# 541
Chapter 542 – We Ask the Great Xia Sword Saint to Slay a God
“I don’t smoke, really don’t.” Chen Han waved his hands hurriedly.
Lu Yu had just sat down beside Chen Han and Zhou Ping when the three children edged over to the brazier and tugged the hem of his coat.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Yu asked the boy named Wang Jiaqi.
“I… I’m a little scared.” Wang Jiaqi glanced at the deathly-still surroundings, his small face pale.
Except for the three kids, only three adults were still awake in the whole underground garage; one kept a stern face, one sat motionless, eyes closed and covered in blood, so the children instinctively gravitated toward the young and easy-going Lu Yu.
“You’re a boy—how can you be such a scaredy-cat?” Li Ruodie put her hands on her hips.
Wang Jiaqi shrank his neck. “But everyone else is asleep, the sky outside is so weird, and the road looks spooky… I feel like some monster’s gonna jump out any second.”
“Relax, we specialize in killing monsters,” Lu Yu said with a smile.
“But monsters are super strong!”
“No matter how strong, we’re not afraid.” Chen Han glanced at Zhou Ping, who was about to close his eyes again. “See this Sword Saint big brother? Not just monsters—he can beat even gods and make them run.”
“That awesome?”
The kids’ mouths dropped open.
Hearing people talk about him again, Zhou Ping opened his eyes a slit.
“Hmph, Sword Saints are supposed to be awesome!” Chen Nan, who had kept quiet, finally spoke.
“Sword Saint big brother, are there other Sword Saints in the world besides you?” Li Ruodie asked curiously.
Zhou Ping answered truthfully, “No, just me.”
“Then you’re the strongest person on earth!” The little girl’s eyes sparkled.
Zhou Ping was taken aback.
He thought carefully. “Stronger than me? Probably none. About the same level? Four.”
“Will they come to save us too?”
“…They won’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they have even more people to save.”
“Oh…”
Seeing Li Ruodie down, Chen Nan grew upset. “Why wait for others? We’ve got the world’s strongest Sword Saint right here. He’ll protect us and get us home safe!”
“Sword Saint big brother, how did you get so strong? I wanna be a Sword Saint too!” Wang Jiaqi blurted. “If I became one, my parents would be so proud!”
Zhou Ping’s pupils quivered.
“Cowards can’t be Sword Saints!” Chen Nan shot him a disdainful look.
“Sword Saint big brother, with you this amazing, your family must be super proud of you?”
Zhou Ping was silent a moment. “I… except for Third Uncle, I probably have no family left.”
As the words fell, something seemed to cross his mind; the corners of his mouth lifted. “But I do have a few students, and they’re pretty proud of me.”
“Sword Saint big brother’s students! Are they strong too?”
“Mm, very strong. They’re the Fifth Reserve Team.” Zhou Ping paused, looking up at the narrow patch of sky. “Maybe… they’re already the Fifth Special Team now…”
Though the kids didn’t know what a reserve or special team was, they understood “very strong.”
“Then will they come to save us?” Wang Jiaqi asked.
Zhou Ping opened his mouth, instinctively about to say no, but froze.
Faces he knew flashed across his mind.
He was certain the other Human Apexes wouldn’t come—they had their own duties, impossible to cross the fog for this place.
But Lin Qiye and the others…
“No.” He hesitated, then still said it. “Because they shouldn’t come.”
Yes, they shouldn’t.
They were only youngsters averaging the “Sea” Realm; a few steps in the fog and they’d die.
They were seeds of Great Xia, the special team’s reserves; they had no reason to risk crossing the fog to here…
What would they even come for?
To save people? Or to save… me?
The instant that thought appeared, Zhou Ping shook his head and rejected it.
I only taught them for a while, traveled a stretch of road with them.
Truly… wishful thinking.
For some reason he was always so quick to indulge wishful thinking, and the result was… disappointment after disappointment, until numbness.
CRACK——!!
A savage bolt of lightning ripped the sky; the explosive thunderclap shook the dark city and rattled the underground garage, jolting everyone.
The drowsy Zhou Ping jerked his head up.
He stared outside; the fatigue in his eyes was gone, replaced by vigilance he had never shown before.
His expression was grave.
“Why’s the thunder so loud?” Lu Yu asked, frowning as he hugged the pale Wang Jiaqi.
Li Ruodie and Chen Nan were also startled, but braver—especially Li Ruodie, who stepped forward two paces to the garage entrance.
She looked up at the sky.
“Three people are standing in the sky!” she cried in shock.
In the gloomy heavens, clouds over tens of kilometers were twisted into a colossal vortex. Three distinct figures stood upon the clouds, gazing down at the city below. Their faces were unclear, but heart-stopping pressure flooded the entire sky.
Little Li Ruodie stared blankly; the three apocalyptic silhouettes reflected in her eyes, imprinting on her heart…
Chen Han froze, then his face changed drastically.
He strode to the entrance and looked up.
This was the fog—how could anyone be in the sky?
Recalling the wind god Shu whom the Sword Saint had just driven back, Chen Han seemed to realize something. He turned to Zhou Ping, pale by the brazier, his expression heavy.
Those were… gods.
And three of them!
Even if the Sword Saint could force one god to retreat, against three, even the Great Xia Sword Saint stood no chance!
Despair surfaced in Chen Han’s eyes.
This time… odds of survival were slim.
BOOM——!!
The three gods in the sky struck together; world-ending attacks landed on the gloomy firmament, shaking the Fengdu laws, the whole city quaking violently!
Low rumbles echoed between heaven and earth; the dark sky shook, on the verge of collapse.
In the ruined city, buildings toppled one after another from the tremors; billowing dust surged like a tide.
Dust sifted from overhead; the braziers in the garage were all toppled, bright flames dancing across the ground. Lu Yu hugged the three children in time; their faces were bloodless.
“Th-that’s… a god?” Li Ruodie murmured in Lu Yu’s arms. “So scary…”
In a corner of the underground garage,
before the leaping dying flames,
a figure slowly stood.
Scarlet fire cast his shadow on the white wall behind, swaying gently—like a black giant, a giant… carrying the sky on his back.
Black-shirted, blood-stained Zhou Ping walked calmly to the garage entrance. He reached out and gently patted Li Ruodie’s head in Lu Yu’s arms.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
On that ordinary, somewhat gloomy face, a faint smile—rare for him—appeared.
He turned and walked alone toward the outside.
They stared blankly as his back vanished into rolling smoke and dust.
Suddenly,
a voice sounded behind him:
“Night Watch Chen Han asks the Great Xia Sword Saint… to slay a god!”
Chen Han watched Zhou Ping’s back, eyes filled with unprecedented resolve.
To slay a god wasn’t merely asking the Sword Saint to kill a deity; it was what Zhou Ping had said before…
Slay a god—then take you home.
Take everyone home.
Lu Yu was stunned; a sudden fire blazed in his chest, and he shouted:
“Night Watch Lu Yu asks the Great Xia Sword Saint to slay a god!”
In his arms, the three kids took deep breaths and yelled with all their might:
“Please, Great Xia Sword Saint, slay a god!”
“Please, Great Xia Sword Saint, slay a god!!”
“—Please, Great Xia Sword Saint, slay a god!!!”
In the rolling smoke, the black-shirted figure paused, glanced back at them—then kept walking forward.