Wang Jisi asked, meeting Zhang Jian's calm gaze. Despite the frustration in his tone, there was no sense of crisis.
"I have somewhat sensitive ears."
He let out a hollow laugh at Zhang Jian's brief jest.
"Sensitive ears? Who are you? Who are you to interfere with our event?"
"If kidnapping a twelve-year-old child is what you call an event, who would just stand by and watch? You're a failed kidnapper now."
Wang Jisi's eyes twisted in anger. He slowly removed his mask with a steady hand, revealing the face of a merchant, just as Zhang Jian had expected. Baring his teeth in anger, he said:
"Kidnapping? The Gouyinshaxue will die before turning twenty without powerful elixirs, a great martial artist, and a doctor's care. It's better to help them leave a small mark in this world before they die. Otherwise, they will be forgotten as if they never existed. Or do you intend to save that girl?"
He took a step forward and continued:
"Yes, there was a Shaolin monk with you. Do you plan to use the Shaolin Dahuandan? The precious treasure that those middlemen cherished so much, even risking their lives to protect it when the emperors demanded it. Ha ha… Does that make sense?"
Wang Jisi chuckled, finding his own words amusing, and took another step forward. Zhang Jian, seeing this, asked with a blank expression:
"What is the grand plan?"
Wang Jisi, who was about to take another step, stopped abruptly. Zhang Jian continued:
"You targeted the spirits of the native tribes in the Dongbu Mountains, and through Xue Weiliang, you tried to dominate the market in Ganshan. Before that, you spread martial arts manuals to the bandits in the wilderness. Is that right?"
Wang Jisi's smile vanished. He stared at Zhang Jian with a stern face.
"You… Could it be that you were the one who interfered with the palace's affairs in Ganshan…"
"Kept running into each other. It just happened."
Wang Jisi's expression slowly calmed as he glared at Zhang Jian. He stepped back with his right foot and stood diagonally, clenching his right hand behind his back. Then, with a tearing sound, three sharp blades emerged from his arm, piercing through his clothes.
He revealed his weapon and spoke:
"…Those who do not understand the oppression and humiliation we have endured by the empire cannot understand the grand plan. And those who do not know the difference between leaving a name and merely living cannot understand it either."
Despite his solemn tone, Zhang Jian remained indifferent.
"Right, you don't plan to talk. Actually, I wasn't that curious."
Saying this indifferently, he stepped back with his left foot, stood diagonally, and slightly adjusted the scabbard in his left hand.
Under the faint moonlight, the two men glared at each other on the roof of the inn. Below, the sharp sounds of Jin Ha's sword clashing with the masked men's swords echoed, and even the wind, which had been blowing gently, fell silent for a moment.
At that moment, the wooden ceiling of the inn, unable to withstand the force of Wang Jisi's foot, creaked. Simultaneously, a bright blue light flashed on the dark roof of the inn.
In the next instant, Wang Jisi and Zhang Jian were facing away from each other, having switched positions. After a brief moment of silence, they turned to face each other again. Zhang Jian's sword and Wang Jisi's blade-like claws reflected the light and shimmered.
Wang Jisi, glaring at Zhang Jian, glanced at his Huozhua. Only two of the three blades remained. The one that should have been in the third position had flown around and finally fell, embedding itself in the wooden ceiling of the inn.
Wang Jisi smiled.
"…You're good. What's your name?"
"Zhang Jian."
"My name is Wang Wu. To me, as a member of the palace, you are merely an obstacle to the grand plan. But as a martial artist, my heart is racing. Are you a disciple?"
"If you tell me about that palace, I'll tell you."
Wang Jisi, in response to Zhang Jian's dry answer, only smiled more deeply. The two men glared at each other in silence for a moment before moving again. The roof of the inn creaked under their combined strength.
* * *
Jin Ha was fighting seven masked men. The one who had been knocked down by Jin Jian's kick earlier had quickly gotten up and joined the attack. Despite being outnumbered, Jin Ha did not fall back. On the contrary, it was the masked men who were increasingly injured.
Whenever Jin Ha's sword flashed, the masked men would stagger back, bleeding from various parts of their bodies. When she swung her sword widely, the masked men retreated in a rush. In the widened space, she held the scabbard in her left hand, reversed, to guard the upper part, and extended her sword in her right hand straight forward. The masked men, seeing the straight sword like an arrow piercing them, flinched.
Jin Ha said:
"Shameless bastards. What crime has that child committed to deserve this? I thought you were just bluffing, but you really stuck your heads into Xue Xia's room? I'll sever all your limb meridians and make you crawl for the rest of your lives. Come on!"
At that moment, one of the masked men stepped forward and laughed.
"Hah. You're arrogant. You don't look that old, but I guess achieving that level at a young age can make you arrogant. But today, you will die here. And we will take the Gouyinshaxue."
"…Madman. Who was the one being pushed back just now?"
In response to Jin Ha's words, the masked man laughed again.
"Everyone, raise your spears."
The masked men, who had been swinging their swords, unsheathed the scabbards on their backs and attached them to the handles of their swords. Then, by striking the extended handles, the scabbards elongated further, transforming into long-bladed short swords.
"What is that…"
As Jin Ha looked on in disbelief, the masked men, having completed the transformation, immediately attacked. The seven of them, standing in a row, thrust their weapons forward, like a wall of spears advancing. Despite the sudden change in attack style, she easily deflected the thrusts and lunged inside, stabbing with her sword. The tip of her sword aimed for the masked man's chest.
However, her sword was blocked by another blade. She was then forced to retreat due to the continuous attacks that followed.
The masked men began to press her like a single organism with seven arms. Although her sword was stronger and faster than each of them individually, she was forced to retreat under the relentless assault of the seven blades. The commotion caused by the masked men and Jin Ha's agile movements raised dust from the ground in the middle of the night.
Jin Jian, watching from the broken window, groaned.
"Ugh. I should help Venerable Jin Ha."
"Huh? Help Jin Ha?"
At this, Xue Miaojin, who had been inside, poked her head out and laughed, trying to dissuade Jin Jian.
"Oh, you don't have to. Jin Ha can handle it alone."
"…Do you see something different from me? To my blurry night vision, she looks in danger…"
"Watch."
Jin Jian, hearing her confident voice, closed his mouth and looked at her more seriously.
At that moment, as Jin Ha, who had been retreating, suddenly swept the ground in front of her with her sword, a powerful sword qi erupted, scattering dirt and sand and raising a thick cloud of dust.
As the masked men, their vision blocked by the dust, hesitated, Jin Ha, like an arrow, spun and lunged into the dust. The next moment, as she emerged from the dust, the masked men, startled, tried to move, but she had already swept past them and landed on the ground.
Before the thick dust had settled, three decapitated bodies collapsed.
Xue Miaojin, watching, laughed and turned to Jin Jian. Jin Jian, amazed and impressed, nodded and smiled.
"See? I told you."
"Heh heh. You were right."
At that moment, the masked man who had stepped forward earlier, seeing his comrades' bodies fall, urgently shouted:
"Everyone, awaken your secret techniques! She's not an ordinary expert!"
In response to his shout, the four remaining masked men's eyes began to emit a red aura, and a rumbling sound emanated from their bodies. Jin Ha, who had been crouching and adjusting her breathing, groaned.
"They really are practitioners of dark arts…"
She quickly rolled to the side. A short sword, thrown by one of the masked men, embedded itself with a thud where she had been. The masked men then rushed at her as she got up from her roll.
The situation was now the opposite of before. Earlier, Jin Ha had pushed them back with her superior internal strength and speed, but now she was struggling to evade their direct attacks. Although she had not been injured yet, it was only a matter of time if the situation continued.
Jin Jian placed his foot on the window sill.
"Now it's time to really help."
"…Yes, we should."
Xue Miaojin also moved to follow, but Jin Jian extended his hand to stop her.
"Wait. Venerable Xue, please protect the child."
Xue Miaojin turned to look at Jin Xia, who was sitting on the bed, covered in a blanket, staring at her with wide eyes. She had intended to put the girl to sleep, but even a child as insensitive as her could not sleep during a fight.
She shook her head.
"No, I'll protect her. I'm more energetic now, right?"
She was suggesting that Jin Jian, who had been injured, should not overexert himself. Jin Jian, in response, shook his head and put on a stern expression.
"Saving sentient beings ensnared by delusions is the duty of this monk, who follows the Buddha's teachings—"
At that moment, something whizzed past the window and fell. Jin Jian and Xue Miaojin reflexively checked, and saw the object crash through the inn's awning and land on the ground. It was Wang Jisi.
At the same time, someone else fell from the roof of the inn and landed next to Jin Ha.
"…Zhang Warrior."
"Already down to half."
Jin Ha, looking at Zhang Jian, who had landed lightly next to her, alternated her gaze between the inn's roof and him, finding it hard to believe. The height was over three zhang, nearly four, yet Zhang Jian had landed so effortlessly.
"How…"
Before Jin Ha could express her doubt, Wang Jisi, who had crashed through the wooden awning and fallen, rose to his feet, roaring like a beast. The Huozhua on his right arm was completely broken, and his shirt was torn, exposing his bare body. Blood was flowing from various parts of his body, making him look like a defeated soldier.
He rose and shouted:
"Zhang Jian! You—"
However, Zhang Jian looked unimpressed.
"Hmm. You are indeed tough."
The masked men fighting Jin Ha quickly retreated to Wang Jisi. One of them, who had been speaking earlier, approached and asked:
"Are you alright?"
Panting, he noticed the red aura flowing from his subordinate's eyes and asked:
"Did you awaken your secret technique?"
"Yes. This woman's martial arts are not ordinary… She seems to be from the Imperial Army or the Martial Arts Alliance."
Wang Jisi spat a mouthful of blood on the ground.
"You were too hasty. You should have investigated them more."
"There was no choice… Now, we have to kill them all."
Wang Jisi looked at his subordinate. Yuan Jue, who held the position of Heisa, was already breathing heavily and exuding a murderous aura, with a growling sound escaping his mouth, typical of a practitioner of low-level dark arts.
After a moment of thought, he pointed at Zhang Jian and Jin Ha with a stern face.
"Right. That's the only way. Good, go. Create an opening!"
At his command, the four growling masked men, like well-trained hunting dogs, lunged forward. Zhang Jian, gripping his sword with both hands, said:
"Take the two on the right."
"Eh, yes?"
Without waiting for Jin Ha's response, he charged at the masked men. In the dim night, his figure stretched out like a shadow, passing through the two masked men. The sword he swung glinted, as if passing through their bodies without resistance.
However, the burst of red blood that followed proved the cold blade had sliced through their flesh.
"Ah!"
Seeing this, Jin Ha quickly followed. The remaining two masked men, seeing Zhang Jian pass by them, tried to stab him in the back. But this allowed Jin Ha to stab them in the back with her sword.
In a hurry, she raised her sword qi and cut down the two masked men, shaking off the blood. She then understood why Zhang Jian had moved so quickly. Wang Jisi, after sending his subordinates to attack, had not followed. He was fleeing.
"…What are you doing, you brat."
Jin Ha muttered, watching Wang Jisi's back, which was quickly getting farther away, and Zhang Jian, who was rapidly pursuing him. What was even more absurd was that he had already been caught up by Zhang Jian.