Chapter 13: A Moment Between Life and Death

The one-eyed dragon brandished his menacing broadsword, launching another ferocious assault. Blow after blow rained down, swift as a tempest, enveloping Ning Xiu in a whirlwind of steel. The howling wind of the blade sent snowflakes swirling chaotically, scattering them in sharp bursts across the ground.

Ning Xiu fought as he retreated, encircled by rising flurries of wind and snow that spun endlessly around him and the one-eyed dragon. Their movements were so fast that, to onlookers, only two vague, snowy figures could be seen darting over the white earth, so intermingled that it was impossible to tell them apart. The only sign of their deadly contest was the constant clash of metal echoing through the air.

“Boy, go to hell!” roared the one-eyed dragon.

In that instant, he smashed aside Ning Xiu’s blood-red blade. After such a prolonged and fruitless struggle, impatience and irritation burned in the one-eyed dragon’s heart. Presented with this rare opening, he could not let it pass. With a vicious sneer, he prepared to deliver the killing stroke.

The broadsword descended with unstoppable force, aimed straight at Ning Xiu’s head. It was the deadliest move from the Soul Severing Blade technique—the Soul Severing Cut. This attack was unparalleled in its savagery, but it had a fatal flaw: a gap in defense that could prove deadly to its wielder.

Yet at this moment, Ning Xiu’s weapon had already been knocked away; he seemed barely able to defend himself, let alone threaten his adversary. The one-eyed dragon advanced with no thought of retreat, wholly committed to his overwhelming strike.

But he knew nothing of the Blood Blade technique. Unlike orthodox martial arts of the Central Plains, the Blood Blade was strange, unpredictable, and every move aimed for a single fatal blow. In a duel, strength was but one factor; adaptability and cunning were just as essential. And the true essence of the Blood Blade lay in its very unpredictability.

This was the secret behind the Blood Blade Patriarch’s legendary ability to battle four experts alone: to strike when and where the enemy least expected.

Facing the one-eyed dragon’s lethal strike, Ning Xiu’s expression did not change. He reached forward with his right hand—not to retrieve the blood blade, but instead flicking a finger against its flat, while his other hand slammed down on the hilt. The blood blade spun rapidly through the air.

As a crescent moon of scarlet light arced through the sky, the blood blade shot toward the one-eyed dragon’s chest at a treacherous angle.

It was so fast that the one-eyed dragon had no time to react.

A short, piercing wail rang out as he lowered his head, but the blood blade had already driven straight into his chest, piercing through him. He stood motionless, his eyes fixed with hatred on the distant Ning Xiu. After a brief, rigid pause, he collapsed heavily to the ground, lifeless.

...

“The one-eyed dragon is dead! Brothers, follow me—kill the bandits!” Xu Da’s thunderous shout drew everyone’s attention. All eyes turned to the corpse of the one-eyed dragon, lying in a pool of blood.

The reactions of the two sides could not have been more different. The escorts from the Four Seas Escort Agency were invigorated, shouting “The one-eyed dragon is dead!” as they launched a frenzied counterattack on the surrounding bandits.

The remaining bandits, however, were stricken with despair, their courage broken. If even the one-eyed dragon had perished, what hope did they have? Should they all stay and die? Someone cried out, and the bandits scattered in chaotic flight.

Xu Da and his men seized the opportunity to strike down the fleeing enemies. When the slaughter ended, more than a dozen corpses lay scattered on the snowy ground. But when they turned back, the ghost-faced swordsman was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?” someone asked.

“Who?” replied another.

“Our benefactor!” Liu Hui cried anxiously.

“I just saw him a moment ago,” Liu Tao said with a frown. “They say he’s as elusive as a dragon, appearing and vanishing at will. And since he wears a mask, he clearly doesn’t want anyone to know his identity.”

“If not for him, we’d all have died here,” Xu Da said between heavy breaths.

Everyone nodded, looking at their fallen companions with somber hearts. They had set out from Shouchun with over twenty men; now only six or seven remained.

Liu Tao sighed deeply and began helping to gather the bodies of their comrades. But when he examined the corpses of the fallen bandits, a chill ran through his heart. Each had been killed with a single, fatal stroke—even the one-eyed dragon, a warrior of the second rank. The ghost-faced swordsman’s skill with the blade was truly terrifying.

Liu Hui gazed into the distance, lost in thought. After a moment’s silence, she quietly joined the others in cleaning up the battlefield.

Just as they finished their grim work, the detestable young master from the wealthy family reappeared from who knows where. The younger escorts from Four Seas Escort Agency, still angry at the cowardly noble who had fled during the battle, were about to lash out at him when they met Liu Hui’s cold gaze. Remembering their own shameful behavior, they had no face left to confront her and hurriedly returned to their tasks.

“Hui, aren’t you angry?” Xu Da asked.

Liu Hui glanced at Ning Xiu, then at the young escorts working nearby. “If I can forgive them, why not him?” she replied calmly.

When faced with death, even longtime companions could betray one another—how much more so a stranger with no ties to them? Besides, Ning Xiu was their employer; he was under no obligation to risk his life alongside them.

Xu Da had expected her to be emotional and impulsive, but he realized he had worried too much. Years in the escort business had clearly made her stronger, though that was perhaps the cruellest lesson of all. Looking at her slightly thin, resolute profile, Xu Da could not help but reflect on how much she had grown.

After yesterday’s events, it was impossible that Liu Hui bore no resentment. Yet she was able to interact with her comrades as before, even negotiating patiently with Ning Xiu over compensation for the families of the fallen, striving to secure the best terms for the agency.

Ning Xiu saw things differently. He believed that, if this had happened when they first left Shouchun, Liu Hui would never have managed it; she would have ignored the likes of him entirely. But after surviving this life-and-death ordeal, she had been transformed. As the saying goes, people can change in a single season; sometimes, growth happens in an instant.

Now, Liu Hui was finally ready to bear the weight of the Four Seas Escort Agency.

He looked at the brave, spirited woman before him and said, “Don’t worry about the compensation. The Ning family will honor our promise—everything will be done according to your standards.”

It was no small sum to compensate the families of the dead according to those standards. Although both parties had agreed beforehand, most employers would have tried to evade responsibility. Ning Xiu’s straightforwardness was unexpected.

Liu Hui looked up at Ning Xiu, silent for a moment, then said, “Thank you, young master.”