Lu Sheng Zhong, sitting in the boat, watched as Liu Er swam away from him. He watched the distance between them grow.
Seeing that Lu Sheng Zhong wasn't moving, Liu Er breathed a sigh of relief and swam towards the struggling Tang Xiang Yang.
Tang Xiang Yang clutched the sack like a last ray of hope. He tried to clamber onto it, but the sheepskin sack kept flipping over, and he kept falling back into the water.
"Tang! Tang..." Liu Er called out to him, urging him to calm down. Then, she helped him onto the sack.
Once Tang Xiang Yang was on the sack, he looked deathly pale and lay sprawled out like a dead dog, occasionally coughing up water.
Liu Er steadied the sack, preventing it from capsizing, while simultaneously pulling it towards the shore.
Sitting in the boat, Lu Sheng Zhong sighed inwardly. What the hell! He hadn't foreseen that Shao Liu Er would act like this.
He had thought the girl would be easy to fool. But it turned out she had easily fooled him? The pig pretending to be docile was actually a tiger!
Can't swim? She had deliberately mentioned that to lull him into a false sense of security.
She had then proceeded to lay out snacks, only to slip in poison. She had presented herself as weak, yet in truth, she hadn't allowed him the slightest hint of danger from her side. And she had even taken his sword!
This girl was truly worthy of being Shao Ping Bo's sister! Equally ruthless. She had even disposed of the boatman just in case.
However, Lu Sheng Zhong couldn't afford to be angry now. To expel the poison, he needed to calm down!
Judging by Tang Xiang Yang's appearance, he was completely unaware of this.
Tang Xiang Yang, lifting his head, slowly began to regain his senses. He looked around and noticed they were drifting away from the boat.
"Liu Er, why did you push me into the water?"
The swimming Liu Er replied:
"I didn't push you. Don't you understand yet that we're escaping?"
"Escaping?" Had anyone else said it, he might have flown into a rage.
"I almost died just now. Liu Er, it turns out you can swim? Why did you do that? Do you regret following me?"
Liu Er: "Tang, I don't regret following you. But your Brother Li... he's not a good person. He's not helping you; he's harming you.
Tang Xiang Yang: "How could that be?"
Liu Er: "He... he's no scholar at all. He's a cultivator and a guardian-mentor. He's sitting cross-legged right now, which proves my guess. There are some things you might not understand, but I can tell you he didn't come to save us, but to deceive us. He plans to use me against the Shao family. He'll keep us under his control. So what would be the point of escaping Beizhou?"
"This... how is this possible?" Tang Xiang Yang found it hard to believe:
"If he's a guardian-mentor, then how can we escape?"
He had no idea what had truly happened, nor that Liu Er had poisoned them.
Liu Er didn't want to tell him the truth, nor did she want Tang Xiang Yang to know how ruthless she had been, even to the point of killing the boatman. She continued to paddle and asked:
"Tang, you don't believe me?"
Tang Xiang Yang answered without hesitation: "I believe you!"
Liu Er smiled. This man was sometimes foolish, but she loved him. She didn't want her man to be like her brother. The simpler the man, the better.
At this moment, she was already exhausted, but inwardly, she rejoiced.
"Tang, I'm already yours. We share everything now. No matter what happens, I won't regret anything. But I couldn't harm the Shao family out of selfish motives, so I took a risk and pushed you. You mustn't be angry with me!" Liu Er spoke breathlessly. It was evident that she wasn't a very good swimmer.
"Liu Er, I will think well of you for my entire life.
"I believe you. Even if you treat me poorly, I still won't regret it. After all, this was my choice!"
"I swear to the heavens, if I ever wrong Liu Er, may I be punished by death!"
"There's no need for that. The most important thing is for you to live!"
Though he spoke thus, deep down Tang Xiang Yang still didn't believe that Brother Li had meant him harm. He looked at the black speck on the horizon, which grew smaller and smaller.
However, they were now alone, and nothing could be done about it.
As they neared the shore, the sound of horse hooves reached them.
More than ten riders were galloping towards them. However, Liu Er recognized none of them.
Except for two individuals, the rest were wearing black masks. They were not people from Beizhou palace.
Could these be Brother Li's men? A surge of fear gripped her, when suddenly a cry rang out.
"Eeeeeee!"
She looked up and saw three feathered birds descending from the sky. They glided down to the shore.
Six people were seated on the three birds. Five of them were clad in black cloaks, with the exception of her brother, Shao Ping Bo. Shao Ping Bo cast a cold gaze upon Liu Er, who was paddling with all her might. His gaze turned even gloomier as he looked at Tang Xiang Yang, sprawled out on the sack.
Liu Er immediately became timid, and Tang Xiang Yang wasn't just timid, he was scared to death.
After all, the Young Master himself had come here. Moreover, Tang Xiang Yang was stunned by the sheer might of these enormous birds that had descended from the sky.
When they finally reached the shore, Liu Er immediately pointed towards the river:
"There's a man who wanted to use me. He might still be on the boat.
Shao Ping Bo looked in that direction.
Su Zhao nodded, and immediately four people mounted the birds and soared into the sky.
"Brother..." Liu Er uttered in a weak voice, water dripping from her wet hair.
"Whack!"
Shao Ping Bo slapped her hard across the cheek:
"You still dare to call me brother?"
Liu Er bit her lip but said nothing. In truth, she understood that she had betrayed her family.
Shao Ping Bo couldn't calm down. He wanted to slap her again, but his hand was intercepted just in time.
Su Zhao sighed and said: "She's fine, there's no need.
"Cousin?" As soon as Liu Er heard her voice, she immediately knew who it was.
Su Zhao lifted her hat and looked at her, then shook her head.
And Tang Xiang Yang, gathering his courage, pulled Liu Er and stood in front of her.
"Liu Er is not to blame. If you must blame someone, blame only me.
Liu Er pulled him closer and whispered:
"This is none of your business. Step aside." Inwardly, she worried about her enraged brother.
Tang Xiang Yang paid no heed and, staring intently at Shao Ping Bo, shielded Liu Er.
"Cheng Gui Shuo!" Shao Ping Bo said in a cold tone.
Cheng Gui Shuo, standing beside Song Shu, immediately approached upon hearing his name.
Su Zhao had brought a few people with her because Shao Ping Bo lacked enough men to search for his sister. He dared not bring cultivators from Dachang Mountain, nor from the Supreme Purity Sect. For who knew if they were trustworthy? Shao Ping Bo wouldn't feel secure with them, which was why he had brought the relatively reliable Song Shu and Cheng Gui Shuo.
Shao Ping Bo said in a cold tone:
"Take him and cut him into a thousand pieces!"
"Yes, sir!" Cheng Gui Shuo seized Tang Xiang Yang and prepared to drag him away.
At that very instant, Liu Er, like a madwoman, latched onto Cheng Gui Shuo's arm and bit him.
Cheng Gui Shuo felt a sharp pain, but he dared not throw off Shao Ping Bo's sister. So he released Tang Xiang Yang.
Liu Er frantically began to protect Tang Xiang Yang:
"I am already his woman. Whoever dares to seize him, kill me first!"
Shao Ping Bo clenched his fists and demanded furiously:
"What did you say?"
Liu Er answered clearly:
"I have already slept with him. Who knows, I might even bear his son. I will not marry anyone else now. Who dares to kill him now?!"
"You... you... you've utterly lost your sense of shame!" Shao Ping Bo shrieked, pointing at her. From sheer rage, he began to cough again and turned red as a boiled crab.
Su Zhao immediately supported him and began to soothe him... Although Lu Sheng Zhong had already drifted far, the birds' speed was quite remarkable. When he spotted the approaching birds, he smiled bitterly. If not for the poison, he would have easily hidden himself in the water. But now, poisoned, he wouldn't last long.
Even so, he took the risk and dove into the water. If there was even a slim chance, he had to seize it.
When the two birds flew closer, two people dismounted and plunged into the water.
One bird flew towards the boat and simply shattered it with its claws. But there was no one there. Then, one person leaped from a bird and began to search the boat, but found no one either.
"Thud!"
A muffled *thump* echoed in the water. Lu Sheng Zhong spat out blood and sprang from the water. Or rather, he was knocked out of the water.
Another bird immediately swooped down and seized Lu Sheng Zhong with its sharp, diamond-hard talons.
"Aah!" Lu Sheng Zhong cried out in pain. Blood streamed from his back. Yet, within those talons, he was trapped as if in an iron cage.