While Su Mohan was talking with Ma Quan, he suddenly saw three silver flashes of light flying rapidly toward him. He quickly leaned to the side to dodge, only to see Gu Chenshu throw three more flying daggers. Accompanied by a piercing wind, the daggers whizzed and rushed forward, forcing Su Mohan to keep dodging.

Ma Quan and the others, who had just been through a bitter fight, finally got a chance to catch their breath. They just stood at a distance, watching Gu Chenshu’s flying daggers battle Su Mohan, full of confidence in their brother’s throwing skills.

Every time Gu Chenshu attacked, he threw three flying daggers, striking fast, accurately, and ruthlessly. He had already launched more than a dozen waves of attacks, yet the daggers in his hands never stopped coming, as if the weapons hidden on his body were an endless and inexhaustible supply.

Su Mohan had no desire to keep wasting time like this because he knew that continuing to drag things out would only buy time for Gu Chenshu’s brothers to recover. The next wave of powerful attacks would definitely put him at a severe disadvantage.

Three flying daggers came after another three, but Su Mohan’s steps were light and nimble. He dodged them with a quick shift to the left and right, and then rushed toward Gu Chenshu with a slithering, snake-like movement. Gu Chenshu rapidly threw dozens of daggers, but each time he only hit the afterimages left behind by Su Mohan. In the blink of an eye, Su Mohan’s figure had already glided right next to Gu Chenshu.

In addition to practicing his throwing daggers, Gu Chenshu had also mastered a superb lightness technique, which was why he had suddenly appeared behind Su Mohan earlier. He believed his lightness technique was exceptional, so even when Su Mohan got close to him, he did not panic at all.

Watching from afar, Ma Quan and the others smiled, thinking to themselves that Su Mohan showing off his lightness technique in front of their brother was just trying to teach a fish how to swim and looking for humiliation.

Unexpectedly, in the very next second, their smiles froze. Su Mohan approached Gu Chenshu and swung his blade. A flash of sword light slit Gu Chenshu’s throat like lightning. Gu Chenshu’s windpipe seemed to be completely severed, and he quickly reached out to cover his throat, but blood was already pouring from his mouth and nose.

Gu Chenshu’s eyes bulged out, and his mouth twitched as if he were trying to say something, but in the end, no sound came out. His body tilted backward and he fell straight into the dust.

Ma Quan and the others were just like Gu Chenshu, unable to believe what they were seeing. They knew their brother’s lightness technique well and simply could not believe that this young man had finished him off with a single strike before their brother could even use his skills. They absolutely refused to believe it.

“How did you do that?” Ma Quan was the first to ask.

Su Mohan’s sword pointed downward, its tip still dripping bright red blood, as he said coldly, “This move is called Lu Yang Wielding the Spear.”

Although they did not know that this was the fourth style of Su Mohan’s self-created Nine Forms of Overlapping Yang, they understood the meaning behind the phrase. The idiom refers to making a final, desperate counterattack to turn the tide, and the recent scenario was cracked exactly like that. Only now did they realize they had severely underestimated their opponent, never expecting such a young boy to execute such a fierce sword technique.

As the eldest brother of the Five Heroes of Jiangnan, Song Guang did not care how Su Mohan killed Gu Chenshu. He only knew that whoever killed his brother had to pay with blood. So while Ma Quan was still asking his question, Song Guang had already grabbed his giant axe, bounded over to Su Mohan in a few leaps, and twisted his arm to raise the axe above his head. He brought it straight down toward Su Mohan’s head, looking to split him in half.

Su Mohan did not panic. With a flip of his wrist, his sword thrust straight at Song Guang. Although Song Guang’s giant axe possessed incredible power, it was not as fast as the sword technique. Seeing the blade closing in, Song Guang had no choice but to twist his waist to the side. The sword grazed past him, and he rejoiced inwardly, thinking that Su Mohan’s end had come. The giant axe crashed down, but it had only dropped two inches when he heard Ma Quan’s voice from behind shouting, “Big brother, watch out!”

Yet before Song Guang could understand, Su Mohan’s missed sword strike unexpectedly curved back. It sliced right through Song Guang’s waist, causing blood and organs to pour from a massive wound. Song Guang took just one look and, completely ignoring the injury, endured the agonizing pain to finish swinging his axe. But because of his brief distraction, Su Mohan had already dodged to the side. Su Mohan kicked out, and with a loud clang, Song Guang’s axe hit the ground. Su Mohan flipped his wrist again and swept his blade horizontally, sealing his throat with a single strike. Song Guang’s body collapsed to the ground, motionless.

In an instant, after just two exchanges, the eldest and the youngest of the Five Heroes had died one after another. Ma Quan said in disbelief, “What kind of sword technique is this now?”

This was actually the “Brief Glow of Health” technique that Su Mohan had used before. Su Mohan wanted to answer, but he saw Jin Qianzhi and Madame Hua closing in on him. Madame Hua was in front and Jin Qianzhi was behind, moving with perfect synchronization. Madame Hua rushed forward and leapt into the air to pounce on Su Mohan. While midair, she threw out several palm strikes, her body twisting in a seductive and charming manner. She did not look like a middle-aged woman at all, but rather like a young brothel dancer in her prime. Following right behind her, Jin Qianzhi attacked Su Mohan’s lower body with his sword. One attacking high and one attacking low, their coordination was absolutely flawless.

In fact, before they even struck, Jin Qianzhi had realized that attacking from the left and right would not bring victory, whereas Su Mohan would not be able to defend his upper and lower body at once. A simultaneous high and low assault would give them the upper hand naturally. Therefore, he had secretly agreed on this strategy with Madame Hua, resulting in this seamless cooperation.

Su Mohan indeed could not defend both his upper and lower body at once. After barely blocking the first hit, he was wounded by the sword on the second strike. He hurriedly turned and retreated, only to be struck squarely on the back by a palm from Madame Hua as she pounced down from above. His body stumbled forward, nearly crashing to the ground. Although he managed to steady his stance, Madame Hua locked her grip tightly around his neck.

Within moments, Madame Hua wrapped herself around Su Mohan’s back like a snake. Su Mohan instantly realized that her palm strike had merely been a setup, and her true signature move was this grapple called the Golden Snake Coil.

Su Mohan stood up and shook his body violently, but no matter how hard he tried to throw her off, Madame Hua clung to him like glue, impossible to shake loose.

At this moment, Su Mohan was completely pinned by Madame Hua. Even though he held his sword, he had no room to execute even the most powerful technique. Terrified, he saw Jin Qianzhi seize the perfect opportunity while Madame Hua had him restrained, thrusting his hollow sword directly toward Su Mohan’s heart.

Su Mohan’s lower body could still move, but his upper body was entirely immobilized except for his head and neck. The heart that Jin Qianzhi was targeting happened to be exactly where he could not move. He only wished his heart was literally off-center, finding himself completely out of options.

Translation Notes

Lu Yang Wielding the Spear (鲁阳挥戈 – Lu yang hui ge): A Chinese idiom originating from a legend where Huai Nanzi states that Duke Lu Yang shook his spear at the retreating sun during a battle, causing the sun to move backward so he could finish his victory. In everyday contexts, it means reversing a desperate situation or launching a powerful, unexpected counterattack at the last possible moment.