Naked Sword Art

Chapter 530: A New Captain

As the captains filed out, the camp outside buzzed with restrained activity. Orders were passed, units were counted, and supplies checked. Before long, everyone stood in assembly preparing themselves for another reassignment.

As the captains filed out, the camp outside buzzed with restrained activity. Orders were passed in low voices, units were counted, and supplies quietly redistributed. By the time the signal horn sounded, the soldiers were already forming ranks, anticipation flickering across their faces.

The reassignment assembly began much like the last.

Whispers rippled through the crowd as eyes searched the line of captains.

"Is Captain Fang late again?"

"He’s probably still finishing something."

"He only had two people in his team, I want to join him."

"Me too, I trust him."

Minutes passed.

Xiao Fang did not appear.

The murmurs grew louder, confusion mixing with disappointment.

Li Huxin stepped forward, raising a hand. The noise died instantly.

"Captain Xiao Fang will not be attending this assembly," he announced. "He has returned to seclusion."

A wave of surprise washed over the ranks.

"Seclusion?"

"Again?"

"Why now of all times?"

The assembly dragged on beneath the dim glow of spirit lamps and fading torchlight. Soldiers shifted between ranks, names were called, banners reassigned. Some teams filled quickly, others hesitated—men weighing survival against ambition, loyalty against fear. Low murmurs rippled through the crowd as cultivators sized up their captains, each choice quietly deciding who they might bleed beside tomorrow.

Despite Xiao Fang’s absence, his name lingered like a shadow over the gathering. More than a few soldiers glanced toward the space where he should have been, whispering to one another, wondering if he would appear at the last moment as he so often did. But the minutes passed, and he never came.

Eventually, the movement slowed. Teams finalized. Orders recorded. What remained was a heavy, uncertain silence—the kind that settled only when people sensed something unfinished.

Then Li Huxin stepped forward once more.

His presence alone stilled the crowd.

"Before we conclude," he said, his voice firm and deliberate, "there is one more matter to address."

Every gaze lifted.

"Effective immediately," Li Huxin continued, "a new captain will be joining our ranks."

The words landed like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples of anticipation through the assembled army.

"A new captain?"

"Who could it be?"

"Is it one of our Elders?"

Murmurs continued to spread.

Heads turned, scanning the line of captains, each person wondering who could possibly be appointed as a Captain.

Then someone stepped forward.

A slender figure moved onto the platform beside the other captains, her presence quiet but unmistakable.

Li Lian’s eyes widened...

"Xun Wei."

However, Xun Wei wasn’t her usual self.

Her arms were crossed, her sword rested calmly at her side, but her expression was unbelievably dark.

Even though her cultivation was lacking, something about her made several powerful cultivators feel uneasy.

Xun Wei looked at Li Lian from the corner of her eyes for a brief moment, but it was enough to make Li Lian feel uneasy as well.

Murmurs erupted again.

"Isn’t that Captain Fang’s companion?"

"She’s only in the Core Realm..."

"She’s also not a Li Clansmen, right?"

Xun Wei met the crowd’s gaze without flinching. She had already been told what was expected of her. What Xiao Fang and Li Huxin had planned.

She took one step forward.

"I won’t waste your time," she said evenly. "Captain Fang has his own battle to fight."

Her gaze swept across the assembled soldiers.

"My name is Xun Wei, of the late Xun Family Clan. My clan was annihilated by the Song over a decade ago, and I am the only survivor."

She paused.

"I don’t need your loyalty, I don’t need your courage, or strength," she continued. "I need blood."

A chill swept through the assembly.

Many soldiers swallowed instinctively. Even veterans in the front ranks felt their skin crawl. The pressure in the air was unnatural—cold, heavy, and sharp. This feeling was something that could only rise from deep hatred.

This feeling was...

Bloodlust.

It pulsed faintly beneath the surface, seeping into their bones.

"Joining my team will be simple."

At that moment, Xiao Hei appeared behind her, dragging a man clad in Song Clan robes across the ground.

The man struggled, but under Xiao Hei’s grip his efforts were futile.

"If you wish to join my team, you must remove at least a pound of his flesh without killing him."

Their reaction wasn’t what Xun Wei had expected.

The ranks shifted uneasily. Some soldiers glanced at one another. Others looked past her—toward Li Huxin—waiting for him to intervene, to call an end to this before it went too far. The bloodlust rolling off the stage wasn’t heroic. It wasn’t righteous.

It was disturbing.

Silence stretched.

Then someone finally stepped forward.

He didn’t look like much at first glance—thin frame, dull eyes, unremarkable robes stained by old battles. Nothing about his appearance hinted at madness or courage. He walked calmly, almost casually, toward the Song clansman kneeling on the ground.

A jagged smile slowly crept across his lips.

It wasn’t wide, nor excited, just something about it felt... wrong.

Without warning, the creepy man struck.

The blow landed with surgical precision, tearing away flesh in a single brutal motion. The Song clansman screamed excruciatingly, the sound raw and piercing. Almost as if the pound of flesh that had been taken was the most painful of all places to take it from.

But then suddenly, the creepy man’s fingers snapped to the Song clansman’s neck.

Not a killing blow.

A calculated one.

There was a sharp crack as something shifted out of place, and the scream died instantly, choked off into a silent, desperate gasp. The man on the ground clawed uselessly at his throat, eyes bulging in agony, unable to make a sound.

Xiao Hei hummed almost in satisfaction.

Xun Wei on the other hand remained expressionless.

Wiping the bloodied on his robes, the creepy man approached Xun Wei.

Impressed with his skills, Xun Wei asked,

"How were you able to silence him like that?"

The creepy man smiled. "If Captain Xun is curious, I can teach you when you have some time." He then held up the bloody pound of flesh then asked, "will this be enough?"

Xun Wei studied him for a long moment, then she nodded once.

"You pass."

Behind Xun Wei, Li Huxin did not speak. No one did. Not a single soldier looked away.

The Song clansman convulsed on the ground, body writhing in silent agony. Though no sound escaped his throat, the pain was unmistakable. His eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming as his fingers clawed weakly at the dirt. It was unbearable to watch—and impossible to ignore.

Xun Wei’s gaze lifted.

"Anyone else?"

For a breath, no one moved.

Then a Profound Realm cultivator stepped forward.

He didn’t look at the crowd. Didn’t look at Li Huxin. Didn’t even look at Xun Wei. His eyes were fixed solely on the man on the ground.

Pity flickered across his face—brief, controlled.

’This is enough,’ he thought. ’No one deserves to suffer like this.’

Without warning, he raised his hand.

Profound Realm Qi surged as his palm descended—clean, overwhelming, aimed straight at the Song clansman’s head. A single strike. Instant death. An end to the misery.

But his hand never landed.

A cold pressure kissed his neck.

Steel.

Xun Wei’s sword rested lightly against his throat, yet the intent behind it was unmistakable. One more inch, and his head would fall.

The Profound Realm cultivator froze.

Slowly, he turned his eyes toward her.

Xun Wei’s expression was ice—sharp, unforgiving, utterly devoid of mercy. Holding her sword to his neck, she had a dangerous look in her eyes.

"You failed," she said.

The cultivator clenched his jaw. "I was ending his suffering."

"That wasn’t your right."

Her blade pressed a fraction closer.

"This is not mercy," Xun Wei continued. "This is judgment."

She withdrew the sword and stepped back.

The Profound Realm cultivator lowered his hand, eyes dark, understanding settling in at last.

He hadn’t stepped forward to kill for vengeance.

He had stepped forward to spare.

And that alone disqualified him.

The Song clansman continued to writhe silently.

Xun Wei turned back to the army.

"Anyone else?"