Wen Hui beside Bai Suche suddenly changed color. “Miss Bai!”

Bai Suche said indifferently, “I was ordered by my master to seize the Green Enchantress pearl and kill Tang Lici and Liu Yan. Now Wei Beiyin is dead and Tang Lici isn’t dead. I can’t accomplish nothing, don’t you think?” She gazed at the sky with hands behind her back. “Sister Hui, kill him!”

Wen Hui trembled all over. “I… I can’t…”

Bai Suche’s fingers behind her back moved slightly. Liu Yan’s black face veil fluttered without wind, revealing his terrifying appearance. When Wen Hui saw it, her face turned deathly pale. Bai Suche asked indifferently, “So – will you kill or not?”

Wen Hui shook her head, though weak, without hesitation. Bai Suche asked coldly, “Are you defying orders?”

Wen Hui said in a low voice, “Miss Bai, you… you should just kill us both!” She stood in front of Liu Yan, shielding him with both hands. “Wen Hui doesn’t dare defy orders, only dares to die…”

“Sister Hui!” Ren Qingchou suddenly cried out, flashing forward to block in front of Wen Hui. Bai Suche smiled faintly. “Even you want to defy orders?”

With a “swish” she drew her Broken Precept blade, the tip pointing at Ren Qingchou’s brow. “A disciple that Qu Zhiliang didn’t want, truly ridiculously foolish. Do you think walking the martial world’s path of no return really leaves room for your infatuation?”

Ren Qingchou pressed his hand to his sword hilt and said seriously, “Miss Bai, you’re no match for me.”

Bai Suche’s body flashed, suddenly sweeping past Ren Qingchou’s side. The Broken Precept blade rested at Wen Hui’s neck as she turned around. “In martial arts I’m no match for you, but you – can’t fight me.” She pointed at Liu Yan. “Sister Hui won’t kill him, so you kill him for her.”

Ren Qingchou was stunned. Wen Hui trembled all over. “If you kill him, I’ll hate you forever! I’ll never forgive you!”

With a “swish” Ren Qingchou drew his sword. His thoughts were always simple and he never hesitated. “But if I don’t kill him, you’ll die.” With these words, he thrust his sword toward Liu Yan on the ground.

Bai Suche stood to one side with a slight smile. There was a “ding” of ringing metal as Ren Qingchou’s long sword flew from his hand, bouncing into the air. A white-clothed figure appeared in front of Liu Yan, his robes floating gently, his bearing exceptional.

“You—” Seeing this person, Ren Qingchou immediately widened his eyes. Liu Yan’s whole body stiffened – in that instant it was as if he’d seen a ghost!

The newcomer had handsome features and a gentle, calm expression – it was Tang Lici. Having struck away Ren Qingchou’s long sword, he smiled at Bai Suche. “Miss Bai has such a heroic youth under her command – truly cause for congratulation.”

Bai Suche said coldly, “These two defy orders and are disloyal. I’ll definitely report to master in the future.”

Tang Lici smiled slightly and stepped forward. “Miss, do you think you have a ‘future’?”

Bai Suche’s face changed slightly as she stepped back. But Ren Qingchou blocked in front of Bai Suche. “Miss Bai, take Sister Hui and go first. I’ll hold him off.”

Bai Suche’s gaze shifted. With a cold snort, she grabbed Wen Hui and swept away into the distance. Ren Qingchou picked up his long sword from the ground, focused his spirit and qi, and took a stance facing Tang Lici.

“I don’t want to kill anyone.” Tang Lici’s white clothes weren’t completely dry yet. Standing in front of Liu Yan with sleeves swaying slightly in the wind, he said, “You can also leave.”

Ren Qingchou’s gaze was resolute. “I received orders that I must kill you.”

Tang Lici smiled slightly. “Is that so… then make your move.”

Ren Qingchou let his long sword drop and reached for the small black bow at his waist. With a flip of his fingers, a black short arrow was nocked on the string. Though the bow was small and the arrow short, his resolve was extremely firm. Tang Lici bent down to lift Liu Yan, raised his sleeve, and tried to break through. Ren Qingchou moved his finger. With a soft “whoosh,” the short arrow shot out swiftly. Tang Lici caught the arrow with his left hand, his brow furrowing slightly.

His left shoulder wound hadn’t healed yet – it just wasn’t bleeding anymore. With his right hand holding Liu Yan, defending with only his left hand was very inconvenient. Ren Qingchou could see clearly and knew he was protecting Liu Yan. Immediately he shot three arrows “swish swish swish” toward Liu Yan on Tang Lici’s right side. Tang Lici carried the person forward in swift flight, his form flashing. “Thud thud thud” – three muffled sounds as all three arrows struck tree trunks in the dense forest.

Though Ren Qingchou was young, his temperament was very calm. He wasn’t discouraged either. Using his lightness skill, he pursued and shot four more arrows at Liu Yan. Actually he had no intention of harming Liu Yan, but with a great enemy before him, he forgot himself completely, instinctively choosing the method most advantageous to himself. These four arrows came at tricky angles, and with the narrow paths between trees in the dense forest, after Tang Lici dodged, Ren Qingchou had caught up. Delighted, he flicked his small black bow. The bowstring flowed like a blade in the technique “Water’s Thousand Fathoms,” wrapping toward both men’s necks. Tang Lici ducked to avoid it but for some reason suddenly paused slightly. Ren Qingchou was waiting for just such a momentary opening. Immediately the bowstring flipped rapidly, two black short arrows nocked together. With a great shout, arrows like violent rain and shooting stars – one pair toward Tang Lici, one pair toward Liu Yan – shot out in that instant!

Only then did he see clearly why Tang Lici had suddenly paused – just as he ducked to avoid, Liu Yan held a tree branch broken from somewhere and stabbed it into Tang Lici’s abdomen! In that split second of lightning speed, two deadly short arrows shot violently forward. Tang Lici released Liu Yan, who slumped down dejectedly. Tang Lici’s right sleeve rose up, sweeping toward the two short arrows, but with a “tss” sound one arrow broke through the sleeve and still shot toward Liu Yan! Tang Lici reacted extremely quickly, throwing himself forward to press Liu Yan beneath him. There was a muffled “thud” as the arrow entered his back more than two inches deep!

Liu Yan’s hand still gripped the branch he had broken from a tree beside him while Tang Lici was carrying him in swift flight. Fresh blood flowed down the branch, soaking his entire hand. Tang Lici supported himself with his right hand, his expression still very calm. Seeing Liu Yan’s face mixing violence and terror, he actually smiled slightly, his smile gentle and faint. “You – ugh -” Before finishing the sentence, he spat a mouthful of fresh blood all over Liu Yan’s head and face.

Liu Yan gripped the branch tightly, the violent joy on his face gradually transforming into terror. “You – you -“

Tang Lici’s face maintained its smile, his eyelids closing. After supporting himself for a moment, he finally collapsed on top of him.

“Ah – ah – aaahhhhh -” Liu Yan screamed wildly, pushing him away with both hands, full of terror. “Quick, pull him away! Quick, shoot him to death! Take him away, take him away! I don’t want to see him! Quick, get him away!” Supporting himself with both hands on the ground, he crawled backward step by step, trying to get as far as possible from the severely wounded and unconscious Tang Lici. With each hand leaving a bloody print, Liu Yan struggled toward the distance in panic like a worm.

Ren Qingchou still had an arrow on his bow but for some reason didn’t shoot. At this moment, whether killing Tang Lici or Liu Yan would be as easy as turning his hand. He usually acted without hesitation too, but now he didn’t draw the bow. Actually he wasn’t hesitating – he was just suddenly stunned, looking at the blood-covered Tang Lici, then at Liu Yan who looked like he’d seen a ghost. Ren Qingchou slowly put away his bow, shook his head, and turned to leave.

Tang Lici had indeed been severely wounded in last night’s battle. Last night he fought desperately to protect the Green Enchantress, today he sacrificed his life to save Liu Yan. He seemed never to care whether he could bear it, only caring about results.

Liu Yan struggled and crawled more than ten zhang away, leaving a trail of blood all the way, until he really had no strength to continue crawling, then turned back to look.

Tang Lici still lay on the ground, blood everywhere, his white clothes blooming with flower-like bloodstains, neither suddenly recovering nor coming back to life. He stopped and kept watching him, watching for a full half hour. Tang Lici didn’t move, and the blood on the ground grew more and more…

He… he really would die.

As long as he sat here watching, he would die. Liu Yan stared intently at Tang Lici, hating him to the bone, having thought countless times about how to kill him, having thought about how to abuse his corpse after death, how to grind his bones to dust and scatter the ashes… but had never thought that just sitting here watching would let him see him die.