Chapter Ninety-Six: Zhan Bai’s Choice

For the first time, Qin Feng saw blazing fury and an utterly murderous intent in Zhan Bai’s eyes.

All of it was because of Fang Xinyi.

Because of love.

A woman is always a man’s weakness, and when the woman he loves is humiliated by another man, that look in his eyes, the desire to kill, is enough to make it seem as if he could devour the offender whole.

This was a reverse scale, more painful to endure than killing Zhan Bai himself.

The ghost sword was unleashed, sword energy howling through the air.

Just as the flying blade was about to cleave through Li Haoran’s brow—

Just as Qin Feng’s lips had already split into two small, satisfied smiles—

The sword suddenly stopped.

It halted less than an inch before Li Haoran’s forehead.

Qin Feng: “...”

A bad feeling rose in his heart.

Zhan Bai was good in every respect, except for that damned kindness of his. If things went badly, it would ruin him one day.

The sword was withdrawn, and Zhan Bai turned his back.

But Qin Feng could still see tears in Zhan Bai’s eyes, and hatred too, yet more than either of those was reluctance.

He still had not crossed that line in his heart...

Qin Feng thought to himself, and then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he let out a faint, bitter sigh.

“Let him go. This time, I take it as repayment for the years my master and mistress raised me. From this day on, there is nothing between me and Shu Sword Mountain.”

“Zhan Bai, you—”

“My mind is made up! Thank you, brother!”

Qin Feng had just opened his mouth to persuade him when Zhan Bai suddenly cut him off, and when he spoke the word brother, there was an unmistakable note of deep gratitude that made Qin Feng’s heart tighten with sorrow.

“Fine. If you can’t do it, I will.”

Zhan Bai was too softhearted. Qin Feng was not that kind of man.

He drew Heavy Wu and was about to strike, but Zhan Bai leapt forward and blocked him.

“Brother, this ends here. I understand and appreciate everything you have done for me, Zhan Bai truly does. Leave now. Master is likely to find this place at any moment. If the two of us are seen here together, he will inevitably grow suspicious. When that happens, both of us will be implicated.”

Qin Feng was truly angry now. He had not expected Zhan Bai to be such a stubborn mule. Was it really worth it, all for this bastard?

“Zhan Bai, move aside! Otherwise, you’ll regret it!”

Zhan Bai shook his head. A trace of bitterness appeared on his face, but his gaze remained firm.

Qin Feng’s eyes were practically spitting fire.

“Zhan Bai, you’re a damned fool!”

For the first time, Qin Feng was angered to such an extent that smoke seemed to pour from all seven orifices. He was practically dying to split Zhan Bai open with a sword.

But could he?

The answer was no.

Zhan Bai was his sworn brother, the very figure he had once admired and aspired to become.

At most, he could only hurl a few curses.

If it came to a real fight, then despite all the trump cards Qin Feng now possessed, he still might not be Zhan Bai’s match with the ghost sword.

The two of them fell silent at once.

Qin Feng left without looking back.

Of course, he left in a rage.

When he went, he took Fang Xinyi with him. Since Li Haoran had not died, Fang Xinyi was still in danger of being violated by him. Qin Feng would not allow the same thing to happen a second time.

Ghost Sword Cliff was not a suitable place for Fang Xinyi to remain, so for now he could only keep her in the Heavenly Demon Blood-Branch Coffin.

Zhan Bai tacitly agreed to this as well. After all, within Shu Sword Mountain, the person he trusted most was Qin Feng.

The road down the mountain was miserable and infuriating for Qin Feng.

To think that Li Haoran had been granted a free life!

If he had known this would happen, he should have killed Li Haoran first and then handed him over. Damn it. He had originally intended to let Zhan Bai be a proper man for once, but who would have thought that the fellow would act so timidly, so indecisively, like a woman when faced with a matter of real importance.

Still, Zhan Bai’s kind nature, while infuriating Qin Feng, also earned his admiration.

That was the sort of friend worth making with sincerity, someone truly dependable.

Qin Feng quietly made up his mind that the next time he encountered Li Haoran, he would strike first and kill him without hesitation, then directly have the Seven Spirit Immortal Lotus used for Fang Xinyi, sparing everyone further trouble.

Halfway down the path, Qin Feng suddenly saw a streak of sword light burst skyward from Ghost Sword Cliff, brilliant beyond measure, flooding the entire mountain summit and instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

Clearly, this was Zhan Bai sending a signal to Li Xingjian.

Qin Feng shook his head again and pulled out the large black cloth, draping it over himself. Just as he finished concealing his form, a beam of sword light flashed past overhead in a blur, so fast it was terrifying.

Right behind it, countless sword lights surged through the night like meteors streaking across the sky, converging toward Ghost Sword Cliff.

That first streak of light was most likely Li Xingjian’s escape light.

Although Qin Feng had not been at Shu Sword Mountain for long, he found some of Li Xingjian’s conduct thoroughly contemptible.

Li Xingjian was a hypocrite through and through, a villain dressed as a gentleman.

A man like that was utterly unworthy of being Zhan Bai’s master. Qin Feng hoped that through this incident, Zhan Bai would wake up at last, sever all master-disciple ties with Li Xingjian, and ideally leave Shu Sword Mountain altogether.

Of course, these were only Qin Feng’s hopeful wishes.

He knew Zhan Bai would not leave Shu Sword Mountain so easily. This had once been his home, the place where he had lived from childhood to adulthood, the land he protected in his heart. Qin Feng could understand that kind of feeling.

Unless something truly extraordinary happened.

After the others had already rushed past overhead, Qin Feng took Heavy Wu from his storage ring, formed a sword hand seal, and leapt onto it.

Miraculously, this time he did not fall.

At first, Qin Feng had only intended to give it a try. If it failed, he would still have to climb back up the hanging stairs.

Unexpectedly, it worked this time. The odds had been only one in ten.

Success in sword-riding lifted his already foul mood by just a fraction.

With a change in hand seal, the Heavy Wu beneath his feet, only half a blade in length, began to wobble and surge forward in a crooked line.

Qin Feng hurriedly adjusted his direction, terrified that he might accidentally tumble off.

This was his life on the line, after all.

Though his speed was a little slow, it was still far faster than climbing the hanging stairs.

It was just that the image was rather ungainly. Everyone else rode a complete, graceful flying sword, smooth as flowing water, while the one beneath Qin Feng’s feet was a huge, clumsy broken blade.

But Qin Feng did not care in the slightest.

Under the astonished gazes of many, he brazenly turned and flew toward Green Origin Peak.

At that moment everyone was in a flurry of activity. Though many had noticed Qin Feng, none of them took him seriously. What trouble could someone make if he could not even control a flying sword properly? So when they saw him flying back, most assumed he had been afraid of causing more harm than help and was sheepishly retreating.

Qin Feng was quite pleased with himself as he flew.

Unfortunately, his pleasure did not last long. He lost control for a moment, his foot dipped, and his whole body plunged straight down from the sky. The direction of his fall was exactly the gap between the two peaks, with no place to land.

“Ahhh!”

Qin Feng’s scream rang through the heavens.

“Look, that guy Qin Feng fell down...”

“Hah, serves him right if he dies. He can’t even fly and he still came out here to make a fool of himself...”

“Exactly. If he falls from there, wouldn’t he be smashed to pieces?”

Many people turned back to watch Qin Feng plummet, but not a single one came to help him.

“Damn it, I look down on all of you!”

Qin Feng cursed inwardly.

Fortunately, just before he was about to crash into the mountain-protecting formation, two sword lights, one blue and one red, shot urgently out from the crowd. The blue one was faster, and it caught Qin Feng first, then quickly carried him away in the direction of Green Origin Peak.

The red sword light remained behind and stopped, revealing the puzzled face of Qiu Chuji.

“Huh? Did I imagine that? The one who saved that brat Qin Feng just now was an inner disciple? And it was actually Huo Siyan, who obtained a profound treasure-grade flying sword!”