Chapter Ninety-One: For Whom to Fight, For Whom to Die

The Black-armored Army had long since fallen into utter chaos, stripped of all discipline, yet Hong Lan made no move to restore order. Rather, she seemed to be guarding against Su Fan’s escape, preparing herself for it.

At that moment, however one looked at it, Su Fan appeared to have been betrayed and surrounded by Hong Lan and Nameless.

That was indeed the truth. Su Fan could neither withdraw nor refuse battle, yet neither could he truly fight. Against Nameless alone, he no longer had the slightest strength to resist; add to that Hong Lan, who might strike from the shadows at any moment, and Su Fan felt that standing still was the safest course.

Nameless had no such intention. His purpose was to eliminate Su Fan and all the Black-armored soldiers present, and so he had already begun forming seals.

Su Fan’s heart sank. He shouted, “Hong Lan, all you want is to kill me and avenge your brother, Hong Yuan.”

Hong Lan jerked her gaze toward him and cried, “How do you know that?” Then she muttered to herself, “You’ve been to Old Wine Street and met the Wine Master. There’s nothing strange in knowing that.”

“So you really did go to Old Wine Street. I wonder whether you met that person,” Nameless said suddenly, setting aside the spell seal in his hand and looking at Su Fan with interest.

Su Fan was slightly taken aback. Thinking that Nameless also knew the Drunken Immortal, he wondered if the two were connected. He answered, “I did.”

Nameless said, “Then he must have praised your unusual gifts.”

Su Fan smiled bitterly. “He did not, actually.”

Hong Lan sneered. “With his talent, how could he be called unusual?”

Nameless cast her a cold glance and snapped, “Ignorant. How can one judge a person merely by talent?”

Hong Lan’s face flushed red at once, anger rising to her brows. She snorted coldly. “Do not think my tens of thousands of Black-armored troops cannot kill you.”

Su Fan said indifferently, “I had thought you were a capable person. After all, it is rare among disciples to rise to the rank of county lord, and your Black-armored Army is indeed well-trained.

“But looking at you today, you are truly an idiot—an idiot who always likes to play smart.”

Insulted as an idiot, Hong Lan trembled all over with rage, nearly wanting to swallow Su Fan whole.

Unhurriedly, Su Fan looked toward Nameless and continued, “I think there are already armies by the thousand and ten thousand arrayed behind you. We simply cannot see them.”

Hong Lan froze. Thinking of the consequences if Su Fan’s words were true, she suddenly shouted, “All troops stand by! Prepare for battle!”

After the words fell, there was not the slightest response, as if a needle had dropped into empty space.

Nameless mocked her with a smile. “At least now you understand that Su Fan was not lying.”

As he spoke, he waved his hand. The space behind him seemed to transform into another world: at a distance of several hundred paces, nearly ten thousand Black-armored soldiers stood in strict formation, fully assembled and ready. Their ranks were immaculate, and even the murderous aura they exuded stirred the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around them.

Hong Lan walked slowly up to Su Fan and pleaded, “What should we do now?”

Su Fan was stunned. The woman who had earlier been fierce as a tiger now seemed as meek as a cat.

She looked more like a child, really—her temperament changeable and strange.

Since that was the case, Su Fan could only say, “Actually, Hong Yuan wanted to kill me, but he failed. Perhaps the one who died was not Hong Yuan at all...”

Hong Lan’s body trembled slightly, and her face turned deathly pale. Perhaps sensing her own loss of composure, she hurriedly waved for Su Fan to continue.

Su Fan sighed inwardly and went on, “What died may only have been a substitute for Hong Yuan. I imagine the Black-armored Army in the county lord’s residence was trained by him as well. He is so shrewd—how could he die so easily? Or rather, how could the sect master bear to let him die?”

Hong Lan’s expression quickly returned to normal. She smiled faintly and said, “You say this only because you want me to join forces with you against Nameless.”

Su Fan nodded with satisfaction, indicating that this woman was not truly an idiot.

Hong Lan’s face changed again, becoming utterly disdainful as she said coldly, “No need for you. I alone am enough.”

Enraged, Su Fan rebuked her. “What an idiot.”

As he spoke, he flicked his hand and a streak of violet energy shot out, swiftly slamming toward Nameless. Nameless had evidently not expected Su Fan to make such a move.

He hurriedly retreated, and in the same instant a beam of blue-green light flashed out, slashing at the violet energy. The violet qi passed through the blue-green blade and turned into sparkling motes of light, vanishing without a trace. The blue-green light, however, after cleaving through the violet energy, surged forward with even greater speed toward Su Fan.

Caught off guard, Su Fan was struck by the blue-green radiance and sent flying several zhang away. He groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

His face turned intensely red, faintly tinged with purple. Su Fan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His spell seal became even more forceful. Violet mist flooded the sky, and from within it a single finger emerged, pressing down toward Nameless.

Nameless showed a look of admiration. “The Violet-robed Elder is very good to you. He even taught you the Azure Violet Celestial Phenomenon.”

As he spoke, Nameless merely waved a hand idly, and the violet mist in the sky dispersed completely. The finger collapsed, and the Violet Shadow Immortal Finger was casually broken by Nameless.

Nameless said calmly, “It is a pity your cultivation is insufficient. If you could have formed a second finger, perhaps you might have gotten away unharmed.”

Su Fan paid no attention to Nameless’s words, nor to Hong Lan, who stood by with a face of indifference.

He continued forming seals, and tens of thousands of sand arrows shot toward Nameless. In the midst of them, a massive mountain peak crashed toward him as well.

Su Fan had nearly unleashed every technique he possessed. At this point, the moment he stopped, what awaited him was Nameless’s slaughter; even if Nameless spared his life, how could Hong Lan let him off?

Su Fan slapped his storage pouch, and a golden crossbow appeared in his hand. He swiftly poured spiritual energy into it, and then a phantom phoenix charged toward Nameless.

At last, Nameless was angered. He snapped, “If you are so blind, do not blame me for failing to show the Violet-robed Elder any courtesy.”

With that, Nameless flickered and appeared before Su Fan, striking him in the chest with a palm.

Su Fan flew lightly into the distance like a kite with its string cut.

Nameless snorted coldly. “Overestimating yourself.”

“The general... was killed by Nameless.”

“We wronged the general. Avenge the general!”

“Avenge the general!”

Gradually, cries rose to the heavens among the soldiers, each one with bloodshot eyes as they charged toward the men opposite them.

And where Su Fan had fallen, a faint purple shadow suddenly flickered, then flashed again, and Su Fan vanished from sight.

Hong Lan frowned slightly and hurried over to investigate. Nameless, meanwhile, had to face the Black-armored troops charging up heedlessly, and even he was deeply alarmed.

In terms of cultivation and magical treasures, the Black-armored Army from the county lord’s residence had the upper hand over Luo City’s forces. Combined with their fury at this moment, even Nameless had no certainty that he could hold them back.

So, disregarding whether Su Fan lived or died, he gave his full attention to directing the soldiers in battle, resisting the oncoming Black-armored Army.

When the two armies met, the cries of slaughter shook the heavens. In an instant, sky and earth were locked in battle.

The county lord’s forces outnumbered the other side, while Luo City had Nameless, and so the two sides were roughly evenly matched.

Yet the general was gone, leaving only the soldiers to fight desperately on the field of slaughter. For whom were they fighting? Was it still merely for the Heavenly Origin Sect?

Or perhaps for that general, not very familiar, yet not entirely unfamiliar either.