Chapter 53: Pursuit of Life and Death

"How bold!"

Seeing that Shen Chang'an showed no fear toward the crowd of the White Lotus Sect, the expression of the young man in white instantly turned gloomy.

"Shen Chang'an, do you really take my White Lotus Sect for a coward afraid of you?"

Shen Chang'an shook his head and said calmly, "Your White Lotus Sect is naturally not afraid of me. Take you, for instance; you certainly aren't afraid of me."

"Hahaha, you also know..."

Before he could finish, Shen Chang'an directly interrupted, "In that case, why don't you be the first to step forward and duel me?"

The expression of the young man in white sank immediately.

Had this been the old Shen Chang'an, he truly would not have been afraid.

However, when Shen Chang'an slaughtered those cultists of the White Lotus Sect earlier, he had already displayed the terrifying sword qi of the Withered Wood Sword. Unless Shen Chang'an's sword qi was exhausted, the young man in white simply did not dare to measure himself against him.

Moreover, what Shen Chang'an had done on Black Wind Mountain subsequently—though others might not know, the White Lotus Sect was acutely aware of it.

For Yu Qingxian to take Yu Fengxian back and pull off such a startling stunt was no small matter. Afterwards, both Yu Fengxian and Yu Qingxian reported truthfully; thus, naturally, certain people came to know that Shen Chang'an possessed a divine sword and had single-handedly slain General Black Wind.

The imperial court of Daqian was corrupt. Once the government authorities learned of this, the members of the White Lotus Sect naturally knew as well.

Facing such a Shen Chang'an, even knowing that he surely could not cope with all of them at once, who among them would not feel a chill in their heart at the prospect of facing him first?

Fortunately, none of them knew that the Master of the Sword could not truly die; otherwise, even fewer people would have dared to come and hunt down Shen Chang'an.

"Ridiculous! With so many experts of my sect right here, why on earth should this young master duel you one-on-one?"

Shen Chang'an shook his head and said, "If you don't dare, just admit it instead of spouting so much nonsense. Come on, swarm me together."

Hearing Shen Chang'an's mocking tone, the expression of the young man in white grew even gloomier, but he was clearly not going to fall for such a crude provocation.

"Attack together and chop this brat into pieces!"

Shen Chang'an sneered, swung his long staff, and charged right into the fray.

"Miss Jiang, run quickly!"

Jiang Yunyi was slightly startled, but instead of fleeing, she stated directly, "Daoist Priest Shen, if we go, we go together. If you can escape, I can escape."

Shen Chang'an sighed. As he parried the incoming attackers, he shouted loudly, "Stop daydreaming! There are too many people from the White Lotus Sect this time. I will hold them off, you get out of here immediately!"

The White Lotus Sect members had arrived with overwhelming momentum, and they were even equipped with powerful bows and heavy crossbows. Seeing these weapons, Shen Chang'an knew at once that he could no longer escape.

If he relied on sheer brute force and insisted on fighting his way out, it might not be entirely impossible. But once separated from the crowd of the White Lotus Sect, he would become a prime target and would inevitably be shot to death by a hail of arrows.

Knowing that escape was impossible, Shen Chang'an simply chose not to run. Instead, he intended to massacre as many of these people as he could until his strength was exhausted—taking down as many with him as possible.

He could not escape, but Jiang Yunyi could.

As long as he held these people back, the others would never dare to shoot arrows at Jiang Yunyi. Like Xue Lie, what they wanted was a living Dragon Maiden; if all they needed was a corpse, Bao Yi would have beaten Jiang Yunyi to death long ago...

Hearing Shen Chang'an's words, Jiang Yunyi bit her lower lip slightly and suddenly spoke up: "Daoist Priest Shen, you go. I'll go with them."

Shen Chang'an smashed a White Lotus Sect cultist to death with a single swing of his staff, then roared harshly, "Trying to negotiate with evil demons and crooked ways? Your brain must be fried! Hurry up and leave!"

With that, he raised his staff and hurled it straight forward. The long staff immediately pierced through the chests of three men, pinning them dead on the spot.

Then, Shen Chang'an reached out and groped around, and the Withered Wood Sword was already in his hand.

"Everyone! On the Road to the Yellow Springs, I will surely devour your souls and chew up your flesh and blood!"

With a twist of the blade, a cyan sword glare cleaved through the air with a deafening roar, tracing a fierce arc that brutally sliced through the bodies of several men right in front of him.

"Run!"

Shen Chang'an let out a low shout, and just as he was about to drive Jiang Yunyi away, he saw her suddenly leap forward and grab his wrist.

"You!"

Shen Chang'an was slightly stunned, but Jiang Yunyi was already dragging him along at a full sprint!

"Since they want to capture me, they certainly won't dare to use arrows against me. Flee with me!"

A bitter expression appeared on Shen Chang'an's face as he said, "Don't you think I've considered that? But if the two of us run together, neither of us will escape in the end."

If Jiang Yunyi fled alone, with Shen Chang'an putting his all into holding the pursuers back, she might have had a chance to survive. But if they fled together, while the enemy archers wouldn't dare to fire, with no one to hold them back, these people would keep on chasing relentlessly from behind.

In the end, it would devolve into a situation where they fled ahead and the enemy pursued endlessly behind.

As time went on, the continuous running would exhaust them, allowing the pursuers behind to slowly drain their stamina until they were captured effortlessly.

In the end, it would still come down to Shen Chang'an turning back to fight to the death. But by that time, how much longer could he stall, and how much stamina would Jiang Yunyi have left to escape?

"Stop talking for now and just run. As long as we can get close to a nearby town, I will reveal my identity and we will surely receive aid..."

Shen Chang'an waved his hand to interrupt her, then continued, "The White Lotus Sect has likely been lying in wait for us for a long time. Since they chose to set an ambush here, they certainly aren't afraid of us fleeing to the towns ahead. The people in those towns are probably all members of the White Lotus Sect."

Jiang Yunyi's expression froze in utter astonishment; she had never imagined that Daqian could be corroded by the White Lotus Sect to such a profound degree.

"Then where should we flee to?" Jiang Yunyi asked.

Shen Chang'an sighed and said, "You should run by yourself. I'd better charge back alone and stall this bunch of bastards."

Listening to the sounds coming from not far behind, Shen Chang'an knew the White Lotus Sect members had already caught up. Although their running speed just now had not been slow, the White Lotus Sect clearly had plenty of experts proficient in tracking, who had stayed right on their heels and forced them into this desperate flight.

"This..."

Jiang Yunyi gritted her teeth and said, "No! Even if they capture me, they wouldn't dare to do anything to me. But Daoist Priest Shen, if you go back, you'll simply be throwing your life away. Let me go, and you escape first. If they dare to pursue you, I'll kill myself."

Shen Chang'an looked at Jiang Yunyi. Through their days together, he had only thought this Dragon Maiden was gentle and adorable, never expecting her to be someone of such deep loyalty and righteousness.

"How could I, Shen Chang'an, ever let someone else die as a substitute for..."

"Oh, but if it were letting me die, Daoist Priest Shen would be more than eager, wouldn't you?"

Just at that moment, a voice suddenly came from above. Shen Chang'an raised his eyes and saw a stunning figure descending from the sky.

Who else could it be but Li Qingqing?