Death… and me

1361 Suddenly Unable To Move?

Both of them were plotting something in their minds. As such, they naturally held back part of their strength in preparation for what was coming up.

The other party drew their swords with great momentum, causing their hearts to palpitate wildly.

Maneuvering their sword light, the two of them charged into the opening!

Both of them were very tense and their muscles tightly wound, prepared to counter at any moment the enemies’ fatalistic strike that was sure to come! They knew — This strike would definitely be there and that there was no way it wouldn’t come. As long as they could withstand this one strike, they would be able to charge in!

If they couldn’t, then only the fate of becoming hostages would await them.

Good thing I’ve prepared a scapegoat, just that I’m not sure whether or not it’ll work…

The same thought was on both their minds, and both were secretly joyful and uneasy at the same time.

However, the next moment, the two of them received a surprise that was too much for their hearts to handle!

The other party… actually maintained that awe-inspiring pose full of murderous intent and didn’t even budge an inch! Allowing the two of them to dash right through the middle of the four of them…

Without even bothering to block them at all!

In fact, after they dashed through the opening, the four of them were still posing and being cool! They actually didn’t turn back to pursue them!

Even though they shouldn’t be looking behind them during a time of high-speed escape from a critical situation where their life was hanging by a thread, the two Sword Supremacies couldn’t help themselves from doing so.

After all, this was simply too weird.

Why did that happen?

When they looked back, they only saw four dignified backs!

Those four men continued to stand there in a mighty and imposing manner, their eyes fixated on the front…

“This is really weird.” Ye Zui muttered, “Could these four have come just to strike a pose to scare us?”

“Hurry and go, why do you have so much rubbish to say…” Chu Yang lectured Ye Zui huffily as he pulled him along. It was only at this point that the two of them were truly cooperating with their full effort as people in the same boat helping each other out. With a whoosh, they entered the Pagoda Mountain!

In just an instant, they disappeared without a trace into the fog.

Both of them understood that even though they were both plotting something, if no unexpected situation had cropped up with the other party, their chance of escape was infinitely close to none!

Fortunately for them, an unexpected incident had occurred on the other party’s side.

It was all thanks to this unexpected incident!

…

It wasn’t just Chu Yang and Ye Zui who were shocked into a daze. Zhuge Hun, who was chasing after them behind, couldn’t tell even more what he was feeling right now anymore.

Watching as he chased after them for so long — employing methods from trickery, bluff and psychological tactics to forcefully suppressing them — he had finally herded those two to the opening of the bag that he had set up.

The bag needed only to open up and those two would be captured immediately. There was absolutely no other possible result.

How was it that at this timing… the four fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artist experts actually fossilized simultaneously?

Zhuge Hun was originally sporting an easy smile of ‘the result is certain’ and ‘complete confidence’ as he chased after them at a speed neither quick nor slow, his actions calm and graceful.

From afar, when he saw the four clan experts making their move and striking a frightening pose, he had almost laughed out loud.

But the next moment, the four experts actually stayed in the same pose and allowed the enemies to charge right past them. And they didn’t even try to stop them in the least!

When the sight entered his vision, Zhuge Hun couldn’t catch his next breath. He fell onto the ground with a thud, rolling seven to eight times in succession like a ball on the grass before he finally got onto his feet again and rubbed his eyes as he looked over.

There was no mistake!

Those two had already vanished behind the four fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artists. Not even their shadows could be seen anymore.

Whereas the four fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artists were still sporting smug and triumphant ‘this is a piece of cake’ smiles of complete confidence on their faces and giving off a ‘the great task has been completed’ kind of aura…

While standing there and striking a pose!

Zhuge Hun felt like something had blown up in his mind.

Overwhelmed by dizziness and wanting to cry, he let out a deafening bellow. “What are all of you doing!”

His enraged shout thundered resoundingly in the surroundings, echoes resonating all around. Within the cloudy fog of the Pagoda Mountain, a series of echoes immediately bounced back.

‘What are all of you doing?’

‘-all of you doing?’

‘-of you doing?’

‘-you doing?’

‘-doing?’

‘-ing?’

‘-ing…’

This was truly well-said!

However, opposite him, the four Supreme Martial Artists remained standing with a dignified air, their faces full of delighted smiles like cats toying with a mouse. Their hands pressed against the hilts of their swords, their swords half-drawn and giving off chilly glints of light. Strong murderous intent permeated the air around them.

But they simply stood there without moving!

All four pairs of eyes full of ridicule stared at Zhuge Hun. Even their brows were still and unmoving.

In this instant, Zhuge Hun felt his heart turn cold.

What the f*ck… is going on here? Could it be that they weren’t the ones being scammed? But me instead?

Could these four fellows be the spies from the Ye Clan?

Cough, that’s not possible. One of them is even my ancestral grandfather…

How can that be?

Bringing his men along, Zhuge Hun strode up to the four Supreme Martial Artists in a flash. He yelled anxiously, “What exactly is going on? Why didn’t you stop them?!”

An interrogative tone permeated throughout his voice.

The four of them remained standing there all dignified and imposing, their faces full of smiles of ridicule…

Then, the four of them suddenly crashed onto the ground, each and every one of them falling all over the place and presenting an extremely sorry sight!

It was only after that that they finally climbed to their feet, each of them as though they had just woken up. “What’s going on? What was that just now?”

Zhuge Hun was so infuriated that he was practically smoking. He yelled furiously, “What’s going on? That’s my question! What was that just now? Why didn’t you stop them?!”

The four Supreme Martial Artists exchanged a look, memories of what had just happened coming back to them clearly.

Their bodies were the only thing that they had lost control over. Both their sight and hearing were working fine. They saw and heard everything that had happened earlier, just that they were filled with confusion — Why? Why were they suddenly unable to move?

“This…” Against Zhuge Hun’s rage, the four Supreme Martial Artists were rather ashamed of themselves, their words coming out in stutters. They were also rather horrified. If that source of power from earlier had wanted to kill them, wouldn’t that have been too easy?

“Just now… We don’t know what happened just now either… The four of us were about to make our move when all of a sudden… we couldn’t move anymore… And then, when you arrived, we were… we were suddenly able to move again…” One of the fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artists stammered.

Even though he had said what he did, even he himself didn’t believe it.

Therefore, he seriously didn’t hold much confidence in this explanation of his.

“Suddenly unable to move just now? And so, they passed you by? But the moment I came, you were able to move again? And so, you moved?” Zhuge Hun was so furious that he was close to passing out. Even his face was contorted as he yelled, “What kind of nonsense is that?! Do you yourselves even believe that!”

The four Supreme Martial Artists’ countenances were full of shame.

That’s right, what’s there to say about something that even we ourselves don’t believe? But… that was indeed what had happened earlier.

What are we supposed to say?

We can understand why you’re angry, but we’ve really been wronged too.

Zhuge Hun’s handsome face was totally red. “Do you have any idea what you just did? Huh?! Do you know how much calamity Ye Zui’s escape is going to bring to the Zhuge Clan? Do you know how much of a loss our clan has suffered by letting that person from earlier get away?”

“That’s the heavenly secrets guidance that three of our ancestors have used their lives to exchange for!”

Zhuge Hun bellowed, berating them furiously almost to the point of disregard for his image.

The four Supreme Martial Artists hung their heads, a look of frustration on their faces.

Even now, their minds were still in a jumbled mess.

This… What exactly happened? Could we have… run into something supernatural? But what kind of malicious ghost had the guts to bewitch the consciousness of four fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artists?

But otherwise, how are we supposed to explain this?

After a long while, everyone’s emotions finally calmed down. The four Supreme Martial Artists finally had an opportunity to explain themselves.

“…That’s really what happened. I felt a pressure on my shoulders and then I couldn’t move at all after that…” The countenance of the fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artist in the middle was filled with anxiety. “I’m not lying; I haven’t reached a point where I need to tell such a ridiculous lie… It’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the others.”

“That’s indeed the case. That’s really what happened…” The other three Supreme Martial Artists nodded heavily and repeatedly, as though little chicks pecking at grains. “The absolute truth, no lies whatsoever!”

Zhuge Hun wanted to faint.

“All of us are part of the pure bloodline of the Zhuge Clan. Would we betray our own clan?” There was a lot of conviction behind these words. Zhuge Hun couldn’t disbelieve him.

Besides, these four were really not people whom he was in the position to punish…

Could it be that there really was such a thing?

Zhuge Hun felt the need to calm his emotions and consider this issue.

“What kind of power was that?” asked Zhuge Hun. “What kind of expert can possess such power? A ninth-grade peak-level Supreme Martial Artist?”

The four fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artists revealed expressions of fear and uncertainty at the same time. “We don’t know, but what we can be sure of is that… it’s impossible for the Elder Master to possess that kind of power… With that in mind, even a ninth-grade peak-level Supreme Martial Artist may not be able to achieve it…”

The Zhuge Clan members were deep in discussion. All of them speculated and exchanged opinions regarding this incident that was so bizarre that it had reached the point of supernaturalism.

Zhuge Hun sighed to the heavens.

Ye Zui and that man had already entered the Pagoda Mountain. There was no longer any hope of capturing them.

“Withdraw at once and return to the clan!” Zhuge Hun made a prompt decision.

If they didn’t leave at once, not only would they be unable to capture them, they themselves wouldn’t be able to get back too — Ye Zui definitely wouldn’t take things lying down!

The Zhuge Clan members withdrew immediately, as though the receding tide.

Even until the point where they disappeared into the horizon, Zhuge Hun was still looking back again and again. After the failure this time, when would they have to wait until for their next chance? Must the Zhuge Clan lose another three ancestors to peek at heavenly secrets again?

Or perhaps… Since they could fail so absurdly this time even though it was pretty much in the bag, did they still have a winning chance the next time?

Was the Zhuge Clan really at the end of the road?

The footsteps of the Zhuge Clan members were incredibly heavy.

But those of the Lan Clan members were even heavier!

The Second Young Master was dead. He had died right in front of them in a most tragic manner.

They had followed Zhuge Hun to the Ye Clan’s territory without gaining anything at all. The only gain they got was leaving behind three human lives, including that of the clan’s Second Young Master!

The Eldest Young Master, Lan Ruo, was isolated in the Lower Three Heavens, unable to come back up.

The Third Young Master, Lan Changge, together with their Second Grandmaster Lan Muxue and 70 to 80 of the clan’s Supreme Martial Artists, had died in Tianji City.

More than 20 of the Lan Clan Supreme Martial Artists had, during the pursuit of Moon Breeze, died in the wilderness among the swirling snow.

And now, the Second Young Master, Lan Meng, had died in the Ye Clan’s territory.

In this past year, the Lan Clan’s capable and talented had truly withered to the point where they wanted to bawl the moment they thought about it.

Their footsteps were as if they were dragging along a million-ton weight. It wasn’t hard to imagine what they were going to be in for when they got back!

Every step was truly soaked with tears.

…

Chu Yang and Ye Zui rushed into the Pagoda Mountain, as quick as lightning.

Fearful of the enemy’s pursuit, they sprinted at high speed onto any path that they came across. In an instant, they felt like they had already turned seventeen to eighteen corners and passed by seventeen to eighteen three-way intersections. When the two of them looked back and ascertained that the enemy hadn’t caught up to them, they finally let out a breath of relief and fell onto the ground with a thud, panting heavily.