Chapter 848: Five Peerless Techniques
Suddenly, the six yamen runners unfastened the iron chains from their bodies and cast them toward the radiant light on the river’s surface.
Within that seemingly empty brilliance, a clang of metal striking metal rang out, followed by a furious howl.
Clearly, that howl was filled with shock and astonishment.
The six chains stretched taut in midair, trembling violently.
One end of each chain lay within the light, while the other ends were gripped firmly in the runners’ hands.
The runners said nothing, retreating step by step as they steadily reeled in the chains.
The bluestone slabs beneath their official boots cracked and shattered continuously, as if something immensely heavy were tied to the other ends of the chains.
The myriad rays of light on the river dimmed slightly for a moment.
A small, thin black figure gradually materialized in the air above the river.
The six iron chains were fastened respectively to his four limbs, his neck, and the tail that had somehow torn through his trousers.
Chu Su had been forcibly dragged back from the light by these runners!
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An intensely cold aura seeped along the chains into Chu Su’s body.
He perceived it very clearly—though equally frigid, the aura transmitted by the chains was not the same as his innate yin poison.
The aura from the chains was more severe and solemn, carrying an official air, its sinister exterior brimming with undisguised killing intent.
The yamen runners’ sinister killing aura was not as powerful as Chu Su’s filthy yin chill, but it was far more tenacious, and for a time, Chu Su could not break free from those chains.
He knew he faced an extremely dangerous situation. If he could not snap the chains in the shortest possible time, the sinister killing intent locked onto his soul through the chains would cause the great formation on both sides of the Wen River to summon thunderbolts and annihilate him directly.
A shrill, utterly malevolent shriek echoed across the water’s surface. The six chains vibrated violently, as if on the verge of breaking.
With a tearing sound, Chu Su’s black garments suddenly ripped apart. Two hideous gray fleshy wings burst forth, flapping rapidly through the wind and snow.
Countless streams of filthy black smoke emerged from his wings.
He lunged toward the six runners on the shore at an unimaginable speed.
Black smoke shrouded his body, obscuring his face, but everyone knew that within that smoke lay the most vile poison in the world—a single touch meant death.
Yet the expressions of the six runners did not change at all. With their left hands gripping the chains tightly, they raised their water-and-fire staffs in their right hands and struck toward the air.
The runners’ staff techniques did not appear particularly exquisite, but there was a subtle, mysterious quality hidden within their strikes, somewhat reminiscent of the Academy’s Mountain-Toppling Staff.
The Academy’s Mountain-Toppling Staff spoke of precepts, of rules, of the academy’s regulations.
Since these runners’ staff techniques were connected to the Mountain-Toppling Staff, they naturally followed the same lineage, still speaking of precepts and rules.
Only, their water-and-fire staffs enforced not academy regulations, but family law.
The Tang family’s family law.
Academy precepts were like a mountain; family law was equally like a mountain.
If they said they would strike you, then strike you they would.
The staff fell like a mountain. Even if you were as fast as lightning or as elusive as smoke, how could you dodge?
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Several explosive sounds rent the air. The wind and snow in the sky before the shore suddenly scattered, forming over a dozen white air vortices.
Several of those white vortices burst open around Chu Su.
The water-and-fire staffs, as if lengthened countless times, struck him with pinpoint accuracy, producing extremely dull impacts.
A mouthful of black blood sprayed from his lips. His twisted, deformed face was filled with pain and fury.
At this moment, he could not dodge those mountain-like falling staffs; otherwise, he would never find another chance to win.
The dull thuds of the water-and-fire staffs striking his solid body rang out densely over the Wen River. Black blood splattered everywhere within the brilliantly lit formation eye.
He endured it after all, breaking through layer after layer of staff shadows to reach the shore, now only a few zhang away from the six runners—close enough to kill them with a single reach!
Just then, the six runners made a move no one expected—they released the iron chains in their hands, as if completely unconcerned that Chu Su might escape, then raised their six water-and-fire staffs upright, forming a barrier as they retreated to protect themselves.
These runners were actually retreating? Then who on the shore would deal with Chu Su and kill those merchants and fortune-tellers controlling the formation?
Countless streams of filthy black poisonous mist spread rapidly across the shore with Chu Su’s arrival. The water plants and fish in the river died on contact.
Just as the black poisonous mist was about to reach the merchants and fortune-tellers, it was suddenly torn apart.
It was as if the deepest night had been ripped away in two strips from high above.
Tearing through that black mist were two very ordinary fists.
Two old men selling sesame candy stood by the riverbank.
The moment Chu Su arrived, they carefully pulled the blue cloth over their stalls to keep the candy free of dust, then stepped forward.
They bent their knees, sank their hips, steadied their minds, clenched their fists, and struck out.
So plain, so ordinary, without any trace of a cultivation master’s bearing—more like village boxing performers at a fair.
Only true cultivation experts could appreciate the brilliance of these two punches.
Plain and ordinary meant they treated this as routine as coarse tea and plain rice.
Common and unremarkable meant they regarded it as nothing special.
This was true centeredness and harmony.
And they were using the most orthodox royal cultivation method!
Boundless light radiated from their fists.
Unlike the radiant formation eye on the river, the light emanating from their fists carried no sacred quality—only fervent heat.
Their fists exuded endless warmth, looking like two blazing suns!
The filthy black mist that accompanied Chu Su was instantly torn into countless fragments.
The river’s surface was filled with the hissing sound of scorching erosion.
“The Sun-Scorching Art! How can there be imperial clan members here!”
Chu Su’s horrified shout rang out from deep within the black mist.
His face and clothes were riddled with countless tiny burn holes, looking like sesame seeds evenly sprinkled on sesame candy.
Countless streams of black blood spurted from those tiny holes, a sight both bloody and terrifying.
The shriek of shock in the wind and snow turned into a pained, furious howl, like an ancient beast wounded.
He charged at the two old men with a strange cry, trailing black blood through the air.
This black blood was his true blood, containing poison countless times more potent than the black mist.
Even if his opponents truly were imperial clan members using the most orthodox Sun-Scorching Art, they could not resist this blood.
The expressions of the two old men grew grave. With a rustle, they removed their long robes, preparing to strike again.
Just then, a little girl walked past them.
Whether it was Chu Su or the two old men selling sesame candy, in the midst of such tense and perilous combat, they had all forgotten there was still a little girl present.
The little girl who had been buying cosmetics.
She had been buying cosmetics in Wen Shui City for a very long time. Though not always at a cosmetics stall or shop, she had nevertheless bought a great deal.
She scattered those cosmetics into the air.
Red, white, and pink; peach blossom, osmanthus, and the cheapest gardenia.
The river’s surface instantly became a world of cosmetics, countless fragrances mingling together.
No matter how fast Chu Su’s movements were, how could he avoid the powders that filled heaven and earth? How could he evade the scents?
The fragrance assailed him.
The powders and scents landed on his body.
A look of horror appeared in his pupils, which were then stained red, white, and pink.
He even felt that his soul and blood had become fragrant.
He realized he had been poisoned!
How was this possible?