Time trickled by…
Cang Qiuying hung suspended over the cliff, facing a wall of needles. Han Yunxi stood beyond that wall with arms crossed over her chest, calm and composed. Cang Qiuying gripped her sword handle in one hand while touching her face with the other, furious. “Han Yunxi, what are you doing?”
“Looks like Eldest Young Miss Cang doesn’t want the antidote,” Han Yunxi said helplessly.
Angrily, Cang Qiuying unsheathed her weapon and slashed at the wall of needles, but they were so powerful that her blade didn’t budge them. Han Yunxi stood unmoving as she counted silently in her head. Based on dosage, One Night Like One Year would react at different times.
Unwilling to accept her failure, Cang Qiuying slashed at the wall again, but it deflected her sword back. She began to grow afraid and hacked at it in a frenzy. Han Yunxi smiled and said, “Eldest Young Miss Cang, how about this? Answer a few of my questions. If I’m satisfied by your words, I’ll give you the antidote, alright?”
Cang Qiuying immediately halted. “Which questions?”
“How’s my martial arts?” Han Yunxi asked.
“You’re an expert and stronger than me!” Cang Qiuying said without hesitation.
Han Yunxi shook her head. “That’s flattery, not honesty.”
“Your internal energy is very strong and your needle arts varied and strange. Your poison skills are exquisite and sinister as well. You count as an expert, there’s precious little Celestial Mountain disciples that can be your equal!” Cang Qiuying said truthfully.[1]
But Han Yunxi still shook her head. “It makes me uncomfortable hearing that.”
“You…” Cang Qiuying tried her best to think. She hadn’t even flattered Duanmu Yao this much![2] At that thought, she quickly offered, “Your martial arts are better than Duanmu Yao’s. You could win against her within three moves!”
Han Yunxi narrowed her eyes. “Eldest Young Miss Cang, you’re comparing this princess to a good-for-nothing waste?”[3]
It was no secret that Duanmu Yao had lost all of her internal energy, and thus her basis for martial arts, ages ago. Cang Qiuying realized she’d said the wrong thing, but she had no idea how to make Han Yunxi satisfied. She anxiously touched her face, panicked to the point of tears. At last she demanded, “Han Yunxi, what do you want me to say?”
Han Yunxi only stared at her without a word. By now, Long Feiye and Gu Qishao had landed nearby to watch on curiously. What kind of answer could satisfy Han Yunxi?
“Long Feiye, what would you say in her place?” Gu Qishao murmured.
Long Feiye ignored him.
Gu Qishao snorted. “I just knew a facial paralysis guy like you has no idea how to make a girl happy!”
Expressionless, Long Feiye replied, “She’ll be happy no matter what this crown prince says.”
Gu Qishao pursed his lips before refusing to speak to Long Feiye for a long time…
At last, Cang Qiuying got an idea and cried, “Han Yunxi, last time at Celestial Mountain it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have bullied you just because you didn’t know martial arts, much less find Granny You to tattle. I was wrong, I was wrong! Just spare me once!”
Han Yunxi was waiting precisely for these words! She grinned and backed away, raising her hand to change the wall of needles into a stream that flew into her palms. Gu Qishao was surprised by the sight--he knew Poison la.s.s had vast internal energy, but how had she mastered use of it in such a short time. How did...Long Feiye teach her?[4]
Cang Qiuying stepped onto the cliff with joy and reached out a hand. “Quick, give me the antidote! You can’t go back on your words!”
But Han Yunxi only replied, “I’m not done with my questions yet. What’s with the rush?”
Cang Qiuying had no choice but to endure it.
Han Yunxi grew serious and asked, “Where’s Bai Yanqing?”
“Bai Yanqing?” Cang Qiuying looked clueless. “That man who can’t die?”
Seeing this, Han Yunxi grew doubtful and added coldly, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know him, nor have I ever seen him,” Cang Qiuying wasn’t lying. She still hadn’t connected Bai Yanqing to the Heretical Sword Sect leader. Seeing this, Han Yunxi more or less knew that it was likely the Heretical Sword Sect disciples didn’t know their sect leader was the undying Bai Yanqing either!
Why was Bai Yanqing trying to hide his ident.i.ty?
“Is the Heretical Sword Sect leader at the mountain peak?” Han Yunxi asked.
At this, Cang Qiuying visibly hesitated. Han Yunxi continued to glare at her while waiting, but didn’t press. In the end, Cang Qiuying folded and said, “He left ages ago. I don’t know where he went, either.”
So Bai Yanqing isn’t here?
Bai Yanqing had been so casual with his fortifications on the mountain but wasn’t even around to oversee the entire peak. Where did he get his confidence from? Only because he managed to read their letters? Han Yunxi had no time to consider that now. She glanced at Long Feiye and Gu Qishao and saw that they were rejoicing too. Although they had been prepared to face off Bai Yanqing in a fight, there were hostages to rescue and a war to wage. If Bai Yanqing wasn’t here, then they didn’t mind taking the peak by force and destroying Heretical Sword Sect!
“Then who’s at the peak?” Han Yunxi continued her interrogation.[5] If Bai Yanqing wasn’t here, then who was capable holding back the three Honored Elders. Had Bai Yanqing poisoned them too?[6]
Was he planning to kill the entire Celestial Mountain Sword Sect?
Cang Qiuying began to hem and haw. “It’s...it’s the second and third elders, as well as Heretical Sword Sect disciples.”
“This princess is extremely unsatisfied with your answer!” Han Yunxi gaze sharpened as she took out a bottle of antidote and dangled it in front of Cang Qiuzi. “This is the final question. What’s the situation on the peak? What are you guys going to do with the Ganjiang treasure sword?”
Cang Qiuying made a grabbing motion for the bottle, but Han Yunxi simply chucked it into the abyss. “Answer my question before you go chasing after it. If you talk fast, you might be able to recover the bottle. Otherwise, I promise that even the sect leader of Heretical Sword Sect won’t be able to cure you.”
Cang Qiuying looked into the abyss, but the bottle of antidote had long vanished from sight.[7] The canyon here was immeasurably deep. Since the founding of Celestial Mountain Sword Sect, no one had reached its base. But the longer she dawdled, the further the antidote would fall. Even if she chased it all the way to the bottom, there was no guarantee she could come back up!
Han Yunxi wasn’t so easy to fool. If she didn’t explain everything in one breath, time would drag on. But if she did fold, everything would be over!
Han Yunxi’s lips curved into a cold smirk as she waited patiently.
Finally, Cang Qiuying gave in. “Everyone at Nine Xuan Hall’s been poisoned, including the three Honored Elders. The Heretical Sword Sect leader’s disciple Gong Beichen is personally standing guard. There’s nothing but traps at the peak, including hidden swords and toxic insects. I heard Gong Beichen said that Ganjiang is…”
Long Feiye and Gu Qishao perked their ears up at this point, but were interrupted by a sudden volley of arrows at their backs.
“Watch out!” Long Feiye warned Han Yunxi, who naturally picked up Cang Qiuying and flew away from the attack. Both men backed to the sides as well. The arrows. .h.i.t air before a man and a group of archers emerged from the clouds. He was handsome and wore a set of red robes, his movements filled with grace. If Gu Qishao wasn’t here, then he would be quite the looker. As it stood, he was simply mud on the ground compared to Gu Qishao!
The red-robed man not only dressed like Gu Qishao, but acted like him too. The first thing he did was ignore the two men and point his sword at Han Yunxi. “Stinkin’ wench, who are you? I order you to release Eldest Young Miss Cang this instant or suffer the consequences!”
Han Yunxi had seen her share of the world but was still startled by the man’s aggressive speech. She even felt that it’d been ages since Long Feiye had spoken so aggressively in the same way. She glanced at her husband, whose face had suddenly chilled by seventy percent. Gu Qishao was in a rather good mood as he rubbed his chin and studied the newcomer.
“Who’s him?” Han Yunxi asked under her breath.
Cang Qiuying was already in despair. “That’s Gong Beichen. Han Yunxi, I’ve told you everything I know. I’m begging you, please let me go.”
“What’s the rush?” Han Yunxi muttered back.
It was obvious that Gong Beichen didn’t recognize any of them.
“Suffer the consequences?” Han Yunxi grinned. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re seeking death!” Gong Beichen roared as he arrogantly raised a hand. All of the archers behind him scattered and began to shoot their arrows. Long Feiye and Gu Qishao were ready to counterattack when Han Yunxi gestured for them to stay put. The arrows were all poisoned with the same toxin. But playing poisons with her was courting death!
The red-robed man glanced towards Long Feiye and Gu Qishao next with a cold snort. “No need to rush. Once this young master[8] takes care of the stinkin’ wench, I’ll deal with you two!”
G.o.d, how presumptuous can he get? Does he have no brain? For the first time, Long Feiye and Gu Qishao were in unanimous agreement. Han Yunxi thought this man had some special techniques, but all he did was order the archers to shoot! Still clutching Cang Qiuying, Han Yunxi evaded the blows and quickly absorbed all of the poisons on the incoming arrows.
Sensing the toxins vanish from the air, Gong Beichen was floored and stared at Han Yunxi in disbelief. “You…”
“I’m here to court death!” Han Yunxi mocked.
Gong Beichen was enraged. “Cang Qiuying, just who’s she supposed to be?”
Cang Qiuying’s heart had already turned to ashes as she ignored him. The man she loved had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away by Han Yunxi, while the one she was pursuing now couldn’t even beat her in a fight. What did all this count for?
Gong Beichen grew uneasy when Cang Qiuying didn’t answer. He immediately whistled and a large contingent of archers poured down from the mountains to surround Han Yunxi on all sides.
“So many!” Han Yunxi gasped.
Thrilled, Gong Beichen said, “Heheh, stinkin’ wench, tell me your name. If you give up without a fight, this young master can spare your life!”
“Gong Beichen, you don’t have the right to know who I am!” Han Yunxi shot back.
“Release the arrows!” Gong Beichen snarled.
Thousands of arrows shot simultaneously towards Han Yunxi, but they all vanished in thin air before every hitting their target. Shocked, Gong Beichen cried, “Keep shooting! Hurry, keep shooting!”
But no matter how many arrows he ordered, all of them vanished from sight. In the end, the archers ran out of arrows and could only gape at the cursed sight.
“You...just who are you?!” Gong Beicheng cried as he unsheathed his sword. The sword awn it gave off was bright enough to hurt one’s eyes. Han Yunxi was a little surprised. Looks like this fellow’s got some serious sword skills!
1. Can you believe it? Less than six months of formal training and HYX’s already outpacing the majority of disciples at Cloud Realm Continent’s topmost martial arts sect. Man, people must be slow at mastering kungfu here /s.
2. This actually made me laugh because the author’s trying to show up HYX’s coolness/toughness here but I just read it as HYX being an even viler bully than DMY when it comes to forcing others to put her on a pedestal, hooboy…
3. It gets even better with this line of dialogue. Go back to the first 100 chapters and replace HYX with DMY speaking this line and you wouldn’t be able to tell they’re supposed to be completely opposite people. Context and plot progression changes everything, man. Oh, and the MC halo too ofc.
4. Gu Qishao, I want to know too…
5. This is the slowest acting poison in the world, isn’t it. What now, did HYX give her a microscopic dose?
6. I would be more surprised if he didn’t poison the three most powerful men of the sect, author…
7. Okay but knowing that most of these bottles are porcelain, how the heck is HYX sure it won’t shatter into pieces against some rock on the way down? My first instinct is 1)she never wanted to give CXY the antidote and is just s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g her over on purpose, 2)it’s a fake antidote, 3)she did put the antidote in there but still, gotta screw over the women who screwed her in the past.
8. Not “young master” in the usual sense, which is 少爷 shaoye, but more like a “young clan head” kind of way, aka 少主 shaozhu.