#48 - You can't die!!
Chapter 48 You Can't Die!!
Wei Changtian wasn't dead yet, but he seemed to be close to it.
Everyone was stunned in place, only the ape demon, with its eyes bloodshot, continued its pursuit, preparing to deliver the final blow to the ant that had just slashed it countless times.
It roared and leaped into the air, raising its fists high, the power contained within them enough to smash Wei Changtian and Xu Qingwan, whom he was pinning down, into mincemeat.
Zhou Cheng stared wide-eyed at this scene, the willow-leaf saber in his hand trembling slightly.
He didn't understand why Wei Changtian would do this.
If he didn't block, only Xu Qingwan would die.
If he blocked, both would die.
Hero saves beauty?
But if he even risked his life, what was the point?
Moreover, he ultimately failed to save Xu Qingwan, at most only allowing her to live a few more breaths.
Zhou Cheng didn't understand.
Xu Qingwan also didn't understand.
And the ape demon didn't give her time to think about this question.
Looking at the dark shadow above her head, she only had time to make the most instinctive reaction.
She wanted to block this punch for Wei Changtian, even if she couldn't.
Clutching the man in her arms tightly, she gritted her teeth and endured the sharp pain in her chest, preparing to roll over and press Wei Changtian beneath her.
But at this moment, a bloody palm pressed her back down.
"You!"
Xu Qingwan lay on the ground, her face only inches away from the blood-stained one.
Looking at Wei Changtian's features, distorted by pain, she suddenly felt very sorry for him.
Even more sorry than if he had robbed all the silver she had worked so hard to save.
A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, quickly stained red by blood.
This was the first time Xu Qingwan had cried since she started learning martial arts at the age of five, and it might be the last time in her life.
Time seemed to pause slightly at this moment.
And when it started flowing again, Wei Changtian actually stood up little by little in everyone's astonished gaze.
"Clang…"
The willow-leaf saber at Xu Qingwan's waist was drawn again.
However, compared to the time in the Zhang residence, Wei Changtian's movements were very slow this time.
He gasped for breath, looking up at the ape demon that had already fallen halfway.
"Get out of the way!!"
Xu Qingwan shouted hoarsely from behind.
However, the figure blocking her in front turned a deaf ear.
His trembling knees bent slightly, and the tip of the willow-leaf saber was raised upwards.
The man and the demon roared and collided in mid-air, and the sudden burst of air stirred up countless dust and gravel, which lingered for a long time.
"Bang!!"
In the dust and smoke, Wei Changtian flew back like a broken sack, slammed heavily to the ground, then bounced up, fell again, and finally lay motionless on the ground.
As for the ape demon… the long saber pierced through its head, even the hilt was half-submerged.
"Thump!"
The demon's body crashed to the ground, a cloud of blood in the air.
However, Xu Qingwan didn't even look at it.
She crawled to Wei Changtian's side, using both her hands and feet, and regardless of whether he was dead or alive, she took out a medicine bottle from her arms, preparing to feed him the medicine.
But perhaps because her hands were shaking too badly, the small medicine bottle accidentally slipped from her palm, and the pills inside scattered all over the ground with a "哗啦" sound.
Xu Qingwan bit her lip tightly, kneeling on the ground and frantically picking up the pills one by one, and every time she picked one up, she hurriedly turned around and fed it into Wei Changtian's mouth.
"You, you can't die…"
"My saber was lost by you again, you, you have to pay me for it…"
"Please… don't die…"
…
…
An hour later, Shanyang County's main street.
It was noon at this time, and many stalls selling steamed buns and baked wheaten cakes were propped up on the street, and the shop assistants in the vicinity would spend a few coins here to solve their lunch.
It can be said that this was the busiest and most crowded time of the day on this street.
But at this moment, there seemed to be some commotion at the east end of the street.
Many people curiously raised their eyes to look, and then they heard a burst of rapid hoofbeats coming from far and near.
"The Suspended Mirror Division is handling a case!!"
"Everyone, make way!!"
"Those who block the way will be executed!!"
"Get out of the way!!"
On top of a chestnut-red horse, Zhou Cheng raised the Suspended Mirror Division's token with one hand, constantly patting the horse's belly with his legs, and wherever he went, the crowd hurriedly dodged to both sides of the road, making way in fear.
Behind him, a dozen of the county magistrate's personal soldiers closely followed, protecting a speeding carriage in their midst.
For a time, the entire main street was in chaos, with chickens flying and dogs jumping.
Although most of the people were dissatisfied, no one dared to make a sound at this time, at most discussing with their friends a few words about what kind of person was in the carriage, or what major event had happened.
But these things were ultimately too far removed from their lives.
After Zhou Cheng and the others roared away, the main street quickly returned to the lively scene just now, as if nothing had happened.
That's not entirely accurate.
Some people were actually affected to some extent.
For example, a fat man selling steamed buns was looking at the few empty spaces in the steamer, muttering and cursing.
There were originally steamed buns in these places, but now they were gone.
It was obvious that someone had taken advantage of the chaos to steal them just now.
"Tch! Stealing even a few steamed buns!"
"May their children be born without anuses! No! These kinds of people should be cut off from their descendants!"
"Suspended Mirror Division, hmph! Instead of showing off their power, they might as well catch a few more thieves…"
The man's voice became smaller and smaller, seemingly not daring to continue speaking, but instead transferring his anger to the dough in his hands.
He kneaded the dough fiercely a few times, then raised it high and slammed it onto the cutting board.
"Smack!"
"Dear guests! Last time, we talked about this pale-faced scholar going to the capital to take the imperial examination, and when he reached a mountain forest, he encountered heavy rain…"
Inside a teahouse in the capital, the storyteller heavily struck the gavel, his voice rising and falling.
The strange tales of the Jianghu he had been telling these past few days were called "The Yaksha Top Scholar", which told the story of a scholar who was eaten by a Yaksha on the way to the examination, and then the Yaksha transformed into the scholar's appearance to participate in the imperial examination, and actually became the top scholar.
The story wasn't new, but Lu Jingyao hadn't heard it before, so she had been listening here for four or five days in a row.
Three screens blocked three sides, with only the direction facing the storyteller unblocked.
Lu Jingyao was listening with relish in the "private room", while Yuan'er was yawning beside her, her mind full of thoughts of going back to play cards earlier.
Everything around was as usual, but at a certain moment, the two women suddenly frowned at the same time.
"Yuan'er, I just felt a pang of inexplicable panic."
"Ah! Madam, me too!"
"Ah? What's going on?"
"I don't know… Could it be that something happened to the young master?"
"Bah, bah, bah! Don't talk nonsense!"
Lu Jingyao reached out and hit Yuan'er, then gently patted her chest, only then feeling a little more comfortable.
At this time, the storyteller was talking about the scholar being eaten by the Yaksha, and a burst of noise suddenly rang out in the teahouse.
Everyone was feeling sorry for the scholar, but no one noticed that an ordinary-looking young man was hesitating outside Lu Jingyao's screen.
