Chapter 180: Spraying You in the Face, and Celebrities

Chapter 1: Morning Breeze in Jiangning

“You were speaking about me here, sounding so happy… so I came!”The figure on the slope spread his hands and spoke these words. Disciples of the Hundred Blades Alliance were also closing in from all directions at this moment.

The sudden turn of events rendered many speechless for a moment. From afar, Su Tan’er watched the figure untie the rope, paused, then gasped, covering her mouth, her eyes welling up. Nearby, a member of the Hundred Blades Alliance looked at Cheng Lie and Su Boyong, who also seemed puzzled: “Palm-thunder?”

From their vantage point, it appeared as if the figure simply stood up and raised a hand, and a flash of fire erupted. The astonishing sound echoed across Ten-Step Slope, its force akin to the legendary Daoist palm-thunder skill. However, those closer could discern a cylindrical object in Ning Yi's hand. After it fired, sparks danced, emitting a faint, eerie glow.

The horse shied, frantically struggling, pulled tightly by a Su family retainer. The carriage swayed precariously, but the figure named Ning Yi remained unperturbed, hands outstretched, continuing to speak. When Ma Lin collapsed, someone in Ouyang Peng’s group cried out, “Ah!” and lunged forward, only for the glowing cylinder to point their way. Someone nearby quickly pulled him back.

Jiang Jing stammered for a moment, swallowed hard, and looked around.Initially, they had about twenty men, a number that offered a chance to break out immediately. Though escaping might not entirely free them from the Hundred Blades Alliance’s shadow and threat, at least the immediate hope was strong. But now, they had been circled back into the Alliance’s encirclement.

Looking up, Ning Yi’s figure stood there, his expression unclear. Most of them had heard of or even seen Ning Yi before. For months, they had been collaborating with Xi Junyu, plotting against the Su family, and had investigated this son-in-law to some extent. However, their initial impression was one thing; the news of the Su family clan meeting that evening created another. Before they could even process the implications of the clan meeting, this seemingly frail scholar, whom they had misjudged, suddenly appeared before them in an astonishing manner. Such an image was something they likely hadn't even conceived of, even after the clan meeting news broke.

Everything had happened too swiftly, leaving them no room for further thought. Kidnapping Ning Liheng or covertly orchestrating an accident to eliminate him was a plan Jiang Jing and Xi Junyu had set long ago. Tonight, it served as a perfect fallback. The four men they sent were indeed disguised as Su family retainers. The situation had been tense, so when these elements aligned, they were naturally overjoyed.Suddenly, however, they realized that the doorway to hope had been abruptly shut. Combined with the shock they felt after the four-month scheme against the Wu family was revealed, and now this figure's forceful appearance and the mysterious firearm's power, Jiang Jing and the others were momentarily bewildered. The burly man with the giant shovel looked around, preparing to charge, while Ouyang Peng tightened his grip on his spear. Everyone was wounded and exhausted, but for a moment, no one moved forward.

Because behind Ning Yi, several Su manor guards had also drawn their swords, ready for action, and Hundred Blades Alliance disciples were circling closer. The burly man with the giant shovel took a step forward, but when the now un-glowing device suddenly turned his way, he quickly retreated a step.

Ning Yi abruptly lowered the device in his hand and smiled.

“I have science, you have divine power… heh, just kidding.” His voice echoed across the slope. “It’s just something I made on a whim, simply changed a bamboo tube into an iron one. After adding gunpowder, it’s no different from a two-stage firecracker. Loading is troublesome, so it’s single-shot. Without rifling, it shoots wildly, and its effective killing range is less than ten feet…”He stood there shaking his head, speaking in a lackadaisical manner, uttering things some understood and some didn't. In the distance, Su Tan’er, still covering her mouth, her tears not yet dried, felt a familiar sensation, and a burst of laughter escaped her.“Because of that, unless you hit someone’s head or face at close range, it’s practically useless except for being very scary. This… ” He turned to look at the corpse on the ground, taking a moment to choose a word, “This valiant fellow was lucky to be hit on the first try. So I’ve decided to name this thing ‘Blast Your Face Off’.”He tossed the ‘Blast Your Face Off’ back into the carriage behind him. Tilting his head, he spoke to a nearby guard: “Later, set up a monument for them. ‘Died from Loose Lips’…”

By now, the Hundred Blades Alliance's encirclement was complete. As Ning Yi spoke from above, Ouyang Peng and his men couldn't grasp his true nature—partly due to the patriarch's earlier revelations and Ning Yi’s overly calm demeanor during the recent incident, which created psychological pressure. With few options, they quieted down slightly, gathering strength for a final desperate fight. Then, laughter rang out from the other side: “Haha, this must be Nephew Ning.” It was Cheng Lie, approaching with his saber.

“I am Ning Liheng, known in the martial world by the bandit alias, Bloody-Handed Butcher. And this is… Alliance Master Cheng?”His voice carried far on the night wind. Ning Yi cupped his hands, brandishing the impressive title to intimidate them. Cheng Lie paused, slightly stunned. The surrounding Hundred Blades Alliance disciples exchanged whispers, some confused: Had they never heard of such a famous bandit alias before? Ouyang Peng, Jiang Jing, and the others were also taken aback, never imagining that Ning Liheng already had such a reputation in the martial world. Perhaps his former scholar identity was merely a disguise.A picture formed in their minds: perhaps Ning Yi had been a martial artist long before marrying Su Tan’er, having made a great name for himself somewhere, earning the title 'Bloody-Handed Butcher'. Then he returned home to marry, and they had just stumbled upon a powerful adversary. That’s why he showed no fear of them now…

After a slight surprise, Cheng Lie recovered: “Heh heh, I am Cheng Lie. Nephew Ning, you truly are as legendary as they say. The Su family owes much to your brilliant strategizing this time. Even with just a small display of your abilities, you’ve cut off these men’s escape… Ouyang Peng! What more do you have to say!”Cheng Lie’s voice echoed in the night sky. Ouyang Peng gripped his spear, slowly turning towards Ning Yi, also glancing at the dead body on the ground. He spoke almost word by word: “My brother Ma Lin was wounded by your strange hidden weapon. You fought unfairly… Bloody-Handed Butcher? Do you dare to fight me?!”

“Ma Lin… Ouyang Peng?” Ning Yi turned to look at the corpse on the ground, his expression suddenly changing to one of strangeness. After a moment, he poked the corpse with his toe. It was indeed dead, blood pooling on the road. Ning Yi sighed, then looked at Ouyang Peng, who held the spear: “Now… what right do you have to fight me?”He possessed an inherently convincing aura. As he uttered those words, a mix of absurdity, composure, and dismissiveness was evident in his tone. He then turned and walked towards the nearby carriage, taking the reins and turning the vehicle around.

“Against such vile and wicked villains, there’s no need to talk about martial code… Everyone, let’s go at them together!”Everyone found his words rather peculiar. Whether it was the Hundred Blades Alliance or Ouyang Peng’s men, they spent their days brawling and seizing territory; there wasn't much room for romanticized martial codes. But the meaning was clear enough: it was time to charge together and end the fight—as it should have been all along. No sooner had he finished speaking than a bloodthirsty aura suddenly congealed. Amidst the crowd, the giant man with the iron shovel let out a roar that tore through the night sky. Then came more, like a raging tide of shouts, boiling the night sky once again.“Kill them all—!”

Cheng Lie led the charge towards the center of the encirclement, his long saber sweeping across the sky like a bolt of lightning. Numerous Hundred Blades Alliance members brandished their sabers and surged forward.

The carriage moved in the opposite direction. Ning Yi turned his head, looking back at the swirling mass of people, where flashes of blades and sprays of blood intersected. Ouyang Peng, clutching his spear, and his companions began their final stand. Xi Junyu was also caught in the center—though, of course, that man held no importance to Ning Yi; he didn’t need to be concerned with him.Ouyang Peng, Ma Lin… Aren’t those people from Mount Liang?… His mind was completely preoccupied with this thought; it was truly fascinating. Although he had appeared to stage this scene from the beginning because these people had such loose tongues, and he had simply made it easy for them to be trapped by the Hundred Blades Alliance, delaying their escape, he honestly felt somewhat confident in his second-rate internal martial arts after the one-against-three fight in the Su manor courtyard earlier. In his previous world, he had also experienced knife fights and hacking people, so he had come with a certain confidence this time. But upon hearing those two names, he suddenly felt it was strategically better to avoid a confrontation for now.Definitely. He practiced second-rate internal martial arts and hadn't been training for long. Why bother? Why go pick a fight with famous figures? Looking back at Ouyang Peng, who was carving a bloody path through the crowd, fighting for his life, Ning Yi also briefly imagined what Lin Chong, Li Kui, and Lu Zhishen might be like, or other formidable martial artists, or even Fang La, the 'Holy Duke' who had recently raised an army—rumors over the past year or two claimed Fang La was incredibly powerful.He also thought of Lu Hongti. The brawling and fighting of these people seemed somewhat different from Lu Hongti’s style. It was certainly more formidable than street fights a thousand years later, but it still couldn’t compare to the iron-blooded savagery and tragedy he sensed from Lu Hongti during her assassination attempt. Ouyang Peng appeared very strong, especially now, under life threat, his spear almost danced wildly, sweeping away all resistance. Even the equally powerful Cheng Lie was forced to retreat for a moment. Yet, there seemed to be much method in Ouyang Peng's moves. Ning Yi couldn't quite grasp the depth of it, but he felt it differed from the seemingly wild and primitive quality of Lu Hongti’s martial arts.She had once said her martial arts were honed through battles with the Khitans and had little involvement with martial artists in the Central Plains. He wondered how many moves these people could withstand against her, or how the top martial artists of Mount Liang, like Lin Chong, or figures like Fang La, would fare against her.

Ning Yi wasn't particularly concerned with the outcome of the current brawl. Ouyang Peng led his men, charging recklessly across Ten-Step Slope, but their companions were steadily dwindling. Ning Yi, meanwhile, simply watched the battle from a distance, lost in various random thoughts. Turning back, he pulled out a telescope and looked towards Jiangning.A column of torchlight seemed to be approaching from that direction; presumably, the authorities had finally reacted to the ongoing fight. Amidst the brutal killing, shouting, and roaring, Ning Yi steered the carriage towards where Su Tan’er and Su Boyong were.By the time the officials arrived, the fight here should have reached a conclusion. Who cared? He was a scientist; he didn’t participate in brawls. He held the crude small firearm—or rather, a small cannon—and thought idly.

Over there, the fierce battle raged on. Here, Su Tan’er pushed her father's wheelchair, surrounded by the manor guards, and came to meet him. Under the night sky, Ten-Step Slope appeared to be two unrelated groups, like the poles of Yin and Yang: one side enacting a reunion, the other weaving a farewell unto death…