bookmarkrole Chapter 21: A sneak attack at the start? Easily counterattacks.
Chapter 21: A sneak attack at the start? Easily counterattacks.
Lin Hanzhou's consciousness struggled to take shape from a state of chaotic darkness.
The first thing he noticed was an intense, almost overwhelming smell of blood.
This smell was a hundred times stronger than the one he had smelled in the palace square years ago.
The stench of the soil and the initial slightly acidic smell of the decaying corpses irritated his nasal cavity, making his stomach churn.
Next comes the physical sensation.
He felt as if he were lying on a warm and sticky "bed".
He subconsciously moved his fingers, touching cold, stiff limbs and rough linen clothes.
"Um?"
Lin Hanzhou suddenly opened his eyes, and what came into view was a scene of hell on earth.
The setting sun, like blood, dyed the entire sky an eerie dark red.
He was in a small village square, and hundreds of corpses lay scattered around him, beside him, and all around him.
There were elderly people with white hair, strong young people, women with terrified faces, and even... babies still in swaddling clothes, whose eyes were not yet fully open.
On each of their faces was the frozen fear and resentment of their final moments before death.
Their blood flowed into tiny streams, staining the yellow earth at the entrance of the village a dark brown.
This place is a battlefield that has just experienced a one-sided massacre.
Even though Lin Hanzhou was once an emperor and had seen countless deaths, he was still deeply moved by the horrific scene before him, and his brows furrowed tightly.
He slowly rose from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, looked around, and was filled with doubt.
"The last dynasty? Is this the world I've transmigrated to? And it starts off this tragically?"
He could feel the energy within him was so abundant and youthful.
His cultivation at the second-tier Qi Gathering Realm and his talent as a "martial arts prodigy" are already in place.
Before he could even sort out his thoughts, a chilling killing intent suddenly burst forth from the shadows behind him without warning.
A sharp, cold light, like a venomous snake slithering through the night, moved with incredible speed, aiming straight for the back of his neck.
A sneak attack?!
And it comes from a skilled fighter!
Any ordinary second-tier martial artist, in this moment of unsettled mind, would likely be doomed to death facing such a cunning and ruthless killing blow.
However, Lin Hanzhou is no ordinary person.
When he saw the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, he was already on high alert.
He sensed the murderous intent the moment it appeared.
Lin Hanzhou didn't even look back. He simply shifted his feet and his figure moved three feet to the left like a ghost.
He dodged the deadly glint of light, but it pierced deeply into the corpse in front of him with a "thud".
"You...you dodged it?!"
A voice filled with astonishment came from the shadows.
A young man dressed in a blue robe with cloud patterns and holding a long sword looked on incredulously.
He asked himself if his sword strike, in terms of both timing and angle, had reached perfection.
Even martial artists of the same level would never be able to dodge it so easily.
However, what shocked him even more was yet to come.
Just as he missed his target and was reeling from the shock, Lin Hanzhou's figure had already closed in on him.
"I never expected it to be this exciting right after I transmigrated here."
A thought flashed through Lin Hanzhou's mind. Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed a straight punch containing the immense spiritual power of a second-tier Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, fiercely aimed at his opponent's face!
This punch used no fancy martial arts techniques, only the purest power and speed.
The fist whistled through the air, even leaving a visible white shockwave in the air!
Feeling the terrifying force of the punch coming towards him, the young man who had launched the sneak attack changed his expression drastically.
He tried to dodge, but found that his opponent's movements were so exquisite that they had already blocked all his escape routes.
He simply couldn't understand how a boy who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old could have the cultivation of a martial arts master.
How can he possess such skillful and experienced agility?
This is completely illogical!
What he didn't know was that Lin Hanzhou's more than one hundred years in the Great Sui world were not wasted.
Although his cultivation progressed slowly due to the limitations of spiritual energy, he had already mastered movement techniques and swordsmanship to perfection.
Do you even understand the value of 151 years of arduous cultivation?!
Without time to think, the young man could only channel all his inner energy into the longsword in his hand and block the attack squarely.
"clang--!"
A deafening roar, like the sound of a great bell, suddenly erupted.
The moment the fist and sword clashed, the young man felt a terrifying force surge wildly into his body along the sword.
He felt as if he had been struck head-on by a raging beast; his arms went numb, and his tiger's mouth instantly split open, splattering blood everywhere.
He was sent flying backwards for dozens of meters before he finally managed to regain his footing.
"puff!"
A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth.
He knelt on one knee, leaning on his sword, his face filled with horror.
With just one punch, he suffered serious internal injuries.
He realized that he had probably kicked a hornet's nest today.
"Your Excellency...who exactly are you?"
He endured his injuries and asked in a trembling voice, while quickly introducing himself and trying to intimidate the other party with his background.
"My name is Zhou Fengyu, a disciple of the Yunxia Sect, one of the three major sects of the Great Qian Dynasty."
"My master is Grandmaster Luoxia of the Yunxia Sect. You must have heard of his name."
He emphasized the words "Yunxia Sect" and "Grandmaster" very heavily.
In his view, no one in the Great Qian Jianghu could possibly be unaware of the Yunxia Sect's reputation.
They would never dare to offend a master's personal disciple.
However, Lin Hanzhou's face remained expressionless and indifferent, as if he hadn't heard a word he said.
Yunxia Sect? Grandmaster?
What is that?
If you're so capable, then shake the other person over here right now.
He took a step forward and once again used his movement technique to attack Zhou Fengyu.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Fengyu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Isn't he afraid?
He's not afraid of the Cloud Mist Sect?!
How could someone who has cultivated to this level not have heard of the Yunxia Sect?
"Sir! Wait a moment!"
"I was rash just now, please forgive me!"
"I am willing to make amends for what happened today. If you are not satisfied, we can talk."
Upon seeing Lin Hanzhou, who remained unmoved by reason, Zhou Fengyu hurriedly shouted.
He has the potential to become a grandmaster in the future, and he doesn't want to die here for no reason.
Lin Hanzhou sneered inwardly.
You launched the first surprise attack, each move potentially fatal.
Now that they can't win, they want to sue for peace?
Where in the world is there such a good thing?
He never showed any mercy to those who wanted to kill him.
His speed increased rather than decreased, and he threw another punch, which whistled through the air and struck his opponent's chest.
Seeing this, Zhou Fengyu was terrified and could only raise his sword to block again.
But how could he, who was seriously injured, withstand Lin Hanzhou's full-force attack?
"Snap!"
A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.
The longsword in Zhou Fengyu's hand was directly knocked away.
Lin Hanzhou's fist slammed solidly into his chest.
"puff--!"
Zhou Fengyu's chest was visibly sunken.
He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
"you……"
His face was ashen, and he struggled to beg for mercy again.
But Lin Hanzhou gave him no chance at all, and had already arrived in front of him without him even noticing.
He was still holding the longsword that had just been knocked away from Zhou Fengyu's hand.
The cold blade was already pressed against Zhou Fengyu's neck.
"In your next life, before you ambush someone, remember to consider your own capabilities first."
Before he finished speaking, Lin Hanzhou swiftly and cleanly swung his longsword down.
A magnificent head soared into the sky.
Zhou Fengyu, the direct disciple of the Yunxia Sect's grandmaster, still had endless fear and resentment in his eyes.
But none of this can change the fact that he is already dead.
After defeating his opponent, Lin Hanzhou casually shook the blood off his sword.
He walked to Zhou Fengyu's body and began to skillfully perform the "corpse-touching" procedure.
Soon, he found a money pouch in the other person's arms, containing several dozen taels of loose silver.
In addition, there are two thread-bound secret manuals.
One book, titled "The Mind Method of Clouds and Mist".
The other one is titled "Flowing Cloud Sword Technique".
Lin Hanzhou didn't look at it much for the time being, but simply put the silver and the secret manual into his own pocket.
Having done all this, he was finally able to calm down and sort through the memories of the original owner of this body.