"Wait for me to come back, then we'll play drinking games!"
—Is it possible that we can never go back?
With this thought arising, a will to survive suddenly surged through his entire body. Huo Zhanbai changed his footwork, shifting from defense to offense, his fingertips radiating sharp sword energy as he launched a decisive counterattack. Xu Chonghua was caught off guard and momentarily lost his rhythm of attack.
Strangely, the assassins in the Shura Field did not immediately come to their aid, but merely watched with their leader's tacit approval.
Although Huo Zhanbai held no sword, the sword arose from his heart, its energy flowing freely and powerfully, even more formidable than when he wielded the Ink Soul Sword. In the blink of an eye, a hundred moves had passed. He seized an opening, and his right hand flashed out like lightning, striking Bai Hong's sword directly.
With a clang, the famous sword White Rainbow snapped in two!
"Tong!" Seeing the other person's finger about to pierce his throat, Xu Chonghua knew he couldn't defend himself and blurted out, "Help me!"
"Okay." In the darkness, those eyes suddenly opened, and a single word was uttered decisively.
No one saw how Tong rose; in a mere instant, he seemed to vanish into thin air. And in the next instant, he appeared between the two. Everything came to an abrupt halt—a dark red sword emerged from Xu Chonghua's chest, piercing his heart.
—The Bloodstained Sword!
"Tong!" In an instant, the two exclaimed at the same time.
Huo Zhanbai was startled when he saw the sword tip protruding from Xu Chonghua's body, and quickly took a step back.
"Why..." The bronze mask clattered off his face, revealing a pained and contorted expression. Xu Chonghua looked down incredulously at the sword tip protruding from his chest, muttering, "Tong, we made a promise... we made a promise..."
He couldn't fathom what could possibly cause Tong, with his personality, to suddenly change his mind!
"I only said you could do whatever you wanted—but I never said I wouldn't kill you." Silently darting behind her, he pierced his ally with a single sword strike. Hitomi slowly pulled the sword from his heart, his face expressionless.
“You…” Xu Chonghua said sharply, his face contorted like a demon.
Habitually twisting the sword in his heart, shattering the other's last words, Tong pulled out the dripping sword and gently wiped it back and forth on the dead body, a glint of light flashing in his eerie eyes: "You want to know the reason? It's very simple: even someone like me sometimes has a cleanliness obsession—I really don't want an ally like you."
The bronze mask fell to the side, its unclosed eyes wide open, and finally, it breathed its last.
"..." Things changed drastically in an instant. Huo Zhanbai only had time to take advantage of this gap to rush to Wei Fengxing's side, release his pressure points, and then the two stood with their swords drawn, ready to fight to the death at any moment.
In the darkness, the assassins from that hellish arena still stood there silently, exuding an indescribable oppressive aura.
"Alright, things are almost settled." Tong looked up at Huo Zhanbai, a cold smile on her lips. "You thought that with an inside man planted, taking advantage of the chaos in the sect, the annihilation of Wu Mingzi, and my poisoning and imprisonment, this time it would be a piece of cake?"
He spoke slowly, wiping the sword on the corpse after each sentence until the Bloodstained Sword gleamed as new.
"Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. Who knew I would survive the Seven Star Begonia poison? Who knew Miao Kong would betray the Dingjian Pavilion?" Tong spoke calmly, then suddenly sneered, "This time, I'm afraid the Seven Swords will not return alive!"
Huo Zhanbai did not answer, but stared at him calmly—he knew that everything this man said was true. He silently formed a sword incantation, ready to fight to the death at any moment.
"Want to save your friends?" Tong wiped the sword clean, turned the blade back and pressed it against Zhou Xingzhi's throat, sneering at Huo Zhanbai, "Promise me one thing, and I can release them."
"Ignore him!" Zhou Xingzhi, still with his usual fiery temper, blurted out angrily, "Our martial arts are crippled; even if we rescue him, it's pointless—"
Before he could finish speaking, a heavy blow landed on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.
“Losers have no right to choose their fate.” Tong turned around with a cold smile and stared at Huo Zhanbai. “Huo Qi, I know you still have the strength to fight, at least enough to kill more than half of my men. But at the same time, you will have to leave your life in Kunlun.”
Huo Zhanbai remained silent. Silence meant consent.
"Why fight to the death?" he said, enunciating each word clearly. "Let's make a pact instead. The conditions are simple: I'll let you take them back, but within five years, the Dingjian Pavilion's forces will not cross Yanmen Pass, and the martial arts worlds of the Central Plains and the Western Regions will remain separate."
Huo Zhanbai and his colleagues from Dingjian Pavilion were slightly surprised.
The conditions were indeed simple. But to suddenly propose a settlement when one had the upper hand was puzzling.
"The reason I'm doing this is that I don't want to kill you yet," Tong laughed, as if she had guessed the doubts in the other's mind. She threw down the Bloodstained Sword and sat back on the couch. "Don't ask me why—you wouldn't guess the reason. I'm only asking you, are you sure you want to make the promise?"
Huo Zhanbai pondered for a moment, then his gaze met that of his other colleagues, and he had his answer.
Given the current situation, we have no choice but to agree.
"Good!" He stretched out his hand and struck Tong's eye. "Within five years, the Dingjian Pavilion's forces will not cross Yanmen Pass!"
Tong withdrew her hand and smiled, "If you're sincere, shouldn't you look the other person in the eye when making a contract?"
Look into his eyes? Everyone in the Dingjian Pavilion was shocked: a pupil technique!
However, Huo Zhanbai calmly raised his eyes, fearlessly meeting those eerie gazes. Their eyes met. Those pale blue, eerie pupils flickered with a deep, unfathomable light, yet showed no sign of anything amiss.
"Alright!" After looking at Huo Zhanbai for a moment, Tong suddenly burst into laughter, flicked her sleeve, and returned to the depths of darkness. "You can leave now!"
He reached out and gently tapped the wall, and the Snow Prison shook instantly. The seven swords nailed to the beam seemed to be forced by something. In an instant, they all bounced back, fell to the ground with a clatter, and stood neatly arranged in front of the seven swords.
"Farewell." Huo Zhanbai released his companion's pressure points, drew his sword, and took his leave. Tong sat down in the darkness, becoming one with it.
He didn't look again—as if he was afraid that if he turned around, he would waver.
By letting the tiger return to the mountain... he knew he had done something he shouldn't have, missing a golden opportunity to completely crush the remaining forces of the Central Plains martial arts world.
However... he really didn't want to kill him.
It wasn't just because he loathed Miaokong, nor just because Miaokong knew the secrets of the Great Bright Palace all these years and could not be allowed to live any longer, much less become the ruler of the Central Plains, nor just because he had exhausted his mental energy by using his eye techniques on six top-tier experts and no longer had a chance of winning… Finally, and most secretly, the reason was because—
He is a friend of "that person".
During his brief time in Medicine Master Valley, he witnessed the profound bond between him and that person. She had just left; if he were to kill Huo Zhanbai here, she…wouldn't she look at him with reproach?
His heart hadn't completely cooled down, so he couldn't bear that kind of gaze.
Her last words still echoed in his ears, her warm breath still seemed to linger on his eyelids. But she could never return… As the paralysis subsided and his sight returned, he frantically rushed out to search for her. The news he received, however, was that she had gone to the mountaintop amusement park the previous day to treat the Pope, and then, something happened—the entire mountaintop hall collapsed in an instant.