Chapter One Hundred Forty-Nine
Three strands of Startling String absorbed the white powder, transforming into translucent arrows!
The powder seemed propelled by some unseen current, swirling rapidly within the arrows as if on the verge of bursting.
An Jiu released her fingers, and the three arrows shot forth in unison, slicing through the rainy night without any resistance.
She swiftly changed positions and fired several more arrows.
The Medicine concocted by Mo Sigui was potent—contact with it would render a person unconscious within two breaths.
Seeing the guards swaying unsteadily, An Jiu flashed forward from the corridor. One guard spotted her, but before he could raise an alarm, her dagger slit his throat. She caught his collapsing body and gently laid it on the ground.
The surrounding guards fell one after another.
Inside, Lady Li, who was attending to Li Ting’s bedtime routine, heard the commotion and called out, “What’s happening?”
The doors and windows burst open as a gust of wind and rain extinguished the candles.
In that moment of darkness, An Jiu slipped inside, confirming the figure on the bed was indeed Li Ting.
The room plunged into blackness. Like a specter of the night, she moved with swift precision, locating Li Ting in an instant. Her dagger flashed, severing his throat, before she withdrew just as quickly, leaping out through the front window.
The entire sequence was seamless, executed in the blink of an eye. Lady Li would never have imagined that her living husband had turned into a corpse the moment the lights went out. It wasn’t until the thick scent of blood filled her nostrils and warm liquid splattered onto her hands that she realized what had happened. She dropped the towel in horror and shrieked, “Help! Someone help!”
“Husband…”
An Jiu heard Lady Li’s despairing wail as she vaulted over the wall.
Gritting her teeth, she strode away without looking back.
Chaos erupted within the Li residence.
She sprinted down the imperial road, the rain-soaked night bleak and desolate.
Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine—she felt as if she were being watched, yet her Mental strength couldn’t pinpoint the source!
“Hah! Mei Shisi, I’ve finally caught you.” A figure appeared ten zhang ahead, already drawing his bow without hesitation. “Fight me in Archery.”
It was that Madman again.
Staring death in the face, An Jiu replied calmly, “I can’t. My Inner Force is destroyed—I can’t shoot Startling String anymore.”
“You’re lying!” The Madman lowered his bow and rushed to her, gripping her wrist. A thread of icy energy probed her shattered Meridians, sending a sharp pain through her body. Beads of cold sweat instantly dotted her forehead.
“Hahaha!” The Madman released her, laughing wildly. “Then I must be the best in the world!”
His laughter, infused with Inner Force, left An Jiu’s mind reeling. When she regained her senses, she detected a surge of killing intent behind her. She tried to evade, but the Madman’s iron grip on her wrist nearly crushed the bones.
“If this girl can no longer wield Startling String, she’s useless,” Cui Yichen’s voice was icy. “Kill her.”
Obediently, the Madman raised his palm. An Jiu showed no fear. “If you kill me, you’ll always be second.”
His descending hand paused mid-air.
Cui Yichen urged impatiently, “Once dead, she’ll be nothing but dust. If you spare her, there will always be someone who was once stronger than you!”
The Madman hesitated. Born for martial arts, this was the one thing he cared about most.
While he was lost in thought, An Jiu quietly gripped her dagger and slashed across his wrist.The Madman had his Body Shielding Qi, and it had been a long time since anyone had injured him. The sudden pain made him jerk his hand back violently.
An Jiu turned and rushed toward Cui Yichen.
When she made her move, she had already resolved to burn her bridges. The Madman was in the Transformation Realm, and Cui Yichen was at least at the seventh or eighth rank. There was no chance for her to escape under the combined assault of these two, so she might as well go all out and target the one she could somewhat control.
Under the crushing weight of her formidable mental strength, Cui Yichen indeed froze.
An Jiu grabbed him by the collar and yanked him in front of her. "If you don’t want to die, tell him to back off—now—at least a hundred zhang away."
Cui Yichen’s eyes flickered. He couldn’t let the Madman leave. The woman before him radiated killing intent, like a death warrior raised by Misty Villa. If she escaped danger, nine times out of ten, she wouldn’t spare him.
"Speak!" An Jiu’s dagger had already sunk into his flesh.
"Kill me, and you won’t escape either. How about we trade lives?" Strangely, at the height of tension, he relaxed.
An Jiu sneered. "You think I wouldn’t dare?"
With that, she abruptly exerted force. Blood sprayed—her strike was perfectly measured, deep enough to wound but not immediately fatal.
"Little Chen!" The Madman, seeing Cui Yichen bleeding so profusely, flew into a rage. His power gathered like a gale in his palm, and the surrounding rain turned into icy pellets that stung against their cheeks.
"Hold your hand!" A loud shout came from afar.
In the rain, a figure approached—one man, one umbrella, one lantern. But the man wore tattered robes, his face covered in a thick beard, barefoot in wooden clogs that clattered against the stone pavement as he sprinted over. "Let go of my nephew!"
An Jiu hadn’t met many people with such a distinctive personality, so she easily recalled his identity—Hua Rongjian’s friend, the one who made human skin masks.
"Huh?" Lu Danzhi, upon seeing the hostage, froze. "He’s Cui Yichen?"
From Hua Rongjian, Lu Danzhi had learned that Cui Huling’s death was suspicious, so he had begun investigating everything about the Cui family in recent years. When he received news that Cui Yichen had appeared in Bianjing, he had taken to wandering the streets every night. He knew Cui Yichen was involved in assassinations and would likely move under cover of darkness. Tonight, he had finally encountered him—but this young man before him was clearly not his elder brother’s son!
Lu Danzhi raised the lantern to illuminate Cui Yichen’s face. "My elder brother was dashingly handsome in his youth, the most beautiful man in the martial world, and my sister-in-law was a renowned beauty. How could they produce something like this?"
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—no matter how much someone changed, they couldn’t become a completely different person. The young man being held hostage now merely shared the same name; his face and build were nothing alike.
"What’s going on…" He didn’t believe this was a coincidence.
Lu Danzhi’s arrival shattered the tense standoff. An Jiu shoved Cui Yichen toward the Madman and turned to flee.
She hadn’t gone far when a dark figure dropped from the rooftops beside her. Recognizing Chu Dingjiang, she let him carry her away.
An Jiu’s damaged meridians had been injured again, and she felt as if all the blood in her body was surging toward her skull, threatening to burst through the crown of her head. But the moment she came into contact with Chu Dingjiang’s warmth, the discomfort eased unexpectedly.
Noticing her subtle change, Chu Dingjiang immediately used his True Energy to heal her the moment they returned to the Crane Control Institute.Warm currents flowed slowly through the meridians, nourishing the damaged and depleted pathways like a long-awaited rain after drought, continuously absorbing.
After the time it took to drink two cups of tea, Chu Dingjiang's True Energy was nearly exhausted. Fortunately, the nails suppressing his cultivation were still in place, preserving a portion of his True Energy—a silver lining in the misfortune.
"Chu Dingjiang? Are my meridians also being tempered by fire?" An Jiu felt her strength brimming, her spirit aligning more closely with her body. She was confident she could now leap two or three zhang without issue.
"Hmm." Chu Dingjiang sat cross-legged, regulating his breath.
An Jiu didn’t disturb him further, lost in thought. Tonight’s events had been too sudden. And why had the Madman happened to block her path? (To be continued…)
PS: Happy New Year, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wishing you all smooth sailing, prosperity, honor, and glory…
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