Blue Phoenix Chapter 68 – Assassins

Behind the shadow, an uproar was taking place as yet another group of corpses had been discovered. This time it was twelve bodies, all dismembered similar to the previous ones. A shiver ran through the group of guards who had found these corpses as the cuts were simply too clean, leaving them to wonder…?

The young man hid in the shadows, as he made his way back to an inn in which he had left his companion. He slipped in through the door unseen and made his way upstairs.

“Hui Yue!” Sha Yun exclaimed with shock when she saw the blood stained clothes, in bright contrast to the white skin and hair. A worried expression had appeared on her beautiful face before it twisted in anger, growling sounds emerged from her throat.

A small smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he waved a hand calmly before moving to the bathroom. Moments later the sound of running water could be heard, as Hui Yue cleaned the blood off his body and clothes.

Watching this, Sha Yun entered the bathroom where she picked up the clothes and went to the sink to clean them more thoroughly than what Hui Yue had done. He poured a few buckets of water over his head. Sending a gratified smile to Sha Yun, Hui Yue stripped off the rest of his clothes, before he sank into the tub which was filled with warm water and allowed his tired muscles to relax.

“They appeared again today?” Sha Yun asked, her voice still containing a hint of anger. Hui Yue nodded his tired head, as he thought back to the happenings of that day.

The Deng family, one of the few families within Riluo City who had not forgotten about Hui Yue, and his estimated potential, often invited him to join them for meals.

Yesterday was a day just like that. Hui Yue had followed Deng Wu from the academy and had partaken in yet another feast. Everyone within the Deng family had been thrilled ever since Deng Wu’s potential had been exposed. They had gained tremendous face from all the noble families of the city. Even some families from other cities had shown their generosity by sending a gift when the city was celebrating.

A sigh escaped Hui Yue’s lips as he leaned back within the warm water as his tired muscles were all crying out in delight from such a gentle touch. He had long since gotten used to Sha Yun never leaving him unless he ordered her to. Right now she was extra cautious due to the people who were constantly appearing in front of Hui Yue.

During these gatherings, Hui Yue always ensured to book the exact room where he and Sha Yun had stayed the first night. Hui Yue always ordered Sha Yun to wait for him in these rooms, while he went to dine with the Deng family. Although the Deng family treated him well, that friendliness was not shown to Sha Yun whom they treated as a mere magical beast.

This was one thing which neither Hui Yue nor Sha Yun enjoyed. Since the first time that had happened, Sha Yun just waited at the inn for Hui Yue’s return.

This meal was just like any other in which Hui Yue was seated next to Deng Wu, and although they spoke with other elders and members of the family, Hui Yue mainly talked to Deng Wu. Everything the two conversed about was being monitored, yet the two friends had no problem talking about their everyday life. Sometimes they would speak about magical beasts, other times they would talk about their plans at the academy. No matter who heard their conversation, everyone would know that there was no deeper meaning than a chat between friends.

As usual, too, Hui Yue would join Deng Wu in his courtyard afterward to share a drink. Here now, they were capable of finally talking about matters which were truly important for the two, issues about how the city was faring or which rumors they needed to be aware of, coupled with what incidents had occurred lately. Hui Yue especially had a lot to say. This particular evening, the subject was of those black-cloaked men who in the past had gathered within the city and attempted to hunt down Hui Yue.

This secret was one that Hui Yue had told to no one except Deng Wu. He was quite certain it had something to do with the crusaders which he had not seen for a couple of years. The threat that Hui Yue’s secret might have been exposed was always before him.

After that year in which Hui Yue had met the black-cloaked men during a visit to his parent’s village, Hui Yue had tried to convince his family and the entire community to move to a closer location towards the city. However, no one had agreed. They had smiled at the young white-haired youth and told him that no matter what, they wished to stay where they were as it was home. They lived, and they died within their village.

Hui Yue had been unable then to do anything about it. Nonetheless, a constant worry had been growing within him this year, day by day. His current goal to become much stronger was to be able to protect those whom he valued in this life, those for whom he cared.

Having spoken with Deng Wu, it was now midnight when Hui Yue finally left the Deng family compound. As his foot left the house, he instantly sensed that someone was following him. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as Hui Yue slowly moved further and further away from the upper-class areas of town and towards the poorest neighborhoods. There he could deal with his followers without anyone noticing.

The chilly winter night tightly embraced Hui Yue, causing the young man to look like an ice emperor. A white robe hung snugly around the young man’s body, crafted out of the most stunning water-silk made by the watermills belonging to the Deng Family.

Step by step had taken Hui Yue and his pursuers into a deserted alleyway where Hui Yue finally turned around. His back was up against the wall, protecting him from an ambush while his sky-blue eyes were keenly alert, showing no traces of mercy.

Qi was roaming through Hui Yue’s meridians, activating specific points and gathering within his right hand, extending itself and quickly taking the shape of a sword. This sword was shining with celestial radiance within the dead of night.

As Hui Yue stood there, his back against the wall and the Qi Sword in his hand, small wings appeared on his feet fluttering while waiting patiently for Hui Yue to activate Velocity Flow.

One shadow after another appeared in front of Hui Yue. These shadows were all people, dressed in hooded black cloaks. However, these men were nothing like the crusaders; instead, they were cultivators who worked as either guards or mercenaries during the daytime and as assassins during the nighttime.

One assassin after another appeared in front of Hui Yue. Gathering into a group, twelve men stood side by side, ready to pounce at the one person in white. Contempt appeared within Hui Yue’s eyes as he noticed that the majority of these assassins were Practitioner ranked while only one of them was a Master ranked cultivator.

Although Hui Yue honestly knew nothing about these assassins, he had long since guessed that they had something to do with the crusaders’ mission or the man who controlled the crusaders but nothing had been voiced or communicated to him.

During the initial attacks, he tried torturing the men, yet he could get nothing from them. A few sought to speak, but as soon as they did the blood within their body started boiling, killing the cultivators within moments. A sneer would appear on Hui Yue’s face, because of the anger he felt when he saw that they had sworn a blood oath.

Recently, Hui Yue had completely stopped trying to interrogate the victims, as the mess left by the blood oath was several times worse than the mess left behind by Hui Yue personally killing them.

These assassins were waiting silently, taking all the time in the world to try and surround Hui Yue. It was apparent that these men had never attempted to kill in this way before. They had gotten complacent due to their sheer advantage in numbers. No one considered the fact that so far everyone else who had attempted to kill this boy had died.

Hui Yue sneered in anger, and a merciless ice-cold expression appeared upon his face, much like a mask. Hui Yue’s figure flashed as he charged towards the nearest person. Within less than a second, Hui Yue had managed to lift his sword in one gliding motion and behead the man in front of him.

These assassins posed absolutely no threat to Hui Yue, yet the young man showed no mercy. He created a copy of himself with Velocity Flow, and both original and copy did not intend allowing anyone who attempted to kill him to roam free.

After years and years of hard work, Hui Yue had finally managed to gain insight into the copying aspect of the Velocity Flow. As his skill had evolved, he now was able to create a complete clone of himself. A clone which would react solely based on the original’s thoughts.

His clone was currently busy sweeping across the area; a Qi Sword was evident within its hand and blood sprayed over all the area. With a deep sigh, Hui Yue observed this recklessness, and he left all the lower dantian cultivators for his clone to deal with. He, himself, would focus his attention and skills on this Master ranked cultivator who stood alone, awaiting his chance to kill Hui Yue.

The Qi Sword within his hands had been perfected long ago. The sword itself was attached to his arm, making Hui Yue feel as though it was an extension of his arm rather than a weapon.

Rushing towards his opponent, Hui Yue did a vertical slice, hoping to cut the enemy in two, only to find that the Qi Sword was unable to cut deeper than a few centimeters because of the yellow light being emitted from the person. Hui Yue swore.

The man in front of Hui Yue was using his elemental affinity for wood and making a spiritual energy shield around his body to protect himself. Normally, it should have been impossible for Hui Yue, a mere Practitioner, to beat the man. Nevertheless, his Qi Sword had managed to penetrate into the guard only a few centimeters. This caused a frown to appear on his handsome and merciless face.

Circling the Master ranked cultivator, Hui Yue managed to keep his distance and be slightly ahead of the attacks which kept coming at him.

The ground was constantly changing. Boulders appeared from the level ground and were thrown at Hui Yue, earthen spikes were emerging from underground, and walls suddenly arose in an attempt to either injure or block the nimble young man.

Hui Yue could no longer afford to look down on his opponent’s skills. He sent an order to his clone for both of them to attack the Master ranked cultivator from opposite sides. Avoiding the earth attacks at the same time as attacking with the Qi Sword required his full attention.

Hui Yue’s tactics slightly changed as he ran in and then back out, over and over again. The entire situation turned into a dance. Hui Yue used his speed to enter the range of the Master ranked cultivator. He inflicted a stab or a slash each time, which in turn used up more spiritual energy before he made a swift retreat. Each attack caused Hui Yue to use his qi. His qi pool was rapidly depleting, but it was worth it seeing that the man in front of him was having issues as well.

Finally, the yellow luster was gone, fading from sight, from within the Master ranked cultivator’s body. Hui Yue moved as swiftly as the wind, arriving next to the cultivator. This time the white-shining sword sliced through his neck, separating the head from the body.

The entire fight had taken time and more effort than he had expected. Upon glancing up and around, Hui Yue immediately left the area without so much as a backward glance or care for the dismembered corpses. In the shadows, he was hidden as he made his way back to the inn where Sha Yun awaited.