Chapter 7: Grace, Grudge!
General, Princess?!”
Zhou Yan was stunned, then felt a long sigh of relief in his heart. After the relief came a feeling of exhaustion. His arms trembled slightly, and his breathing was ragged.
Li Zhiwei, she’s a Princess?
No wonder she possessed such insight and composure.
Zhou Yan thought about this, but he also keenly noticed that although this General had arrived, there was still a hint of disdain in his eyes, and his demeanor didn't seem respectful. A Princess in troubled times?
He vaguely sensed something was off.
Pei Xuanbao said, “The Princess was in danger, and this subordinate arrived too late to rescue her. Please forgive me.”
“These Prodigies, this subordinate will handle them.”
He gripped his weapon, and when he wielded the long-handled battle blade, the edge was enveloped in visible Saber Qi. The earth was cut, trees were uprooted by the strong wind, and the nearby monsters were slaughtered without any power to resist.
However, he did not venture deeper into the village.
This place was isolated from the outside world, subtly resembling a blessed land. The master of this realm was likely extraordinary. The reason he hadn't appeared earlier was simply that he didn't care about the petty squabbles among ordinary minor demons.
Like a Supreme emperor, he wouldn’t personally catch a petty thief.
But his personal arrival had already drawn the attention of the master of this market.
If he were to delve deeper into this village, there would surely be a fierce battle, perhaps even a life-or-death struggle.
It was enough to just kill some minor demons.
He raised his hand to take Li Zhiwei away, not even glancing at Zhou Yan. Li Zhiwei anxiously said:
“General, this person saved me. Please take him with us.”
Pei Xuanbao looked at Zhou Yan, his gaze sweeping over his clothes, which were stripped from a monster, and his straw sandals revealing his big toes. He frowned slightly, but since the Princess had spoken, his steps paused, and he asked:
“What is your name, and what is your background?”
This was a tone akin to an interrogation. Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow and said:
“Zhou Yan.”
Pei Xuanbao frowned and said, “Do you have a courtesy name?”
“No.”
“Do you have any uncles or elders serving as officials in court?”
“No.”
Pei Xuanbao’s gaze swept over him, his eyes cold and disdainful. Zhou Yan, already exhausted, suddenly felt something was wrong in his heart. He then saw Pei Xuanbao grab Li Zhiwei’s arm. The next moment, his entire aura exploded, and Pei Xuanbao took Li Zhiwei, directly ascending into the sky and leaving.
Zhou Yan heard a contemptuous, indifferent judgment.
“Just a commoner.”
Li Zhiwei’s eyes widened, and she anxiously said, “You! General Pei, he!”
She turned to reach out and grab Zhou Yan, but Pei Xuanbao’s martial arts were extremely high, and his speed was incredibly fast. Zhou Yan instantly became a small dot, and no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t loosen Pei Xuanbao’s grip.
Pei Xuanbao said in a deep voice:
“The situation is complex, and the rebels are not yet eliminated. The Princess is young and might be misled by others.”
“Just a commoner. To die for you, he would die willingly.”
“You!!!”
This place harbored many dangers, and Pei Xuanbao was unwilling to risk it for the sake of bringing an extra commoner. As for the Princess, he would simply rescue her, and no one could say otherwise. He lowered his gaze and saw the one named Zhou Yan looking at him with angry, clear, black and white eyes.
Pei Xuanbao frowned slightly.
With an indifferent wave of his hand, a hidden circular Saber Qi descended.
If this person lived and spoke carelessly, it might cause some trouble.
Moreover, the real reason was—
That person dared to look up at him.
The situation took an unexpected turn. Pei Xuanbao’s appearance was thought to be a divine intervention, but no one expected such a change. Zhou Yan saw the Saber Qi rushing down and had no time to react.
Zhao the Butcher had just scrambled to the back, but seeing that Saber Qi heading for Zhou Yan, his eyes turned red.
His most coveted food was about to be cut. How could such good meat be handled so roughly?! How could such good meat be so wantonly wasted?!
No, no, no!!!
Eat, eat, eat!
The obsessive desire for food made him move. His steps were swift, and black Qi swirled around him.
He desperately grabbed Zhou Yan, and the black Qi transformed into Hei Feng, rapidly increasing his speed, avoiding the circular Saber Qi. He did indeed grab Zhou Yan and avoided the Saber Qi, feeling greatly relieved.
Good!
The Saber Qi landed on the ground, embedding itself as if cutting through rotten flesh. The earth was torn open. Zhou Yan’s vision went black, then his body felt a sharp pain. He and the Butcher crashed to the ground, rolling backward. Zhao the Butcher’s grip on his hand loosened.
“Ha, ha, finally, finally not wasted.”
Zhou Yan’s vision slowly returned. He saw Zhao the Butcher gasping and smiling, saw the huge saber mark on the ground outside the village, and saw that Zhao the Butcher’s lower body had turned into a pile of rotten flesh, with only half of his body remaining there.
Even a monster with some cultivation would die if directly cut in half like this.
Zhao the Butcher also realized what had happened. His face turned pale, and he mumbled, “So hungry, so painful.”
“So hungry, so painful…”
“Where’s my waist?! Lang Jun, Lang Jun!”
He let out a mournful howl: “Where did my waist go?!”
Zhou Yan looked at this absurd scene and finally understood the situation. This fat monster in front of him had, by a fluke, saved him for the sake of eating good meat. Otherwise, he would have probably become a pile of rotten flesh under that saber strike just now.
Zhou Yan looked up at the sky.
A sudden surge of furious anger and rage welled up in his heart, his teeth clenched tightly.
It wasn’t about power, just anger, like the sparks struck from flint, even a weak person staring at a strong one.
“Pei, Xuan, Bao…”
Footsteps rustled. Zhou Yan’s chest heaved. Hearing the sound, he looked around. More monsters were coming. Pei Xuanbao had made too much noise. Zhou Yan didn't know if that saber strike was meant to kill him or to deliberately confuse something.
He wanted to run, but the entrance was blocked by a horde of monsters.
With just a glance, at least twenty or thirty monsters surrounded him.
These monsters seemed to have been startled earlier and didn't charge directly. Instead, they formed a circle and slowly approached. The fellow who had been shouting about someone escaping had long been crushed to death by a large tree knocked down by Pei Xuanbao's Saber Qi during the previous struggle.
There was no escape, no way to heaven, no way to earth, no path left.
Zhou Yan, as a Mortal, had pushed himself to this point and was already utterly exhausted. Coupled with the dramatic ups and downs just now, his body was trembling slightly from fatigue. Seeing the surrounding monsters slowly approaching, the half-bodied monster butcher in front of him was still mumbling:
“So painful, so fragrant…”
He slowly stopped feeling pain, only mumbling, “Lang Jun, you smell so good.”
Zhou Yan looked at Zhao the Butcher.
Although this monster was after his flesh, he had also saved him. His obsessive desires seemed to outweigh even life and death. Seeing the monsters closing in, he knew he would surely die this time, but instead, he smiled:
“Alright, alright, before I die, I’ll give you a treat!”
“After all, you did save me once.”
He drew the knife from his waist and staggered to his feet. The monsters seemed to have been greatly frightened by Pei Xuanbao, instinctively stopping their advance. Zhou Yan grinned, ignoring any concerns about hygiene. He took the knife, flipped it, and cut his own palm. He clenched his five fingers.
Red blood dripped down, landing on the Butcher's lips.
The Butcher's dying eyes suddenly lit up. His tongue eagerly licked the blood.
Finally, he tasted the flesh and blood he had yearned for.
Finally, he let out a satisfied sigh with a smile: “It smells good, but it’s not that tasty!”
“Turns out it’s just ordinary human blood!”
“But, I’m satisfied!”
“Satisfied? That’s good then.”
The young man’s voice responded. Then, gripping the knife with both hands, having endured all this, he was utterly exhausted. Knowing that he would surely not escape this time and would certainly die, Zhou Yan held the knife. Under the gaze of the slowly encircling monsters, he raised the knife high.
He gathered his strength, then plunged it down fiercely.
It went straight into the satisfied Butcher’s eye, piercing diagonally into his brain.
!!!
The monsters surrounding him seemed to be startled by this person who, though clearly about to die, was still so ruthless.
Even though the Butcher had eaten Hungry Ghost meat earlier, rushed out of the fire, and was then cut in half by the Saber Qi, he was already on the verge of death. Zhou Yan also used all his strength to stab the thing into the opponent's head. Finally, he ran out of strength and collapsed onto the hilt, gasping for breath.
Exhausted, disheveled, terrified, honestly, he looked as pathetic as a beggar.
In his brows, there was a sharp, fierce spirit.
That woman had her own destination, a brief encounter, a raging fire; the white cloth bandage, buried in the sea of fire; the one who wanted to eat me, killed; the evil person who saved me, I will repay his kindness, and then, kill him again!
One act of grace, one act of grievance.
To die like this, it could be considered a relief.
No, it’s a pity—
There's still Wang Chun.
Pei Xuanbao.
Zhou Yan gritted his teeth, slowly tightening his grip on the knife—he had inexplicably arrived in this place, struggled forward, and finally reached here. But even if he was exhausted and about to die, he couldn’t die so ignominiously.
His body squeezed out its last bit of strength. The broken knife was slowly pulled out of Zhao the Butcher’s eye socket.
The blade scraped against the monster’s bone, the sound faintly intense.
In Zhou Yan’s Sea of Consciousness, the jade book shimmered. Under the blade, this named monster Butcher was suddenly covered in a layer of faint golden light. The moment the knife was pulled out, Zhao the Butcher’s remaining body, and even his obsessive Divine Soul, completely disintegrated!
Subdue its heart, sever its life, this is—
Slaying Demons and Exorcising Evil!
Whoosh!
On the jade book, the flowing light changed. On the page for Hungry Ghost, a ferocious and fierce demonic ghost figure was outlined, which was precisely Zhao the Butcher. His Divine Soul was annihilated, yet it contained a faint Divine Ability and magical power, embedded within it, which could be commanded.
Zhao the Butcher’s Divine Soul and essence scattered like ash, and golden light swirled, coiling around Zhou Yan.
However, Zhou Yan had no strength left at all.
The events of a single day had, by now, drained his physical strength, intelligence, and judgment. But after all this, this body, as a human, had one last thing left.
That was only the last surge of courageous anger.
Zhou Yan drew his knife:
“Come!”
The monsters charged forward.
Boom!!!
The jade talisman in Zhou Yan’s pocket glowed brightly. Suddenly, a roaring sound came from the entrance, like a fierce tiger breaking through a mountain. A phantom figure crashed into the space. The Hungry Ghosts blocking the way were all sent flying. A horizontal saber was thrust into the mouth of one monster, then pierced through its back of the head, and then into the mouth of the next monster.
One saber pierced through three monsters.
A large hand pressed down on Zhou Yan’s shoulder, then pulled him to his side. Blood-stained armor, yet carrying a surging Qi, a dark cloak swirling. A middle-aged man in mountain-patterned armor shielded Zhou Yan beneath his blade.
“That’s great…”
His face was weary from battle, and he said in a low voice:
“You’re still alive.”