Chapter 422: A Friend Comes from the South
Hearing Zhu Luo's words, Chen Changsheng instinctively turned his head, looking back at Su Li and that assassin named Liu Qing.
Ever since leaving the border military camp and encountering them outside the forest, he had been very clear that this terrifying assassin, ranked third in the world, had been secretly following him and Su Li. This made him extremely uneasy, under immense mental pressure, and sometimes he even felt he could barely endure it.
It wasn't until that moment, when he saw Su Li and this assassin's smiles in the rain, and then saw the assassin's sword pierce into Zhu Luo's phantom like a sparse branch breaking the reflection of the moon in a pond, that he was shocked to realize: this assassin had followed him and Su Li for so many days without ever making a move, not because of terrifying forbearance and patience, not because he was looking for a better opportunity to strike, but because he had been protecting Su Li all along, waiting for the most dangerous moment to appear.
Liu Qing could actually use the Golden Crow Sword Technique. Knowing that the Golden Crow Sword was a secret sword technique created by Su Li himself, it was evident that his relationship with Su Li must be extremely close. If that was the case, tonight's Xunyang City was indeed a trap, but not a trap set by the Great Zhou court or the State Religion—it was a trap set by Li Mountain, a trap by Su Li and that assassin.
This was Chen Changsheng's thought at the moment, the same as Zhu Luo's and the thoughts of the people in the light rain. But Liu Qing did not admit it, even though his Golden Crow Sword was so dazzling, with burning embers still drifting in the threads of rain.
He knew the swords of Li Mountain, but he was not a man of Li Mountain.
For some reason, such an unconvincing statement made Chen Changsheng believe it. Zhu Luo naturally would not believe it; he had his own judgment, but at this moment, there was neither time nor need to probe the hidden truth behind this matter.
Zhu Luo looked at Su Li, his expression cold, but the moonlight in his eyes seemed about to burn.
He had come to Xunyang City today to kill this man.
If it were in the past, even as one of the Eight Winds and Rains, he would not dare to claim he could defeat Su Li. But the entire continent knew that Su Li had been severely wounded while breaking through the demon tribe's encirclement. He had thought killing Su Li would be a simple matter, not even requiring his personal intervention. But now it seemed that even if he acted personally, success was not guaranteed.
He had even suffered serious injuries.
A man like Su Li was indeed hard to kill.
By the same token, although he was severely wounded, he was also hard to kill. In the heavy rain, the responses of Wang Po, Liu Qing, and Chen Changsheng could be said to be the toughest, the wisest, even flawless. They had miraculously severely wounded Zhu Luo, but they could not make him die or surrender.
"I did miscalculate some things." Through countless fine curtains woven by the light rain, Zhu Luo looked at Su Li and said, "Everyone knows you appear carefree and casual, playing with the world, but in reality, you are aloof and proud, with no friends in this world, and Li Mountain could not send anyone to aid you. But I never expected that there would still be people willing to help you, this cold-blooded man."
This statement naturally referred to Wang Po, Chen Changsheng, and Liu Qing. Especially the first two, whether in temperament or anything else, were extremely different from Su Li. Their ways of doing things and the goodwill they held toward the world were what Su Li had always mocked and despised. Yet Chen Changsheng did not abandon him, and Wang Po traveled a thousand miles to help him, as if to tell Su Li, this solitary star who had killed countless, that this world was not entirely cold, that there were always people worth trusting.
"But you should be very clear: they cannot save you."
Zhu Luo glanced at the yellow paper umbrella in Su Li's hand and continued, "You cannot survive today. All your struggles are futile, just buying time."
Su Li looked at him quietly, saying nothing. Whether out of disdain or for some other reason was unknown.
"You delayed until Wang Po drew his blade, until that assassin struck with his sword. But so what?"
Zhu Luo pointed at the pitch-black city around them, like night, and the wilderness farther away, and said, "Look at this world. There is only one fool, one youth, and one ghost who cannot see the light standing before you. And we are the entire world."
As he said this, the soles of his shoes gradually left the puddles, and his body floated into the rainy sky. His long hair flew, and an overbearing aura enveloped the entire Xunyang City. Blood flowed from his chest and tiger's mouth, falling to the ground more than ten zhang below, making a soft pattering sound.
The light rain finally stopped. The clouds split again, revealing a patch of sky that might or might not be real, as if there were a moon. Countless sword intents fell like moonlight, and the moonlight rippled like water, flowing through the streets.
Countless bottomless cracks appeared on the hard street surface, all of them sword marks.
This was the result of a Sacred Domain powerhouse fully releasing his aura.
Zhu Luo was determined to unleash his strongest strike.
Wang Po suddenly spoke, "Senior, are you willing to pay the price of two hundred years of lifespan?"
Zhu Luo was already severely wounded. If he wanted to kill Su Li without any surprises, he would need to pay an even greater price. He looked at Wang Po and said, "Young man of the Wang family, didn't you also pay twenty years of your lifespan?"
Earlier in the inn, Wang Po had severely wounded Xiao Zhang of the Painted Armor and Liang Wangsun with a single strike. Although he was on the Carefree List, in reality, the strength of the three was very close. Fighting two alone and needing to incapacitate them in the shortest time naturally required using an extremely powerful secret technique, even one that harmed himself.
Wang Po had done so, and his cost was great.
At that time, Xiao Zhang and Liang Wangsun were extremely shocked.
Now he asked Zhu Luo, and Zhu Luo returned the question to him.
Wang Po's eyebrows, washed by the rain, were even lighter and droopier. His clothes were soaked, making him look even shabbier.
If he were an accountant, the employer he worked for would surely have gone bankrupt.
But the words he spoke were still as calm and powerful.
"I am still young, but you, Senior, are already old."
Time is the fairest and most unfair thing.
Age was Wang Po's greatest advantage over Zhu Luo.
Su Li, who had not spoken all along, suddenly burst into laughter, a laugh filled with indescribable delight.
Then he said to Wang Po, "These old relics can only die of old age, not be defeated in battle. You don't need to persuade him."
Wang Po understood, and so did the people on the rainy street. If Zhu Luo retreated tonight, how could he maintain his sacred status on the continent? How could he still call himself one of the Eight Winds and Rains?
Since he was one of the Eight Winds and Rains, he could not lose, only win.
Even if it cost two hundred years of time.
Su Li's laughter echoed through the silent Xunyang City, full of mockery for so-called reputation and family continuity.
Zhu Luo suddenly looked up at the night sky, a mocking smile curling on his lips.
Su Li's smile suddenly vanished.
Zhu Luo looked at him with contempt and said, "Have you never considered that since we few decided to kill you, would I, an old relic like me, come alone? You buy time, but in the end, you drag yourself into the abyss. Do you regret it?"
The rain in Xunyang City had stopped, and the clouds in the sky were gradually dispersing, but it was still dim, and the time was unknown.
Half the sky seemed to have a moon, faintly visible in the clouds.
In the other half of the sky, countless bright stars suddenly appeared.
Chen Changsheng did not know what was happening. He looked at that starry sky and found that his own destiny star was not among them. He vaguely understood that those stars were all phantoms.
Who had come? To cause heaven and earth to produce such an extraordinary phenomenon?
Wang Po's expression became extremely solemn. Liu Qing stood before Su Li's horse, head bowed, blood dripping from his face, lost in thought. From the distant street came the sound of whispered discussions, occasionally mixed with gasps. Even Liang Wangsun and Xue He's expressions turned somewhat strange. They had not expected such a grand display tonight.
Hua Jiefu's face turned pale. What could be done?
Someone had arrived at Xunyang City.
Before he appeared, a sea of stars had already appeared in the sky.
A powerful divine consciousness gradually descended, and the accumulated water on the street trembled and bounced up as if boiling.
That person was called the Star Gazer, who lived by the sea or in the Great Western Continent, watching the stars night after night for over three hundred years.
That person was close to Zhu Luo, and together they were called the Peerless Stars and Moon. Of course, he was also one of the Eight Winds and Rains.
Xunyang City fell silent.
Wang Po turned to Chen Changsheng and said, "You should leave."
Chen Changsheng's hand holding the sword trembled slightly. "And you?"
Wang Po thought for a moment and said, "I want to try again."
Knowing it was impossible but doing it anyway, knowing he was outmatched but fighting nonetheless.
Wang Po had worked as an accountant for the Tang family in Wenshui for three years without a single error.
Whatever he said, he always did.
He believed Su Li should not die tonight, so he would fight to the end. But he thought Chen Changsheng had no need to stay any longer, because Chen Changsheng was just a youth, with much youth to waste and experience.
Chen Changsheng thought very seriously but still could not decide whether to leave.
Today's rain was somewhat cold, Zhu Luo's sword was cold, but his blood was still hot.
In the end, he made his decision.
But everyone knew that his decision, and even Wang Po's decision, no longer mattered.
Wang Po, Chen Changsheng, and Liu Qing had pushed Zhu Luo to this point, which was already enough to be proud of. This rain battle would surely be recorded in history, but they could not do more.
Two Sacred Domain powerhouses had descended upon Xunyang City at the same time.
This was a scene that had not occurred in many years.
Many people instinctively looked at Su Li.
Those two Sacred Domain powerhouses had come for this man.
Suddenly, those who wanted to kill Su Li felt a mix of awe and envy.
The demon tribe wanted to kill him, plotting for years, deploying all their strong warriors, ten thousand cavalry surrounding the snowy plains.
He was severely wounded, and the human world wanted to kill him, requiring the dispatch of two of the greatest figures.
Such a life was truly worthy of pride, glorious, and without regret.
People were eager to know what a man like Su Li would say in his final moments.
Under countless gazes, Su Li finally spoke.
He looked at Zhu Luo floating in the sky and said, "Can we wait a little longer?"
This was very much like telling a comedy routine.
A solo comedy routine.
Zhu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly. "Trying to buy time at a moment like this is beneath your status. Could it be that even a man like the Little Master of Li Mountain fears the starry sea after death?"
"That's right, I am buying time." Su Li's voice was very calm. "From the military camp to Xunyang City, I've been buying time all along, because he lives quite far away, and it takes a long time for him to come."
Zhu Luo asked, "You've been... waiting for someone?"
Su Li said, "That's right."
Zhu Luo said, "Not Liu Qing?"
Su Li said, "He's been following me all along. Why would I wait for him? Besides, I thought he was here to kill me."
Chen Changsheng couldn't help but glance at Liu Qing, wondering what the relationship between this famous assassin and Su Li really was.
Zhu Luo was silent for a moment before asking, "Then who are you waiting for?"
Su Li said, "I'm waiting for a friend."
Zhu Luo asked mockingly, "Do you even have friends?"
If this question were asked of an ordinary person, it would seem absurd. People live in this world, eating grains, fresh vegetables, and fruits—who wouldn't have friends? Whether fair-weather friends or friends who share a bond over willow branches, they are all friends. But this question was asked of Su Li, so it was not absurd.
The entire continent knew that Su Li never trusted anyone and had no friends.
Even Chen Changsheng knew he had no friends.
The disciples of Li Mountain were his followers, even his family, but not his friends.
Wang Po was not his friend, Chen Changsheng was not, and Liu Qing clearly was not either.
To be precise, there were many people in this world who admired Su Li.
But there were very few qualified to be his friends.
And in Su Li's eyes, those people were all old relics, rotten wood, old bastards.
Like Zhu Luo, like the Star Gazer who was about to arrive.
Zhu Luo was very certain that among the dozen or so people in the entire continent who were qualified to be Su Li's friends and the only ones capable of changing tonight's situation, absolutely no one was Su Li's friend.
The colder truth was that most of the dozen strongest people in the world were Su Li's enemies.
Zhu Luo did not understand who Su Li was waiting for. If his friend was a farmer, then this friendship was legendary and aesthetically meaningful, but what use was it?
"If a man like you can have friends, how could someone as outstanding as me not have friends?"
Su Li looked at Zhu Luo with contempt and said, "Idiot."
As his words fell, the sea of stars above Xunyang City suddenly trembled.
A solemn, holy, even sacred aura blocked all the pressure from that sea of stars.
Then, someone came from the south.
It was an old acquaintance of Su Li.
That person, dressed in white, instantly flew over ten li, from the wilderness outside the city into Xunyang City.
That person was a woman, wearing a white ceremonial robe.
The dust of ten thousand miles was on her sleeves, and the white robe was already stained.
She swept in front of Zhu Luo.
Zhu Luo let out an extremely shocked cry, then slashed out with his sword.
The white-robed woman raised her hand and lightly brushed her sleeve.
With that brush, the clouds in the sky twisted terrifyingly.
The stained robe covered the moon.
The moonlight suddenly converged.
Then, Zhu Luo retreated, rapidly retreating, retreating over ten li until he finally crashed heavily into the city gate.
With a thunderous roar, dust and smoke billowed.
Ever since Chen Changsheng shouted that Su Li was here, the city gate of Xunyang had been tightly shut.
Now, the city gate of Xunyang finally opened.
The gate had directly collapsed.
Amidst the rubble of wood and bricks, Zhu Luo knelt, continuously spitting blood.
On the street, the white-robed woman slowly withdrew her hand, turned her head, and looked at Su Li.
She was a woman of ordinary appearance, with faint traces of time between her brows.
Like the slight curve of her lips.
Chen Changsheng felt that the white ceremonial robe looked somewhat familiar.
People were stunned, mouths agape, not knowing what to say.
Hua Jiefu, along with the clergy of Xunyang City, knelt down, performing a grand salute, trembling and silent.
The white-robed woman paid them no heed, only quietly looking at Su Li, smiling as she asked, "Just friends?"