Chapter 598
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Chapter 598: There Is a Traitor
"Sir, please go through the security check."
"Sir, this is a public place, you cannot barge in."
"Sir, please wait a moment."
The security guards noticed something unusual and tried to intercept Li Qizong, but as they approached, a tall and muscular guard suddenly flew backwards, with a sharp force cutting into his body, blood flowing. He locked onto Bai Xinghui’s position, slightly bent down, and then burst into a sprint with full speed.
He sprinted at high speed and swiftly crossed a distance of one hundred meters, wearing a blue hoodie that made him look like a blue-skinned hedgehog.
The unmistakable intention to kill surged forth, accompanied by the noise and commotion of the crowd, along with screams.
Yagyū Simozi turned her head and uncovered the cloth wrapping a real sword, saying, "It seems like they’re coming for us."
"They’re coming for me," Bai Xinghui stated plainly. "This place will be dangerous, so you all should leave first."
Yagyū Simozi raised an eyebrow. "Leave now? What do you take me for? My brother gave me a sword to carry specifically for unexpected situations like this."
She knew there would be assassins coming, but she didn’t expect them to be so audacious.
"You’re mistaken," Bai Xinghui shook his head and said. That was something I encountered back in the academy…
Before the words could fully escape, a powerful sword energy formed and swiftly cut through the air, leaving behind a crescent-shaped trace of its strike.
Bai Xinghui pushed Yagyū Simozi’s shoulder and, using the momentum, moved back to evade the sword energy. The sword energy rolled along the ground, slicing through the railing and glass, causing the crowd in the mall to realize that someone was wielding a weapon and prompting them to evacuate in an orderly fashion.
The person actually sees a lot of scenes like this, and has received various trainings since school. In this sudden situation, they subconsciously line up and start evacuating the shopping mall building, away from the center of the turmoil. In less than half a minute, there are hardly any people within a few hundred meters. Only a few confident bystanders remain.
"Bai Xinghui!"
Li Qizong stepped on the handrail of the elevator, his pace light and accompanied by a strong sound of iron and stone upon landing.
"I heard you." Xinghui’s reaction was indifferent. "Do you need something?"
"I chased after you non-stop after escaping from the dungeon, and finally found you," Li Qizong sneered. "You should be grateful. If you were the first person I encountered, I would have started cutting down your loved ones one by one."
Bai Xinghui sighed. "Same as before, your way with words isn’t great. Besides these clichéd lines, do you know any other way to threaten someone? Or have you watched too few TV dramas?"
"Shut up."
"The mouth is on me, whether it closes or not is my decision. It’s more unpleasant than killing me if you don’t let me speak," Bai Xinghui smirked. "Think about it carefully, you’ve really gone through a lot of trouble. After escaping from the dungeon, the first thing you did was come to find me…"
"Trouble?" Li Qizong’s eye twitched.
"Yes, it was very difficult for you. You traveled a long way to bring the goose feather. A small gift but filled with deep affection. I am grateful for the fifty thousand that Master Li has given. Today, all the expenses will be covered by Master Li Qizong." Bai Xinghui smiled with delight.
"You…" Li Qizong gritted his teeth, this sentence made him extremely furious. This woman was completely disrespecting him.
"However, fifty thousand may not be enough, and…" Bai Xinghui raised an eyebrow and said. I almost forgot, maybe you’re not even worth fifty thousand.
Li Qizong unsheathed his sword with a resounding sound. It was a mysterious sword that had been sealed within his own body, which is why it couldn’t be found before.
It took a great deal of effort to unlock it. He pulled out the sword that had been wrapped for over three years and pointed it at Bai Xinghui.
The sword was covered in bloodlust and a murderous aura, like thorny vines in blood-red color crawling all over its blade.
"Bai Xinghui, today is your day of death!"
Bai Xinghui narrowed her eyes, then took off her newly bought hat, bracelet, earrings, necklace, and other accessories.
She put them all into her bag and then threw it aside.
"I am learning arithmetic."
"But that doesn’t mean I won’t hit people. Do you know how sharp a pencil can be?"
"Come on, I’m ready…"
As they were speaking, a figure flashed across the sky like a swift-flying seagull against the wind, unsheathing a blade and slicing through with a silver moonlight gleam.
The clash of swords and blades created a non-piercing sound, as their sword auras and blade energies countered each other, causing a violent crosscurrent ten meters away.
Yagyū Simozi raised her foot and kicked at Li Qizong’s lower abdomen. He twisted and curled his left hand, using his elbow to block the kick, while swiftly shaking his wrist to unleash a series of consecutive stabs with his deadly sword.
Simozi leaned back, facing straight upwards, using one foot as support against the ground while holding the other leg straight up, maintaining a highly difficult gymnastic pose. Then, she lightly tapped the ground with her left hand, rotating herself in a circle, gradually increasing her speed. Like a spinning top, she focused her power onto the blade of her sword, slicing through railings and steel as if cutting through tofu. The elevator was directly cut off from its gears due to the force of the sword energy, triggering its internal safety mechanism to halt. The released blade energy pierced through the ground, reaching the floor below, leaving several centimeters deep marks on the second-floor’s floor.
Li Qizong blocked the attack, but was also forced to retreat, ending up back at the elevator position. Being at a natural disadvantage from looking downward, he didn’t dare to rashly launch a counterattack. However, Yagyū Simozi took advantage and swiftly delivered a kick, hitting him in the lower abdomen, causing him to be propelled back to the second floor.
Li Qizong’s energy flowed throughout his body, not receiving any injury, but he appeared somewhat disheveled. He slammed into a trash can behind him, almost merging with it.
"I fought the monster, do you mind?" Yagyū Simozi asked Bai Xinghui.
"Oh… You’re asking after you made a move?" Bai Xinghui happened to dislike fighting as well.
"This guy is pretty powerful. Since you’re not a warrior, my older brother asked me to be your bodyguard, and also…" Yagyū Simozi’s fighting spirit surged. "I have a feeling that if I defeat this guy, I’ll level up."
"Did you win?"
"You’ll know if you try."
"Trying could also lead to death." Bai Xinghui held his forehead with his hand. "It’s not that I want to discourage you, but this Li Qizong is really strong. He’s the recognized genius at the Great Ming Academy Palace. With his strange sword, he’s already surpassed the rank of a junior master."
"If I lose and die, it’s my own fault for being weak. I’ll just have my older brother avenge me then."
Simozi’s voice was calm, but her heart was still beating fast. She knew that this battle was crucial. Seeing life and death in this moment was better than freezing up on stage at the Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament. Her sword was full of intent to kill, but lacked the proper experience and training. She needed enough real-life battles to help her digest the countless accumulated experiences in her visualizations.
"Big brother, seek revenge for you?" Bai Xinghui didn’t understand, and emphasized again, "Li Qizong is at the level of a junior master, you might be close, but…"
In her concept of strength and weakness, Li Qizong > Yagyū Simozi > Bai Wei.
Following Bai Wei’s lead, Simozi held up the "Tsukiyo-ken" Muramasa, flicking her finger on the blade, creating a clear and melodious sword hum.
She released her true qi with all her might, tempering the sword qi, invoking the spirit of the sword, as if possessed by a sword demon in an instant.
The girl bent slightly and dashed forward, leaving behind a trail of afterimages in midair. With a single slash, she unleashed a blade aura that was ten meters wide.
Under the full eruption of her strength, even the passing martial artists who had initially intended to help immediately chose to join the crowd and leave quietly.
Help? Yeah, right! We’re not the same.
Bai Xinghui was somewhat lost in the spectacle she witnessed, but what kept her distracted for a long time was Yagyū Simozi interrupting her mid-sentence.
"My older brother is stronger than me."
"Ten times."
…
"Pumpkin, pumpkin, this is winter melon, location has been confirmed."
"Winter melon, winter melon, this is pumpkin, message received, please stay in place and don’t move."
"Watermelon, watermelon, this is pumpkin, hurry up, I’ve been waiting forever."
"Pumpkin, pumpkin, this is watermelon, hurry up, or I’ll give you a good scolding."
Cang Jinglei held the walkie-talkie and heard all the reports. He sat up from the pit.
"All positions in the east, west, south, and north are ready. We can begin the formation and use the power of the land to achieve our goal."
"Don’t worry, there’s no escape!" A middle-aged woman in the Jin Yi Wei, who looked like a vegetable seller, slammed the ground and shouted. Start the formation!
The invisible ripples spreading from the suburban homes caused a series of tremors, harnessing the power of the land, creating a prohibition, and forming a square formation.
An invisible force enveloped an area of three hundred meters in diameter. It may not be very large, but not even a fly could escape from it. The old lady sat down, ready to fully maintain the stability of the formation.
As the support in the group, a reliable support, and a constant presence in team battles, the old lady is fifty years old this year. She has already seen off more than ten Jin Yi Wei members, including those who were rotated out or transferred. Only she has been sitting in the same spot here for over twenty years. From a young and flourishing girl, she has specialized in formations without ever making a mistake. The opportunities she has gained have only grown with age, allowing her to utilize her experience advantage.
However, this time seems to be different. Shortly after she set up the formation, not even ten seconds had passed when her expression suddenly changed. A force beyond her control surged back and struck her.
Visible to the naked eye, a corner of the large formation collapsed directly, and the collapsing force spread to the other three directions.
The vegetable-seller grandma tried to regain control but quickly shouted, ‘I can’t hold on anymore…’
The Earth Pulse power went out of control, creating an outward impact. The five people in the formation were successively struck back, some spitting blood, some suffering internal injuries, and some losing consciousness.
Cang Jinglei urgently shouted into the walkie-talkie, "Please respond, hurry up! North, South, East, West!"
"Something’s wrong… This is Watermelon… The formation has been tampered with…"
"This is Pumpkin… Team leader, be careful… We have a spy."
"It must be… there’s a traitor among us."
As soon as he heard the words ‘spy’, the communication was cut off. Cang Jinglei shouted angrily, with his mustache flying.
"Wretched spy, I will definitely…"
"What are you putting on a show for here?" Not far away, a vendor sat on a small stool, chewing on sugarcane, smacking his lips. "There’s no one here anymore."
Cang Jinglei stopped showing his grief and covered his forehead, laughing loudly. "So the spy turned out to be me."
