Late Night Tales Of The Capital Chapter 35 Flurry of Saber Strokes in the Night

Qian Shuhua was sprawled at one side of the street and kept vomiting as she bent over. She was seeing stars, and her breath reeked of alcohol.

She had seen her fair share of fights before, but they were child's play. The eldest daughter of the Qian family had not witnessed any real bloodshed before.

As such, she opened her eyes wide when Ye Que asked if she had seen people being killed before.

Many shifty figures appeared in the skies, and Ye Que stood in the middle of them.

The group of people with felt caps had come for revenge, and their leader shouted as he raised the saber that was hanging from his waist. They swooped down from the roofs in all directions.

"Sabers are not meant to be wielded in this manner."

Ye Que said to his attackers, before reaching out with his bare right hand to grab hold of the saber of their leader with amazing speed. At the same time, his left leg moved forward slowly.

The saber was produced by the Extinctive Sword Manor House, and its body was stiff and its tip slightly curved. There were two grooves carved into the dull edge of the saber, and it looked like a modified saber which had originated from the previous dynasty.

By this time, Qian Shuhua was already largely sober and full of expectations.

What would witnessing people being killed be like?

Her eyes were wide open and she stared at the saber in Ye Que's hand, before watching it slide directly into the chest of the leader.

However, the sight of blood spewing out did not materialize.

At the most critical moment, Ye Que switched the sharp edge of the blade with the dull one.

There was a heavy 'clunk'.

Accompanied by the clear sound of bones breaking.

Each time Ye Que brandished his saber, the dull edge of his blade would strike the chest of one of his opponents with unerring accuracy. He did not even have to use his Divine Energy and merely used a little True Energy to make their chest bones cave in.

Strangely, there were no cries coming from the large number of combatants in the middle of the street. There was only the sound of bones breaking and people collapsing to the ground after fainting.

The burly man who had charged to the front of the pack and was shouting just now did not even manage to touch the corner of Ye Que's shirt before he was knocked backward. He flew with the force of a broken kite, and landed with a terrible crash about 10 meters away. Unfortunately for him, he landed in a wok of boiling oil, and immediately stopped growling in anger.

Very quickly.

All of the assailants that had leaped down from the rooftops were already lying unconscious on the ground. Those that were still on the roofs looked instinctively at the saber in Ye Que's hand and the long arc of their leader's fall.

Fear spread from their eyes throughout their entire body.

Humans had to be without trepidation to be without fear.

The remaining goons were undecided. Should they make the leap? If they did, they would be remembered as honorable, but they would feel the pain of their bones being crushed by their opponent's saber. If they did not, they would lose face amongst their peers in the Extinctive Sword Manor House as well as the people of Luoyang City.

"Kill!"

Finally, someone who did not value his life shouted before leaping down.

A figure flew toward him, and there was a loud crash as his body flew backward for another 10 meters, smashing into the corner of a wall. His chest had caved in, and his head was bloodied!

No one else dared to jump for a long while.

Ye Que lifted his head suddenly to look at the rooftops.

The goons above instinctively took a step backward.

Ye Que glared at them, and they took another step backward.

He laughed derisively before raising the saber in his arm, as if he was going to slash at them.

Many loud noises rang out as the roof tiles began flying around. In the blink of an eye, no one could be seen standing on the roofs.

Chen Qing furrowed his brows together as he stood on the stone bridge, far away from the scene. He believed that Ye Que was strong. How else could he have sealed the seven divine acupuncture points of a Shushan disciple in the Psychic Realm?

However, he had not expected him to be this strong!

Outsiders were there to witness the commotion, but real martial artists observed Ye Que's movements.

One's level of cultivation and realm only determined a part of one's power, while the effective use of power was another factor. Great strength would be useless without effective usage, and even though one could have a low level of cultivation, if one could unleash a power greater than one's actual level, the effects would be terrifying.

Furthermore, the difference between the Pre-celestial and Psychic realms was two levels. There was actually a subtle rule in the Cultivation World.

One had to build the necessary foundation before one can shine brightly.

It meant that if one had not reached Level 2, also known as 'Bright Star', one would still be considered as an elementary practitioner. The 'Bright Star' level was the entry standard.

This also meant that the previous three realms did not increase one's power as much as people liked to think. At most, there would be some difference between the amount of True Energy, quality of soul and toughness of physique between practitioners at these three different realms.

There had been many instances of practitioners from the Pre-celestial Realm killing opponents of the Psychic Realm in the annals of history.

Life and death were normally decided in the blink of an eye.

"Ye Que has managed to exert near-total control over his power. Each ounce of it is used for its exact purpose. I thought that this group of people could have made him use up some of his True Energy, but turns out that they're a joke," Chen Qing said as he looked at the group of goons fleeing from the rooftops of the city.

Zhuo Bufan had not noticed those people that fled. Since the start of the fight, he kept his gaze locked onto Ye Que, especially his saber. On the dragon ship, he thought that he had lost because he underestimated his opponent, and that Ye Que had launched a sneak attack.

Now, Zhuo Bufan placed himself in the shoes of the goons in felt caps. He simulated leaping down from the roof and engaging Ye Que in combat. He realized that he could not escape from his opponent's blow and as long as he got within Ye Que's range, there was no way he could avoid being hit on the chest with the saber.

It was unexpected and strange.

Zhuo Bufan's palm had already turned sweaty. He gripped his sword even more tightly, and his mind whirled as he tried to figure it out.

Finally, he let out a long breath of air- he had come to a conclusion. "I'm no match for Ye Que if I get close to him. If I want to beat him, I have to maintain the distance between us and make use of the speed advantage I have if I use the sword skills of Shushan."

Chen Qing had also run the same simulation. He was ranked the ninth out of the young talents of Shushan. But, even he had to admit that he had no clear chance of beating Ye Que in close combat.

This had nothing to do with one's level of cultivation. Instead, it was about combat experience, confidence in battle and most importantly, talent.

Chen Qing felt that most likely he had more experience than Ye Que. "Could it be that he's really an exceptional talent?"

None of the three figures on the bridge moved, and none of them spoke. Zhuo Bufan and Chen Qing were still simulating, while the other youth was just here to catch some action. He did not even know who Ye Que was.

Ye Que's assailants had either fainted or fled. The incident was over very quickly- the fight took only about 10 minutes, even before the hawkers had time to react.

Qian Shuhau looked in stunned silence at Ye Que, just like the other onlookers.

She was about to speak, before she realized that Ye Que was still holding onto his saber.

He turned around and away from the rooftops. His expression had not changed in the slightest, but he was frowning slightly, and he did not look very pleased. "Is that brat from Shushan a fly? Why are the disciples of Shushan everywhere? Aren't you people irritating!" he muttered to himself.

After speaking, he held his saber out and licked gently.

The ground did not shake, nor was there are loud noises made.

However, a drop of boiling oil from the wok lying on the ground shot into the skies.

Ye Que made a gesture with his fingers without even looking, and the drop of oil came in front of him instantly. He then focused on it, as if giving it instructions. The droplet of oil immediately came alive.

It buzzed with alarming frequency in the air.

Perhaps it was moving too fast, as there were sparks produced by its movement.

It took only a few seconds.

Ye Que grinned in the direction of the stone bridge as he flicked his index and middle finger.

The oil droplet disappeared from the air.

A spark shot across the air from where Ye Que was standing toward Chen Qing and Zhuo Bufan, who were standing on the stone bridge. It looked as if it was tearing through space and had pierced through all the surrounding dirt, streaking toward the Shushan disciples.

Chen Qing saw Ye Que grin and flick his fingers, and he dared not underestimate his opponent after seeing how he fought.

He triggered all of his True Energy in an instant, as he projected his will in a 100-meter radius. In the blink of an eye, five barriers were already erected before him.

Chen Qing believed that any kind of technique, curse or magical skill would not be able to reach him from such a distance, and under such heavy protection.

20 seconds passed by.

Nothing happened.

Chen Qing's will was not stirred, nor did he use a single ounce of his True Energy.

After a long while, he turned around and left without even speaking. The willpower that he had painstakingly set up around him was broken up instantly, and he reabsorbed the True Energy surrounding him back into his body.

Zhuo Bufan and the other youth from Shushan were dumbfounded.

"What happened?"

"Is the fight over?"

"What happened just now?"

Under the night sky.

A breeze blew.

A strand of hair from Chen Qing's sideburns flew with the breeze. His hair was originally straight and not wavy, but the end of this strand of hair was twisted. On close examination, one could notice that it had turned yellow, and that it was emitting a faint burnt smell.

The droplet of oil had burned it!

"I can't beat him in close combat, and I'm not as fast as him from long range. I'll just be making a fool of myself if I continue on," Chen Qing thought. He had understood how pointless the fight was going to be even before Zhuo Bufan did.

But he did not know the entire truth. The drop of oil was actually True Energy channeled by Ye Que. Chen Qing could sense it from the will barrier he set up.

"Thud!"

The hawker closest to Ye Que finally regained his senses, and the pot he held in his hands fell onto the ground. He opened his mouth wide and pointed at Ye Que, and then at the pile of goons on the floor, unable to speak.

"Eldest young lady, are you alright?"

The merchants from the Qian family finally recognized Qian Shuhua and hurriedly went up to check if she was fine.

She waved her hand in irritation, shooing them off as if they were flies. Qian Shuhua glared at Ye Que before walking toward him. She opened her mouth before closing it. "You!" she finally said as she pointed at him.

She paused, as if trying to change her words.

"Didn't you say you were going to kill? Why did you just knock them unconscious?"

By this time, Ye Que had reverted to his usual calm self, and he resumed walking with his hands behind his back.

He looked at the exasperated Qian Shuhua before saying, "How dare you to believe the words of a man."

He took two steps forward and looked at the unconscious goons in front of him. He kicked them out of his path, saying, "It's not a crime to knock people unconscious, but can you bear the responsibility for committing murder?"

"Are all of them experts?" Qian Shuhua asked, following closely behind Ye Que.

"Right."

"How are they compared to Lin Mei'er?"

Ye Que curled his lips as he looked at her derisively.

"Teach me, then."

Qian Shuhua mimicked his earlier actions, and began whirling her arms wildly in the air, nearly falling over in the process.

"You?"

"Ah!"

Ye Que's brows were furrowed in concentration, as if he had met with a tough problem.

Chapter end