Chapter 146: Hundreds of Experts

Luo Tong took in the scene and suddenly chuckled, saying, "Prefect Li, why worry? Just now on the street, you single-handedly captured dozens of swordsmen and assassins from the noble families. That feat alone is more than enough to atone for your past mistakes!"

"Next..."

"I will stay at the official residence to tend to my wounds for a few days. Once they heal, I will proceed with my own affairs. You can report today's achievements to the Secretariat. I believe the imperial court will log your merits—at the very least, it will offset your previous faults!"

"Understood!"

For now, there was no other choice.

A few days later.

Luo Tong's injuries had improved somewhat.

He led the Golden Blade Guards to continue launching sneak attacks on the various noble families.

However, they were not so fortunate this time.

The noble families had been closely monitoring his every move. Knowing he was coming, they had long since laid an inescapable net and even deployed their hidden forces.

Full several hundred master fighters.

They surrounded Luo Tong completely.

"Luo Tong, you can no longer escape. Why don't you surrender immediately!" The one shouting was Li Dejiang, the head of the Taiyuan Li clan.

The Li clan had long been ostracized by the other noble houses.

Everyone assumed he was a man of the imperial court.

Unwilling to do business with him.

This had made life difficult for the Li clan in Taiyuan.

Yet this time, he had proven to everyone that he was not a man of the court.

Hough... hough...

Facing the encirclement of countless swordsmen, Luo Tong was already panting heavily.

What was most concerning were his injuries.

Unhealed to begin with, the strenuous physical exertion had long since torn the wounds open anew. If this continued, he would sooner or later bleed to death.

"My lord, you needn't strike; just leave them to us!" said Lou Yi.

"Can you really handle this?"

The eighteen Golden Blade Guards shouted in unison, "Even if we die in battle, we shall protect our lord's safety to the very end!"

Luo Tong was deeply moved.

At this moment of life and death.

There were still eighteen brothers willing to die for him.

To have lived this life was worth it after all.

However...

If the enemy wished to take his life, it would not be so easy either.

"Brothers, I appreciate your intentions... But I, Luo Tong, am certainly no pushover! Let us stand shoulder to shoulder and fight together!"

The others still wanted to dissuade him.

Lou Yi stopped them and said, "Our lord is right. Let us fight side by side!"

...

"Hmph, death is at your doorstep and yet your tongue is still sharp!" Li Dejiang let out a cold snort and ordered all the swordsmen to step forward and end the battle.

"Charge!"

***

The swordsmen and assassins gathered around numbered as many as several hundred.

Every single one of them possessed formidable martial arts, in no way inferior to the Golden Blade Guards.

A few even possessed peerless sword techniques, qualifying them to cross swords directly with Luo Tong.

Facing such troublesome enemies, powerful as the Golden Blade Guards were, they could not guarantee they would leave alive. Furthermore, Luo Tong, Lou Yi, and Lou Er were all wounded and currently unable to fight at full strength.

A gap thus formed in the coordinated battle array of the Golden Blade Guards.

Clang, clang, clang...

Thud, thud!!

The battle was exceptionally bloody and fierce!

Lou Si and Lou Wu were heavily wounded one after another!

While the noble families' swordsmen lacked coordinated sword tactics, time and again the Golden Blade Guards exploited their openings, leaving countless dead and wounded in their wake! By rough estimate, from this recent clash alone, over a hundred men were already laid low.

Peeking from afar to watch the battle, Li Dejiang and the heads of the various noble houses were left staring at one another in shock upon seeing how fiercely Luo Tong's guards fought.

"Are these even human?"

"Just a dozen or so men, fighting my five hundred... This is simply unbelievable!" Everyone was struck with astonishment!

No matter how powerful the opponents were.

They had all encountered them before.

Yet they had never seen anyone withstand over five hundred master fighters. This was virtually comparable to the combat power of an entire army.

"Kill them!"

"You must kill them!" Li Dejiang roared.

"Prefect Li need not be overly agitated. We have hundreds of men; are we really worried we cannot kill them?" said Wu Zhixian, the eldest young master of the Taiyuan Wu clan.

"Exactly!"

"No matter how formidable they are, there are only a dozen or so, and several of them are already injured. How could they possibly be a match for our hundreds?"

...

After the initial shock, everyone felt quite optimistic.

After all, with superior numbers and every man an expert, they naturally felt secure in their hearts.

Yet!

Li Dejiang remained deeply anxious!

Putting aside just how formidable Luo Tong's guards were, Luo Tong's feat of slaying the master of the Swift Sword Sect alone was enough for them to take this seriously. No matter how strong a swordsman was, wanting to slay Luo Tong would demand a heavy price.

Li Dejiang said, "We must not let down our guard! We should quickly issue the order to strike down Luo Tong and his party to prevent any unexpected changes!"

"Prefect Li is right!"

"We can no longer afford to be careless!"

After consulting among themselves, the various clan heads held nothing back and successively dispatched their most formidable bodyguards to join the fray.

These bodyguards had been meticulously selected and hired at great expense!

Their martial arts were absolute not inferior to the previous master of the Swift Sword Sect!

Every single one possessed unique skills and could fight a hundred single-handedly!

"Charge!"

Clang!

Lou Yi had just beaten back two enemies at his side and was preparing to retreat to protect Luo Tong when he suddenly caught sight of two burly men lunging toward him with such speed that even he found it hard to dodge in time.

In his panic, he hurriedly swung his blade to meet them.

With a resounding crash, the clash of weapons threw off a long trail of sparks.

Lou Yi felt a massive pressure bearing down upon him—from the blade, up his arm, and all the way to his waist. Having his unhealed wounds subjected to such pressure proved to be more than they could bear, and blood burst forth instantly.

He could barely hold on and was on the verge of collapsing.

It was only through sheer willpower that he forced himself not to yield.

"This!"

Lou Yi turned pale with fright.

It was also his first time encountering such formidable enemies; even with all his might, he could not block them.

"My lord, be careful! They've sent experts!" Lou Yi shouted a warning, pushed the two longswords away with all his might, and leaped back in a hasty retreat.

Luo Tong also stood up.

His hand gripped his treasured sword tightly.

He roared angrily, "If you want to take my life, then come!"

"Ah..."

Watching his brothers sustain injuries one by one, Luo Tong could no longer endure it.

He stopped dodging, brandished his sword, and charged out.

First, he met the two incoming experts head-on. The two men were still basking in the triumph of having heavily wounded Lou Yi when they were met with a thunderous barrage of attacks from Luo Tong.

"Sword-Breaking Style!"

Thud, thud!!

Sword shadows danced wildly as he cut down both men in rapid succession.

Without pausing, he rushed off toward another direction.

Wherever there was danger, he went; wherever there were experts, he charged toward them.

Attacking without defending.

Driven entirely by boiling passion.

"Pfft..." A dagger plunged into Luo Tong's back, and blood instantly sprayed forth. Luo Tong did not turn to look. He sprinted forward a few steps, whipped around with a single stroke, and shouted fiercely, "Blade-Breaking Style!"

Thud, thud!!

The man who had ambushed him died instantly on the spot!

Along with him, several nearby enemies were also cut down.

"He's mad, he's completely mad... This fellow is simply a demon!" Li Dejiang retreated step by step.

The heads of the other noble families panicked as well.

The top-tier experts they had sent out were actually unable to stop Luo Tong.

If Luo Tong charged over, wouldn't that threaten their very lives?

"Listen to everyone, whoever can kill Luo Tong will be rewarded by our noble families with fifty thousand strings of cash—we shall not break our word! Even seizing a single arm or a single finger will earn a reward of five thousand strings!"

"What are you waiting for? Kill him at once!" Li Dejiang bellowed anxiously.

To the noble families, money meant nothing.

Yet to those swordsmen, it was the stuff of dreams.