Chapter 41 - Trap

"I heard... you’re looking for me."

The voice from behind the wall seemed to come from the depths of hell, devoid of any emotion.

"Ye... Ye Beizhi?!" The phoenix-eyed man’s face was splattered in blood and brains, and he instinctively retreated from the shattered wall.

The voice from behind the wall faded and Ye Beizhi’s figure emerged from the courtyard's moon gate.

Ye Beizhi glanced around the courtyard.

The escort agency members huddled in a corner.

Guo Xiaoliu was motionless in a pool of blood. Whether he was still alive or dead was unknown.

Master Wu looked pale and weak. He was looking at Ye Beizhi and their eyes met.

"Ye,

cough cough

... Hero Ye, you shouldn’t have come back." Master Wu weakly shook his head as he spoke.

Ye Beizhi nodded lightly and turned to look at the phoenix-eyed man.

The phoenix-eyed man took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself from what he just experienced, then harshly shouted, "Ye Beizhi! Are you here to surrender—"

"Did you do this?" Ye Beizhi gestured around the courtyard, interrupting the phoenix-eyed man.

The phoenix-eyed man raised an eyebrow and boasted, "Heh... Do you think anyone else is strong enough to do this?"

Ye Beizhi looked down at his feet and nodded.

"Then I have the right person..."

Boom!

The surrounding air was violently shaken, and produced a piercing sound. The phoenix-eyed man blinked, and the Ye Beizhi who kept an eye on, had disappeared!

Where is he?! Where did he go?

As this question arose in the phoenix-eyed man’s mind, he suddenly felt a tightness on his scalp. There was an irresistible force pulling into the sky!

The phoenix-eyed man widened his eyes in absolute shock.

How is that possible!

Dazed from the sudden changes, the phoenix-eyed man was helpless as Ye Beizhi grabbed his hair and swung him around twice before hurling him away!

BOOM!

Another wall collapsed violently because of Ye Beizhi.

The phoenix-eyed man propped himself up in the rubble, coughing as he wondered, "What kind of monster—"

The phoenix-eyed man was cut off, and his eyes dilated in fear as Ye Beizhi suddenly appeared before him! With his left hand, Ye Beizhi tightly gripped the phoenix-eyed man's jawbone and slowly lifted him off the ground.

"You said you were strong..." Ye Beizhi tilted his head as he looked at the phoenix-eyed man, who was suspended by him in mid-air.

The phoenix-eyed man felt like his mouth was bound in iron. He instinctively tried, but failed, to pry away the gripping hand. Hearing Ye Beizhi’s words and unable to speak up, he swiftly delivered a powerful knee strike to Ye Beizhi’s abdomen to break free!

Facing the incoming knee, Ye Beizhi answered with a knee strike as well.

Crack!

Bones broke!

After the collision, the phoenix-eyed man’s right leg twisted in the opposite direction!

With Ye Beizhi holding his mouth, his scream was trapped in his throat, and only muffled sounds came out.

"You’re actually very weak."

The phoenix-eyed man’s forehead was covered in sweat, and his face was reddened. Even he was unsure if it was from pain, anger, or embarrassment.

The phoenix-eyed man attempted to escape again by punching Ye Beizhi in the face. Ye Beizhi easily blocked the punch by clamping his hand onto the phoenix-eyed man's wrist.

Ye Beizhi slowly pushed his arms in opposite directions.

The phoenix-eyed man's fear grew more pronounced, leading to frantic struggles as a painful tearing force mounted between his shoulders.

The phoenix-eyed man flailed his free arm and kicked wildly at Ye Beizhi in a frenzied bid to stop his inexorable force.

Ye Beizhi was unphased as he allowed the attacks to rain down on him while he continued to pull his hands apart in opposite directions slowly.

"Too weak," Ye Beizhi muttered as shook his head.

Hissssss—

Hot blood splattered onto Ye Beizhi’s face.

He held the phoenix-eyed man in the air with one hand and a bleeding arm in the other.

Ye Beizhi then casually threw the wretched phoenix-eyed man to the ground and turned to look at the escort agency members.

Covered in blood, Ye Beizhi appeared as a demon emerging from hell, and everyone who met his gaze lowered their heads, afraid to make eye contact.

Ye Beizhi slightly lowered his head, hiding his gaze in shadows, and walked over to Guo Xiaoliu, who was lying on the ground.

"Lend me..." Ye Beizhi began but paused momentarily as his fingers touched Guo Xiaolu.

"...your blade." Ye Beizhi finished, then drew the two-handed blade from Guo Xiaoliu’s waist.

Guo Xiaoliu’s body was already stiff, his warmth fading.

Ye Beizhi drew the blade and stood up, momentarily lost in thought.

Guo Xiaoliu... Ye Beizhi only remembered him by his nickname, but what was his real name?

Ye Beizhi realized he couldn’t quite remember. It seemed like Fang Dingwu had introduced him once, perhaps as Guo Jia or Guo Tu...

These people shouldn’t have died, and today's tragedies shouldn’t have happened.

Was it because of me?

If I never came to the escort agency...

But there are no ifs in life.

Ye Beizhi’s expression settled like an ancient well, calm and unfathomable.

The phoenix-eyed man had a leg broken and an arm ripped off and was now lopsidedly struggling to drag himself across the ground, trying to escape.

Ye Beizhi walked over with the blade and thrust it through the phoenix-eyed man’s abdomen, skewering him to the ground.

"Where are you going?"

The phoenix-eyed man realized that there was no escape for him.

"Haha...Ye Beizhi, you think you’re so powerful..."

The phoenix-eyed man gasped for breath.

"But you won't be able to escape... Today, everyone here will die! These people... Haha, none of them will survive today, and it’s all because of you!"

"You!" The phoenix-eyed man’s remaining right hand grabbed Ye Beizhi’s collar fiercely as he spat out, "You got them killed!"

"I don’t think I’m strong." Ye Beizhi withdrew the blade from the phoenix-eyed man's abdomen, and pointed it at his sternum and said, "I know I am strong."

"Vice Commander!" the phoenix-eyed man suddenly shouted, "Now is the time! Kill the fugitive!"

Shhhhh...

The phoenix-eyed man thrust himself onto the blade and latched onto Ye Beizhi with his remaining arm and leg in a suicidal embrace.

"Be careful, Young Master Ye!"

The instant the phoenix-eyed man latched tightly onto Ye Beizhi, he heard the sound of something rushing through the air from behind and Master Wu’s loud warning, along with the phoenix-eyed man’s last words.

"Stormqueller, you’re finished."

The phoenix-eyed man's kamikaze maneuver momentarily stalled Ye Beizhi, preventing him from turning around in time. Out of nowhere, a mighty strike immediately sent him flying!

Ye Beizhi tasted iron as he involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood.

In mid-air, Ye Beizhi pushed past the pain and tried to see who had ambushed him.

To his surprise, the sound of something rushing through the air came again, but from a different direction!

He spotted a steel whip coming straight at him!

Ye Beizhi was barely able to twist his body in time to avoid a fatal blow. The steel whip landed on his back instead and launched him in another direction!

He felt a fiery pain on his back. He could tell his back was likely torn open because the steel whip was embedded with blades.

Who is it?!

Ye Beizhi squinted, enduring the pain while adjusting his balance in mid-air. Suddenly, a loud shout came from behind!

"Stormqueller! Take my palm strike!"

Ye Beizhi quickly drew his blade and swung it backward, aiming at the source of the voice!

Peng!

The sound of metal clashing was heard.

Ye Beizhi finally landed on solid ground using the rebound force.

Ye Beizhi exhaled tersely, his eyes scanning around.

There were actually three people in total, three martial experts!

The person directly in front of Ye Beizhi had a bald head and a large string of prayer beads around his neck. He looked around fifty years old.

Despite looking like a monk, he wore the official uniform of the Imperial Guardians. Notably, his hands were massive and seemed to shimmer with a faint metallic sheen.

The person on the left was small and skinny but wielded a large copper hammer that was taller than his entire body. It was unclear how such a small frame could handle such an incongruously large hammer.

The third person was on the rooftop to the right, and cloaked in a cape that made it impossible to see their physique or appearance. However, blood dripped from the steel whip in their hand.

Ye Beizhi frowned, and asked suspiciously, "You all... are Imperial Guardians?"

"Hehe... We have orders from above to claim your head," the person on the rooftops revealed.

Ye Beizhi was surprised to hear a soft and melodic voice. The ambusher who whipped his back open was a woman.