Xia Liu Yi charged up to the second floor. Near the stairway, he suddenly ducked—just barely avoiding a bullet that grazed past his hair! The guard who fired was forced back behind the wall by Xia Liu Yi’s return shots, his gun hand trembling as he stared at the corner.
Suddenly—a piece of clothing flickered past the edge of the wall!
The guard roared and emptied his entire magazine—only for a tattered coat to fall to the ground. It belonged to his dead comrade.
In an instant, Xia Liu Yi circled around the wall—
Shua—!
With a sharp metallic cry, the Azure Dragon blade cleaved horizontally into the wall panel. Reflected along its edge was the corridor’s overhead light. Sliding down the blade—was a severed head, eyes wide open. Below it, the headless corpse collapsed slowly to the floor.
“Ah—!”
A terrified scream rang out from a middle-aged woman not far away.
Xia Liu Yi lifted his cold, murderous gaze toward a man and woman—two house servants—cowering at the end of the corridor. Wiping the blood splattered across his face, he pulled the blade free with one hand. His expression was as ghastly as an Asura risen from hell itself as he advanced step by step.
The male servant shielded the female one, both trembling violently. Yet Xia Liu Yi merely walked past them, casting them a glance before sweeping his eyes into the open room beside them.
“Where is Xie Ying Jie?” he asked coldly.
They pressed their lips tight, refusing to answer. The cold blade tip pressed against the man’s throat. The woman behind him shrieked, “Don’t! Don’t! Master is upstairs—in the study! In the study!”
Xia Liu Yi withdrew his blade and turned away.
He had only taken a few steps when a gust of wind sounded behind him—he twisted aside swiftly! A fruit knife grazed his waist, drawing a line of blood. He seized the attacker’s wrist and slammed it into the wall, the knife clattering to the ground.
The male servant, having failed his ambush, roared and tackled him. They struggled on the ground for mere seconds before the man’s voice abruptly ceased—
With the fruit knife embedded in his chest, he was flung aside by Xia Liu Yi, his head drooping lifelessly.
Seeing her husband killed, the woman screamed even more shrilly. She lunged at Xia Liu Yi, clawing wildly, even biting into his arm. With a pained grunt, he shoved her away—she lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs, crashing several times before falling silent.
Xia Liu Yi rushed to the stairway and looked down at her limp, bloodied body. Breathing heavily, he glanced at the torn, bleeding bite mark left on his arm.
……
Xie Ying Jie was waiting for him in the third-floor study.
Kicking the door open with his gun raised, Xia Liu Yi saw a chair behind the desk, its back facing him toward the window. Wind and rain battered the glass with clanging force. He scanned the room cautiously.
Xie Ying Jie slowly turned around, hands resting on the armrests, his expression calm and indifferent.
“Come in. There’s no one else.”
Xia Liu Yi stepped forward slowly, his gun aimed unwaveringly at the man’s head. Xie Ying Jie rose and walked toward him.
“You are Xia Liu Yi.”
Xia Liu Yi frowned tightly, saying nothing.
“The people downstairs—you killed them all alone. Worthy of the title Blood Asura.”
“Cut the crap, Old Shopkeeper!” Xia Liu Yi said coldly. “Where is He Chu San?”
“What is your relationship with him? Ah, no wonder… he bore me no grudge, yet sought my death—for your sake…”
Before he could finish, Xia Liu Yi had already pressed his gun against his forehead.
Xie Ying Jie’s expression did not change in the slightest. From his gray pupils shone a cold, eerie light.
“I have no gun on me. If you win like this, it’s hardly honorable—against the rules of the jianghu. Why not fight properly?”
He gestured toward the twin blades on Xia Liu Yi’s back.
Xia Liu Yi shoved the gun harder against his forehead. “Shut the hell up! You’re not worthy to touch it!”
“If you defeat me, I’ll tell you where He Chu San is. Kill me—and you’ll never find him.”
Xia Liu Yi’s savage gaze tore across his face like a serrated blade. After a moment, he withdrew his gun, stepped back, drew one blade, and tossed another to him.
“That’s more like it. How obedient.” Xie Ying Jie sneered faintly, weighing the blade in his hand. “A fine weapon…”
Before he finished speaking—
A sharp tremor cut through the air! Xia Liu Yi was already lunging forward!
Blades clashed with a vicious metallic shriek! The two crossed past one another, their swords spinning arcs of light before colliding again—
Zheng—!
Grinding against each other.
A shallow cut appeared on Xie Ying Jie’s ashen face. Feeling the sting, he gave a crooked smile. “Heh. Crude technique.”
With a roar, Xia Liu Yi pressed forward, driving him back to the desk. Their blades parted with a sharp ring. Xie Ying Jie rolled across the desk, while Xia Liu Yi’s pursuing strike smashed into the chair, sending feathers bursting into the air.
White down fluttered everywhere, only to be whipped back into the air by the violent wind of their movements. Xia Liu Yi’s strikes came fast and ruthless. Xie Ying Jie dodged repeatedly, then suddenly seized an opening and counterattacked—
They spun past each other. A slash opened across Xia Liu Yi’s waist, blood soaking through his clothes and dripping to the floor.
Xia Liu Yi stepped back, took a heavy breath, and raised his blade again.
“You’re a crude fighter too,” he sneered.
Xie Ying Jie laughed softly, his voice eerie, like wind slipping through cracks in a window—cold and chilling.
“Our blades were never meant for display. We carved our way out of mountains of blades and seas of blood. Born in bitter lands, with narrow paths and no light—those who stood in our way were wolves and vermin. Without casting aside humanity, without stepping on blood—how could we carve a new world?”
“Enough talk!” Xia Liu Yi roared. “Take this!”
Blade light and blood light intertwined within the narrow room. Xie Ying Jie moved like a whirlwind, circling him as he laughed—
“We never had a choice. Walk one wrong path—you must keep walking. Commit one sin—you must commit countless more to cover it. If you want to wash the blood from your hands, you must drain all the blood from your body. If you want to become a butterfly, you must cast away your caterpillar self. If you want to save someone—you must trade your own life for his. Can you do it? Are you willing?”
With a furious roar, Xia Liu Yi finally slammed him against the desk! Veins bulged on both their foreheads as they pushed their blades with all their strength—the gleaming edge was mere inches from Xie Ying Jie’s throat!
“Where is He Chu San?!” Xia Liu Yi bellowed.
“Yes… that’s it,” Xie Ying Jie said, smiling into his maddened, murderous eyes. “If I don’t tell you—will you kill me? You’ve already slaughtered everyone in this house. What difference is there between you and me? Oh—I’m still a police officer, while you’re just a gangster. You’ve done far more filthy deeds than I have—what right do you have to judge me? To seek revenge? Shouldn’t Azure Dragon have died? Shouldn’t you have died? Shouldn’t He Chu San—who betrayed his conscience to love you—have died?”
With a feral roar, Xia Liu Yi pressed the blade closer to his throat. A thin line of dark blood seeped out.
Suddenly—
That thread of blood seemed to creep along the blade like a vine. Reflected upon it were their faces—two identical visages of savage bloodlust—merging into one, transforming into demons.
In that instant, Xia Liu Yi felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss. A chilling demonic will surged from the depths of his heart, binding his limbs.
Seizing the moment, Xie Ying Jie flipped up and slashed down at his head! Xia Liu Yi snapped back to himself and raised his blade to block—
Zheng—!
Both blades were knocked from their hands, flying into the air!
With a roar, Xia Liu Yi charged forward, grappling with Xie Ying Jie barehanded. Locked together, they struggled violently—until—
Bang—hua!
With a tremendous crash, the two shattered through the window and plunged into the void below!
Futile Devices Scans 
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