“Who exactly are you people?” Xu Huande yelled while swinging his sword around.

　　Although he was worn out and would collapse anytime now, his sword energy continued as though he was not affected at all. Evidently, he had a profound and solid foundation, and his swordsmanship was out of the world. He must have worked extremely hard to be able to perform his abilities fully now.

　　“Hehe…” The four masked men in black only sneered. They planned to tell him something to affect his mentality and his condition since he was truly hard to deal with!

　　They were supposed to have defeated him by now, yet he kept holding on. This made them anxious.

　　“Can’t you guess who we are?” One of them shouted. “Must you make us say it?”

　　“I can’t guess,” Xu Huande replied.

　　“You’re just unwilling to accept the fact.” The masked man in black shook his head. “Still, since you won’t accept it, we won’t admit it too. Continue being the silly person you are!”

　　“You’re sent by a prince, aren’t you?” Xu Huande scoffed.

　　“If you say we are, we are.” The masked man in black sneered. “As long as you die, anything you say is right.”

　　Xu Huande humphed. “Which prince?”

　　“Who do you think it is?” The masked man in black giggled. “How about you take a guess?”

　　Xu Huande fell silent as he knew that they were not going to reveal the answer. The more they acted that way, the more he began feeling that they were sent by the emperor. This was because if they were sent by someone else, they would certainly show it off. After all, this would give them a sense of pleasure.

　　While he kept wielding his sword, he started slowing down as he was out of strength. After a long fight, he was now completely helpless. Considering that his opponents were protectors from the Imperial House, he had no confidence in winning.

　　He thought to himself. ‘Since the emperor wants to kill me, it’s pointless for me to resist. How can I escape from the emperor?’

　　“Ding…” All of a sudden, his sword flew out of his hand. Subsequently, a sword was slashed in his direction, carrying with the slash an intention to chop his head off.

　　He did his best to fall backward so as to dodge it. However, he was unable to dodge another sword.

　　As a result, another sword stabbed him in the chest, to the extent that the tip of the sword could be seen on his back, covered in blood.

　　“Ughh!” Xu Huande moaned painfully and tried to keep his eyes open. He pushed his palm out as he wanted to kill the person who hurt him.

　　Nonetheless, the masked man who stabbed him reacted very quickly. As soon as he saw Xu Huande lift his palm up, he quickly shifted sideways to avoid getting hit by the enormous palm energy.

　　“Bam!” The palm energy hit the ground instead, forming a big hole. Like a punctured rubber ball, Xu Huande began losing energy through his wound, and he no longer had energy left in his body.

　　“You…” Xu Huande pressed the sword in his chest, then pointed at them. “Now, can you tell me who it is?”

　　“No.” The four masked men in black shook his head.

　　Xu Huande smiled bitterly, he did not expect them to be so on guard. Even when he was now at a dead-end, they still refused to tell him.

　　“Aright…” Xu Huande sighed. “Initially, I wasn’t going to use this secret technique, you forced me to!”

　　Suddenly, his body expanded. This time, like an inflated rubber ball, his energy rose again. The sword that was earlier stabbed in his chest shot out at once, causing blood to splatter out. However, he quickly pressed a few points on his body to stop the bleeding.

　　As if totally unwounded, his aura was terrifying, and his eyes were electrified. When he reached his hand out, his sword flew back into his hand.

　　“He used his secret technique, he won’t go on for long!” The four masked men in black looked at each other.

　　Currently, radiant sunlight shone on the forest, as well as their bodies, yet the black clothes of the four men became as dark as ink, and their eyes became exceptionally cold.

　　The four masked men in black charged forward to attack Xu Huande from all directions. While their attacks were more vigorous than before, the blade light of their swords appeared dull as compared to Xu Huande’s.

　　Earlier on, they did not want to use their secret techniques as there were surely residual effects. However, now that they were forced by the situation, they began performing their secret techniques, causing a huge change in their momentum. Consequently, the blade light of their swords became brighter than ever, and they were able to match with Xu Huande.

　　Once again, both parties were in deadlock. Whistling sounds of blades could be heard, accompanied by flashes from swords.

　　Unknowingly, time began ticking away. Eventually, all of them were out of energy, whereby their sword energies became weaker and softer.

　　“Uh…” One of the masked men in black collapsed as he was struck in the chest. Following that, the other three men were furious and hence attacked fiercely again.

　　This time, Xu Huande really finished all his energy. While he wanted to avoid being hit, there was nothing he could do.

　　“Tss!” A sword slashed his chest, forming a long wound. Instantly, blood as red as a baby’s lips flew out, causing his shirt to be soaked in blood.

　　“Ah!” Xu Huande roared, but could not wield his sword anymore. He could only lean against a tree helplessly, where he slowly slid down and sat on the ground. His legs could no longer withstand his body’s weight, and he was drenched in sweat.

　　“Hehe…” At last, the three masked men in black sighed a long breath of relief. White vapor was seen evaporating from their bodies, and they became strengthless as well. Not only did their blades feel extremely heavy, but they also had no energy left to walk.

　　Since their secret techniques ended, their bodies became terribly weak, so much so that they found it hard to even lift a finger up.

　　“Let’s go finish him!” One of them shouted.

　　With that, they began moving toward Xu Huande who was on the ground.

　　Leaning against the tree, Xu Huande glared at them coldly. “Even until now, you’re not going to tell me who’s behind this?”

　　“Guess yourself.” One masked man in black shook his head. “We’ll never tell you.”

　　“Hmph!” Xu Huande responded coldly. “How I end will be how you’ll end! Think about my identity!”

　　“Hehe…” The masked men in black simply laughed upon hearing him and continued approaching him.

　　Xu Huande shut his eyes. “End me quickly!”

　　“Don’t worry, it’ll be fast!” One of them gathered the remaining energy he had, lifted his long blade up, and was going to chop Xu Huande’s head off to complete the difficult mission.

　　Honestly, they did not expect him to take out three of them.

　　“Tss!” Without warning, a cold light appeared in the forest, heading for the long blade.

　　“Ding…” A loud and clear voice was heard as the long blade was hit away by the cold light.

　　“Du!” The long blade shot deep into a tree; only the handle was shaking as the blade was completely stuck in the tree trunk.

　　“Who?!” The three masked men in black were frightened and mad.

　　For now, they were vulnerable and could only wait for their deaths if someone else were to attack them.

　　Chu Li fluttered toward Xu Huande, then smiled. “Commander Xu, you look battered.”

　　He stuffed a pill into Xu Huande’s mouth before pressing a few spots on his chest to seal his wound. He also applied some ointment from a ceramic bottle on the wound. Later, he turned to look at the three masked men in black who were trying their best to retreat.

　　“Bam, bam, bam!” Chu Li suddenly disappeared, then went around those three men. They collapsed right after.

　　Xu Huande quickly called out to him, “Keep them alive!”

　　By then, Chu Li had gone back to Xu Huande, and smiled. “Don’t worry, they’re not dead, they only fainted!”

　　“Phew…” Xu Huande was relived. “Chu Li, why are you here?”

　　“I was worried, so I came to take a look. As expected, something happened.” Chu Li shook his head.

　　Xu Huande smiled bitterly. “You shouldn’t be here, you shouldn’t get involved in this!”

　　Chu Li asked, “Are these fellas sent by the emperor?”