Chapter 254: The Grandmaster Flew Away (Subscription and Tips Requested)

"Fool! Have you forgotten what the young master said before? 'Never let the enemy know your trump card.' If Ying Zheng really found a way to deal with the Divine Might Great General and attacked again, only to find not one, but twenty Divine Might Great General cannons, what do you think the outcome would be?" Murong Feng tapped Murong Huang's forehead and said with a playful smile.

"The outcome would certainly be tragic!" Murong Huang said with a sympathetic expression upon hearing this. If Ying Zheng thought the Ascending Heaven Tower had only a single Divine Might Great General and started a battle only to discover there were twenty of them, it could only end in tragedy.

***

A few mornings later, just as Shilan stepped out of her room, she felt a sudden jolt of palpitation in her heart. This sense of unease made her feel extremely restless. Then, her expression shifted as she muttered to herself, "Oh no, something must have happened to Xiao Hei."

Whenever someone close to her was in trouble, Shilan would experience this feeling of foreboding. Now, her family was far away in Mount Shu, and nothing could possibly happen to Xiao Xie, which meant the only one in danger could be Xiao Hei. Thinking of this, Shilan immediately channeled her lightness skill and rushed toward the back mountain of Sanghai City.

"Isn't that Shilan? Where is she going?" Shaoyu and Zimu were having their equestrian lesson when they suddenly noticed a dark shadow flashing across the tops of the woods. Shaoyu managed to recognize that it was indeed Shilan. Originally curious about Shilan's behavior—an inquiry interrupted by Xiao Xie the previous day—and seeing her in such a hurried state once again, Shaoyu's curiosity was heavily piqued. Making up a casual excuse to Zimu and the others, he parted ways with them and gave chase behind Shilan.

"Thief Chu, how come I haven't seen that kid Tianming these past few days?" Xiao Xie pushed open his door, stretched lazily, caught sight of Thief Chu, and asked aloud. Usually, the little fellow Tianming would run over to Guihai Manor to play and cause a ruckus every now and then. Without hearing Tianming's noisy presence these past few days, the sudden quietness around him made him feel somewhat unaccustomed for a moment.

Upon hearing Xiao Xie's words, Thief Chu laughed and said, "That kid Tianming somehow became infatuated with mechanism arts over the last couple of days! He's been pestering Old Man Ban to teach him mechanism arts nonstop. A few days ago, he even restored the Shangtong Ink Cube! Right now, he's probably somewhere deep in research on mechanism arts!"

In truth, Thief Chu held a bit of admiration for Tianming regarding mechanism arts. Aside from Old Man Ban, the only other person in the Mohist Clan capable of restoring the Shangtong Ink Cube was the Mohist Giant. Seeing Tianming restore the Shangtong Ink Cube a few days ago had given them quite a massive shock.

"Is that so? Well, it's fine if Tianming has taken a liking to mechanism arts; having something to do will also keep him out of trouble a bit more," Xiao Xie said with a smile upon hearing this. The Shangtong Ink Cube was essentially the Rubik's Cube of later generations. If he remembered correctly, Tianming learning mechanism arts should be for the purpose of repairing the mechanical Wushuang Ghost. Wait, speaking of which, Xiao Xie suddenly recalled a plotline: it seemed Xiao Hei was going to be captured by someone, and in order to save Xiao Hei, Shilan would nearly be hacked to death.

In the original story, Shaoyu had saved Shilan at the very critical last second. However, Xiao Xie could not guarantee that Shaoyu would appear in time now. In case any error occurred leading to Shilan coming to harm, he would truly regret it beyond measure.

Xiao Xie's expression changed abruptly. He dashed to Shilan's room, only to find that she was already gone. No longer caring about shocking the world, he formed hand seals with both hands, condensing a giant green sword made of leaves beneath his feet. Directing his cultivation technique, he shot away like a flying arrow in the direction of the back mountain.

"He... he flew away!" Thief Chu's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he witnessed this scene. Thief Chu had always been quite confident in his own lightness skill. Although Xiao Xie had also learned the Lightning God Movement Technique, in Thief Chu's mind, even if Xiao Xie's speed was faster than his own, it shouldn't have exceeded it by much. Yet what was he seeing right now? Xiao Xie had actually flown away on a sword! Wasn't that essentially using cheat codes?

"Boss Yan Dan, I finally understand why you passed the position of the Giant to Xiao Xie. He simply isn't human!" Looking at the retreating figure of Xiao Xie, Thief Chu shouted out loud.

***

"Little Chu, what are you shouting about? I heard you calling the Giant not human—be careful or I'll go tell him!" Xue Nu, dressed in a long blue dress, pushed open her room door and said teasingly.

Soon after, the door of the room beside Xue Nu also opened. Duanmu Rong, attired in a long white dress, stepped out and said with a somewhat cold demeanor, "Talking behind people's backs is not a very good habit."

Hearing the words of Duanmu Rong and Xue Nu, Thief Chu wore a bitter smile and quickly explained what had just happened.

"You mean the Giant flew away on a flying sword?" Xue Nu said with a trace of astonishment. Although she found it somewhat hard to believe, Thief Chu shouldn't be making that kind of joke.

Upon hearing Thief Chu's words, Duanmu Rong also furrowed her brow slightly. Sword flight sounded far too mystical!

"If you don't believe it, just wait until the Giant comes back and ask him yourselves!" Seeing the half-believing expressions on the faces of Duanmu Rong and Xue Nu, Thief Chu spoke up.

Hearing this, Duanmu Rong and Xue Nu exchanged glances and nodded. The concept of flying on a sword sounded so mysterious that it had already piqued their curiosity. It seemed they would have to demand a proper explanation from Xiao Xie.

***

Outside Sanghai City, in a spacious area within the back mountain, a dense crowd of people had gathered in a ring. A close observation of these people revealed that, judging by their uniform attire, they did not look like ordinary commoners nor fleeing refugees; they somewhat resembled soldiers, yet their somewhat tattered clothes made them look more like scattered bandits.

Although they wore uniform garments, they each appeared listless and lazy. They looked organized, yet somewhat lax at the same time. Following the line of sight of that group, right in the center of the circle they had formed, a woman in black was surrounded on all sides. A burly man with a massive frame, covered in rolls of fat and a fierce tiger tattoo on his body, was holding a giant axe and closing in on the woman step by step.

The big-bellied man let out a loud laugh, raised his axe, and prepared to slash down at the woman who had already fallen to the ground. Meanwhile, the surrounding crowd watched with the attitude of spectators enjoying a good show, with not a single person stepping forward to stop him, showing not the slightest shred of pity for the fair maiden.

"Ah!" the big-bellied man roared, lifted the giant axe, and without hesitation, hacked toward the woman.

The woman collapsed on the ground was by now powerless to resist. Watching as the opponent raised his blade and lowered it, with the giant axe inching closer and closer toward her, she had no chance of escape whatsoever. Death had apparently arrived so swiftly; closing her eyes in despair, the woman abandoned her final thread of hope and silently awaited the arrival of the Grim Reaper.

Yet after waiting for a long time, she felt no pain. Opening her eyes, she saw that the big-bellied man wore an expression of utter shock, his entire body bound by four thick vines that immobilized his limbs in place, rendering him completely unable to move. Seeing this familiar scene, a look of joyous relief bloomed across the woman's face.

***

"It seems I made it in time!" A voice of relief echoed from the sky, drawing the gaze of everyone present.

"How is this possible? Sword flight!"

"He's actually flying in the sky! Am I seeing things?"

"Is that fellow a human? Or an immortal?"

...

The crowd present looked at Xiao Xie standing atop the giant green sword in the sky, and pandemonium broke out instantly as they discussed it all at once.

Ignoring those people, Xiao Xie steered the giant sword to land right in front of Shilan. Arriving before her, he pulled her up, stroked the bridge of her delicate nose, and complained with a hint of reproach, "It's a good thing I arrived in time this time; otherwise, if something had genuinely happened to you, I would have died of heartache."

"I'm sorry." Hearing Xiao Xie's words, Shilan lowered her head in embarrassment. Originally, she had thought she could handle it herself and thus didn't want to trouble Xiao Xie. None of the people present should have posed a threat to her, but who could have expected this big-bellied man to be so troublesome? Her attacks were completely neutralized by the layers of fat on his body, failing to inflict any injury on him at all.

Xiao Xie lowered his head to press a gentle kiss upon Shilan's forehead, then said softly, "I don't need your apology. I only hope that the next time you encounter trouble, you will think of me first. Do you understand?"

"Mm!" Hearing this, Shilan felt a surge of emotion in her heart and nodded vigorously.

Having comforted Shilan, Xiao Xie turned his gaze toward the big-bellied man before them, a trace of killing intent flashing in his eyes. If he had arrived even a step later just now, Shilan truly would have died.