Chapter 1041: Chapter 165: With a Flick of the Sleeve, a Thousand Shanxue Cry Behind (1/2)

Huangfu Tian was a solemn-looking middle-aged man, already over fifty years old, but due to his profound martial power, he appeared to be just in his early thirties, his facial features resembled Huangfu Xiong by five parts, yet the corners of his eyes were similar to Huangfu Qiuyang.

This Family Head of the Huangfu was always calm, except when he heard that Huangfu Hao was ambushed and gravely injured to the brink of death, and that his much-valued Li Danxun turned out to be a spy, his sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Li Danxun had already been subdued by the crowd earlier, tightly bound with the Trapped Dragon Chain, and was now brought before Huangfu Tian, with two martial artists pressing on his shoulders, forcing him to kneel down. The surrounding martial artists stopped their footsteps, turned their heads, and watched quietly to see how the Huangfu family intended to deal with this traitor.

Huangfu Tian looked down at this once most promising disciple, his expression calm, paused for a moment, and simply said:

“I am very disappointed…”

Li Danxun’s lips trembled slightly, but he remained silent.

He had lost his family since childhood, with both parents killed by bandits, and was tutored by two sage elders from the White Tiger Hall, whom he regarded as fathers.

However, after spending more than ten years in the Huangfu family, his friends, seniors, and past were all here. His master, when it came to the intricate mysteries of the Huangfu family’s blade techniques, imparted everything without the slightest reservation, treating him like his own.

The human heart is ultimately not made of steel, and naturally cannot be devoid of emotion.

Yet on one side, he had the gratitude of life-saving skill transfers, and on the other, the Huangfu family’s unwavering trust and nurture. He was caught in between, torn for more than just a day or two.

In the past, the White Tiger Hall had asked him to hand over the blade technique manual of the Huangfu family, which he stalled using the excuse of being too inexperienced to have learned its essence. This time, it was those two elders who told him it would help him advance further in the Huangfu family, leading him to agree against better judgment.

The scene where the Western Regions expert ambushed Huangfu Hao, he truly did not know.

Li Danxun glanced at the corpulent elder’s corpse, then looked towards where Huangfu Hao was, lowered his head, and hoarsely said:

“Disciple, greetings to the Family Head.”

Huangfu Tian nodded slightly and said:

“Is there anything you want to say?”

Li Danxun said, “Before today, this disciple has never harmed the family’s interests in the slightest, the blade technique manual has not been transmitted outside.”

Huangfu Tian’s expression slightly tensed, then nodded and said:

“Good.”

Li Danxun’s black hair was disheveled, he struggled to turn around to kowtow towards the direction of the Huangfu family, then towards the Western Regions, and again respectfully kowtowed in front of Huangfu Tian, never to rise again.

“Thank you, Family Head.”

Huangfu Tian’s expression remained calm, he waved his right sleeve, and from the sleeve, a blade qi burst forth, striking Li Danxun’s forehead between his brows, the sound of piercing through the air was sharp, and in a blink, Li Danxun’s life force was entirely extinguished.

The divine light in his eyes dimmed, and he fell to the ground without the slightest breath of life.

Even though the elite of the Huangfu family bore great hatred towards Li Danxun, having witnessed this young man grow from a small child to a teenager, then gradually become famous, Huangfu Tian’s decisive and swift action was unexpected.

Suddenly, he turned his head away, unable to bear the sight.

The heroes from Jianghu in the seventeen counties of the Northwest also instinctively gasped in shock.

The elder from the Dongfang Clan behind stroked his white beard and transmitted his voice:

“Family Head of the Huangfu, I naturally will not meddle in disciplining disciples, but why not interrogate first, then proceed with punishment?”

Huangfu Tian’s expression remained calm and said:

“This disciple is but a mere spy. With the experience of the Great Elder of Dongfang, you should know that a spy is prepared to be abandoned from the start, what could he know?”

“Moreover, isn’t there still another person here?”

The elder’s gaze shifted to the foreign expert with severed qi meridians, nodded, and from the subtle attitudes of the surrounding martial artists, he also understood the reason Huangfu Tian had no choice but to act as he did.

Firstly, as he said, from this young disciple, nothing valuable could probably be extracted. Secondly, although the Huangfu family was unaware of today’s events, a traitor emerged from their ranks. The victims present were from the eleven major sects of the Northwest, implicating many.

Huangfu Tian had to seize the moment while everyone was present to provide a sufficient explanation to the heroes, otherwise, it would not quell public anger, nor could it safeguard the reputation of the Huangfu family. Like now, the dissatisfaction among the martial artists towards the Huangfu family still existed, but not as strongly as before.

Huangfu Tian let his sleeve fall, looking towards the direction of the Western Regions expert, and said coldly:

“Bring him over.”

Already, there were Huangfu family swordsmen on either side, grabbing the shoulders of the gaunt elder and forcibly dragging him over. Earlier, this expert from the Western Regions charged into the crowd like a mad tiger, and was dominant and unrivaled, yet now was at the mercy of two ordinary swordsmen, being humiliated and half-dragged on the ground.

A thin layer of snow had already covered the ground, and now on the snow, two trails of blood were drawn.

At this moment, the severely injured Huangfu Hao was also carried out by the Huangfu family disciples on a simple bamboo stretcher, his injuries were so severe that only Huangfu Tian could save him now.

Huangfu Tian withdrew his gaze from the Western Regions elder and looked towards Huangfu Hao.

This once valiant elder was no longer the image Huangfu Tian remembered, his face pale like gold paper, his eyes tightly closed, though breathing, it was extremely faint, like a candle in the wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.

Huangfu Tian already understood the course of events, without hesitation, he raised his hand, grasping the elder’s right wrist, his fingers pinching the pulse gate, and his sword-like eyebrows immediately furrowed tightly, and then a vast and pure inner strength mechanism was transmitted into Huangfu Hao.