Chapter 275: The Beaked Daoist, the Hulking Brute, Heaven Official’s Blessing, and the Martial Guards

There was a faint fragrance about Lu Ying’s body, which was so subtle it was almost imperceptible.

But that wasn’t what tipped Li Yanchu off. Anyone with eyes could tell she was a woman.

Those so-called costume dramas where no one notices? Please. What, are they pretending not to notice from way up in the stratosphere, just so they can take advantage and build up their ‘manly hero’ persona?

Li Yanchu muttered inwardly.

The trope of the pampered young lady, awkwardly disguised in men’s attire, naïve to the ways of the

jianghu

and inexperienced with men, served mainly to give the male lead an excuse to flaunt his virility.

But this

Lu Ying

... Her gaze was sharp as a saber, and her bearing was fierce and commanding, plus her retainers were all deadly martial men radiating murderous intent. A single glance from those young

jianghu

heroes would be enough to terrify a timid scholar.

Outside, the pounding on the door and slaps against the windows grew louder and louder, more and more insistent. When she saw this, Lady Yun’s face grew ever paler. Meanwhile, Lu Ying’s killing intent surged.

“That wicked Daoist is a trickster and charlatan! If he ever falls into my hands, I’ll flay him alive and rip out his heart.” Her voice was cold enough to chill bone.

The five burly retainers, gripping their sabers, had a hawk-like gaze as they watched every entrance into the room.

Their qi and blood burned like furnaces, and against wandering spirits and hungry ghosts, their very presence was no less threatening than the magical artifacts of Daoist priests or Buddhist monks.

Even ordinary butchers, steeped in blood and slaughter, could repel ghosts with sheer baleful qi; how much more so these hardened killers? And yet, the knocking outside only grew more urgent, as though such fiery blood and qi meant nothing to it at all.

“The thing you’re after is right here on me! If you’ve the guts, come and take it. Don’t sit out there playing ghost tricks and spoiling my mood!” Lu Ying barked coldly.

At once, every sound outside ceased. Even the roar of the wind and snow vanished from the world, and the silence was suffocating. Only the breathing of those inside, the crackle of the fire, and the bubbling of the meat soup remained.

In that crushing stillness, a steady voice suddenly rang out, “As expected of a general’s disciple, you’re truly bold and fearless.”

Boom!

The front door exploded inward under a tremendous force, and splinters flew everywhere.

The owner of that voice stepped into view. It was a hulking brute of a man with dark skin, and his short hair was bristled upright like steel needles.

In his hand he dragged a massive

zha

saber[1]. The saber was thick-spined, thin-edged, mottled with old bloodstains, gleaming coldly.

In an instant, one of the sword-bearing retainers had his chest pierced through. Blood sprayed as he collapsed and died.

“Girl, you have a fiery temper, I like that. I will be taking you back up the mountain to play with at leisure.”

The killer was the Beaked Daoist. The man had a bird’s beak, and his eyes were dark and sinister. His clawlike fingers clenched tight around the still-dripping heart of the slain retainer.

“Fiend! You finally dare to show yourself!” Lu Ying’s expression was stern. At the death of her man, her gaze did not so much as waver.

The four surviving retainers showed no grief either, and their icy eyes brimmed with killing intent.

The Beaked Daoist chuckled, voice oozing malice. “Such a beautiful young lady, how could I bear to leave you?”

Then his eyes suddenly shifted, falling upon Lady Yun in the corner. Instantly, his gaze burned with a hungry heat. “Well, well. How lucky am I. Even in the wilderness, I meet such a peerless beauty!”

Lady Yun instinctively stepped back, trembling all over.

“Two stunning women in one night... Today, I’ll enjoy Heaven’s blessing indeed! What joy!” The Beaked Daoist laughed wildly.

Lu Ying frowned, lips curling in a cold sneer. “A trash like you?”

Suddenly, the retainer whose heart had been torn out seized the Beaked Daoist’s arm, and his face twisted into a chilling grin.

At this time, the Beaked Daoist’s expression shifted to shock. He yanked hard to pull free, but the burly man’s arm clamped down like iron, refusing to let go.

Blood still poured from the gaping hole in his chest, and his heart was still gripped in the Daoist’s clawed hand. And yet this warrior could still turn the tables, restraining the Beaked Daoist!

The scene was grotesque and blood-soaked.

Slash!

Slash!

Two burly retainers swung their sabers down at the Beaked Daoist, the edge tearing through the air with a razor-sharp whistle.

The Daoist suddenly let out a shrill howl. At once, the retainers’ sharp

yanling

sabers veered wildly to the side, as though some unseen force had seized their arms. The three remaining men roared and charged in, and their sabers flashed as they hacked down with terrifying speed.

At the same time, Lu Ying rose in a single fluid motion. Sword-light flared, streaking toward the hulking brute.

The farmhouse instantly became a storm of clashing steel and surging shadows. A deadly melee erupted!

At this time, Li Yanchu’s figure flickered to the edge of the room. Seeing this, he sighed lightly.

“All I wanted was to get out of the snow and rest for a night... why is it never that simple?”

His gaze shifted, and he caught sight of a figure beside the Beaked Daoist: a wild-haired woman wreathed in chilling ghostly qi. Ordinary eyes could never see such filth, but in this moment of battle the warriors’ blazing blood and qi burned like furnaces, stripping illusions bare. The Daoist’s pet ghost had been forced to reveal herself, a long-haired female specter whose very presence made the air turn cold.

The moment she appeared, her hair writhed like living serpents, surging forward to coil around Lady Yun. Lady Yun gasped as her slender waist was seized, and her body was yanked helplessly through the air toward the Beaked Daoist, straight into the path of a retainer’s icy saber!

The Daoist’s malice was clear, he meant to use her as a hostage... or as a human shield.

Clang!

A gleaming arc of sword-qi split the air.

Just then, Lu Ying whirled, her saber severing the ghost woman’s black hair cleanly in a single stroke. Her face was shrouded in a frosty gloom. “Demonic Daoist! Tonight I’ll rip out your heart, liver, lungs, and spleen!”

The Beaked Daoist chuckled darkly. “Heh... I would very much like to see if you have the skill to do so.”

With a sweep of his sleeve, countless feathers shot forth like deadly and precise razor-sharp arrows. Three burly retainers were struck and fell back, their bodies riddled with feathers.

Yet the three of them stood as if unscathed. With a thunderous shout, they forced the feathers out from their flesh, their blood and qi surging like a tide.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The feathers struck the floor with a sound like steel, then vanished without a trace.

At this time, the Daoist’s face darkened.

“Heaven Official’s Blessing?!” His voice rasped with sudden unease.

The five retainers pressed in with a grim look, and their sabers flashed as they closed the circle around him. The Daoist’s arm had already been slashed into a grievous wound, and blood streamed down in torrents.

Li Yanchu’s brows arched ever so slightly, and a flicker of surprise appeared in his gaze. After the fall of the Great Xia Dynasty, the various states plunged into chaotic warfare, and the world was consumed by endless strife. Each of these nations possessed its own unique type of special troops. They selected soldiers of immense strength and exceptional skill in combat, then forged them through a special method of tempering the body, turning them into formidable warriors.

On the battlefield, they were an unstoppable force. These soldiers were often called

martial guards

,

sharp warriors

, or

sky riders

, and they were branded with all kinds of names of awe and dread.

When the Kingdom of Qian swept across the fractured states and unified the land, it too forged its own elite corps, their strength rooted in secret body-tempering methods. Among them, the most renowned was the “Heaven Official's Blessing.”

Through this brutal refinement of the flesh, soldiers were transformed into beings of uncanny power.

Even the Beaked Daoist felt a ripple of shock in his heart. Never had he expected to encounter, in this desolate mountain wilderness, warriors forged by the Heaven Official's Blessing.

Li Yanchu only half-understood such matters, yet even so he couldn’t help but be astonished.

Damn... They’re seriously overpowered.

1. The “zha saber” (铡刀, zhádāo) is not a conventional saber but an execution saber resembling a massive cleaver or guillotine. Historically, it was a heavy, thick-backed, thin-edged chopping weapon often associated with judicial executions. ☜