The head held his throat tightly, his eyes rolling back!
In a perfect horizontal cut, his entire body fell at once!
In the next moment, a swift set of cries rang out as the two Third Chain Experts rushed forward! They originally did not wish to move due to the threat of the unknown, but they had no other choice now!
Using their fellows death as a means of surprise, they appeared from either side of Shou Xin who had been 'looking' at the dead man.
"Nine Sanguine Sword Art, Second Form," Shou Xin's calm demeanor made them hesitate, "Sanguine Sword Field."
From the earth, energies arose like a spiral!
Killing intent rushed of his body forming four blades of killing intent infused with his Sword Aura creating an incredibly destructive field which targetted not ones mortal body, but their cultivation!
"Insidious scoundrel!" One head roared as he cut through the wind with his glaive which seemingly wished to cleave the world asunder!
"Perish." The other head drew back his spear, gathering an immense energy right on the tip.
"Nine Sanguine Sword Art." Shou Xins gaze was ruthlessly calm like an unfettered mountain amid a horrible storm.
The Sanguine Sword Field spread out and swiftly attacked the heads!
Their eyes did not waver, however!
Choosing instead to take the damage from the killing swords, they entered range and struck out with their most powerful blows!
"Mountain Splitter!"
"Shatter, Murama!"
The glaive user and spear user cried out respectively, their Qi reaching a dizzying height!
"Sanguine Sword Steps."
Mixing his Sword Aura with his Sanguine Sword Steps, Shou Xin's eyes revealed an innumerable number of small lights like stars in an abyss, his eyes swiftly marking the flaws in their blows, his Sword Aura greater than their Glaive and Spear Aura's!
Overpowering their aura's, he could see where to break their flow!
As though a crude, yet resolved river had appeared at his feet, it was as though Shou Xin had been swept away by an invisible current!
The two expert's weapons collided and they each suffered the backlash of their all out attacks!
Shou Xin whose eyes were bleeding horribly such that he could hardly see out of them anymore due to the sudden overload of Sword Aura, calmly gripped the hilt of his blade, Fukkatsu.
"Kiru."
A thin, sharp line was drawn as though by a skilled painter with his brush dragging along the canvas.
The two heads who were suffering from severe backlash didn't have time to recover before Shou Xin had split them apart.
"That's the problem with the way they treat their subsidiaries. They give them a little resources to gather strength, but never teach them skills to keep them terribly weak." A fat man appeared from the edge of the fire pit, countless warriors pouring out from all around, "Arrest them."
Shou Xin leaned on Fukkatsu for a brief moment as he stood up, only to quickly sheath it, his back straight as Fukkatsu was bloodthirsty.
"Union leader Guo, you've arrived right on time." Shou Xin calmly cupped his fists, "I am appreciative of your assistance in this matter."
"...Who just leave that kind of letter? What if I didn't come?" Guo Long shook his head disapprovingly, "The other's you requested also arrived."
Shou Xin nodded and calmly looked past Guo Long, his gaze which was hazy could not make them out well, but he could sense their unique Qi signature.
"Liu Gang, Yui Luo. Take the clansmen to find their families if there are any here, and spare them. Everyone who is not vouched for is to be… held."
"I understand!" Came the shoddy response.
Shou Xin wasn't sure who had said it, but he waved his sleeve in response dismissing it.
His gait slow, he walked away from the battle scene seemingly uninjured save for the blood dripping from his eyes which seemed more like bloodstains of the enemy from the battle.
Fireflies lit up the canopy of the forest like a sea of little stars flying around the noisy galaxy.
He felt strange, his gaze hazy enough to see those fireflies and believe them actual stars if not for his Qi sense.
The crunch of the fallen leaves beneath him bellied the coming of winter.
The chilly breeze passing through which whipped his hair back also said something of the coming storms.
Forging ahead at a comfortable gait, he quietly enjoyed the atmosphere… until he had arrived.
It was a familiar place, he had unknowingly arrived at.
It was ash now.
Making sure no one was around, he shambled over the threshold, his facade of strength fading in the time it would take one to blink.
The tension draining from his body he stood before the cottage about to fall from the sudden headache and backlash of his big moves which had caught up to him.
Taking a knee, his empty gaze seemed to fill with something strange as a slight smile creased his lips.
Touching the ashes he scooped some into the palm of his hand, his gaze turning ever so slightly emotional.
"Feng or Yan, no matter who it is," He crushed the wet ash in his palm, "If they stand in my way…"
His head turned to the sky past the canopy, yet he could not see it. Instead letting out a long, shivering breath towards the specks of light above.
"...There will be no innocents."
An arc of pain shot through his side, he had not dodged the stroke of the two perfectly, though he could see their flaws, he was not so perfect as to dodge it despite that.
He did not force the bleeding to stop by flexing his muscles anymore, blood peeling away from his side like a dam burst, as well as several other small cuts from the torrent of rocks which despite using others as shields had still scrapped him.
His white robe had long begun to turn red and his consciousness which was weak from the backlash and the battle, faded away in the endless night.
—-
"...There will be no innocents." Feng Wuqing who stood concealed not far away, watched as Shou Xin's body went seemingly limp, the injuries he had covered up coming to the surface.
She descended to his side, the guardsmen who followed her watching closely from afar, including her sister, Feng Luoyu.
"Sister, Mister is… we should not save him, or interfere here." Feng Luoyu squeezed out amid the heavy atmosphere, "Father said that the Feng would not help the Shou."
Feng Wuqing kneeled beside Shou Xin to see what he had seen.
The ashes.
The devastation.
But when she sensed it, her gaze turned blurry.
In his palm where seemingly only ash remained, there was a small little charm, something she had always put up on the door of the cottage just in case.
A good luck charm she thought he'd never noticed.
In truth, he had taken it in secret after he burned this place away, unable to bear seeing it destroyed as well, instead keeping it as a memory.
A small, almost unrecognizable cat charm.
"Bladesmen," Feng Wuqing said as her gaze turned upwards despite her inability to see, "If I love you, then Feng and Yan may go to war. If I kill you now, your death will be far less painful than what the Yan have planned. Tell me… what should I do?"
Her eyes bore tears of torn indecision and love for the innocents who would undoubtedly be affected by her decisions.
To leave the Yan, the Feng will fight and Shou Xin will die.
To willingly marry the Yan, the Feng will rejoice but Shou Xin will likely still die.
To escape… the Feng and Yan would never stop looking for her, and would destroy Sea Spring to make sure or use it as a hostage to force her back.
Yet despite all of this.
Despite all of this…!
"I don't want to go." Feng Wuqing squeezed out between tears, "I hate it."
Her eyes widened as she felt a soft sensation on her hand. It was the cat charm. She quickly turned her head to Shou Xin, but he was apparently still somewhere far away.
"Lady! We must go, there are people coming!" The guards arrived at her side, picking her by the arms as they had been instructed that some forcefulness was fine.
Feng Wuqing held the cat charm, her senses focused on Shou Xin.
The instant that the guards turned their backs, a small smile appeared on his face and a few words were mimicked through just his lips.
Feng Wuqing wanted to say something but, if he knew she was here and the guards found out, they would kill him.
Above, Feng Luoyu looked teary eyed and slowly left alongside the others.
—-
"....I… don't want to go…" Shou Xin heard something from afar, "...I hate… it…"
His consciousness stirred.
Feng Wuqing.
Even without his sight, or a strong Qi to assist in sensing, he could tell who it was that quietly sat beside him.
Based off the fact that she was here, it would mean she came with guards and perhaps some secret escorts and so he didn't make a move.
Waiting for a breeze, he let it seem like the cat charm had rolled off his palm and unto hers.
When she looked up at him, he so desperately wanted to look at her and smile, but it wasn't possible as the guards came down to grab her.
As she went away, he could feel her senses locked onto him like a desperate call.
He smiled.