Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 84: Thawing Ice

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Thawing Ice

The other side of the passage.

Peng Yan and his wife blocked Xiao Lingling’s path, trapping her in the middle of the passage, one in front and one behind.

"It’s all because of you, you little bitch, spouting nonsense and tricking us into chasing after someone—almost costing my husband and me our lives!" Peng Yan’s wife glared at Xiao Lingling with venom in her eyes.

"Looking at your seductive face, I could tell you’re no good from the start!"

Peng Yan was also staring at Xiao Lingling with icy eyes.

"Just now, if it hadn’t been likely that He Tianhe was injured and needed to recuperate, and Brother Huang wasn’t there, we might have been in great peril! How dare such a beginner who has just entered the sect, and only possesses postnatal inner strength, play tricks and set up two innate masters... Who gave you the courage?!"

Pursuing Lin Xin, they had unexpectedly encountered He Tianhe, and their hearts were still thumping wildly. After the initial shock, when they hurried back, they ran into Xiao Lingling hiding in a recess of the stone wall, turning their fear into rage.

"Brother He Tianhe?! How could it be?" Xiao Lingling was also baffled, her face full of fear, not understanding why the couple had ended up in such a situation.

"I didn’t know Brother He Tianhe would be ahead... Really, I had no idea."

"Why waste words with her! Kill her!" Peng Yan’s wife drew her sword and thrust at Xiao Lingling.

Innate inner strength flowed into the sword, causing the distinct chime of the Peacock Sword to sound.

With a clang, Xiao Lingling drew her sword to block, but her blade was easily flicked away. She had no strength to counter.

The sword tip aimed straight at her pale forehead.

Ding.

Another sword precisely blocked hers from the right side.

"Hold on!" Peng Yan suddenly intervened, his sword blocking his wife’s blade.

"What are you doing!?"

"This woman is in cahoots with Lin Xin. We could still use her to threaten Lin Xin to hand over the bone fragment he obtained. All our bone fragments have been taken by that He Tianhe, we need to find a way to get some, or this trial will truly become troublesome."

While speaking earnestly, Peng Yan’s gaze subtly swept over Xiao Lingling’s statuesque figure, as he secretly swallowed his saliva, a hint of lust flickering in his eyes.

"That might be a way," his wife hesitated, her anger abating slightly.

But she glanced at Xiao Lingling’s seductive face.

"Let’s spare her life for now! But we’ll collect some interest first!"

She fiercely slapped her palm down.

Bang!

Xiao Lingling’s abdomen was struck, causing her to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood, her face immediately paling.

"Why are you so furious with a useless thing?" Peng Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He was still hoping to have his way with Xiao Lingling on their way back, without his wife noticing, and it wouldn’t work if she were beaten to death now.

"What? Have you taken a liking to this seductive little girl?" Peng Yan’s wife sneered.

"How could that be? Absolutely not!" Peng Yan instantly responded earnestly in defense. "I’m just keeping her to threaten Lin Xin later, to prevent him from thinking of ways to escape."

"Escape? If it hadn’t been for the crowd earlier, Brother Lin would have turned around..." Xiao Lingling was terrified and afraid, but hearing this man belittle Lin Xin, a surge of anger welled up in her, and she blurted out.

Ptooey.

Peng Yan’s wife spat out in interruption, not bothering to listen further, but casting a suspicious look at Peng Yan for a while.

"You say it’s not possible...? Regardless of whether it’s possible..."

Ka-chak!

She suddenly turned around, drawing her sword, and slashed towards Xiao Lingling’s cheek.

"I’ll disfigure her first! Let’s see if you’re still interested then!"

Ahhh!

Xiao Lingling couldn’t help but scream.

Peng Yan also didn’t expect his wife to act so violently; he didn’t dare to intervene with his sword at that moment. It was just disfiguring, not life-threatening, and if he protested too much, his intentions would become too apparent.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a deep voice came from deep within the passageway.

Peng Yan’s wife paused her blade, about to continue slicing down, only to see several blue worms hurling themselves towards them from the air.

With a swift double slash, she cut the worms in half.

"Brother He!" Peng Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but then he saw the face of the person approaching from deep in the passageway—it was Brother He Tianhe whom they had just met. Suddenly, his heart shuddered.

But at that moment, he felt something was off. The voice of Brother He Tianhe, compared to the voice just now, didn’t seem right...

He pulled his wife close to his side and took a couple of steps back, eyeing the slowly approaching He Tianhe warily.

"It’s just a lesson for a disrespectful junior, why must Brother He..." Peng Yan grew more suspicious as he kept looking; he was inherently wary.

He had been startled earlier, but now upon closer inspection, he felt that this He Tianhe was suspicious, seeming somewhat similar to Lin Xin’s appearance earlier.

Xiao Lingling on the side, recognizing Lin Xin’s attire, couldn’t help but reveal an ecstatic look in her eyes.

"You are... that Mr. Lin!?" Seeing Xiao Lingling’s look, Peng Yan’s wife suddenly realized.

"How could that be? I am He Tianhe."

Lin Xin suddenly smiled and burst forward.

Boom!

In his hand, the Solar Yang Talisman Sword stirred up countless sparks, turning into a fire dragon that swept horizontally towards the two of them.

Peng Yan and his companion, caught off guard, were engulfed by the flames in an instant.

Lin Xin, without even a glance, drew the Luminous Talisman Sword with his backhand and threw it forward.

Boom!

Amid a loud noise,

red flames and golden fire rings exploded simultaneously.

Several seconds later, the glow of the fire dissipated.

Lin Xin removed the mask from his face and walked slowly through the burning corridor to stand in front of two bodies charred black.

"You...." Peng Yan, weakened, opened his mouth as if wanting to say something.

With a sweep of the blade, hiss, fresh blood spurted out as the throats and necks of both were severed.

Lin Xin slowly sheathed the Talisman Sword on his back.

Gathering the skins of Peng Yan and his companion, he walked up to Xiao Lingling and looked down at the girl he had misunderstood from the start.

He had actually been there for a while, only he hadn’t shown himself but had stood quietly in the distance, watching and listening to the conversation between Peng Yan, his spouse, and Xiao Lingling. Earlier, when Xiao Lingling was injured, he was too far to intervene. Only later, when he moved closer, did he have the chance to use the blue maggots to cause interference.

With his judgment, he had already figured out whether Xiao Lingling was truly sincere towards him. Yet now, he felt somewhat ashamed.

Once his Inner Qi had recovered, he had exploded with full force using the Solar Yang Talisman Sword along with a Luminous Talisman Sword. Peng Yan and his wife, caught off guard, were directly blasted into critical injuries. After all, they were just two ordinary Innates; even if they had any trump cards, they didn’t have the time to use them, just like Song Jing before them, who had died a truly wrongful death.

"Lin... Brother Lin," Xiao Lingling struggled to stand, shyly looking at him. "I knew you wouldn’t abandon me!" The disappointment in her eyes swiftly turned back to her prior expression, slightly showing the blissful disarray of a woman in love.

"Can you walk?" Lin Xin sighed. Although he now knew Xiao Lingling was sincere, he still felt uncomfortable about her past scandals and flirtatious affairs, and he wasn’t fond of women of her type.

"I can!" Xiao Lingling gritted her teeth and insisted. She took a step forward, wobbling; indeed, she could still walk, just slowly, and even that one step seemed to nearly make her faint.

Lin Xin sighed again, reaching out to support her.

Xiao Lingling leaned on his shoulder, her cheeks flushing a bit.

"I’m sorry, Brother Lin.... I’ve dragged you down..."

"I’m the one who should be sorry," Lin Xin replied, his heart silently adding, as he single-handedly embraced her, their bodies lightly speeding towards the corridor.

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

Several days later.

In a recess inside the tunnel, a bonfire burned brightly, casting a warm glow in the blue corridor.

Lin Xin sat in front of the fire, holding a cold metal block, carefully pondering it.

Xiao Lingling lay happily by the fire, her pale face faintly smiling in sweet sleep.

Her abdomen had several Sweet Dew Talismans applied, along with some of her own healing and hemostatic medicines, and her condition had much improved.

This recession was carved out by them earlier, and it nicely contained the bonfire, which seemed to have been used by others arriving later who had added some firewood; it was sufficient for use.

Lin Xin held the metal block, turning it over and over. Whenever he touched this object, a red light would extend from the attribute bar at the bottom of his vision, materializing before his eyes, forming the illusion of Song Jing just before his death. But since killing Peng Yan and his wife a few days ago, occasionally this illusion would also shift to show Peng Yan and his wife just before they died.

The metal block was getting colder.

He had once given it to Xiao Lingling to try, but she couldn’t feel the slightest coldness; to her, it was just a normal room-temperature object.

This puzzled Lin Xin.

"The sect bases its teachings on the Return to Origin, and afterward, cultivating the Return to Origin is the foundation of Inner Strength, supplemented by swordsmanship and magic artifacts for self-protection. However, the real basis is the Return to Origin. While cultivating this Inner Strength, it also gradually improves all disciples’ physique into a similar cultivation constitution.

In theory, with the same physical constitution, Xiao Lingling’s perception should be stronger than mine; why can’t she perceive the anomaly of this metal block? Could it be because I’m an Innate? Or is there something unusual about my attribute ability?"

Lin Xin thought deeply.

He picked up the metal block, which he had been pondering over day by day.

Exiting the recess, he suddenly realized this was the place where Xiao Lingling had given him the purse. He walked to where he had dropped the purse, peered into a crack in the rocks, and indeed, the purse was still there, hidden and unnoticed.

After a moment’s hesitation, he used his sword to pick up the purse and carefully stored it away.

Even if he didn’t feel for Xiao Lingling, unfairly disappointing a girl’s sincerity was not what Lin Xin truly wanted. He was not a bad person, although sometimes ruthless in pursuit of his goals, there were still lines he wouldn’t cross in human interactions.

Turning back towards the recess, Lin Xin faintly heard a scream coming from the depths of the corridor.

His expression darkened. He drew out the Solar Yang Talisman Sword, pressing close to the stone wall as he peered into the depths of the corridor.

A moment later, a red streak suddenly appeared from deep within the corridor, twisting and speeding directly towards him.

As the red line approached, he could see clearly that it was an enchantingly dressed woman in bright red. Her rapid movement made Lin Xin barely see a fleeting red streak from afar.

"Another one!" The woman in red spotted Lin Xin and immediately let out a bizarre giggle, her fingers forming claws and directly striking a bloody claw shadow through the air toward Lin Xin.

Her figure was like lightning, reaching Lin Xin in the blink of an eye, clawing straight at his neck.

Lin Xin was greatly alarmed by her fast speed; he couldn’t even lift his Solar Yang Talisman Sword in time to block, managing only to duck his head. His right hand grasped the Luminous Talisman Sword and slashed forward.

In the flash of lightning and fire, the bloody claws and the Luminous Talisman Sword crossed each other, striking their respective targets.

The woman allowed the Talisman Sword to slice into her without any attempt to block.

Boom!!