Chapter 372: Ghost on the Prairie (Two in One)
Although he was annoyed, Sean was not panicked at all, because he had prepared a back-up plan. He let out a sharp roar, pushed off the ground with his feet and quickly retreated. At the same time, he swung his hands violently, and his ten fingers burst out, and countless sharp needles were sharpened by him and scattered in all directions.
I'm in trouble!
Mei Cheng'an, who was watching the battle from a distance, was amazed and at the same time, a question arose in his mind: where did Sean get these things?
How can one find time to collect and make these things while being busy running away, hiding oneself and setting traps?
I'm a time management master!
The four tiger guards were shocked when they heard the hissing sound of breaking wind. They immediately put away their swords, gripped the hilts tightly with both hands, and swung them quickly in front of them.
While protecting his whole body, he raised his arms high and blocked them in front of him together with the handle of the knife. This was to protect his eyes. It didn't matter if he was hit by a needle in other places, but not in the eyes.
They were all elite soldiers, and their reactions were quick, but even so, they still felt a lot of tingling pain all over their bodies, especially their hands, which were covered with fine wooden splinters. Fortunately, they blocked it in time and their eyes were not affected, so it was not a big problem!
Gundam, who had retreated earlier, was not idle either. He chopped again with his sword, and the strong wind from the sword blew away all the wooden thorns that were flying in his face. He was about to rush forward with the sword in both hands to fight Sean again, but Sean inexplicably disappeared in front of him. He looked up suddenly, and saw that Sean had turned into a faint shadow, penetrating the thick fog and reaching the end of the forest.
Where did Fan Xian go?
While everyone's attention was focused on Sean, Fan Xian, who had been on the scene since the beginning of the battle, took the opportunity to secretly become the sixth.
Where was he? Above everyone's head, that is, Linshao where Sean was about to arrive. The reason for choosing this place was that Sean was surrounded by the tiger guards below and had nowhere to escape. The only opening was the sky.
In fact, he was not sure whether Sean would come over here, but he could not intervene from below, nor did he want to intervene, because he wanted to fight Sean alone. Instead of helping from below, it would be better to block the gap in advance, and by the way, evaluate Sean's specific combat power in advance and observe what methods Sean had.
Fortunately, everything went as he wished and the opportunity came!
With a loud bang, Fan Xian, dressed in black with only a pair of eyes showing, was like a stone from outer space, smashing down from top to bottom towards Sean, who was about to reach the highest point and whose true energy was about to run out. He wanted to reach out and grab a branch for leverage.
In a flash, he collided with Sean. He raised his elbow and wrist, and a slender dagger shining with black light stabbed towards Sean's throat fiercely. Even though he had the advantage of time, place and people, Fan Xian still did not dare to be careless, and his first move was a killing move.
However, at this moment, Fan Xian was shocked to find that Sean's eyes, hidden under his dry hair, were actually calm.
There was even a hint of smile at the corner of his mouth.
Have you discovered me already?
Yes, Sean discovered him not long after he took off. On the surface, he pretended not to know, but in fact, all his attention was focused on him.
This is actually the moment he was waiting for!
Another shriek came from the dry lips of this old man who was extremely eager for freedom. His hands quickly crossed, one hand grasped Fan Xian's wrist holding the knife with great dexterity and precision, while the other hand stretched out two fingers and went straight to Fan Xian's exposed eyes like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
It happened in a flash. In an instant, the two people who were falling rapidly hit a very thick tree branch. With a snap, the branch broke.
And Sean seemed to have taken this into account. He groaned without changing his expression. He deliberately kept his elbow behind, and actually used the recoil force of the impact with the tree branch just now to speed up and dig towards Fan Xian's eyes.
Sean's fingers were not as dry as those of an ordinary person of his age, but his nails were very long and polished to be very sharp. The inside of his nails was very dirty, and there was even a green stained from somewhere, with a faint green luster. It looked very scary, but Fan Xian was not afraid of it at all. Instead, his eyes became brighter.
Sean's hands were fast, but Fan Xian's hands were even faster. Like a dragon emerging from the sea, they stretched out from somewhere along the winding curve. In the blink of an eye, two arms belonging to different owners were twisted together like a twist.
There was a flash of shock and confusion in Sean's eyes, as if he had no idea how Fan Xian had extended that hand.
In fact, this is a prediction, a prediction of the enemy's attack method, an instinctive prediction forged under Wuzhu's inhumane beatings with sticks.
Is Sean scary? Scary!
But no matter how terrifying he is, he is not as terrifying as Wuzhu!
Fan Xian held Sean's arm tightly, his fingertips clasping his wrist tightly, and urged the domineering true Qi in his body to attack the opponent. Sean's eyes turned bloodshot and he was shocked beyond words. He really couldn't believe that his pure and deep true Qi was so vulnerable when it met the opponent's true Qi. What he couldn't imagine was that the destructive power of the opponent's not-so-deep true Qi could be so amazing. There was such a domineering true Qi in the world.
A look of pain flashed across his face, and Sean ignored the extreme pain coming from his wrist. He desperately gathered the internal energy in his body to block the invading internal energy. For a moment, he only cared about this side and naturally ignored the other side. Fan Xian twisted his wrist, easily broke free, and then he turned his wrist sideways, and a ray of light cut through the white mist.
That's a black blade!
Sean held Fan Xian's wrist with his palm again, and then he kneed Fan Xian in the abdomen. Fan Xian pulled his abdomen in and arched it upwards, dodging the move, but his energy also stagnated for a moment. At this moment! Sean's eyes flashed, and he seized the opportunity. He moved the hand that was attacking his eyes slightly downward, stretched his four long fingers straight and folded them in half, and pulled his arm horizontally with force. The extremely dark black light in the long nails shone slightly, and narrowly passed over Fan Xian's neck.
Although the suddenly appearing blade did not actually touch the skin on Fan Xian's neck, it also caused a layer of fine bumps. If he had not subconsciously leaned back a little further, he would have probably reached heaven by now. He didn't even have time to feel scared or angry before he felt a chill on his shoulder. He knew that it was the feeling of his flesh being cut by the blade hidden in his fingernails.
The dagger in his left hand was blocked by Sean, while his right hand continued to compete with Sean in internal strength. At first glance, he had no strength to fight back, but he felt a pain in his shoulder, and Fan Xian groaned in anger. The fingers of his left hand moved slightly, as if he pressed something, and suddenly a blade emerged from under the dagger. Sean was caught off guard and had a finger cut off by the sharp blade.
If you cut me, I will cut off one of your fingers! Fan Xian showed a cold smile. Is that the end? Obviously not. Fan Xian's revenge is not limited to this. No matter how strong Sean is, he is old after all. The pain of the broken finger makes his right hand loosen slightly. Fan Xian seizes the opportunity and presses down violently in silence. Sean pulls to the left with all his remaining strength, and the dagger emitting a dark luster fiercely pierces his left shoulder.
At this time, the two were still in the process of falling. This time, Sean didn't even groan, and was silent as if the knife did not stab him. In fact, the pain brought to him by this knife was indeed not as great as the pain of severed fingers, but two consecutive injuries also completely aroused his ferocity. Sean opened his mouth and let out a sharp scream, and a thin needle suddenly shot out of his mouth and hit Fan Xian in the face, followed by another more ferocious knee strike.
Fan Xian's pupils shrank and he was shocked. Firstly, he really didn't expect that Sean still had a hidden weapon, and secondly, it was because... he was too close to Sean!
Can he dodge this attack? Yes, he did, but he could not dodge the lower part, and his lower abdomen was hit hard.
The severe pain in his abdomen made his breath stagnate. Sean seized the opportunity to break free from his arms, grabbed his arms tightly, twisted his body, and turned over. The positions of the two were instantly reversed, but this was not over yet. Sean moved as fast as lightning, grabbed the dagger on his left shoulder, roared, and pulled it out with force. The blade flashed and went straight to Fan Xian's neck.
The people watching the fight below were shocked. Mei Cheng'an turned his wrist and a silver needle appeared on his fingertips. He raised his hand and was about to throw it out, but suddenly stopped. His eyes flashed and he put his hand down again because he had no need for it.
A second before the blade was about to cut Fan Xian's neck, Sean suddenly stopped moving, and his bloodshot eyes regained clarity for a moment.
Fan Xian certainly couldn't just sit there and wait for death, but Sean's sudden stop stunned him, and he even forgot to continue restraining him.
Sean snorted coldly and threw the dagger away. He then raised his upper body and knelt on Fan Xian with his knees. With a loud shout, his body suddenly flew into the air. He straightened his legs and kicked Fan Xian's stomach hard again. With the help of the recoil force, he flashed and quickly climbed to a thicker tree trunk nearby. After several consecutive jumps and climbs, he soon disappeared.
The two were about to land, and Sean's kick accelerated Fan Xian's falling speed, so fast that Gundam had no time to move to serve as a cushion. Then a loud bang was heard, and the thick fog dispersed, stirring up countless fallen leaves.
The battle between Fan Xian and Sean came to an end. Their silent fight seemed to last for a long time, but it was only the process of falling from the treetops to the ground.
In just a moment, an old man and a young man in the thick fog of the dark night silently carried out the most brutal competition in the world.
The layman watches the excitement, while the expert watches the details. There is no layman present, so they are very clear about one thing.
Those seemingly ordinary moves between the two of them, such as kneeling and wrist twisting, actually embodied the most exquisite killing skills of the Northern Wei Dynasty at that time, as well as the top tricks that Fan Xian had learned from Wu Zhu since he was a child.
Although not fancy, the actual combat effect is amazingly effective. If anyone else were to fight these two men in close combat, they would probably be quickly killed by their endless and continuous various unexpected little tricks.
……
The distance from the treetop to the ground is about three or four feet. If an ordinary person falls from this height, he will be crippled if not dead.
After all, Fan Xian is not an ordinary person.
Fan Xian opened his eyes wide, but everything in front of him was dark. He felt as if all his internal organs were displaced by the shock. He did not feel any pain, just confusion. His ears were strangely quiet and he could not hear any sound.
Mei Cheng'an calmly withdrew his gaze, seemingly not worried about Fan Xian's condition at all. He glanced at Wang Qinian beside him and said softly.
"Don't just stand there, give me the sword and go."
Wang Qinian was opening his mouth in amazement at the sudden change in the situation over there. It took him a while to come back to his senses after hearing what was said. He moved his lips and wanted to say something, but when he saw the calm expression of his young master, the words turned into an "oh" at his lips.
He handed the sword in his hand to his young master, glanced at Fan Xian, and quickly rushed in the direction where Sean left.
Mei Cheng'an glanced at the sword in his hand, threw it and grabbed the top of the hilt, using it as a hiking stick as support as he walked towards Fan Xian.
When he got closer, looking at Fan Xian who was surrounded by Gundam and four other tiger guards and who kept shouting Yang Mi's famous quotes, Mei Cheng'an paused, shook his head, turned in a direction and walked towards the two tiger guards who were knocked down by Sean first. When he arrived in front of the two who were resting against the tree, he stretched out his hand to stop them from struggling to salute, took out a small green bottle from his waist, threw the sword on the ground, unscrewed the lid, poured out two small white pills from the bottle, handed them to the two, and spoke concisely.
"For healing, one pill per person."
This was specially developed by him before setting out. It was originally prepared for several maids and Wang Qinian in case of emergency and he did not have time to heal their injuries personally.
The two tiger guards did not waste any time. One of them took a pill from his palm and swallowed it directly. This medicine was made by Mei Cheng'an using many extremely precious medicinal materials. The effect of the medicine was naturally excellent. Not long after the two of them took it, their pale faces quickly became rosy. It was impossible for their injuries to be healed, but the pain in their bodies was greatly reduced. They could clearly feel that the injuries in their lungs were recovering quickly.
After a moment's thought, the two of them opened their eyes at the same time and bowed to Mei Cheng'an.
"Thank you for the medicine, sir."
Mei Cheng'an smiled, stretched out his hand, took the long sword on the ground, adjusted it to its original shape, and whispered to the two of them.
"Just sit and meditate, the work is not over yet."
"Yes, my lord."
After taking a look at the two people who were sitting cross-legged in meditation, Mei Cheng'an walked towards Fan Xian. By now he had recovered and his five senses had returned to normal. With the help of Gundam, he moved to a big tree and sat down with his back against the trunk.
"Are you okay?"
Fan Xian covered his chest and said nothing, but shook his head. Although he liked to show off his strength sometimes, he would not do that to his own injuries. The blade that Sean hid in his fingernails was indeed poisoned, but that poison was nothing to him. He had also taken detoxifying pills, and the wound on his shoulder was not as harmful to him as the fall.
There will definitely be some temporary pain, but it’s not a big problem!
Mei Cheng'an saw that he didn't seem to have any internal injuries, so he didn't take out the little green bottle.
"Sean's side..."
After taking a breath and catching his breath for a while, Fan Xian asked.
Mei Chengan replied softly, "I asked Lao Wang to chase him. Don't worry, he can't get away."
Fan Xian nodded and said nothing, his eyes thoughtful.
Mei Cheng'an looked at him and suddenly asked.
"You shouldn't have been distracted at the last moment. You had a chance to keep him."
Gao Da, who was treating Fan Xian's shoulder wound, was stunned when he heard this. He looked at Mei Cheng'an and then at Fan Xian.
It turns out that Lord Fan was still able to fight back at that time?
After a moment of silence, Fan Xian spoke.
"He didn't kill me. There's no reason for him not to kill me."
Gundam paused for a moment, looked at Fan Xian's profile and thought to himself, "Sir, have you fallen and become stupid? I won't be happy unless I kill you."
Mei Chengan raised his eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth curled up quietly, but soon he put it away, shrugged his shoulders and said casually
"Perhaps he foresaw that he could not kill you, or he thought that if he really killed you, we would persevere against him, which would be detrimental to his subsequent escape, so he showed mercy."
Fan Xian raised his head with a suspicious look.
"Is that right?"
Mei Chengan smiled.
"It makes sense, doesn't it? I can't think of any other reason besides this."
As he said this he suddenly looked towards Gundam.
"What do you think, Lao Gao?"
Fan Xian also looked over there.
After Gaoda applied the medicine evenly on the wound on Fan Xian's shoulder, he covered it with a layer of gauze, gently helped him close his collar to press down the gauze to prevent it from falling off, and then he replied.
"Sir, I think what Mistress Xiaomei said makes sense. This should be the case."
After hearing this, Fan Xian thought for a moment and shrugged subconsciously.
"Okay, hiss~"
"Sir, are you okay?"
"It's okay! I just pulled the wound, it's not a big deal."
Fan Xian covered his shoulder and shook his head.
"Lao Gao, please bring someone to help retrieve my crossbow arrows and dagger. I may need them later."
"Yes."
Gundam responded by standing up and leaving with the four tiger guards.
Mei Cheng'an helped him stand up.
"Small-scale close combat is useless to you. When you meet Sean next time, you can try to fight more aggressively."
Fan Xian nodded, and suddenly smiled as if he was thinking of something.
"This wave was not completely fruitless. Not to mention the broken finger and the stabbing, the most important thing was to draw out all his hidden weapons and tricks. From now on, I can fight him with all my strength."
Mei Chengan smiled and said nothing.
Sean really suffered a heavy loss this time!
There's nothing he can do about it. It's his own fault for making him so worried.
"come yet?"
Fan Xian asked without any context.
Mei Cheng'an knew what he was asking and shook his head.
Even though he was watching the battle intently, he also kept abreast of his surroundings. None of Haitang Duoduo, Yan Xiaoyi, and Uesugi Hu showed up, which made him feel fortunate but also regretful.
The crossbow arrow was easy to find, but the dagger was hard to find. It was not because Sean threw it far away, but mainly because the fog blocked the view.
Fortunately, the direction and approximate landing point were clear, and the five people successfully found it after splitting up and searching.
He reset the mechanism on the dagger, shortened the blade and inserted it into the boot, then reloaded the three short crossbow arrows.
"Okay, let's go."
Mei Cheng'an nodded silently and rushed forward first. Fan Xian, Gaoda and his group followed suit and leaped forward. Nine figures broke through the heavy fog and started a new round of pursuit.
……
Sean consumed too much true energy and flew in the air for a short time. When he was a little further away from the group of people, he landed and used a method that consumed less true energy to escape out of the forest silently.
Sean covered his lips with his hands, forcibly suppressing the urge to cough violently.
After nearly twenty years in prison, his heart meridians had long been damaged. After falling that distance from the treetops, he could even clearly and sadly feel that his brain was even slower than his limbs.
If it were himself twenty years ago, he firmly believed that he could easily kill him at that short distance... and use all the means to deal with the child. Even if there were seven knife-wielding masters under the tree, and even if there was a ninth-rank master who was watching quietly and never made a move, as long as he had the familiar North Sea fog to accompany him, he still firmly believed that he could easily escape.
But he is old after all.
The wound on his shoulder could not be stopped at all. The two blades of the child's strange dagger were a bit strange. The blood kept flowing, flowing down his arm and dripping onto the ground.
Fortunately, there were some rotten leaves on the ground, which barely covered up the bloody smell.
Sean felt weak and dizzy, which were symptoms of excessive blood loss. However, a smile inexplicably appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his eyes sparkled with a hint of relief. He tore off a piece of clothes, turned it with one hand, and magically stopped the bleeding with a strange pressing method.
While moving quickly, Sean did not forget to lower his head to observe, and from time to time he pulled out some mushrooms from under the tree, stuffed them into his mouth, and swallowed them after simply chewing them twice. This kind of redwood mushroom unique to this place has the effect of replenishing blood and disinfecting. This dwarf fir forest was a place he was very familiar with decades ago, which is why he chose to escape from here. Unexpectedly, he was ultimately unable to shake off the pursuit of the young men.
The sky gradually brightened, but the thick fog still did not dissipate. The white morning light shone through and refracted the thick fog, causing it to unexpectedly emit a holy smell.
Bathed in the holy light, Sean felt much better and successfully broke through the fog and escaped from the dense forest, heading straight for the Chaos Cave.
It’s almost there, it’s almost there. As long as he gets through this last section, he will really escape. He can already smell the scent of freedom.
The more Sean thought about it, the more excited he became. He felt all the fatigue in his body disappear in an instant and he sped up again.
……
However, Sean was destined to be disappointed. While he was fighting desperately with the pursuing Tiger Guards Fan Xian and others in the dense forest, on the grassland at the border, the reception personnel he had been expecting to meet with also started a fight.
No, assassinated would be a more appropriate description.
Because they were facing two women who were as elusive as ghosts, and they did not fight them head-on at all.
Lurking, attacking by surprise, and retreating after one strike regardless of whether the attack was successful or not, repeating this cycle over and over again, as fast as a phantom, reaping their lives like the god of death.
They were completely unable to resist, and could not organize any effective defense, because the team leader, who was an eighth-grade master, was killed at the first opportunity. There were also deputy generals and team leaders who tried to give orders and organize to meet the enemy, but they all died one after another, brutally killed by the two ghosts hidden in the endless green waves.
Panic and escape were of no use; instead, they accelerated the harvesting journey of the two ghosts. It took only half an hour, and only a few war horses were left standing on the green waves.
A gust of wind blew, and the green waves undulated, revealing one corpse after another with different causes of death.
Suddenly, two figures emerged. They were Shadow's beloved disciples, Blue Bird and Green Ant. They looked at each other silently, then separated and walked silently through the pool of blood. Each of them picked up a knife and stabbed the dead people crawling on the ground one by one, without checking whether they were still alive. The battlefield was filled with muffled sounds of puffing.
……
(End of this chapter)
