The atmosphere in the room grew strange for a moment.
Bai Hehuai turned around and gently fanned the air, dispersing the smoke from the incense stick.
The Head reached out to touch the Sleeping Dragon Sword beside him, lost in thought.
The two seemed to have reached some unspoken understanding, remaining silent for a while before Bai Hehuai finally spoke: "Head, I’ve thought of a method to completely remove the poison from your body. But this method carries some risks."
The Head’s face twitched slightly. "Oh? Do tell."
In the courtyard, Mu Yumo put her rabbit mask back on and continued gazing at the bright moon in the sky. Suddenly, a white Paper Butterfly drifted down leisurely from above. Mu Yumo raised a finger, and the butterfly landed on her fingertip. After a faint flutter, it abruptly burst into flames. With a sharp wave of her hand, she shouted, "Take the Head and go first!"
Hearing the commotion, Bai Hehuai exchanged a glance with the Head inside the room. He immediately extinguished the incense stick and slung his medicine chest over his shoulder again. "A rare moment of respite, and now we’re back to fleeing for our lives."
The Head put on his robe and picked up the Sleeping Dragon Sword. "Once you cure me, no one will dare come for us!" Just then, with a loud crash, the back wall of the house was shattered, revealing a carriage waiting outside.
"Truly worthy of Spider Shadow—always so swift in action," Bai Hehuai remarked with admiration before stepping out with his medicine chest.
Soon, only Mu Yumo remained in the courtyard. She raised her hand lightly, and nearly a hundred white Paper Butterflies fluttered their wings as they rose from all directions, glowing with an eerie, phosphorescent light.
A tall, slender man landed atop the courtyard wall. He wore a peculiar garment, seemingly woven from pure black feathers—a raven-like cloak.
"And here I thought some master had arrived. You look just like a crow," Mu Yumo scoffed.
The man lowered his gaze to her and flicked his fingers. A needle so fine it was nearly invisible shot toward Mu Yumo. She didn’t see it either, but she sensed a sharp force rushing at her. Instinctively, she stepped back and said grimly, "Dragon Whisker Needle. You’re from the Tang Sect." No sooner had she spoken than a crisp sound, like an eggshell cracking, rang out. Her rabbit mask shattered instantly—the Dragon Whisker Needle had grazed it after all.
"Tang Sect, Tang Lingyue." The man’s tone remained indifferent, unmoved by the stunning beauty revealed beneath Mu Yumo’s broken mask.
Mu Yumo’s eyes widened. "Tang Lingyue! The Black Tortoise Guardian of Heaven Revelation City!"
"The one I seek isn’t you. Where is your Head? I must see him," Tang Lingyue said slowly.
Suppressing her panic, Mu Yumo forced a smile. "Even if you are the Black Tortoise Guardian of Heaven Revelation City, this isn’t Heaven Revelation, and we of Dark River have never obeyed imperial decrees. Do you really think the Grand Master will see you just because you wish it?"
Tang Lingyue shook his head. "I’m not here as the Black Tortoise Guardian of Heaven Revelation City. I’ve come as a disciple of the Tang Sect. Your Dark River Grand Master killed our Second Elder. I’m here to settle that debt."Mu Yumo was even more astonished. The fact that the Dark River Grand Master had personally taken action to kill Second Master Tang was an absolute secret. Even within the Spider Shadow, only a handful knew the details. So how did Tang Lingyue, all the way in Heaven Revelation City, come to know about it? Mu Yumo said solemnly, "And where did you, the Black Tortoise Envoy, obtain this news? If this is nothing but baseless rumor, what then?"
Tang Lingyue replied, "On Second Master Tang's chest, there was a sword wound—extremely fine and thin, yet it completely shattered the heart within. There is only one sword in this world capable of such a strike: your Head's Sleeping Dragon Sword."
The more Mu Yumo listened, the more alarmed she became, yet she maintained her composure. "Nonsense. Who told you this?"
Tang Lingyue answered slowly, "Someone from your very own Dark River."
"Anyone could claim to be from Dark River and feed you such lies. And you believed them?" Mu Yumo retorted.
"That person's words carry some weight, even if I despise him. Of course, some things are best confirmed with one's own eyes." Tang Lingyue turned away. "The Head isn't here. You're the only one left. All this talk is just a delay tactic."
"Trying to leave?" Mu Yumo flicked her wrist, and a swarm of Paper Butterflies shot toward Tang Lingyue at lightning speed.
"Flickering Paper Butterflies." Tang Lingyue's black feathered robe fluttered slightly as dozens of hidden weapons flew from his sleeves. Flames erupted, and all the Paper Butterflies combusted into ashes before they could reach within three zhang of him, scattering into the air.
Such skill with hidden weapons... Mu Yumo had been selected as a member of the Spider Shadow precisely because she was one of the Mu Family's top talents of her generation. In her years as an assassin for the Mu Family, she had faced masters of hidden weapons before—but never one like Tang Lingyue, with such technique and speed. Was this the prowess of a master capable of making the Hall of Know-All's Supreme Ranking? Mu Yumo took a step back, clasped her hands together, and shouted angrily, "Rise!"
"Petty tricks." Tang Lingyue stepped forward and crushed a black spider underfoot. The spider's color had blended seamlessly with the courtyard wall, making it nearly undetectable. "You used the Flickering Paper Butterflies as bait while this Nether Spider crept up on me. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
"Fool who thinks himself clever." Mu Yumo smirked.
Suddenly sensing something amiss, Tang Lingyue swiftly retreated. With a deafening explosion, the Nether Spider detonated, obliterating nearly half the courtyard wall. Tang Lingyue landed three zhang away, his voice grave. "Nether Spiders typically attack with venomous silk. What did you put inside this one?"
"Whatever your Tang Sect fears most, of course!" Mu Yumo laughed. "The Thunder Clan's Explosive Pellets, naturally!"
Tang Lingyue looked down to see dozens of spiders swarming at his feet. A long-forgotten rumor surfaced in his mind. "You're the Mu Family's Spider Woman of Dark River."
"I hate that codename!" Mu Yumo snapped.
A series of explosions followed, reducing the entire courtyard wall to rubble in an instant. The black feathered robe flickered amidst the flames before vanishing without a trace.
Mu Yumo exhaled lightly. "So the Guardian of Heaven Revelation isn't so hard to deal with after all.""Our Tang Sect does not fear the Lei Family Fort," a calm voice suddenly spoke behind Mu Yumo. "Therefore, I have no fear of your Thunderbolt Pellets either."
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