Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 283 - 276: Reason - Part 2

Chapter 283: Chapter 276: Reason - Part 2

The group of masked people did not answer and just looked over from a distance.

"Something’s not right. It seems we’ve made a mistake; it’s not them!" one of the masked people muttered with some confusion upon seeing the escort agency’s flag.

"It’s not them again? Weren’t they supposed to definitely pass through here?" another masked figure said in a low, sinister voice.

"Calm down, Chief! Maybe they took a different route. All we need to do is kill as many as come our way. That way, when the emissary from Red Ridge asks, we’ll have an explanation," suggested another.

"The emissary has paid such a high price, not for us to just kill these minor characters!" the chief rumbled in a low voice.

"Regardless, it still counts as an explanation! Let’s quickly take care of this and continue waiting," another one said nonchalantly.

"Hmph!"

Upon hearing this, the chief no longer pursued the matter and just coldly glared at the subordinate who had spoken.

"Attack!" he ordered with a wave of his hand. Immediately, dozens of black-clad, masked figures rushed out, each of them spryly pouncing toward the Pang Dao Escort Agency’s caravan.

Uncle Wu and Ling’er, realizing they had walked into a trap, quickly drew their weapons in shock and anger.

"Everyone, hold the line! Inside the formation, we have a slim chance of survival," Uncle Wu shouted loudly.

The escort masters all pulled out their weapons—most were long sabers and short spears, with a few using bows to shoot from afar.

Although many were panic-stricken by the enemy’s words, they knew that scattering in disarray at this critical moment would only lead to a quicker death.

A few of the most elite guards protected the escort agency’s goods, while Ling’er and Uncle Wu took the lead at the front, facing the incoming masked figures with their dual swords and daggers clashing head-on.

In just a moment, the two had severely wounded several masked figures, leaving a trail of blood in their path.

Those who brushed past them all ended up with slashes and holes in their waists and chests, oozing with blood.

Lin Xin retreated to the side of the carriage, leaning against it with a pretense of weakness that caused the attacking masked men not to consider him a primary target. Under the protection of several guards, he appeared to be safe.

He squinted his eyes slightly and focused his breath, unmoving, as if paralyzed by fear.

The escort masters displayed exceptional prowess, battling with the masked attackers in fierce fights that seemed evenly matched.

In a deftly orchestrated defensive formation, they even managed to inflict damage back on several of the attackers after some time.

"I’ll handle this!"

A few of the onlooking chiefs and experts couldn’t stand by any longer. One of them leaped into the fray and sent a palm strike tearing through the air towards the strongest of them, Uncle Wu.

Woosh!

Leaves and pebbles lifted off the ground swarmed toward Uncle Wu. A vague, semi-transparent palm imprint, over a meter wide, condensed out of thin air and shot towards him.

"Furious Five Elements Cutter!" Uncle Wu’s brows shot upward, and his twin swords suddenly halted, then with a thunderous burst of yellow inner Qi, his arms chopped forward five times in rapid succession!

Five layers of earth-yellow sword energy stacked upon each other like waves of sand, meeting the incoming palm imprint.

Boom!!

When the two forces collided, a violent explosion erupted.

Surrounding masked men and guards who were too close were thrown into the air, scattered by the blast.

Ling’er’s double daggers traced green fluorescent threads in the air, each blink slicing through a masked figure and leaving deep gashes in their flesh. Although not fatal, the strikes swiftly added to the number of seriously injured enemies, maximally weakening their fighting capability.

"Seal River Hand!"

Suddenly, a soundless blue palm emitting waves of coldness attacked Ling’er from behind.

Ling’er’s expression didn’t change as she parried with her dagger.

Clang!

A green flash on the dagger blade set off an explosion of deep blue ice mist between them.

One of the masked people crouched behind her. After a brief pause, they quickly engaged in a rapid exchange of attacks, with bursts of ice fog detonating continuously as their weapons collided.

The two strongest guards of the escort agency were intercepted, leaving the others locked in difficult battles.

Little Six forced a masked man to retreat with a swing of his saber, then glanced around and rushed to block a punch for another guard, pushing the attacker back again.

"Thanks, Little Six!"

Little Six didn’t have time to reply, straining to fend off a masked figure in front of him. He saw that the guards by the carriage were being matched up, and as two masked men laughed menacingly and lunged toward the vehicle, they happened to see Mr. Red standing in front, seemingly petrified with a sword on his back. They each swung their blades towards him.

Mr. Red looked weak and paralyzed with fear, standing still, not knowing how to dodge or block.

In urgency, Little Six took a flying leap, his hand flicking out a glint of black light towards the two masked figures.

"Take this!" he yelled loudly.

The two seemed to be startled. As their blades were halfway through the air, they turned back, saw the black light, and hastily redirected their attacks to block it.

A crisp sound rang out.

Little Six landed, panting heavily, and sadly looked at the black shuriken on the ground. It was his most closely guarded secret weapon, and to his dismay, it had been neutralized before it could prove effective.

"Run, Mr. Red!"

He shouted to the stunned Lin Xin nearby.

Lin Xin blinked, having originally not planned to intervene. With the protective spiritual light, not to mention his physical robustness, these two youngsters wouldn’t have been able to break through him.

These were mere flies to him, but Little Six had unexpectedly meddled.

"Run?" He stretched out his hand with a smile, about to deal with the two when his expression suddenly darkened. Looking up into the sky.

"Mr. Red!" Xiao Liu suddenly panicked. Could Mr. Red have become dumb from reading too much? Why was he standing still, foolishly not moving and not even attempting to defend himself in such danger?

Upon hearing the shouts, Ling’er and Uncle Wu were distracted and glanced over, only to see Lin Xin staring up at the sky with a foolish expression, which made them curse under their breath.

But Lin Xin had no time to attend to anything else at this moment.

He had originally thought this was just an ordinary skirmish that would be resolved quickly, but now it seemed something was not right...

"The world is desolate, flowers die like dust, prosperity ends, leaving only emptiness..."

A voice as low as a chant began to ripple slowly from above.

Humm...

It was like the dense buzzing of countless bees.

A faint layer of grey-black appeared above everyone’s heads.

Within the grey-black darkness fluttered countless black insects, all with black wings and bodies made of smoke, an eerie swarm of bees.

"This is... the Flower Wheel Rebirth Formation!!!!" Lin Xin suddenly remembered. His pupils shrank sharply.

He had seen this formation in ancient texts, a top-tier formation that truly had slain Daoist Masters at the Nascent Soul level!

Over ten thousand years ago, it was formed by thirteen Golden Core cultivators who joined forces to kill a well-known Nascent Soul Daoist Master, causing a sensation throughout the world.

As a top expert in the dao of Formation Talismans, he naturally recognized this legendary ancient formation at a glance.

"Wasn’t it said to have been lost...?" His eyes narrowed, and he slowly grasped the Red Flower Sword.

"The envoys have arrived!!" A masked man suddenly shouted.

"No, that’s not right! Why does this formation also envelop us?"

"Envoys?!"

Ling’er and Uncle Wu, among others, looked up to the sky, and the masked attackers stopped their assault unconsciously.

Suspended outside the grey formation in the sky was a huge black disk.

The disk was semi-transparent and rotated slowly, with more than a dozen white-robed, high-hat monks floating inside it, each with a round, golden core spinning before them—no less than a dozen Golden Core Daoist Masters!

The buzzing sound grew louder and louder.

The grey formation also grew denser and denser.

"They are forming a hunting formation to capture a master, and we are collateral damage," Uncle Wu roared, "We must break the formation now before it is fully activated, or all of us will die!"

"It’s no use! This formation was laid by the Golden Core envoys, no one can break it!" The masked overseer said in desperation, staggering back several steps, his eyes filled with sorrowful defiance, "For the envoys, my Intestine Clothing Sect has gone through life and death. Is this our reward?!"

"The five directions reveal the truth, a thousand years as bright as day."

In the sky, within the disk, the outline of a huge face slowly took shape.

The face was unusual, like a giant bronze child’s face, chubby with a pigtail, thick black-and-purple eyeshadow around the eyes, blue-purple lips, smiling slightly, revealing a mouthful of fierce teeth.

"Demon God Child..." Lin Xin’s gaze became slightly eerie. His hand holding the Red Flower Sword also began to tremble. He was forcibly suppressing the growing murderous urge in his heart.

Murderous intent stems from threat, and the ghostly presence would not miss any opportunity, magnifying every drop of the impetus to slaughter.

And the Demon God Child before him had already made him feel threatened.

"Your Highness, at this moment today, this will be your burial ground, with the Demon God Child sending you off personally. I wonder if you are satisfied with such treatment?"

A sharp, damp old woman’s voice echoed from the sky, letting out a shrieking laugh.

"It’s over..."

A masked man despondently collapsed to the ground.

"Demon God Child... one of the five major Demon God figures!!..."

Ling’er, Uncle Wu, and the others from the Escort Agency were as pale as death, witnessing a scene far beyond their imaginations, and realizing that they themselves were the targets. Despair rose quickly; they didn’t even know how to begin resisting.

"We’re doomed... doomed for sure..."

"What a pity, I haven’t yet tired of Tang Yuanfu’s osmanthus cakes," Ling’er murmured tremblingly. "I haven’t found a good husband to marry, haven’t had the chance to truly honor my parents, honor my big brother..."

"Ling’er... it’s Uncle’s fault. I should not have let you accompany this escort mission. It was my unilateral decision..." Uncle Wu said with a bitter smile.

"And everyone, this escort mission was solely accepted by me, Wu Guosan. I never expected such an unforeseen event to occur en route. It’s my fault you all got involved." He dropped his Double Daggers, gasped for breath, trying to calm down, but couldn’t suppress it.

"It’s not your fault, Uncle! I insisted on coming with Uncle. If I hadn’t pestered you, it wouldn’t have come to this," Ling’er said, her voice trembling.

"It’s not your fault, Uncle. You just wanted to make some extra Silver Tael for us..."

"Right, life and death are predestined, and whether we die by bandit or in such a magnificent scene, isn’t it all the same? To witness such a battle of Immortals before our death, we haven’t lived in vain."

"Every time Uncle secretly shared his own share of Silver Tael with everyone, we all saw it."

"Uncle Wu, it’s not your fault."

"No blame to you! It’s our own fate."

Each of the Escort Masters from the Escort Agency started to voice out one after the other.

Uncle Wu trembled all over, and for a long time, he could not speak.

"Uncle..." Ling’er walked over and hugged him. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), your monthly ticket, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)