Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 37 Secrets, Part 1

Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Secrets, Part 1

Hiss, hiss!

Suddenly, the sound of a blade scraping against flesh rang out from nearby.

Lin Xin turned his head and saw Kong Yuhui pulling his longsword out of Zhou Jing’s body.

At this moment, Zhou Jing, a Fourth Layer expert, had his back charred black; he had been injured by the recent blast. His defense, the Seamless Sword Technique, had lost its precision, leaving a huge opening.

With his inner strength failing him at the crucial moment, he was caught off guard by the prepared Kong Yuhui, who stabbed him in the chest. This was already the second time Kong Yuhui had pulled out and stabbed again.

It seemed that Kong Yuhui had used some hidden, decisive move to take advantage of the situation and make a successful sneak attack.

While Lin Xin and Ouyang Qing were talking, Zhou Jing, the great master, had also died with a look of unspeakable frustration in his eyes.

"To the victor go the spoils. Kill me...just kill me!" Ouyang Qing covered the blood hole in her throat, her voice struggling to escape.

Kong Yuhui walked over, about to stab her to death with his sword.

"Wait," Lin Xin spoke up to stop him.

Kong Yuhui turned his head in confusion to look at him, only to see Lin Xin pulling out the longsword from Zhou Jing’s hand and swiftly stabbing it into Ouyang Qing’s brow.

Red blood mixed with clear cerebrospinal fluid slowly seeped out.

Lin Xin released the sword, leaving it embedded in Ouyang Qing’s forehead.

"Whether she died at Zhou Jing’s hand or by the strangeness of this town will depend on if anyone finds the clue."

Kong Yuhui’s expression slightly changed, realizing that even after such a life and death battle, Lin Xin still paid attention to such details for framing someone.

Moreover, considering the sword strike he had unleashed just now, its power was immense. Even Zhou Jing, though taken by surprise and using his inner qi for protection, suffered light injuries and exposed his weaknesses.

Ouyang Qing, only at the Third Layer, had her abilities utterly destroyed by a direct hit from the Green Poison Finger and was swiftly killed.

Such power was not merely the result of Third Layer inner strength propelling the Flameless Swordsmanship... even Fourth Layer inner strength wouldn’t be much different, right?

A sense of wariness began to form in his heart.

"Younger Brother Lin is indeed cautious," Kong Yuhui concealed the look in his eyes and turned towards Jiang Yue’er and Cheng Ruofei, who were already pale.

"There are two witnesses here. Killing them would yield two drops of Yin Blood. Should I do it, or will you?" He slowly advanced toward the two girls cowering in the corner, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"We are disciples of the Sect... Sect disciples... Sect rules forbid us from killing each other...!" Jiang Yue’er’s voice trembled. "Aren’t you afraid of the Sect rules!!"

Cheng Ruofei clenched her hand tightly, her face just as pale and her expression terrified, but comparatively, she was calmer.

Watching Kong Yuhui approach, she knew that even Kong Yuhui wounded as he was, was not someone they, merely at the First Layer, could resist. Not to mention there was also the fearsome Lin Xin standing behind him.

Lin Xin... that’s right!

Suddenly she recalled a detail about Lin Xin!

Seeing Kong Yuhui draw near, her sense of crisis grew stronger. Perhaps at this point, only this could save their lives!

"Younger Brother Lin! Your Flameless Swordsmanship has a fatal flaw! I can help you fix it!"

She suddenly shouted out loud.

Lin Xin was slowly inserting the sword hilt back into the sheath. Originally, he had not planned to bother with Cheng Ruofei and Jiang Yue’er, but her words caught his attention, and his expression shifted slightly.

"What problem does my swordsmanship have?" he asked nonchalantly. He didn’t actually know any Flameless Swordsmanship. The idea that there was a problem with it was laughable to him, and he was only asking out of curiosity.

"Your swordsmanship and the Solar Yang..."

"Enough!" Lin Xin interrupted her sharply before she could finish. He knew the rest of the sentence all too well. Could it be that Cheng Ruofei had recognized that his sword technique came from the Solar Yang Formation?

The moment he heard the first part of the sentence, he knew that Cheng Ruofei must be someone with discerning eyes.

His expression darkened as he quickly walked over to Kong Yuhui.

Kong Yuhui also narrowed his eyes, seemingly guessing Lin Xin’s intentions.

"Younger Brother Lin, both of them witnessed the entire battle and know we killed Zhou Jing and Ouyang Qing. If we don’t kill them, it will be a huge problem for both of us!"

Although curious about Lin Xin’s secret, Kong Yuhui believed that there were priorities to every situation.

Lin Xin’s chest heaved as he glared with a somber look. He glanced at Jiang Yue’er and Cheng Ruofei, who were shivering in fear.

"Let them go."

"Brother Lin," Kong Yuhui gripped the sword tightly, his face growing unpleasant, "Don’t be emotional. Only the dead can keep secrets!"

"...." Lin Xin remained silent.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly turned back to look at the bodies in the yard.

"You two, each of you stab a sword into Ouyang Qing and Zhou Jing!"

"Brother Lin!" Kong Yuhui’s voice raised. "What’s the use of that? They could easily claim we forced them!"

"Who could prove they weren’t colluding with us?" Lin Xin retorted coldly.

"We will never talk!" Cheng Ruofei suddenly spoke up, her voice firm.

She pulled the trembling Jiang Yue’er to their feet, and together they walked toward the bodies.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

Cheng Ruofei drew her sword and fiercely stabbed several times into the bodies of Zhou Jing and Ouyang Qing.

"Yue’er! Stab!"

She turned her head to look at Jiang Yue’er.

"I...I..... "

Jiang Yue’er trembled all over, but when she glanced back and saw murderous intent in Kong Yuhui’s eyes, she knew the only chance to live was to align with them.

She picked up the longsword, and while Lin Xin and Kong Yuhui grew visibly impatient, she finally plunged her sword in fiercely.

Hiss!

She finally steeled her heart and stabbed her sword into Ouyang Qing’s chest. Blood gushed out instantly. She then plunged another sword into Zhou Jin.

"Where are the other disciples of the Golden Jade Sect?" Lin Xin snorted coldly, only then turning to Kong Yuhui and asking in a low voice.

"Only a few scattered individuals are hiding, but all within this residence," Kong Yuhui exhaled softly, speaking casually.

"My men have already blocked this place off. I just didn’t expect Ouyang Qing to suddenly turn on us."

"She might have been in cahoots with Zhou Jing from the start, otherwise, why would Zhou Jing have been so calm initially? And in the end intentionally leave herself unguarded against me," Lin Xin said, exhaling.

He glanced at the two girls.

"Let’s go, you will have your share of the remaining people."

Kong Yuhui immediately understood his meaning.

The remaining live members of the Golden Jade Sect had to be dealt with by these two, to ensure to the greatest extent they would not leak any secrets.

Jiang Yue’er was crouched on the ground with her head buried, crying softly, while Cheng Ruofei had a complex expression on her face, crouching beside and comforting her.

Gathering all the belongings and riches from Zhou Jing and the others, Kong Yuhui didn’t compete with Lin Xin for the items, but let him have them all, evidently not lacking such things as Jade Money.

Lin Xin thus unhesitatingly took them.

The four followed Kong Yuhui and quickly found several disciples of the Golden Jade Sect hiding in corners.

But strangely, there were supposed to be four members of the Golden Jade Sect who came, plus the guards of the person hiring them, making over ten people in total.

Aside from Zhou Jing, three Golden Jade Sect corpses were found. However, one could not be found no matter what.

The sky gradually darkened.

"Here!!"

Suddenly, Jiang Yue’er let out a startled cry.

The other three quickly followed the sound.

They saw her standing pale-faced in a room, pointing to a corner of that room.

Lin Xin and Kong Yuhui looked over to see a pile of clothing in that corner, precisely the Taoist Robe of the Golden Jade Sect disciples, along with longswords, waist pouches, shoes, and the like—all their belongings were there.

The items were laid out in the shape of a person, as if someone had been lying there but suddenly vanished, leaving only their clothes behind.

Lin Xin and Cheng Ruofei were still composed, but Kong Yuhui’s complexion changed drastically after only one glance.

"Let’s go! Get out of here quick!"

He hastily left the room.

Seeing his reaction, the other three hurriedly followed suit.

Whoosh!

After exiting the room, Kong Yuhui placed his fingers to his mouth and whistled fiercely, the sound resembling the cry of an infant.

Lin Xin had visited the zoo in his past life and had heard the call of a peacock; this whistle sounded exactly like that.

The whistling went on for a while, but there were no responses from any direction, only eerie silence.

Kong Yuhui waited several seconds, his expression growing more and more unsightly.

"Retreat! Let’s leave this town quickly! Otherwise, we’re all going to die!" He hurriedly took the lead back the way they had come.

Lin Xin and the others, not understanding the situation but sensing the urgency, quickly followed.

They rapidly returned to the courtyard where they had been surrounding Zhou Jing, to find, eerily, that all the bodies had vanished into thin air.

The ground was spotlessly clean—except for some clothes, there wasn’t even a speck of blood.

The entire small garden was so clean it sent shivers down one’s spine.

"How can this be...!" Cheng Ruofei covered her mouth in panic.

"Let’s move!"

Kong Yuhui’s face was ashen.

"Till now, with no signs of anyone responding, my subordinates are most likely doomed... If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"

Lin Xin also realized the severity of the issue.

Without any further discussion, the four found the nearest exit and dashed through the doors, onto the empty streets outside where there was no sound at all.

"Where’s the carriage?" Jiang Yue’er asked urgently.

"You’re about to lose your life and you’re worried about a carriage!?" Kong Yuhui retorted with annoyance.

Jiang Yue’er, shouted at like this, fell silent.

Racing down the streets, the four felt a faint chill on their backs.

Somehow, though, as they got closer to Lin Xin, they vaguely felt the chill diminish a bit.

Lin Xin, too, noticed the issue; naturally, it was the exorcising effect of his Solar Yang Talisman Sword that made a difference. He had unsheathed the sword when he felt something was amiss, infusing it with a thread of Inner Strength.

Now the blade glowed faintly red, dispelling and neutralizing the chilly aura around them.

Cheng Ruofei and Kong Yuhui also reacted, quickly taking out several pieces of Talisman Paper, which ignited without flame. The white Talisman Paper burned, releasing a gentle heat flow, augmenting the protection offered by the Solar Yang Talisman Sword.

The chill around them somewhat dissipated immediately.

With great difficulty, the four finally ran out of the boundaries of the gray-and-white town.

They had burned through at least a dozen pieces of Talisman Paper; if it wasn’t for Jiang Yue’er’s generous share of thick stacks of Resentment Talismans, the four might have only been able to rely on Lin Xin’s Solar Yang Talisman Sword for protection.

Outside the town lay a stretch of yellow and green wilderness, the four stood on the road, flanked entirely by white broken walls and ruins.

As the light faded, the sky was without much of a moon—just one continuous expanse of milky white thick clouds.

"To the graveyard!" Kong Yuhui said in a low voice. "Go!"