From the attire of this person, it was clear that he was a disciple of their Sword Hall. When Xu Xuan’s gaze fell upon the sword at the person’s waist, he finally confirmed who this person was.
“Junior Brother Jianxing!!” Upon seeing the long sword strapped to the person’s back, Xu Xuan finally recognized the identity of this headless corpse. After all, each disciple in the entire Sword Hall had a distinct long sword. For instance, Xu Xuan’s name in the sect is Jianxuan, and his sword is called Qinxuan Sword.
The sword behind this headless corpse is called Luo Xing Sword, and the person himself is named Jianxing.
If Xu Xuan remembered correctly, this Junior Brother Jianxing should have descended the mountain yesterday. It seemed that there were townsfolk who came up the mountain yesterday, saying there were signs of demon monsters appearing. Thus, Master Ye took a group of disciples down to Jianmen Town. This Junior Brother Jianxing seemed to be one of them.
Thinking of this, Xu Xuan did not act rashly. Heaven knows what problem this headless corpse really had. Acting recklessly might not guarantee his victory. At such a time, it was naturally more reliable to find a master to handle it.
With this thought, Xu Xuan ignored the headless corpse, which was still knocking at the door, and rushed into the mountain gate. In a short while, the remaining disciples of the entire Sword Hall, including Master Ou, gathered at the mountain gate. Listening to the knocking sounds, the expressions of the disciples ranged from solemn to terrified.
For a moment, no one dared to open the main gate.
“Go, open the mountain gate. If we don’t, Junior Brother Jianxing won’t stop,” finally spoke Master Ou from the crowd. As Master Ou’s words fell, two disciples, brimming with courage, stepped forward and pushed open the Sword Hall’s mountain gate once more.
At that moment, everyone present clearly saw the headless figure standing under the Blood Moon, persistently knocking at the door.
Under the blood-red moonlight, the scene before them appeared particularly eerie.
Suddenly, the sound of swords being drawn echoed among the disciples around, as if any slight movement from the headless corpse would result in a flurry of stabbing swords.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the headless corpse had no intention of attacking. It simply bowed, clasped its hands together in a salute toward Master Ou, then fell straight to the ground.
“Master, what is going on?” Seeing this, Xu Xuan asked Master Ou, somewhat puzzled.
“It’s a lingering obsession. He left a piece of his consciousness to return to report at the mountain gate. Now that the mountain gate is open and he has arrived, his purpose is fulfilled, and thus the obsession naturally dissipates. Don’t worry; he won’t harm us. Two of you, carry Junior Brother Jianxing’s body to the hall; we’ll find a place to bury him tomorrow,” Master Ou sighed as he looked at Jianxing’s body, before turning his attention to the many disciples nearby: “Everyone, tonight ensure at least five people act together. Do not act alone. Go throughout the Sword Hall and collect the treasure to secure the mountain. Tonight, we will activate the protective formation for the mountain.”
“Master, is there an enemy?”
“Yes! If I’m not mistaken, there should be demons infiltrating our Sword Hall! Master Ye and the disciples he took down the mountain are undoubtedly in grave danger. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a headless corpse return to report!” Master Ou said, his expression serious: “It is evident that the demons below are targeting our Sword Hall. Our Sword Hall is already a place of great danger tonight!! After everyone activates the formation for protection, gather in the hall at the mountain gate. Survive tonight and tomorrow we will all leave Cangjian Mountain together.”
“Master, are the enemies that strong?” One disciple beside him swallowed nervously and asked tremblingly.
“From the looks of Master Ye and the disciples he took down the mountain, it seems that they are in grave danger,” Master Ou sighed: “Alright!! Hurry up and act!!”
Upon hearing Master Ou’s words, the disciples of the Sword Hall immediately sprang into action, and Xu Xuan accompanied a few senior brothers as they ran toward the back mountain garden. There lay a rusty ancient sword, which was one of the protective formations of the Sword Hall.
“Hey? Where is Junior Brother Jianshan?” As they approached the ancient sword, one of the junior brothers suddenly spoke up. It was then that Xu Xuan noticed that their originally five-person team had now turned into four.
“Oh no, Junior Brother Jianshan has fallen behind!!” One disciple named Jianyu said anxiously. Usually, he had a good relationship with Jianshan at the mountain gate, so he was naturally more worried. Xu Xuan didn’t have many friends at the mountain gate; after all, he was somewhat socially anxious and preferred to stay alone in the woods most of the time. Over time, he hadn’t become very familiar with the other junior brothers at the mountain gate.
“Ah! I see him, Junior Brother Jianshan is over there!!” As the crowd looked around, they noticed Junior Brother Jianshan, who was carrying a long sword, standing motionlessly in the middle of the vegetable patch, staring blankly at them. At this sight, Jianyu rushed over, and Xu Xuan and the other two disciples could only follow quickly.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you standing here?” Jianyu asked Jianshan.
“Senior Brother, I feel a bit unwell, something feels strange.” Hearing Jianyu’s words, Jianshan suddenly spoke.
The moment Xu Xuan and the other two disciples saw Jianshan, they instantly drew their long swords. Jianshan’s feet were oddly pointing backward. A closer look would reveal that his clothes were completely reversed. Earlier, the vegetables in the garden had obscured their view from a distance, but now that they were closer, Xu Xuan’s cold sweat started pouring down.
At this moment, Jianyu had already reached his side. Compared to Xu Xuan, Jianyu saw more clearly. But it was too late. Under everyone’s gaze, Jianshan reached out and grabbed Jianyu by both arms, giving him no chance to react. His head split open from the back, the split extending all the way down to his navel. Before everyone’s eyes, rows of teeth grew out of the two sides of the split.
Between the two rows of teeth, two things that resembled tentacles sprouted from the middle, the ends appearing as small child-like hands. The two hands grasped Jianyu’s head from both sides, pulling it toward the gaping maw. The immense force gave Jianyu no chance to respond. In an instant, Jianyu’s head was caught by the huge mouth.
As the monstrous body twisted with great strength, Jianyu’s head was forcibly ripped off, along with a segment of his spine.
Seeing such a bloody scene, Xu Xuan felt a rare sense of nausea. However, at this moment, he and the other two disciples quickly unsheathed their swords. Three long swords sliced through the night sky, simultaneously striking the monster’s body.
“Ahhhh!! It hurts!! What are you doing!! Why are you hurting me? I am Jianshan,” a painful scream erupted from the monster’s mouth. While chewing on the heads of his fellow disciples, the monster could even emit screams in Jianshan’s voice.
Seeing this scene, Xu Xuan clenched his sword tactics, and the long sword flew back into his hand. The other two disciples were doing the same. One disciple rushed to the monster’s side and slashed horizontally with his sword on the monster’s back. The other junior brother thrust his sword into the monster’s body.
“It hurts!! Are you trying to kill me?” Jianshan’s voice echoed again from the monster’s mouth. Then, the split opened once more, and two tentacles shot out to grab at the two disciples. Seeing this, Xu Xuan rushed forward with a slicing strike. The monster’s two tentacles were straight up severed by this blow.
Before the monster could act again, the three of them attacked with their swords, like a torrential storm slashing against the monster’s body. In an instant, dozens of sword wounds were left on the monster’s body.
Ultimately, Xu Xuan’s long sword got caught between the gaps of the two teeth of the monster’s split mouth, resulting in it being forcibly bitten off. Fortunately, the long swords of the other two senior brothers struck different positions, and together, the three of them managed to slice the monster that Jianshan had turned into in half.
The monster flailed around on the ground for a while before finally going still.
The three of them finally relaxed, with one of the disciples unable to contain himself and vomiting violently to the side. The previous scene had been too impactful for him.
At this time, Xu Xuan noticed that several long swords had already soared into the sky. Clearly, some senior brothers had activated the ancient sword at the mountain gate. Seeing this, the three of them did not waste any more words. Following the recorded method from the mountain gate, they funneled their energies into the ancient sword by the vegetable patch. With a beam of sword light, the ancient sword flew into the air above their heads.
“We should hurry back!” Xu Xuan simply said, and the three of them rushed toward the hall at the mountain gate.
Along the way, Xu Xuan seemed to hear the sounds of other senior brothers calling for help. One junior brother wanted to go over and help, but Xu Xuan and another junior brother stopped him. After all, they were the only ones in their direction.
Finally, ignoring all the chaotic sounds around them, they returned to the main hall of the Sword Hall. At that moment, the entire Cangjian Peak was shrouded in thick fog. As Xu Xuan turned to look back at the hall’s entrance, he could only see dense fog and the blood-red moonlight.
In the main hall of the Sword Hall, a large cauldron stood with flames burning inside, with a long sword inserted into the flames.
After a while, more disciples returned to the hall. However, the number of people present was noticeably fewer than those who had gathered at the entrance at the beginning. When all the disciples returned, Xu Xuan was astonished to find that nearly half of the dozens of disciples were missing, and many of them bore injuries.
Among them, Xu Xuan clearly saw that two junior brothers had completely lost their eyes, now bandaged with cloth. When Master Ou entered the hall from the fog, everyone was shocked to see that Master Ou was missing an arm.
“Those who can return, have returned.” Glancing at the remaining people in the hall, Master Ou said, and then with a wave of his hand, all the doors and windows of the entire hall closed shut.
