Hearing the man outside mention herself, Changling couldn’t help but freeze.
“Hm?” Nanxu said: “Is there such a matter? Who told you this?”
“A friend of mine. He was traveling with that young lady, but they became separated. He said she was taken away by several Qiang ethnic women…”
“These past few days, I’ve only sent a few girls out to gather medicinal herbs. I haven’t heard of anyone bringing back any young lady.” Nanxu said: “Qingda, when you and Pinning returned, did you see anyone?”
Qingda: “Reporting to the Sect Master, we didn’t see any young lady. Pinning, did you see anyone?”
Pinning held a short knife against Changling’s neck as she called out: “I didn’t either.”
“Then it seems my friend was mistaken…” Fu Yangui said: “Alright, it’s getting late. I should head back to make preparations as well.”
“I… I’ll see you out.”
“Mm.”
Only after the person had left did Pinning lower her knife: “This time, you truly cannot escape.”
As night fell, Canlang Village was enveloped in faint mist. The moon’s reflection entered the river, and the river flowed along the walls.
Atop the cliff, Fu Yangui stood quietly at the height, gazing toward the shadowy lights of the Five Poisons Sect ahead. A guard stepped forward and inquired: “My lord, shall we act tonight?”
“Our time is limited. If we cannot move before Dayan does, it will become a future threat to Eastern Xia.”
The attendant nodded slightly. “Then… regarding that woman mentioned by Young Hero Yu who saved Marquis He…”
The sky above seemed shrouded in an indescribable gloom. “She’s likely dead.”
The attendant was startled. Fu Yangui said indifferently: “These absurd matters should have someone bring them to an end.”
When the pot lid was lifted, a finger-sized venomous insect couldn’t wait to burrow out from the crack of the porcelain bottle, bright red and striking, like a small coral snake.
“It’s called Seven Fragrances Soul Devourer,” Nanxu gently stroked the insect’s antennae, propping her chin as she gazed at Changling. “Can you guess what that means?”
Changling’s hands and feet were bound tightly to the wooden bed—she had no mind to play word games. Seeing she didn’t respond, Nanxu looked down with a smile. “It means that if this little creature burrows into your skin, within the time of seven incense sticks it will devour all the flesh beneath your skin until nothing remains, then emerge as a large snake. Ha ha, isn’t that miraculous?”
“…”
“Alas, I’ve raised it for a full four years and am quite reluctant to part with it. But those previous girls’ skins were too bloody when cut off—I couldn’t wash them clean and couldn’t wear them. In a few days, Brother Yangui will take me away. This time, I must succeed no matter what…” Nanxu crouched down and poked Changling’s chest with her finger. “Elder sister, don’t worry. Little Seven is very well-behaved. Once she burrows into your body, she’ll head straight here. Just one moment, and you won’t feel anything anymore. After Little Seven finishes eating you, I’ll bury you both together at the foot of Canlang Mountain. The scenery there is beautiful—you’ll surely like it.”
After finishing these words, seeing Changling still had her eyes closed, Nanxu assumed she had been frightened unconscious. Just as she was about to stand, she suddenly heard a cool voice say: “Do you think that friend Fu Yangui mentioned… might recognize me?”
Nanxu seemed not to have considered this question. Only now reminded of it did she belatedly begin to think, but she quickly reacted. “You’re right. I should investigate that person’s identity…”
“In Jinling City, more than just him know me.” Changling said: “You seem never to have asked about my identity. Or do you truly believe that just by wearing my skin, you can achieve your wishes?”
Nanxu’s face instantly paled: “You…”
Before she could finish, the old woman behind her spoke up first: “Sect Master need not worry overmuch. Today, Young Master Fu didn’t recognize her, which shows this woman is no important official or noble. If she’s just an ordinary commoner, how would she have the opportunity to meet the General’s estate’s young lady?”
“Oh, if Sect Master Nan doesn’t mind, then proceed.”
Changling adopted a “please do as you wish” attitude. The calmer she became, the more uneasy Nanxu grew. She suddenly recalled the earlier words “choosing me is also your bad luck,” and suspicion arose in her heart: If not for Brother Yangui’s sudden appearance, she would already be dead. Someone unafraid even of being skinned and having her tendons pulled—why would she need to deceive me?
Nanxu said: “Elder sister, my Brother Yangui has taken a fancy to your appearance. Changing people now is impossible, but… if you tell me your identity, I promise to let you die comfortably. How about it?”
“Even if I tell you, what can you do? Kill everyone around me, and you can rest easy?”
“You…”
“If Sect Master Nan is willing to agree to one condition, I might as well write you a letter, stating clearly that I received your kindness but my injuries were too severe to recover. To repay your grace, I willingly offered my skin,” Changling said unhurriedly. “As long as this skin-changing matter was of my own free will, what does it matter if people discover it?”
Hearing this, Nanxu felt every word made sense. Her heart couldn’t help but pound. “What condition?”
Changling’s eyes flowed slightly. “After I die, please don’t harm my friend, Sect Master Nan.”
“Your friend…” Nanxu thought for a moment. “That young master?”
“What, you can’t do it?”
Nanxu had thought Changling would make some harsh demand, but hearing this, she couldn’t suppress her glee, thinking to herself: After you’re dead, if I want to kill, I’ll kill. If I don’t want to, I won’t. Can you turn into a vengeful ghost to collect the debt?
“Fine, I agree. You speak first—what’s your name?”
“My name…” Changling said: “I’ll tell you after I finish writing the letter.”
Changling got her wish to move from the “chopping board” to a chair. Seeing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone already laid out on the table, she extended her hand to hold the brush. She had just written a few characters when Nanxu called out to stop her: “Your handwriting is so crooked and twisted—who could recognize it as yours?”
“I’ve been given Soul-Numbing Powder. Even holding the brush is extremely difficult,” Changling stared at her hand. “If only I could recover a bit of strength…”
Nanxu looked at the old woman. “Isn’t that easy? Granny Meng…”
The old woman hesitated: “Sect Master… beware of trickery…”
“With so many people in the Five Poisons Sect, are you afraid of dealing with one weaponless prisoner?” Changling shifted the shackles in her hands. “Since you’re not at ease, I’ll just write like this.”
With that, she continued laboriously writing crooked characters. Nanxu said: “Qingda, Pinning, you two watch closely. Granny Meng, go fetch the antidote—one portion. She can’t pull any tricks anyway.”
Qingda and Pinning had already been standing behind with knives drawn, both blade points aimed directly at Changling’s back. Though Granny Meng was uneasy, she dared not disobey. She pulled a porcelain bottle from her sleeve pocket, poured out a small pill, hesitated repeatedly, and finally handed it over. Changling swallowed it in one gulp. In an instant, she felt a bit of strength return to her fingertips—not much, not little, just enough to hold a brush and write.
She laid out a new sheet of paper. This time her brush strokes were much steadier. Seeing the handwriting was neat, Nanxu felt somewhat reassured: “Even if Brother Yangui detects something amiss, if I present this letter, he cannot blame me.”
Changling methodically wrote her fabrications, feeling that with every additional stroke, she could squeeze out a trace more true qi from her dantian. Therefore, anything that could be said in one sentence, she deliberately made into three.
Granny Meng impatiently urged: “Are you finished writing yet?”
Changling was about to answer when suddenly, a loud explosion echoed through the quiet mountains.
Nanxu and the others were startled. “What was that sound?”
Qingda: “Sect Master, it sounds like firecrackers.”
“How could there be firecrackers? Quick—go out and look.”
Qingda had just rushed outside when the entire mountain shook again, causing earth and wood to collapse from the corners of the room inside, dust and sand falling.
Nanxu’s face suddenly turned ugly. Before she could catch her breath, she heard Pinning scream. Nanxu turned her gaze and saw a headless brush shaft stuck in Granny Meng’s throat, fresh blood dripping down the shaft.
The person holding the brush was Changling.
Nanxu’s pupils suddenly contracted. Almost simultaneously with Pinning’s attack, Changling raised an eyebrow. Using the shackles to block and push, blade light flashed before the eyes. Pinning felt her vision blur. The knife in her hand seemed to lose control, its sharp blade slicing across her own jaw, and then she knew nothing more.
Changling stood quietly, the knife now firmly in her hand without a drop of blood. Pinning’s corpse fell before her, blood spreading to her shoes.
Nanxu stood empty-handed. She couldn’t understand how the hidden weapons and poisons in her sleeves had been taken away. In that instant of passing, the aura of hundreds of murders emanating from this person was unprecedented in her life—Nanxu gasped in cold air and retreated three steps: “You… who exactly are you?!”
“Ah, the name.”
Changling stared unblinkingly at Nanxu, her voice very calm: “Yue Changling.”
“Yue Changling…” Nanxu vaguely felt this name was somewhat familiar. Her mind constantly searched through the renowned martial arts rankings, but for a moment she couldn’t recall where she’d heard it. “You… come—”
Too late to call out, Nanxu widened her eyes, staring dumbly as her chest was pierced by the blade tip, then suddenly fell backward. Even after falling, she still refused to close those confused eyes.
Changling’s brow furrowed slightly.
An indescribable emotion emerged.
She rarely harbored killing intent toward women, yet this time, she had killed three in one strike.
That recovered inner force, not even one-tenth, was truly minuscule. Before acting, Changling couldn’t gauge these three people’s martial arts levels, so when she struck, she could only give her all.
She used the ninth level technique of the Shimo True Scripture with full force—eleven years ago, the martial world called it… Hero’s Tomb.
Changling hadn’t expected that the grand Five Poisons Sect Master would be so vulnerable, but thinking again, even if given another chance, she still wouldn’t hold back.
For no other reason than that pot used to boil a living person—such a scourge deserved to be wiped out completely.
Changling used Nanxu’s hairpin to unlock the shackles, then found the antidote bottle on Granny Meng’s body. Just as she was about to open it, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps from the corridor outside. She scanned the room, quickly rose, threw the lotus-pink cloak from the clothing rack over herself, and stepped to the doorway first. She immediately saw Qingda leading several female disciples rushing over.
Qingda didn’t recognize Changling and said urgently: “Sect Master, terrible news! A large group of soldiers is attacking the stronghold. From their uniforms, they appear to be from the Yan Kingdom…”
“Yan Army?” Changling pinched her throat to a higher pitch, adjusting to Nanxu’s speaking tone. “How many came?”
“At least… at least over a thousand…”
“Perhaps even more… They’re showing no mercy at all. Many sisters have already died under their blades. Sect Master, I fear we can’t hold out much longer. We should…”
Changling nodded. “Pass the order—everyone scatter and retreat. Preserve your lives first.”
Seeing the Sect Master so decisive, Qingda actually froze.
In truth, Nanxu was not only capricious but also acted entirely according to her moods without regard for consequences. When facing difficulties, she always used sect disciples as human shields to charge forward—when had she ever valued their lives? However, the current situation was urgent. Hearing the Sect Master order a retreat, they were too happy to think further and couldn’t wait to relay the message.
Qingda saw Changling standing in the doorway and only then remembered the “skin” still lying inside the room. She quickly said: “By the way, that young lady…”
“I always felt these people came for her, so I had Granny Meng and Pinning take her away first,” Changling folded her hands in her sleeves. “Let’s go. If we don’t leave now, it will be too late.”
With that, without giving Qingda a chance to speak, she strode forward directly. Qingda glanced back, then followed.
Inside the room, the venomous insect called “Seven Fragrances Soul Devourer,” upon smelling fresh blood, wriggled its way to Nanxu’s side and nimbly burrowed into her chest.
When leaving the earthen fortress, Changling finally understood what “showing no mercy” meant.
Looking out, the entire Five Poisons Sect was engulfed in bloodshed. Sect disciples fled in panic. The attacking troops came with overwhelming force—corpses every ten steps, blood everywhere, clearly pursuing people with the momentum to completely flatten the Five Poisons Sect.
It seemed that even without her intervention, the Five Poisons Sect couldn’t escape this calamity.
Changling thought of those five young women captured together—with flames soaring to the sky, even if they weren’t hacked to death, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn’t burn to death.
Qingda, seeing more and more enemy forces, parried while shouting to Changling: “Sect Master, you leave first!”
Changling hadn’t expected that someone like Nanxu would have such loyal servants. She couldn’t help saying: “Find someone in charge and say you’re willing to reveal my whereabouts. Don’t force yourself.”
Qingda froze, not having time to process these words. When she turned her head, the person had already vanished.
By the banks of the Qiang River, the sounds of fighting from within the mountain valley gradually weakened, leaving only the murmuring river current and surging undercurrents.
An attendant, carrying the scent of blood, walked over and said: “My lord, the Five Poisons Sect has been pacified. Quite a few voluntarily surrendered and are temporarily detained, but… Sect Master Nanxu is nowhere to be found.”
Fu Yangui reached out to stir the campfire. “Aren’t all the mountain paths sealed off?”
“Someone saw several young women escape from the west side, all dressed as village women. We questioned them—they were captured by Five Poisons Sect people, so we didn’t stop them… Now we don’t know if Nanxu mixed in among these people…”
Fu Yangui gently waved his hand. The attendant clasped his fists and withdrew.
He stood up. Having nothing else to do, he strolled leisurely along the riverside.
The banks of the Qiang River were densely forested. The farther forward he walked, the thicker the grass grew. With no wind tonight, even footsteps on the grass were particularly clear.
Fu Yangui looked up at the sky. The smoke and haze were still very thick—he could see neither stars nor moon.
Suddenly, a tree not far away shook almost imperceptibly.
Fu Yangui’s gaze sharpened. He walked to the tree base and looked up slightly, but saw nothing.
A tree branch silently extended toward the back of his neck.
The person’s breathing was faint yet rapid. Fu Yangui turned his body and easily grasped the branch.
He should have struck preemptively, but he froze when he looked up.
Before his eyes was an exquisite beauty.
Though her lips were deathly pale, her pair of eyes seemed filled with starlight, even brighter than when he’d seen her that morning.
He couldn’t tell if it was innocence or world-weariness.
In that moment of distraction, the branch pierced through his palm and pressed against his throat. The girl slowly spoke: “Who are you?”