Volume 5 Chapter 31

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Volume 5 Chapter 31: Self-Destruct

Sometimes, people have all sorts of strange reactions.

For instance, someone close to death might worry about the clothes hanging in the yard, wondering what will happen if it rains. Or, someone might be on a battlefield where their life is at risk, yet they keep thinking about a delicious meal they had yesterday or the beauty of a woman they met years ago, not even knowing if she is now married to someone else.

So, the human heart is a mysterious thing, unpredictable and beyond guesswork.

And Xu Qingfan found himself in a similar situation; three dark shadows suddenly appeared around him, their swords glinting green in the sunlight, almost certain to bring a terrible fate if they struck.

Yet Xu Qingfan’s mind was filled with inexplicable thoughts.

"Why do I always run into trouble every time I come down the mountain, no matter how low-key I try to be?"

Xu Qingfan mused to himself.

Even as he reflected on this, Xu Qingfan moved swiftly, wasting no time. The moment the three shadows appeared, he darted up with incredible speed, narrowly escaping the thrust of the three swords.

If it hadn’t been for the early warning from the "Flourish Qi" within him, Xu Qingfan would have been killed by the sudden attack from the shadowy figures and the three eerie long swords that seemed to break the speed barrier.

Just as Xu Qingfan was about to counterattack, the three shadowy figures vanished as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving Xu Qingfan frowning in frustration.

It was unexpected that these three shadowy figures, besides having the power to conceal their presence, could also turn invisible.

With their ability to hide, become invisible, move extremely fast, and being three in number, Xu Qingfan found it impossible to track them, let alone defeat them. Even though Xu Qingfan sensed their power was much less than his, he found the situation challenging.

Furthermore, as soon as Xu Qingfan disappeared from sight, these shadowy figures would also vanish quickly, making it impossible for Xu Qingfan to have Little Black hold them down when they appeared.

Luckily, the most threatening aspect of these shadowy figures was their initial ambush, which caught Xu Qingfan off guard and almost cost him his life. Now having evaded their first assault, the danger wasn’t as severe. By staying vigilant and dodging the moment they appeared, Xu Qingfan could avoid their attacks.

Despite the fact that these shadowy figures couldn’t harm Xu Qingfan, he also couldn’t do anything about them, leaving the situation in a stalemate.

However, Xu Qingfan didn’t want to remain in this stalemate, since the shadowy figures held the initiative. Even though he remained vigilant, there would always be a moment of lapse, and any slight relaxation could lead to dire consequences.

As Xu Qingfan pondered, the shadowy figures silently reappeared around him, their green long swords once again striking quickly at Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan, feeling helpless, once again leaped into the air just like last time, barely managing to avoid the attack from the three dark shadows.

After several repeats of this pattern in just a quarter of an hour, the three shadows had already attacked Xu Qingfan more than ten times, leading him to notice something peculiar about their attacks.

For instance, every time they attacked Xu Qingfan, the interval between each strike was almost exactly the same. Additionally, whenever the shadows appeared around him, their positions were identical each time, as if familiar with their routine yet also seemingly unable to adapt, lacking any sense of change.

Remembering the various scenes he encountered earlier in the "Treasure Pavilion," a thought sparked in his mind, suddenly considering a possibility.

"If my suspicions are correct, then dealing with these three shadows should be easy."

Xu Qingfan mused privately.

Just as Xu Qingfan was thinking, the three figures suddenly reappeared and thrust towards him once more, with the timing identical to every previous encounter, as precise as if measured with a ruler.

Heads, chest, neck, the three long swords aimed accurately at his vital points, their tips just a few feet away, arriving in an instant!

But this time, instead of dodging into the sky as before, Xu Qingfan accelerated suddenly and rushed swiftly toward one of the shadows.

The shadowy figure pointed a long sword towards Xu Qingfan’s chest!

But upon seeing Xu Qingfan act strangely, the three figures showed no surprise and thrust their swords at him with mechanical precision.

Their reaction further confirmed Xu Qingfan’s previous suspicions.

As Xu Qingfan charged towards one shadow, his chest moved closer to the sword’s tip, leaving just a foot between them, but then something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, Little Black, who had left on Xu Qingfan’s command, appeared behind the shadow, pecking fiercely.

"Clang…"

As it pecked, a sound like clashing metal echoed through the air, as if the shadow was made of iron.

Despite this, Little Black’s sharp beak pierced the shadow, injecting it with a terrifying, pure dead energy.

Xu Qingfan’s "Withered qi" was known for its corrosive power, but it paled in comparison to pure dead energy. Little Black poured all its energy into the shadow, creating a more frightening effect.

Just as Little Black’s sharp beak pierced the dark shadow, it dissolved into tiny black dots, dispersing into the air, as if the whole body had been overwhelmed by deathly energy. The collapse was so quick that it seemed to happen in an instant.

The green long sword in the shadow’s hand was made from unknown materials, as it remained uncorroded by the deadly energy. Without the shadow’s control, it fell harmlessly to the ground, posing no threat to Xu Qingfan.

At the moment the dark shadow crumbled, Xu Qingfan swiftly moved through the collapsing shadow’s direction, easily dodging the attacks from the other two shadows.

"Success!"

Keeping a safe distance from the remaining two shadows’ attack range, Xu Qingfan felt a thrill of excitement. He hadn’t expected to defeat one of the shadows with such ease.

Next, he would observe how the remaining two shadows would respond.

To Xu Qingfan’s surprise, the remaining shadows seemed unaware that their companion had been defeated, or of Little Black’s presence. They continued to appear around Xu Qingfan, attacking with swords just as before. Their positions were exactly the same, but with one less shadow, Xu Qingfan found an opening.

As before, Xu Qingfan stood before the shadows, preventing them from disappearing if he vanished suddenly. Then Little Black launched a surprise attack from behind, quickly taking out another shadow.

"It seems things are much simpler than I imagined. I overestimated the powers of these three shadows before."

Just as Xu Qingfan was thinking about this, the last shadow suddenly appeared in front of him again. To Xu Qingfan’s surprise, the shadow appeared much earlier than before, so much so that Little Black didn’t have time to get behind it.

Then, Xu Qingfan was astonished to see that the darkness around the shadow suddenly cleared, revealing the true form—a young girl with flowing clothes and a stunning face, like a fairy. She was one of the girl puppets he had seen earlier in the "Treasure Pavilion."

It turned out that the shadows attacking Xu Qingfan were actually three girl puppets. Because they were puppets, their attacks were predictable and straightforward, allowing Xu Qingfan to easily defeat them one by one.

However, compared to the welcoming puppets, these three puppets were undoubtedly much more formidable.

But as Xu Qingfan was thinking about how to deal with the remaining puppet without Little Black’s help, he was surprised to see a holy glow suddenly emanate from the puppet, making her even more enchanting.

Yet, Xu Qingfan felt a bad premonition growing in his heart, and in alarm, he pushed his speed to the limit, retreating quickly.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Boom…"

A thunderous explosion suddenly echoed through the sky. In the moment Xu Qingfan realized something was wrong, the puppet self-destructed, and there was no time for Xu Qingfan to dodge.

Right at the moment when the puppet self-destructed, as if sensing something unusual here, over a dozen figures were seen swiftly flying towards the site of the explosion!