Chapter 370: Disappointment

“Lady Hua…”

“You’ve really disappointed me…”

“I never expected you would strike to kill me without hesitation…”

There was a tinge of bitterness in Duan Chen’s voice—three parts regret, seven parts indifference—as if, the moment he spoke these words, the “Lady Hua” he had held dear in his heart had completely departed from him.

Hua Erniang flicked her longsword, shaking off the fresh blood in a neat arc. The blade, cold as frost and pure as snow, glowed faintly with a golden hue.

“Duan Chen, when you schemed against my husband, did you ever hesitate?”

At her words, Duan Chen’s expression revealed a look of realization. He then let out a wry smile. “No, I suppose I didn’t.”

“Then that settles it,” Hua Erniang said coldly.

“This shouldn’t be… shouldn’t be possible… Given your level of cultivation, there’s no way you could have seen through my plans…”

As he spoke, Duan Chen lifted his gaze toward the white-clad figure seated in the distance on the viewing platform. “Was it that Mr. Gu who guided you?”

Hua Erniang raised her sword and pointed it at him. Her voice was icy. “There’s no need for more words. Release these commoners, and I’ll fight you one-on-one.”

“Release them?” Duan Chen sneered. “Now that the last veil has been torn away, do you really think I’ll keep up this charade of being a man who cares for the world?”

“For all the years you’ve known me, you still don’t understand—I despise the weak and the hypocritical the most.”

Hua Erniang refuted, “Weakness is only relative. Compared to the Void Emperor, you are just as insignificant.”

“As for hypocrisy, I doubt anyone can surpass you in that regard.”

“Heh…” Duan Chen let out a cold laugh and pointed at a middle-aged couple nearby. “These two, in order to ensure their own survival, tricked a relative who had once helped them into coming to Northern Huangtian—only to sell them off the moment they arrived!”

Then, he turned toward the group of inn workers. With mockery in his voice, he said, “And these inn servants of yours—aren’t they only loyal to you because you protect them? Because they need you?”

“These people are nothing more than leeches, feeding off of you.”

“And you—you’re the fool. No… Before you got married, you were quite clever. But ever since you married that naive, hypocritical wandering swordsman, you’ve become so soft… so easily deceived!”

At these words, Hua Erniang’s pupils contracted, transforming into a pair of amber slitted eyes. A fierce wind surged around her.

Seeing this, Duan Chen let out a long sigh and shook his head. “Lady Hua, you are indeed capable, but you cannot defeat me.”

As soon as his words fell, sharp, menacing claw shadows appeared all around him. These phantom claws, pale yellow in color and resembling those of a great feline, emitted a chilling hissing sound as they emerged—capable of slicing through the very air itself.

The moment Hua Erniang’s slit pupils gleamed, the phantom claws erupted with a piercing screech, slashing toward Duan Chen, who stood bloodied yet composed. Each strike targeted his vitals with ruthless precision.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The battlefield resounded with a succession of explosive impacts.

But Duan Chen remained unmoved. The moment the claws approached him, they disintegrated effortlessly!

Seeing this, Hua Erniang’s heart sank.

For him to destroy her lethal attacks so easily meant that the gap between them was as vast as the heavens and the earth.

Even so, she showed no intention of giving up. The golden light in her slit pupils flared brighter as she summoned even more formidable claw phantoms, attacking Duan Chen from unpredictable, ghostly angles.

But whereas Hua Erniang was fully focused on the battle, Duan Chen hardly seemed to be taking it seriously at all.

With just a casual swing of his sword, entire clusters of phantom claws shattered. Against the weaker ones, he didn’t even bother countering—his mere presence was enough to obliterate them before they could touch him.

The spectators were utterly stunned.

No one had expected the final battle of this death match to escalate to such an extreme.

What had once seemed like a team bound by life and death had now turned into a rivalry of irreconcilable hatred.

The onlookers desperately wanted to share their excitement with those beside them, yet with the crowd in stunned silence, the entire scene felt eerily like a pantomime performance.

Meanwhile, Hua Erniang’s slit pupils were now bloodshot. As she desperately searched for an opportunity to land a killing blow on Duan Chen, he suddenly gestured behind her with a playful smirk.

In the next moment—

A three-inch blade pierced through her abdomen from behind.

Blood dripped from the tip of the blade.

Who?!

Just as Hua Erniang was about to turn her head, she saw a tall, skinny figure dart out from behind her, sprinting straight toward Duan Chen’s side.

“Master Duan! This woman is ungrateful and relentlessly trying to kill you! I helped you stab her!”

“Please take me in! I’m willing to serve you like a beast of burden!”

Perhaps fearing that Hua Erniang would suddenly strike back at him, the bamboo-thin servant ran at an astonishing speed. Upon reaching Duan Chen, he knelt like a loyal servant and kowtowed several times.

Seeing this, Doubao couldn’t help but shout, “Scum! Worse than an animal!”

“Hua Erniang risked her life to save him, yet he repaid kindness with betrayal!”

“Mr. Gu, how did he even get behind Hua Erniang? He’s just a mere mortal—he shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on her!”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an replied, “Duan Chen’s abilities far surpass Hua Erniang’s. This is also his stronghold. Concealing the presence of that skinny wretch was a trivial matter for him.”

Clang!

Hua Erniang pulled the sword from her abdomen and tossed it to the ground. Facing the betrayal of the bamboo-thin youth, she seemed to have nothing to say. Instead, she simply continued channeling her techniques, launching relentless attacks on Duan Chen.

On the other side, Duan Chen’s lips curled into a smile. He chuckled and said, “Hua Erniang, do you see now? These are the people you protect—hypocrites who will betray you just to save their own skin.”

The bamboo-thin servant quickly chimed in, “Yes, yes! Master Duan is absolutely right! I am a traitor, and I willingly serve Master Duan! I’d even be his guard dog!”

“Ha…” Duan Chen swept his gaze over the surrounding mortals and smirked. “If you want to live, follow this boy’s example!”

“Pick up a blade and stab Hua Erniang—prove your loyalty!”

“Don’t worry, I will conceal your presence. She won’t even notice you.”

The moment Duan Chen finished speaking, Ying Xiang soared into the air and dropped identical daggers before the gathered inn workers.

These daggers were the same as those wielded by the middle-aged couple earlier—specially crafted so that even mortals could wound demon cultivators.

The bamboo-thin servant had just picked up one of these daggers from the middle-aged man’s hand, which was how he had managed to pierce Hua Erniang.

A few breaths later, more than half of the inn workers picked up the daggers before them and began advancing toward Hua Erniang from all directions.