The black-clothed man was Shadow, of course it was Shadow.

He and Fan Xian quietly entered Dongyi City, and after arranging everything with the Overwatch Council's subordinates, they disappeared. When Fan Xian broke into the Sword Hut, he wasn't there, because Fan Xian knew what the Sixth Bureau Chief of the Overwatch Council would do once he saw Sigu Jian.

And suddenly, Shadow appeared in the City Lord's mansion, behind the City Lord's corpse.

Sigu Jian slaughtered the City Lord's mansion again tonight, killing an unknown number of people, but whether people were alive or dead, as long as their physical body existed, shadows would always be cast under the sunlight, and Shadow was hidden within these shadows.

To be able to evade the senses of a Grandmaster, to be able to appear so abruptly before the three of them, to be able to capture Sigu Jian's most vulnerable moment. Shadow, the most formidable assassin in the world, undoubtedly had his cultivation elevated to the peak of his life today.

Sigu Jian coughed in the wheelchair, coughing up blood, trembling all over, his body shrinking slightly, his face pale. Seven people killed with one sword caused the Grandmaster, who had been dragging on for nearly three years after being seriously injured, to feel a trace of fatigue, and what consumed his mental energy the most was Fan Xian's hands infused with domineering Zhenqi behind the wheelchair.

From the moment he stepped into the City Lord's mansion, Fan Xian's intention was contrary to Sigu Jian's. Sigu Jian released his imposing aura extremely forcefully, forcibly suppressing the thoughts in Fan Xian's mind. However, Fan Xian was after all a Rank 9 Superior expert. Sigu Jian, while killing people, also had to invest his thoughts on him, controlling his mind. It took too long, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat weakened.

Of course, the most crucial factor was the injuries left behind on Da Dong Mountain three years ago. Ye Liuyun's dragon-like claw and the Qing Emperor's earth-shattering Kingly Killing Fist had left Sigu Jian, this Grandmaster, so severely injured that he was gasping for breath, at the end of his rope.

Shadow chose to strike at this moment. He chose the most perfect timing.

In his hand was an ancient-looking sword, as cold as autumn water. In that instant, the sword light illuminated the entire City Lord's mansion, and the stone steps seemed to turn into jade-like crystal in the next moment.

Shadow's toes stepped on these jade-like stone steps, tapping lightly. With each tap, he seemed to become brighter.

A few green leaves occasionally fell in the mansion, flying up at this moment, accompanied by the sword in his hand that brought the chilling autumn wind and autumn rain, adding a touch of bleakness.

Kill.

The ancient sword in Shadow's hand stabbed towards Sigu Jian's chest on the wheelchair. This sword was extremely simple, without any change of moves, without any building of momentum, not even a slight tremor. In the high-speed stabbing process, the bright sword body was as smooth as autumn water, stabbing straight forward.

Just bending the elbow, just flattening the wrist, just stabbing out, just the simplest sword in the world.

Because of its simplicity, it was focused, and therefore powerful.

Shadow didn't need to build momentum, because he had been waiting for this sword for more than twenty years, he had been building it for more than twenty years.

Too fast. When the green leaves floated up, they were surprised to find that they had fallen behind the black-clothed man. So fast that the air in the City Lord's mansion didn't have time to deform and make a whistling sound after this ancient sword cut through it.

Because it was so fast, the surrounding environment didn't have time to make any changes. The courtyard was still as quiet as before. The only thing that had changed was Shadow's position, the toes that stepped on the jade steps, the light on his body, and at the front of the light, the most radiant sword.

At this time, the sword tip was only a foot away from Sigu Jian's chest, the Wind and Thunder Sword.

…

…

In such a short time, Fan Xian only managed to narrow his pupils slightly. He recognized the sword in Shadow's hand. Shadow held this sword when he assassinated the Emperor in the Suspended Temple that year.

Fan Xian was even familiar with Shadow's Wind and Thunder Sword, because outside the Suspended Temple, under the high building, against the backdrop of golden chrysanthemums covering the mountains and fields, Shadow once jumped out of the sun wearing a white robe, stabbing straight at the Emperor's face.

That day, Shadow was dressed in white, like an immortal banished from heaven, radiating brilliance, a plain ancient sword in hand, arriving gracefully.

Today, Shadow was dressed in black, still holding that plain ancient sword. The radiance on his body still bloomed wildly, but it carried a ghostly chill from the deepest depths of the earth, like a resentful spirit that had been imprisoned for tens of thousands of years, wanting to release all the resentment with this sword.

Fan Xian's hand was still supporting the little Emperor's waist. His pupils shrank slightly, but his body didn't have time to make any movements. His heart was filled with horror. This sword that stepped on the stone steps and passed through the green leaves was so unstoppable, so fast that he couldn't react at all, and it even seemed to have broken through the limitations of time!

Shadow was the most formidable assassin in the world, the closest nocturnal protector of the two Masters of the Overwatch Council, before and after. Since escaping Dongyi City, he had been immersed in darkness, never walking under the sun. Even during the assassination attempt in the Suspended Temple last time, that seemingly brilliant sword actually contained caution and care. If the strike failed, he would retreat immediately.

But today's Shadow was completely different from the Shadow of the past. He seemed to be immersed in darkness and negative emotions. This sword, however, was stabbed with utmost righteousness. Decades of cultivation were all condensed into this sword. He didn't leave himself any room for retreat!

He was only thinking about moving forward, choosing to move forward with unparalleled courage and obsession, only seeking to send this sword into Sigu Jian's chest. At this moment, Shadow was no longer an assassin, he was a swordsman, a vengeful swordsman, a swordsman worthy of respect and admiration.

…

…

The Wind and Thunder Sword was gentler, more elusive, and faster than the wind, more dazzling, and more shocking than thunder. This was the strongest sword that Shadow could unleash. Whether it was Fan Xian, Haitang, or anyone else, if they were sitting in the wheelchair at this moment, suddenly facing this sword, they would probably not be able to escape.

Because this was the first sword that Shadow had truly stabbed in twenty years, a sword that had been tempered countless times by the long river of time and the ghostly emotions of resentment.

Even in the last moment when the sword tip pierced through the air, it vaguely reached another level, just like Sigu Jian had taught Fan Xian before, only by communicating with the heart could it be so.

Nothing was faster than a person's intention, and no one's intention was more resolute, more gloomy, and more bright than Shadow's at this moment.

The gloom lay in the hatred and complex emotions, the brightness lay in the determination to disregard everything.

Fan Xian's muscles all over his body tensed up, and the domineering Zhenqi in his body circulated rapidly, waiting for the moment when his mind reflected, he would take the little Emperor away from this place. However, in the face of such a sword, he didn't have time to react.

Sigu Jian could.

Although he was at the end of his rope, although he had been seriously injured for three years, although he had slaughtered the City Lord's mansion today, consuming a lot of his mental energy, he was still a Grandmaster, a Grandmaster who couldn't be judged by common sense.

But Sigu Jian's expression was different from any other time. His face was extremely pale, his eyes were extremely bright, and his right half of his shattered cheek, at this moment, radiated a chilling power, like an ugly and terrifying god.

Even a Grandmaster would not underestimate such a sword, but the Grandmaster was immobile, only had one hand left, and the only thing he could move seemed to be this hand.

So Sigu Jian moved, raised his left arm, and spread his middle and index fingers four inches in front of his chest, then pinched them together.

He used two fingers to clamp the Wind and Thunder Sword.

Then his face became even paler, his eyes even brighter, and his expression even more solemn, because the sword between his two fingers was still advancing forward.

Ah! Shadow was like Sigu Jian's shadow, tightly sticking to the wheelchair, screaming wildly, like a madman, like a fool, like a cry, like joy and anger, stepping on the road of escape twenty years ago, holding the bitterness of his family's destruction and the death of his parents, he stabbed down fiercely!

With a poof, the ancient sword as cold as autumn water rubbed against Sigu Jian's protruding knuckles, making a squeaking sound, carrying a palpitationg scorched smell, and broke through Sigu Jian's finger sword with incomparable force, piercing into Sigu Jian's chest!

The sword tip only entered the Grandmaster's body by two inches, and then it couldn't move anymore, because Sigu Jian's eyes had lit up to the extreme, like two stars shining brightly, hitting Shadow's equally pale face, and his fingers, like two huge mountains, clamped Shadow's Wind and Thunder Sword between the mountains and rocks, unable to advance even an inch.

A moment of pause.

With a pale face, Fan Xian groaned, grabbed the little Emperor's waist beside him, and soared diagonally like a large bird, breaking away from behind the wheelchair, cutting through the sky, and floating towards the green tree beside the mansion.

If he had stayed behind the wheelchair, he might only have been injured, but the little Emperor would definitely have his heart and veins broken and die under the dual attack of Sigu Jian and Shadow.

Floating towards the green tree, Fan Xian turned his head forcibly in the air with a pale face, and then saw a scene that made his heart palpitate and he would never forget.

…

…

Sigu Jian's face was extremely pale, and Shadow's face was also extremely pale. These two brothers, since the rainy night in Dongyi City that year, had never seen each other again. At this time, they were tightly attached to each other, their cold faces reflecting each other, which was not interesting, but just chilling. Their bodies were extremely close, but in the middle... there was a sword.

On Sigu Jian's chest, the sword tip brought out a burst of blood, stubbornly trying to drill inside. But this Grandmaster didn't seem to feel anything at all, just looked at Shadow with those bright and somewhat terrifying old eyes, and his left hand's two fingers stably and terrifyingly clamped the sword.

Will, intention, just one glance, one moment, the air in the courtyard of the City Lord's mansion suddenly changed, as if countless wind blades were born for no reason, cutting the air, making chi chi sounds, coming from all directions, following a wonderful trajectory invisible to the naked eye, and slashing towards the center.

Slashed towards Shadow's body.

Shadow was still wearing the special lotus clothing of the Overwatch Council. This kind of clothing was a product that the Third Bureau had developed after many years, but under the invasion of these sky-filled sword qi, it only resisted for a moment before it began to break fragilely, blooming small openings, the clothing material turning over, like a baby's mouth.

Countless openings appeared on Shadow's body in an instant, beginning to ooze blood.

And Sigu Jian's real counterattack was not outside the body, but inside Shadow's body. That powerful, cold, bloodthirsty sword intent, along with this finger and this glance, mercilessly entered Shadow's body, causing his internal organs to vibrate at the same time at this moment. Blood seeped out of his body, flowing out of his lips in gurgling streams.

On Shadow's pale face, blood kept flowing out of his lips, it was flowing, not streaming, as if there would never be a moment to stop.

But Shadow didn't have a trace of fear. Instead, he laughed, a bitter and strange smile appearing on his pale ordinary face. The laughter resounded around the City Lord's mansion, the laughter containing a crazy crying intent.

"Ah!"

Shadow howled frantically, like a rabid beast crying because of some pain. He sent all the Zhenqi in his body to the sword in his hand, completely ignoring the pain he was suffering on his skin, only caring about the distance between the sword tip and Sigu Jian's heart.

A powerful wave of air exploded between the two people, shaking the green leaves around the wheelchair into shreds, turning into nothing!

The wheelchair was not a person's legs after all. With Shadow's full-scale eruption, the wheelchair quickly retreated backwards, the speed getting faster and faster. And the sword that Sigu Jian's fingers were clamping was also probing into his body at an extremely slow speed.

Sigu Jian's face was getting paler and paler, his eyes were getting brighter and brighter, Shadow's face was also getting paler and paler, the blood flowing from his lips was getting faster and faster, and a trail of blood was flowing on the ground!

What Fan Xian saw was this scene. Two pale people, one spitting blood, one silent, were engaged in the most crazy and the most calm battle. His hands couldn't help but tremble. He didn't like Sigu Jian, and he should of course help Shadow. But if he was going to make a move, he would have already made a move behind Sigu Jian. With Sigu Jian's current crippled body, if Fan Xian and Shadow, two powerful experts, erupted and attacked at the same time, they might really have a few chances of success.

Shadow wouldn't be so miserable, so sad, so painful as he was now!

However, Fan Xian had not made a move, just trembled, and watched this scene coldly. This had nothing to do with the agreement between Nanqing and Dongyi City, and nothing to do with the past friendship between Sigu Jian and his mother, Uncle Wu Zhu, and Fei Jie.

He promised to create an opportunity for Shadow to take revenge, but he would not participate in Shadow's revenge process. Although he didn't know what kind of past stories and secrets were involved in the annihilation of the City Lord's mansion in Dongyi City many years ago, he respected Shadow.

Shadow was a proud swordsman, at least today, he was not facing his brother, the pride of Dongyi City, Shadow's eternal fear and pain, as an assassin.

If Fan Xian made a move at this time, Shadow would not agree. Fan Xian understood this very well, so he chose to watch, trembling as he watched.

…

…

With a crash, the wheelchair finally retreated to the back of the courtyard, under the stone steps on the other side, with no room for retreat. With such a high-speed collision, the wheelchair was immediately broken into countless pieces of wood. Shadow, covered in blood, had madness in his eyes, and finally pushed the sword in his hand forward another inch.

For this inch of distance, Shadow paid a great price.

Sigu Jian's lips trembled, and he laughed in a strange hoarse voice. In the laughter, he, who was sitting on the stone steps, exerted force with his two fingers, and the sword that was inserted into his chest snapped!

Shadow didn't laugh. The sword tip broke in Sigu Jian's chest, and he was still holding half of the broken sword in his hand. It seemed that there was no pause in the momentum at all. That half of the broken sword naturally followed the trembling sword tip standing in Sigu Jian's chest, and pierced down again, deeply piercing into Sigu Jian's chest.

From appearing behind the City Lord's corpse, to stepping down the steps, from stabbing Sigu Jian's chest, to retreating ten feet with the wheelchair, until the last broken sword was stabbed down, Shadow's brilliant Wind and Thunder Sword was actually only one sword, a sword that had not been cut off, with a continuous sword intent to this day, the only sword.

Because Shadow could only have one chance in his life to use such a sword.

The broken end of the broken sword was not sharp when it pierced into Sigu Jian's chest. It was not smooth, on the contrary, it had a astringent feeling, as if it was cutting flesh and blood. It hurt, it hurt a lot.

Shadow seemed to be able to feel the other person's pain, because he himself was also very painful, trembling all over, lowering his head, silently stabbing, cutting.

Cutting off the past, the past of more than twenty years ago. In this moment, Shadow seemed to see many things. He saw that many years ago, that idiotic brother secretly built a small thatched hut on a wasteland on the outskirts of the city, and then said triumphantly that this would be the holy land of martial arts in the future.

He, who was still a child, looked at the broken thatched house with some disdain. He watched the blind man and the woman who occasionally entered the thatched house, and then one day, the child became interested in the sword. The idiotic brother said very seriously, do you want to learn? If you want to learn, I can teach you.

Learning the sword was a very hard and boring thing. The two brothers in the thatched hut became fools in the eyes of everyone. Everyone said that the City Lord's mansion must have offended the gods, and there were actually two idiots. The brothers and sisters in the mansion ignored these two idiots. Perhaps there were some terrible things at that time, but he didn't know, he was just a child.

Then there was that night, everyone died, the people the child hated died, and the people he loved also died. The cats and dogs he raised died, his brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts died... His parents who loved him also died!

No one could survive.

Only he stood trembling behind the curtain in the mansion, looking at the sword dripping with blood in the hand of the idiotic brother, looking at those eyes without any expression, and began to feel afraid, because he was sure that if he didn't leave, this idiotic brother would definitely kill him.

That was perhaps the night that Sigu Jian truly became a Grandmaster, and it was also the night that the youngest man in the City Lord's mansion began to flee. From that night on, Shadow became Shadow, and could only live in the dark forever, never seeing a ray of sunlight again.

Because his chest was filled with anger, hatred, resentment, and fear. He didn't dare to sleep at night, because every time he fell asleep at night, he seemed to always see those expressionless eyes.

So Shadow's face was getting paler and paler. He knew that if he couldn't kill that person, he could only spend his life in the darkness. That person became the Sword Saint and the master of Dongyi City. Whenever he heard this news, he would feel that he would always only be the little child covered in blood, trembling and not daring to speak.

Many years later, a sword that had accumulated twenty years of resentment, hatred, and fear, finally pierced into that person's body. This sword crossed twenty years of time, carrying incomparably complex emotions, and finally tasted the taste of that person's blood. But Shadow was not completely free. He was still trembling all over, because he found that he still had so much blood on his body.

Because Sigu Jian was not dead yet.

…

…

Sigu Jian's body was also covered in blood, but he didn't know which was his own and which was his brother's. Brothers' blood could often be exchanged with each other, but it shouldn't be exchanged in the way it was now.

The clothes on the two people's bodies were torn into countless pieces by the sword qi that was running rampant in the mansion at this moment, and they were hanging on their bodies in a mess. Sigu Jian's eyelids were slightly drooping, as if he was about to not be able to open them, but his thin body, like Shadow's, began to tremble violently.

Sigu Jian clamped the half of the sword tip with his two fingers, pulled it out like lightning, and cut it towards Shadow's neck.

Shadow didn't dodge, and his left hand formed a sword with his fingers, stabbing towards the blood hole that was exposed after the half of the sword tip was pulled out.

An exchange of life for life, an endless battle.

With a muffled bang, the two people's bodies separated sharply. Shadow was like a stone, shaken up a trail of dust, quickly swept back along the trail of blood, and crashed heavily on the stone steps, spitting blood non-stop, and unable to stop panting.

Sigu Jian sat on the stone steps on the other side, with half of the broken sword standing on his chest, but half of the sword tip was in his fingers. He looked coldly at Shadow under the stone steps opposite, and a stream of blood slowly flowed from his lips.

The courtyard of the City Lord's mansion fell into a terrifying silence.

Fan Xian and the little Emperor stood far away under the green tree, watching this scene of brotherly infighting with pale faces. The little Emperor didn't know who the black-clothed man was, but at least he could see that the other person's strength was extremely powerful, otherwise it would be impossible for him to stalemate with Sigu Jian for so long.

However, Fan Xian was clear that Shadow had ultimately failed. Although Sigu Jian had reached the moment when he was at the end of his rope, the Grandmaster was still the Grandmaster. As long as there was still a breath left, he could still stand proudly at the peak of personal martial power in the world. Although he was blown hard by the mountain wind and was in danger of falling into the mortal world at any time, he still stood firm in the end.

However, Shadow should feel proud. Fan Xian's eyes felt slightly moist, and he also felt proud for him in his heart. A Rank 9 Superior expert, seemingly powerful, was able to injure a Grandmaster into such a state of embarrassment in a one-on-one frontal duel, which was truly an extraordinary performance.

And at the last moment, Sigu Jian had used the Grandmaster's realm and strong will to control the situation, and he could obviously kill Shadow. Why didn't he do this? Did he have pity for his younger brother? Fan Xian didn't believe that this bloodthirsty and murderous Grandmaster would have such a warm feeling.

After a long silence, Sigu Jian suddenly opened his mouth in a hoarse voice and asked, "If you count it seriously, you should be the first disciple of the Sword Hut."

Shadow was lying in the pool of blood, not responding, just looking at him ruthlessly and indifferently. Sigu Jian coughed non-stop and said, "You can unleash such a sword today, and you should be proud."

After a long while, Shadow suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Why... why."

Why did Sigu Jian become crazy that year, killing everywhere, slaughtering his relatives, and not even letting his own biological father go, and not even willing to let his own younger brother go. This question had been lingering in Shadow's heart for many years. In today's scene, he finally asked it.

Sigu Jian knew what he was asking, and Fan Xian also knew, but Sigu Jian didn't answer this question at all, just said coldly, "People who stand in my way must die... You have been following us for a day, and you have been watching for a day. I thought you were able to unleash that sword because you understood something. I didn't expect you to ask such a naive question..."

"Younger brother, you really disappoint me."

As soon as this was said, Fan Xian was shocked. It turned out that Sigu Jian had already noticed that Shadow had been following him! This day, Sigu Jian's teaching to himself was not only aimed at himself, but also hoped that Shadow, who was watching in secret, could feel something from it!

Shadow also fell silent. Those ordinary eyes stared fiercely at Sigu Jian under the stone steps in the distance like a wild beast. He didn't say a word. The tragedy of that year and today's words, he didn't need to distinguish what he should believe, he only needed to confirm what he believed.

Fan Xian followed Shadow's gaze and saw the terrifying large wound on Sigu Jian's chest and abdomen, a blur of flesh and blood, faintly glowing with a blue light, like some kind of poison, but strangely maintaining the last breath of life of that piece of viscera that should have rotted to death.

This was the punch that the Qing Emperor gave to Sigu Jian on Da Dong Mountain. Sigu Jian should have died a long time ago, but he was able to survive until now. There must be something hidden in it, especially the terrifying wound on his chest and abdomen.

Sigu Jian coldly used the last of his clothes to cover the wound on his abdomen, glanced at Shadow, glanced at Fan Xian again, and said the last sentence: "A sword is a weapon of destruction, only a saint can use it."

Fan Xian was silent. He immediately understood the meaning of Sigu Jian's sentence - a sword is a weapon of destruction, only a saint can use it, and a saint... is inherently heartless.

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