The bloody pattern on the back of his right hand lit up, and three bloody streaks appeared out of thin air in mid-air, tearing a hideous claw mark on the man's chest.
The flesh was peeled away, revealing ribs full of cracks, and even intestines sticking out between the scars.
The enemy opened his mouth, his pupils widened, blood gushed out of his throat, but he could not utter a word.
Gradually, the tattered body knelt on the ground and fell forward.
Xi Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief at this moment, rubbing his aching shoulders and slowly standing up.
"The spell is more than just useful." She looked at the corpse in front of her and changed her words softly: "It should be said that it is too useful..."
The girl apologized to the Blood Sea Magic in her heart. At first, she actually thought that this magic was not as useful as hidden weapons and poisons. She was really blind.
"Shotgun, that's totally it." She moved closer and took a closer look at the grotesque corpse she had created.
After wasting a minute or two to kill the master and disciple, Xi Heng finally remembered that he was still being surrounded by soldiers. He turned around and looked around the martial arts venue which was still in chaos.
There were fewer and fewer people in the field. The powerful mobility of the warriors made it empty in just a moment.
Zhang Luoyi, who was originally hesitating in the center of the arena, now obeyed the words of others and decided to escape from here together. The dozen or so Huangmeishan warriors who were blocking the officers and soldiers were almost dead.
Xi Heng no longer paid attention to the two strange corpses bleeding in front of him, and hurriedly caught up with the team of warriors who were using light skills to escape, and followed to the end of the team to leave with them.
When she was about to climb over the wall and leave, Xi Heng suddenly heard a voice coming from the center of officers and soldiers in the rear, calling her name.
She glanced back and saw that her cheap master, the elder of the Red Line Sword Academy, was sitting on a wooden cart behind the officers and soldiers, raising his hand and waving at her.
"..." Xi Heng blinked and stopped using his Qinggong to step over the wall and leave. He landed from a high place, raising some dust, and walked in the opposite direction to meet the soldiers.
"Master?" She came to the wooden cart, a little incredulous. "Did you call all these officers and soldiers here?"
This cheap master of his had never left the sword academy before.
But today, the other party's actions completely overturned Xi Heng's impression.
The old man sitting on the wooden cart nodded slightly, his voice hoarse: "I have been friends with the mayor of Jinshi City for many years. When the city is in trouble, I naturally have to come out and help."
"Master, you are worthy of being a master." Xi Heng didn't know what to say, and just praised him dryly.
……
Chapter 28: Red Line Sword Academy
Later, the relationship between warriors and government officials in Jinshi City became increasingly worse.
Xi Heng stayed in the Hongxian Sword Academy, staying away from all the right and wrong and taking a good rest. Almost every few days, he would hear that a martial arts school had been closed down, or that a martial artist had been imprisoned and interrogated for killing and injuring officers and soldiers out of anger.
In today's Jinshi City, the government seems to think that every warrior may be a spy of the Huangmeishan Army, and they stay here to plan a bigger conspiracy.
Many warriors lost their fortunes and were separated from their families because of such targeting. Many people had no intention of joining the Huangmei Mountain, but were forced to go to the Huangmei Mountain because of their anger towards the court officials, and left the city for the land of Eastern Hailu.
Jinsha Palm, which was once the largest martial arts school in Jinshi City, has now lost its reputation. Only Suiyudao is still operating with a struggling presence. However, it is under surveillance by the government. It is restricted in what kind of disciples it can accept, and the number of disciples cannot exceed one at a time. Even the teaching process is monitored by martial artists from the government faction. It is difficult for them to maintain the dignity of a martial artist, as they cannot even keep their own martial arts secret.
Even though they were in such a difficult situation, they were still the best survivors among all the martial arts schools in the city.
Most of the other martial arts schools have been abandoned, and the warriors are increasingly unable to stay in Jinshi City, so they have all left for other places.
Even the Red Line Sword Sect where Xi Heng was, which had a friendly relationship with the city lord, was affected by this and stopped accepting disciples. After teaching the current female disciples under their command, the Sword Academy had no successors and became increasingly empty.
Three months later, the conflict between the warriors and the officers and soldiers in the city gradually subsided over time.
During these three months, Xi Heng did not leave the sword academy, but just continued to practice sword skills on his own.
As she learned more and more, she had mastered all the moves of the third level of the Red Line Sword.
But it is not enough to just be proficient in it. You also need to understand the various changes between sword moves, how the body should move forward and backward with the moves, how the qi and blood should circulate during combos, and so on.
In this way, the difficulty increases with each level, and it can only be improved through continuous practice over time.
"The ultimate achievement of Ming Jin..." Xi Heng often recited these words, hoping to reach this realm as soon as possible, and then obtain the subsequent An Jin skills from his master.
Because recently, she often heard that the outside world was in chaos and precarious situation.
The martial arts industry in Jinshi City, which was so prosperous before, has suddenly declined to the extreme. Senior Sister Hong Miao also told her that she should "think about what to do after leaving the Sword Academy first." At the same time, news of the Tianliang uprising army in the south came one after another, and it seemed that they were going to attack Jinshi City...
From this, Xi Heng recalled some news he had heard when he was working in a mountain village pharmacy in his second life...
It seems that at the end of the second year after the game was loaded, an uprising army in the south named Tianliang captured Jinshi City and occupied it for a long time.
Xi Heng could no longer remember the exact date. After all, the news that could be passed on to the mountain village was always vague and exaggerated.
For example, people often say that Fang Tiande, the leader of the Tianliang Army, was born with supernatural powers that were invincible to dragons and elephants, and had an indestructible body. He even had the ability to turn beans into soldiers and summon thunder and strong winds.
The storyteller said that he was the reincarnation of an immortal who could not bear to see the suffering of the people and the desperate turmoil in the land of China, so he raised the banner of rebellion in Shezhou and led a million troops north to attack the Zhao royal family, kill the emperor and bring peace to the world.
But even though the rumor spread so widely, the actual results of the battle immediately declined after the capture of Jinshi City, a major hub between the north and the south.
Less than three months after the occupation, the imperial court dispatched the Ever-Victorious Army from the north to attack the border. In just a few days, they drove the Tianliang Army out of Jinshi City, and then fought a decisive battle with tens of thousands of people outside the city...
As for the result of the decisive battle, there are many different opinions. Some say that the Tianliang army defeated the government troops on a large scale, forcing the border troops to hide in the city. Others say that the government troops defeated the Tianliang army and fled in all directions, and the war was settled without much effort.
These are just rumors spread across the countryside, and it is difficult to tell whether they are true or false. The only thing that is certain is that the officers and soldiers have recaptured Jinshi City.
Afterwards, Xi Heng had to replay the game due to illness and no longer knew what happened afterwards.
"The rebels will attack in the second year of the reload... It's been more than a year since the reload."
After Xi Heng got dressed in the morning, he went to the bed and looked at the outside world.
It was early morning, and the sky looked as if it had been painted horizontally with many light-colored brushes. Light orange and light blue intertwined and faded, and the clouds were loose and shapeless.
Autumn has passed since March and it is deep winter now. The sunlight is faint and seems to be there and not there.
"I've been in the Sword Academy for more than a year." Xi Heng rested his elbows on the windowsill and supported his chin with his palm.
"Recently, many senior and junior sisters have left..."
Nowadays, the Great Zhao Kingdom is in a state of exhaustion, with concerns of uprisings everywhere. The world is about to fall into chaos. Most of the sisters and junior sisters in the Sword Academy are children of wealthy families. Unlike Xi Heng, who is alone, it is difficult for him to disobey the call of his family.
There were fewer and fewer people in the yard. In just three months, the number had dropped from sixty or seventy to less than twenty.
As the bustle faded away, the Sword Academy gradually became desolate and lonely.
All the junior sisters that Xi Heng had known in the past few months had left, and the only ones left were the old masters of the Red Line Sword, who were barely maintaining the operation of the Sword Academy.
"All good things must come to an end. Before long, this place will gradually decline like other martial arts schools." Xi Heng said in a low voice.
The girl sighed softly, walked out of the room and came to the yard as usual.
She drew her sword in the practice field and quietly looked around with her eyes open while warming up with the sword.
Looking at this familiar place and reminiscing about it, the figures that appear in my mind are also imprinted in various familiar locations.
Wherever Xi Heng's long sword points, he will think of a figure who often practices swordplay in that direction...
In the empty field, the girl waved her sword in a lonely manner.
The day slowly rose from the east, and the faint sunlight illuminated her sword and body.
The cold winter wind blows, bringing waves of chill.
After warming up with sword dances several times, Xi Heng sheathed his sword and walked towards the spring, breathing lightly.
Just as he was about to use a bamboo tube to collect water for drinking as usual, he saw that the running water had frozen.
"It's winter again." The girl tapped her fingers.
The ice was very thick, so we didn't try to break it to get water.
She then left the sword practice ground and went to the flower bed where there was a well. The groundwater flowing at the bottom of the well should not freeze.
By winter, only a few flowers on the altar are still blooming, and the scattered colors are dotted on a pile of blue-gray branches and leaves, which is equally lonely.
When he got closer, Xi Heng saw Senior Sister Hong Miao supporting the elder of the Sword Academy and walking slowly around the flower bed.
The crooked wooden crutch made a slight sound as it stepped on the ground. The cold wind blew through the lifeless flower bed, carrying away a small piece of petals.
"Master, Senior Sister." Xi Heng approached and addressed them respectfully.
"Hmm..." The old woman half-closed her eyes, and her movements and voice were slow.
Her eyes were cloudy, and I wonder if she could see Xi Heng's figure.
"How's your practice going? Have you mastered it?" The other party's voice was slow and hoarse.
"I still feel like I'm far from achieving great success in Ming Jin..." Xi Heng said helplessly. She had rarely felt the improvement in her swordsmanship in the past three months.
Although the moves are gradually becoming more proficient during martial arts practice, and the control of qi and blood is becoming more and more skilled, there is definitely improvement, but it is too subtle.
Rather than this gradual progress, Xi Heng wanted to achieve the highest level of Ming Jin in one go, or even break through An Jin.
If possible, she would accept it even at the cost of her life, but unfortunately it is not possible.
"Well, take your time." Cheap Master didn't say much about this, and turned to another person beside him and said: "Hong Miao, just help me here... Calculating the time, it's almost New Year's Eve, let's make a New Year's Eve dinner in the yard."
"New Year's Eve?" Hong Miao looked confused, which was rare for her.
Xi Heng understood why. Last year, they didn't celebrate many festivals in the Sword Academy. Not to mention New Year's Eve, even the first day of the first lunar month they still practiced sword skills as usual.
Moreover, there were no door couplets in the sword academy, and no wedding characters were posted on any doors. There was not even the slightest festive atmosphere at all.
Now that the elder suddenly mentioned this kind of thing, Senior Sister Hong Miao seemed to be caught off guard.
"I remember that when I was in the sword sect, every New Year's Eve, the master would buy a lot of meat and vegetables to make stuffings, roll out dough and let the senior and junior sisters make dumplings together to eat..." As the elder recalled and said these words, a smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes lingered.
She stopped and looked at the empty space ahead, as if the scene of that year was happening right before her eyes.
"Senior Sister Zhao didn't know how to make dumplings at the time, so I taught her step by step." She whispered, "I said it was embarrassing that she couldn't even make dumplings after growing up...Senior Sister would blush and try to be strong, and the dumplings she made were all in strange shapes, and I picked them out and ate them..."
The elder stopped and muttered to herself. She had a lot of things in her heart, but now she only expressed some of them subconsciously.
After two or three minutes, she slowly came back to her senses.
"Hehe." The sound sounded like a sigh or a chuckle, making it hard to tell.
The elder slowly turned around with the help of his cane and looked back at Xi Heng and Hong Miao.
"I want to eat dumplings, Hongmiao," she said.
"I'll prepare it right away." Senior Sister Hong Miao replied.
The elder nodded slightly, then slowly left with a gentle expression on his face.
When the hunched figure disappeared from a corner, Hong Miao tapped Xi Heng's shoulder with her fingertips.
"The elders are becoming more and more nostalgic." She sighed.
"It's always like this when you get older," Xi Heng said.
"Recently, the elders have been talking about Senior Sister Zhao a lot. What kind of person is she?" Senior Sister Hong Miao asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know. Although she is my aunt, I was only taught by her for a period of time when I was a child." Xi Heng remained calm and began to lie naturally.
In addition to sword skills, she is also becoming more and more skilled in lying.
"After that, she joined the army to guard the border, and we rarely saw her again."
Xi Heng thought that his lies were flawless.
"I really want to get to know what kind of person can make the elders think about him for so long." Hong Miao sighed.
"Master is just reminiscing about the past. Maybe my aunt is not that special after all." Xi Heng said.
"Hmm..." Senior Sister Hong Miao shook her head slightly and changed the subject: "The elder said he wanted to eat some dumplings, but the ingredients in the canteen are relatively simple. I'm free today, so I can go out for a walk and buy some. Do you want to join us?"
Xi Heng's first thought was to refuse as she still had to practice sword.
But after thinking about it, Senior Sister Hong Miao rarely invites her to go out together, especially to go shopping together like this...
His eyes fluctuated for a moment, and finally he nodded in agreement.
"Let's go." Hong Miao didn't prepare anything else and directly took Xi Heng out of the Sword Academy and walked to the outside world.
……
For several months, the entire territory of Da Zhao has been in turmoil. In the south, the Tianliang Army revolted and rebelled, and in the east, the Huangmeishan Army composed of warriors often came to harass. The northern border has never been stable, and even in the west, barbarians and foreigners often cause trouble.
With the country in such turmoil, it is difficult for the people of the Great Zhao Kingdom to live in peace.
The common people are busy and cannot even get enough food for a day, and the common people are busy and cannot even withstand the cold for half a night.
In such an environment, even though today is New Year's Eve, there is little festive atmosphere in the entire Jinshi City.
There was no smell of fireworks in the whole city, no firecrackers blasting, no children running around and having fun, and no people visiting each other to greet each other.
