Long Feiye’s sword pointed at Duanmu Yao, who could feel his killing intent! Even an outsider like Han Yunxi, who didn’t practice martial arts, could feel an involuntary chill. It had been ages since she seen Long Feiye be so icy cold.
Long Feiye wants to take Duanmu Yao’s life?
Han Yunxi was very surprised. If he killed her, how will he explain things to the sword sect master?
Duanmu Yao was so terrified that she couldn’t even bother worrying over her face. How could he have the gall?
The two servant girls on the side quickly unsheathed their swords. Despite being sword experts in their own right, they couldn’t stand up to Long Feiye’s sword qi. He sent them scattering with a single sweep of his blade. Duanmu Yao wanted to take the chance to escape, but Long Feiye’s sword quickly stopped her again. She looked hesitantly towards the woods before turning back away.
“Long Feiye, how dare you!” she shouted.
Why wouldn’t he dare? Without a word, he stabbed the blade straight through Duanmu Yao’s dantian! In a flash, Duanmu Yao’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Long Feiye, you…”
In the next instant, he had withdrawn the weapon from her stomach. Holding Han Yunxi in one hand and his sword in the other, he turned to stab at the figure who tried to ambush him from behind! Only one foot shifted in the entire process; the rest of his body was still level with the ground. Han Yunxi was left leaning backwards from the momentum of the spin, her footsteps matching his. But all she saw was the sharp edge of a sword staring her down!
If Long Feiye and her had moved a second later, the attacker would had stabbed her through the back. What a dangerous sneak attack!
The sword from behind hung in the air before Han Yunxi. If it sliced, it could split her clear in half. Meanwhile, Long Feiye’s weapon was aimed at the abdomen of their attacker. If he stabbed, it would cleave him right through.
Just who…was their attacker?
Both Long Feiye and Han Yunxi stared at the man, but couldn’t recognize him beneath his dark clothes and face veil. Naturally, Long Feiye knew of hidden ambushes in the forest, but didn’t pay them any mind until this one came to attack them from behind. It was quite some distance between their location and the woods, but he hadn’t sensed the killer until he was quite close. Without a doubt, this was a formidable foe!
The City of Daughters had already departed with their mercenaries. What other high level experts had colluded with Duanmu Yao and dared to take Long Feiye as an enemy? Han Yunxi prepared to launch needles from her hand, only to hear the attack laugh coldly.
“Esteemed wangfei, blades may have no eyes, but this old man certainly does. If you move another inch, prepare to shoulder the consequences!”
He expected Han Yunxi to be afraid, but she only sighed calmly. “Aye, what’s this wangfei to do when faced with such a shameless sneak? Guess I can only fold!”
“You!” the man grew incensed enough to strike, but Long Feiye gave him a warning.
“Prepare for the consequences!”
The attacker stopped, and the three of them were left in a mute stalemate. Duanmu Yao clutched her bleeding wound as she laid physically paralyzed on the ground. But her eyes were fixated on the scene as her breathing grew cautious and quiet. Within the white mists of the luxuriant forest and glimmering lake, dead silence fell upon the scene. The question of life or death laid within the difference of one sword and one thought. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were both on edge, though the attacker and Duanmu Yao were even tenser. That was because both sides seemed equally matched, but Long Feiye actually had the advantage if he was willing to give up Han Yunxi. It would be simple enough work for him to just kill the other man with one stab.
Unexpectedly, Duanmu Yao suddenly cried out. “Senior brother, kill him! He’s Cang Qiuzi! If you kill him today, we can pretend today’s events never happened. I won’t let a peep slip to master, either!”
That’s right. The masked assailant was none other than Cang Qiuzi himself. Duanmu Yao was the one to invite him here to help kill Han Yunxi. Originally, the plan was flawless, but she never expected Long Feiye to turn a killing eye on her without Cang Qiuzi lifting a finger.
A cold smirk crept onto Long Feiye’s features. He had long guessed the identity of the attacker. After all, the City of Daughters would never cooperate with the all-male Carefree City, so the only ones with skills enough to sneak up on him were either master or this man. Ignoring Duanmu Yao, he simply asked, “Martial Uncle Cang can chose himself whether to live or die, right?”
“Of course I chose to live! Your martial uncle fears death the most, hehe,” Cang Qiuzi removed his face veil and laughed out loud. Still, his heart was filled with tremulation. Who knew that Long Feiye would sense his presence at the last second? How long had it been since they last fought? This brat, his martial arts’ improved even after such a serious injury.
“Since you’re afraid, then you should act more like it,” Long Feiye might need to look up to Cang Qiuzi, but his tone was as arrogant as always.
Cang Qiuzi couldn’t seize any advantages in a verbal argument and resort to an impatient snap. “This old man will count to three. We’ll withdraw our swords at the same time!”
“We’ll count together,” Long Feiye declared. If Cang Qiuzi was the only one talking, he’d be setting the pace for them both, leaving his side at a disadvantage. Withdrawing their swords meant that they were choosing to end the stalemate, but also that their battle would began anew. Not a single instance of carelessness would be allowed. Both men were on guard. Han Yunxi secretly prepared more poison needles while Duanmu Yao watched the scene anxiously from the sidelines. She didn’t even realize that she was growing right now. What was she to do?
She had ended up offending both sides. Who would save her now? She didn’t want to die!
“One!”
At the word, Long Feiye’s sword awn flashed into being at the same time Cang Qiuzi’s blade hummed with energy. Han Yunxi kept her eyes firmly fixed on their enemy’s weak spots from her vantage point while Duanmu Yao did her best to press against her wound and push off against the ground.
“Two!”
In an instant, all of Long Feiye’s sword energy concentrated to its tip. Cang Qiuzi’s blade stopped humming, Han Yunxi found a location to target, and Duanmu Yao was now up on her knees. Before the third shout could fall, both Long Feiye and Cang Qiuzi readied their weapons to prepare for a new battlefield. Now whoever took the first move would be the winner! Everyone gathered their energies to make the final, fateful call.
“Three!”
Both men withdrew their blades as promised! With the threat gone from his abdomen, Cang Qiuzi immediately lashed out with his sword again, filled with killing intent; Han Yunxi was freed from the sword looming over her form, while Long Feiye dragged her down so they both landed squarely on the ground. His sword expelled a large swath of energy before he zeroed in on Duanmu Yao. At the same time, he lifted both legs to catch the edge of Cang Qiuzi’s blade. Seeing this, Cang Qiuzi abandoned his weapon, avoided Han Yunxi’s ensuing barrage of poison needles, and flipped in mid-air to kick aside Long Feiye’s sword before it could reach Duanmu Yao.
Immediately, Long Feiye straightened up and lashed out with his whip to wrap around Duamu Yao’s waist. At the same time, Cang Qiuzi caught the girl by her arm.
Once again, the two fighters reached a stalemate.
Long Feiye wanted Duanmu Yao dead, while Cang Qiuzi wanted her alive. But Duanmu Yao didn’t give either side time to tarry. Long Feiye’s whip was lashed tight around her torso, which was already bleeding from the stomach. Now the pressure made her blood gush out like a spring. She forgot all about her face and her dantian to scream and cry at them both.
“Let go of me, both of you! Master won’t forgive either of you! Save me, ah! ….save me, Master…”
Han Yunxi stood behind Long Feiye, eyes narrowed as she aimed for Cang Qiuzi’s head. If they could take care of the man today, there would be much less trouble when they went to Celestial Mountain later. But she’d hardly launched her needles when a rock came flying out of the pathway to knock them aside.
“Who’s there!” Greatly alarmed, Long Feiye grew distracted, giving Cang Qiuzi the chance to drag Duanmu Yao to his side and escape into the maze. Han Yunxi immediately sent poison into the mists. It was impossible to use fatal toxins over such a large area, but she knew ones that could keep Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao from being able to move. As long as they trapped them first, they could figure out ways to track them down later.
Everything had finished in an instant, with the difference between life and death just hanging by a hair. Yet Han Yunxi was neither scared by the course of events, or flustered by their passing. Still, calm, and cold, she peered into the pathway with such a serious expression that even Long Feiye didn’t dare to disturb her. She was trying to figure out a way to seek out Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao from within the formation. There was no way to ascertain where they’d stopped, but she was sure they’d have to eventually. Being poisoned would make it impossible for them to get out of the matrix.
While she wracked her brains for ideas, she waited for the poison to take effect. Long Feiye accompanied her in silence, yet it wasn’t long before she suddenly spun to face him with an expression of horror.
“Long Feiye, someone dispelled the poison!”
“What?” Long Feiye was stunned.
“All of the poison’s gone! Every bit from the mist! They’ve got a helper who’s a poisons master!” As Han Yunxi explained, she sent out poison once again. But her opponent seemed tailor made to challenge her. Soon enough, her toxins were dispelled again. This happened multiple times before Han Yunxi gave her, because any further efforts would be futile.
“Jun Yixie?” Han Yunxi muttered to herself.
“Doesn’t seem like it,” Long Feiye glanced at the rock that had been thrown at them before. To precisely target poison needles with a projectile from so far away spoke of remarkable prowess. From what he knew of Jun Yixie’s skills, it was impossible unless the man had vastly improved.
A complex look settled onto Long Feiye’s features as he muttered, “The person who rescued Jun Yixie…”
“His master…” Han Yunxi’s gaze grew complicated as well. Although they still didn’t know the identity of the mysterious rescuer, the only possible suspect was Jun Yixie’s master, the former head of the Hundred Poisons Sect. The scouts that Medicine City had sent to infiltrate the sect had all been killed, so there was no way to follow up on the clues.
“Duanmu Yao certainly has a wide range of connections!” Han Yunxi laughed coldly.
Long Feiye only looked back at the unconscious Grand Concubine Yi as he pondered over something.
At this moment, Han Yunxi suddenly sensed poison mist emanating from the pathway. Without a doubt, their enemy was now attacking with toxins as well.
“Long Feiye,” she said, “They’re planning to trap us here!”