I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 55 Escape
The room was dark, and in the middle of it, a young man was entangled in black mist and was about to fall.

As the boy's sword was drawn, the black, smoky thing that was wrapped around him was actually severed in two with a single stroke.

In Pei Ju's perception, the dark swamp that enveloped him vanished instantly under the sword.

His perception immediately became clear.

Although what the eyes see is still obscure and dark, the senses are clear.

Even in the dim light, two people could still be seen, a man and a woman, an old man and a mature woman.

The old man had a beard and wore a black robe, somewhat like a religious figure, and had a stern demeanor.

The mature woman was wearing a cheongsam, and her face and eyes were full of surprise.

The old man blocked the way out, while the mature woman blocked the view of the window.

Pei Ju had no other choice but to choose the one that posed the least threat, based on his own perception.

He broke through the swamp-like spell, and without stopping, he took a step forward and thrust at the old man.

This sword strike was executed using the Xi Yi sword technique. The sword's momentum was ethereal yet extremely fast. A point of silver sword light moved as swiftly as a shooting star in the darkness. The old man's eyes did not change much; the two points of sword light were reflected in his double-lidded eyes.

He seemed to be caught off guard, and his sword swiftly struck the old man's brow.

Pei Ju was not surprised at all, because after the sword was thrust down, the old man was instantly split apart, just like people who were originally overlapping each other were separated by the wind of the sword.

The moment they separated, both of them seemed unreal and illusory. Pei Ju couldn't tell which one was real and which one was fake, and he had no time to distinguish them, because the mature woman was already calling for help.

Therefore, Pei Ju turned his sword and headed towards the mature woman.

His attack on the old man was a feint. If he succeeded, all the better; if not, he would turn and leap out of the window. Attacking the old man was also a way to force him to defend himself first.

Since it was prepared well in advance, there was no hesitation whatsoever, and the mature woman was on the way Pei Ju left through the window.

At this moment, the two figures that split off from the old man took out a mirror and shone it on Pei Ju.

A sense of terror welled up in Pei Ju's heart. He lowered his body and twisted his steps, quickly closing in on the mature woman. The mature woman was also alert; before Pei Ju could touch her, her body had already split open.

It turned out to be the same ability as that old man from before.

As soon as her body split, Pei Ju could tell which one was real and which one was fake.

The real body is exactly the same as the original, while the fake body has a somewhat fake feel, with a stiff expression on its face.

Pei Ju ignored her. The sword in his hand was originally trailing behind him. He simply twirled the sword and the sharp edge of the sword barely grazed her throat. Blood gushed out instantly. Pei Ju's body also suddenly became faster. He darted around like a monkey in the mountains, piercing and leaping with his sword, or like a wild goose swooping down.

With the sword in front of him, he cleaved the window open with a single stroke, and the man slipped out through the opening.

The black-robed steward was furious. Just a moment ago, Pei Ju had hidden behind the woman, blocking the mirror in his hand. After the woman was killed by a sword, he shone the mirror, but Pei Ju first ducked down and then leaped up, preventing the mirror from reflecting her image.

He was about to use a mirror to cast a soul-capturing spell, and if Pei Ju fell for it, he would definitely not be able to escape.

But at this moment, this young swordsman, whom he had previously disregarded, not only broke through his quagmire of nothingness, but actually killed someone right under his nose.

"Embroiderer, embroiderer..."

He reached out to cover her throat, but blood gushed out, and the gruesome wound was beyond his ability to stop.

The woman collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from her mouth. She tried to speak, but the blood choked her, making it difficult to utter a complete sound. Nevertheless, she struggled to speak, reaching out to grasp his hand: "I... daughter..."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her." After the steward finished speaking, the mature woman's pupils dilated, and her hands lost their strength.

"My lord, my lord, this, this, Pei Ju did this?" the man in the red vest asked in surprise. He found it unbelievable. Pei Ju was clearly already trapped and would definitely be captured in no time. Or rather, he had already been captured, but no one thought he still had a chance to escape, so they didn't tie him up.

"Don't panic. Let's set up a mirror corridor here to guide the headmaster in. The embroiderer wanted to come in on her own, and there's nothing we can do now that she's dead. But our priority right now is to guide the headmaster in," the steward said solemnly.

"Yes, my lord."

The three of them came in as the vanguard; their purpose was to find a place to set up the mirror corridor.

After the deacon finished speaking, he took off his clothes, and inside his clothes were small square mirrors.

"Is that mirror in this room usable?" the deacon asked.

“It’s usable, but there are vengeful spirits on it,” the man in the red vest said.

"Lure out the vengeful spirits inside and kill them first," the black-robed deacon said.

They had sensed the presence of mirrors in the room beforehand and had intended to enter anyway.

Pei Ju rushed into the rain again, running towards the center of the town. His straw sandals were already wet, but he didn't take them off. Although they were uncomfortable, they were still slip-resistant.

After running carefully for a while, he hid under the eaves of a building. While he was still wondering who they were, he heard a faint voice.

He listened carefully and discovered that someone was praying.

He cautiously approached the window and saw an old woman sitting there, kneeling and bowing towards a wall, speaking in a local dialect that he couldn't understand at all.

However, recalling the moment he was trapped, he still felt a lingering fear.

I couldn't help but think to myself, these abilities are indeed terrifying.

He rested for a while, and then headed towards a place in the center of town, where the wealthy family lived.

He didn't know what he was going there for, he just wanted to find some answers, thinking that perhaps wealthy families would know more.

Another thing is that this wealthy family invited Uncle San to get rid of the evil tiger in the mountains, and it was also this wealthy family that was supposed to give him the household registration documents. This wealthy family must be somewhat different. Now that he can't get out and has no other choice, he went there to take a look.

What the other people saw were various rituals to the gods and all sorts of strange phenomena.

If this is what the town truly looks like now, then what exactly has happened in the world?

He wanted to know.

In the room he had fled from earlier, there was an old dressing mirror, and now he was standing in front of it.

The four doors were tightly shut, but a lamp was lit between a person and a mirror, and there was also a bowl of blood.

The butler sat in front of the mirror and began to comb his hair.

He combed his hair again and again, very carefully. Slowly, his reflection in the mirror, illuminated by the light, appeared exceptionally bright. His expression, which had been serious, gradually softened, even showing a hint of a smile.

(End of this chapter)