Ultimate Path to Heaven

Chapter 14 Where are the Blood Guardians?

Ye Bufan appeared out of nowhere, his speed and agility no less than Wang Suiyue's, but no one cared about that at the moment, including Xiao Jin.

"This matter has arisen suddenly, please make a decision quickly, Miss!"

Looking at Ye Bufan kneeling on one knee, Xiao Muyu gently bit her lower lip... her eyelashes trembled like startled butterflies!

The ground trembled at that moment, indicating that the Iron Slaughter Guards had returned to attack.

The Iron Slaughter Guard was originally heading from Qingxi Village to Shigang Village to continue collecting grain, but for some reason, they suddenly turned back halfway, and the hidden guards who were watching them only sped up their journey.

"Dark Guards, dispose of the bodies immediately! Blood Guards, retreat with me!" In the heat of the moment, Xiao Muyu, without time to think, decisively gave the order.

"The guards obey!"

Upon receiving the order, Ye Bufan knelt on one knee, his knee like a drawn bow. Suddenly, a blur shot out, like an arrow leaving a bowstring, darting past the corpse. He grabbed a chicken in each hand and disappeared into the mist in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, seven or eight figures shot out from the four corners. Although their momentum was far inferior to Ye Bufan's, their speed was extremely fast, and they also each carried a corpse in one hand.

"this......"

Seeing all this unfold before his eyes, Xiao Jin, who was still pondering in his mind, was somewhat bewildered.

"Jin'er!"

Seeing Xiao Jin standing there in a daze, Xiao Muyu called out while looking at Wang Suiyue beside Xiao Jin.

"Please, young master, leave Qingxi Village with me immediately!" Wang Suiyue, who was clasping his hands and speaking to Xiao Jin, looked towards the south of the village with a hint of resentment in his eyes.

Compared to Wang Suiyue's unwillingness, Scarface Blood Guard let out a heavy sigh, his whole being exuding frustration.

"leave?"

"Are they planning to run away?"

The sudden escape left Xiao Jin somewhat bewildered, but he clearly felt the ground trembling, indicating that they had likely already entered the village.

The villagers were thrown into complete panic, and they all ran home as fast as they could, leaving only Du Chun and the old man behind...

At this moment, Du Chun's sunken eye sockets showed no emotion, only two clusters of eerie flames burning quietly deep within his pupils, like oil lamps that had burned for thousands of years in an ancient tomb.

Alone and isolated, Du Chun seemed to have lost the meaning of life.

The old man slumped to the ground, his expression a mix of crying and laughing... From being on the verge of despair at the beginning, to Xiao Jin indirectly giving him hope, and now to utter despair... The old man's last bit of energy and spirit had completely collapsed!

As Xiao Jin's gaze swept over Du Chun and the old man, his heart skipped a beat, but he still followed Wang Suiyue, intending to escape this place...

[System notification: Forced mission activated. Defeat or repel the Iron Slaughter Guards...]

Upon receiving the system's warning, Du Chun's flute flashed past, his steps abruptly halting, and he froze on the spot.

"Oh, your grandma's on her period again!"

Xiao Jin, feeling an instant headache, wished he could tear the system to pieces, but he was powerless against this damn system and had no choice but to accept it.

"Young Master!"

Seeing Xiao Jin suddenly stop, Wang Suiyue, who was puzzled, hurriedly looked at Xiao Muyu, who was retreating with the Scarface Blood Guards.

"Mommy, what should we do?"

Having witnessed the formidable power of the Iron Slaughter Guards, Xiao Jin didn't believe the Eagle Bandits were so easy to deal with. But at this moment, that wasn't the key issue; the key issue was how he should phrase things.

"Jin'er!" Seeing Xiao Jin standing there inexplicably stunned, Xiao Muyu panicked for once. "If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

Xiao Jin seemed not to hear him, slowly turning around to look in the direction where the Iron Slaughter Guards were about to appear: "Let's go?"

(He wanted to leave, but this time the forced mission deducted 1-20 points. Even if he swallowed his pride, he'd have to pull it out and put it back in!)

Xiao Jin couldn't describe the feeling inside; he clenched his fists in agony.

"If we just leave like this." Pointing to Du Chun, who was still in a daze, Xiao Jin swallowed hard, his expression as if he had swallowed something disgusting.

"Him!" Forcing himself to regain his composure, Xiao Jin pointed to the old man sitting on the ground. "And him!"

As Xiao Jin gradually settled into his speech, he bluntly pointed around and said, "The villagers of Qingxi Village!" His tone softened, and a helpless resolve flashed in his eyes. "How are they supposed to cope?"

"Or rather, how are they supposed to survive?"

Left with no other choice, Xiao Jin had to bravely turn his anger towards the villagers.

Seeing Xiao Jin's reaction, regardless of how others might react, Xiao Muyu was truly anxious: "I know what you're thinking, but everything needs to be considered carefully..."

The secret guards reported that not only the Iron Slaughter Guards have returned, but there are other traces of them in the Qingxi Village area, most likely belonging to the Eagle Bandits.

Although Qingxi Village is more than a hundred miles away from the nearest Huizhou City and is close to the Southern Mountains, there are quite a few surrounding villages and Iron Slaughter Guards supervising the land reclamation on the mountainside, which can provide support from all sides in a short time.

However, these were not the key considerations that Xiao Muyu had carefully considered. If they killed the Iron Slaughter Guards who had come this time, not only would they fail to save the villagers, but they would also most likely bring her and her son out of their "seclusion" and back to the situation they had been in more than ten years ago.

"Should we take a longer-term view?"

Xiao Jin wanted to take things slowly, but the damned system wouldn't allow it.

"20 Iron Slaughter Guards?"

After a moment's thought, Xiao Jin slowly looked at Xiao Muyu and said emotionally and righteously, "Regardless of what happened to Qingxi Village, it all started because of me. Those villagers are innocent!"

Before Xiao Muyu could speak...

"Tell me, my maternal grandfather, back then, that for the sake of the survival of countless people, even if it meant facing swords and axes, and being engulfed in flames, he would not waver in the face of death!"

"If we flee today, wouldn't the tragic deaths of my 134 members of the Xiao family have been in vain!"

After delivering a speech tinged with emotion, Xiao Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Young Master!"

Deep down, Wang Suiyue had longed for this day, but now was definitely not the time...

Before Wang Suiyue could continue, he looked at Xiao Jin in the south of the village, suddenly brandished his knife, and shouted sharply, "Where are the Blood Guards!"

The cry of "Blood Guard" seemed to strike the scarred man's heart, causing his body to tremble instinctively. He immediately knelt on one knee: "Blood Guard Li Mian swears to follow the young master to the death!"

As an eighth-rank warrior, Li Mian was upright and straightforward, unlike Wang Suiyue who had many ulterior motives. The pent-up frustration he had been suppressing for a long time was completely released with Xiao Jin's high-pitched words.

Following closely behind Li Mian, in different directions around the valley.

"Zhang Han, the Blood Guard, swears to follow the young master to the death!"

"Blood Guardian Tian Pu, swearing to follow our young master to the death!"

"Blood Guard Cui Sheng swears to follow the young master to the death!"

"Blood Guard Chen Qi swears to follow the young master to the death!"

All four were among the Eighty Blood Guards of that time.

At this moment, they were incredibly excited and thrilled. The young master they had risked their lives to protect back then... was as if the old city lord had "reappeared".

Seeing this, Xiao Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Faced with the Iron Slaughter Guard under a forced mission, Xiao Jin didn't act rashly.

Regardless of the level of expertise of Wang Suiyue and Ye Bufan, Xiao Jin had also seen the seven or eight hidden guards and the dozen or so Blood Guards hiding in the corner.

Pfft!

"What the heck?"

"Du Chun of Qingxi Village, swears to die..."

Whether due to infection by the Blood Guard or some other reason, Du Chun once again suddenly knelt on one knee in front of Xiao Jin, but after the words "swear to die," there was no further explanation—Young Master?

The next second, to Xiao Jin's surprise, Du Chun suddenly stood up and looked around at the houses: "The Xiao family mother and son rid us of the scourge Liu Ji, killed the bandits who stole our grain, and even swore to defend us to the death when the Iron Slaughter Guards arrived!"

"And you, for the sake of saving your own lives, abandoned the Xiao family mother and son!" Du Chun's voice boomed again. "But do you know that retreat means certain death, while a desperate fight might offer a chance of survival..."

[System notification: Strength +1......+1......+1......]