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Chapter 21 Danger
The torch was held by Jin Yan Hen and after walking for a while, he suddenly stopped. Lou Chen followed his gaze and saw a strip of a belt with blood on the ground. The two looked at each other with tacit understanding Jin Yan Hen quickly blew off the flame. They were instantly engulfed in darkness and an eerie silence.
The two stood still for a moment holding their breath, with their entire senses alert feeling their surroundings. Soon they concluded that no one is around nearby.  After being quiet and still for some time, soon the two confirmed that there was no human presence nearby. Although they determined that no one is nearby, the bloodied piece of cloth has not completely dried out. This is a sure sign that there were people in the cave.
Jin  Yan Hen tried to trace Lou Chen’s hand that was holding the King’s grass, wrapped in mud and wet cloth.  He knew that the poison on his body has not been completely removed and every time he uses internal strength, he can feel pain in his chest and groin area. Lou Chen’s martial arts skill is better than him and at this time, he wants to make sure that she can use her sword freely without any hindrance.
Lou Chen understood the meaning behind his action. So when Jin Yan Hen tried to trace her hand take the King’s grass, she did not hesitate to give it to him .  When  he put the wrapped grass inside his garment, her worry was eased.
The two cautiously walk forward a hundred feet and still they did not find  traces of human. When they are about to doubt that their instincts is wrong, they saw  a faint glow of light at a distance that attracted their attention.  The two pressed their bodies against the stone wall and walk forward slowly. The glow was getting brighter they were wrong or not, a little glimmer in the distance attracted the attention of the two.
The two men pressed against the stone wall and walked slowly. The glow was getting brighter and stronger which obviously because they are nearing the exit. The time is still early and the rain has not stopped, though the sky is gloomy, the light outside is not glaring but it still clearly reflects the shadows of two figures standing at the entrance of the cave.
One of them was facing them, the black assassin with injuries on his chest and arms. The other person always has his back turned to them and they could not see his appearance. He was not wearing black clothes, instead, a light gray robe. He is very thin and he looks like he is the type that does not practice martial arts.
Taking advantage of the noise coming made by the rain, Lou Chen and Jin Yan Hen moved closer.  But also because of the gradual weakening of the rain, they could barely hear the conversation between the two men.
“Xing Mu wasn’t killed yet?” The assassin in black who was listening lowers his head and stood in one side with obvious respect.
The gray-clothed man was holding the black sword that was snatched away from the hands of Xing Mu, and his fingers were gently stroking the scabbard. His pale fair fingers almost look transparent against the black background and it was a gruesome beauty.
“The master wants the sword. For the time being, he will spare him his life. As for you…” The voice of the gray man was very low and the tone was very gentle, but the assassin who was standing next to him was very stiff and it is not hard to see his eyes, there is a hidden fear.
“This servant deserves to be punished!” The man in black clothes kneels in one knee, slamming his knee on the stone and it is hard to ignore the ‘slamming’ sound as his knees touch the ground,  showing the strength of the contact is great but the assassin did not show the slightest expression of pain. “In Loushiui town suddenly appeared a woman of powerful swordsmanship and she seemed to value the sword so much. She may have an association to this sword. “
Hearing his words, Lou Chen and  Jin Yan Hen both frowned. The man in grey clothes seems to have some interest in it. His fingers are still stroking the scabbard as if he is not stroking a cold sheath but a good, not ordinary silk. After a few moments, in a low deep voice, he said,
“Send someone to check.
“Yes”
The black assassin sighed with relief that his life is saved.
The rain outside has greatly diminished, and the thunder and lightning have already stopped. The man in grey robe looked at the weather outside and looked at the sky. “You should rest and recover and find out the identity of the woman and get back to me immediately.
“Yes.”
The gray robes man grabs the long black sword, gather his robe together and walked outside the cave.
He is leaving!
Oh no. We can’t let this person leave. They already took note of Jin Ru and if they let him leave, he will sure trouble her unceasingly. Jin Yan Hen and Lou Chen with a tacit look of understanding rush out. Lou Chen has her Cang Feng drawn out and it was pointed directly to the gray robed man and Jin Yan Hen rushes toward the assassin.
When the two suddenly moved, the gray robed man and the assassin in black was startled, but they also recovered quickly.  The man quickly moved to one side to evade the oncoming sword. The fierce swordsman made him felt terrified. That kind of fierce aura from the sword forced him to retreat several steps in a row.  The fear in his heart has not diminished. How many years has it been?  When was last time he felt this feeling of being on a verge of death?
Before he could recover, the silver sword that made him feel in extreme danger was in full attack, coming towards him. The gray clothed man quickly focuses and pulled and pulled out the black sword to meet the silver sword.
The silver and black sword clashes together and made a humming sound. Instead of the normal crisp clanging sound when two weapons strike each other,  the two weapons makes a  humming sound that was very odd..  The humming sound was dull and heavy, and the humming lingers in the eardrum.  Lou Chen has been using the Cang Feng for several years now. She did not like fighting, she only uses Cang Feng during practice and normally uses the copycat sword from that of General Government during practice and training. She rarely uses Cang Feng although she is aware of its hidden sharpness and no sword has found its match., but she knew also that there are countless famous swords in the world, Cang Feng’s effect is not as much, like that of that of  Red Blood and Ice  Smelting swords. This time, the black sword is not also damaged at this moment and Lou Chen is secretly amazed and admired the weapon, but she did not take it to heart.
On the contrary, the gray robe man’s heart was stricken with panic and horrified. In his hand is the famous sword called “ Zhi Ge”. This sword is the famous “Zhi Ge”, meaning there is no weapon that it exists that would be able to withstand the sword and without breaking or damaging the opponent’s sword. But right now, it clashes with this silver white sword. The white sword did not break as expected but it instead it shook the handler’s hand to numbness, what is going on?
Lou Chen did not give him time to ponder and uses the silver sword to stab his wrist and the man could oblige only to step back once more. As expected, the martial arts skill of the man is not good and even if he is holding the Zhi Ge, he ends up in an embarrassing situation.
The man clearly knew that his skill is inferior compared to Lou Chen and he turns around and dashes towards the rain. Lou Chen seeing he is trying to escape pursued immediately.
The assassin on the other hand, because he is injured, naturally could not withstand Jin Yan Hen. When he finished fighting with the assassin, Lou Chen and the gray robe man is nowhere to be found. Jin Yan Hen quickly pursued before them also relying on the little trail that was left on the ground.
The gray rob man’s running away skill (qing gong)  is not weak but he couldn’t throw off Lou Chen. After running away for about half of incense fragrance inside the forest ( T/L note: one fragrance incense is probably about 5 minutes, so she was chasing him for about  2-3 minutes ) when he suddenly stopped. Lou Chen vigilantly looked out to her front and not far away are two assassins greets her on each side. The two were wearing black and their aura is murderous. The gray cloth’s clothes man hide behind the two men and said coldly, “Catch her,”
“Yes.” The two men rush towards Lou Chen at once.
In that low and deep tone of voice, Lou Chen’s heart was slightly relieved. The gray cloth man said to ‘catch her’ . These men will not kill in the beginning; she can use that moment to heavily injure the two men. In the end if they decided to kill her, they already losses their opportunity.
Three figures inside the forest, the two black and one blue, wrestled earnestly. Now, the gray clothed man was able to take the time to look at the woman who has given him a great crisis just a moment ago.
This female in blue is very young compared to what he thought. Her pair of pupil have icy look and it even shines with a cold chill. Even now that she is fighting against two people, her appearance remains very composed and calm, not even a hint of a frown, and calmly meeting the two long swords with confidence. She has unusual calmness and sharpness for a woman of her age.
The silver-white long sword dreaded by many was now being brandished by a woman in a reckless manner. The style of her movements was strange and the angles are cunning and sharp. If it is a common soft sword, it would not be this elegant and nimble but sword in the hand of this woman is especially fast and powerful. In the middle of the rain, her sword surprisingly wasn’t even touched by the rain as if the woman was born for her shining long sword.
Jin Yan Hen heard the fighting sound and carefully approaches inside the forest. He saw Lou Chen and the two black clothes man heavily engaged in fighting. It looks like that it was a difficult battle. The man in gray clothes was standing on one side and his pair of cold eyes staring attentively at Lou Chen.
Hiding behind the drizzle of rain, Jin Yan hen is not in hurry to help Lou Chen seeing that she is not in immediate danger. Jin Yan Hen plans to go to the gray robe man while he is unprepared to do a sneak attack.
Jin Yan Hen was about to raise his sword and rush forward to attack, he saw that the man start rummaging through his robe and took out an egg-sized thing like a stone. Although he doesn’t know what it is but looking at the man’s self-assuring look, that thing is bound to create havoc.
The man did not wait for a chance for Jin Yan Hen to get in the way, he quickly threw the egg- like stone towards Lou Chen.
“Watch out!”
After yelling, Jin Yan Hen wasn’t able to kill the gray cloth man. He could only redirect all his strength at the tip of his toes to run after egg-like stone, puts his body forward and caught the stone with the tip of his sword in the mid-air. Who would have thought that the egg suddenly exploded and the red smoke came out of it? The smoke was unusually strange; it dissolved in the water as it mixed itself in the rain.
Jin Yan Hen who was standing in the middle of the red smog was suddenly drenched by the red rain. Escaping was impossible and he felt weak right away and looked perplexed. He even has difficulty standing and fell to the ground in an instant.
The present accident was seen by Lou Chen and it made her anxious and angry. She was fighting against the enemy, if the stone flew over her, she would have used her sword to deflect it and the assassin took this moment of distraction to stab her wrist with the sword.  Lou Chen pulls back her hand and but unfortunately, she was still got cut from her wrist to her arm.
The blood flowed to her fingertips and dyed the silvery white blade sword was with her blood. The tranquil eyes of Lou Chen became dim, and when she made her move, her style suddenly become fierce. She only wanted to beat the two men and at this moment even it means killing.
The two assassins were having trouble resisting her attacks. They looked at each other with tacit understanding and they decided to attack together one on the right and the other on the left. Lou Chen did not dodge but met the attackers,  when the long sword was near her body, she made a smashing move with Cang Feng and the handle of  two long swords that converged was cut and before they can make another move, Lou Chen wield the blood-stained sword, and two left arms fell to the ground like ordinary daggers.
The gray robe man was staring at the woman sullenly through the rain; he looked at Zhi Ge in his hand and whispered, “Leave!” Then he quickly runs towards the forest.
When she heard the man’s order, the two people who were beaten down did not dare to fight anymore.  Lou Chen knew that if she chases after them, they won’t be able to escape death from Cang Feng, but at this moment she cannot go after them.
Lou Chen put back the sword around her waist and went to Jin Yan Hen. He is not in a complete stupor but looks dazed.
The poison is obviously more toxic than the one previously used by the assassin.  Jin Yan Hen’s skin that is exposed outside the clothes is burning like being burnt with fire. The exposed skin is red and the temperature of his skin is hot. Lou Chen gritted her teeth bitterly, “Poison again!”