Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40: Will You Be Expelled?
"I’ll give you one chance. If you can’t kill me, I’ll be the one snapping your neck."
Han Shu spoke these murderous words lightly, completely dismissing Lu Chao.
’What a joke,’ she thought. ’I’m an Innate Sixth Layer expert, while this Life-taking Bone Calamity Star is merely Postnatal Sixth Layer. The difference in power is practically insurmountable.’
Aboard his warhorse, Lu Chao narrowed his eyes.
Then, True Qi began to surge along his longspear. He finally spoke, "Then... face my spear!"
BOOM...
Lu Chao spurred his horse, charging man and beast as one toward Han Shu, his momentum utterly explosive.
But Han Shu simply continued to sneer...
"Do you think you can kill me just by adding the force of a warhorse’s charge?"
"Haha, even with the horse’s power, the best you could hope for is to be considered at the Postnatal Ninth Layer. But against me, you’ll die instantly."
As her voice fell, Han Shu raised her hand, viciously striking at Lu Chao on his warhorse with her Innate True Qi.
It was a palm strike that no one present, save for Fan Jinhua, could possibly withstand.
Yet, in the instant Han Shu’s palm was about to connect, in the very moment Fan Jinhua prepared to intervene and save him, Lu Chao suddenly dropped. He slipped beneath his warhorse just before the force of the palm strike arrived.
"Hm?" Han Shu was momentarily stunned.
Fan Jinhua, who had already taken a step forward, froze as well, momentarily unsure of what Lu Chao was planning.
In the next moment, THUD THUD THUD!
Suddenly, all the warhorses—save for the two belonging to Cheng Yunsu and Cheng Chuming—let out frenzied neighs.
As if they’d been fed some madness-inducing drug, dozens of them charged wildly toward Han Shu and the main hall of the Cheng Mansion.
The faces of Wu Xin and the others changed drastically. Someone shouted, "Quick, cut down the horses!"
A stampede of warhorses meant little to a Postnatal expert, but anyone below that level could easily be trampled to death.
Instantly, Cheng Weishan and his men took action, swiftly cutting down the maddened warhorses... but complete chaos had already erupted before the Cheng Mansion’s main hall.
Watching this from a distance, Wu Caicai suddenly exclaimed, "But where is Lu Chao?"
Uncle Leng shuddered, his eyes darting frantically through the chaotic mess of men and horses, searching for any sign of Lu Chao.
But he was nowhere to be found...
Fan Jinhua’s eyes widened. He growled, "He’s behind Han Shu! He’s using the chaos from the horses as a cover for an assassination attempt. I underestimated him."
As he spoke, both Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng whipped their heads toward Han Shu.
And there, an uncanny figure materialized behind her—Lu Chao. A flash of sword light suddenly erupted from within the chaos...
"AARGH!"
Han Shu, who had been so poised and self-assured just a moment ago, her expression twisted in horror. A bloodcurdling scream tore from her throat as that inexplicably strange blade of light sliced clean through her arm, sending it flying into the air.
In the next instant, Lu Chao’s ghostly figure flashed forward to snatch the severed arm out of the air, then retreated from the crowd as eerily and tracelessly as he had appeared.
He reappeared on Cheng Yunsu’s warhorse, once again sharing the mount with her.
By this time, all the frenzied warhorses had been cut down.
Order was finally restored before the Cheng Mansion’s hall. Cheng Weishan, his hands dripping with the blood of horses, sneered, "You Life-taking Bone trash, causing a stampede... too bad your little scheme... huh? Whose arm is that you’re holding?"
He trailed off mid-sentence, only then noticing the gory, dripping arm that Lu Chao was now holding.
The others noticed it at the same time and froze.
Only then did the crowd finally register the bloodcurdling screams beside them. Wu Xin was the first to react, "Master Han, you... you..."
Everyone’s gaze followed the screams, and they were all collectively dumbstruck.
They saw Han Shu, who had been so insufferably arrogant moments before, clutching a shoulder that was now gushing blood, screaming without end.
The crowd looked from Han Shu to the gory arm in Lu Chao’s hand...
And their minds went completely blank.
’In that brief moment of chaos, the Life-taking Bone Calamity Star... actually chopped off Master Han’s arm.’
The guests watching from a distance fell into a dead silence...
Uncle Leng asked numbly, "He clearly could have killed Han Shu. Why didn’t he?"
Neither Wu Caicai nor Fan Jinhua had an answer.
While the entire crowd was still reeling in stunned silence, Lu Chao, sitting before Cheng Yunsu on the horse, spoke coldly...
"Master Han, is it?"
"I’ve suddenly decided not to kill you. A quick death would be letting you off too easy. It’s much better to have you return to the Great Wu Imperial Academy with only one arm, letting everyone there laugh at you."
"Having lost an arm, you’ll probably be expelled from the Imperial Academy, won’t you?" fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Lu Chao’s voice boomed from horseback, ringing out over the crowd...
Clutching her shoulder, Han Shu stopped screaming and roared, "My arm! Give it back to me!"
’I can still reattach it now! If I bleed out, it’ll be too late!’
At this point, she didn’t care how Lu Chao had managed it. All she wanted was her arm back.
CRUNCH...
In response, Lu Chao simply tightened his grip. The entire arm disintegrated into a pulp in his hand, which he then tossed to the ground like so much refuse.
Lu Chao said coldly, "My apologies. I can’t seem to return it anymore."
A cold wind whistled past...
Han Shu’s eyes widened as she stared at the mangled remains of her arm. Her face twisted into a demonic snarl. "I’ll... rip you to shreds."
Her composure shattered. With a wild cry, she charged toward Lu Chao.
But Lu Chao simply charged again, raising his spear and bringing it down heavily on the lunging Han Shu.
While Han Shu was, indeed, still at the Innate Sixth Layer, she had just lost an arm, and her True Qi was in disarray.
Until she could stop the bleeding and replenish her energy, Han Shu’s combat strength was, at best, equivalent to the Postnatal Ninth Layer.
This single strike sent Han Shu staggering back into the crowd.
Lu Chao reined in his horse and leveled his spear.
"When you get back to the Imperial Academy, people are going to ask questions. They’re going to want to know how you lost your arm."
"Just make sure you don’t tell them it’s because you were so insistent on getting a student from the Imperial Academy expelled."
Panic flickered across Han Shu’s face. ’Someone will definitely investigate.’
’Losing an arm might not be grounds for expulsion.’
’But if they found out I was determined to ruin a student of the Imperial Academy for no good reason, I would absolutely be expelled.’
’That would be a fate worse than death...’
At this thought, Han Shu shrieked, "Wu Xin! Quickly, send someone to call for men from the City Lord’s Mansion! We have to kill this menace!"
The terrified Wu Xin finally snapped out of her stupor.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, "This is Wu Xin! Everyone outside the Cheng Mansion, listen up! Someone get to the City Lord’s Mansion immediately! Tell my father to dispatch the Government Soldiers and kill this damned Life-taking Bone!"
As she finished speaking, some of the onlookers in the street immediately started running toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
Seeing this, Wu Xin turned back to Lu Chao. "None of you are leaving Yangzhou City today. You’re dead men walking."
’Even though Master Han has lost an arm and can’t kill Lu Chao now, he can’t touch us either. As long as we keep him and Cheng Yunsu from escaping the Cheng Mansion, or even Yangzhou City... the moment the Government Soldiers from the City Lord’s Mansion arrive, they’re doomed.’
At this thought, Wu Xin shrieked viciously, "This is Yangzhou City! This is my turf!"
The words had barely left her lips when an elegant female voice suddenly cut through the crowd...
"Congratulations to Hero Lu and Miss Cheng on their joyous union. May your hearts be bound together for all time."
