Chapter 894: Tenderness and Chivalry (I)

October 20th, Liaoyang Prefecture.

Late at night, in the wilderness, two wounded and bloodied men in black stood back to back, each holding a nearly bent steel knife in their hands. Their bloodshot eyes were filled with regret, resentment, hatred... and even a hint of despair.

At their feet, there were more than a dozen bodies still warm lying in a mess. Most of them were dressed the same as them, and they seemed to be their companions.

Around them, more than twenty Western Region masters led by Abaolu surrounded the two men. Each of them looked ferocious and looked at them with bloodthirsty and ferocious eyes, just like a group of hungry wolves staring at two lambs to be slaughtered.

"How dare you people from the Western Regions meddle in the affairs of the Central Plains martial arts? You simply don't know your place!" A fat man in black shouted harshly.

"We have been extremely careful and cautious along the way, but we are still targeted by many people." With a half-smile, Xunzhen walked forward leisurely accompanied by Xiao Yang, Su Hu, and Xun Budao, "Including you, we have encountered thirteen groups of people. Qingfeng is worthy of being the leader of the martial arts world. A Jianghu hunting order almost forced us into nowhere to hide."

"Since you know how powerful the leader of Qingfeng is, why don't you hand over Liu Xunyi obediently?" Another thin man in black threatened, "As long as you hand over Liu Xunyi, we in Kongtong Sect will not pursue what happened tonight. If you are stubborn, we..."

"The thirteen groups of people include both famous and upright sects like your Kongtong Sect and unknown bandits. They are quite powerful, but no one can get what they want." Xunzhen interrupted the threats of the men in black absentmindedly, and did not hide his ridicule and contempt for them in his words, "Why? It's because you are greedy and selfish. You all want to take the credit for killing Liu Xunyi. No one is willing to make the clues they found public, let alone join hands with other sects, for fear of making things difficult for others."

"This..." Having their selfish intentions exposed by Xunzhen's words, the two men in black could not help but show regret and embarrassment on their faces.

"There are thirteen groups of people. If any one of them was willing to abandon their own desires and put the overall situation first, we would not have survived until now." Xunzhen joked, "You are stupid, but you work hard day and night, and you are omnipresent, discovering our traces time and time again. You are smart, but you have your own ulterior motives and are wary of each other. Not only do you block the news, but you also fight openly and secretly, deliberately sabotaging us, giving me the opportunity to defeat you one by one."

"Xunzhen, you have been a guest of honor in the Xianwang Mansion, and Lord Luo treated you well. Now, instead of avenging him, you are protecting the traitor who murdered him. How is this different from a beast?" The fat man in black shouted angrily, "If you have any conscience, you should turn from evil to good and kill Liu Xunyi immediately to seek justice for Lord Luo."

"You Han people have a saying, 'Hearing is false, seeing is believing'. But I want to tell you that oftentimes, seeing is not necessarily the truth..." Having said this, Xunzhen suddenly snorted and laughed, waved his hand nonchalantly, "Forget it! You are all dying, and it will be in vain for me to say more."

"We have already reported your whereabouts to the Sect Master. If we die here, the Sect Master will never let it go!"

"Even if Zhongli Mu sets out now, it will take at least half a month to get here. Do you think I will stand here motionless and wait for him?"

"You evil woman, you will eventually perish if you do too much evil..."

"court death!"

Seeing the two men in black swearing at Xunzhen one after another, Abaolu's eyes suddenly turned cold. He shouted loudly, and flew up with other Western Region masters. They rushed to the two Kongtong disciples who were caught off guard like a hungry tiger. Before the two exhausted men could make a move to resist, countless swords and shadows came like a storm, and the two men who could not dodge in time were hacked to death in the blink of an eye.

"Miss Xunzhen..."

When Xunzhen was watching Abaolu and others cleaning up the mess with an expressionless face, a timid call suddenly came from behind him.

She frowned slightly and turned around quickly. Before Pan Yuyin, who was full of curiosity, could find out what was going on, Xunzhen had already stepped forward and blocked Pan Yuyin's sight with his body, as if he didn't want her to see the bloody and cruel scene.

"Miss Xunzhen, I heard a commotion in the carriage. Are you... okay?"

"It's nothing, I just ran into a few old friends, they've left now." Xunzhen smiled calmly, "Did Abaolu and the others speak too loudly and disturb Miss Pan's sweet dream?"

"No...no."

In fact, Pan Yuyin had already smelled the smell of blood in the air, but she knew that Xunzhen was very considerate and did not tell her for a reason, so she did not ask any further questions.

"We have been traveling day and night for more than ten days. Will the bumpy road worsen Liu Xunyi's injuries?" Xunzhen thought for a moment and asked, "Changbai Mountain is nearby. Do we need to find a place to rest for a day?"

"That's right!" As if awakened by Xunzhen's words, Pan Yuyin's eyes suddenly changed and she said hurriedly, "I came here to tell you that Brother Liu is awake!"

"what?"

Xunzhen was shocked. He stared blankly at Pan Yuyin, whose eyes were filled with joy, and said hesitantly, "Awake...what does that mean?"

"Brother Liu had been in a coma before, and his occasional reactions were all in a semi-conscious state. Just now, he suddenly opened his eyes and called my name, which really scared me." Recalling the scene just now, Pan Yuyin was still surprised and happy, and her voice couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"This..." Looking at the excited Pan Yuyin, Xunzhen was a little bit unbelievable. After all, it had been more than a month since she rescued Liu Xunyi in Lin'an, and he only woke up once because of the pain when he was pulling out the sword for him. Apart from that, Liu Xunyi never regained consciousness.

Xunzhen suddenly woke up tonight. He had already gotten used to Liu Xunyi's half-dead state, and he felt a little confused.

"Miss Xunzhen, Brother Liu wants to see you, come with me quickly!"

"Okay..." Xunzhen agreed subconsciously. Just as he was about to raise his foot, he suddenly had an idea. He reached out and grabbed Pan Yuyin, who was impatient, and asked suspiciously, "Miss Pan, could Liu Xunyi's sudden awakening be... a last gasp of energy?"

"Miss Xunzhen, don't worry too much. I have just checked his pulse. Although Brother Liu's injuries are still very serious, his awakening tonight is a sign of recovery of his energy and blood, not a last gasp of vitality. What Miss Xunzhen is worried about will not happen." Pan Yuyin smiled and gently held Xunzhen's hand to comfort her.

In an instant, Pan Yuyin noticed that Xunzhen's hands were as cold as jade, and looking at his hesitant and vague eyes, she knew in her heart that this was a sign of excessive nervousness.

It was rare that Xunzhen, who was always calm and composed, would be so worried about Liu Xunyi's injury. Pan Yuyin was slightly startled, and felt an indescribable bitterness in her heart for no reason.

The candlelight in the carriage was dim, making Liu Xunyi's pale and thin face look particularly haggard. He was barely breathing, and his life seemed to be hanging by a thread, but a hint of determination and stubbornness emerged from his cloudy eyes.

When Xunzhen got into the carriage with complicated thoughts, Pan Yuyin did not appear. Because she knew that at this moment... it was necessary for Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen to talk alone.

"you're awake."

Hearing Xunzhen's bland opening, the weakened Liu Xunyi's mouth twitched slightly, as if he wanted to answer. However, since he could not evenly adjust his breathing, his chest trembled, his lips and teeth trembled, and the wounds were affected, causing piercing pain, which made him frown subconsciously.

After enduring silently for a long while, Liu Xunyi's eyebrows gradually relaxed, and he exhaled a long, turbid breath. The first thing he said was not a greeting, but a self-deprecating one: "For the first time in my life, I feel the feeling of a 'sickly person'... I made a fool of myself, and Miss Xunzhen... Please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

"Do you think you have made a fool of yourself in front of me recently?" Xunzhen did not show any awkwardness or sadness after not seeing each other for a long time. He spoke in a simple and humorous manner just like when they were in the Xianwang Mansion. He was chatting and laughing freely. "I thought that the world-famous Liu Zhishan and Lord Liu were vigorous and full of fighting spirit. Who knew that you also had a weak and fragile side. I thought you were fearless and could walk through mountains of swords and seas of fire with ease, but I didn't know that you also had times when you cried and screamed. Haha... Today, you have already shown all kinds of ugly behaviors, and I am no longer surprised."

Facing Xunzhen's teasing, Liu Xunyi was embarrassed and helpless. Having practiced martial arts for many years, he had suffered countless injuries, big and small, and he knew that people who were seriously injured could do anything and say anything when their lives were in danger.

As for dignity, decency, reserve, demeanor... and so on, they are only treasured when people are safe and sound and in high spirits. Once they encounter a critical moment of excruciating pain and are on the verge of collapse, not to mention those insignificant "faces", even eating, drinking, defecating and urinating will become uncontrollable and unbridled.

People are people, not gods after all. Therefore, when Xunzhen teased Liu Xunyi for acting so ugly in front of her, he could guess how embarrassed he was without asking.

"Miss Pan has already told me..." Liu Xunyi stretched out his hand tremblingly and gently pointed at his chest, saying intermittently, "It was you who used your own blood... to save my life..."

"It's not a life, it's half a life!" Xunzhen smiled sweetly. Her pretty face looked like a lotus emerging from water under the dim yellow candlelight, gentle and flawless. "Whether you can recover or not depends on Granny Taohua's ability."

Perhaps it was because of the dim candlelight that blurred her vision, or because of her weak body that made her mind dazed, but Liu Xunyi was momentarily distracted. She stared blankly at Xunzhen, who had bright eyes and white teeth. After a long silence, she finally spoke softly, "Why did you save me?"

"Why do you want to die?" Xunzhen asked instead of answering.

"This……"

"In fact, this sword has already pushed you to the gates of hell. If you were not unwilling to do so, even the Golden Immortal would be helpless. If you really want to die, no one can save you. Therefore, instead of saying that I saved you, it is better to say that you saved yourself." After saying this, Xunzhen handed Qin Wei's sword to Liu Xunyi, whose eyes were trembling.

"This is... Qin Wei's sword..." Upon seeing the sword, Liu Xunyi was instantly overcome with grief and heartache.

"The person who saved you was you, and the person who hurt you... was also you." Xunzhen said meaningfully, "If you hadn't felt sympathy for Qin Wei, how could he have had the chance to pierce your chest with a sword?"

"I……"

"When we rescued you, Qin Wei's sword was stuck in your heart, but your sword was left in Lin'an." Xunzhen ignored Liu Xunyi's entanglement and said righteously, "After going through a life-and-death catastrophe, you should have come to your senses. Wuji Sword would rather be without an owner than have its owner be a coward who seeks death. Liu Xunyi, I tell you this not to make you feel sad and melancholy, but to hope that one day... you can get your sword back with dignity."

……

(End of this chapter)