Light Fortress
Chapter 269 - 245: Drawing the Knife

Chapter 269: Chapter 245: Drawing the Knife

In Da Du tonight, the wind had run out, and the blood too.

The long sword suspended above Qin Ye’s forehead was incredibly stable in the wind.

Just a millimeter away, it would fall.

Lu Nanjin’s hair was disheveled by the wind, flying in front of her face, revealing only a pair of eyes emitting a ghostly glow.

Qin Ye slowly opened his eyes and saw Lu Nanjin’s eyes full of killing intent, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

"Do you want to kill me?" he asked.

Qin Ye’s voice was very soft, sounding more like a provocation... He didn’t care about his life and death at all, as if he was looking forward to the moment Lu Nanjin would strike.

"Of course..."

Lu Nanjin’s voice was colder than the blade’s light.

Ten years ago.

This man took Lu Cheng’s life without a moment’s hesitation.

"Then do it," Qin Ye smiled. "One strike, kill me."

Before Qin Ye’s words had ended—

The blade’s light flashed out!

Lu Nanjin grasped the sword with both hands, plunging it downwards with all her strength!

At the same time, an invisible, thin layer of pitch-black mirror materialized above Qin Ye’s forehead!

Xumi!

Qin Ye grunted as the sharp edge of Lan Qie struck into the Xumi’s personal domain, piercing a layer of flesh, but was repelled in the next instant.

Using the moment of impact,

Qin Ye rolled, trying to stand up, but the next moment he heavily crashed back to the ground.

Numerous vicious, thorn-filled vines suddenly burst through the soil, entwining his legs, these vines along with the Xumi, made it impossible for him to move...

"Damn it—"

The veins on Qin Ye’s forehead bulged as his furious voice suddenly cut off.

A heavy fist slammed into his cheek, throwing him through the air, knocking a tooth out.

It was hard to believe that this was a woman’s fist.

"Bang!"

Following that, another strike, a knee slamming into Qin Ye’s chest, sending him flying into a distant stone wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and before he could react, another thunderous noise erupted by his ear.

Lu Nanjin took a running start from afar, she threw her long sword, discarded her coat, and countless fists fell like a torrential storm, each blow delivered with all her strength, brutally smashing into Qin Ye’s face!

Finally...

With a "thud,"

The last punch missed, hitting the stone wall where Qin Ye’s head had been.

Lu Nanjin breathed hoarsely.

Her hair scattered.

In front of her, Qin Ye, leaning against the stone wall, slid down slowly, no longer possessing any strength to stand... Who could have thought that such a high and mighty Angel Envoy could end up in such a sorry state, his face covered in blood, inhaling more air than he could exhale.

"Do you want to kill him?"

Zhou Jiren’s voice came from afar.

Lu Nanjin looked towards her teacher.

Mr. Shu crouched on the ground, squinting his eyes, intently staring at a bloodstained emblem on the ground, carved with an oak tree... It had fallen out of Qin Ye’s embrace during the fight.

This was... a token from another Divine Throne of the Source Tower.

The old man didn’t reach out to pick up the emblem directly. Instead, he put on gloves made of Strong Logic Material before touching the token and placing it into a Purple Silver sealable bag.

"..."

Lu Nanjin looked down at Qin Ye, bloodied, deprived of his token, bound by the sacred wood, this should be the best chance to kill Qin Ye, bar none.

"He killed Lu Cheng," she said calmly. "A life for a life, blood for blood, that’s fair."

"Hmm... that makes sense, I agree,"

Zhou Jiren took back the token, calmly stating, "Since a decision has been made, let’s proceed... provided that you are ready to withstand the backlash from Source Tower."

Lu Nanjin silently stared at Qin Ye, the man covered in blood who no longer had the strength to resist, simply lifted his head to slowly grin at her, managing a weak smile.

He was inviting her to make her move.

In the next moment.

The Sacred Wood burst forth from the ground, enveloping him in a cocoon, locking Qin Ye inside, cutting off any contact with the outside world, deaf to any sound.

"What if I don’t kill him?" Lu Nanjin asked with a hoarse voice.

"The Judgement Institute will detain him, even as an Angel Envoy, if he violates the laws of the Federation Council, he cannot escape the punishment he deserves," Zhou Jiren stood up, saying, "If Central Continent chooses to negotiate, attempting to rescue him, then the case from ten years ago could be reopened to assign blame."

Lu Nanjin’s somber gaze flickered slightly.

The case from ten years ago... was there any need to pursue it further? The person was already dead.

In fact, she knew this was a trap; if Central Continent attempted to save Qin Ye, that would indirectly admit to their involvement in the plan to assassinate a key person from East Continent.

But what if Central Continent didn’t fall for the trap?

"If the Divine Throne decides to abandon him... then his fate is sealed."

Zhou Jiren said, "I am not trying to influence your choice, only to inform you that he is a man destined to die sooner or later."

There was a long silence.

Lu Nanjin placed her hand on the cocoon and slowly turned back; her gaze was a bit vacant and confused, sweeping over the people present one by one.

Her sister.

Gu Shen.

Mr. Gu Zhi.

And... her own teacher.

Struggling through ten years of cultivation, the greatest motivation that had sustained her thus far... was hatred.

She had thought that on the day of revenge, she would not hesitate in the slightest.

Yet now that the day had come... why was it not as she had imagined?

Gu Nanfeng, with one hand on the hilt of a wooden sword, very tactfully stood in a secluded corner, silently watching the scene, as if he understood something... In fact, he could empathize with Lu Nanjin’s feelings at the moment.

People often suffer because they are not strong enough.

Finally, Lu Nanjin’s gaze fell on her teacher.

Not long ago, in the old courtyard, with a wooden door between them, they had an unspoken understanding.

"What... do you want me to do?"

Zhou Jiren squinted, thought for a brief second, picked up the knife from the ground, approached his disciple, "If it were thirty years ago, I would have killed him and then done everything possible to escape from the hands of Divine Throne... severing ties with the Judgement Institute and not returning to Da Du until one day I had the power to survive against the hands of Divine Throne."

"If it were today, I would not draw the knife."

He inverted the knife handle, handing it to Lu Nanjin.

"As long as the outcome is already determined, then I shall wait..."

Lu Nanjin held the long knife.

She took a deep breath, for a moment, she contemplated the scenario her teacher had described earlier, herself killing Qin Ye, sensed by the Divine Throne of Source Tower far in Central Continent, then fleeing... There would be an endless stream of Transcendents hunting her, either she would die or become stronger, which seemed not to be a terrible choice.

But in the next moment, the smiling face of her sister appeared in her mind, along with Song Ci, and many other faces... faces she thought she had ignored, but which were deeply etched in her heart.

The long knife was slowly driven into the ground.

The Sacred Wood unlocked, revealing Qin Ye’s blood-stained cheeks.

Lu Nanjin let out a soft sigh.

She spoke word by word.

"I’ll wait for the day you die."

...

...

(PS: 1 Thank you all for your rewards and monthly tickets; I really appreciate it. Sadly, we just fell short of the 2000 monthly tickets; let’s strive harder in the new month. To express my thanks, I will add one more Chapter at the beginning of the month. 2 There might be only one Chapter tonight, after this major climax I need to sort out my thoughts for the next one. Tonight, I will write a public Chapter to summarize my writing.)