Chapter 59: Without That Blade, I Have Another!

Chapter 59: Without That Blade, I Have Another!

"You... you truly are despicable!" Wei Jie hissed, channeling Vital Force to stem the bleeding from his severed arm. Crimson droplets still pattered onto the ground like a morbid metronome. His face had turned ghostly pale from blood loss, his lips pressed into a thin line as he clenched his teeth. Glaring at Su Chen's impassive face, he spat out the words laced with seething rage and hatred.

To fake an Arm Sheath technique was bad enough, but hiding a second blade up one's sleeve? How could someone sink so low? This was truly unprecedented in his experience!

Unfazed by the accusation, Su Chen launched another attack. The Sleeve Hidden Blade had been meant as a finishing move, but he now realized even this technique might not instantly kill a Vital Force Cultivator of Wei Jie's caliber. He'd already pushed his draw speed to its limit, but one miscalculation had left Wei Jie merely disarmed instead of dead.

No time to dwell on the technique's flaw now. The priority was eliminating Wei Jie before his two accomplices arrived - especially the one whose strength even Su Chen couldn't gauge.

Seeing Su Chen charge, Wei Jie's eyes narrowed. Ignoring his severed limb, he turned to flee. "Damn it! If I escape this time, I'll hunt this bastard down without mercy!" The thought of losing his cultivation path made his heart twist in agony, but his leg techniques remained formidable despite the injury.

The two figures darted through the forest, pursuer and prey. Though Wei Jie was fast, his wounds slowed him. Vital Force could only stanch blood loss for so long. If Su Chen didn't catch him, the forest floor would become his grave.

Panic crept into Wei Jie's expression as his breath grew ragged. "Just a bit further! Zhu Hu's group is close!" He gritted his teeth, channeling every ounce of willpower into survival.

Suddenly, his steps faltered. He stumbled, crashing to the ground. Pain flared as he scrambled to rise, but Su Chen was already upon him.

"Why can't I see clearly...?" Wei Jie's vision blurred, the world veiled in haze. Su Chen's approaching figure seemed to drain his strength. His limbs turned to lead.

"Poison on the blade!" Realization struck like lightning. He pointed at a nearby tree, mistaking it for Su Chen. "That's it!"

A flash of steel. A thunderclap of pain. Wei Jie never saw the strike that ended his life.

"You die all the same without that blade." Su Chen's calm voice marked Wei Jie's final moment. The severed head thudded to the ground as life left the body forever.

After retrieving dozens of silver taels from the corpse, Su Chen's fingers brushed something unusual near the boots. A secret manual. He pocketed it just as approaching footsteps signaled the return of the two black-cloaked men.

"Can't handle two at once", Su Chen muttered, taking Wei Jie's head and vanishing into the underbrush. Moments later, the two men arrived.

"Big Brother, look!" The corpse's headless state drew gasps. "It's Wei Jie! He's dead!"

The elder man scowled. "One-Armed Yang Guo did this." At his companion's questioning look, he ordered, "Take the body. Let Sun Hufa handle this."

Back in White Stone City at dawn, Su Chen entered the County Courthouse with his grisly package. The clerk eyed the bloodstained bundle warily as they waited for Tao Wenxuan. When the magistrate finally arrived, his gaze locked onto the package with barely concealed excitement.

"Didn't expect Champion Yang to bring such good news this morning!" Tao Wenxuan chuckled, his earlier lethargy forgotten. "Let's see what treasures Wei Jie carried."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end