The wind howled, fierce and sharp as a thunderclap.
In the blink of an eye, Dong Huai Sect was right in front of Gu Renlong.
Gu Renlong’s earlier cries had been heroic, but now he had no intention of catching the body.
He twisted his body and lunged for an open space.
‘Second brother? Third brother? At a crucial moment, any of them could be sacrificed.’
‘He could make a huge deal out of Chi Lin’s death and put on a grand show at Sunset Plateau, so why should he be the one to catch Dong Huai Sect’s corpse?’
‘Now that the situation was lost, the only sensible thing to do was to flee back to Thunderbolt Hall, regroup, and face his enemies later.’
‘He couldn’t afford to be trapped here.’
But before he could leap away, the sharp twang of a zither string cut through the air. The sound was like the ring of a sword, a torrent as powerful as a mountain stream.
He instantly tapped his foot against the ground, dodging the attack.
However, the one attacking was Yan Wengge, and his Seven-Stringed Zither Manual was never used one strike at a time.
His method against Cripple Sun was one thing; against the Hall Master of Thunderbolt Hall, one of the thirteen great gangs, he naturally unleashed a continuous stream of strikes.
His fingers flew across the zither, and the sword-like ringing was incessant.
Although Gu Renlong was loath to get entangled, he found it extremely difficult to break away.
In a flash, three breaths’ worth of time had been wasted. He suddenly leaped high into the air, and looking back over his shoulder, he roared in fury:
“You’re courting death!”
As his Thunderbolt Skill surged, he unleashed the Thunderous Heaven-Shocking Palm with a deafening roar.
Being so far away, what he struck with was naturally just the force of the palm.
But this force was infused with Inner Strength from the Thunderbolt Skill, and from afar, it looked like a colossal phantom palm descending from the sky.
Yan Wengge dared not be careless. His hands became a blur over the zither, its music bursting forth, ringing like clashing steel.
The two forces immediately locked in a stalemate, tangled in mid-air.
Gu Renlong, however, had already landed on Sunset Plateau. With a light push of his toes, he tried to flee once more.
But he heard an unnatural whistle of wind before him. He looked up to find Liu Zongming blocking his path.
“Hall Master Gu, our conversation isn’t over. Why the rush to leave?”
Liu Zongming stroked his beard with one hand, then jabbed forward with a single finger.
The motion didn’t look like a martial arts strike at all; it was more like a painter dabbing a brush.
This very move was known as Dotting the Eye of the Dragon!
It was a move from Fragrance Academy’s ultimate technique, the Huo School’s Painting Finger.
This skill was created by a former head of Fragrance Academy with the surname Huo. This man had an abiding love for the art of painting and established his own school of thought.
He later channeled the principles of painting into martial arts, creating this very finger technique.
This move, Dotting the Eye of the Dragon, specialized in seeking out an opponent’s flaws. It was said to dot the eye, but in truth, it struck the weakness.
Gu Renlong’s heart lurched. He executed his Lightning Step technique, his form dissolving into a series of afterimages. Unfortunately, they were already too close. The finger strike pierced through the phantom images and landed right in the center of Gu Renlong’s palm.
This was the absolute best Gu Renlong could do.
In truth, Liu Zongming’s finger had originally been aimed at the Shenfeng acupoint on Gu Renlong’s chest.
Had the strike truly landed there, that point—which belongs to the Kidney Meridian of Foot-Shaoyin—would have been a gateway. Liu Zongming’s Inner Strength would have poured through the meridian, completely disabling Gu Renlong’s Lightning Step.
That was why, at that critical, hair-raising moment, he had used his hand to block.
Now, with the finger pressed against his palm, Liu Zongming released his Inner Strength. Gu Renlong felt a shock coarse through his entire body, and he stumbled back three steps.
But he wasn’t discouraged. ‘As long as the Shenfeng acupoint is undamaged and the Kidney Meridian of Foot-Shaoyin is unharmed, I can just run again,’ he thought.
But as he pivoted to flee in another direction, he saw Yan Wushuang watching him with a faint smile.
His face instantly darkened. He switched directions again, only to find Gu Shengyan and Ruan Yuqing standing together.
Both women held longswords, clearly prepared to block his path.
On any other day, Gu Renlong wouldn’t have given these two women a second thought.
But the circumstances today were different. If they delayed him for even a moment, all hope would be lost. He had no choice but to switch directions again…
And then he saw Xuanyuan One Slash.
It wasn’t just Xuanyuan One Slash. There was also Feng Xianzhi of Qifeng Manor, and Man Shengming, who was now on his feet.
In fact, everyone on Sunset Plateau had gotten to their feet, forming a tight circle around him and him alone.
“How outrageous!”
Gu Renlong’s anger finally boiled over. “You… you people have gone too far!”
“What a load of stinking bullshit!”
Xuanyuan One Slash sneered.
“We’ve gone too far? You’re the one who’s treating us like fools. Did you really think my master didn’t know your little scheme? Let me tell you, even if you had managed to escape Sunset Plateau, you wouldn’t have made it off this mountain.
“My Blood Saber Hall has already blocked every single escape route off this mountain.
“There’s no escape for you, even if you sprouted wings!”
“Master?”
Despite everything Xuanyuan One Slash had said, that was the only word Gu Renlong latched onto.
‘As for Xuanyuan One Slash’s preparations…’
‘No matter how flawless the preparations were, it all came down to the people involved. With his martial prowess, who could possibly be his opponent, aside from the masters here on Sunset Plateau?’
‘They were nothing but a bunch of worthless dogs, cannon fodder waiting to be cut down.’
“I have already taken Jiang Ran, Young Hero Jiang, as my master!”
Xuanyuan One Slash declared in front of everyone, “What about it?”
Gu Renlong was speechless for a moment.
“Utterly shameless…”
“I’m afraid the most shameless one here right now is you, isn’t it?”
Xuanyuan One Slash shook his head slowly.
“I’d advise you to surrender peacefully. Don’t put up a pointless struggle. There are plenty of fellow martial artists on Sunset Plateau today. If every one of us took a piss, we could drown you!”
Yan Wushuang’s brow immediately furrowed, and she shot Xuanyuan One Slash a sharp look.
“Don’t speak such nonsense. Have you no sense of propriety?”
Gu Shengyan also tugged on Ruan Yuqing’s sleeve, thinking, ‘If anyone’s going to piss, he can do it himself…’
Xuanyuan One Slash was unoffended. He simply raised his Qianjun Saber.
“Gu Renlong, think it over carefully. Surrender, and there might still be a path to survival for you.