Just as the two were about to clash, Han Li slightly twisted the blade in his hand, tilting the angle just a little. Yes, it was only a tiny change, but in Doctor Mo’s eyes, it was a world-altering transformation.
Doctor Mo suddenly saw a bright flash as over a dozen blinding white lights erupted before him. This light was incredibly intense, reflecting straight into his eyes without any obstruction.
Secretly cursing «Not good!» in his mind, he hastily retreated and shut his eyelids immediately, but it was already too late. The white light pierced into his vision in an instant, leaving him no chance to react.
Doctor Mo felt a burning sensation in his eyes, followed by an aching pain. Tears streamed out endlessly. Without pausing to wipe them away, he forced his eyes open despite the discomfort and looked out, but all he saw was a blurry white expanse. Forget seeing objects clearly, even the outlines of things were hazy and indistinct.
At this moment, he felt both shocked and furious, deeply regretting that he had carelessly fallen into his opponent’s trap once again.
However, Doctor Mo was a seasoned traveler of the jianghu, rich in experience handling all manner of dangers. He continued retreating footstep by footstep, trying to distance himself and buy some time. Simultaneously, he brought both palms back in front of him, waving them ceaselessly to use his blade-and-spear-proof Silver Demon Hand to shield the vital points of his upper body.
He had already made up his mind: before his vision returned to normal, he would not initiate any attacks. All offensive actions would have to wait until he could see clearly again, lest he fall into the wily brat’s scheme once more.
Now, Doctor Mo had completely cast aside his initial contempt. His struggle with Han Li was just as perilous as his life-and-death battles with formidable foes from his early years.
Although he couldn’t see his opponent’s movements, Doctor Mo pricked up his ears, listening intently to try and discern Han Li’s next action from the sounds.
He seemed to vaguely see a figure flicker before him. Immediately after, a sharp sound, accompanied by a gust of cold air, struck straight toward him from the front.
Regarding Han Li’s assassination attempt, Doctor Mo felt not panic, but a hint of delight.
The opponent’s methods were still somewhat naive. If he had silently ambushed from the side, Doctor Mo might have had cause for worry. But to attack so brazenly from the front? What was there to fear? His skill of identifying movements by sound was long perfected. Not only could he hear a straight thrust from a short sword perfectly, he could even detect a slender embroidery needle hurtling through the air.
Doctor Mo heard it clearly, but deliberately slowed his hand movements, leaving a small opening in his defense. Sure enough, the sound of the sneak attack instantly shifted, diving through that gap and heading straight for his throat.
A grim smile flashed across Doctor Mo’s face. His right hand, which had been poised and waiting, suddenly struck out with lightning speed. He grabbed the blade in a tight grip, completely unafraid of its sharp edge.
The opponent clearly realized the danger and violently tried to yank the short sword back several times. But under the control of the Silver Demon Hand, it couldn’t budge an inch. It was a futile effort.
Doctor Mo felt a surge of smugness, but his hand did not dare to loosen its grip even slightly. Fearing the opponent would come to his senses and break free to run away, he ignored that his eyes hadn’t recovered yet. His single hand suddenly exerted full force, pulling the short sword toward his side, intending to drag Han Li over and subdue him personally. However, he only felt lightness in his grip, as if holding nothing.
He was greatly startled. He was clearly still gripping the blade, so how had it become so weightless all at once? Even if Han Li had let go, it shouldn’t feel this feather-light.
Before Doctor Mo could figure out what had happened, he felt a piercing, air-tearing shriek erupt suddenly a few inches from his throat. It seemed a slender object was stabbing toward him at an unimaginable speed. The object hadn’t even arrived, but the displaced air already caused a faint stinging pain at his Adam’s apple.
There was no time for thought. His body reacted on pure instinct. His head jerked to one side, his neck twisting at an impossible angle as he desperately tried to evade this lethal strike.
The profound foundation honed through years of bitter training finally paid off at this moment. Doctor Mo only felt a cold sensation at his neck as the sharp object grazed past, only slightly scratching his skin and causing no greater harm.
After dodging this attack, Doctor Mo feared his opponent still had hidden moves left. Without overthinking, he actually copied Han Li’s earlier desperate escape maneuver. His body collapsed to the ground, executing a «lazy donkey roll,» tumbling far away from Han Li before daring to stand up again.
Once upright, Doctor Mo felt a searing pain on his neck. He involuntarily touched the wound, finding his hand wet. It seemed a fair amount of blood had flowed out.
He hurriedly used two fingers to seal the nearby blood vessels to stop the bleeding.
Only then did a lingering fear wash over him. He felt that attack just now should have been impossible to dodge. He hadn’t expected his body to perform supernaturally beyond its limits, allowing him to cheat death by some miracle.
Thinking of this, Doctor Mo couldn’t help but look up at Han Li. It was only then that he realized the objects in his vision had become clear again. His sight had recovered without him noticing when.
He saw Han Li staring at him with a face full of unwillingness, obviously deeply frustrated that his opponent had escaped death once again.
In Han Li’s hand, he was holding a sharp weapon about an inch long. Shaped like an exceptionally short awl or cone, the handle was still the original sword grip. The overall appearance was somewhat strange. It had some bloodstains on it—the very weapon that had wounded Doctor Mo.
Doctor Mo’s expression turned cold, his eyes filled with fury. He had endured enough of his repeated brushes with death and was about to erupt, but suddenly he noticed his right hand still seemed to be holding something.
He looked down. It was a hilt-less blade, light and feathery. Holding it up for a closer look, he suddenly understood. This blade was hollow. Judging by the size and shape of the cavity, what had been hidden inside was precisely that sharp cone. This blade was merely a sleeve placed over the cone, a ruse to deceive the eye.
Instantly, the rage that filled his heart was doused completely clean by this unexpected discovery.
(End of Chapter)