Defiant Martial God

Chapter 74: Hunting Down Mu Rongrui

“No!” Mu Rongrui released a terrified scream as his phantom shadow flailed and writhed in the blood light.

“Save His Highness! Go!” A few of the masked men shouted, and they ran into the blood-red light.

A Spirit Weapon was still superior overall: Although the spirit of the Demonic Blood-Devouring Sword had been destroyed, and thus its power greatly reduced, the sword was still supernatural; normal weapons paled in comparison. A member of the Royal Family, Mu Rongrui would, of course, use the best of weapons; yet, it could never compare to the Demonic Blood-Devouring Sword.

“...Argh!...Argh!” A few shrill cries resounded in the mountain valley and eventually throughout the Illusory Battlefield.

Two people heading toward the dale abruptly halted upon hearing the screams. They looked fearfully toward the valley. “L-Leader, what’s happening over there? It’s horrific!” A chubby man exclaimed in a quivering voice to the more slender man in front of him.

“Go over and check it out,” Commanded the man leading the pair, and the facial expressions of the timid men behind him changed.

The chubby man was the most cowardly of them all. “Erm, leader, I suggest it would be better if we d-don’t go.” He shrank his neck.

“Look at you!” The leader glared at him. “Don’t forget our mission: to find Qin Yu and obtain his Spirit Weapon. Then, we kill him for the five Black Grade Promotion Pills. Have you forgotten that?”

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“No, we... we haven’t!” The rest of them solemnly chorused.

“Good. If a few screams is all it takes to scare you off, you all can forget about the Spirit Weapon and get lost!” After reprimanding them, the leader’s tone softened, and he said, “Okay, enough talk. Let’s go!” He then set off boldly toward their destination. Whether they were willing or not, the people behind him had no choice but to follow. After all, coming this far already, they had to at least try their luck.

......

Within the valley, a few more holes were added to Qin Yu’s clothes. He held onto Qing Yun with his left hand, and his right hand gripped the Demonic Blood-Devouring Sword. His eyes were blood red, and his bloodcurdling gaze fell upon Mu Rongrui and his men. The prince was in a sorry state. He had already been injured, and now his wounds had increased severely. Body covered in blood, his face was pale If not for the masked men who had protected him just then, he probably would’ve been dead meat. Out of the four men who had helped Mu Rongrui, only one had escaped; the rest had become bloody corpses. Spirit Weapons were truly terrifying, especially in Qin Yu’s hands.

“Ruo Feng, why? Why?!” Mu Rongyue screamed in the guard’s direction, unable to accept that Ruo Feng had betrayed her. Her heart ached as the person she trusted most turned his back on her. Tears flowed from her eyes and muddled her vision. She remembered Ruo Feng would gladly sacrifice his life for her; why would such a person betray her?

“Princess, s-sorry, I... I...” Ruo Feng’s voice gradually faded. The guard could no longer face Mu Rongyue, and he lowered his head.

“You useless fool!” Mu Rongrui angrily bellowed at Ruo Feng. “Why didn’t you attack Qin Yu just now?! What’s the point of attacking a woman?” Mu Rongrui wanted to stomp Ruo Feng into the ground. He should have attacked Qin Yu, but the guard had attacked the insignificant Qing Yun instead.

Ruo Feng knelt with a plop. His voice trembled as he responded, “Your Highness, please, don’t be angry. Qin Yu wore the Golden Silk Armor, and it would’ve been futile if I had attacked him. I could only strike the woman beside him so that his attention was divided when he tried to save her. This created an opportunity for Your Highness to kill him, but I never thought......” He didn’t dare finish the sentence.

“You never thought I was so useless? That I’d be unable to kill Qin Yu and be severely injured myself? Is that it?” Mu Rongrui gritted his teeth, and a ferocious glint entered his eyes.

Ruo Feng, covered in cold sweat, hastily tried to explain himself, “No, no, no! That wasn’t what I meant! That wasn’t what I meant!”

“Kill him!” Mu Rongrui didn’t care for the man’s excuses and ordered his death.

“Yes,” responded a masked man, stepping forward to immediately execute the order.

“Stop! Anyone who dares kill him, I’ll kill every one of your family and friends! Don’t think I don’t know who you are! You’re all Golden Sword Guards!” Mu Rongyue had finally recognized the identities of their assailants from the three corpses that had fallen before the prince. One of their masks had cracked, and the man’s face was that of a Golden Sword Guard from the Palace. The masked man about to kill Ruo Feng heard Mu Rongyue, and his body shook. He didn’t dare move any closer.

“Do you want to die?! Do you obey her or me? Do it now!” Mu Rongrui shouted fiercely.

The executioner appeared to be in a tight spot. Turning to Mu Rongyue, he said with difficulty, “Princess, I’m just doing what I’ve been ordered. I’m willing to pay with my life for this, but I hope the Princess would spare my family.” With this, he raised his huge blade and cried, “Kill!”

“Rainbow Startling Sword!” Mu Rongyue drew her sword at the same time, and a resplendent light bloomed. She struck with immense speed, and the tip of her sword pierced the back of the man’s neck. She was growing more and more familiar with the move. “Argh!” Mu Rongyue screamed out in agony as she withdrew her sword. Her sword was stained with blood, and she was close to crying. Killing the guards who had protected the Mu family pained the princess, but she had no alternative.

The rest of the masked men could only watch as their comrade fell. None dared to move, their hearts trembling before Mu Rongyue’s attack. Furthermore, Mu Rongyue was the Princess, and she knew them. No matter what, they would never dare attack the Princess unless forced.

“Mu Rongyue, how dare you kill my man?! You...” Mu Rongrui was livid.

“All of you, move aside!” Mu Rongyue ignored Mu Rongrui’s anger, and she jabbed her sword at those surrounding Ruo Feng. The men, faced with the Princess’ authority, shuffled aside to make way for her, and Ruo Feng was exposed to the tip of Mu Rongyue’s sword. “Tell me: Why did you betray me? If you can’t give me a satisfactory answer, I’ll kill you immediately,” Mu Rongyue said in a cold, piercing tone. Gritting her teeth, she held back the tears that welled in her eyes.

Ruo Feng lifted his head, and his own tears rolled down his cheeks. “Princess, please, kill me. I’ve let you down.”

“Cut the crap! I don’t believe someone who would sacrifice his life for me would betray me for no reason!” Mu Rongyue held onto a last glimmer of hope.

Ruo Feng hugged his own head in agony, and his body shivered. “Princess, they have my younger sister. If I didn’t agree to help them, they would sell her to a brothel where she would be humiliated by many, many men. I... I...Princess, they left me with no choice! Whaaa!” Sobbing uncontrollably, the guard clung to himself as he revealed his weakness.

“Useless fool, what can you do but cry?” A cold and overbearing voice spoke and chilled the hearts of all those present. They looked at the man with terror in their eyes. It was Qin Yu. He previously had been busy healing Qing Yun and couldn’t be bothered with what was happening. However, once Qing Yun’s condition was stabilized, he joined the group.

Qing Yun wasn’t stabilized so quickly because of Qin Yu’s improved healing methods, but because she had not been critically injured. Ruo Feng’s attack might have seemed ferocious, but Qing Yun didn’t sustain any severe injuries.With no intention of killing her, the guard had not used his full strength. Due to this, Qin Yu’s anger toward Ruo Feng evaporated somewhat, especially when he heard Ruo Feng’s story.

Qin Yu’s approach gave Mu Rongrui and his men a great fright. With the wounds he had gained, the prince probably couldn’t withstand Mu Rongyue’s “Rainbow Startling Sword,” and he certainly couldn’t face Qin Yu as an opponent. “Protect me, quick! Protect me!” Mu Rongrui yelled for aid, finally tasting true terror and panicking. The remaining six Golden Sword Guards immediately rushed forward to shield Mu Rongrui. No matter how frightened they were, they had to protect Mu Rongrui with their lives. As guards, they had no choice but to protect royalty.

“Hmph, nobody can protect you today.” Qin Yu smirked coldly, and a blood light flashed from his hand. “Kill!”

“Don’t—!” Mu Rongyue cried out in an attempt to stop him. These men were Golden Sword Guards, elites stationed at the Palace. How could she let them die in this way? It was not easy to train a Golden Sword Guard!

But, even Mu Rongyue couldn’t stem Qin Yu’s anger. His blood-red blade tore through the space and engulfed the black-clad figures mercilessly. Although the weapon resembled Qin Yu’s previous sword, the red Blood Saber, the Demonic Blood-Devouring Sword consumed blood and took lives. Blood splashed onto the blade was immediately absorbed, and the blade would hiss with satisfaction. In one move, four men fell. Their weapons shattered into pieces, and their bodies were slashed beyond recognition.

The two guards remaining escaped with Mu Rongrui. The prince had entered the Illusory Battlefield full of confidence, hoping to prove his abilities. He had wanted people to feel fear at the very mention of his name; how glorious would that be?! Never had he imagined that he would be forced to flee, like a stray dog. His ideal and the reality were too different!

“Did you think you could escape?” Catching up to them, Qin Yu snickered.

Mu Rongyue finally recovered from her shock, and she rushed to grab Qin Yu. “Qin Da Ge, I beg you! Please, don’t kill them! Da Ge, my Da Ge... I beg you!” The princess cried helplessly.

“Xiao Yue, you...” Qin Yu was rather infuriated. “They wanted to take your life just now; why are you...? ”

“Da Ge, no matter what, Mu Rongrui is my kin. I can’t just watch him die, I can’t! I really can’t!” Mu Rongyue frantically shook her head.

“Rest assured, I’ll keep him alive temporarily.”

Qin Yu’s words stunned Mu Rongyue for a moment. She stopped sobbing and asked with confusion, “Then, you...?”

“Hehe,” Qin Yu laughed sinisterly. “He’s Prince Qi’s most beloved son, and it was Prince Qi who started this entire scheme. I think it would be helpful if we used him to deal with the hunters.” Mu Rongrui had a special status, and it needed to be fully exploited. It would be fine to kill him after that.

Qin Yu could use of the young prince to lure out all of the hunters and kill them. Then, he could rob the Hunters of their fireflies. At the pagoda, thousands of cultivators had died, and that meant thousands of energy fireflies. If Qin Yu could get his hands on such a large number, it would guarantee his breakthrough into the Transformation Realm. If he became a Transformation Realm cultivator and killed his way back to the Qin Family in Luosang City the day he left the Illusory Battlefield, he would definitely surprise them all.

Looking at the sinister grin on Qin Yu’s face, Mu Rongrui’s heart collapsed into a vault of ice. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he, the proud Prince Rui, was captured and ransomed to the hunters. He would be disgraced, having always viewed the hunters as weaklings. “Your Highness, would you rather surrender, or do you want me to make you?” Qin Yu smiled and drew nearer. The Demonic Blood-Devouring Sword released a horrendous blood-hungry light.

Mu Rongrui retreated with a fearful expression. Suddenly, a cruel look burst across his face, and the prince retaliated. He struck a guard with his palm, and the guard’s body flew toward Qin Yu. With incredible speed, Mu Rongrui grabbed the other guard and threw him at Mu Rongyue beside Qin Yu. Mu Rongrui then turned into a phantom shadow and dashed for the mouth of the mountain valley.

“Die!” Qin Yu slashed with his sword and sliced a guard into two. His blade moved diagonally and killed the man flying toward Mu Rongyue. Although he had killed the two men quickly, the bloody mist had yet to dissipate. Qin Yu’s silhouette disappeared through the scarlet fog, and he chased the phantom shadow maniacally.