Chapter 96 Joke
Guo Chenggu felt a sharp pain in his throat, and the long sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. Then his right palm also felt a sharp pain, and he fell to the ground.

Several Songshan disciples were eager to come over to help, but Xin Zhen snorted coldly and they stopped in their tracks.

Shi Dengda called out urgently: "Junior Brother Guo, Junior Brother Guo! How are you?"

But Guo Chenggu slowly stood up, his face flushed red. After a while, he suddenly coughed. Then, without even daring to pick up the sword, he rushed back into the line.

Shi Dengda looked carefully and saw a red spot on Guo Chenggu's throat. It seemed that Xin Zhen still showed mercy to him.

However, at this moment, Guo Chenggu screamed: "My thumb!"

Shi Tenda suddenly looked at Guo Chenggu's right hand, only to find that his right thumb was gone.

Guo Chenggu burst into tears: "My hand! My hand! I will never be able to hold a sword again! Xin Zhen, damn Xin Zhen, I will fight you! I will fight you!"

The other disciples held him tightly.

Xin Zhen shook his head and sighed, "I'm still soft-hearted. Let's change it."

Xin Zhen drew out his sword, peeled the bark of a large tree beside the road, and then wrote on it: Any disciple of Songshan who dares to cross the line will have the thumb of his sword-holding hand cut off.

Xin Zhen turned around and asked Shi Tenda, "Will it not be enough of a deterrent?"

Shi Dengda sighed and said, "You might as well kill him. Without his thumb, all his martial arts skills will be wasted. If a martial artist loses his martial arts skills, what's the difference between him and death?"

Xin Zhen smiled and looked at Guo Chenggu and said, "Do you want to die or just lose your thumb?"

Guo Chenggu was stunned for a moment, then turned around and ran madly up the mountain.

Shi Dengda and the other disciples said, "Let's go back!"

The group hurriedly climbed the mountain back.

Xin Zhen shook his head and found a tall tree to hide under. From the tree he could see people passing by on the mountain path without being discovered.

After waiting for a long time, I saw dozens of people coming down the mountain on the trail.

Xin Zhen concentrated the purple energy in his eyes and saw it very clearly. Zuo Lengchan was accompanied by seven or eight bodyguards, and another twenty or thirty middle-aged men in their forties or fifties followed behind them.

Zuo Lengchan came to the previous location and saw that there was no one there, so he ordered everyone to search in the forest in groups of several people.

Xin Zhen chuckled and saw a group of people coming over. When they arrived under the tree, Xin Zhen suddenly jumped down. The people hurriedly said, "Here!"

Xin Zhen swung over and swung his sword a few times. Several people's swords fell to the ground with a clang. Several people cried out in pain: "My finger!" "My thumb!" "Ah! Xin Zhen, I'm going to kill you!"

Xin Zhen rushed forward and knocked several people unconscious, then ran into the woods and disappeared after a jump.

Several figures rushed through the forest, especially the one in front, who was as fast as a ghost. It was Zuo Lengchan. Zuo Lengchan saw several fellow apprentices lying on the mountain road, but he did not come to check on them. Instead, he quickly looked around. Ding Mian arrived second, checked on the apprentices, and then said to Zuo Lengchan: "Brother, they are not dead, it's just..."

Zuo Lengchan said coldly: “Speak!”

Ding Mian whispered, "Their thumbs were all cut off."

“Damn it!” Zuo Lengchan was so angry that he slammed the tree trunk beside him with his palm, and the trunk, which was as thick as a bowl, broke in half.

At this time, Tang Yingye arrived, took a look at the situation, and then said to Zuo Lengchan: "Senior Brother..."

"Ah!" A cry of pain came from not far away. Zuo Lengchan dodged and dived into the forest. Tang Ying'e hurriedly followed. When Tang Ying'e arrived, he saw Zuo Lengchan standing there. There were several people lying on the ground. They were the fellow apprentices who were searching. Tang Ying'e was sharp-eyed and saw that the thumbs of several people were missing. His face changed again and again, and then he said anxiously: "Brother, quickly gather everyone together, otherwise if this continues..."

Zuo Lengchan suddenly jumped onto a branch, used one foot to gain leverage and rose up again. After a few times, he reached the top of the tree, glanced around with cold eyes, and suddenly said in a loud voice: "Xin Zhen, come out and see me!"

Zuo Lengchan's shout, which he used all his internal strength to do, echoed among the mountains and forests, but apart from his voice, there was no other sound.

Zuo Lengchan was just about to shout when someone in front of him suddenly exclaimed, "Master! Xin Zhen is here!...Ah!"

Zuo Lengchan exerted force with his feet and jumped directly over the treetops. He used the branches to gain momentum in the air and seemed to be able to fly. In just a moment, he arrived at the place. He looked down and saw several people from Songshan lying on the ground, but there was no sign of Xin Zhen. Zuo Lengchan shouted, "Where is Xin Zhen escaping to?"

It seemed that Xin Zhen ran in a hurry and didn't have time to knock them out. They all pointed to the east. Zuo Lengchan immediately chased in that direction, but the grass was dense in the forest. He chased for a while but still couldn't find any trace of him. He could only run back to the mountain path and shouted loudly: "Songshan disciples, stop searching and return to the mountain path!"

After a while, only twenty people came back, and seven or eight people did not return. Zuo Lengchan took a look and found that there were seven or eight people covering their thumbs. Together with the seven or eight people who did not return, it was estimated that sixteen people had their thumbs cut off in this round!
Zuo Lengchan's face turned pale. Although these people knew more than just swords, the Songshan School was originally a sword school, and the most powerful technique was naturally the sword. Using palm and finger techniques was just a stopgap measure. These people had their thumbs broken, and it was good enough that they could still have 70% of their combat power!
Since he took charge of the Songshan Sect, the Sect has been thriving and has never suffered such a loss!

The thirty or forty people he brought with him today are the real fighting force of Songshan Sect. Although these people are not as good as the Thirteen Guardians, they are not much worse. They are also first-rate masters in the world. However, sixteen of them have lost part of their fighting power, which is a huge blow to Songshan Sect!

Tang Yinge wanted to speak, but Zuo Lengchan suddenly said, "Go back! Don't let Xin Zhen raid our nest!"

Tang Ying'e was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly followed behind him. The others didn't care about the seven or eight people who had not returned yet. They should be fine. Up to now, Xin Zhen had not killed anyone, which meant that he had no intention of killing anyone.

Zuo Lengchan was the first to return to Songshan Sect. Seeing that there was nothing unusual in the sect, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

After a while, Tang Ying'e and the others also returned to the sect. Zuo Lengchan looked at the people who had hurriedly wrapped their hands with clothes and said, "Hurry up and find Doctor Tang to wrap and apply medicine. Senior Brother Ding, Junior Brother Fei, Junior Brother Tang, follow me."

Several people followed Zuo Lengchan to the conference room. Zuo Lengchan had a gloomy face and did not speak.

Tang Yingye said in a deep voice: "It seems that this Xin guy is against us. If it is true as he said, he will block the mountain gate and prevent us from going down the mountain, which will have a great impact on us.

Inability to get down the mountain is actually a small matter. Mr. Xin can spend ten days or half a month, but he can't spend a year or two. He will leave one day.

But he blocked our mountain gate, and we couldn't do anything to him. If this matter were known to fellow martial artists, the prestige of our Songshan Sect would be greatly reduced, and we would become a laughing stock among the martial artists!"

(End of this chapter)