Zither Emperor Volume 5 Chapter 30.1

Chapter 30 – Massacring Sonic Blade (I)
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The climbing speed of the gigantic Apemen as they went up the mountain could only be described as terrifying. They only needed a few jumps to immediately arrive by a beast’s side. Despite their similarities to the majority of beasts, they would still snatch the beasts from the floor and grab both ends of the beast with their extremely thick arms. An ear-piercing shriek later, the beast would be torn into two. Those Apemen even grabbed at the beasts’ internal organs and stuffed them into their mouths, chewing on them loudly.
“Apemen?” Ye Yin Zhu, surprised, looked at Sura. At this time, Xiang Luan and Hai Yan’s complexions were very unsightly as they stood next to Ye Yin Zhu. Xiang Luan abruptly turned around, supporting herself against a tree as she vomited. This was the first time she saw such a horrifying scene.
Although Sura’s complexion also didn’t look too well, he still steadily said, “Apemen are the generals of a third of the beastmen fighting forces. With their extraordinary strength, they can easily tear even a tiger in half. The hair on their bodies are extremely tough; an ordinary sword would have a difficult time injuring them. Even if our human Heavy Cavalry comes across them, they would have trouble withstanding the Apemen. What are the beastmen up to, sending out these expert climbers? Don’t tell me they want to mount a sneak attack on Konya City?”
Ye Yin Zhu frowned and said, “Wrong! Although these Apemen appear to be very powerful, the difference between them and our Dragon Cavalry is still great. They number only a hundred…” As he said this, his eyes suddenly dilated. Just as he saw those hundred Apemen at the top of a nearby mountain peak, he also saw countless ash-gray figures appear, dotting the base of the mountain and continuously forging upward.
Sura bellowed, “Quickly! This is only a scouting party! We need to return and notify everyone.”
A shadow suddenly appeared across the sky. Sura raised his head to look, only to see a Apemen’s thick arm grab a tree trunk, ripping it out as it charged in their direction. Its target was the vomiting Xiang Luan.
“Watch out!” Sura shouted lowly, but Ye Yin Zhu had already moved.
Stretching out with his left hand, Ye Yin Zhu pulled Xiang Luan into his chest as a semi-circular arc flashed out like lightning from his right hand. Pure yellow dou qi clashed with the Apeman’s thick body. With a loud bang, the Apeman was immediately jolted and sent flying away.
At this time, a generous amount of Apemen had already used their astonishing speed to climb up. Ye Yin Zhu discovered that the four of them were already surrounded.
“Let’s take advantage of the fact that their main forces aren’t here yet and kill them all.” Sura’s body rose without any hesitation, the dagger in his hand already exchanged for Angel’s Sigh. His slender silhouette flashed in the air, and in the blink of an eye, he overtook the Apemen Ye Yin Zhu had sent flying with an explosion of speed. The black light of Angel’s Sigh flashed and immediately created a bloody streak that followed its trail.
Ye Yin Zhu’s reaction was very quick. Perhaps it was because the crisis had thoroughly aroused his potential, but as he lifted Hai Yang onto his back with his right arm, his left arm embraced Xiang Luan, allowing her to cling to his body. His legs pushed against the ground, and he followed Sura by dashing ahead.
Angel’s Sigh was indeed worthy of being a divine device titled the Uncrowned King within assassin circles. With Sura’s lightning-quick speed, its innate qualities were vividly and thoroughly on display. Each flash of black light would be accompanied by a storm of blood, as the Cursed Blade severed each and every Apeman’s throat. Sura’s entire body resembled a dagger as he pierced through the enemy faction.
If an assassin didn’t need to defend themselves, then their attacks were even more terrifying than a Dragon Cavalryman. The current Sura was exactly like this. During this crisis, and with the Eternal Substitute Puppet activated, his illusory figure had essentially no need to evade any of the Apemen attacks since all of them phased through his body. They were utterly incapable of bringing the slightest bit of harm to him. In addition, his Angel’s Sigh harvested their lives at a rapid pace.
Little Yin Bi wasn’t afraid of the scene before it. From beginning to end, it stood atop Sura’s shoulder. Because it was flapping its wings to lighten its weight, Yin Bi didn’t impede Sura at all. The dragon opened its mouth, and fireballs, water arrows, icicles, wind blades, light bullets—every kind of rudimentary elemental magic unceasingly spouted out of its mouth. Although the majority of the magic was Orange or Red Rank, it still helped in impeding the Apemen. Yin Bi assisted Sura and, in a split second, Sura swept away everything before him into the claws of death.
Only, the Apemen’s fighting strength was clearly incomparable with beasts. A group of three Apemen strove forward to kill Sura, as they threw themselves at Sura knowing where they should defend. They immediately used their thick arms to protect their neck, a vital spot. Although Angel’s Sigh could still leave deep, unhealable wounds on their bodies, now it couldn’t rapidly reap death like it did before.
Compared to Sura, Ye Yin Zhu was under even greater pressure. Sura only needed to directly attack. Ye Yin Zhu was currently being attacked from three sides; this kind of close range Apemen attack made it impossible for him to play the zither. At this moment, he also needed to protect Xiang Luan and Hai Yang, so he could only fight with his right hand.
The Divine Celestial Protection activated, and milky white rays of light completely enveloped all three of their bodies. Although the Apemen were extraordinarily strong, breaking through this defense wouldn’t be easy for them. Meanwhile, the Jade Silk manifested with a dark green radiance. Although it was only a thin thread, the whip had a frightening attack power after Ye Yin Zhu poured his dou qi into it.
Seven to eight gigantic Apemen were throwing themselves at Ye Yin Zhu. His right hand shook, and the Jade Silk swept out, striking across the two Apemen on the left.
Peng. Peng. These two muffled sounds echoed out and the two Apemen were immediately sent flying. Because he was carrying two people, his flexibility was greatly diminished. As he repelled two of the Apemen, the Divine Celestial Protection also received three attacks, causing it to violently shudder and nearly force Ye Yin Zhu to lose control of his spiritual force and thus, his defense. His body fell back as he quickly swept the Jade Silk out and forced the other few Apemen to retreat.
Sura shouted loudly, “Yin Zhu, strike to kill! You are carrying those two girls; the rate at which you are knocking them off the mountain cannot compete with the mountain climbing speed of these expert Apemen. If you don’t kill them, we won’t be able to survive.” He knew about Ye Yin Zhu’s benevolent heart. Unless he was provoked, he was afraid Yin Zhu would truly never kill.
Ye Yin Zhu sighed darkly within his heart. Even though his heart was clear and pure, it didn’t mean it was weak and kind hearted. Ye Li and Qin Shang had taught him to inflict the most severe of injuries possible to the opponent in a confrontation. Being lenient would only bring harm to himself. At this moment, Sura’s reminder ignited the killing intent within Ye Yin Zhu’s heart. To say the least, he knew there was absolutely no way he could allow Hai Yang and Xiang Luan to come to harm.
“Rise!” Ye Yin Zhu shouted loudly. His entire body trembled, causing delicate voices to cry out in alarm. Xiang Luan and Hai Yang’s bodies were sent flying, like Buddha separating himself from the world’s gravity. Their bodies unexpectedly flew up 10 meters into the air.
“Bamboo Attack.” Yellow Bamboo Dou Qi and Jade Silk perfectly integrated to form a hybrid yellow-green beam of light similar to a forest of sharp blades. In a flash, it pierced out in all directions. The Jade Silk’s inherent, extreme tenaciousness in addition to the Yellow Rank Level 5 Dou Qi was not inferior in any respect to a sharp blade.
Explosions rumbled out. The previous encirclement of eight Apemen were all explosively sent flying, smashing into many of their comrades. They were no longer able to get up as each Apeman had a tiny hole that dripped blood from between their eyebrows. Although that small hole was difficult for the naked eye to distinguish, these eight gigantic apes’ brains had already been shaken into paste by the powerful Bamboo Dou Qi.
A single strike got rid of eight Apemen, and Ye Yin Zhu didn’t pause in his movements. Still currently in the air, Hai Yang and Xiang Luan’s figures had already ascended to the pinnacle of their flight and had begun to fall back down.
Ye Yin Zhu’s eyes flashed with a violet energy. Looking up at the sky and bellowing, his body suddenly dashed forward and arrived beside Sura. Two fists simultaneously welcomed the two gigantic Apemen’s massive punches. Dou qi accumulated within his fists. At this very moment, he felt his whole body brimming with an inexhaustible strength. Following the emergence of this aggressiveness, he became a changed person.