Slandered

Chu Xisheng and Liang Manli were running quickly in the cave passage.

Although the cave was deep and dark, it was not completely devoid of visibility. The walls here had faint lava-like patterns, emitting a slight reddish glow, allowing people to barely see the path ahead.However, the temperature inside the cave was also very high. Even though it was already hot in the town outside, the temperature inside the cave was even higher.

After running for a while, Chu Xisheng started to pant heavily. He had the 'Six Yin Returning Soul Curse', which accumulated a large amount of cold poison Yin energy in his body, damaging his lungs and meridians.After running for a period of time, he felt as if his chest was about to explode.

Fortunately, when Lu Luanli noticed his abnormality, she directly slapped a talisman on his back — it was a teleportation talisman.As soon as the spell was activated, Chu Xisheng felt his steps becoming much lighter, and his physical strength gradually recovered.He was able to run and observe his system panel at the same time.Just now, another small firework burst in his field of vision.The martial arts points on the system panel also increased from 25 to 26.

Chu Xisheng thought of the three people he had killed, pondering.He had also taken lives before, having killed three people while working for the escort team before.But at that time, there was no change in his system.

If there was any difference, it was that the strength of the short man was strong, almost reaching the peak of the ninth rank.

If this person was adequately guarded against his fast sword and adopted a steady strategy, Chu Xisheng estimated that his chances of winning were not high.

Chu Xisheng estimated that the 'Yazi' knife intent still had an effect.If the short man was not affected by the mental shock and his knife speed slowed down slightly, they could both suffer injuries.

Chu Xisheng could still kill this person, but he would also be injured.At this moment, Chu Xisheng felt a slight dizziness in his mind, and a feeling of exhaustion spread throughout his body.

Chu Xisheng quickly realized that this was the aftermath of using the 'knife intent'.While using mental shock to attack the opponent, his own mental power also suffered considerable depletion.

After shaking off the people behind for a while, Lu Luanli looked at Chu Xisheng with appreciation and said, "Those three knives just now were really good, concise and fierce, like thunder. What's rare is that they also triggered knife intent. That should be the 'Yazi Knife Intent' you comprehended in the library? Unfortunately, your cultivation is limited, and you can't control it autonomously yet."

After praising him, she reached out to Chu Xisheng and said, "Give me your knife."

Chu Xisheng's face twitched, already guessing what Lu Luanli wanted to do.

This woman obviously wanted to shift the blame onto him.Without hesitation, Chu Xisheng handed over the Hundred Refinements Light Steel Knife in his hand and silently drew another steel knife from behind him.After receiving the knife, Lu Luanli weighed it in her hand, then suddenly accelerated, creating a breeze in the cave passage.

As she rushed towards the bend ahead, she leaped into the air, unexpectedly stepping on the right side of the stone wall, speeding around the corner.On the other side of the bend were five men in blue robes.Three of these men were armed with knives, while the other two were holding strong crossbows, aimed forward.

However, Lu Luanli, stepping on the stone wall, horizontally crossed the air, launching a surprise attack from an unexpected angle.The young man leading the group's pupils contracted abruptly, watching as the Hundred Refinements Light Steel Knife grew larger in front of his eyes.

"Who are you, do you know I am from the Long Family—"

Before this person could finish speaking, the white blade light had already severed his neck.Lu Luanli also used the 'Wind Chaser Knife', but her knife skills were even swifter and more decisive, her movements graceful and composed, as if she was dancing rather than engaging in combat.

As she weaved through the five men, not a drop of blood stained her body.It was only at this moment that Chu Xisheng belatedly turned the corner. He looked at the five corpses on the ground, a twitch at the corner of his lips.

From the wounds of these five men, Chu Xisheng could tell that Lu Luanli not only imitated his Wind Chaser Knife, but also applied the perfect amount of force.Just right, matching Chu Xisheng strength exactly, not a bit more, not a bit less.Outside the Firebone Cave, the eldest son of the Long Family, Long Heng, stood with his hands behind his back, leisurely observing the three corpses on the ground.

His face was like a full moon, with delicate features, phoenix-like narrow eyes, dressed in a white satin Confucian robe, sleeves billowing, his long hair cascading freely over his shoulders, exuding the aura of an ancient scholar-warrior.

"This person's knife is indeed very fast. Long Si's cultivation is already relatively outstanding among those below the ninth rank, yet he was cut down with one stroke. What's rare is the perfect application of force, the wounds are clean, neither too deep nor too shallow, just enough to be fatal."

Long Heng commented with a clicking sound, as if the corpses he was looking at were strangers, not his trusted subordinates.

He then turned his head and smiled at a young man behind him, "A person who hasn't even reached the standard of Yuan Gong can display such swift knife skills. Little brother, you lost without injustice. By the way, I heard that the person who killed the Bloodwind Thief Artisan at the Zhengyang Martial Hall is also called Chu Xisheng?"

The young man was Long Sheng, with white cloth wrapped around his wrist, and he timidly raised his hand to reply, "Indeed, it is this person. It is said that many people in the Zhengyang Martial Hall witnessed it with their own eyes."

Before he could finish speaking, a 'smack' echoed across his face.It was the sound of Long Heng slapping Long Sheng across the face.

Lord Long exerted great force, causing Long Sheng to stagger back several steps before finally stopping, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He pressed his face, looking at his elder brother in disbelief.

"Do you know why I hit you?" Long Heng's voice contained a sneer as he walked towards his younger brother. "It's not wrong for you to seek revenge on him, even to want to kill him. This man dared to disrespect the Long family and deserved to die. The only thing you shouldn't have done is to create trouble at this time.

Do you know how much demon silver I spent, how many favors I used, and how much manpower I mobilized to ambush Iron Flag gang's Tie Xiaosheng? Right now, manpower is stretched thin, but you dared to secretly command my subordinates to kill an insignificant person."

Long Sheng continued to retreat, his face turning pale. Just as he backed against the stone wall behind him, with no room left to retreat, a young man in blue robes with a long sword on his back stood in front of Long Heng.

"Enough, Junior Brother Long, he is after all your younger brother, a small punishment is enough." The man appeared to be in his early twenties, with sharp features and fair skin. He glanced at Long Sheng and said with emphasis, "Don't blame your brother for being ruthless. This time, we managed to severely wound Tie Xiaosheng by catching him off guard. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate him, let the vice leader of the Iron Flag gang catch his breath, the foundation of the Long family in Fire Bone Cave will be unstable. Your elder brother is currently setting up checkpoints in the cave, searching for Tie Xiaosheng. Every pair of hands is precious at this moment—"

Before he could finish speaking, a man in a blue short shirt rushed out from deep within the cave. The young man with the sword recognized him as a member of the Long clan's soldiers and couldn't help but pause in his speech.

"Eldest Young Master!" The man in the short shirt hurriedly knelt in front of Long Heng. "We found that Long Zheng and his men were all killed. We examined the wounds and it seems the killer used the Wind Chasing Knife, with swift and fierce knife techniques, likely carried out by Chu Xisheng. The man and woman fled into the cave and happened to pass through the entrance guarded by Long Zheng—"

At that moment, another similarly dressed young man rushed out, his face pale. "Eldest Young Master, Long Wu's Fifth Team has been completely wiped out, the killer used the Wind Chasing Knife, suspected to be Chu Xisheng!"

Long Heng was momentarily stunned before letting out a light laugh. "In such a short time? Less than half a quarter and already killing thirteen of my men. Unbelievable, is this truly a Ninth Rank? This person has such a ruthless heart and fierce blade!"

He glared fiercely at his brother Long Sheng, then turned to the sword-bearing youth. "Brother Du, this is quite troublesome, I can only rely on you. I have eighteen riders from the Heng Gate, you can choose three to go."

Upon hearing this, Brother Du raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking Long Heng placed too much importance on this 'trouble'. The eighteen riders of the Heng Gate were elite warriors personally trained by Long Heng, each possessing the strength of a Ninth Rank. Armed with heavy armor, equipped with precious blades, they were armed to the extreme, rivaling the combat power of Eighth Ranks. Any three of these eighteen riders working together would be enough to deal with Chu Xisheng. Yet, besides these three heavily-armored warriors, Long Heng also wanted to personally intervene. Brother Du did not refuse. He smiled and then walked towards the depths of the cave.