Thunderous rumbles echoed, reverberating from the west to the east of Xiyan Town. The smoke and dust gradually dispersed, revealing a shallow trench, wide over ten feet and extending for an unknown distance beyond the town. The streets, homes, livestock, even the towering town walls, along with the sorcerer, had all vanished without a trace.
The two snow cranes, too, were gone, unable even to spread their wings before only a few feathers remained, drifting slowly to the ground. The sword qi, as fierce as a storm, had slashed across Xiyan Town, carving a terrible mark from west to east. The surviving bandits, witnessing this scene, were frozen with terror, their souls nearly departing their bodies. "What madness is this? A mere robbery, a massacre of a town—why go so far as to slaughter a chicken with a bull's knife? Against such power, we might as well be no more than chickens!"
The leader of the bandits slowly turned his head toward the horrifying trench, his voice shaking as he stammered, "Wh-what happened?"
The trench was not even two dozen paces from his position. Though he had narrowly escaped, several of his comrades were swept up by the sword qi, perishing along with the sorcerer, reduced to ash.
"An immortal... an immortal was slain!"
The bandits, nearly paralyzed by fear, screamed in frantic disbelief. Though the sorcerer was but a mortal in their eyes, to them, he was no different from a god.
Li Xiaobai snapped back to reality, though he had not witnessed the spectacle behind him. His energy seemed drained, and his spirit, too, had fallen into a strange lethargy. Weak, he collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.
A servant rushed to support him, but Li Xiaobai, seeing the stunned faces around him, weakly said, "What are you all looking like that for? Did something strange happen? Huh? I'm still alive!"
Since he had come to terms with life and death, he was neither surprised nor alarmed at still being alive. If he had died, he would simply burn incense, call his spirit, or, if necessary, exhume his body.
"Young master, you!"
Li Qing, stunned, stared at Li Xiaobai, who had only seen a thick beam of pale white light explode from him, followed by the vanishing of the flying sword, the sorcerer, and everything along that line.
"What?"
Li Xiaobai turned to look and was immediately struck by the scene before him.
"Good grief!"
Was this some sort of excavator secretly tearing down buildings?
He had no awareness of being part of this catastrophe.
"Young master!"
The young lady from the Wu family, like a fledgling bird, leaped into his arms, clutching him tightly, half supporting, half embracing, as if she had countless words to speak.
A shrill voice shattered this fleeting moment of solace between the two, as well as the stunned silence of the Li brothers and the servants.
"Kill them! Leave no one alive! I want their heads!"
The leader of the bandits howled in fury, raising his scimitar toward Li Qing and Li Xiaobai. Seeing the latter's weakened state, he knew that the terrifying sword qi would not strike a second time. Now was his chance to act decisively.
In an instant, he conceived a terrifying possibility: the sorcerers' sect would be enraged by the deaths of their own, and unless they claimed the heads of all in the Li family, they would risk incurring the wrath of the sect.
The bandits would not care if the imperial troops from the Fengxuan Kingdom or the Da Wu Dynasty were after them. But with a hundred times their courage, they would not dare to provoke any sect of sorcerers, who viewed human life as expendable, unlike these ruthless bandits who slaughtered without a second thought.
The warhorses, compared to the snow cranes, were slow. Everyone knew that no matter where the bandits fled, they would have no chance of escape. They had been dragged into the trench by the Li family's hand.
Perhaps, if they were fortunate, they might escape alive, only because of the Li family's decapitated heads.
"Protect the young master!"
Though the servants had been affected by the sorcerer's magic not long before, they had regained some strength and hastily formed a defensive circle with their halberds, surrounding Li Qing, Li Xiaobai, and Wu Xiangjun.
The housekeeper had died, the second housekeeper as well, and the master was most likely dead. Their only remaining hope lay in the three young masters of the Li family and Wu Xiangjun, soon to marry into the family.
Two servants, armed with halberds, rushed to drag the eldest young master Li Mo back for protection.
But unexpectedly, Li Mo, with a sudden surge of strength, struggled to stand, shaking his head at them and, gritting his teeth, pulled the flying sword from his left shoulder. Weakly, he grasped it as a weapon and began walking toward the trench, following the path the sword qi had carved out.
Similarly, the bandits, no less weakened, could hardly stand. Their warhorses were in no better condition, and they could only stagger forward, swinging their weapons in drunken disarray.
"Young master!"
"Young master, come back!"
The servants attempted to catch up, but they were soon blocked by the bandits who had regained some strength, and another fierce battle erupted.
Li Mo, feeling despair like a dying man, swallowed the black pill he had just taken. His pale face slowly regained some color, and a burst of strength came from somewhere within him. He clutched the flying sword that once belonged to his brother from the Star-Picking Sect, staggering to block and strike.
Though the sword had lost much of its spirit, its sharpness remained unrivaled. Light as a feather, it suited Li Mo, who could no longer summon much strength. The sword cleaved through the bandits' weapons like withered branches, and one by one, they fell under the blade, sending more into retreat. With only a single sword, he seemed to be moving ever farther away.
He considered himself an ill-omened man. At this moment, only one thought filled his mind: to walk as far as possible, to not bring any more misfortune or calamity upon his brothers. The Li family's tragedy was enough; he could not allow any more harm.
"Brother! Where are you going?"
Li Qing and Li Xiaobai cried out to Li Mo's retreating back but received no response. They tried to follow, but the bandits swarmed around them, preventing any pursuit.
But just then, a nimble figure appeared, flying across the rooftops like a monkey, using the trees and buildings as leaping points. In moments, the figure had leapt into the servants' defensive circle, grabbed Wu Xiangjun by the waist, and pulled her from Li Xiaobai's arms. With a flick of the wrist, the figure ascended, carrying Wu Xiangjun onto the roof of a nearby building.
In an instant, Wu Xiangjun was taken, and the nearby servants had no time to react.
"Xiangjun!"
Li Xiaobai jumped in frustration, but his body was too weak to even stand. Were it not for the servants supporting him, he might have collapsed.
The battle on the streets raged on. The Li family's halberds, designed to slice through both men and horses, proved devastating against the bandits, particularly those who had lost their steeds. But the bandits, undeterred, continued to charge forward, desperate for the heads of the Li family.
Without those, they knew they could not survive.
"Tofu Xishi, I never expected it to be you!"
Suddenly, Bai Laoda and Bai Ying'er appeared on the roof of the same building. With metal-glinting paddles in hand, they blocked the path of the kidnapper, who seemed to recognize the figure.
Li Xiaobai, stunned, could hardly believe his ears. Was that kidnapper truly Tofu Xishi? The woman whom Li Dahu had once claimed to capture and strip for his amusement? What was she doing here, stealing Wu Xiangjun from his arms? Was this revenge?
But if so, why was she taking the woman? Shouldn't she have attacked him directly? The fact that he was unscathed meant she wasn't after him at all.
The sudden, bizarre turn of events made Li Xiaobai feel an unsettling sense of impending revelations. Xiyan Town, a humble border town, was no ordinary place. What other unknown forces were hiding beneath the surface of this web of intrigue?
"Bai Doujiang! Are you truly going to obstruct the Royal Secret Service?"
Tofu Xishi, revealing her true identity, held up a golden medallion. Bai Laoda and Bai Ying'er faltered in their steps, clearly apprehensive. The tension between them immediately stopped.
Bai Laoda, a fisherman from the shores of Ji Mo Lake outside Xiyan, narrowed his eyes. He had not expected the kidnapper to be part of the Royal Secret Service. "Who are you really? Which of the Northern Dipper's agents are you?"
With Wu Xiangjun's true identity carefully concealed for many years, she had been under subtle surveillance for far too long. Even the Royal Secret Service could not be ordinary people.
"I am the 'Broken Army' of