Chapter 733: Broken Sword

Xiao Jingyan reached up and adjusted his glasses.

"A bit far... hard to tell..." he muttered, "but it doesn't look like they're outsiders..."

Lao Lv was panting heavily, his plump belly rising and falling as if the earlier attack had scared him badly.

"Zhang Shan..." Lao Lv said, "you didn't have to worry about me... I used 'Hui Xiang'..."

He scratched his forehead, which was covered in bloodstains as if it had been cut by something.

"I didn't think much of it," Zhang Shan said. "I just saved you on the spot. Do you know those two people?"

Lao Lv gazed at the two figures in the distance, then lowered his head as if recalling something, and whispered, "That sword just now... could it be that kid? Han Yi Mo?"

"Han...?" Zhang Shan frowned. "Han what?"

"Tsk..." Lao Lv scratched his face. "You know, the writer who used to share a room with Qi Xia. What's his name again, Han something?"

"What's his 'Hui Xiang'?" Zhang Shan asked, feeling puzzled. "I've never seen anything like that ability, 'Yu Jian'?"

Xiao Jingyan shook his head at that moment. "'Yu Jian' doesn't even sound like a type of 'Hui Xiang'. It's more like some kind of immortal skill."

"You two weren't there at the time, but I saw it with my own eyes," Lao Lv said, still shaken. "It was in a classroom. That writer, Han Yi Mo, summoned a sword and chased Jin Yuan Xun, hacking at him relentlessly. He almost killed him... Luckily, some unknown person suddenly stepped in and saved Jin Yuan Xun. At the time, I was there, along with Chu Tian Qiu, Yun Yao, Li Xiang Ling, and the others. We all saw it."

"How strange," Zhang Shan said. "What happened back then? Was that person one of Qi Xia's teammates, attacking Jin Yuan Xun?"

"Damn it, don't get me started!" Lao Lv replied, looking just as confused. "It was all so complicated! Yun Yao wanted to make this Chen Xiaozi the leader of 'Tian Tang Kou', but somehow that Chen Xiaozi ended up dead, and then another new Chen Xiaozi showed up, and we were all baffled. Then Chu Tian Qiu went and said a few words to Han Yi Mo, and suddenly Han Yi Mo got all emotional. Then an earthquake hit, the house was about to collapse, Jin Yuan Xun went to stop him, the sword flew out, and then it was chaos..."

Zhang Shan and Xiao Jingyan stared at Lao Lv, though they had a vague idea of what he was saying, neither of them really understood.

"Alright then," Zhang Shan nodded. "Since we've confirmed who that person is... we can go talk to them."

"Zhang Shan, what do you want to talk about...?" Xiao Jingyan asked.

"Of course, to ask them why they're doing this," Zhang Shan said, looking at the two people about a hundred meters away, then at the countless bodies lying between them and him. His expression grew darker. "What reason do these two have for standing in the 'Tian Tang Kou' area and slaughtering our people? Is it on Qi Xia's orders?"

Han Yi Mo closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his resolve firm up, then suddenly opened them. The flying sword above seemed to sense something and began circling in the air.

"Please..." Han Yi Mo said, "go... head straight for them..."

With a piercing dragon roar, the blade of the "Qi Hei Jian" trembled and shot toward the three distant figures.

Zhang Shan's face turned cold as he stepped forward boldly. "Lao Lv, protect Xiao Jingyan!"

Lao Lv immediately moved up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Shan, while Xiao Jingyan ducked behind Lao Lv.

The flying sword didn't head for Zhang Shan but sped directly toward Lao Lv and Xiao Jingyan.

Lao Lv quickly shut his eyes and puffed out his chest. The black sword thrust viciously into his belly.

"Swish—"

The sound was like branches scraping against leather.

A shallow gash appeared on Lao Lv's belly.

"Damn it..." Lao Lv gritted his teeth. "You're serious... It even broke through 'Ying Hua'... Damn, that hurts..."

"Don't let your guard down!" Zhang Shan shouted.

The dark sword, like a cunning hawk, realized Lao Lv's body was unbreakable, so it soared into the air, circled around, and searched for another angle.

Only then did the three realize the sword's target had been Xiao Jingyan from the start.

"Alright," Zhang Shan flexed his arms. "If they want our lives, we don't need to hold back."

"What are you going to do...?"

"I want to win," Zhang Shan said. "This is a battle of attack and defense—lose and die, win and live."

"Clang!!"

A massive sound echoed as Zhang Shan took a deep breath and leaped into the air before the black great sword could move, charging straight at it.

The great sword hesitated slightly in the air, then abandoned Xiao Jingyan and thrust toward Zhang Shan's abdomen.

Man and sword closed in on each other rapidly.

"Whoosh—!"

Zhang Shan didn't dare underestimate the sword, which moved like a living thing. He quickly clasped his hands together, raised them high overhead, and when the sword was about to stab his abdomen, he slammed down with force, like spiking a volleyball.

"Clang!"

His heavy fist struck the middle of the great sword, halting its attack and sending it crashing to the ground like a falling metal sheet.

"Clatter!"

Once on the ground, the great sword wriggled like a fish out of water, bouncing a few times symbolically.

Zhang Shan landed and, without a word, stepped on the sword's blade, then reached for the hilt.

"Buzz—"

The black great sword seemed offended, emitting bursts of dragon roars and shaking wildly, but Zhang Shan used his irresistible strength to grip the hilt anyway.

With a flick of his wrist, he lifted the sword, which weighed over a hundred jin.

Even with "Tian Xing Jian", Zhang Shan found it strenuous. The sword wasn't just heavy—it felt alive, thrashing in his hands. If he loosened his grip even slightly, it might soar away like a bird.

"I be damned... this is weird," Zhang Shan said. "This sword seems alive... Look at the patterns on it, so intricate."

Lao Lv and Xiao Jingyan, seeing the great sword "tamed" by Zhang Shan, mustered their courage to take a closer look.

The sword was pitch black, adorned with ancient, elegant patterns, truly like something from a wuxia novel.

Surrounded like this, the great sword seemed insulted. It trembled all over and tried to fly into the sky, but Zhang Shan tightened his grip to keep it from escaping.

"Son of a bitch..." Zhang Shan spat on the ground. "You've killed so many and still won't behave. Today, I'll fix you good."

With that, he gripped the hilt with both hands, raised it high overhead, and slammed it down hard onto the ground—not with the edge, but the flat of the blade.

"Crack!"

A sharp sound rang out, and the black great sword, which had acted like a living thing, shattered into two pieces in Zhang Shan's hands.