Outside the room, the various disciples from the two Depositories and Courtyards continued to fight. All of Long Feiye’s aides on Celestial Mountain had hurried over to join the fray, leaving things in utter chaos. Even Xu Donglin, who was on standby until further orders, had rushed over. He was covered in blood as he fought his way towards Abstinence Hall, his eyes bloodshot. Even if the Sword and Scripture Depositories had solid proof that Han Yunxi poisoned their disciples to death, they had no right to charge straight in and apprehend the suspect! Their reasons were simply laughable excuses, because Cang Qiuzi had told them to kill Han Yunxi today no matter what.
In any case, the sword sect master was in closed door cultivation, Long Feiye couldn’t leave his room, and they had a pretext. Duanmu Yao would also be able to s.h.i.+eld them from the most heinous of crimes. Sword blades shone and clashed in the air as the ma.s.sacre continued. As soon as Han Yunxi rushed into the room, Duanmu Yao hurried to follow and shut the door behind her. Granny You could only watch this happen with her own eyes while being pressed back by the Sword and Scripture Depository elders.
Han Yunxi didn’t have a speck of martial arts on her body. How could she bear the heavy wounds inflicted by Cang Qiuzi? Where did she find the strength or the courage to run inside? The inner room beyond it was separated by a wall that blocked out all wind and wound. Even if they overturned the skies with their ruckus, Long Feiye wouldn’t hear a thing. And even if he did, he was hard pressed to preserve his own safety at this juncture, much less rescue Han Yunxi.
How was a weak woman like Han Yunxi supposed to face off against that ferocious beast called Cang Qiuzi, or the ruthless, wicked Duanmu Yao? Granny You felt her heart ache as she stared at the tightly shut door.
Meanwhile, Han Yunxi stood with her back to the stone wall as Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao approached. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips while her complexion was as white as a sheet. Her body teetered on the edge of collapse, but her eyes were clear and bright. They stared with the intent to kill so intensely that Cang Qiuzi abruptly stopped.
“Yao Yao, what are you waiting for?” he smiled coldly.
“I’m trying to decide. Should I ruin the right side of her face first, or the left?” Duanmu Yao was laughing out loud as she gripped her sword and walked closer. Today she’d make Han Yunxi pay her back for years of grievances!
But Han Yunxi only cursed her. “Duanmu Yao, you’re even stupider than this w.a.n.gfei expected! Do you know why Long Feiye looks down on you?”
Han Yunxi had no idea how long she’d be able to hold out or when her rescuers would arrive, but her only thought was to figure out a way to stall, stall, stall! Everything after today would be fine.
Duanmu Yao stilled her steps, never expecting Han Yunxi to rail at her now of all times. “It’s all because of you! Han Yunxi, why did you show up? This princess won’t allow you to exist. This princess will kill you!” she raged.
Cang Qiuzi could tell that Han Yunxi was trying to buy time. He ignored Duanmu Yao and simply raised his own sword, channeling internal energy into sword qi so he could shatter the stone door.
Han Yunxi began to shout. “Duanmu Yao, it’s because you’re a hopeless idiot! You like Long Feiye, but all you’ve done is hurt him! Don’t you know what he’s doing in there? He’s cultivating his martial arts! Cang Qiuzi’s true target isn’t me, but Long Feiye! Can’t you tell? It’s his final day of confinement. If anything disturbs him, you’ll know the consequences better than me!”
Duanmu Yao gave a start and looked at Cang Qiuzi in disbelief. Long Feiye’s in closed door cultivation? Why didn’t Cang Qiuzi tell me about that?
Cang Qiuzi’s sword awn was already glowing along the blade. Before he could strike, however, Duanmu Yao ran over to s.n.a.t.c.h his hand. “How dare you lie to me!”
“Let go!” Cang Qiuzi roared.
Duanmu Yao wouldn’t and ended up biting him on the hand instead. Cang Qiuzi shoved her aside in rage. “You really are a hopeless idiot!”
Duanmu Yao crawled to her feet and spread open her arms to block Cang Qiuzi’s sword. “Cang Qiuzi, even if Long Feiye dies, he can only die by this princess’s hands. He’s mine! I won’t let you hurt him!”
“Get lost or I’ll kill you too!” Cang Qiuzi said icily.
“Try it, then! Do you think my master doesn’t know a thing?” Duanmu Yao threatened. “Master simply doesn’t want to deal with you, that’s all. So try and kill me! I promise my master would destroy all of Celestial Mountain just to see you die a wretched death!”
In the end, Cang Qiuzi still dreaded the sword sect master. Although impatient, he had to curb his temper and coax Duanmu Yao.
“Yao Yao, martial uncle never thought you’d believe Han Yunxi’s words and get so provoked,” Cang Qiuzi said earnestly. “How could martial uncle kill Feiye? If I did, your master wouldn’t forgive me either! Martial uncle simply wants to hurt him a bit to kill his spirit. If he’s injured, he’ll have to stay on Celestial Mountain for at least a few months to treat his wounds. As for Han Yunxi…” He trailed off to give Duanmu Yao a meaningful glance.
Duanmu Yao was moved as soon as she thought of Long Feiye staying a few extra months at Celestial Mountain. Meanwhile, Han Yunxi wasn’t foolish enough to pin all her hopes on Duanmu Yao. She simply used this as a chance to attack Cang Qiuzi with poison needles while he was distracted. Unfortunately, he simply scattered her needles to the ground with a wave of his hand.
“Yao Yao, you saw that, right?! Han Yunxi is clearly trying to sow discord between us!” A sinister smile flickered past his eyes. “Yao Yao, martial uncle never expected that an outsider could drive a wedge between us. Hmph, what a lamentable state!”
His “us” carried a tone of warning for Duanmu Yao. Without a word, she got out of the way and aimed her sword at Han Yunxi, who backed up until she was pressed against the stone wall again. There was no place to retreat.
“Cang Qiuzi, do you still remember the needle this w.a.n.gfei jabbed you with at the top of the mountain?” she asked. Here was her last counter. It was a move she’d saved for Long Feiye’s sake, but now she had to bring it out ahead of time. If Long Feiye could defeat Cang Qiuzi at the ranking matches and shock the various factions enough to dissolve Celestial Mountain’s crisis fair and square, that would be the best ending. But in case he lost and ended up facing Cang Qiuzi openly, then her poisons could definitely aid him.
Her needle back then had relieved his stomach poison but also contained a slow-acting, hypertoxic poison of her own. It was impossible to detect now, but once the poison flared up, the victim would die without fail. Yet to keep Cang Qiuzi from discovering the truth, Han Yunxi had made sure it’d take at least two months before signs of the poison showed up.
Cang Qiuzi was slightly alarmed. Although Jun Yixie never replied to his letter about the blood sample and needle, he had invited multiple poison doctors to examine him and verify that his body was now free from poisons.
“It’s a slow-acting poison. If you don’t want to die, then get out!” Han Yunxi warned coldly.
Cang Qiuzi only laughed out loud. “Han Yunxi, do you think this old man will believe your lies?”
Han Yunxi had no way to make Cang Qiuzi believe her, but she persisted anyways. “Since Elder Cang wants to bet with his life, then I’ll accompany you ‘til the end!”
Cang Qiuzi wasn’t an easy opponent. In the end, he still didn’t trust her words. “Yao Yao, what are you still dawdling for?” As he spoke, he raised his sword to cleave at the stone door. At the same time, Duanmu Yao stabbed her sword at Han Yunxi. Without any way to escape or counter the blow, Han Yunxi’s death was inevitable.
Long Feiye, in the end we couldn’t finish walking our 100 steps…
Since there was no place to retreat, Han Yunxi chose to charge forward. She stepped towards Cang Qiuzi with her arms spread open, aiming to block his strike with her body!
Long Feiye, this step takes me towards death. Since I took it for you, does it count as one of our 100 steps?
Long Feiye, Yunxi didn’t break my promise. I was waiting for you the entire time. I’ll keep waiting even after I die!
Long Feiye, are you still leaning against that wall?
Long Feiye, will you miss Yunxi?
Long Feiye, Yunxi misses you. I miss you so much…
Cang Qiuzi didn’t stop his sword, which glowed with qi. Its radiating waves of energy caused blood to trickle uncontrollably from Han Yunxi’s mouth. Behind the force of the sword awn was the vicious slice of the blade itself!
BOOM!
There was a clamor as something emerged with explosive force from Han Yunxi’s body. The power was enough to knock the sword aside and send Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao flying against the walls.
What just happened?
They saw…
They saw a ma.s.sive white wolf appear in front of Han Yunxi. It was as tall as a bear, its fur the pure white hue of snow. The only spot of color came from a crimson, flame-shaped symbol between its brows that resembled some sort of holy fire. It stared at Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao, its sinister scarlet eyes glowing with a fierce, malevolent calm. Both of them were stunned by the impressive strength emanating off the creature! This was simply nothing but a beast, but it gave off the same aura as a lofty king who reigned over the ma.s.ses!
What…what is this thing? Where did it come from?
Han Yunxi had fallen to the ground. Waves of dizziness washed through her head. When Cang Qiuzi had struck with his sword, she’d felt the entire poison storage s.p.a.ce churning with excitement. Before she knew what had happened, she felt something fly out of that s.p.a.ce beyond her control. Meanwhile, the poisonous substances within her s.p.a.ce was flying about chaotically, making her dizzier than ever. She forced down her nausea to stare at the gigantic white wolf before her, finding it somewhat familiar.
“Lil Thing…?” she muttered to herself in disbelief. Has Lil Thing recovered its powers? Is that its true form?
The white wolf turned towards Han Yunxi. As soon as it saw the blood by her mouth, its fire sigil glowed bright red. The wolf immediately turned back to howl at Cang Qiuzi and Duanmu Yao, revealing a pair of long red fangs!
“Crimson fangs!” Cang Qiuzi grew alarmed. “The poison beast! That’s the Poison Sect’s poison beast! Only it has blood-red fangs!”
Duanmu Yao was even more stunned. She had teamed up with Jun Yixie at the Skypit to hunt for this creature! Although she’d never seen the poison beast before, she remembered Jun Yixie mentioning the b.l.o.o.d.y fangs as well. Anyone bitten by them would die from its poison, while the beast itself contained blood that could cure all sorts of toxins.
Back at the Skypit, all they had found were its shackles, with no sign of the beast to be seen. Why would it appear out of thin air here, and protect Han Yunxi at that? Could it be…
“Han Yunxi, you stole the poison beast!” Duanmu Yao cried in surprise.
“No! No one’s capable of stealing the poison beast away,” Cang Qiuzi rejected her instantly. In a voice full of disbelief, he said, “Han Yunxi, you…you’re a descendent of the Poison Sect!”