That night, when Mu Yunjin was asleep at midnight, she once again heard faint sounds in her room.
Mu Yunjin lit a candle and squinted toward the source of the sound. She saw that this time it wasn’t the child and mother insects from the previous night, but a silver snake as thin as a little finger slithering across the floor of the room, flicking its tongue.
A chill immediately ran through Mu Yunjin’s heart. She felt the goosebumps that had formed on her arms and pulled out the dagger she kept under her pillow, watching the silver snake slowly crawl closer to her.
“Clang—” The sound of a roof tile being kicked and shattering came from above.
Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth, ignoring the approaching silver snake. She flew toward the window, flung it open with a bang, and leaped outside.
When she reached the rooftop, she saw a black figure quickly darting away to one side.
Mu Yunjin gave chase.
At the same time, hearing the commotion, Chu Li also emerged from his room. The lanterns hanging in the courtyard outside barely allowed him to see the movement before him.
Sensing something was wrong, Chu Li’s expression darkened. “Ding Xian.”
…
…
Ding Xian immediately appeared, seeing Chu Li’s gloomy countenance, as if sensing something amiss. “I’ll go check.”
“No need.” Chu Li took out his jade pendant, and white light illuminated the entire courtyard, making it as bright as day.
“This jade pendant is truly miraculous; it seems to get brighter and brighter.” Ding Xian marveled silently. The first time he saw this jade pendant, its light was comparable to that of an ordinary lantern.
Now, it was as bright as a dozen lanterns.
Chu Li leaped away.
……
Mu Yunjin chased the black-clad person to the outskirts of the city, her speed increasing as she got closer and closer to the figure.
From the silhouette, Mu Yunjin could sense that the person ahead was a woman.
Was it Qin Muyue?
Seeing that she couldn’t continue the chase like this, Mu Yunjin pulled out the silver needles she carried with her. With a flick of her wrist, she shot them toward the black-clad figure.
The black-clad person seemed to have anticipated this, dodging the silver needles and throwing several poisoned darts back in return.
Mu Yunjin likewise avoided them.
Upon reaching a dense bamboo forest, the black-clad person stopped, slipping into the bamboo forest, weaving back and forth.
By now, it was past midnight. Except for the hazy moonlight, everything around was pitch black. As Mu Yunjin stood outside the bamboo forest, looking at the dense thicket and the mottled bamboo shadows on the ground, she felt momentarily disoriented and didn’t dare to enter the bamboo forest rashly.
“Whoosh—”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—”
Suddenly, countless black-clad figures emerged from all directions, each holding a bow and arrow. A barrage of arrows was aimed at Mu Yunjin, shooting toward her with whistling force.
Damn it, I’ve fallen into a trap!
Mu Yunjin cursed silently and immediately darted into the bamboo forest.
Just before entering the bamboo forest, Mu Yunjin blew her jade whistle.
The next moment, the black-clad figures who had been holding bows and arrows were effortlessly killed by a group of purple-armored guards who arrived with unstoppable momentum.
Just as the lead purple-armored guard was about to follow Mu Yunjin into the bamboo forest, a flash of white light appeared in the distance. Chu Li stood there, his face cold as ice, his eyes sweeping over the corpses around them.
“Song Chun, where is the Princess?” Chu Li looked at the lead purple-armored guard.
The guard named Song Chun bowed slightly to Chu Li. “The Princess went into the bamboo forest. I was just about to go after her.”
Before Song Chun could react further, Chu Li had already entered the bamboo forest.
As they prepared to follow, more arrows flew at them from all directions. When they looked carefully this time, they were filled with astonishment.
“It’s the green-armored guards!”
The killing intent around them surged.
……
Mu Yunjin moved through the bamboo forest, searching for the black-clad person’s whereabouts. But the forest was dense, and while she had intended to rely on her hearing to determine the position of the black-clad person, the rustling of leaves all around kept disturbing her.
After a moment, Mu Yunjin stopped in place, motionless.
When the sound of bamboo leaves around her subsided, Mu Yunjin calmed her mind and carefully surveyed her surroundings.
Suddenly, Mu Yunjin’s expression darkened!
A gust of strong wind surged toward her. Squinting her eyes, she could see countless bamboo leaves infused with inner energy, now like sharp blades, heading straight for her face.
Mu Yunjin pulled out the phoenix-tail whip from her wrist, infused it with her inner energy, and swept it at the oncoming bamboo leaves one by one. Then she leaped into the air, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across her lips.
It had been a long time since she had gone on a killing spree. Was tonight going to let her indulge to her heart’s content?
With this thought, Mu Yunjin let out a low laugh, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. She swung her whip toward a bamboo stalk to the upper right, her speed so swift that the black-clad person clinging to the bamboo had no time to react and took a solid hit.
“Ah…” The person let out a low groan.
Hearing this voice, Mu Yunjin was stunned momentarily, then a playful smile spread across her face. “Ha, I never expected the Fifth Princess to be hiding such skills.”
The black-clad person ignored Mu Yunjin and continued to fly forward.
How could Mu Yunjin give her another chance to escape? Tonight’s silver snake was set by her, and yesterday’s mother worm charm was probably also her doing. And just now, she had stationed so many archers in ambush here.
If she didn’t take revenge now, she would have lived those many years in vain!
With a cold laugh, Mu Yunjin intensified the force on her phoenix-tail whip, wrapping it around Chu Qingzang’s waist, and flung her heavily into a nearby cluster of bamboo.
The bamboo forest was dense. After being flung away, Chu Qingzang bounced back and finally fell powerlessly to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Chu Qingzang removed her black veil and struggled to stand up, her eyes filled with murderous intent. “Mu Yunjin, you know martial arts?”
“Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated. You don’t even know my background, yet you dare to make a move. You’re quite bold,” Mu Yunjin mocked, her expression full of disdain.
Chu Qingzang wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. After a moment of standoff with Mu Yunjin, she spoke playfully, “Do you think I haven’t made thorough preparations for tonight?”
As she spoke, a red signal rod flew out from her sleeve. In the darkness of night, a plume of red smoke shot up into the sky.
Mu Yunjin watched this scene calmly, without a trace of fear.
At this moment, she suddenly sensed someone approaching from behind. Mu Yunjin thought it might be Chu Qingzang’s reinforcements and became vigilant, but then heard a cold voice behind her.
“Mu Yunjin.”
Mu Yunjin was surprised. It was Chu Li…
Turning around, she saw Chu Li standing behind her. Perhaps due to his hasty departure, he wore only a thin light shirt. He was breathing slightly heavily, his brows furrowed.
Seeing this, Mu Yunjin also furrowed her brows, approached Chu Li, and spoke softly, “Did you come in the dark?”
“No,” Chu Li shook his head. Before finding Mu Yunjin, he had already put away his jade pendant.
Mu Yunjin spoke with concern, lowering her voice, “You should leave first. She has reinforcements, and it will be inconvenient when the fighting starts. If she discovers you have blind eyes, that would be terrible…”
Hearing this, Chu Li let out a soft laugh. Although if he left now, he wouldn’t be able to see her face, from her tone of voice, he could guess her expression.
This woman, what should he say about her? She truly made him both love and hate her.
A moment later, a sudden fierce wind surged around them. Mu Yunjin was startled by the night breeze. The surroundings felt eerie. Mu Yunjin instinctively took a step back, standing shoulder to shoulder with Chu Li, and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.
“Are you afraid?” Chu Li lowered his gaze to look at the hand that was trembling slightly with nervousness, and his palm tightened around hers.
“Don’t be ridiculous. How could I be afraid? I’m just worried it might be inconvenient for you,” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow, feeling more composed as she sensed the warmth transmitted from his palm.
In a moment, Mu Yunjin suddenly realized that she and Chu Li were surrounded by tall, black-robed men with concealed faces.
The night breeze carried a strong killing intent.
“Assassins of the Thousand Leaves from the Eastern Lin Country. Fifth Sister, you’ve gone to great lengths,” Chu Li said mockingly.
Hearing this, Chu Qingzang laughed coldly. “Sixth Brother, you two have seen through my grand plans. Today, I cannot possibly let you live.”
“Even if you are the man Muyue likes, this cannot be helped.”
When Mu Yunjin heard the name “Muyue,” she sneered again. In her heart, she felt no fear at all. What were a few assassins compared to her entire Fengyu Pavilion?
Huh?
But why hadn’t the Fengyu Pavilion signal been lit tonight?
Had it malfunctioned?
“Attack!” Chu Qingzang, seemingly out of patience, shouted.
The black-clad figures around them each drew their weapons. Cold light flashed as they gradually closed in on Mu Yunjin and Chu Li.
Mu Yunjin’s grip on Chu Li’s hand tightened further. Even in this dangerous situation, she couldn’t help but say to Chu Li, “Let me try to hold them off first. Don’t take out your jade pendant.”
After saying this, she stamped her foot in frustration. “Why did you come out alone, you fool!”
Chu Li looked at her with amusement, pulled her behind him, and turned back to say calmly, “This Prince doesn’t need you to protect him.”
Huh?
Mu Yunjin silently cursed his stubborn pride, but the next second, her expression froze.
She saw Chu Li gathering inner energy in his palm, a purple light ball gradually forming. His eyes were as cold as ice, carrying a bone-chilling coldness, yet also infinitely empty.
“Ah!”
“Ahhh!”
The screams of the Thousand Leaves assassins echoed in the night. After leaving Chu Li’s palm, the purple light ball transformed into a powerful stream of inner energy, shooting toward the approaching assassins.
When the energy hit the ground, dust flew everywhere, cutting down half of the dense bamboo forest around them. The surroundings suddenly became spacious.
Several thousand Leaves assassins were sent flying, falling onto sharp bamboo stalks that pierced their hearts and lungs, killing them instantly.
There were still a few who fell into the bamboo thicket, struggled to get up, and once again approached the two.
“Wow, your palm force is so powerful! What martial art is this? Can you teach me?” Mu Yunjin’s eyes showed admiration. After all, Chu Li was essentially blind at this moment.
Yet he could still determine the positions of his opponents by hearing alone. It was truly impressive!
The remaining Thousand Leaves assassins regrouped and changed their tactics. Holding knives and swords, they moved back and forth, their footsteps light, not making a sound.
Seeing how quickly they moved, Mu Yunjin estimated it was some kind of formation. But when she couldn’t hear even a slight sound, she began to feel alarmed.
Chu Qingzang stood to one side with her arms crossed, laughing coldly, the dagger in her hand itching for action.
Tonight was the perfect opportunity. If she killed these two, she would have no more worries. Once Rong Min obtained the throne, she would be the most noble woman in the land.