The Invincible Bodyguard Starting by Escorting the Doomsday Imperial Princess Chapter 102 : Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The Great Zhou Profound Dragon Army Arrives!

Suddenly, that man’s gaze fell upon Chen Guan, who was holding Luo Li in his arms, and his eyes abruptly lit up.

That look was like a wolf that had gone hungry for three days catching sight of a slab of fresh at, filled with naked greed and admiration.

“Oh? What a handso young man... those sturdy arms, those cold, sharp brows. My, my... compared to that little girl, I like you even more!”

Seeing the other party stare at him so openly, as though he wanted to devour him alive on the spot, Chen Guan could not help but feel the corner of his eye twitch violently.

“Damn it... don’t tell this Painted Skin Fiend is so blasted pervert?”

This man was none other than the thousand-year Painted Skin Fiend that had slaughtered Baiyuan Town three days earlier!

As for why he had co here, that went without saying.

“Young sir, why don’t we discuss sothing?” The Painted Skin Fiend shot Chen Guan a flirtatious glance, his voice so syrupy it seed about to drip.

“You co with , and I’ll let this little girl go. How about it? Don’t worry... I’ll be very gentle.”

The Painted Skin Fiend’s peach-blossom eyes remained locked on Chen Guan, blazing with unrestrained heat.

The mont Chen Guan heard that coy, cloying tone, goosebumps instantly rose all over his body.

With a blackened face, he glanced at Luo Li in his arms, who clearly wanted to laugh but did not dare, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

“Get the hell away from !”

The words had barely fallen when the Horse-Cleaving Saber in his hand slashed out violently, and a domineering blade qi tore through the air, striking straight at the Painted Skin Fiend’s face!

Yet the scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere that he had expected did not appear.

That sharp blade light passed straight through the Painted Skin Fiend’s body as though it had cut through a projection.

“Oh my, why is young sir so rough?” The Painted Skin Fiend brushed at dust that did not exist on his body and coyly smiled at Chen Guan.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you—my true body is a shadow puppet.”

“A shadow puppet?” Hearing that, Luo Li’s expression tightened, and she imdiately said in a low voice, “Brother Chen, be careful!”

“Shadow Puppet Fiends are among the hardest kinds of Demonic Beings to deal with. They are formless and without substance. Ordinary attacks simply cannot harm their true bodies!”

“Is that so?”

Chen Guan, however, curled his lips into a smile and gave the Painted Skin Fiend a wicked grin. “How about this? Let’s make a wager.”

“You let cut you three tis. If you’re still alive after those three blows, then I’ll go with you. How about that?”

“Oh?!” The Shadow Puppet Fiend froze for a mont, then his face burst into wild delight. “Th-that was your own offer, young sir! No taking it back!”

“Mhm. My own words.” Chen Guan nodded with a serious face.

“Good! Good!” The Shadow Puppet Fiend was overjoyed, and even deliberately struck what he clearly thought was a very elegant pose.

“I’ll stand right here without moving and let you do as you please!”

“Co then, young sir. Hurry and cut ! I can’t wait any longer!”

The mont those words fell, Chen Guan suddenly looked toward Luo Li.

Luo Li happened to et his gaze.

“What are you staring at? This thing that’s neither man nor woman ca for you.”

“I’m already disgusted sick... you’ll have to Pay More. Compensate for emotional damage!”

“Uh!” Luo Li froze for a mont. But it was clearly looking at you, wasn’t it?

Even so, she still nodded. “Fine. I’ll add one hundred taels.”

【Ding! Host’s On-the-Spot Price Hike Successful!】

【Escort mission reward increased: 10%!】

【Escort Mission: Escort Luo Li to the Grand Preceptor’s Manor in Shangjing City of Great Zhou.】

【Current mission reward: Escort Points 470】

The mont Chen Guan heard that Escort Points total, the goosebumps on his body instantly disappeared.

Yet the Painted Skin Fiend grew displeased. “Little girl, are you insulting ? I’m worth only one hundred taels?”

“All right, all right. You’re at least a thousand-year fiend. Don’t you think it’s embarrassing to haggle with a little girl?” Chen Guan interrupted him directly, as though he were chatting about so household matter.

“Mhm, young sir is right!” The Painted Skin Fiend nodded, then craned his neck. “Co on, cut already!”

Chen Guan nodded, and with a single thought—【Decapitating Slash】 (Activated): Every strike carries the true intent of the blade. There is a 10% chance of triggering an “instant-kill” effect, forcibly severing the enemy’s head regardless of realm!

He casually swung out a blade.

The sharp blade qi once again slipped through the Painted Skin Fiend’s body without the slightest hindrance.

“One cut!” The Shadow Puppet Fiend even flamboyantly raised one finger, closed his eyes in pleasure, and said, “Mm! That felt wonderful. Again!”

Chen Guan remained expressionless and even praised him. “Mm, your body truly is remarkable.”

The mont the words fell, he swung a second ti.

That utterly unobstructed blade light passed through the Shadow Puppet Fiend’s body once again.

“Two cuts!” The Shadow Puppet Fiend raised a second finger. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Guan grew even more feverish, almost enough to pull threads.

“There’s only one cut left. Once you’ve finished, young sir, you’ll belong to .”

The corner of Chen Guan’s mouth twitched. “Then that will depend on whether your luck is good enough.”

With that, he raised the Horse-Cleaving Saber once more and casually swung it out in exactly the sa way as before.

Only this ti, there ca a soft ripping sound.

The Shadow Puppet Fiend’s expression of blissful enjoynt instantly froze.

And then that handso head of his flew high into the air of its own accord, tracing a beautiful arc before plopping into the river.

“How... how is this possible?”

Even though its head was gone, that body still hovered in midair, giving voice to utter disbelief. “Th-this... this... how can this be?!”

He was a shadow-skin being, formless and without substance. How could he possibly have been struck...

As his head sank to the bottom of the river, that consciousness, doubting its very fiendish existence, gradually vanished with it.

“Mm. Your luck really is quite good.”

Chen Guan muttered to himself. He could not even be bothered to spare it another glance. With one smooth motion, he sheathed the blade, as though he had done nothing more important than swat a fly.

“Oh, right. I’d advise you to fix your brain first in your next life.”

This was the first ti he had ever seen a demon or fiend die because it was stupid enough to stand there and let him cut it.

Ever since he had obtained the true blade art of 【Decapitating Slash】, no one had ever endured three cuts. Most of them struck the jackpot by the second cut.

He truly had no idea whether this thing had been lucky or unlucky.

“Th-this...”

Luo Li stared blankly as that headless body twisted and spasd in midair before exploding into a thin shadow puppet.

Then it burst into fla and, in the span of a breath, turned to drifting ash that scattered into the morning wind.

“That... that thing was just... cut down by Chen Guan like that?”

The thousand-year Painted Skin Fiend that had slaughtered the thousands of people in Baiyuan Town had simply died so lightly?

At that mont, she suddenly found sothing about it almost laughable.

What was laughable was not the massacre itself, but this absurd world—so people held heaven-reaching power and authority, and with a single word or motion could decide the life or death of others;

while others, like Chen Guan, could make those lofty arbiters of life and death die in a fashion so ridiculous, so absurd.

“All right, all right, what are you standing there daydreaming for?”

Chen Guan’s voice cut off her thoughts. Looking irritated, he once again pulled out a sheet of paper and a brush and held them out to Luo Li.

Luo Li’s brows drew together faintly.

This man truly never forgot about making money, no matter the mont.

Left with no choice, she took the writing materials and wrote out another IOU for one hundred taels.

That note could at least count as so kind of answer to those common people who had died.

Once that was done, Luo Li shook off the tangled thoughts in her heart and quietly walked back to the bank. She picked up her travel pack, untied the horse tethered in the grass by the road, and leapt into the saddle.

Once seated firmly, her face returned to its usual calm, as though the terrifying sight of a thousand-year great fiend being slain in the river just now had been nothing more than an absurd farce.

She knew that the farther ahead they went, the more dangerous things would beco. A cruel and grotesque scene like today’s would by no ans be the last.

Chen Guan also mounted with calm indifference, though just before getting on, his gaze seed to casually sweep over the surroundings.

Then he pressed his legs to the horse’s flanks and rode away abreast with Luo Li.

The two of them did not speak along the way. When they passed a small town up ahead, they stopped only long enough for each to eat a bowl of noodles, then left the town without lingering and continued on toward Shangjing City.

Yet after they had gone only a short distance, Luo Li’s expression suddenly grew grave. She tugged on the reins, steadied the increasingly restless horse beneath her, cast a wary look around, and said in a low voice, “Brother Chen, this place... it’s far too quiet.”

Chen Guan glanced at her.

“Should I find so excuse and charge this dead girl a little more tuition again?”

How long had it even been? And the girl had already beco so sensitive to danger!

Not bad. At this mont, they were already surrounded.

And the people who had co were by no ans weak. They had frightened even the nearby animals into hiding.

Even the fine horses beneath them were growing increasingly agitated!

“Pay them no mind.”

Chen Guan answered blandly and continued riding ahead.

But after they had gone less than a hundred ters, over a hundred figures suddenly shot out from the forest on both sides of the road with a series of sharp whooshes, completely surrounding them.

Each of them wore black clothes and veils over their faces, revealing only pairs of cold eyes.

The auras on their bodies were mixed and uneven, clearly showing that they ca from different factions, yet in perfect tacit understanding, every single strand of their killing intent was locked onto Chen Guan.

Luo Li instinctively tugged at her reins and edged her horse closer to Chen Guan’s side.

She knew that these people had to have been sent by her uncle, and that their purpose was to forcibly take her away.

Even now, she still could not understand why her uncle insisted on forcing her down that so-called “road of trial” they had already laid out for her.

Since she had already chosen the road she wanted to walk, she would never compromise.

Yet just as she thought a great battle was about to erupt, those black-clad figures suddenly seed to receive so signal all at once. They exchanged glances, their bodies flashed, and they receded once more like a retreating tide, disappearing back into the forests on both sides of the road without a trace.

Chen Guan remained utterly unhurried, as though he had seen nothing at all, and kept riding forward toward the end of the official road.

But they had not gone far before an urgent thunder of hoofbeats suddenly ca from ahead, loud as rolling thunder, making even the ground tremble slightly.

Then a unit of brilliantly armored cavalry galloped up from the other end of the official road. Golden banners stread in the wind, and a stern killing aura rushed over them head-on.

Luo Li’s expression tightened instantly. She looked even more tense than she had when she saw those black-clad n monts ago.

Because this force was none other than the imperial guard of Shangjing City itself—the Profound Dragon Army!

One of the prerequisites for entering this army was that one’s cultivation had to be at least at the Profound Passage Realm.

They did not wage war. Their sole duty was inspection, pursuit, and arrest, and the authority they wielded was imnse. They answered only to the Emperor of Great Zhou. Above, they could execute imperial kinsn; below, they could kill commoners. No report was required. They could Execute First, Report Later!

“No wonder those black-clad people suddenly withdrew. So it turns out they noticed the regular forces of the court arriving!”

Luo Li muttered, then beca even more alert.

With the official road ahead completely blocked, Chen Guan had no choice but to pull on the reins and slowly bring his horse to a stop.

The leading general, clad in golden armor and wearing a cold expression, rode forward and halted three zhang away from Chen Guan.

With a wave of his hand, the five hundred Profound Dragon Army soldiers behind him imdiately spread out with practiced precision, sealing off the forests on both sides of the road as well as the front and rear routes, cutting off every avenue of escape.

Yet the general did not speak at once. He rely stared coldly at them, as though waiting for sothing.

Chen Guan remained utterly calm on horseback. He too said nothing, rely gazing ahead.

Above the official road before them, a middle-aged man in embroidered robes appeared, accompanied by two gray-robed elders. After only a few flickers of movent, the three had already arrived before them.

When the embroidered-robed man ca near, his eyes first swept over Chen Guan’s calm expression.

Only then did they settle on Luo Li, her face veiled in gauze. After studying her for a mont, he let out a long sigh.

“So alike... truly, too alike.”

Then he spoke again, his voice carrying a trace of complicated emotion.

“Princess Luo, in truth... you should never have co to Great Zhou.”