Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Escape!

Outside the Tan family home, in the mountain forest.

The voice and laughter of the young woman echoed from all directions, reaching everyone's ears and hearts.

"Why are you running?" Meng Yuniang asked. "Did my father-in-law not host you properly, causing dissatisfaction among the heroes?"

No one responded.

"Little Wen is one month old now," the young woman sighed again. "It's the most lovable age! Have you all looked at his face carefully? Doesn't he look exactly like my husband?"

No one responded.

"Tomorrow, I will certainly speak to my father-in-law properly," the young woman continued. "Since we've invited guests into our home, we should treat them well! How could we let our guests leave in such a hurry—"

Bai Zhengliu suddenly stopped in his tracks!

Behind him, the other martial artists also halted, no longer moving forward.

A step away, Meng Yuniang was gazing at them silently. Her blood-red eyes looked terrifying, yet her face bore no sign of anger, only a satisfied smile.

She asked, "I see that all of you are skilled in various weapons. Coincidentally, Qiulang keeps telling me that his health is poor and that he can't teach his child to read or practice martial arts like other fathers. Since you are all staying in the house, I, as the mother, have decided, bypassing my husband and father-in-law, to choose a master for Wen'er. Please, from among you, select a teacher for him."

As her words fell, the red figure disappeared from the spot.

The crowd, watching this scene, felt no relief; instead, a deep sense of caution rose in their hearts.

"What does this young gentleman think?" A faint breath brushed against Jun Tao's ear. The young man flinched, and his body instinctively moved to escape, but the cold and numb sensation spread down his shoulder.

In his peripheral vision, Meng Yuniang was leaning beside him, her face still wearing that illusory smile. "I heard you mention 'master' a few days ago. You must be a young hero who respects his teacher. In the future, please take good care of our Wen'er and teach him well..."

Was he really going to die here?

Though he was still standing in place, his consciousness seemed to have already detached from his body. Unable to control his own form to flee, even trying to give his brother a signal to leave felt like a simple twitch of the eyelids.

Jun Tao's body trembled slightly.

At this moment, he finally understood why Brother Bai and Brother Mei repeatedly said that only vengeful spirits could deal with vengeful spirits. Facing Meng Yuniang, he truly had no power to resist!"Mm, what a good blade!"

Clearly wounded, Meng Yuniang's face showed no sign of anger. On the contrary, she wore a strange, exhilarating expression. "Let me think carefully. Is this blade for Wen'er, or for Qiulang—"

As she spoke, the burning sensation on her hand quickly spread. To the crowd's eyes, the young woman's once delicate and fair fingers were no longer visible. Instead, her hand had become a charred stump!

But no one felt relieved. The reason was simple: Meng Yuniang had sustained much damage, yet the Twenty-Eight Generals would only "suffer" more! In a very short time, the rust she had created on the blade was already threatening to cover its entire surface.

It couldn't continue like this!

Bai Zhengliu's throat tightened, and his mind quickly made a decision—

He released his grip on the Twenty-Eight Generals! At the same time, the young man leapt into the air, grabbing a tree branch and using the thick leaves above for cover. He punched toward the distracted ghost woman, aiming for her as she focused on taming the blade!

At the moment he acted, Mei Yinghan, the Emei Sect disciples, and Lu Qing all rushed toward Meng Yuniang. Having learned from Jun Yang’s earlier mistake when he had accidentally injured himself with his own sword, this time, none of them used weapons. The Emei Sect disciples relied on their fist techniques, while Mei Yinghan and Lu Qing used empty-hand martial arts. Multiple attacks landed on Meng Yuniang, and the ghost woman let out a grunt from her throat.

She still tried to grab the blade.

At that moment, Bai Zhengliu's hand re-gripped the Twenty-Eight Generals' hilt. Taking advantage of Meng Yuniang's unpreparedness, he lifted the blade and fiercely swung it toward her scorched hand!

"Ahhhhhh!"

The ghost woman let out a sharp, anguished scream! In an instant, the surrounding mountain forest began to stir once more.

Countless tree roots and vines began climbing toward the group. The martial artists swiftly leaped and dodged, but Qian Gui stumbled and fell to the ground at that moment!

Everyone's pupils contracted, and they immediately rushed to help him. But the speed at which the tree roots and vines moved under Meng Yuniang's control was terrifying. In the blink of an eye, Qian Gui had already been consumed by them…

"Qian Brother!!!" The group’s eyes were filled with rage and despair!

Just then, the situation suddenly changed!

A powerful light radiated from the tree roots and vines that had swallowed Qian Gui. The roots, which had already formed a cocoon, withered even faster than when they had come into contact with the Twenty-Eight Generals. In the center of the writhing vines, a man’s figure was revealed.

Qian Gui's face still bore traces of fear. He hadn't expected that in the span of a single breath—where he had believed he was about to die—he would suddenly see the light again.

The man stood, disoriented, lowering his head to look at his chest.It was exactly where the light had spread. Qian Gui only felt a warm current flowing from his chest toward his limbs. He had originally been exhausted and weak from running earlier, but now it felt as though he had gained a second wind. He could get up from the ground and start running toward the group of martial artists.

Everyone watched all of this unfold. Even though they hadn't seen the glowing object emitting from Qian Gui's chest, they could guess that it was the jade hairpin he had bought for his wife that had saved him.

With this scene and the earlier one where the ghost woman tamed the blade, Bai Zhengliu had a vague thought in his mind: "Could it be that the bracelet was originally... it just happened to touch the immensely vengeful Meng Yuniang, so..."

He was almost on the verge of understanding something. But as he saw Qian Gui stumbling toward them, and as Jun Tao, who had been trapped earlier, had already broken free, the swordsman pushed the thought aside: "Let's go! I'll hold them off!"

"You will all die! You will all die!"

Seeing the group of martial artists escaping, Meng Yuniang was furious!

She regained some composure, and once again the tree roots and vines "came to life," quickly catching up to the group.

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan saw this and deliberately slowed down to cover for everyone.

Even though the Twenty-Eight Generals had rusted quite a bit, they were still useful. But the longer they stayed, the closer Meng Yuniang would get...

"Go!"

A determined female voice suddenly rang out in front of the swordsman and swordswoman.

Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan turned to look. They hadn't noticed when, but Nie Qing'e and Lu Qing had already arrived by their side!

The Emei Sect woman and the Wudang gentleman stood side by side, just as they had done in the past, fighting together until the very last moment.

Bai Zhengliu was shocked: "Senior Nie, Senior Lu!"

Mei Yinghan also said, "What are you two...?"

"Go!" Nie Qing'e urged again. At the same time, she pulled something from her waist and handed it to Bai Zhengliu.

It was heavy in his hand. Bai Zhengliu looked down to see that it was the water pouch that the Jun family brothers had given to their master, senior sister, and brother-in-law three days ago.

Judging by the weight of the pouch, Nie Qing'e and her husband hadn't opened it in the entire three days.

There was also a wrapped cake, which the group had shared when they first met, and it hadn’t been touched since."Give these to Jun Yang and Jun Tao. They will understand." Nie Qing'e's pale face showed a faint smile. But in the next moment, Meng Yuniang arrived, and the smile on the woman's face vanished.

She didn’t say anything further, but Bai Zhengliu understood her meaning.

—In the end, we, as a couple, are already dead. We simply didn’t want to follow the Tan family's vengeful ghost and commit evil. That’s why we saved Qian Gui and later met with the two junior brothers.

After three days, we wanted to help you all leave, but under the control of the Tan family's vengeful ghost, there were many things we couldn’t do and many words we couldn’t say.

And now, it’s finally time to part...

Bai Zhengliu gave Nie Qing'e and Lu Qing a long look, then turned around.

He called out to Mei Yinghan: "Brother Mei, let's go!"

Author's note:

This chapter was supposed to be updated at 12, but I accidentally released it early... Oh well, let's just leave it like this.

See you tomorrow (morning)!