Chapter 236 Farewell
Shen Yuexi handed the sword to Xiao Zhuo and retreated to the edge of the square.
Her heart was uneasy.
She had absolute confidence in Xiao Zhuo's swordsmanship, but he had a shoulder injury and was facing his master. His skills had all been taught by Ji Zhong, who must have known his sword moves like the back of his hand.
But no matter how powerful Ji Zhong was, his age was still there. Old age doesn't always translate to strength, so Xiao Zhuo at least had the advantage of youth. Plus, he'd eaten chicken and gotten a night's rest...
While she was still calculating the strengths and weaknesses of the two, Ji Zhong had already drawn the sword from his waist.
Seeing the sword, she shuddered slightly.
It’s Xiao Beiheng’s sword.
No wonder this sword looked so familiar to me just now. When Xiao Zhuo duelled with Xiao Beiheng to save her, Xiao Beiheng used this very sword. Now that Xiao Beiheng has killed Xiao Kai, Xiao Kai's Yanque Sword must have fallen into his hands. He gave the original sword to Ji Zhong and asked him to kill Xiao Zhuo.
Thinking of Xiao Beiheng, she found him really hard to understand.
He had had several chances to kill her and Xiao Zhuo, but he didn't. Now that she and Xiao Zhuo had fled to a remote place like Longsheng Town, he was still able to find them. It seemed like they had a deep hatred, and he even sent Xiao Zhuo's teacher to find them.
Xiao Zhuo once told her that people who seem capricious can actually be figured out.
She is not as smart as Xiao Zhuo, so let Xiao Zhuo guess what Xiao Beiheng is thinking.
There was a "crack" sound in my ears, which sounded like two thin bamboos hitting each other.
In just two seconds of distraction, Xiao Zhuo and Ji Zhong had already started fighting.
The twin swords flashed with a cold light, clashing before separating. The two men crossed swords, their robes fluttering in a whirlwind that caused the weeds beneath their feet to fall outwards, centering around them.
Shen Yuexi opened her mouth to shout, but didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing Xiao Zhuo.
She stood on tiptoe, clenched her fists, held her breath, and watched the two men exchange positions after fighting.
I was so distracted thinking about Xiao Beiheng that I didn't see how the two of them attacked. But seeing that Xiao Zhuo didn't have any blood on his body and looked calm, I thought he was not injured.
The same goes for Ji Zhong, the two are evenly matched.
But the important thing is that Xiao Zhuo's sword was intact. It was not as tragic as the previous encounter with Yan Que Sword.
"The sword in your hand," Ji Zhong lowered his sword and looked at Xiao Zhuo's sword, "is definitely not something that an ordinary craftsman can forge."
"Teacher, you have a keen eye." Xiao Zhuo also pointed the tip of his sword at the ground. "My wife spent a lot of money to ask a reclusive craftsman to make this."
Shen Yuexi thought: The manufacturing process of Daxiong is certainly not comparable to that of the craftsmen of this era. However, Xiao Zhuo's ability to talk nonsense seriously has improved, and he even brought up the hidden craftsmen.
"Your skills have become much more refined," Ji Zhong swung his sword and took a deep breath. "Very good, you have yielded to me. Now you can use your full strength."
After saying that, Ji Zhong rushed forward again with his sword, his movements as agile as a cheetah hunting, not like an old man at all.
This time, Ji Zhong seemed to have changed his tactics, his sword dancing in a ball of silver light. Xiao Zhuo swung his sword to meet his attack, and the two swords clashed, making a series of snapping sounds.
Unlike the first round, Ji Zhong pressed forward with each swing of his sword, while Xiao Zhuo retreated step by step.
Shen Yuexi couldn't understand the fight between the two, but when she saw Xiao Zhuo retreating again and again, it seemed that he was at a disadvantage, and her heart couldn't help but hang in the air.
Xiao Zhuo retreated repeatedly. Was it because the wound on his shoulder prevented him from swinging his sword with full strength?
Seeing Xiao Zhuo retreating to a wooden ladder leaning against a dilapidated barn at the edge of the square, Ji Zhong swung his sword horizontally. Xiao Zhuo jumped back and up, leaping high, as if intending to jump onto the ladder. As if Ji Zhong had anticipated this move, the sword light swung upward midway.
Xiao Zhuo's body had just jumped into the air and had not yet landed on the wooden ladder.
"Danger!" Shen Yuexi screamed in fright.
I didn't expect that Ji Zhong's ability to control the sword was so strong. He seemed to be swinging the sword with all his strength, but he could turn in the middle of it.
A bunch of old men suddenly popped up in her mind, calling it the laws of physics. They all shouted in unison: Xiao Zhuo absolutely cannot move horizontally, and he absolutely cannot fly upwards again. All the old men unanimously concluded: Xiao Zhuo absolutely cannot avoid this raised sword unless he blocks it with his sword.
But looking at Xiao Zhuo's right hand, it was still raised high, it was too late.
To the old men's surprise, Xiao Zhuo kicked the wooden ladder sideways with his legs, and his whole body bounced out above Ji Zhong's head.
He did a graceful somersault in the air, like a hawk swooping down from the sky to catch a hare, and when he rushed over, he extended his sharp claws and spun around, turning upside down towards Ji Zhong's back. He raised the sword in his right hand high, and just like Ji Zhong's sword moves, it drew an arc of light, first leaving a trace of water on the ground, and then pulled it up from the ground.
Two sharp sword lights swirled upwards, one after the other. Ji Zhong's sword cut the ladder in half, almost glancing at Xiao Zhuo's legs.
Xiao Zhuo's sword slashed across Ji Zhong's back towards his head.
Shen Yuexi saw clearly that as Xiao Zhuo's sword flashed, the clothes on Ji Zhong's back suddenly tore apart.
Xiao Zhuo landed his feet on the ground, straightened his body, lowered his sword and said, "Teacher, I will teach you."
Ji Zhong stood facing the barn for a moment, then slowly turned around.
Shen Yuexi was greatly disappointed. It turned out that Xiao Zhuo's sword only cut Ji Zhong's clothes and did not hurt his skin at all.
"I'm defeated. You could have easily killed me with this one strike." Ji Zhong didn't look depressed at all, but rather very happy. "You're worthy of being my most admired disciple. Even at the critical moment of life and death, you still hold on to your principles."
Xiao Zhuo lowered his head and said, "Once a teacher, always a father. I will never dare to harm you."
"I heard that you didn't kill Xiao Kai even when you were sure of victory in the duel," Ji Zhong stuck the sword in his hand into the ground. "Is that true?"
Seeing that the two seemed to have given up the fight, Shen Yuexi interrupted and said, "Old Ji, I saw it with my own eyes. My husband stabbed Xiao Kai in the leg but didn't kill him."
From Xiao Zhuo's tone, it seemed he only cared about winning and would never harm his teacher. And Ji Zhong didn't seem like the type to resort to any means necessary to achieve victory. She felt the competition was over.
Ji Zhong nodded and said, "This is the difference between you and Xiao Beiheng."
Shen Yuexi came closer to the two of them and immediately became curious when she heard Ji Zhong mention Xiao Beiheng: "Master Ji, what kind of person is Xiao Beiheng?"
She always felt that Xiao Beiheng was an unpredictable person, and was still thinking about this just now.
"Xiao Beiheng, his cruelty is unfathomable," Ji Zhong sighed. "Even though Xiao Zhuo knew I was coming to kill him, he refused to hurt me. I also taught Xiao Beiheng swordsmanship, but he never treated me as a teacher."
Shen Yuexi didn't quite understand what he said. It sounded like Ji Zhong meant that Xiao Zhuo had a bottom line, but Xiao Beiheng had no bottom line.
Xiao Zhuo said that Ji Zhong was his teacher, who was equivalent to his father, and he would never hurt Ji Zhong.
Would Xiao Beiheng's words hurt Ji Zhong? What about his father?
"Mr. Ji, since Xiao Beiheng is that kind of person, why do you still want to follow him? Come with us." She suggested to Ji Zhong.
Ji Zhong shook his head and sat down against the barn.
"Why would an old man like me follow you? You young people should just do your own things. I'm old, and I'm a little tired after a few moves. I need to rest... Oh, we had three horses when we came here, and Song Zhen seems to have ridden away one, leaving two. You three should make do with them."
Xiao Zhuo said nothing much, straightened his clothes, and respectfully bowed three times to Ji Zhong as a disciple.
Ji Zhong smiled slightly and waved his hand, saying, "Go, go."
Xiao Zhuo stood up and said to Shen Yuexi, "Yuexi, let's go."
Shen Yuexi still didn't understand and followed Xiao Zhuo: "Old Ji gave us the horse, what is he riding... Oh, so there will be someone coming later, how did my husband guess... Qianglin needs my husband to support him, I will ride a horse alone."
Ji Zhong sat in the barn, watching Xiao Chen and the other man helping Qiang Lin out of the inn in the distance, and the three of them and their two horses gradually went away.
"Xiao Beiheng is a man who can sacrifice everything for his own goals. If I go back like this, my whole family will die." Ji Zhong smiled bitterly, "There is only one way left."
He pulled the sword from the ground and thrust it into his heart.
After an incense stick of time had passed, the sound of dense and noisy horse hooves could be heard, echoing throughout the entire Longsheng Town.
The sound of horse hooves stopped near the barn in the square, and a voice rang out:
"Come, quickly report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that Ji Zhong failed and was killed by Xiao Zhuo."
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