Chapter 92

## Chapter 92. A Moment in Time

“Aaaah!”

“R-run!”

No one had anticipated this situation.

Blood spurted from all directions, and sharp screams filled the air.

Terrified spectators pushed and trampled each other in their attempt to escape.

“Calm down!”

“You must not move rashly!”

The instructors and martial artists tried to restore order, but there were others who were fueling the chaos.

“It’s poison! Who released the poison!”

“There are explosives planted in the stands!”

Assassins with distorted voices shouted from all directions, further inciting the chaos.

Amidst the extreme confusion he had created, the Third Head of the Black Forest gave instructions to his subordinates.

[First Team, continue the agitation and disruption.]

[Understood!]

[Second Team, block any interference.]

[Understood!]

[Third Team, eliminate the target.]

[Understood!]

After giving orders to all the assassins, the Third Head moved alone. He was hiding among the spectators.

'Those who attacked us. It wasn’t the Blood Sect.'

At first, he thought it was the Blood Sect.

But the more he thought about it, the less it seemed like their method.

Sure enough, it turned out that the Blood Sect was also being hunted by unknown assailants.

'Is it the Executioners?'

He briefly suspected this but quickly dismissed the possibility.

The proud Executioners would not resort to such treachery.

If the Executioners had decided to kill them, the Black Forest assassins would already be dead, or the Executioners' assassins would be dead.

So, there was only one conclusion.

'It must be the work of the Black Shadows. They have quite a few collaborators.'

It had taken too many casualties to reach this point.

The number of assassins he had brought was halved, and the target had completed the exam unharmed.

Under normal circumstances, he would have given up and retreated.

But.

-We must not let the target be taken by others.

Returning empty-handed would not be forgiven by the Black Forest Head.

Moreover, this contract was not the kind that could be easily abandoned due to heavy casualties.

'I have to kill the target, even if it means using all the assassins I brought.'

So, he devised a bold plan.

If he could kill Gongshoushu, the number of casualties here wouldn’t matter; the palace authorities would cover it up.

“Aaaah! Save meee!”

With a pale face and a scream, the Third Head was pushed by the crowd toward where Gongshoushu was.

But his eyes were colder than ever.

'I’ll finish this with my own hands.'

He was getting closer to the target.

* * *

“Protect the elder!”

The moment Bai Shulong’s shout was heard from a distance, Xian Yuanjiang had already leaped into action.

Xian Yuanjiang blocked in front of Gongshoushu and shouted.

“Old man! Stay behind me!”

“What is this…?”

“Elder.”

Swish.

The Black Shadow, who had been hiding, revealed himself beside Gongshoushu.

He judged that it was more advantageous to show himself rather than hide.

Gongshoushu quickly assessed the situation from their expressions.

“…It seems there are those who are after me.”

“There’s no need to worry.”

“Did you already know?”

“…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

The Black Shadow bit his lip as he watched the assassins charging.

“Whatever punishment comes later, I will accept it gladly. Please trust me now.”

The assassins who were charging suddenly threw a barrage of hidden weapons.

Xian Yuanjiang and the Black Shadow stepped forward simultaneously to block the hidden weapons.

Clang!

No sooner had they blocked the hidden weapons than the first assassin lunged at them. A thin, long spear aimed for Gongshoushu’s heart.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Xian Yuanjiang deflected the spear upward, and the Black Shadow cut the assassin’s neck as a gap appeared.

Swoosh!

Xian Yuanjiang shuddered as blood splattered in front of him.

But there was no time to be shocked.

Assassins kept charging, and if they didn’t stop them, Gongshoushu would die.

“Haaaah!”

Xian Yuanjiang roared and fiercely swung his sword.

He deflected the hidden weapons and blocked the ones he couldn’t with his body.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Several throwing knives and darts pierced Xian Yuanjiang’s limbs.

The moment he staggered, three assassins lunged at him simultaneously.

“Grandpa!”

Wei Zhichuan, who was on the sparring platform, dashed toward them like a gust of wind. Wei Zhichuan unleashed sword qi, forcing the assassins to retreat.

“Are you okay? What’s happening all of a sudden?”

“No time to explain. Just block the attackers!”

The Black Shadow, Xian Yuanjiang, and Wei Zhichuan protected Gongshoushu from three directions.

The number of assassins surged and descended upon them.

The assassins did not spare themselves.

They threw themselves into the fray like moths drawn to a flame.

Xian Yuanjiang gritted his teeth and faced the assassins.

Splat!

Blood soaked his martial robe.

He didn’t even have time to wipe the blood from his face.

His breath grew short in an instant.

The sensation of the blade piercing flesh was terrifying.

“Huff… Huff…”

Xian Yuanjiang’s face turned pale. He felt dizzy and nauseous.

He had been called the wildest troublemaker in the Azure Dragon Academy, but this was his first time actually killing someone.

He never imagined he would take so many lives at once.

A situation that even a grown adult with a strong heart would find hard to handle.

He could only grit his teeth and endure.

“…Senior. Fall back.”

Wei Zhichuan, in contrast, appeared calm. He sent Xian Yuanjiang to the back and took the front, facing the most assassins.

There was no mercy in Wei Zhichuan’s sword. He cleanly beheaded the charging assassin and stabbed the heart without hesitation.

Even the Black Shadow, trained as an assassin, was surprised by the boy’s composure.

“Mad….”

Xian Yuanjiang, who had retreated, could only look at Wei Zhichuan in shock.

Compared to the boy, he felt ashamed of his lack of martial skills and experience.

“…Senior. Are you okay?”

Gongshoushu supported the injured Xian Yuanjiang.

Although the assassins’ blades hadn’t reached him yet, Gongshoushu also drew his sword and remained vigilant.

Xian Yuanjiang panted and said,

“Damn. What kind of senior are you, showing off and not even helping….”

“If it weren’t for you, those darts would have hit me. And don’t talk too much. You seem to be poisoned.”

“Poison… That’s why….”

“Take this.”

Feeling dizzy and nauseous, Xian Yuanjiang swallowed the unknown pill that Gongshoushu put in his mouth. It made him feel a bit better.

He straightened up, leaning on the ground.

“Phew. I feel better.”

“…Your physical strength is truly monstrous.”

The two stood back-to-back, guarding their surroundings.

“Aaaah!”

“My arm, my aaaaarm!”

The scene was chaotic. Screams and shouts never ceased, and the sound of metal clashing echoed everywhere.

The assassins were cunning. They didn’t just target Gongshoushu.

They attacked people in multiple places simultaneously, increasing the chaos and diverting attention.

“Where’s Mr. Bai?”

“It will take some time for them to get here.”

Bai Shulong and the other instructors were also tied up fighting other assassins.

“To harm innocent civilians…!”

Gongshoushu’s eyes burned with rage.

Standing straight, he shouted at the assassins,

“You must kill me today! If I survive, not only will you be caught, but those who hired you will be exterminated, down to the last relative!”

The assassins seemed to flinch at Gongshoushu’s fierce momentum.

But that wasn’t the only reason their expressions and aura suddenly changed.

‘What is this?’

Xian Yuanjiang felt an inexplicable sense of unease. A cold sensation ran down his spine, and his heart raced wildly.

-What’s better about you than Tianyi? Your brute strength…

Bai Shulong’s words suddenly came to mind.

On a day when he had been thoroughly defeated by Wei Zhichuan and lay sprawled on the ground, Bai Shulong had said,

-Your senses are better than Tianyi’s. You have instincts as developed as a beast.

-…Is that a good thing?

And at this moment, Xian Yuanjiang decided to trust his instincts.

Whoosh!

Xian Yuanjiang immediately hugged Gongshoushu and rolled to the side.

Thud!

A short sword that had flown from somewhere narrowly missed them, embedding itself in the spot they had just occupied.

Xian Yuanjiang heard the sound of a tongue clicking behind him.

“Tsk.”

‘When did he appear!’

He didn’t even know when the opponent had shown up.

A man seemed to have emerged from nowhere, approaching them like a ghost.

“Grandpa!”

“Elder!”

Wei Zhichuan and the Black Shadow shouted in alarm and rushed over.

But their path was blocked by assassins who disregarded their own lives.

“Get out of the way!”

“Elder!”

Soon, Wei Zhichuan and the Black Shadow were surrounded and obscured by the assassins.

The Third Head didn’t waste the time his subordinates had bought him. He immediately used his lightness technique to charge at Gongshoushu.

“Old man! Stay behind me!”

“Senior!”

Xian Yuanjiang stepped in front of Gongshoushu and gripped his sword tightly.

His survival instinct was sending intense danger signals.

‘A master. Far more skilled than me.’

The opponent was not just an assassin but a pure martial artist at a higher realm than himself.

The plain sword in his hand was coated with a dark, ominous aura.

“Damn….”

“…”

The opponent didn’t say a word. He approached silently and swung his sword, appearing like a grim reaper.

‘This… I’m going to die.’

Xian Yuanjiang had never faced death so closely in his life.

It was a strange experience.

His pupils dilated, and his breathing slowed. It felt as if it had stopped altogether.

Time moved slowly.

Just as the blade was about to reach his throat, the instinctive sense that Bai Shulong had praised awakened in every cell of his body.

“!!”

Time sped up again, and the swords of Xian Yuanjiang and the Third Head passed each other.

Splat!

Xian Yuanjiang spat blood from his chest and collapsed to the ground.

“Yuan! Nooo!”

Gongshoushu screamed at the sight. Enraged, he raised his sword and charged at the Third Head.

“…”

The Third Head frowned and tried to stop the bleeding from his injured arm.

At the last moment of the attack, the boy’s movements had suddenly changed, leaving a deep wound on his arm.

‘Did he even dodge my attack in the midst of all this?’

Xian Yuanjiang, lying on the ground, was twitching.

It was a critical injury, but not fatal.

He wanted to cut off his breath completely, but Gongshoushu was the priority now.

Gongshoushu turned his head to look at Gongshoushu.

“Noooo!”

The Black Shadow and Wei Zhichuan were still tied up with the Black Forest assassins, and the instructors were busy trying to restore order.

The time Xian Yuanjiang had risked his life to buy was just a fleeting moment.

“Our victory.”

The Third Head, smiling faintly, swung his sword at Gongshoushu’s neck.

And at that moment, the fleeting moment Xian Yuanjiang had bought was rewarded.

“Stop.”

The blade, which had been about to reach Gongshoushu’s neck, stopped as if by magic.

“…!!”

The Third Head had no intention of obeying the order to stop.

But he couldn’t disobey.

No matter how hard he pushed, his sword wouldn’t budge.

“Guh, guh…!”

Instead, an overwhelming pressure of qi crushed his entire body.

Crack…

It felt as if his body would be crushed.

“I said, stop.”

“Kuh!”

Thud!

The Third Head finally knelt on the ground, spitting blood.

Not only him, but all the other assassins around him also knelt, spitting blood. There was not a single exception.

“What….”

“Why… all of a sudden….”

Wei Zhichuan and the Black Shadow, who were fighting the assassins, looked at the kneeling assassins in confusion.

Then they raised their heads, sensing a powerful presence above them.

“I have much to discuss with you.”

Nangong Jixue stood majestically in the sky, his back to the blinding sun, overlooking the assassins on the ground.

“And with you as well.”

“…”

Nangong Jixue’s gaze, after scanning the assassins, turned to Gongshoushu’s back, where Bai Shulong had arrived just a moment later.