The cold moonlight spilled among the streets and alleys, and the loud cry of the hawk echoed in the night sky.
Ye Jingtang leaped onto the roof of the house. Looking up from the ridge towards the source of the sound, he saw several figures rising and falling above the street at the end of his sight, dashing towards the direction of the east city wall. There was no sign of the pursuers from the Black Yamen behind them.
Luo Ning landed beside him and grabbed Ye Jingtang's arm:
"You're not allowed to act recklessly. Your mind isn't clear right now... Come home with me! I'll find a way to help you first..."
"I'm really fine. The chief catcher of the Black Yamen can't understand the bird's signal and definitely won't be able to find the direction. If we don't stop them, they'll get away."
Luo Ning saw that Ye Jingtang's expression was focused and he really seemed to be as calm as still water. She was very worried but didn't dare to pull him away forcefully. She gritted her teeth and followed him, drawing out the sword at her waist.
Ch~~
The three-foot green blade came out of its sheath, bringing a cold light in the moonlight.
Ye Jingtang landed on the street. After observing the direction of the people, he picked up a long stick that supported the awning outside the shop. His steps were silent as he cut diagonally towards the path of the people.
Afraid that something would go wrong with Ye Jingtang, Luo Ning ran ahead with her sword. When passing through a street intersection, she carefully took a look:
There were three people galloping on the roof. In the front was a strong man holding a broadsword and carrying a man on his back.
The man lying on his back was holding a straight knife in his hand. Although his face was covered with a black cloth, judging from his figure and weapon, he was the murderer they had encountered in the mortuary today.
And the man walking behind was dressed in a scholar's robe. He was holding a short weapon wrapped in yellow cloth in his hand. His movements were silent as he landed. From time to time, he would stop, look carefully behind him, and then look up at the sky.
Luo Ning reminded in a low voice: "The person behind has extraordinary martial arts skills. Don't be careless."
"Then let's deal with him first."
Ye Jingtang carried the long stick and soon came to Dongzheng Street. He stuck close to the shops on the street and stopped against the wall outside a two-story cloth store.
Dongzheng Street was the main thoroughfare running through the capital city, thirty meters wide. Including the walkways on both sides, the distance between the buildings on both sides was forty meters. An ordinary martial artist simply couldn't jump across it. The people coming here would definitely have to land.
"Huff..."
Ye Jingtang took a deep breath, suppressing the restless blood in his body. His eyes became sharp. He held the seven-foot-long stick horizontally on the steps of the cloth store, straddled his legs, and listened intently to the movement behind him.
After a moment of hesitation, Luo Ning also composed herself. Holding the three-foot green blade, her figure was like a green snake. She circled around the pillars outside the cloth store and silently swam up, hanging on the corner of the eaves without making a sound.
Tap tap tap~~
In the blink of an eye, the sound of footsteps had reached above the cloth store.
Whoosh——
Under the silver moon, a strong figure, carrying a man, rushed out from the flying eaves first, crashing into the middle of the street like a wild ox.
Dong——
Then he rushed towards the opposite street!
Ye Jingtang held the stick with both hands, standing as still as a statue. When a slight sound of stepping on the tiles sounded behind him, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his legs suddenly trembled!
Crack——
The stone brick under his feet immediately cracked. Ye Jingtang, like an eagle soaring in the sky, instantly leaped more than two zhang (about 6.6 meters). He arrived under the flying eaves.
"Ha——"
The explosive shout tore through the long street under the moon!
The seven-foot-long stick in Ye Jingtang's hand arched into a half circle outside the second-floor window of the cloth store and swept under the flying eaves!
Boom——
The entire flying eaves immediately exploded, turning into broken wood and tiles flying into the sky. It almost turned over half of the roof of the cloth store. The long stick, with a powerful momentum like the vast ocean, slashed at the figure passing by above.
This move blocked the line of sight completely. Logically speaking, it was very difficult to defend against!
But the figure above the cloth store was obviously not an ordinary person.
The middle-aged man in the scholar's robe on the roof had just leaped up. When he heard the sound of the breaking wind, his face changed suddenly. He flipped the yellow cloth strip in his hand and blocked it beside his body. Then there was a crisp "Dang——" sound.
The yellow cloth wrapping the weapon burst open, revealing a black iron cudgel.
And the middle-aged man in the scholar's robe, who was in the air, was like a baseball that had been fully swung out. His figure flew horizontally in the air and crossed the corner of the eaves of the cloth store!
Whoosh——
At this moment, a shrill sword cry suddenly pierced the night sky!
The figure in green clothes hanging on the corner of the eaves burst out with all its strength. The three-foot-long sharp blade in its hand stabbed upwards urgently, piercing through the corner of the eaves and stabbing directly at the instep of the approaching person without the slightest deviation.
Boom——
In a flash of sword light, the corner of the eaves of the cloth store shattered again.
Even though the middle-aged man in the scholar's robe had extraordinary martial arts skills, facing the sudden ambush, he was still scratched on his right leg by the sword edge, and his whole body fell down in the air, crashing onto the loess street.
Ye Jingtang knew that this person was an expert. While still in the air, he stepped heavily on the pillar of the cloth store. His figure broke through the night. Holding the stick with one hand, he executed a move called "Yellow Dragon Lying on the Path" and whipped it towards the landing point of the middle-aged man in the scholar's robe.
"Watch out!"
Only then did the warning sound of the murderer lying on the back ring out.
The middle-aged man in the scholar's robe fell towards the ground, leaving a trail of blood in the air with his right leg. Seeing Ye Jingtang pressing down with a terrifying momentum, he quickly raised his iron cudgel.
Bang——
A thunderous explosion sounded on the long street!
Ye Jingtang whipped down with the stick, and the dust on the street surface immediately separated to the left and right, creating a vacuum zone more than a zhang (about 3.3 meters) wide.
The dust and loess were then swept up by the air current, turning into a yellow dragon and pressing towards the middle-aged man who had not yet landed like a storm sweeping away the clouds.
This stick had once shattered Chen Ming, the owner of the seven-foot spear, into pieces.
But the middle-aged man seemed to be much more powerful than Chen Ming. He blocked the full-force blow with the iron cudgel, and his arms didn't bend even a little bit under the huge force.
But no matter how powerful you are, when you are in the air with nowhere to land, how can you offset the powerful force like that of a dragon and an elephant from the long stick?
Boom——
With one blow, the middle-aged man who had not yet touched the ground turned into a shell wrapped in sand and dust and flew straight out more than ten zhang.
Ye Jingtang's blood was restless, but if his heart was as calm as still water, there would definitely be drawbacks.
However, in a fight, being irritable, fanatical, excited, and bloodthirsty was not a negative state most of the time.
After whipping out the stick, Ye Jingtang directly threw the long stick towards Luo Ning. At the same time, he grasped the handle of the knife with his left hand.
Ch——
The cold moon was like frost, and the light of the knife flashed on the long street!
Before the middle-aged man in the scholar's robe landed, Ye Jingtang had already drawn his knife and turned into a dragon breaking through the sea. With three big steps, he crossed the ten-zhang-long street and slashed at the middle-aged man's waist and abdomen with one knife.
Dang——
Sparks flew in the dust!
The middle-aged man blocked the Chi Dragon Ring Head Knife with the iron cudgel, and his whole body flew backwards again.
"Ha——"
Ye Jingtang smoothly passed the knife in his left hand to his right hand and executed a forward slash, bursting out with all his strength to catch up with the middle-aged man's figure.
Dang——
Another knife strike!
The middle-aged man finally hit the ground, scraping out a groove more than a chi (about 0.33 meters) deep on the loess street. Before he could bounce up, Ye Jingtang spun around and slashed with a knife, arriving above his head.
Dang——
Boom——
The loess street surface behind the middle-aged man exploded, forming a pit.
After Ye Jingtang's knife strike landed, he held the knife with both hands above his head and slashed down fiercely.
"Ha——"
Amid the huge sound of the two blades clashing, the pit on the ground suddenly sank.
The middle-aged man's arms were as motionless as towering pillars. However, he let out a muffled groan from the shock of the huge force. Gritting his teeth, he held the cudgel with his right hand and slapped the ground hard with his left hand. Then his whole body spun up.
"Ha——!"
The roar was like a thunderclap in the long night!
Ye Jingtang's blood surged, and his muscles bulged. The cloth on his upper body and legs instantly burst open, revealing the silver soft armor and the tense muscles on his legs.
With the explosive shout, fine dark red lines appeared on his arms, obviously straining his muscles. But the knife in his hand didn't slow down. At the moment when the middle-aged man turned over and stood up, the long knife slashed diagonally from bottom to top at the middle-aged man's waist and abdomen.
Boom——
When the two blades met, the dusty street surface was immediately swept away by the air current, forming a circular mist belt.
The middle-aged man who had just landed on one foot held the iron cudgel horizontally to block the knife strike. However, his body couldn't stand still. Like a shell fired from a cannon, he flew diagonally upwards, piercing through the wall of a restaurant, then through the roof, and flying diagonally into the air.
Boom——
The middle-aged man coughed out a mouthful of blood foam in the air. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the auspicious beast on the roof ridge with one hand and pulled his body towards the adjacent restaurant. Standing firmly on one foot, he was as steady as a pine tree on the top of the restaurant.
Crash——
Five knife strikes and two stick strikes all happened in an instant.
Only then did the pieces of wood and tiles that had been flying in the air above the cloth store rain down on the street like raindrops.
"Huff... Huff..."
Ye Jingtang held the knife and panted like an ox. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes as he stared coldly at the figure on the restaurant.
The middle-aged man landed on the roof ridge of the restaurant. Blood was gushing from his right leg, and he could only stand on one foot. However, his figure was as steady as a pine tree. Holding the iron cudgel with his right hand, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. His eyes were cold and filled with hatred:
"Have you had enough of fighting?!"
After Ye Jingtang's five knife strikes and two stick strikes, he had probably sent the middle-aged man flying more than a hundred meters. The knife strikes were continuous, and Luo Ning couldn't catch up even when she chased with all her might.
At this moment, Luo Ning finally rushed over and reminded him as if facing a formidable enemy:
"Be careful. It's Xu Bailin with the 'Green Steel Cudgel'."
Ye Jingtang was slightly taken aback when he heard this.
Although he hadn't been in the martial arts world for long, he had really heard of Xu Bailin with the "Green Steel Cudgel".
This person, like Qiu Tianhe, was a top powerful figure in the martial arts world. His lifelong pursuit was to defeat Zhou Chiyang and obtain a seat among the Eight Great Heroes. He had even challenged Zhou Chiyang to a one-on-one fight. Although he was defeated with just one sword strike, the fact that Zhou Chiyang accepted the challenge showed that this person definitely had a profound foundation.
No wonder he could still stand...
Suddenly encountering such a well-known powerful figure, Ye Jingtang showed no fear. He glanced at Xu Bailin's right leg, whose muscle belly had been cut. His voice was arrogant:
"I've just finished the foreplay... Bah——I've just warmed up. How can you say I've had enough of fighting? If you have the guts, come down and fight me back!"