Pinch the fingering and take a few more steps. After muttering a few words silently, she drew a bone pattern on her arm with the blood from her fingertips. When the bone pattern surrounding the arm was completed and emitted a faint light, the two corpses on the ground began to wither and shrink very quickly, and in the blink of an eye they became two gray and black mummies. Xi Heng took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands, then nodded slightly: "As expected, there are more spirits in the human body than in a horse. Just two people are enough to unleash a shocking bone transformation." She turned around, picked up the medicine basket on the ground again, left the alley and continued back to the Hongxian Sword Academy. Xi Heng went out this time because the elder caught a cold, so he went out of the hospital to buy some medicinal herbs to treat the elder. It was the first time she went out these days, and she realized how chaotic the outside world had become. If I didn't have any martial arts skills and was just an ordinary person, I would probably be walking on thin ice every time I walked. It was only a few minutes' walk from the Sword Academy to the only open pharmacy in the distance, and Xi Heng had already killed five people.
Even though she was dressed in warrior attire and carrying a bloody sword, she was unable to intimidate the increasingly crazy people in the city. Although there are still soldiers patrolling with swords on the road, they will retreat once enough criminals gather. "Blood arrows, blood claws, blood surge, shocking bone change..." Xi Heng condensed four spells with the five people he killed on the way, occupying the backs of his hands and forearms respectively. Now that Jinshi City is under siege, it is no longer a safe place, whether inside or outside the city, so naturally we have to make some preparations. And...I should leave this place too. Xi Heng looked around the city where he had lived for two years, feeling somewhat reluctant to leave. "Jinshi City will become a battlefield between the officers and soldiers of the Great Zhao and the Tianliang Army...why not go directly to the capital?" "Will senior sisters leave together?" Xi Heng said softly. A few days ago, she had actually asked her senior sister about this matter and told her that the Tianliang Army would break through Jinshi City. But no matter what, Senior Sister Hong Miao's answer was: the elder would not leave the city, and she would stay with the elder. If the elder did not leave, she would not leave either. "It will be very dangerous to stay... Let's try to persuade him a little after we go back." Xi Heng thought silently, carrying the medicine basket, and returned to the gate of Hongxian Sword Academy under the gloomy sky. The faded courtyard gate looked shabby, and the plaque with the three words "Red Line Sword" written on it was covered with dust and gradually became blurred. Xi Heng used the key to open the copper lock and pushed open the gate to enter. The yard was deserted, the ground was covered with dust and scattered with weeds and leaves. It has been nearly half a year since the New Year's Eve, and most of the remaining sisters and fellow students in the academy have already left. Up to now, there are only a few people left in the entire huge Red Line Sword Academy. She, Senior Sister Hong Miao, the elder, there are two other senior sisters who handle daily affairs and two or three workers. So much so that the task of purchasing supplies recently has been given to her. Although apart from ingredients and daily necessities, you basically don’t need to buy anything else.
"It's so lonely." Xi Heng walked through the front yard, passed the empty sword training ground and the flower beds that were half dried up by the sun, and came to the door of the elder's residence. There were candles lit in the room. Although it was daytime, the dark clouds in the sky were so thick that it seemed as if night had already fallen. The pale yellow light flickered, Xi Heng knocked on the door gently, then pushed it open and stepped in. The elder was lying on the bed, and the senior sister was sitting beside the bed holding a black medicine bowl. The tiny spoon slowly stirred the medicinal liquid in the bowl, and occasionally scooped a spoonful to cool it at his lips, then fed it to the elder who was half lying on the bed. "Sister, Master, I have bought the medicine," she said. "Just put it on the table first." Hong Miao responded calmly. "Also... the war drums have begun to beat outside. Maybe they will attack the city today. Are you really not going to leave?" Xi Heng asked, "I heard that when the Tianliang Army captured Jianchang City before, they did not put down their swords for three days and allowed the soldiers to rob and plunder. Maybe it will be the same this time." "The elder and I will stay here." Hong Miao's expression was more serious than usual: "Xi Heng, you should leave today. If Jinshi City is breached, even Ming Jin warriors will be in great danger." Isn't Senior Sister dangerous anymore? Xi Heng thought so in his heart, but looking at the serious look of his senior sister, he knew it was difficult to convince her, so he didn't say anything more. "Then I really have to leave." She was sure that she would not stay any longer. "Wait..." said the elder who was lying sick in bed hoarsely. "Elder, you are still weak, just take a good rest. I will do what needs to be done." The eldest sister raised her hand calmly and pressed the elder's raised, wrinkled left hand back on the bed. "Hmm..." The patient on the bed nodded slightly. Hong Miao put the still hot medicine jar in her hand aside, stood up and walked towards Xi Heng. "Xi Heng, have you mastered your Ming Jin?" she asked calmly. "Not even close." Today's senior sister is no longer as casual and natural as usual. "It's not much different." Hong Miao said, walked to the wooden cabinet in the corner of the room, squatted down, pulled out a drawer from the bottom, and took out a book with a dark red cover. "..."Xi Heng was a little surprised when he saw that the cover of this red book was somewhat similar to the Blood Sea Dharma. "This is the third level of the Red Line Sword's Dark Power. Please keep it safe." "Oh." After Xi Heng took it, he felt the ancient texture of the book and his mind paused again. “This doesn’t seem to be a transcript?” "There is no copied version of the third level of Dark Power. This is the only original version in our Sword Academy." Hong Miao said. "Then...I'll take it back right after I finish reading it." "No need." The other party shook his head: "Take this book and leave Jinshi City tonight." Xi Heng narrowed his eyes: "Why?"
"The Red Line Sword Academy will be closed and will never be open again." Hong Miao said calmly, "The skills are no longer necessary for me. You should keep them well... Try to achieve the dark energy. If you fail, forget it." "Wait a minute." Xi Heng pressed her temple. She couldn't understand what her senior sister was saying for a moment: "Senior sister, are you not going to teach me sword anymore?" "Well..." Hong Miao hesitated for a moment, then continued as if she had found an excuse: "I want to accompany the elder to the end." "So, what happens next?" Xi Heng asked in a soft voice that only the two of them could hear. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it." "Will you continue to stay here?" Hong Miao shook her head again. "Then at least tell me where you are going next, so we can have a chance to meet," she added. "After that..." Hong Miao pursed her lips and remained silent for a few seconds before she said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about it. I will come to find you." "Really?" "..." The senior sister was obviously unsure. "Senior Sister gave me the only dark energy technique and was unwilling to tell me what happened next. She also wanted me to stay in Jinshi City which was about to become a battlefield." Xi Heng sighed. She didn’t want to understand, but she had no choice but to understand something. "What exactly are you going to do, Sister?" Hong Miao knew that she was not as usual and someone had noticed something. After a moment of silence, she finally said: "I have some grudges with the general of the Tianliang Army outside the city, and I am going there to take revenge." "Oh." Xi Heng remembered that his senior sister had mentioned this before, but she was not optimistic: "But the generals in the army must be heavily guarded. It must be very dangerous, right?" "I'll find a good opportunity." Hong Miao waved her hand and said, "No need to say more, the elders and I have made up our minds." “Master also…?” Xi Heng didn’t know what to say. Hong Miao only nodded slightly, and finally said: "You'd better leave the city as soon as possible. The enemy army is very powerful and may attack the city soon." Xi Heng hesitated for a moment, then said, "Why don't I stay with Senior Sister?" "...?" This time it was Hong Miao's turn to be unable to understand Xi Heng. She looked at Xi Heng's serious expression and showed her anger, which was rare: "You have no grudge against the Tianliang Army, so why do you still want to stay? This will only lead to a dead end, stupid!" "I'm not afraid of death." Xi Heng explained. The more Hong Miao looked at it, the more she felt that Xi Heng was serious. "No!" She refused sternly: "You leave here with your sword skills. I will regard you as the last heir of our Red Line Sword. Protect your own safety." "But there are many successors." Xi Heng thought of the many senior and junior sisters who had left the Sword Academy.
"Anyway, it's time for you to go." Hong Miao took a half step back and changed the subject: "I will finally teach you the method of dark power - to improve dark power, you must first beat the Qi and blood, use the majestic Qi and blood to push the tendons and bones, remove the strength of the flesh and increase the strength of the tendons and bones, so that you can control the hardness, softness, lightness, heaviness, speed, emptiness and reality of the sword techniques at will. First, cultivate the overall power, then cultivate the strength of the tendons and bones, and then open up the belt meridian to lead the overall power to circulate around the waist, twisting the Qi and blood into dark power!" "Eh?" The other party suddenly said this, catching Xi Heng off guard. "It doesn't matter if you can't remember it now. These words and all the tips and tricks I summarized are in your hands, but listen carefully next." Senior Sister Hong Miao reached out and pressed on Xi Heng's shoulder to bring her back to her senses. "You have used the Life-Snatching Technique. After your bright energy is fully developed, your Qi and blood should be sufficient for dark energy." She said, "But to achieve dark energy, in addition to the Qi and blood foundation of your body, you also need to take your sword intent a step further." "The Red Line Sword Technique is a sword of killing. If you want to improve it, you have to kill people, kill a lot..." Hong Miao's voice became deeper when she said this: "However, you still have another choice. Since the sword intent you first comprehended was the sword of self-sacrifice, you can also try to walk through the life and death again to hone your sword intent... but you must be more careful this way." "Oh..." Xi Heng was rarely cared for by her senior sister like this, and she seemed not to be able to say anything more. "It doesn't matter if you can't achieve dark energy." Hong Miao patted Xi Heng's shoulder: "I hope you live well." Xi Heng thought about it and felt that reloading the game after death should also be considered a good life, so he nodded in agreement. "Take the book and leave now. Hope we can meet again in the future if there is another chance." Senior Sister Hong Miao said finally and waved to Xi Heng. Having said so much, it seems like it would be inappropriate if Xi Heng didn't leave. Xi Heng sighed silently in his heart and nodded slightly. It was not until this moment that Hong Miao smiled a little bit as she usually does. "Let's go, Junior Sister." The soft voice lingered in her ears, adding a bit of melancholy to the girl's heart. The next moment, Xi Heng took the secret book, bowed to the master on the hospital bed, then bowed to his senior sister, and then slowly retreated. Just as he took two small steps back, a chaotic whistling sound suddenly came from the distant sky. 'Hoo hoo—' The sound was like the wind, but it also had a certain sense of breakthrough. Xi Heng quickly passed by the location where he heard the sound, and when he looked in that direction, he heard another explosion-like roar. It was like thunder in the sky or the roar of a giant beast. The explosion tore through the seemingly dead silence in the city. "The siege has begun." Hong Miao looked through the window and saw clearly the thing that made the loud noise. A huge round rock crashed into the city, causing gravel and dust to fly everywhere. The building collapsed and shattered, wood chips flew everywhere, beams broke and tiles fell. As screams and panic sounds rang out outside, huge rocks began to make noises one after another. They either fell on the city walls or flew over the top of the walls and crashed into them, adding even more chaos to the already disorderly Jinshi City. Hong Miao pushed Xi Heng. Xi Heng pursed his lips, obeyed the order and turned to leave.
She walked out of the house and looked up to see a huge rock passing by in the sky like a meteor. Looking back at the distant city wall, I didn't know whether it was because of the pouring of kerosene or something else, but that place had already been ignited with a fire bright enough to illuminate the dark clouds in the sky red, and thick black flames continued to rise. "It's time to go..." The civilians who were originally staying in the houses in the city also began to flee with their children and all the treasures in their homes. Before Xi Heng left Hongxian Sword Academy, he looked back one last time and memorized the scenes inside and outside the courtyard firmly in his mind. After looking at it, she walked away. In this life, I will probably never see Senior Sister Hong Miao and that cheap master again.