Chapter 42: Astonishing Swan Saber Appears, Head Rolls!
Silence!
The entire dense forest fell into a deathly silence.
The Old Kite, who had dominated the Greenwood for over ten years, had his head chopped off just like that with a single saber strike?
That saber strike just now was simply too fast.
No one even saw clearly when the opponent drew his saber or when he chopped off the Old Kite’s head.
It was as if the opponent hadn’t moved at all, yet the Old Kite’s head fell to the ground.
“Black clothes, conical hat, long saber… Saber drawn like an astonishing swan…”
“No mistake, you are Astonishing Swan Saber Ji Qing…”
The voices of the Zhou Family martial artists were trembling.
Astonishing Swan Saber Ji Qing!
Fifth on the Villain Ranking! A great demon whose name shakes the Jianghu!
His Astonishing Swan Saber is masterful.
He kills without needing a second saber strike!
Not long ago, he beheaded Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen, Qingzhou’s top constable, right on the street!
Ji Qing is now a hot topic in the Jianghu.
Everyone in the Jianghu knows about his appearance, martial arts characteristics, and so on!
“Astonishing Swan Saber appears, heads fall to the ground! Truly lives up to his reputation…”
Although Zhou Ru is not a person of Jianghu, she has heard of the renowned “Astonishing Swan Saber” Ji Qing.
She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and curtsied gracefully to Ji Qing. “Zhou Ru of Dongling Prefecture greets Great Hero Ji!”
Regardless of Ji Qing’s reputation, he had just killed the Old Kite, which removed a future threat for the Zhou Family.
Therefore, Zhou Ru’s tone and attitude were naturally very polite.
Besides, who in the Zhou Family could block that saber strike from Ji Qing just now?
Zhou Ru didn’t dare to be impolite!
Ji Qing swept his gaze around.
He saw the corpses of the horse bandits scattered on the ground.
These corpses had gruesome deaths, clearly poisoned to death.
Ji Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“I’m looking for an old beggar! Is he in your Zhou Family merchant caravan?”
As soon as Ji Qing spoke, Miss Zhou’s expression changed instantly.
Not only Miss Zhou, but everyone else in the Zhou Family instinctively glanced at a horse carriage behind them.
Ji Qing instantly understood.
He dismounted and walked step by step toward the Zhou Family caravan.
“Great Hero Ji, is there some misunderstanding? That old senior just now also repelled the horse bandits and saved the lives of everyone in our Zhou Family…”
Miss Zhou stepped forward to try to stop him.
Ji Qing suddenly gripped the hilt of his saber.
“Boom”.
A terrifying saber momentum instantly burst from Ji Qing’s body.
At this moment, in everyone’s eyes, Ji Qing seemed to have vanished.
He had become a saber with exposed blade edge!
It felt as if just looking at it would make one feel sliced by the blade edge.
“I’m only after Poison Demon Ouyang Bo! Those who block the way, die!”
Ji Qing’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears.
Unbeknownst to them, Ji Qing had already released the saber.
Miss Zhou was already drenched in sweat, not daring to block the way anymore or speak, and stepped aside.
Ji Qing strode past.
Miss Zhou’s body went limp, supported by her maidservant.
In that moment just now, Miss Zhou truly thought she was dead.
It was only now that she seemed to “wake up”.
“Astonishing Swan Saber” Ji Qing was no Jianghu great hero, but a bloodthirsty killer who massacred villages and exterminated families, ranking fifth on the Villain Ranking as a “great demon”.
Where had she gotten the courage just now to step forward and block his way?
Ji Qing not killing her meant she had picked up her life!
“Miss, we should stay far away. Everyone in the Jianghu knows Ji Qing is hunting Poison Demon Ouyang Bo. That Ouyang Bo is also extremely dangerous, poisoning entire families at will. Those horse bandits all died from poison, so the old beggar is very likely Poison Demon Ouyang Bo!”
“Whether it’s Astonishing Swan Saber Ji Qing or Poison Demon Ouyang Bo, we can’t afford to provoke either!”
The Zhou Family martial artist quietly reminded Miss Zhou.
Miss Zhou had now come back to her senses.
She also understood that once caught between Ji Qing and Ouyang Bo, even the massive Zhou Family wouldn’t be much stronger than an ant.
“Retreat!”
With Miss Zhou’s order, the Zhou Family abandoned even their thirty-plus carts of goods and hurried far away, afraid of becoming innocent victims.
Ji Qing’s gaze was fixed firmly on that horse carriage.
At the same time, he held his breath.
He knew Ouyang Bo was skilled in poison.
Moreover, his poisoning methods were endless and undetectable, potentially inflicting deadly poison without a trace.
Ji Qing had his countermeasures.
No contact, no breathing, no close approach!
No matter how masterful Ouyang Bo’s poisoning techniques were, what could he do?
“Ji Qing, this old man has no grudge against you. Isn’t it just a mere Da Huai Village? Those ignorant villagers died, and that’s that. Do you really need to chase this old man relentlessly for them?”
Suddenly, an aged voice came from the horse carriage.
Ji Qing did not respond but took a step forward.
“Ji Qing, both you and I rank high on the Villain Ranking. We’re both ‘demons’ despised by all in the Jianghu. Are you trying to act like those fools playing hero? Besides, you rank higher than this old man, and you’re also a demon who massacres villages and exterminates families. You’ll never gain those people’s approval; you can never become a great hero!”
But Ji Qing seemed deaf to it, taking a second step.
Ouyang Bo seemed somewhat annoyed.
“Ji Qing, don’t push this old man too far! This old man isn’t a pushover either. If you anger me, your kin, anyone related to you, I’ll poison them all!”
Ouyang Bo said viciously.
However, Ouyang Bo quickly recalled Ji Qing’s background.
Ji Qing had killed his own father and mother, slaughtering the entire Ji Residence—ruthless even compared to Ouyang Bo himself.
Would threatening Ji Qing with kin work?
Ouyang Bo was now experiencing how difficult “Ji Qing” was to deal with.
The “demons” on the Villain Ranking were all hard to handle.
Those trying to deal with Ouyang Bo must be just as frustrated as Ouyang Bo was now.
Ji Qing was like a hedgehog covered in spikes, leaving Ouyang Bo no way to strike.
A demon without weaknesses was too hard to deal with!
Just as Ouyang Bo grew furious with shame, Ji Qing had taken three steps.
After three steps, Ji Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his hand slowly rested on the hilt.
“Boom”.
Saber momentum unleashed.
Ji Qing knew well that no one could ignore his saber momentum.
Under the unleashed saber momentum, Ji Qing clearly sensed someone in the horse carriage whose breathing suddenly became chaotic.
Even if forcibly suppressed, how easy was it to suppress the impact of saber momentum?
“Clang”.
Ji Qing drew his saber.
Dazzling blade light tore through the void.
Driven by pure internal energy, this saber strike held tremendous power.
The blade light instantly fell upon the horse carriage.
“Boom”.
The horse carriage was split in two.
However, a figure suddenly burst out from the horse carriage.
As soon as this figure appeared, hidden weapons filled the sky.
Dense like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.
Ji Qing swung his saber again.
This saber strike instantly transformed into countless saber shadows, precisely slicing through every hidden weapon in front of him.
Not a single hidden weapon could get close.
“Drip”.
Drops of blood fell to the ground.
Ji Qing looked up and saw an old beggar opposite him.
However, the old beggar looked very disheveled.
A piece of flesh had been cut from his face by the blade light, leaving his face a bloody mess, looking somewhat ferocious and terrifying.
Ouyang Bo’s eyes widened in shock and anger.
“What a ‘Astonishing Swan Saber’! Astonishing Swan Saber appears, heads fall. This old man has finally witnessed it today!”
He had been just a hair’s breadth from dying under Ji Qing’s saber.
Ji Qing said nothing.
His gaze fixed on Ouyang Bo, filled only with coldness.
The opponent was the first to survive after he unleashed the Astonishing Swan Saber!
A man’s reputation is like a tree’s shadow.
Villain Ranking Eighth—not so easy to kill!
“Whoosh…”
A cold wind blew.
Yet it could not dispel the killing intent in the air.
Both stood motionless, staring intently at each other.
Only the killing intent continued to climb.
Suddenly, Ji Qing’s internal energy circulation stuttered slightly.
“Hm?”
Ji Qing looked up sharply.
“Poison?”
“When?”
Countless thoughts flashed through Ji Qing’s mind instantly.
He had already been careful enough.
No close approach, no breathing, no contact.
But why had he still been poisoned?
