“Zhu Hexing’s skin is as tough as an old tortoise; you can’t pierce it.”
Shen Quebai arrived through the rain, landing lightly with effortless grace. Behind him stood Hua Wu, holding her umbrella. He lifted his head, looking back at Zhu Hexing with a tone of mock intimacy, “Good evening, Big Brother Zhu.”
The umbrella was black on the outside and cyan on the inside, with a dark red handle. The surface featured a “Golden Magpie Among Floating Clouds” painting that Shen Quebai had designed himself. It looked so elegant and refined that it made Zhu Hexing steal an extra glance. He raised an eyebrow, his tone quite roguish, “Chasing me so closely—you really can’t bear to let me go, can you?”
“If I don’t chase you closely, how will I be in time to collect your corpse? This job is mine, and no one is allowed to snatch it.” With that, Shen Quebai looked at the vigilant Yan Wu, raising his hand in a polite gesture, “Senior Yan, don’t misunderstand. I’m just here to help Big Brother Zhu collect his corpse. Please, do continue.”
“That is so heartless.” Zhu Hexing frowned, his expression mournful, “We shared the same boat and pillow only this day, yet here you are tonight wanting to kill me. How fickle and ungrateful you are.”
“Huh!” Xie Suiliu heard something incredible and pricked up his ears, only to have a lock of his hair sliced off by Ting Yuan.
Ting Yuan caught his breath, realizing that the new arrival was Shen Quebai. Two against four this was going to be difficult.
Shen Quebai’s skin was thick enough; he replied smoothly, “Clearly it was because you treated me too roughly today, Brother. I offered my good intentions only to have them fed to a dog—could I be anything but resentful born of love?”
“Then you must pray that I die tonight,” Zhu Hexing teased, eyeing him with a subtle tone, “Otherwise, I have much ‘rougher’ things in store for you.”
Shen Quebai pressed his cheek against his shoulder and said softly, “Hua Wu.”
The umbrella canopy spun lightly, and the holder changed in an instant. Hua Wu rushed into the rain, unfastening the silk sash from her waist. She shook it loose, and the hidden soft whip inside lashed out toward Zhu Hexing without a hint of mercy!
Shen Quebai held the umbrella high as he watched the whip snap the bamboo stalk beneath Zhu Hexing’s feet. Zhu Hexing swept across the ground, chopping a palm toward Hua Wu and forcing her to retreat to avoid his blade-like strike. Yan Wu split his stance, stepping forward to join the assault. Amidst the flurry of fist winds and whip shadows, Zhu Hexing held his own against the two of them without losing ground.
Shen Quebai stroked the umbrella handle, then suddenly kicked a nearby bamboo stalk, snapping it, and placed the closed umbrella horizontally across it.
Zhu Hexing was beset on both sides when, suddenly, he felt a chill at the back of his neck. His reaction was lightning-fast; he tilted his head to dodge, though a lock of hair was still shorn off. The gleaming blade of the knife swung horizontally to the left, aiming straight for his neck!
Fist wind and whip shadows converged on his face simultaneously.
At that critical, hair-breadth moment, Zhu Hexing grabbed Yan Wu’s wrist and yanked it forward. Simultaneously, he pressed his waist to the left, braced his left hand against the ground, and thrust his right leg outward in the next heartbeat, Yan Wu shrieked. His arm had been severed by Shen Quebai’s blade, and the whip missed its target, landing with a heavy splash as water sprayed in all directions.
At the same time, Shen Quebai felt a heavy impact on his abdomen as Zhu Hexing’s right leg intercepted him, forcing him back three steps. He regained his footing, his blade now stained red.
Thump.
Zhu Hexing tossed aside Yan Wu’s arm and said apologetically, “In the heat of the moment, I had no choice but to let Senior take the blow for me. As you can see, someone’s blade is heartless; they really wanted to take my head.”
Yan Wu’s face turned deathly pale. He gasped for breath, unable to speak. He was a fist-fighter; without his hand, he was crippled.
Shen Quebai looked at Zhu Hexing. He showed no sign of regret or annoyance at the failed attack, only saying, “Your men are truly composed, Big Brother Zhu.”
“Did you hear that, Ah-Yan?” Zhu Hexing called out, “Someone wants to see you.”
As the words fell, a beam of snowy light shot out from the forest!
Before the person arrived, their sword did. A powerful sword aura surged toward Shen Quebai. Shen Quebai used his blade to parry, while the long sword performed an aerial backflip and was caught by a pale hand. Shen Quebai hacked toward the newcomer; two sharp blades clashed violently, tearing through the cold light. He saw a pair of eyes that were shaped like peach blossoms but appeared cold and listless.
Both of them had used their full strength in that single strike. They touched and separated, each retreating five steps.
The long sword hung at the person’s side, trembling slightly before being gripped firmly by that hand. A swordsman in white, wearing a white bamboo hat with a veil, stood before Zhu Hexing, looking at Shen Quebai with a hint of confusion.
Shen Quebai felt a dull pain in his wrist. He looked at the long sword in the white-clad swordsman’s left hand; etched into the snow-bright blade near the hilt were three small seal-script characters: Three Feet of Water.
“The Four Great Clans of the Eaves of Emptiness—the adopted son of the Yan clan head, the greatest swordsman of the Eaves. Yet, he betrayed the organization three years ago, abandoned his status as an assassin, and vanished.” Shen Quebai looked at the person behind Yan Xianchun and said sourly, “Big Brother Zhu is truly charming; even a man like Master Yan can be brought into your service.”
Zhu Hexing understood that this was a case of Shen Quebai admiring talent but choosing to misinterpret it intentionally. He replied, “If you want, just admit your mistake properly, and I shall bring you into my service as well.”
“Bah,” Shen Quebai smiled, “You shameless wretch.”
Zhu Hexing accepted the evaluation with great satisfaction.
At this moment, Xie Suiliu broke away from Ting Yuan and leaped over to them, staring at Yan Xianchun, “Ah” He swallowed the “Yan” and his tone turned cold, “Yan Xianchun, you actually dare to show yourself!”
Yan Xianchun looked at him and said earnestly, “I just did.”
Xie Suiliu was choked by the response. He immediately stopped playing with Ting Yuan and thrust his short spear at Yan Xianchun. The strike was likely fueled by personal vendetta, and the force was vicious.
Yan Xianchun dodged and parried, saying, “Leave now, and I will not kill you tonight.”
“So you still hold onto old feelings?” Xie Suiliu narrowed his eyes, “Traitor!”
Yan Xianchun remained unmoved, “Your mission failed. If you go back and say you encountered me, you will not be blamed. After all, everyone knows you are no match for me.”
Xie Suiliu was so angry he could scream, “Take this!”
As the two of them became locked in a fierce battle, Ting Yuan moved to stand in front of Zhu Hexing, “This lot is troublesome. Master, you should go first.”
Zhu Hexing, however, only looked at Shen Quebai and beckoned with his finger, “I am leaving now. Are you going to chase me?”
At the same moment, on Lingbo Lake in Chaotian City, a painted pleasure boat drifted leisurely. A man in ivory robes leaned against the edge of the boat, his decorative floral eaves shielding him from the rain. He hummed a soft tune, blending with the sound of the rain splashing against the lake.
The boat shuddered imperceptibly. Someone landed on the deck and approached.
The man finished humming the melody, fell silent for a moment, and said, “Qiu Ge, do you know what this song is?”
Qiu Ge stood behind him, his dark cyan martial attire coated in a layer of raindrops. He replied, “This subordinate does not know; I only hear the Master hum it often.”
“This tune is called ‘Moon Above the Eaves.’ It is a lullaby, once popular in Yongzhou, though fewer people know it now,” the man opened his eyes, his tone light, as if reminiscing about a bygone era, “I heard someone sing it once, and I have never been able to forget it.”
Qiu Ge looked at his exceptionally handsome profile, “You wish to find that person?”
“He has always been in my eyes,” the man said, “I have never forgotten him, and he will never forget me.”
Qiu Ge raised an eyebrow, “Because he hates you?”
“Yes,” the man laughed. He said, “I killed his benefactor.”
Although he brought it up himself, Qiu Ge dared not pry into his past. He said, “They have made their move.”
The man replied, “Wanting to kill Zhu Hexing that is not enough.”
Qiu Ge said, “If you intend to, there is still time.”
The man dipped his hand into the water, feeling the pressure, and said ambiguously, “For some people, dying is more pleasant than living. If you kill him, you are granting him a mercy. Why not let him drag his broken corpse and shattered soul, and continue to struggle for a breath of life?”
He glanced toward the distance. At the end of the lake were rolling mountains, with the firmament standing behind them, watching the earth gloomily. The moonlight was swallowed by dark clouds, and in the sky above, a silver tree of lightning burst forth—
BOOM!
The instant the thunder roared, a blade as thin as a crescent moon flashed with cold light in Shen Quebai’s hand. It slashed through the bamboo stalk, the tip of the blade grazing Zhu Hexing’s throat.
The broken bamboo fell horizontally between the two of them with a thwack. Rain splashed onto Zhu Hexing’s face; he saw the biting chill in Shen Quebai’s eyes.
One strike missed, and Shen Quebai attacked again without hesitation, every movement intended to kill.
Zhu Hexing shifted into a defensive stance, retreating step by step amidst the shadows of the blades, yet he still managed to say, “You are absolutely fierce.”
Shen Quebai took this as a compliment.
The knife swiped down, nearly scraping the tip of Zhu Hexing’s nose. Zhu Hexing reached out like lightning and grasped the hand Shen Quebai used to hold the knife. Unexpectedly, Shen Quebai did not retreat but advanced instead. The moment he was pulled closer, Shen Quebai unleashed a sudden leg sweep, knocking him to the ground.
Bang!
Mud splashed. As Zhu Hexing fell to the ground, he felt a weight on his waist—he had been pinned down by Shen Quebai’s single knee. The knife pressed against his throat. Zhu Hexing felt no fear, only saying to Shen Quebai, “You are so light. You must eat more in the future.”
Shen Quebai looked down at him from above, “Since Big Brother Zhu is so concerned for me, why not grant me my wish?”
“You want to kill me, and I would be happy to grant you that, but…” Zhu Hexing raised a finger to stroke the blade, his gaze resting on Shen Quebai’s neck, “You have to let me be a ghost who understands the reason why.”