Jun Xiaomo was absolutely unaware that Ye Xiuwen had encountered a counterfeit version of herself in another part of these Mistlands. She was faced with her own predicaments right now. She wrapped her hands tightly around the hilt of her sword and let the tip of the sword point to the ground loosely.
She did not make the first move. Instead, she simply stared at Zhang Shuyue and Ye Xiuwen with her obsidian-black eyes. Right now, there were no expressions that could be seen in the depths of her pupils. This was a completely different sight from how Jun Xiaomo would usually behave.
Across the plains, the counterfeit Ye Xiuwen did not reveal any expressions of suspicion nor concern. He simply stood at the side, watching pa.s.sively as he tacitly approved of this duel between Jun Xiaomo and the counterfeit Zhang Shuyue.
And this was despite the fact that Jun Xiaomo could never win Zhang Shuyue with her current cultivation level. In fact, there was a good chance that she might even end up being killed by Zhang Shuyue as a result of this duel.
Furthermore, Ye Xiuwen was wearing his characteristic veiled conical hat right now, and none of the two ladies around could see his appearances with any clarity. Thus, after observing Ye Xiuwen for a moment, Jun Xiaomo s.h.i.+fted her attention away from Ye Xiuwen.
It was just then that Zhang Shuyue made her move.
Zhang Shuyue’s weapon of choice had always been a ribbon. As she waved her hand, that limp, seemingly harmless ribbon began to dance about as though it had become like a vicious spirit snake. In the blink of an eye, the ribbon swept over ferociously towards Jun Xiaomo with a savage intent.
Jun Xiaomo had witnessed the strength of this ribbon in her previous life. Zhang Shuyue was the disciple of the third elder of an upper-tier sect. Just like any other disciples of large sects, her weapon of choice was hardly a simple spirit tool. The ribbon she was using right now was imbued with the ability to greatly enhance her offensive abilities.
To put things into perspective, the ability enhancing effect of this ribbon was so strong that someone of the Nascent Soul stage of cultivation using this ribbon would be able to instantly cleave in half any cultivator at the Qi Mastery stage of cultivation!
Fortunately, Zhang Shuyue was only at the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation, and she did not possess the ability to kill Jun Xiaomo with a single strike. But this did not change the fact that Jun Xiaomo would still be grievously hurt if Zhang Shuyue managed to land a strike on Jun Xiaomo’s body with the ribbon.
Jun Xiaomo’s movements were incredibly nimble. Despite Zhang Shuyue’s relentless attacks, Jun Xiaomo managed to evade all of her strikes cleanly.
Truth be told, this was the result of a principle that Jun Xiaomo had discovered in her previous life. Jun Xiaomo realized that if she forced spiritual energy or demonic energy into her limbs, joints and bones, then she would experience a temporary increase in her agility and nimbleness.
That said, Jun Xiaomo was unable to avoid Zhang Shuyue’s attacks indefinitely. As time wore on, the number of injuries sustained by Jun Xiaomo began to increase.
As the wounds on her body began to bleed into her clothing, the colour of blood looked extremely striking in juxtaposition to her green clothing.
At this moment, Jun Xiaomo had begun to look like an arrow at the end of its flight. Even then, Ye Xiuwen continued to watch pa.s.sively, and he did nothing to stop Zhang Shuyue’s attacks.
It can’t go on like this! Jun Xiaomo bit down on her lips as she cursed in her heart. She did not want to die here!
Therefore, she decided to stake it all on one final strike.
Jun Xiaomo retrieved from her Interspatial Ring three of her strongest Explosive Talismans which possessed tyrannical powers. Then, when Zhang Shuyue drew close to her again, she suddenly sent these Explosive Talismans flying towards Zhang Shuyue’s body.
Seeing that the earlier Invisibility Talisman bore no effects whatsoever, Jun Xiaomo bore no expectations of the effectiveness of these three Explosive Talismans.
Yet these Explosive Talismans were nevertheless her last resort. There were no no other contingencies available to her. Therefore, she prayed and prayed hard for a miracle that the three Explosive Talismans would be effective.
Unexpectedly, the heavens answered her prayers and a miracle occurred. The three Explosive Talismans erupted with a ma.s.sive explosion, puncturing a gaping, gory hole straight through Zhang Shuyue’s chest. Zhang Shuyue was sent flying like a kite that had its strings cut, and Ye Xiuwen immediately caught her in his arms.
Zhang Shuyue coughed and sputtered as blood gurgled from her mouth.
Her heart had ruptured. Without a miraculous, heaven-defying medicinal pill, no one would be able to save her now – not even her master.
“Xiu…Xiuwen…” In front of Jun Xiaomo’s eyes, Zhang Shuyue looked tenderly at Ye Xiuwen as the focus in her eyes gradually faded away.
Ye Xiuwen held Zhang Shuyue closely to his bosom. Though he remained taciturn, Jun Xiaomo could sense the immense fury erupting from the depths of Ye Xiuwen’s heart.
In fact, Ye Xiuwen’s hate was patently obvious from the sharp and frigid aura released by him right now. This oppressive aura surrounding Ye Xiuwen was something that cultivators would only release when they were clas.h.i.+ng with their enemies.
In other words, Jun Xiaomo was now an enemy to Ye Xiuwen through and through.
Pangs of sourness tugged at Jun Xiaomo’s heart. However, she consciously repressed these thoughts and revealed none of it on her face.
She was waiting. She was waiting for a specific outcome…
Moments later, Zhang Shuyue pa.s.sed away in Ye Xiuwen’s bosom. In her final moments, she had even asked Ye Xiuwen to kiss her on the lips.
Ye Xiuwen complied. While he did not remove his veiled conical hat throughout that entire process, Jun Xiaomo could see that Ye Xiuwen had locked his beautiful lips with Zhang Shuyue’s.
Jun Xiaomo nearly crumbled and lost her mind at the sight of this scene. Her heart wrung with immense agony.
She was now experiencing an intense, stifling and suffocating feeling that she had never experienced before.
Then, when Ye Xiuwen finally removed his lips from Zhang Shuyue’s, Jun Xiaomo could see that Zhang Shuyue’s eyes had become completely shut. Despite her manner of death, her face revealed an expression of bliss and contentment – as though she had been thoroughly satisfied on her deathbed.
Naturally, that smile on Zhang Shuyue’s face was still immensely jarring to Jun Xiaomo’s eyes.
Ye Xiuwen set Zhang Shuyue down gently, before he retrieved his Frostburn Sword from his Interspatial Ring. Then, he pointed the tip of his sword directly at Jun Xiaomo.
Jun Xiaomo grimaced, revealing a bitter expression on her face as she remarked, “Martial brother, are you really going to turn against me over this woman?”
Jun Xiaomo’s voice was incredibly hoa.r.s.e by now. It was as though she had to muster all of her strength before she managed to eke out those few words.
Yet Ye Xiuwen gave a cold and curt response, “You’ve killed her.”
“Just because I’ve killed her, you’re going to kill me for revenge? Even though I’ve always told you that this woman harbours evil intentions against you?!”
Jun Xiaomo asked in anguish.
“I’ve never seen her evil intentions. I only saw you murder Zhang Shuyue.” Ye Xiuwen’s voice remained as monotonous as ever.
If not for his present actions that spoke far louder than his words, it would be difficult to tell from Ye Xiuwen’s voice that his heart was filled with rage and hatred right now.
This was Ye Xiuwen’s personality. Regardless of the intensity of his roiling emotions, he would always remain cold and distant on the surface.
Jun Xiaomo’s eyes darkened and the rims of her eyes reddened as she replied, “Martial brother, what am I to you? And what is she to you?”
Ye Xiuwen grew taciturn for a few moments before he responded, “You are nothing more than a duty and responsibility to me. But Shuyue was a person that I would have liked to spend the rest of my life with.”
Jun Xiaomo had already expected Ye Xiuwen’s answer. In her previous life, the atmosphere around Ye Xiuwen and Zhang Shuyue had indeed grown closer and more intimate over time. There were even times where the atmosphere grew so intimate there was no longer any place left for Jun Xiaomo.
At that time, she feared that her martial brother would despise her and abandon her once he fell in love with Zhang Shuyue. But in this life…
As Jun Xiaomo processed Ye Xiuwen’s response, her heart began to be filled with a complicated, indescribable sensation – it was sour and bitter; agonizing and traumatizing. The resultant effect was one of pure, abject despondence.
But Jun Xiaomo forced a bitter smile to her face as she made her resolve known, “Since that’s the case, then kill me, martial brother. Kill me for that woman. I won’t resist at all.”
Ye Xiuwen tightened his grip around his Frostburn Sword. He had never expected Jun Xiaomo to make such a suggestion.
Jun Xiaomo closed her eyes, consciously ignoring the pangs of agony that were intensely radiating from the depths of her heart. Then, she declared, “My life can be considered martial brother’s to begin with. If not for the fact that martial brother had always looked after me, I would already have been dead by now. Therefore…”
Jun Xiaomo opened her eyes and sincerely continued, “Therefore, if martial brother wishes to take my life, then do so. I’ll treat it as though I’m returning this life to you.”
As Jun Xiaomo finished speaking, a bright glint flashed across Ye Xiuwen’s eyes.
Ye Xiuwen was nothing more than an illusion created by the little red flowers within the Soulless Lands. Its objective had always been to kill any person who trespa.s.sed its domain to begin with.
Once the trespa.s.ser had been killed within his illusions, then that person’s soul and fleshly body would become nothing more than nourishment to the patches of little red flowers. At that time, the illusory abilities of these little red flowers would be strengthened once again.
Thus, as soon as the echo of Jun Xiaomo’s final words faded away, Ye Xiuwen made his move. Without hesitation, he plunged his Frostburn Sword straight into Jun Xiaomo’s chest!
Shk! The nauseating sound of a sword cutting through flesh resounded, and their surroundings were immediately filled with the stench of blood.
The frigid blade of the Frostburn Sword had cleanly penetrated Jun Xiaomo’s chest. The coldness from the blade diffused through Jun Xiaomo’s flesh, sending chills to the bottom of her heart.
Yet at this moment, Jun Xiaomo began to laugh bitterly. She coughed and laughed at the same time, while tears streamed from her eyes and trickled down her cheeks to her chin.
“Imposter…In the end, you’re just an imposter. Do you think I would be unable to tell whether my martial brother is phony or real?” Jun Xiaomo discovered that her strength was quickly draining out of her body, but her laughter only escalated. It was as though she had just completed an incredibly important task. Her face was even filled with relief and contentment.
It was only at this moment that Ye Xiuwen discovered that Jun Xiaomo’s hand was also wielding a sword. As his attention followed along the body of the sword, he saw that almost half of Jun Xiaomo’s sword had been stabbed right through his own body.
Furthermore, it had stabbed precisely where the heart was located. Just like Zhang Shuyue, this was the end of the road for him.
Ye Xiuwen’s pupils suddenly constricted with anxiety. Then, they slackened uncontrollably. He lifted his head and looked towards Jun Xiaomo. His lips moved slightly, as though inquiring how Jun Xiaomo had seen through his pretense.
Even though Jun Xiaomo’s cultivation was a far cry from Ye Xiuwen’s cultivation level, Ye Xiuwen had never expected Jun Xiaomo to retaliate against him in the moment that he attacked her.
Capitalizing on that single moment of complacency, Jun Xiaomo had managed to completely turn the tables on Ye Xiuwen and deliver a fatal blow to him.
Jun Xiaomo had experienced innumerable battles in her previous life. If nothing else, these experiences had taught her to bide her time and wait patiently for the right opportunity to strike a fatal blow at her opponents.
In other words, once Jun Xiaomo managed to grasp her opponent’s weaknesses, she would never pa.s.s up any opportunities to counterattack. Furthermore, she would always strike with the greatest efficacy to inflict the greatest damage possible.
In the end, Ye Xiuwen collapsed before he managed to ask that question on his lips. Jun Xiaomo pulled out her sword ferociously. Then, she slumped back onto the ground as well. Blood continued to pour from the wound in her chest.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Xiuwen was dead. He was dead before he could kill Jun Xiaomo.
With much difficulty, Jun Xiaomo moved her hands and began to wipe off the streaks of tear stains on her face as she yelled at Ye Xiuwen’s corpse –
“Don’t you dare pick martial brother as the object of your illusion ever again.”
Jun Xiaomo’s voice was no longer filled with any emotions; and her eyes were no longer filled with the same warmth as before.