I am the villain in the book

“Clop, clop, clop.”

The sound of horseshoes pierced the night, like a war drum, carrying far on the wind.

Lü Hongji stared intently at Chu Xianping opposite him, silent for a long time.

Random.

He didn't know if these two words were truly a "bluff."

After all, there were advantages and disadvantages to both fighting and not fighting.

Such a psychological game, in the end, depended on whether Lü Hongji dared to gamble.

And the final fact showed...

“Hahahaha!”

“Brother Xianping, calm down!”

“I was just joking with you, brother!”

When Lü Hongji's slightly awkward laughter echoed in the carriage again, it undoubtedly proved his final choice.

Anyway, there were many more opportunities to test Chu Xianping, and he didn't need to risk a falling out between them to gamble on this answer.

“Brother Xianping, since you don't want to reveal your realm, then let's just pretend I didn't ask anything.”

“Let's drop the subject, and we can still…”

“Wait!”

Suddenly, Chu Xianping's cold voice rang out.

“Drop the subject?”

“Chief Lü, aren't you taking this too lightly?”

“Uh…”

Interrupted, Lü Hongji was stunned, his expression frozen on his face.

He looked at Chu Xianping with suspicion and said with a forced smile:

“Brother Xianping, I was indeed out of line just now.”

“This… I wonder what I should do to appease you, brother?”

“Tell me! I'm a straightforward person! As long as I can do it, I definitely won't refuse!”

“…”

“Clang.”

A cold, sharp light flashed as a treasured sword was drawn.

Faced with Lü Hongji's compromise, Chu Xianping didn't say anything, but slowly drew the long sword from his waist in the former's increasingly astonished gaze.

There was no fluctuation of inner force, nor were there any dazzling sword moves.

Chu Xianping slowly raised the sword, until the cold tip was only a few inches away from Lü Hongji.

“Brother Xianping, what are you doing…”

Forcing down the uneasiness in his heart and the impulse to strike first, Lü Hongji said with a forced smile, “It's just a joke, it shouldn't come to this, right?”

“Chief Lü, didn't you want to see what my strength is like?”

Still ignoring Lü Hongji's words, Chu Xianping asked in a sinister tone, “What? Aren't you going to make a move?”

“Broth… Brother Xianping is joking…”

Lü Hongji's Adam's apple bobbed: “We're all family, don't hurt the harmony…”

“Heh heh, Chief Lü…”

Chu Xianping sneered: “You weren't saying that just now.”

“I…”

Lü Hongji was speechless for a moment, suddenly not knowing how to deal with the situation at hand.

Really fight?

But looking at Chu Xianping's current appearance, his strength was probably indeed extremely high.

More importantly, even if they really fought, regardless of the outcome, at the very least, the already very fragile alliance between the two would definitely end here.

From Lü Hongji's perspective, Chu Xianping not only knew a lot of important information to him, but was also a Kui Dragon Elder, so he naturally couldn't easily make an enemy.

But on the other hand, he had already lowered his stance so much, but Chu Xianping was still "relentless," as if he had to "teach" him a lesson before he would stop.

Obviously, Lü Hongji couldn't let Chu Xianping really beat him up, so after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and slowly took something out of his arms.

“Brother Xianping, I was indeed wrong before.”

“This thing is an apology, I wonder if it can appease you?”

“…”

As a Second Rank expert, a Kui Dragon Chief, and a Da Huitian heir, anything Lü Hongji carried with him would naturally not be ordinary.

But Chu Xianping looked at the clear jade pendant with a green glow, his expression not changing in the slightest.

“Chief Lü, besides this, you also need to kill someone.”

“This…”

Lü Hongji was slightly stunned: “Brother Xianping, may I ask who this person is?”

“It's the spy who told you about the Moon Picking Sword.”

Chu Xianping held up his long sword and slowly said, word by word:

“Chief Lü, it's your ability to get the Moon Picking Sword Manual, I won't interfere.”

“But the old man you killed for this was my White Hall senior, and as a member of the White Hall, I naturally have to avenge him.”

“Chief Lü, you and I are both Kui Dragon Elders, I'm giving you face today.”

“Kill that spy, and the old and new grudges between you and me will be dropped.”

“If not… then I'll kill you now.”

“…”

Fengyuan City, outside the South City Wall.

“Ugh…”

“Help… help me…”

“I'm not dead yet…”

Broken blades, fresh blood, severed limbs, wails…

Blood flowed across the field, corpses piled high.

Due to the appearance of the Heavenly Buddha Formation, the battle in Fengyuan City had stopped for more than half an hour.

Most of the New Feng soldiers had retreated back into the city to seize the time to heal their wounds, leaving only a small number of people still on guard on the city wall.

The Qian Hui army also sounded the retreat, and all the siege soldiers also retreated to the military camp several miles away.

With both sides retreating, what remained were only the piles of corpses piled up under the city wall.

For the past half month, the continuous high-intensity siege of the Qian and Hui countries had meant that neither side had time to collect the corpses.

As a result, the corpses "abandoned" here accumulated more and more, now numbering at least tens of thousands.

Tens of thousands of corpses.

It would not be an exaggeration to describe this scene as a "mountain of corpses and a sea of blood."

However, not all of those in the pile of corpses were dead, and there were still many wounded soldiers with a breath left.

For example, right now, just as Chu Xianping was threatening Lü Hongji with his sword, a New Feng soldier covered in blood was lying in the pile of corpses, groaning in pain, praying that he would be noticed by his comrades on the city wall.

But what he didn't know was that even if someone on the city wall really heard his cry for help, they would have no way to get out of the city to save him.

Because the Heavenly Buddha Formation not only blocked people outside the formation, but also blocked people inside the formation.

“I… I'm not dead…”

“I… I still have a wife and children, I don't want to die…”

“Who… who will save me…”

“Save me…”

The painful and desperate voice was intermittent, and became smaller and smaller, soon reaching an almost inaudible level.

But the veteran was still using all his strength, struggling to squeeze out words from his throat.

Obviously, even though he could feel that the vitality in his body was as weak as a flickering candle, he still didn't want to die.

Because there were still people in this world that he couldn't bear to leave behind.

It was precisely because he wanted to protect these people that he had fought so desperately on the city wall…

His eyelids became heavier and heavier, the veteran's vision gradually became blurred, and the huge, sacred image of the Tathagata became even more hazy.

In a trance, he seemed to see a person walking to his side and bending down to hold his wrist.

The touch was weak, but it was real.

“…”

A surge of hope suddenly welled up in his heart, and the veteran used his last bit of strength to move his fingers, as if trying to tell the person that he was still alive.

However, the next moment, what he heard was the all-too-familiar sound of a sword being drawn.

“Sigh.”

“Brother, your injuries are too severe, I can't save you.”

“But don't worry, your family will definitely be fine.”

“Rest in peace.”

“Pfft!!”

A cold light flashed, and as the last words of the person fell, the tip of the knife suddenly pierced the veteran's heart, instantly severing all his vitality.

Slowly pulling out the knife, the person looked at the face full of blood and shook his head, then stepped on the pile of corpses and continued to walk forward step by step.

“Whoosh!”

Behind him, a cloud of black mist slowly emerged from the veteran's forehead, swaying and chasing after him.

And further behind, there were thousands upon thousands of similar black mist, like countless wandering souls, lost and helpless, swaying in the air.

Some of them were larger, some were smaller, each representing a soldier who had died no more than twelve hours ago, representing a man of flesh and blood.

They should have returned to the heavens, disappearing into the human world they once lived in.

But now, these tens of thousands of mist were forming a black torrent, frantically surging towards that lonely figure on this rare quiet night.