Chapter 275 - 273: Betrayal
The thick scent of blood permeated the pier.
Jiang Hengzhou and Li Sanli stood beside Shi Zhenshan’s corpse, their brief moment of grief and anger now past.
They raised their heads at almost the same time, their gazes sweeping toward the other side of the pier.
The battle between Chen Li and Mo Wuji was apparently still ongoing.
Mo Wuji’s expression changed dramatically.
In the blink of an eye, he was the only one left of the four Grandmasters from the He Family.
The man before him, Chen Li, was unfathomably powerful. Mo Wuji had thrown everything he had at him, yet the man handled it as if he were on a leisurely stroll. This couldn’t be called a battle.
’Run!’
’I have to run, now!’
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as the aura around him exploded outward. His palms instantly turned black as ink, conjuring a storm of illusory palm strikes that blotted out the sky and surged toward Chen Li.
But it was all for naught!
In the face of this incredibly perilous assault, Chen Li responded with a single, simple swing of his staff.
Devoid of flourish, the Qiankun Ruyi Staff descended with simple, archaic power.
The whistling wind of the staff’s passage was accompanied by a low, draconic roar.
The sky-filling storm of illusory palms melted away in an instant.
The staff met no resistance as it smashed into Mo Wuji’s hastily raised forearms.
Mo Wuji’s sternum caved in. He vomited a great mouthful of blood as his body was sent flying, crashing hard onto a pile of splintered planks. His face was deathly pale, his aura instantly withered to nothing. He was grievously wounded.
One strike!
Just one strike!
Jiang Hengzhou, who had been about to charge, froze mid-stride. His pupils constricted as a chill shot up his spine, right to the crown of his head.
His original plan had been to kill Mo Wuji first, then find an opportunity to finish off Chen Li.
But now, that plan seemed utterly laughable.
’This Chen Li... his power is far beyond my own.’
"Kill!"
Jiang Hengzhou’s mind raced, and he made his decision in an instant.
’I can’t let Chen Li kill Mo Wuji.’
’Otherwise, it’ll just be me and Li Sanli left to face this monster. That’s a death sentence.’
’Our only chance of winning is if Mo Wuji and I team up!’
"Die!"
Jiang Hengzhou moved like a lightning bolt. Pouring his life’s Power into his palms, he struck at Chen Li’s back, his hands like two crashing black waves.
He held nothing back in this attack.
However, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Chen Li’s Qiankun Ruyi Staff drew a mysterious arc, tapping toward the pulse points on Jiang Hengzhou’s wrists and forcing him to retract his palms to defend.
Chen Li turned to face Jiang Hengzhou, a cold smirk playing on his lips.
"Jiang Bangzhu, you turn on people faster than flipping through a book. As treacherous as they come."
Chen Li sneered. His Staff Technique shifted, a flurry of afterimages from his staff enveloping Jiang Hengzhou and threatening every vital point.
"True Intent?"
Both shocked and enraged, Jiang Hengzhou wielded his twin iron palms and that pair of strange iron balls, weaving them into an airtight defense.
But with Chen Li’s Qiankun Qi Roaming Dragon True Intent surging, Jiang Hengzhou was no match for him.
In just three to five exchanges, Jiang Hengzhou was already struggling to keep up. He found himself in constant peril, completely on the defensive, able only to parry with no opportunity to retaliate.
While effortlessly suppressing Jiang Hengzhou, Chen Li chuckled at Li Sanli, who stood silently with his hand resting on his blade. "Sanli Gang Leader, what are you spacing out for? Aren’t you going to lend a hand? Didn’t we agree? Once Jiang Bangzhu is taken care of, the leadership of the Tuo Long Bang is all yours. What’s the matter? Having a change of heart?"
"Don’t try to sow discord!"
The scar beneath Li Sanli’s conical hat twitched as he snapped angrily.
His grip on his long blade tightened, but he remained rooted to the spot.
Jiang Hengzhou, who was struggling to hold on, let out a cold laugh. "The bond between us three brothers was forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood! We’ve faced death together! You think you can break that with a few measly words?!"
He then roared at Mo Wuji, who was collapsed amidst the pile of planks. "You, Mo whatever-your-name-is! What are you just watching for?! Help me! If you don’t, we’re all going to die here tonight!"
Coughing up blood, Mo Wuji forced himself to look up. He saw the fierce battle between Chen Li and Jiang Hengzhou, then glanced over at Li Sanli. A look of conflict flashed in his eyes.
In the end, his survival instinct won out.
He gritted his teeth, and despite his grievous injuries, he forced out a surge of True Qi. With a leap, he tried to escape into the darkness beyond Zhuoyan Collection.
"What’s the hurry?"
An old but steady voice suddenly rang out.
A figure darted out from the shadows of a ship’s cabin, appearing directly in Mo Wuji’s escape path.
The man, dressed in a long gray robe with a gaunt face, was none other than Elder Zhan.
He had expected a fierce battle tonight, but he never imagined the situation would change so rapidly.
A three-way free-for-all, with everyone trying to kill everyone else. There was no rhyme or reason to it.
And he hadn’t even had a chance to make a move.
"Out of my way!"
Mo Wuji was both shocked and enraged. He couldn’t believe there was another Divine Hall Grandmaster hiding here.
Though grievously wounded, he was a Void Transformation expert. A howling Palm Wind shot toward Elder Zhan’s face as Mo Wuji attempted to force his way past.
Elder Zhan knew how powerful his opponent was and didn’t dare to take the blow head-on. He floated backward, launching a continuous series of palm strikes. The overlapping palm shadows weren’t meant to injure, only to delay.
Grievously wounded and with an unstable aura, Mo Wuji was also extremely wary of Li Sanli, who was watching coldly from the side. For a moment, he found himself completely bogged down by Elder Zhan’s tenacious, sticky fighting style. Unable to break free, he roared in frustration.
Meanwhile.
"Just die!"
Forced into a corner by Chen Li, Jiang Hengzhou’s eyes turned bloodshot. He looked like a cornered, rabid tiger.
He let out a furious roar and used his old trick again. His Divine Sense Illusion stepped forward once more, wielding the Divine Sense Awareness Spear. With an air of tragic finality, it stabbed directly toward the sea of consciousness in Chen Li’s mind.
At the same time, he screamed at Li Sanli, "Sanli, attack his body!"
A desperate, all-or-nothing blow!
And his final chance!
However, the veins on the back of Li Sanli’s hand bulged as he gripped his hilt, yet his feet seemed to have taken root, nailing him to the spot.
The muscles in his face twitched, and an intense conflict flickered in his eyes. In the end, he did not move.
"An ant trying to shake a tree."
Chen Li chuckled softly.
Above his head, a far more solid Divine Sense Illusion stepped forth.
It swung the Qiankun Ruyi Staff.
Ape Strike Skill.
It seemed as if the very air froze in the path of the staff.
"CRACK!"
The instant the spear from Jiang Hengzhou’s Divine Sense Illusion touched the staff of pure Intention, it burst like a bubble, dissolving into a shower of light.
’No... impossible...’
Jiang Hengzhou’s Divine Sense Illusion let out a silent scream of despair.
Without pausing, Chen Li’s Divine Sense Illusion brought the staff down a second time, smashing it viciously onto Jiang Hengzhou’s.
"PFFT!"
Jiang Hengzhou’s Divine Sense Illusion instantly disintegrated, utterly annihilated.
His physical body shuddered, and the light in his eyes faded completely. Thin lines of black blood trickled from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His body crumpled to the ground, devoid of life.
Even in death, his wide-open eyes were fixed on Li Sanli, who stood not far away, having never made a move. They were filled with endless confusion and resentment.
He died without understanding why the brother with whom he had faced life and death for decades would choose to stand by and watch at the critical moment—why he would betray him!
After dispatching Jiang Hengzhou, Chen Li’s Divine Sense Illusion didn’t return to his body. Instead, it transformed into a streak of light and shot directly toward Mo Wuji, who was still locked in combat with Elder Zhan.
’An opening!’
’Should I attack?’
Li Sanli was stunned. He hadn’t expected Chen Li to be so arrogant as to leave his physical body completely undefended.
But in the next moment, Chen Li’s physical form glanced at him, a faint, unreadable smile on his face.
The look sent a tremor through Li Sanli’s heart, and he felt a bone-deep chill, his blood running cold.
’Divine Intent?’
He gripped his hilt, not daring to move a muscle.
Mo Wuji was growing frustrated with Elder Zhan’s relentless attacks when he suddenly felt a terrifying aura approaching from behind—an aura that made his very Divine Soul tremble. He was scared witless.
He whipped his head around to see Chen Li’s Divine Sense Illusion bearing down on him, staff at the ready.
At this life-or-death moment, Mo Wuji could no longer afford to hold back.
A vicious light flashed in his eyes. With a flare of light from between his brows, he forcibly ejected his own Divine Sense Illusion. It held a spectral Short Sword, radiating an aura of suicidal madness.
It didn’t fly toward Chen Li, but rather straight for Elder Zhan, who was in the middle of retreating.
"This is bad!"
Elder Zhan hadn’t anticipated such a desperate move. Feeling the terrifying pressure of a Void Transformation Grandmaster’s Divine Sense, his face fell. He quickly executed a Body Technique to retreat.
In the nick of time!
Chen Li’s Divine Sense Illusion, though moving second, arrived first, positioning itself in front of Elder Zhan.
The Qiankun Ruyi Staff blocked off every possible angle of Mo Wuji’s suicidal attack.
"CRACK!"
A single blow!
Mo Wuji’s Divine Sense Illusion let out a silent, piercing shriek before instantly shattering into primordial streams of Divine Sense, dissipating completely into the air.
His physical body crashed to the ground, his life force extinguished.
The last Void Transformation Grandmaster had fallen.
The cold moonlight washed over the scene.
The entire Zhuoyan Pier descended into a deathly silence.
The river wind moaned, carrying with it the faint scent of blood.
Chen Li’s Divine Sense returned to his body. His gaze fell calmly on Li Sanli, who had kept his hand on his hilt the entire time but had never once stepped forward.
Li Sanli stood his ground, the hand on his blade as steady as a rock, but his slightly ragged breaths betrayed his inner turmoil.
At this moment, he was immensely grateful for the choice he had made.
’This Patriarch Chen... he’s far more than he seems!’
Chen Li looked at Li Sanli. "Sanli Gang Leader, you are indeed a pragmatic man."
He hadn’t been arrogant just now.
He had refined over sixty percent of his True Intent. He had secretly tested it before; even with his Divine Sense away from his body, his physical form could still mount an instinctual defense using his Divine Intent.
Chen Li estimated it could unleash about thirty percent of his full power.
He had wanted to use the opportunity to test Li Sanli. If the man had dared to attack, it would have been the perfect chance to deal with him as well.
He hadn’t expected Li Sanli to be so composed. He hadn’t taken the bait at all.
Li Sanli took a deep breath and slowly sheathed his long blade, completely abandoning any thought of resistance.
Raising his head, his gaze met Chen Li’s from under the brim of his hat. "Patriarch Chen, you flatter me. I simply believe that I... am still of use to you. And that you won’t kill me because of it."
"Oh?"
Chen Li raised an eyebrow. "And what brilliant insight might that be, Sanli Gang Leader?"
Li Sanli was silent for a moment before speaking. "With He Zhangqiu dead, his father, Governor He Mingyun, will never let this go. He will retaliate. The Chen Family is rooted in Liyang; you can’t just up and move your entire clan.
"Faced with the machinations of a Governor, even with your immense power, Patriarch Chen, you might be able to protect yourself, but your family’s estate and its people will be vulnerable. There would be no end to the trouble.
"But if the blame for He Zhangqiu’s death today falls upon the Tuo Long Bang, then even if Governor He is suspicious, he would never dare to move openly against the Chen Family.
"That is my value."
When Chen Li remained silent, Li Sanli took another deep breath. "If Patriarch Chen agrees, I, Li Sanli, will take the forty thousand bolts of silk from these ships, along with the men of the Tuo Long Bang, and leave Jiangzhou immediately. We will disappear.
"I can guarantee that the official story will be this: the Tuo Long Bang got greedy. A deal gone wrong. They ambushed and killed the He Family’s young master and the Grandmasters he hired. All the clues, and all the hatred, will point to us."