Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 35 Ambush Part One

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Ambush Part One

"You’re free to do as you please today, Junior Brother. You can take the chance to either wander around or get some good rest in your room," Ouyang Qing whispered on the side.

"If Junior Brother finds anything about Shi Lei, please inform us as soon as possible," Kong Yuhui said helplessly as he released the man, turning to address Lin Xin.

"Understood, Senior Brother," Lin Xin nodded, glancing at the young man being interrogated.

This person was barely in his twenties, about the same age as him. He probably wouldn’t know about the tragedy that occurred in this town thirty years ago, since he hadn’t even been born at that time.

But looking at the man’s eyes, there was an ambiguous expression, as if he hadn’t come back solely for the ritual.

After Kong Yuhui finished his interrogation, Ouyang Qing also began to question the man.

Lin Xin stood by and listened for a while as the two questioned him and found out that the man was named Song Zhen, a bookstore owner from a nearby town. He had come along with a wealthy merchant from Song State, who had hired people from the Golden Jade Sect. He typically visited once and then swiftly returned home, never staying overnight here.

Seeing that he could glean nothing substantial from the conversation, Lin Xin decided to head to the carriage to get some water. The large water bucket had been refilled and was still warm, obviously just sourced from nearby.

He remembered Ouyang Qing mentioning there was a spring nearby, possibly a warm spring.

Without giving it much thought, Lin Xin quickly fetched a basin of water and carried it back.

When he left, Kong Yuhui was still questioning that Song Zhen, but to Lin Xin, the man seemed to be putting on an act. The Shi brothers had been killed by him to gather Yin Blood, yet now he put on a good show.

However, the members of Golden Jade Sect were nowhere to be seen, and Lin Xin wondered where they had gone, as there was no sign of them at all.

In the following two days, nothing unexpected happened. It was as if Shi Lei had disappeared, no matter how hard they searched, he could not be found. Lin Xin simply stayed with Jiang Yue’er and Cheng Ruofei, hardly leaving their side. He also stopped absorbing the red mist at night and instead focused on resting in his room.

Finally, the day when the Yin Blood Birds were to appear arrived.

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

Dusk

The sky had mostly turned to a shade of blue-black, with only a strip of red and yellow intermingling at the horizon.

Lin Xin slowly lowered his head, withdrawing his gaze.

He stood in the small courtyard of their residence, where Cheng Ruofei and Jiang Yue’er were in the midst of swordfighting practice in the center. The green and white figures moved gracefully, their skirts fluttering, a pleasing sight to behold.

But their faces betrayed a sense of unease, and their swordsmanship felt a bit lackluster.

"Why is it so silent? Weren’t we supposed to hunt the Yin Blood Birds today?" Cheng Ruofei asked, standing straight after sheathing her sword and looking puzzled toward the courtyard’s stone archway.

"Someone should have come to tell us by now, right? Could it be...?"

"Sister Ruofei, I refuse to believe that Senior Brother would treat us this way... He’s not like that," Jiang Yue’er said softly after biting her lip.

"Some people’s appearances don’t match what’s inside," Cheng Ruofei sighed softly.

As the two conversed, Lin Xin’s brow furrowed slightly, seemingly catching a faint sound.

"Let’s go. We must participate in the mission. If we can’t each kill a Yin Blood Bird, there will be trouble," Cheng Ruofei reasoned after a moment’s thought. "As long as we stay in a crowded place, Kong Yuhui wouldn’t dare do anything to us!"

"Sister Ruofei, I really don’t think Kong Senior Brother is that kind of person. Please don’t say things like that anymore," Jiang Yue’er frowned deeply, her expression unhappy. "I know him, he’s amiable and polite, might seem cold on the surface, but he’s actually very gentle at heart."

Cheng Ruofei felt somewhat helpless.

"Anyways, we should head to the graveyard first."

"Alright..."

Lin Xin also nodded.

The three quickly went back to their rooms to gather their things and then left the courtyard. As they passed through the corridor, Lin Xin suddenly said.

"You two go ahead to the graveyard. There’s probably already someone waiting there," he said casually. "I forgot to take something and need to go back for it."

He put on an expression as if something had just occurred to him.

"Hurry back, we’ll walk slowly and wait for you," Cheng Ruofei nodded.

"Forget about him, let’s go on our own, or else it’s going to be troublesome if all the Yin Blood Birds are gone!" Jiang Yue’er seemed to have returned to her normal self, clearly no longer believing that Kong Yuhui would harm them.

"But..." Cheng Ruofei hesitated.

"Come on, let’s go," urged Jiang Yue’er.

"You two go ahead. I’ll catch up soon," Lin Xin echoed, as he had his own plans and naturally didn’t want to go with them.

"Well, alright then..."

Cheng Ruofei could only agree.

Lin Xin laid his hand on the hilt of his sword and turned towards the way he had come, about to pass through the archway. Suddenly, a series of clanging sounds came from not too far away.

He halted in his steps, turning his head towards the direction of the sounds.

"It’s the sound of weapons clashing," Cheng Ruofei noted, quickly turning back as she and Jiang Yue’er hadn’t gone far.

The three exchanged a look.

"I’ll go take a look! You two hide and wait for me to come back," Lin Xin proposed, his eyes flickering.

"No need, it’s safer for the three of us to stick together," Cheng Ruofei shook her head.

"Alright..."

"Could it be that something has happened to Brother Kong and the others?" Jiang Yue’er’s expression also became tense.

Without wasting words, the three of them quickly headed toward the direction of the sound, passing through the corridor, turning left into a small door, and then through an empty courtyard.

The courtyard was gloomy, with a bronze statue in the center, seemingly of a dignified and tall middle-aged man.

At the corner on the left side of the yard, there was a rounded arch door, and it seemed there was someone standing at the doorway, leaning against the wall with their back facing the three people.

"This teacher..." Jiang Yue’er was about to call out to the person, but was immediately muffled by Cheng Ruofei, who was on high alert.

Hush...

Cheng Ruofei looked solemn, and seeing Jiang Yue’er’s puzzled expression, she pointed at the clothing on the person’s back.

Jiang Yue’er looked carefully and was horrified to find that the edges of the person’s clothes were stained with a large patch of blood. Moreover, the posture of the person leaning against the wall was twisted as if boneless, limp.

Cheng Ruofei gave Lin Xin a meaningful glance.

The two of them slowly approached the person together.

They were nearly close enough to touch the person’s back, yet there was still no reaction whatsoever.

The anticipation in both had grown by the time they entered the small door and saw that the person was indeed a Golden Jade Sect disciple who had arrived earlier. He was wearing the Sect’s white Taoist robe with a gold crescent. The gold crescent on the chest had already been stained red with blood.

Jiang Yue’er, who had followed them, covered her mouth, staring at the Golden Jade Sect male disciple with his eyes still open in death, as sweat once again formed on her forehead.

Lin Xin’s expression shifted slightly, as if he heard another sound ahead.

"There’s someone talking ahead,"

he whispered.

Cheng Ruofei also heard the voice, which seemed to be that of Kong Yuhui.

She signaled to Lin Xin and took the lead, pulling Jiang Yue’er carefully toward the direction of the voice.

Lin Xin looked at her retreating figure, gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, and followed at a measured pace.

The two girls were ahead, and he followed behind. They proceeded along the corridor through the small door and eventually heard the voices become clearer. Several corpses were lying haphazardly on the ground, some from the Golden Jade Sect, others ordinary people they had brought with them.

They were almost at the end of the passage, where there was another stone arch door, seemingly leading to a garden. Weeds grew wild near the door, and there seemed to be a rectangular white stone flowerbed.

Ah!

Suddenly, another scream came from ahead, as if someone was struggling in their final moments.

The two girls trembled but then heard someone speaking.

"As expected of the sanctimonious Brother Zhou... Watching as your fellow disciples are killed without lifting a finger." It was the voice of Kong Yuhui.

"You’re indeed ruthless, daring to come here alone to secretly poison us, even using the priceless Soul-Capturing Fragrance. It must have been part of your plan from the very start, wasn’t it?" Zhou Jing’s voice carried calmly through the air without much emotional fluctuation.

"Brother overpraises me," Kong Yuhui’s tone revealed a hint of pride. "You let me kill off the fellow disciples from Golden Jade Sect, aren’t you also after Yin Blood? To purposely cause the death of your own Sect members through someone else’s hand, Brother, you’re not bad yourself..."

Zhou Jing let out a cold laugh.

"The people in your team were probably also the Yin Blood materials you prepared, right?"

"What do you think?" Kong Yuhui began to laugh.

At this moment, Cheng Ruofei was numb all over and turned to run away, but Jiang Yue’er, pale-faced, firmly grasped her hand.

"I... must... go... look." Without speaking, she conveyed her message to Cheng Ruofei through lip language, word by word.

She was not content, not believing that Brother Kong, who had always treated her kindly, seemingly cold on the outside but warm on the inside, could harbor such unbearable, malicious intentions.

She refused to believe it, and that was why she had to go and see for herself.

"That person may not be Brother Kong, it must... it must be someone impersonating him!" She murmured to herself in this way.

Cheng Ruofei, seeing her pale face, couldn’t help but feel pity and ultimately couldn’t bear to refuse.

The two of them quietly crouched down, using the weeds as cover, and edged forward close to the flowerbed near the doorway.

Lin Xin also crouched down behind the two girls, able to see through the slight gaps in the weeds into the yard.

In the midst of the disordered garden, Zhou Jing stood in the center while Kong Yuhui was positioned diagonally opposite him on the left side.

Both were facing away, their faces obscured and indiscernible.

"Soul-Capturing Fragrance can increase the burden of Inner Strength and affect the circulation of Inner Qi, allowing an expert of internal martial arts to exert at most two-thirds of their strength. Not as simple as a strong poison, but unparalleled in its concealment," Kong Yuhui said with a light laugh. "Brother Zhou, now that you’re poisoned by your own sister disciple and can only utilize two-thirds of your strength, I wonder what your feelings are?"

"Feelings?" Zhou Jing snorted coldly, "You really think you’ve already won?"

"Do you truly believe you can walk out of this garden?" Kong Yuhui mocked with a cold laugh. "My men have surrounded this town from the inside out, not even a fly can escape. And there are people blocking the way inside!"

"Blocking? Just you?" Zhou Jing also laughed coldly, holding a sword in one hand and grasping something tightly in the palm of his other hand, kept behind his back.

"Of course, it’s not just me." Kong Yuhui’s longsword pointed downward toward the ground.

Ting-a-ling...

A sound resembling wind chimes began to emanate from his sword.