The three spiritual bowstrings absorbed the white powder, transforming into semi-transparent arrows!
The powder seemed propelled by some airflow, swirling within the arrows as if ready to explode at any moment.
An Jiu released her fingers, and the three arrows flew out simultaneously, cutting through the rainy night without any resistance.
She quickly changed position and shot a few more arrows.
The drug Mo Sigui had prepared was potent, causing unconsciousness within two breaths of contact.
As An Jiu watched the guards begin to sway, she flashed across the corridor. A guard spotted her, but before he could shout a warning, her dagger sliced across his neck. She caught his limp body and gently lowered it to the ground.
The surrounding guards gradually collapsed.
Inside, Lady Li, who was attending to Li Ting’s washing up, heard the commotion and called out, “What’s happening?”
Suddenly, the doors and windows burst open. The night wind carrying rain gusted in, extinguishing the candles.
In the instant the flames died, An Jiu slipped inside, confirming that the person sleeping on the bed was indeed Li Ting.
The room plunged into darkness. She moved like a night ghost, swift and precise, quickly locating Li Ting’s position. Her dagger fiercely cut through his throat, and she swiftly retreated, leaping out through the front window.
All these actions happened in a single fluid moment. Lady Li couldn’t have imagined that in the instant the lights went out, her living husband had become a corpse. She smelled the heavy scent of blood and felt the warm spray on her hands before realizing what had happened. Hastily dropping the handkerchief in her hand, she screamed shrilly, “Help! Someone help!”
“My lord…”
As An Jiu was climbing over the wall to leave, she heard Lady Li’s despairing cries.
She gritted her teeth and strode away.
Chaos erupted inside Li’s mansion.
She ran along the imperial road, the rainy night desolate.
Suddenly, a chill ran down An Jiu’s spine. She felt as if someone was watching her, but her spiritual sense was oddly unclear!
“Haha, Mei Fourteen, I’ve finally caught you.” A figure appeared about thirty paces ahead of her, drawing a bow without hesitation. “Come, let’s have an archery contest.”
It was that madman again.
In this life-or-death moment, An Jiu looked at him calmly. “I’m afraid I can’t. My internal energy has been crippled; I can’t shoot spiritual arrows anymore.”
“You’re lying!” The madman lowered his bow and rushed to her, grabbing her wrist to check her pulse. Icy energy coursed through her damaged meridians, causing cold sweat to break out on her forehead from the pain.
“Haha!” The madman released her hand, laughing wildly. “Then doesn’t that make me the world’s best?”
An Jiu’s head spun from his internal energy-infused shout. As she regained her senses, she felt a murderous intent approaching from behind. She tried to dodge, but the madman gripped her wrist tightly, nearly crushing the bone.
“Since this woman can no longer use spiritual arrows, she’s useless,” Cui Yichen’s voice was cold. “Kill her.”
The madman obediently raised his palm. An Jiu, fearless, said, “If you kill me, you’ll always be second-best.”
The hand about to strike her crown paused.
Cui Yichen urged, “Once a person dies, they return to dust. If you don’t kill her, someone who was once stronger than you will always exist!”
The madman was conflicted, unsure whether to kill her or not. He lived for martial arts; it was what he valued most.
As he pondered, An Jiu quietly gripped her dagger handle. She slashed at his wrist.
The madman had protective energy around his body and hadn’t been injured in a long time. Suddenly feeling pain, he jerked his hand back.
An Jiu spun towards Cui Yichen.
When she acted, she had already decided to go all out. The madman was at the transcendent level, and Cui Yichen was at the seventh or eighth tier. She had no chance of escaping from these two together, so she might as well take a risk and try to control the slightly more manageable one.
Under the pressure of her formidable spiritual force, Cui Yichen indeed froze.
An Jiu grabbed his collar, dragging him in front of her. “If you don’t want to die, tell him to leave immediately, at least a hundred paces away.”
Cui Yichen’s eyes flickered. He couldn’t let the madman leave. This woman exuded a deadly aura, like an assassin trained by Misty Mountain Villa. If she escaped danger, there was a 90% chance she wouldn’t spare him.
“Speak!” An Jiu’s dagger was already embedded in his flesh.
“Kill me, and you still won’t escape. How about a life for a life?” At the height of tension, he suddenly relaxed.
An Jiu coldly laughed, “You think I dare not?”
With that, she suddenly applied force. Blood sprayed out. An Jiu’s strike was precisely calculated – deep enough, but not immediately fatal.
“Little Chenzi.” Seeing Cui Yichen bleeding so much, the madman instantly flew into a rage. His energy condensed in his palm like a fierce wind, turning the surrounding rain into ice pellets that painfully struck their faces.
“Hold back!” A loud shout came from afar.
Through the rain, a man with an umbrella and a lantern approached. He wore tattered robes, had a full beard, and was barefoot in wooden clogs, clattering on the stone pavement as he ran over. “Quick, release my grand-nephew!”
An Jiu had met few people with such a distinctive personality, so she easily recalled his identity – Hua Rongjian’s friend, the mask maker.
“Eh?” Lu Danzhi was surprised when he saw who An Jiu was holding hostage. “Is that Cui Yichen?”
Lu Danzhi had heard from Hua Rongjian that Cui Huling’s death was suspicious, so he started investigating the Cui family’s recent affairs. A few days ago, he received news of Cui Yichen appearing in Bianjing, so he had been roaming the streets every night. He knew Cui Yichen was involved in assassinations and would be active at night. Today, he finally encountered him, but this young man wasn’t his brother’s son!
Lu Danzhi held up his lantern to illuminate Cui Yichen’s face. “My elder brother was handsome and dashing in his youth, the number one beauty in the jianghu, and my sister-in-law was also renowned. How could they produce such a creature?”
An Jiu dragged Cui Yichen back a few steps.
Lu Danzhi was puzzled. He had seen Cui Yichen by chance two or three years ago. Even if he had changed, he couldn’t have become a completely different person. The young man being held hostage just happened to have the same name, but his appearance and build were different.
“What’s going on…” He felt this couldn’t be a coincidence.
Lu Danzhi’s appearance broke the tense atmosphere. An Jiu shoved Cui Yichen towards the madman and turned to run.
She hadn’t gone far when a dark figure dropped down from a nearby rooftop. An Jiu recognized Chu Dingjiang and allowed him to carry her away.
An Jiu’s damaged meridians were injured again. She felt as if all the blood in her body was rushing to her head, about to burst through her skull. But when she felt Chu Dingjiang’s body heat, the discomfort surprisingly eased.
Noticing An Jiu’s subtle change, Chu Dingjiang immediately used his true qi to heal her upon returning to the Crane Control compound.
Warm energy flowed slowly through her meridians. The damaged and depleted channels seemed to absorb it like parched earth soaking up rain.
After two cups of tea worth of time, Chu Dingjiang’s internal energy was almost depleted. Fortunately, the nails suppressing his cultivation had retained some of his true qi – a blessing in disguise.
“Chu Dingjiang? Are my meridians also made of fire?” An Jiu felt energized, her spirit and body more closely integrated. She believed she could now leap two or three zhang without a problem.
“Mm.” Chu Dingjiang sat cross-legged, regulating his breath.
An Jiu stopped disturbing him, lost in thought. Tonight’s events were too sudden. And why had the madman happened to block her path?