Star Gate

Chapter 73: Counterkill! (I)

“Put me down… they won’t kill me right now!” Li Hao huffed out. He was afraid of death, but the enemy would catch up to them sooner or later at this rate. They were just a bunch of martial masters; they probably didn’t mean to kill him since there was no sign of the scarlet shadow to be found.

Therefore, the Demon Hunters still had a chance! And his teacher was yet to take the field, so they still had trump cards to play.

Liu Yan, however, completely ignored him. Only aloofness and madness glinted in her eyes.

“Fatty!” she growled. Having worked with her many times, Chen Jian immediately understood her without the woman needing to say anything.

As Li Hao reeled from what was happening, Liu Yan threw him into the air. Shield upraised, Chen Jian whirled around and smashed into the Sunderer hot on their heels!

Liu Yan was close behind him. The Sunderer punched the shield with a loud impact and forced Chen Jian back a few steps. The fatty was unharmed while Liu Yan darted out like a ghost, stabbing the other’s fist with a blade!

Her dagger grazed past skin and missed the vitals, leaving only a bloody mark on the back of the hand. The Sunderer cocked his hand back for a fatal punch at Liu Yan, but his arm suddenly tingled with numbness!

Black matter floated up to his skin, causing the martial master’s eyes to widen with shock. He swiftly backed away and hit his right arm with his left. A vast quantity of blood shot through with black gushed out.

“Poison?!” he snarled. Poison was more despicable than guns!

Liu Yan ignored him, focusing on blocking his path. She bounded into the air, grabbed Li Hao, and continued frantically fleeing the scene. The young man was stunned by the two’s boldness. They dared to counterattack at a time like this and actually succeeded!

They were martial masters who dared kill supernaturals alright! This level of battle experience was entirely out of his league.

The pursuit continued!

Li Hao no longer resisted being dragged along in Liu Yan’s wake. He continuously looked back, brainstorming how to kill these guys in a counterattack! He was very weak, but these guys also knew that and they didn’t dare kill him!

That was the Demon Hunters’ advantage!

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“Sis, use me as a shield later!” Li Hao didn’t receive a response—had Liu Yan heard him? Chen Jian did and his only thought was that Li Hao was also crazy.

Use you as a shield?

While they vaguely understood his meaning, what if the young man misjudged and the enemy was willing to kill him? How would a newbie survive a Sunderer?

Three Slayers sprinted for their lives and busily plotted counterblows to kill their pursuer. There were even more Slayers following at a distance.

The rain came down harder.

Although Li Hao was willing to be their shield and create an opportunity, Liu Yan didn’t want to take the bet. This was different from last time—all of them had waited in the wings while the young man took on Zhou He. They could easily overpower a Slayer and prevent any accidents.

Today… Liu Long was yet to join them and she was not quite a Sunderer herself. There was far more than one enemy; the three of them might be able to give it a try otherwise. If they were tied down here, there were plenty more martial masters waiting for them.

The rain soaked Liu Yan’s long hair through and plastered her clothes to her body. The usually beguiling woman’s curves were fully on display, but the typical teasing light was absent from her eyes. There was only nervousness and gravity to be found.

Li Hao was in no mood to admire the sight either. His speed was less than Liu Yan’s and despite being pulled along, he was tiring.

Counterattack!

They had to strike back, especially as there were no supernaturals on the scene yet. Once their pursuers caught up, his teacher might make a move. That might scare off the supernaturals.

“We can’t continue like this…” Though Li Hao didn’t set a goal for himself, he had his own plans in mind. He wanted to lure over everyone who was here to kill him!

He couldn’t die before that—he needed to create an opportunity for his teacher to kill them all in one fell swoop! The chances of success were much higher if his teacher became involved. Once his teacher appeared and killed a few martial masters, that might spook the supernaturals and send them into retreat.

Therefore, not only did the team have to delay the enemy here, they needed to counterattack so more men were sent to this location. Such were Li Hao’s thoughts and why he was willing to take this risk, why he wasn’t willing to remain in the Veteris Institute.

Otherwise, he could absolutely take shelter with his Dominator protector. Why risk his life against such resourceful enemies?

“Sis!” An urgent Li Hao kept his voice down. They needed to hit back while they had the strength to! Otherwise, continued chase at this speed and weather would sap their stamina until they lacked the ability to raise a hand. Whether it was martial master or supernatural, neither camp was invincible. Both mysterious power and internal force were finite; such high intensity activity like this consumed too much.

Of course, Li Hao also had valuable resources to his name! He operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles and pulled tendrils of warm currents out of the jade sword. Absorbing some, he let the rest dissipate into the woman tightly clutching him.

Busy running and ignoring her ward, Liu Yan stiffened. She resumed her motion when she realized what was happening, but shock filled her heart!

Mysterious power?

This isn’t it!

She’d thought that the supernaturals had arrived, locked on, and invaded her, but quickly realized this wasn’t the case. The weak influx of energy came from Li Hao! Not only did it not rampage through her under these circumstances, it warmed her like a hot spring and restored her vigor.

What is this?

Liu Yan’s mind was a muddled mess and she didn’t have time to carefully consider what kind of power this was. Her taut muscles, however, relaxed some. They’d been running for more than three minutes. Fleeing at full speed while protecting someone was a massive drain on stamina. But now… some of hers was returning!

Surprise flickered through her drenched face. She swept a glance out of the corner of her eye at Li Hao while they sprinted through the night. The flow of energy continued to travel into her, bringing a long-absent warmth into her body. Even some of her old injuries from previous inductions seemed to be healing.

There’s something seriously up with this kid! No wonder people are after him!

A quiet Liu Yan made swift calculations—her stamina and internal force were depleting at a rapid pace. The Sunderer behind them was stronger than her, but she was the one on the team closest to that level. The enemy was also draining their stamina and internal force!

As their endurance waxed and waned, she was returning to her peak. She’d injured the enemy prior to this extended pursuit. Perhaps… the Demon Hunters really did stand a chance!

“Fire!” Liu Yan grunted and grabbed Li Hao, carrying him in her arms like she would a child.

The young man paused with surprise. He’d been towed along in her wake earlier, but now she was holding him in a near princess carry. This was awkward, he was a man!

Granted, he didn’t care about that in a crucial moment like this.

Li Hao was free to act while Liu Yan sprinted. He fished out his third gen vortex gun and took aim at the Ghostface less than fifty meters behind them—the only Sunderer among the enemy.

Bang!

The martial master was indeed highly skilled and managed to evade the bullet under a high speed chase. However, his tempo was affected, so he called out with some coldness, “You can’t get away, Li Hao! You should know that if this continues, a lot more people will die than just you!”

The young man’s expression remained the same and he waited to fire a second shot. He continued to operate the breathing method while Liu Yan drew slightly further from the enemy.

“You won’t get away if I don’t get away! My teacher will take revenge for me! He may not be able to kill supernaturals, but he’ll handle a Sunderer like you!”

“What a joke!”

Yuan Shuo!

The name floated to the forefront of the Ghostface martial master’s mind. If it’d been twenty years ago—no, just three years ago, he wouldn’t have dared provoke Yuan Shuo. But the era belonging to that preeminent personage was over. The supernatural had risen and martial masters? Heh!

He himself was a martial master, and a Sunderer! He knew better than anyone that the way of martial dao had gone downhill.

Sunderers still dominated the scene a few years ago, but with increasing amounts of Darkmoons in recent times and even Sunflare, martial dao was in full decline. Just Silver Moon alone boasted of Sunflares by the handful—they rivaled Dominators!

In contrast, there wasn’t a single Dominator in the province and it was time for an antique like Yuan Shuo to take his final rest.

Li Hao wanted his teacher to take revenge for him? Yuan Shuo would be better served looking after himself! The Night Watchers wouldn’t be able to protect him forever and his enemies were too numerous to be counted. Word on the street was that his greatest rival had improved in recent years and surpassed Sunflare!

The Night Watchers might not have cared about a Sunflare before and continued to protect the old man, but would they do the same if a being greater than Sunflare came knocking?

Such thoughts ran through the Ghostface’s mind.

Bang!

A bullet grazed past his ear and nearly hit him, snapping him back to his senses. Fury dawned on a face beneath the mask and his voice grew more severe.

“Li Hao, come here! I won’t kill you. Do you want Liu Yan and Chen Jian to go down with you? Do you know how many will die in Silver City once the Demon Hunters are no more?!

“You have no idea! Silver City is too small and the weakest among the province’s thirty-two cities. It’s so small that it can be forsaken! Too many people have their sights set on this city and the Night Watchers don’t have sufficient personnel or desire to protect it. They recommended abandoning it and moving the people to a bigger city many years ago!

“Liu Long didn’t wish for Silver City to vanish in the river of time. He insisted on holding down the fort by himself. One Sunderer against the supernatural!

“He boasted to the Night Watchers that the city would stand so long as he was alive. It might become a footnote in history if he dies and countless people will leave their homes and businesses to eke out survival elsewhere. Do you want Liu Long and his people to die with you?!” roared the indignant Ghostface, righteous in his worry for the future of Silver City.