However, the blood dripping onto the ground wasn't just from his right hand.
It also came from the golden silk armor of the approaching figure.
Blood dripped steadily from the edges of the newcomer's golden silk armor. Earlier, when the Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms had coiled around his waist to forcibly block Yu Konghou's wild and reckless halberd, the newcomer hadn't escaped unscathed.
Tang Lichen, clad in white robes, bore bloodstains at his waist. With each step he took, the dust on the ground was faintly soaked with fresh blood.
His right hand held the "Outcast Sword," while his left wielded the "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms."
One step, and the bright moon was tainted with blood.
The endless song of the Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms.
This step forward was meant to decide life and death.
Yu Konghou steadied his mind, regulated his breathing, and fixed his gaze intently on Tang Lichen's hands. Though only twenty to thirty percent of his strength remained, he was still confident—
With a faint "snap," Tang Lichen's hands remained still, but something suddenly shot forth, piercing Yu Konghou's chest. Yu Konghou spat a mouthful of blood, dropping to one knee as he stared in utter shock—his sword still tightly gripped in hand. Just moments ago, Tang Lichen had approached with both weapons poised, yet it turned out he had merely parted his lips slightly to unleash a hidden weapon from his mouth! This—
This was simply—
Too much of an insult!
Tang Lichen tilted his head and spat out the concealed weapon he had held in his mouth, smiling faintly. His earlier silence had been because he was holding this deadly tool between his teeth.
Yu Konghou watched as the delicate mechanism clattered to the ground, coughing up blood. "Fragrant Orchid's Smile—"
The fallen device was shaped like an orchid, its arrowhead laced with deadly poison and fitted with multiple barbs, making it impossible to remove once embedded in flesh. Clutching the wound, Yu Konghou gritted his teeth. Had his strength been intact, he could have forced the weapon back out and expelled most of the poison, avoiding a fatal outcome. But now, weakened as he was, this "Fragrant Orchid's Smile" might truly claim his life.
"'Fragrant Orchid's Smile' kills, and the killer is killed in turn," Yu Konghou coughed and laughed. "Young Master Tang, are you so determined to kill me that you'd sacrifice yourself as well?"
This treacherous hidden weapon, held in the mouth and coated in lethal poison, was naturally a tool of mutual destruction. Once, there had been twelve such devices, renowned assassins' weapons. It was said the last two remaining "Fragrant Orchid's Smile" were stored in the "Fallen Thirteen Towers." If Tang Lichen could spend a fortune to hire Shen Langhun, he could just as easily purchase "Fragrant Orchid's Smile"—or any other legendary treasure from the Thirteen Towers. What Young Master Tang chose to kill you with depended solely on how much he was willing to spend.
Though Yu Konghou was now on his knees, wounded by "Fragrant Orchid's Smile" and afflicted by the "Phantom's Pearl Breath," Tang Lichen did not approach. Instead, he raised the "Outcast Sword," examined it briefly, and coughed lightly before speaking slowly, "You carry 'Little Exquisite' on you. Though I am immune to most poisons, I'd rather not take the risk." With that, Yu Konghou watched as he used the fine silk threads of the "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms" to secure the hilt of the "Outcast Sword." With his left hand, he pulled the threads taut, as if drawing a bow, and aimed the sword's tip directly at Yu Konghou.
Yu Konghou's face twisted in fury, and with a "wah," he spat another mouthful of blood.
"Calm yourself," Tang Lichen said slowly. "Death... comes swiftly."
With that, he released the sword. A sharp whistle pierced the air as the blade shot forward, streaking toward the wound in Yu Konghou's chest.Yu Konghou clutched his chest and rolled away, barely dodging as the Liqun Sword, with the force of ten thousand jun, grazed his shoulder and embedded itself into the ground behind him. A hair's breadth slower, and the sword would have pinned him dead to the earth. But the attack wasn’t over yet—the small sword "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms," entangled in the Liqun Sword’s guard, rebounded from the impact of its strike into the ground. The thin silk thread attached to it suddenly stretched taut, tracing a wide arc in the air before whipping back in a deadly loop toward Yu Konghou’s neck!
Already grievously wounded in the chest, poisoned, and suffering deep internal injuries, Yu Konghou had barely managed to evade the Liqun Sword’s flying strike. Though he knew Tang Lichen’s schemes were layered and far from over, he had no strength left to dodge the rebounding "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms." As the famed weapon "One Peach Three Colors" closed in to claim his life, Tang Lichen’s brow arched slightly, his lips curling in a faint, mocking smile.
The silver thread coiled toward Yu Konghou’s pale neck as he knelt on the ground, seemingly resigned to his fate.
With a thunderous crash, the earthen wall behind him exploded. A figure burst through, snatched Yu Konghou from the ground, and flung him onto their back. With a sharp whistle, "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms" sliced through empty air, yanking the Liqun Sword from the ground and sending both weapons flying back into Tang Lichen’s grasp.
Tang Lichen flicked his sleeve with effortless grace. "How difficult it is to get an audience with you, Prince Ji."
OpenNovel