Boundless leaves drifted down in a rustling cascade, each one transforming into a razor-sharp sword. They orbited the young man's body to the tune of tens of thousands.
The young man held a tree branch in hand, pointing it at Yang Kai from across the distance, his battle intent raging!
Yang Kai's face was pitch-black.
Just moments ago, he'd run into Zhong Fan, who demanded he summon his hammer within two words of meeting. Now here was this Senior Brother Lin, who demanded he summon his sword just as quickly...
Were all the disciples of the Langya Blessed Land a few screws loose? Yang Kai couldn't help but recall Li Yuanwang's equally absurd behavior, and he sighed inwardly—when the upper beam wasn't straight, the lower ones suffered for it.
Senior Brother Lin's sword intent erupted forth, his sharp gaze fixed on Yang Kai. "A sword is meant for slaughter. Senior Brother here has far too much killing intent and is truly reluctant to make a move against you, not to mention I'd rather not bully a junior. For my junior sister's sake, I'll give you one chance to answer a single question. If your answer satisfies me, I may well spare you."
Yang Kai said helplessly, "What would Senior Brother like to ask?"
Senior Brother Lin looked at him, then at Gu Pan, and spoke: "Can you remain faithful to my junior sister for all eternity? I'd advise you to answer yes, because if you say no, I'm afraid you'll be in for some physical pain."
Yang Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Senior Brother Lin, I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. There's nothing between Junior Sister Gu and me..."
Senior Brother Lin let out a leisurely sigh. "A heartless scoundrel, sure enough! You eat your fill and now you pretend nothing happened! Boy, hand over your life!"
With a gentle flick of the branch in his hand, the tens of thousands of fallen leaves coalesced into a dragon of swords. The man moved as one with the blades, hurtling straight toward Yang Kai. Wherever they passed, the void itself was sliced apart.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth and immediately invoked the Laws of Space, wrapping them around Gu Pan as he flickered away.
"Where'd he go?" Senior Brother Lin's strike hit empty air. He narrowed his eyes to peer ahead, but there was no trace of Yang Kai anywhere. He frowned in thought for a moment, then let out a long, wistful sigh: "Who in this world can match me? Life is truly lonely as snow!"
He returned to stand beneath the towering tree, hands clasped behind his back, chin tilted slightly skyward.
A figure wreathed in crimson suddenly swept in from the distance and landed right beside Senior Brother Lin. It was none other than a woman of voluptuous figure and exquisite beauty—though her entire being radiated a murderous aura, an aura of "keep your distance" that sent chills down the spine.
The woman touched down and glanced left and right, her lovely brows knitting tightly. She turned to face Senior Brother Lin and called out: "Lin Xuan!"
Senior Brother Lin turned around, still gazing obliquely at the sky, his nostrils aimed at the woman. "Oh, Senior Sister Zhou. Something the matter?"
Senior Sister Zhou said in a deep voice, "I heard that someone took Junior Sister Gu's innocence and then abandoned her. Who was it?!"
Lin Xuan replied, "Some fellow named Yang Kai, I think. He was just here, but I drove him off. Couldn't even put up a fight."
Senior Sister Zhou bellowed, "Someone really did that to Junior Sister Gu? That bastard—which way did he run?!"
Lin Xuan casually pointed in a direction. "That way, I'd wager."
Senior Sister Zhou nodded and shot into the sky, clearly giving chase.
But before long, she doubled back and stood before Lin Xuan, staring at him with a puzzled expression.
Lin Xuan was confused. "Something else, Senior Sister Zhou?"
"Why won't you look me in the eye? Do you look down on me?" Senior Sister Zhou asked coldly.
Lin Xuan kept his head slightly raised, still gazing obliquely at the sky, and explained, "I wouldn't dare. The truth is, I had a bit of a mishap during training earlier. The meridians in my neck are all blocked up, and I can't lower my head."
"Oh, so that's it!" Senior Sister Zhou said in sudden realization. She stared at Lin Xuan for a moment, then abruptly reached out with both hands—one gripping the top of his head, the other cupping his chin.
Lin Xuan was baffled. "Senior Sister Zhou, what are you—hssss—"
A tremendous force surged forth. With a sharp crack, Lin Xuan's head rotated half a turn. What had been tilted slightly to the left was now tilted slightly to the right.
Senior Sister Zhou stepped back three paces, studied him for a moment, and nodded with satisfaction. "Much better!"
"I'm going to deal with that heartless scoundrel!" Senior Sister Zhou tossed out the words and shot skyward.
Lin Xuan stood rooted to the spot, utterly disheveled, pain so intense that tears were about to stream from his eyes.
---
"This situation is getting a bit dicey!" In the void, Yang Kai and Gu Pan hurtled along at speed. All around them, concealed auras flickered in and out of perception, giving Yang Kai the unsettling impression of having blundered into an enemy formation—as though powerful foes lay in ambush on every side.
Gu Pan wore an apologetic expression. "Senior Brother Yang, I'm so sorry. My senior brothers seem to have gotten the wrong idea about something. I'll explain everything to them when we get back and it'll all be fine."
Yang Kai replied, "The innocent have nothing to hide. Your two senior brothers are just looking out for you—it's no great matter. Hmm?"
Mid-sentence, Yang Kai suddenly halted. Two figures were approaching side by side from ahead—a man and a woman. The man was handsome and dashing; the woman was beautiful and ethereal. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as though carved from the same mold, and their breathing was indistinguishable.
What surprised Yang Kai even more was that the two bore a faint resemblance to each other. It seemed they were twins.
The pair approached with cheerful smiles, showing no intention of stopping, and before long they stood directly before Yang Kai.