Chapter 236 Turning Against Each Other: I'm Willing to Repay Blood with Blood

Lou Cangyu felt as if he were back on the day of the sword test. Ajiu's face was covered in blood, and he was terrified but also happy. Afterwards, he was a little annoyed and wanted to gouge out Ajiu's left eye since blood had already been drawn. What could Ajiu do to him then? How could a one-eyed Ajiu compete with him? As he felt a surge of pleasure, he regretted it so much that he pounded the wall. If there was a next time... he would never be so lenient.

This is it. Lou Cangyu changed his sword again, quickly turned around and launched a counterattack, the sword tip aimed straight at Ajiu's neck. This was the exact same move as before, he also changed direction in the same way, and thrust his sword at Ajiu's neck. The only difference was that last time he deliberately held back some of his strength, but this time, he had given it his all.

The last time he managed to hit the target, he was betting that Ah Jiu hadn't expected the brothers to go for the kill. This time, Lou Cangyu is also betting.

Ajiu coldly observed the sword strike, his dark eyes icy, as if everything was within his expectations.

Lou Cangyu was betting on what Ajiu expected—did Ajiu think he would still stab him in the throat? Lou Cangyu sneered inwardly, his sword blade pressing down with a cunning glint, the bullseye no longer the throat, but Ajiu's heart.

"Damn it!" Feng Shisan suddenly glanced sideways and exclaimed, "Lou Cangyu, you've gone for the kill again."

Ajiu didn't even tilt his body; he stood still without moving. Feng Shisan rubbed his eyes. How come Lou Cangyu's sword... was frozen in mid-air?

Lou Cangyu couldn't believe it either. Ajiu had actually used two fingers to pinch the sword he had thrust out with all his might... Lou Cangyu gritted his teeth and channeled his energy, but the blade remained motionless, unable to penetrate or be pulled out.

"That's all you've got." Ajiu's knuckles cracked, and with a crisp sound, the blade broke in two. "Lou Cangyu, your sword has broken again."

It broke again... Lou Cangyu's head felt like it had been hit with a stick, and it broke again...

"Do you still have the face to live?" Ajiu said sarcastically. "Last time, when your sword broke, you wanted to cut yourself off from the world, but everyone stopped you. This time... you should end it yourself. Unfortunately, those who are alive are either dead, gone, or enemies who want you dead. No one can save you like Ji Fang did."

"Die?" Lou Cangyu snorted and thrust the broken sword at Ajiu. "The sword is broken, so you're the one who's going to die."

Ajiu didn't even dodge Lou Cangyu's moves, his elbow smashing Lou Cangyu's sword hilt straight away. With a roar, he clenched his fist and struck Lou Cangyu in the chest. This time, he didn't hold back either, and his fist fractured. Lou Cangyu felt as if a boulder had struck his chest, and he staggered back more than ten steps. His knees buckled and he knelt on the ground, barely managing to stay upright with his broken sword supporting him. A metallic taste rose in his throat, and he coughed up thick blood.

"No, I won't lose. I almost... gouged out one of your eyes. I won't lose."

"Great! Great!" Lou Cangyu heard the cheers of the crowd. He looked up in a daze and looked around. How come... he wasn't in the Zetian Hall of the Imperial Palace? Where was he?

Ancestral hall? It's the ancestral hall of Xingguo Ward. Aren't those the master swordsmen from the ward surrounded by them? There's also Guan Ye peeking out, the silly older brother hiding in the back, and the mother squeezed in at the front... She looked at her son with a mixture of joy and nervousness in her eyes.

There was also Pei Yuan, the master of the workshop, sitting upright in the center, with Pei Bi respectfully standing to his side. On the table was a sword box, decorated with gold patterns, and inside was the Meteor Sword.

And… Lou Cangyu blinked hard. There were five young swordsmen standing tall and proud: Ajiu, Xiao Ma, Feng Shisan, Ji Fang… and… and himself… how could he be in there? Lou Cangyu instantly realized that he couldn't possibly be missing. He was a swordsman from Xingguo Ward.

"—Anyone want to try out this meteor sword?"

"Your subordinate, Lou Cangyu, is willing to give it a try."

"Great! Great!" the crowd cheered in unison. What were they cheering for? Lou Cangyu looked down with a dazed expression. He had been defeated by Ajiu. Last time it was the same, and this time... it was the same. The people cheering for him were never him. Not before, not now, and never in the future.

Lou Cangyu suddenly felt a chill in his chest. He looked up and saw that Ajiu's sword was already pressed against his heart, the blade tearing through his brocade robe and approaching his flesh.

"Ah Jiu," Lou Cangyu's Adam's apple bobbed, "We've been brothers on Canglang Island for so many years..."

"Where's Xiao Ma?" Ajiu asked coldly. "He's your brother too."

"I had no intention of killing him!" Lou Cangyu roared in a final desperate attempt. "Why did he come back? He was already gone, why did he come back! He brought this upon himself, it has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me!"

"You should still kill him." Ajiu tightened her wrist slightly, the sword piercing half an inch deeper, as if she wasn't in a hurry to take his life.

"Ajiu." Lou Cangyu sensed Ajiu's hesitation and hurriedly said, "Don't kill me. My mother and elder brother are still waiting for me to return to the island. I am their little stone."

"Waiting for you to go back?" Ajiu found it amusing. "Waiting for you to lead a large army onto the island and kill everyone there?"

Lou Cangyu shook his head fiercely, pointing to the sky and cursing, "No, I will never... I will never betray everyone again, Ajiu... forget it, forget it, okay? I can still wield a sword. I will help you, I will help you fight your way out. We will go back to the island together and never come out again, never come out again."

Ajiu touched his brow bone. "Ji Fang said that if you cut off your eyebrow the day after tomorrow, your brothers will turn against each other. This sword was given to me by you, and it was you who... forced your brothers to turn against each other. You are reaping the consequences of your own actions. Even a god can't save you."

Without further hesitation, Ajiu pierced Lou Cangyu's heart with her sword. Lou Cangyu stood there stunned. Ajiu's face was cold, but he never believed that Ajiu would really kill him. Now, with the sword drawn, his life was over, and he was really going to die.

"A-Jiu..." Lou Cangyu trembled, his body growing colder and colder as if he were falling into an icy lake. Was this what it felt like to be near death? A sudden realization struck Lou Cangyu. He remembered Xiao Ma before he died; Xiao Ma's bright eyes had gradually dimmed before he died. Was he experiencing the same thing now...? "A-Jiu..." Lou Cangyu pressed down on A-Jiu's hand, using his last bit of strength to stop him from drawing his sword. "No...no..."

Ajiu resolutely pushed away Lou Cangyu's hand, and resolutely pulled out her breasts. Hot blood gushed from Lou Cangyu's chest. Lou Cangyu cried out and collapsed to the ground, curling up and struggling on the ground.

Lou Cangyu opened his eyes, wanting to take one last look at the world he so longed to leave. He wanted to see the magnificent and bustling Rongdu, the ever-burning Heavenly Furnace, the imposing young man on the Sword Testing Platform, the beautiful woman in white amidst the dim lights, and... the Qingyun Road he had once trod, and everything he had once gained, and would eventually lose...

But at the moment of death, he saw nothing he longed for. Lou Cangyu lowered his head, and the last thing he saw in his pupils was his mother, who had inexplicably shed tears on the day they tested the Meteor Sword. Lou Cangyu had never understood why his mother had cried. Only now did he realize that his mother had already seen the ending of the story; she knew that her little stone would never return.

"The journey home is just around the corner. Are you willing to return to Rongdu with Xingguofang?"

"I am willing! I am willing to go through fire and water for Xingguo Ware without hesitation!"

"Cangyu...is willing." Lou Cangyu pursed her withered lips and exhaled her last breath.

Feng Shisan had dreamed of killing Lou Cangyu, but when his former brother actually died before his eyes, even someone as strong as him was stunned into silence. In a fit of rage, he opened his arms, grabbed the throats of two assassins beside him, and snapped them in two. His roar shook the heavens, “I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill all of you, I’ll kill you all!”

Mu You hadn't expected this group of defeated soldiers to hold out for so long. Today had been far too long, so long that he was getting tired of it. Mu You made a gesture, and the Eagle Guard leader immediately understood, raising his arm and releasing a hidden arrow towards the outside of the hall.

The sound of arrows whistling past his ears made Mu Chenbi realize what was happening. He shouted to the crowd, "The army outside the palace is about to storm in. There won't be much time left. Everyone, kill yourselves and get out. See you at the usual place."

A massive army outside the palace? Guan Ye looked around warily and saw a dense mass of figures rushing about, easily estimated to be no less than a thousand. A chill ran through Guan Ye. No matter how brave everyone was, even if they killed all these elite warriors, they couldn't fight their way out of the thousands of troops outside. Guan Ye wasn't afraid of death; she only hated that everyone had perished here, leaving not a single spark of life. No one was afraid of death, but no one deserved to die, especially not through such dirty means.

Mu Chenbi cut down several people and stood guard by the palace gate with his sword. There were two thousand imperial guards in the palace, and it would be impossible for these people inside to escape unscathed. Mu Chenbi made up his mind to protect Guan Ye at the cost of his life. He could not keep his promise to her, but he only hoped to keep her safe and let her live well for the others.

There was no expected breach of the door. Instead, the faint sounds of swords clashing could be heard outside. The Imperial Guards—who could stop their advance?

"Kill them!" Mu Chenbi recognized the voice; it was Luo Yichen, the Black Hawk Guard of the Eastern Palace... They had come to kill them.

Ajiu, it must be Ajiu. Mu Chenbi looked at Ajiu, who raised her head and raised an eyebrow at him, not forgetting to proudly raise the twin-dimpled sword in her hand.

Mu Chenbi lowered his eyebrows and laughed. It really was Ajiu. Only he in the whole world dared to use the Crown Prince's token to issue an order to the Eastern Palace. Mu Chenbi leaned against the door and breathed heavily. He gave him the Twin Dimples Sword because he wanted him to do something that the Eastern Palace could not do.

"—Luo Yichen, you're incredibly audacious, are you planning a rebellion?"

"Screw your rebellion! I've received word that the Crown Prince is being held captive in Zetian Palace by a traitor. The Black Hawk Guards are here to kill the enemy and protect their master. You're blocking them from entering. Do you want to die? Get out of the way now!"

Could the single-minded Chief Luo really come up with such an excuse? It's probably Ajiu's doing again. Mu Chenbi straightened up, a renewed sense of hope rising in his heart.

Mu Chenbi charged into the crowd, shielding Ajiu with his back to her, and whispered, "The Black Hawk Guards number only a hundred. Even if they can fight ten against one, they can't kill two thousand Imperial Guards. We need to break out quickly. If someone sends troops from Rongdu out of the palace again, we'll be trapped."

"Fight our way out?" A-Jiu wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. "Fight our way out? We'll just be fugitives for life. You want to escape with us?"

"Otherwise what?" Mu Chenbi asked.

Ajiu pointed her sword at the palace and said, "Lu Chaoge and Guan Xiaotian have already escaped far enough, but what happened to them? If we escape again, there will be no place for us in the whole world. This time, neither Guan Ye nor I want to escape again."

Upon hearing what Ajiu said, Guan Ye stepped closer to the two of them and nodded emphatically, saying, "If I really wanted to escape, I wouldn't have come back, and neither would Xiao Ma. This time, I will never escape again."

"Good niece." Lu Xiaojun was no longer feeling the pain. "What do you think? Do you want your uncle to protect you and fight your way out?"

Wushuang thrust her sword at the charging Eagle Guard several times, leaving him riddled with bloody holes. "I would rather repay blood with blood than run away."