These days, continuous rain had plagued both banks of the Su River, and the oppressive heat had lasted for days. Finally, today, it culminated in a torrential downpour.
The night was pitch black, with pale flashes of lightning intermittently illuminating the faces of both sides.
Rainwater slid down Mu Qingyan's high-bridged nose as he grinned with excitement. "We've caught a few alive, Zhao Zhao. You won’t have to eat any more persimmon cakes."
Cai Zhao swiftly drew her Bright Sun Blade, the rain streaming down her wrist and winding along the golden-red surface of the blade. Her small face was cold and stern. "Don’t mention those two words to me!"
In truth, by the time she had tasted persimmon cakes from the fifth village, Mu Qingyan had already conceived the idea of luring their prey out. During their on-the-ground search, the two had realized that unless they made a grand, sweeping effort, the Shi brothers could easily remain hidden.
For one thing, the persimmon cakes sent to Cai Pingshu back then might not have been local to his place of seclusion—they could have been bought from a neighboring village or even a distant upstream settlement.
Moreover, even if they were locally produced, Cai Zhao might not be able to pinpoint their exact origin.
And even if she did, if the Shi brothers deliberately avoided detection, they could simply hide in the mountains or take refuge in nearby villages. How could they possibly be found in such a vast sea of people? Upon closer reflection, Mu Qingyan realized that his goal in tracking down the Shi brothers was ultimately to uncover the mastermind behind the scheme. In that case, why not skip the intermediary step and draw them out directly?
Cai Zhao stepped forward and loudly demanded, as if reciting lines from an opera, "Who dares to trespass here—"
"Why bother talking to him? Just start fighting—and remember to take them alive!" Mu Qingyan pressed a hand on the girl's shoulder, his tall figure soaring into the air like a swift and ferocious giant bat, instantly lunging toward their opponents.
Cai Zhao was a step slower, her expression tense as she also leaped forward.
The group of black-clad men numbered twenty-one in total. Four of them held shields in their left hands and short swords in their right, while the weapons of the other seven were not immediately discernible. As soon as they saw Mu and Cai charging, they swiftly formed a battle formation.
Mu Qingyan’s palm strike arrived before he did, but the lead black-clad men didn’t meet it head-on—they dodged instead. The moment Mu Qingyan landed, he was immediately surrounded by seven men, with another seven standing in an outer ring.
Though young, Mu Qingyan had ample combat experience. He knew the best way to break a formation was to disrupt its flow—by taking out one or two key members, the formation would collapse. Without hesitation, he swung his left arm in a wide arc while his right shot forward, delivering two consecutive Void Severing Palms toward the black-clad man in front of him.
To his surprise, the man steadily retreated several steps, seemingly unconcerned with preserving the formation. Before Mu Qingyan could relish his apparent success, the other six men lunged at him, targeting six vital points simultaneously.
Had they attacked with palm strikes, Mu Qingyan might have been willing to endure a few blows with his Inner Force. But the short swords in their hands gleamed with an eerie green light in the darkness. He knew these blades were not only razor-sharp but likely also poisoned. The last time he was poisoned, he had spent over a year recuperating—first at the Chang Family Fortress and later at the Azure Tower Sect. This time, he didn’t dare take any risks and quickly shifted to defense.
The moment he withdrew his offensive, the seven black-clad men retreated in perfect unison, like puppets on strings. Just as Mu Qingyan was mid-air, the seven men in the outer ring suddenly raised their hands and hurled throwing knives at his vital points.Not a single throwing knife, but an endless chain of flying blades—the black-clad man threw the first knife with his right hand, immediately followed by the second with his left, while his now-empty right hand retrieved a third knife from his back and hurled it forth. Each black-clad man carried seven or eight knives gleaming with a faint green light. Once thrown, the knives were swiftly caught by the outer ring of black-clad men opposite them, only to be thrown again, creating an unbroken flow like a rushing stream.
Mu Qingyan landed gracefully.
This left him in a dilemma. If he stayed on the ground, he would be besieged by the seven-man formation; if he leapt into the air, he would be trapped in the web of flying blades.
Cai Zhao, watching from the side, was horrified.
She had seen Mu Qingyan surrounded before—he would either fight his way out or leap into the air using Azure Cloud Leap to break through the encirclement from the outside. But now, neither method seemed feasible.
Frowning, she vaguely felt she had seen this formation somewhere before.
Mu Qingyan dodged the barrage of knives, his frustration mounting. He spun upward and launched another attack.
His powerful palm strikes carried a fierce whistling wind. With a faint crack , one black-clad man was struck in the arm by Mu Qingyan’s palm force. Instantly, the other six rushed forward, forcing Mu Qingyan to withdraw and defend himself.
The injured man immediately retreated from the inner circle, replaced by a knife-throwing black-clad man from the outer ring. The seven men defended one another, their footwork and techniques complementing each other, ensuring the formation operated seamlessly without a single flaw.
In the brief moment Cai Zhao was distracted, she too found herself trapped in a seven-man formation.
But these seven did not wield round shields and short swords—instead, they used slender, spiderweb-like golden threads, incredibly flexible yet tough. She had no idea what material these threads were made of, but when whipped through the air, they stiffened like steel whips, sharp and deadly. Yet when struck by the Bright Sun Blade, they instantly softened, wrapping around the blade like fragile silk, subtly attempting to wrench it from her grip. Several times, the Bright Sun Blade nearly slipped from her hand.
Suddenly, Cai Zhao recalled Cai Pingshu’s words—back when she had just been permitted to wield the Bright Sun Blade:
"Zhao Zhao, don’t think the Bright Sun Blade is invincible, capable of cleaving through anything. Remember, all things in nature restrain one another in an endless cycle—there are no exceptions."
"No matter how renowned a weapon is, it shouldn’t be overused. Once it’s seen too often, others will find ways to counter it."
For the first time, Cai Zhao set aside her reliance on the Bright Sun Blade. Retreating several steps, she held the blade in a defensive stance, focusing intently.
After a few exchanges, she suddenly realized something and shouted indignantly, "Why are there seven men attacking me, but no one throwing knives?!"—This disparity wasn’t particularly harmful, but it was undeniably insulting.
Mu Qingyan, who had been contemplating how to break the formation and capture a prisoner alive, couldn’t help but chuckle at her outburst.
He laughed aloud and called out, "Zhao Zhao, Not Full!"
"Got it!" Cai Zhao activated Flower-Fluttering Crossing and leapt into the air. At the same moment, several golden threads shot toward her.
Seizing the brief instant when she was half a body’s length above the black-clad men and before the threads could converge, her left hand snapped open and shut in the direction of the small pavilion on the hill—precisely the fifth stance of Dragon Grasping Hand, 'Singular Merit Stance'!
Propelled by her palm force, the bamboo chest resting in the pavilion suddenly flew up as if pulled by invisible strings, soaring straight toward Mu Qingyan in the distance.At this moment, several golden threads had already woven into a spiderweb midair, densely covering overhead. Cai Zhao quickly landed to evade, and the tightly woven golden threads abruptly retracted.
Both sides knew the spiderweb was most dangerous while suspended in midair. Once it descended below Cai Zhao's waist level, she could leap through the larger gaps at the edges to escape the web and launch an aerial attack against the black-clad assailants.
Unfortunately, the web had formed too quickly, and Cai Zhao's Dragon Grasping Hand hadn't fully manifested. The vine carrying the bamboo basket showed signs of faltering midway. Mu Qingyan let out a clear whistle and suddenly struck the basket's position with a palm strike. With a loud explosive crack, the basket shattered midair, and a silver light as agile as a swimming dragon flew into Mu Qingyan's hand like a giant scythe cleaving through the night.
With the sharp sword in hand, Mu Qingyan showed no restraint. Several crisp clangs of metal weapons clashing rang out as the short swords of all seven black-clad men were severed, and even their round shields were split with cracks.
Cai Zhao stared blankly for a moment before turning her head away—the Painted-Skin Demon had never boasted about the sharpness of the sword he carried, but now it seemed the might of 'Not Full' was no less formidable than the Bright Sun Blade.
She suddenly felt she had been somewhat frivolous before.
In her brief daze, Mu Qingyan beside her had already shattered the formation with a series of swift strikes. Had he not remembered to leave survivors, he would have slaughtered them all like chickens and ducks. After repelling the assailants on his side, he swiftly sidestepped toward Cai Zhao's encirclement, slashing through several enemies from the outside in. In an instant, blood pooled on the ground, yet the gleaming silver sword remained untainted.
Standing solemnly with his sword raised in the pouring rain, the young man smirked coldly. "Surrender now."
His stance was proud and aloof, though his other hand hastily pulled Cai Zhao—who had just finished off the remaining foes—behind him, giving off a somewhat protective air.
"I don't think I won by luck," Cai Zhao wiped the rain from her face.
"Of course not," Mu Qingyan declared righteously. "If not for needing captives, I'd have finished them off long ago."
Cai Zhao finally regained some confidence. "It was just a sudden ambush. With focus, I can find his weaknesses."
"Exactly. Such glaring flaws—bigger than dried persimmons."
"...Don't mention those two words."
The battered black-clad men regrouped into formation. This time, they didn't attack hastily. Instead, each retrieved a pitch-black metal cylinder from behind and advanced slowly in a semicircle.
Faced with such unequal odds, most would have counterattacked and slaughtered the black-clad men. Yet Mu and Cai both paled at the sight of the metal cylinders and instead retreated a few steps.
"These cylinders... do they look like..." Cai Zhao hesitated.
Mu Qingyan scrutinized them closely. "Not just look like—I'd say they are."
Just then, the lead black-clad man pulled the metal cylinder, and a thick liquid sprayed out. The familiar stench of decay instantly filled the valley. Cai Zhao gasped, "It really is Bone-Corroding Sky Rain!"
—The foul-smelling venom and the identical cylinder design were exactly like those Nie Zhe had used in Paradise Palace back then!
Bone-Corroding Sky Rain was originally concocted by Lu Chengnan to help his master Nie Hengcheng dominate the martial world. The exact formula was known only to the Nie Clan and their allies. Even Mu Qingyan didn't know how to make it. Yet now, this venom appeared in this remote valley—the implications were unmistakable.“So it is someone colluding with Nie Zhe,” Mu Qingyan’s eyes darkened, a chilling coldness emanating from him.
Cai Zhao slightly raised her left hand, revealing the silver chain wrapped around her wrist, and whispered, “I’ll use the chain to pull a few people over as shields against the poison. You seize the opportunity to capture them.”
“No need for such trouble.” Mu Qingyan stepped forward, his left hand making a grasping motion in the air.
A black-clad figure was yanked into the air as if struck by a heavy hammer, spewing blood before landing in Mu Qingyan’s grip to serve as a shield.
Cai Zhao shook her head, sheathed her blade, and crossed her arms to watch.
At that moment, everyone suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet tremble slightly, and a faint rumbling sound echoed from above.
Experience had its advantages. While the black-clad figures stood bewildered, Mu and Cai immediately recalled the incident on the snowy ridge where rolling snow had nearly triggered an avalanche.
But this wasn’t a snowy ridge—there was no snow here. So what was rolling toward them?
With a deafening crack, a bolt of lightning more terrifying than before split the night sky. The downpour intensified, as if a hole had been torn open in the heavens, pouring water endlessly.
Mu Qingyan, long accustomed to mountain life, had a sudden realization and exclaimed, “It’s a mudslide!”
In the blink of an eye, a torrent of mud and boulders, like a monstrous beast, roared toward them.
Mu Qingyan reacted swiftly. Before the mudslide could reach them, he dashed toward a slightly elevated slope to the left.
Cai Zhao was even faster, moving before he even finished speaking. Drawing from their experience on the snowy ridge, she knew whatever was coming wasn’t good. Spotting a slightly raised platform to the left, she sprinted toward it.
The black-clad figures only realized the danger when the mudslide surged into view. Panicked, they dropped their metal canisters and scattered in all directions. But they were too slow and didn’t know where to flee. Most were buried beneath the roaring tide of mud and rocks before they could even cry out.
Only the lead black-clad figures, ruthless to the end, refused to abandon their mission even as their lives hung in the balance. They opened their metal canisters and hurled them at Mu Qingyan’s back.
Cai Zhao escaped the fastest. Using her silver chain to swing from protruding rocks and tree trunks, she leaped swiftly onto the high stone platform and looked down—Mu Qingyan was agile at times, but at others, he seemed trapped in the mudslide, disappearing from view momentarily. It appeared he was struck by a massive boulder. When he finally drew near, Cai Zhao quickly lowered her chain to pull him up.
As she steadied the staggering man, her hands grew warm and wet. Lifting them, she saw they were covered in blood. In the chaos, she couldn’t tell where he was injured, so they supported each other as they climbed toward higher, safer ground.
Ahead, the mudslide roared relentlessly, a truly awe-inspiring sight. No martial artist, no matter how skilled, could match such destructive power. Cai Zhao couldn’t help but reflect on how insignificant humans were in the face of nature.
The two scrambled and pulled each other toward the most stable high ground they could find, panting heavily until they discovered a cave jutting out from the mountainside. It was safe from sudden mudslides and the raging flood outside.
Inside the cave, Cai Zhao helped Mu Qingyan lean against the wall and slowly peeled open his blood-soaked robes. When she saw the wound on his shoulder and neck, she gasped in shock.
“Bone-Corroding Sky Rain?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Mu Qingyan gave a bitter smile. “Seems so.”
In his haste to escape earlier, he hadn’t dodged in time and was struck by one of the poison canisters on his shoulder.He was ruthless. Without a word, he used Not Full to slice off the entire patch of flesh from his shoulder and back. To prevent the venom from spreading, he even gouged out the flesh three inches deep.
It was precisely because of this momentary delay that he was nearly buried by the mudslide. As he fled toward Cai Zhao, he was struck repeatedly by massive boulders, leaving him with both internal and external injuries.
Cai Zhao saw his pale face and his ragged, intermittent breathing, realizing he was severely wounded this time. She slowly rose to her feet.
Mu Qingyan noticed her movement. His dark, inscrutable eyes fixed on her before he suddenly laughed. "You want to kill me?"
"...You noticed." Cai Zhao quietly rested her hand on the clasp at her waist.
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