke thought about how many times he would have died along the way if it weren’t for Fu Big Brother’s mercy, which in fact amounted to saving his life many times.

With this thought, he became even more determined, seeing Lin Xin kill as naturally as if he were eating and drinking, his body radiating Spiritual Energy dyed with the fresh blood of countless lives.

Such a figure could even surpass his own master.

Just standing in front of him, he felt almost suffocated. The overwhelming Spiritual Pressure made his whole body tremble, and if it weren’t for his master’s cultivation spontaneously activating within him, he would probably have had to kneel immediately from the pressure.

But some things, some convictions, require persistence even when faced with danger.

The three of them stood tensely, with firelight reaching the sky and the wind filling the air.

After a long while, Lin Xin finally laughed.

"The woman you had with you, I already spared her once for the sake of your status, and now you want more?"

"I, Zhao Ke, am not ungrateful. There are things that I must do, even when clearly outmatched!" Zhao Ke breathed deeply, trying to suppress the involuntary trembling in his body.

"Even when you know you are outmatched, you still proceed." Lin Xin echoed the words, his look towards Zhao Ke subtly changed, he somewhat understood why a Branch Chief would choose such an ordinary person as his successor.

Zhao Ke stood resolutely in front of him, ready to die before letting any harm come to him.

Lin Xin also made no other move but just quietly watched him.

After a long time, he slowly sheathed the sword, and the Red Flower Sword returned to its scabbard with a faint click.

"You agreed, Big Brother!" Zhao Ke suddenly, overjoyed.

"Take me to the nearby branch."

Lin Xin said indifferently.

"The nearest branch is Shiri City. I just visited it recently; the Branch Chief is someone named Chen Ming," Zhao Ke hurriedly said. "I was originally planning to seek his help, but unexpectedly along the way..."

Shh!

A subtle sound emanated from behind him.

Zhao Ke’s pupils suddenly contracted, and as he saw Lin Xin in front of him slowly disappear, he realized it was merely an afterimage.

He turned around abruptly and saw behind him that Brother Fu had been stabbed in the forehead with a sword, and Lin Xin was slowly withdrawing the sword from his head.

"Continue," Lin Xin said nonchalantly and turned back.

"You... Brother..." Zhao Ke’s face turned exceptionally pale, his body overtaken by a sense of horror only felt in extreme danger.

He forced a smile.

"Brother, you promised me..."

"When did I promise you I wouldn’t kill him?" Lin Xin asked indifferently.

Zhao Ke could only lower his head, take a deep breath, and secretly sigh for Brother Fu. This unexpected senior figure acted unpredictably and irrationally, frequently killing, evident of a truly ferocious Demon Path character.

Thinking of this, he also felt secretly afraid.

If he had inadvertently angered the other party in a rash moment... he and Si Jue would probably have indeed become doomed lovers here.

By then, the flames in the surrounding forest soared to the sky, with large trees everywhere being ignited. Some had already turned into charred timber, crashing down; others hung on other trees, continuously dropping burning embers.

The ground was already scorched, some of it hot to the touch.

"Let’s go. First, we’ll deal with this guy’s den, and then head directly to Shiri City. I’ve lost my identification and need you to vouch for me."

"Alright..." Zhao Ke said helplessly, quickly collecting himself.

"Let’s go." Lin Xin walked straight back the way they came, and all the great fires naturally parted to make way for him. Zhao Ke hurriedly followed him, keeping close step. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to gather all the money pouches and miscellaneous bags from the bodies of the Mysterious Shadow Cult adepts.

Walking through the fiery blaze, the high temperature seemed completely absorbed by Lin Xin in front, which astonished Zhao Ke.

Piercing the fiery sea, the two quickly returned to the place where they had previously separated from the Kunlin Sword Sect and others.

The scene was in disarray. Lin Xin searched for traces of that masked woman, Huo Yinqi, because, despite her clumsy help, her intentions had been good.

Unfortunately, he saw no sign of her whatsoever. Lin Xin instructed Zhao Ke to find a place to hide while he quickly searched the area, attempting to locate Old Ancestor of the Snake’s den, but to no avail.

Without a map and without a guide, just searching randomly was unlikely to find the enemy’s nest.

Helplessly, he could only take Zhao Ke to Shiri City first to get in touch with the Radiance Society there before heading back to the Kunlin Sword Sect.

**********************

Above the sea of trees, a green Escape Light rapidly shuttled through, trailing a long tail like a shooting star.

Within the Escape Light, a Taoist in white robes wearing green gauze moved solemnly, holding a golden rope in her hand. The other end of the rope was tied around a masked woman, notably Huo Yinqi, who had been relentlessly pursuing the Snake Cave Master and Lin Xin.

"The Snake Cave Master had already let go of your indiscretion for my sake, yet you still wouldn’t relent. Do you really wish to die?" the Taoist’s cold eyes swept over Huo Yinqi.

"But that junior brother from Kunlin Sword Sect clearly got caught up in Wuchen Mountain because of us!" Huo Yinqi argued.

"So what?" The Taoist said dismissively. "The moment I heard you were in trouble, I came alone at full speed to rescue you, causing a furnace of tiger-shaped pills to be utterly ruined, and yet you..."

She didn’t finish her sentence, simply scoffing coldly.

"I’ve already had someone ask the little girl from Kunlin Sword Sect. That man acted so rashly yet has extraordinary power—if he couldn’t fight, couldn’t he have just hidden? If he couldn’t hide, then dying was indeed what he deserved!" The Taoist had no sympathy.

"What do you mean he deserved it!?" Huo Yinqi was nearing her breaking point. "That junior brother was trying to save us all!"

"Stepping in without the power to save others only adds burdens. Trying to save others and getting oneself killed is useless," the Taoist said sharply.

"Are you perhaps interested in that boy?" she glanced sideways at Huo Yinqi.

"How could that be!?" Huo Yinqi couldn’t comprehend how her teacher could jump to such a conclusion.

"Remember, if a person is too impulsive, he certainly won’t live long. This is an absolute truth summed up by the ancestors of the sect. Go with the flow, recognize the times, and only then can you ride the currents of the era."

"If cultivation doesn’t go according to one’s heart, then what’s the point in cultivating?" Huo Yinqi retorted sarcastically.

"Cultivation is for longevity."

"Longevity be damned!"

"What of it? Placed together with snakes, it becomes Xuanwu. If one can achieve longevity, everything else can be discarded," the Taoist said coldly.

"I won’t cultivate such a path!" Huo Yinqi exclaimed angrily.

"Saying the same thing too many times serves no purpose," the Taoist ignored her and continued on their way. "If your family knew you almost died for such a pointless task, I, as your master, would be too ashamed to face them."

"The worst decision I ever made in my life was stubbornly choosing you as my master!" Huo Yinqi gritted her teeth.

"I think that’s the only wise decision you’ve ever made." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)