Within mere moments, all Spider Shadow assassins had withdrawn from Pure Yang Changshou Palace, leaving only Su Muyu standing alone in the courtyard. He adjusted his mask with a gentle touch before speaking softly. "Come out."
The temple doors opened with hushed reverence as Xie Changze and Xie Jinke entered from the outer darkness.
"As expected of the renowned Umbrella Ghost," Xie Changze remarked with an appreciative smile. "We were confident we made no sound, yet you still detected our presence."
"The wind changed," Su Muyu replied, his tone devoid of inflection.
Xie Changze paused momentarily, then nodded with newfound respect. "Truly extraordinary."
Su Muyu tilted his head slightly, his masked face inscrutable. "The Purple Boot Ghost and Blade Yama of the Xie family shouldn't be here."
Xie Changze advanced a step. "Our Family Head heard the Grand Family Head was gravely injured. Anxious for his wellbeing, he wishes to bring the Grand Family Head back to headquarters for proper treatment."
Su Muyu traced a shallow line before Xie Changze with one finger. "Don't cross this line. The Grand Family Head is fine—all is well. Please report this to the Xie Family Head and thank him for his concern. Spider Shadow is protecting the Grand Family Head. There's no need for his worry."
Xie Changze's gaze shifted beyond Su Muyu. Since entering, he'd been probing the temple's atmosphere but couldn't detect any presence besides the masked figure before him. His brow furrowed with suspicion. "To confirm whether the Grand Family Head is truly well, please allow me to see him in person. Otherwise, I cannot properly complete my mission."
Su Muyu's response carried an edge of dismissal. "Your inability to complete your mission—what concern is that of mine?"
Xie Changze's pupils contracted slightly, his voice dropping to an icy register. "Could it be that the Grand Family Head is truly injured, but you, as Kui, are deliberately concealing this with ulterior motives, preventing us from treating him in time?"
"That's a good excuse," Su Muyu observed, a hint of killing intent threading through his tone. "But for it to hold, there's only one possibility."
Xie Changze stepped forward decisively, crossing the line Su Muyu had drawn. "Kill you!"
"Indeed." Su Muyu spread his sleeves wide, his killing aura surging like a flood tide.
"They say you've recreated the Eighteen Sword Formation devised by the Su family's first patriarch, Su Eighteen. I've long wanted to witness it!" Xie Changze drew his flexible blade and thrust it toward Su Muyu's chest with lethal precision.
"My sword formation—not everyone is qualified to see it!" Su Muyu caught Xie Changze's flexible blade between two fingers with deceptive ease. With a subtle flick, the entire weapon began vibrating violently. Xie Changze felt searing pain in his tiger's mouth acupoint, nearly losing his grip. He hastily withdrew his blade and retreated, but it was already too late—Su Muyu's hand had closed around his throat like an iron vice.
Before becoming Kui, Su Muyu was already considered the strongest of his generation among Su family disciples. While Xie Changze prided himself on being one of the elite among his generation of the Xie family, though he hadn't expected to defeat Su Muyu single-handedly, he hadn't anticipated losing in a single exchange. Fortunately, he hadn't come alone.
Blade Yama Xie Jinke had already positioned himself behind Su Muyu, his golden-ringed blade raised high, swinging down toward Su Muyu's head with devastating force. Su Muyu pressed Xie Changze to the ground with one hand while bending his body low. With a crisp, resonant sound, Xie Jinke's blade struck the paper umbrella but could advance no further, as though it had met solid steel.
"There's something wrong with that umbrella!" Xie Jinke shouted in warning.
Xie Changze drew a dagger from his waist and stabbed toward Su Muyu's chest. Su Muyu lightly tapped his toe against the ground, retreating three measured steps. He spoke with leisurely confidence. "Even the two of you together aren't qualified to witness my sword formation."
Xie Changze rose and retreated to Xie Jinke's side, comprehension dawning. "That umbrella—it's his sword!"
"Let me handle this!" Xie Jinke roared, his golden blade dancing in wild, unpredictable patterns. The blade's energy raged so fiercely that the entire temple trembled, and the statue of Patriarch Lu in the main hall seemed ready to topple at any moment.
"The Wind Dance Wheel Blade of the Xie family," Su Muyu observed, taking the paper umbrella from his back and clashing with Xie Jinke's long blade. Both combatants stepped back simultaneously, reassessing their opponent.
"You should regret not employing the Eighteen Sword Formation from the start," Xie Changze remarked. He had somehow materialized behind Su Muyu during the exchange. His flexible blade whipped forward, entangling Su Muyu's paper umbrella in its coils. When Su Muyu attempted to break free, he discovered Xie Changze's blade had become several times stronger than before, making immediate escape impossible.
"You…" Su Muyu's voice deepened with realization.
"When facing the Umbrella Ghost, one must keep some tricks in reserve," Xie Changze sneered with satisfaction.
Xie Jinke steadied himself and charged toward Su Muyu with his golden blade raised for the killing blow.
"Take a message to Old Master Xie." Su Muyu suddenly flung his hand outward, causing the paper umbrella to snap open with explosive force. Xie Changze's flexible blade shattered into more than ten pieces, which Su Muyu redirected toward Xie Jinke with a casual wave. Xie Jinke hastily shifted from offense to defense, swinging his blade to deflect the deadly fragments. Su Muyu spun around gracefully, pointing the umbrella's tip directly at Xie Changze's exposed throat.
"What message?" Xie Changze asked quietly, his bravado extinguished.
"If you withdraw in time, the Grand Family Head might pretend nothing happened during this period." Su Muyu withdrew his umbrella with deliberate slowness. "You may leave now. Deliver the message."
Xie Changze released a light breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You're not going to kill us?"
"Dark River's members are all family," Su Muyu stated flatly, though whether he believed it remained ambiguous.
Xie Changze's smile carried disdain as he exchanged a meaningful glance with Xie Jinke. They immediately leaped away, retreating from the temple like shadows dissolving into darkness.
Su Muyu turned around, storing his paper umbrella and adjusting his slightly askew demon mask, settling in to wait for the next batch of visitors.
"It seems those two from the Xie family are useless, failing even to force you to deploy your Eighteen Sword Formation." A mocking voice suddenly sounded from beyond the courtyard walls.
Su Muyu sighed—a genuinely helpless exhalation, because the person before him was the absolute last one he wanted to see at this moment.
Su Changhe of Dark River's Su family.
"Brother, it's been a while," Su Changhe announced as he strolled into the courtyard with affected casualness.
Su Muyu shook his head wearily. "At this moment, you're the last person I want to meet."
"The old master asked me to tell you something." Su Changhe's tone carried lazy indifference. "You're the leader of Spider Shadow, but more importantly, you're a disciple of our Su family."
"Kui—a ghost among men. I belong to Dark River, but not to any single family," Su Muyu responded with calm conviction.
Su Changhe pursed his lips in disapproval. "You're always so serious, no fun at all. As a nameless one, you practiced swords diligently from dawn to dusk. As an assassin, you completed every mission with flawless perfection. Now as Kui, you remain so conscientious. Your Grand Family Head is nearly dead, yet you still insist on dying alongside him?"
"The Grand Family Head is fine. Such rumors shouldn't be spread carelessly," Su Muyu said with grave intensity.
"Don't give me that," Su Changhe cut off Su Muyu's words with impatient irritation. "The Grand Family Head was struck by Old Master Tang's Snow-Fallen Plum Branch—he's half-dead already. Otherwise, why would he seek out Xin Baicao's junior uncle? Kill him, bring us the Sleeping Dragon Sword, and our old master will assume the position of Grand Family Head. You can choose to continue as Kui, return to the Su family, or even obtain what you desire most—freedom."
"Freedom?" Su Muyu murmured, the word hanging in the air like a question he'd never dared voice aloud.
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