A Clash of Gods - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas
The glint of the scimitar was like the moonlight flooding over from the sky, with wind blowing and rain falling.

Yang Ning took a step back almost subconsciously, but the direction of the man’s blow also changed very fast. The head-on chop toward him was changed into a wave at an angle. The light of the scimitar was cold and chilly and its blade was sharp.

Yang Ning had already taken a step backwards, so he took the second step with ease. In such an emergency, he once again walked with the steps of Easy Travel.

The man in black failed to cut him again, so his cold eyes covered by the mask became fiercer. He held the scimitar in both hands and waved it across him again. However, once Yang Ning walked the steps of Easy Travel, his moves would become unpredictable and mysterious. The man in black chopped at Yang Ning for seven or eight times in succession and every time he seemed to cut on Yang Ning’s body, but every time his attack was evaded by Yang Ning’s mysterious moves.

The elder in the brown robe had knocked down two men in black successively, holding the package in one hand and grabbing the young man’s arm with the other. He was getting close to the door of the tavern, apparently trying to rush out of the tavern in chaos.

Everyone in the escort team spared no efforts to fight against these men in black, and the two parties were evenly matched at the beginning. Some escorts even gained the upper hand in facing the men in black. But these men in black were very vicious because they hid poisonous darts in their sleeves. They would shoot those poisonous darts when the escorts were careless and immediately killed them. Within a moment, two men were killed by this insidious sneaky attack.

During the fight, some men in black also suddenly undid the clothes before their chest, and then a dazzling light would glitter. When their opponents’ vision was blurred, the men in black would take the opportunity to kill them.

There were about twenty people in the escort team. Four or five people had run outside to guard the escort carriages before and over ten people had been left in the tavern. But four or five people were killed by the blood bats and several people were killed by the men in black, so now there were only five or six escorts in the tavern.

These survivors were all well-experienced in wandering the world, so they avoided the insidious attacks of the men in black. The kung fu of these men in black was not that outstanding, but they were devious and sly.

Although Mr. Lu was old, he could still manage to fight against two enemies. When he was fighting, he screamed loudly, “We are from the Four Seas Escort Agency. Who are you, friends?”

However, those men in black seemed to kill everyone inside and outside the tavern, and no one answered his question.

Yang Ning’s paces of Easy Travel were mysterious and unpredictable. He had been a little nervous and stiff when evading the attack of the God of Wood in the mountain previously. But now he was much more proficient and calmer than last time. He no longer dodged others with his head down. When he moved his body at his will, he could also know the opponent’s moves.

The man in black failed to cut him for a dozen times in a row, only thinking that he had met a master, so his eyes showed a surprised look. Yang Ning passed him with one step, and slipped behind the man in black. Seeing that the back of the man was before his eyes, Yang Ning finally stopped. Without a word, he raised his hand and stabbed the icy blade into the back of the man in black fiercely.

This icy blade was sharp and matchless. Even iron and stone could be impaled by it, let alone human body of flesh and blood. So it pierced through the back of the man straightly.

Every stab of the man in black was putting him to death. Yang Ning knew that in this case, either the man in black would die or he would die, so he didn’t show him any mercy.

The man in black felt a pain in his back, but before he could respond, Yang Ning stabbed his back several times in succession, and then lifted up his leg to kick him in the waist. The man in black immediately plunged forward, stopping moving after twitching on the ground for a while.

“I didn’t want to stir up trouble. You ask for it.” Yang Ning murmured in his heart. Seeing that a man in black nearby noticed the situation here and was about to pounce on him, he didn’t hesitate and began to run out of the tavern.

Just with a glance, Yang Ning made a correct appraisal of the situation inside. There were still over ten men in black, but the escorts fell down one by one. When the escorts were all killed, the gang of men in black definitely would not spare his life.

Although he had killed a man in black, he knew that it was a fluke by virtue of the Easy Travel. If he really confronted these men in black, he would not be qualified to be their adversary and not enough for these men in black to kill.

Of the thirty-six stratagems, the best was running away.

When he ran out of the door, he saw that there was also a bloodthirsty fight outside. Several corpses were lying on the ground, and several men in black were fighting with two escorts.

Those horses hauling the carriages were all dead on the ground now. Naturally, it was due to the men in black.

In the rain and wind, Yang Ning ran to the edge of a carriage. He cut the waterproof cloth with the icy blade, lifted it up, and saw two locked boxes placed on the carriage. It was in chaos inside and outside the tavern, so no one paid attention to him.

He cut across the iron lock of one box with his icy blade and opened it, only to find a dazzling array of porcelains in the box. He knew that these porcelains must be out of ordinary. They were certainly extremely expensive since so many people had been hired to escort them. However, he did not care about the values of these goods, and opened the other box. When he saw that there was no person in it, he knew that this escort team was indeed not the one he was looking for.

Turning his head, he saw that several horses were tied to the hitching post beside the tavern. Some of them had already been killed and were lying on the ground. But maybe the escorts got out the tavern so quickly that these men in black didn’t have enough time to kill all of them. There were still three horses neighing in the rain, stepping randomly with restlessness.

Yang Ning was overjoyed. He was worried that he had no horse to ride. At this time, he could just take advantage of the mess and get a horse. He didn’t hesitate for a second, and swiftly ran over.

He was yet to get close to the hitching post when he felt a flash of figures passing him. He turned his head, and saw that the elder in brown robe seemed to be flying with swift paces. He was holding the young man and passed him like a flash. His goal was also the horses.

After approaching the hitching post, the elder in brown robe knocked hard on it with the package in his hand. With a sound of “crack”, the hitching post was broken immediately. His method was indeed simple and violent.

The elder in brown robe had lifted the young man with one hand and flew to the horse. At this time, a sharp laughter sounded and it was unusually clear in the wind and rain. Yang Ning’s eyes followed the sound, and saw a black shadow diving from the midair, like a goshawk with its wings spread.

The black shadow came so soon. He spread his arms, which was like black wings of a bat, and straightly plunged on the elder in brown robe. Yang Ning immediately heard a mournful neigh. The horse suddenly raised its two front hooves, standing in the air like a man, and after a shrill neigh, it tumbled over to the ground. And it was in this moment that the elder in brown robe had already lifted up the young man and dropped on the ground aside lightly.

Yang Ning was surprised to see this scene.

Although he could see that this gang of men seemed to come for the goods, their behaviors were too venomous. They not only wanted to rob the escort carriages, but also wanted to kill all the men and horses.

The old man, the young man and he were not members of the escort team, but they still struck a vicious blow. It did show that they were sinister and diabolic.

Now Yang Ning saw clearly the man who came down from the sky. When the man was in the air, he looked like a big bird. At this time, Yang Ning knew that it was due to his clothes.

This man was also in black all over, but the sleeves under his two arms were like the wings of bats, which were very weird. Like other men in black, this person also wore a black mask on his face.

But this man was short. Compared with the elder in brown robe, he was a head shorter.

The elder in brown robe covered the young man behind him, staring coldly at the batman, and said lightly, “Disciples of the Hagakure School can hide themselves under the ground, and disciples of the Flying Cicada School can make shrill noise. The Koga School is good at confusing everything, and the Iga School is good at using water and fire… Among the many mysterious ninja schools in Dongying, the Hagakure School, the Flying Cicada School, the Koga School, and the Iga School are the most famous four schools. “

The batman made a horrifying laughter, and said with a hoarse voice, “You know a lot.”

Yang Ning was surprised, thinking that these men in black turned out to be Dongying Ninjas?

He knew that Dongying was Japan in the later generation. But this age was different from any historical dynasties that he was familiar with, so he did not expect that Dongying still existed.

But Dongying was far beyond the sea. If this group of people really were Dongying Ninjas, how could they come to this wild land?

He also knew that there were Japanese pirates in history. Among them, there were many Japanese vagabonds who raided homes and plundered houses in the coastal areas. But this place was far away from the coastal areas. How could the Dongying Ninjas come here to hijack the escort carriages?

“However, as early as a few decades ago the Flying Cicada clan has been replaced by the Kirigakure clan.” The elder in brown robe said, “The Flying Cicada clan had its heyday in the past and was one of the Four Mysterious Ninja Schools, so it didn’t enjoy undeserved fame. But as far as I know, the later generations of the Flying Cicada School are getting worse and worse, and they have bred enmity with the Hagakure School and the Koga School. A few decades ago, the Hagakure clan allied with the Koga clan and the Kirigakure clan to wipe out the Flying Cicada clan. Since then, the Flying Cicada clan has languished, and its remaining forces can only hide in the darkness like bats and dare not to show themselves before people. ”

Yang Ning was quite surprised when he heard that the elder in brown robe was talking with confidence, thinking that the elder in brown robe knew the things about Dongying as well. But he just didn’t know who he was exactly.

“As far as I know, the Flying Cicada clan can’t survive in Dongying, so they live on many isolated islands in the East Sea, just like abandoned dogs.” The elder in black robe smiled faintly, “The Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas today was nothing but a lower-class school. It may continue under the roof of other schools in the East Sea. But since it had got involved in today’s fight, I am afraid that the Flying Cicada clan will be extinct. ”

His words were irony and he seemed to irritate the other party deliberately.

Yang Ning was getting more and more confused at this time. At the beginning, he just thought that this group of people took advantage of the rain to attack the tavern, so that they could rob the escorts of their carriages. He thought they aimed to deal with the Four Seas Escort Agency. But now, the whole thing didn’t seem to be that simple.

One thing was certain, the strange batman should be the leader of this group of men in black, and this batman seemed to come for the elder in brown robe.

Does it mean that the goal of the other party is not the escort team, but the young man and the old man?

If this is the case, then he and this escort team are implicated by this young man and the old man.

The Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas had dispatched so many men to come specifically for this young man and the old man, so what were the true identities of these two men? And why did the other party come to kill them from afar?