The day of the assassination arrived quickly.
Mo Xingyun’s feelings had been mixed these past few days.
He was excited about the rare chance to go out and act.
But the thought of meeting people from the Immortal Palace, and having to treat them as enemies, made him sad and uneasy in a way he could not explain.
He packed his things, put on a gray bodysuit, tied up his black hair, slung the sword that had been with him for many years over his shoulder, and walked out of his room.
His steps were calm.
Inside he still hesitated about whether he would really kill people of the Immortal Palace.
He stepped out through the hidden gate of the cave.
It was early morning.
Birds sang.
Flowers were open.
The sun was bright.
Mo Xingyun took a moment to let his eyes get used to the light, glanced at the place marked on the map, and moved on with light steps.
He was in a particularly good mood during this rare time above ground.
But before he had gone half a mile, several dark figures rushed out of the bushes by a lake and drew long swords to slash at him.
Mo Xingyun was shocked.
In an instant he understood: someone was attacking him the moment he left Evil Moon Cave.
Who could know his path so well?
He dodged fast and drew his sword to defend.
The men in black were all masked.
They used different weapons.
Their eyes were fierce.
They cut at his vital points as if they meant to kill him on the spot.
He calmed his mind and used the Evil Moon martial art, the First Moon Sword Technique, without a flaw, guarding every vital point.
In a storm of sword light two of the men in black were stabbed through the heart.
They screamed and fell.
The rest were not shaken by their fallen partners.
They pressed closer, ringed him in, and stabbed and thrust from every side.
Soon he could still block attacks from all directions, but his internal strength began to run short.
His sword work grew slower.
More openings showed.
He fought them for a while, took several deep knife wounds, and could not go on.
In desperation he swung his sword wildly at one man in black and cut a way out.
The others shouted and chased him, set on taking his life.
There was a lake nearby.
Mo Xingyun fought and fell back, then finally ran out of strength.
One man in black shouted.
His long sword shot out and drove straight into Mo Xingyun’s body.
A sharp pain tore through him as the blade went through his back and chest.
He screamed and used his last strength to jump into the lake.
He fell into the water in despair.
The sword wounds all over his body stung even worse in the cold lake.
From the heavy loss of blood his mind began to twist.
The world around him warped.
“Am I… going to die soon?… How could this be… How could this be!” Hatred filled him, but his mind faded.
His body sank lower and lower.
“Father… Mother…”
“Mother…”
The beautiful white figure in his memory drifted farther and farther away…
……
Mo Xingyun sank fast to the bottom of the lake.
He felt the current on the surface.
He was badly hurt and could not move.
He closed his eyes and waited for death.
Suddenly his body landed right on a button-shaped brick at the lake bed.
He was sucked at once into swirling water.
The brick closed behind the place he had rolled down.
From outside no one could tell there was a mechanism at the bottom of the lake.
What was left of his mind felt him rolling deeper and deeper, as if he had rolled into a large water vat.
Cold water was all around.
His eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were under it, but the water made him feel strangely at ease.
He slowly came back to himself.
Then he heard a loud crash as he rolled awkwardly onto muddy ground.
“Shouldn’t I be certain I am already dead?” he thought.
He scrambled to his feet.
It was a very small cave.
A broken water vat lay in front of him, and inside it a tray that looked like a base.
He looked up and saw a pool of water hanging on the cave ceiling.
Some unknown force kept the water from flooding the whole cave.
Now that the vat was broken, the water in that spot stopped flowing out.
He touched his body at random and found that none of the sword wounds that should have riddled him were there.
He was shocked and glad.
He could not believe it.
He tore off his clothes to check.
His outer garment was soaked and torn with blood, but his strong body was completely unharmed, as if nothing had happened.
He pinched his thigh hard.
It hurt.
This was not a dream.
What was going on?
He pushed the questions down and looked around.
The cave was narrow and damp.
Moss covered the stone walls and gave off a dim, eerie light.
He took a careful step forward and suddenly felt something strange under his feet.
He looked down.
A strange stone slab was set in the ground, carved with odd runes and glowing faintly red.
His heart jumped.
He crouched to look closer.
In the center of the slab was a palm-print groove, like some kind of mechanism.
After a moment of hesitation he gritted his teeth, pressed his palm to it, and released his inner energy.
With a loud boom the slab cracked open and showed a dark secret passage.
A chilling wind howled through.
He gripped his longsword tight and stepped inside with a heavy heart.
The passage was so narrow only one person could pass at a time.
The stone walls were slippery and covered with runes that gleamed blood-red in the dark and gave off an evil air he could not name.
He went forward with care.
After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the space ahead opened up into a dark prison.
The prison reeked of decay.
Chains hung in a mess.
In the center stood a thick iron pillar wrapped with black chains.
Runes swirled with bloody light on them, and something seemed tightly bound and locked inside.
Confusion and fear filled him.
He wondered what strange place he had stumbled into.
He walked in slowly.
When he looked closer his heart skipped and his breath grew quick.
Beneath the iron pillar a woman was bound by chains.
She was half kneeling, half sitting on the ground.
Her beauty took the breath away.
Her brows were like distant mountains, slender and graceful.
Her posture was elegant and noble.
Her pretty face, as beautiful as a peach blossom, wore no makeup, yet it held a captivating, alluring charm.
Her beautiful eyes were as cold and empty as a frozen pool, with starlight but no life.
Her bright red lips were shut tight, as vivid as blood.
Her aura was as cold as ice.
She was draped from her snow-white neck to her slender ankles in a sheer, clinging black silk garment that outlined every curve of her exquisite figure.
In the dim light the silk shimmered with a mysterious, eerie glow, as if it were an extension of her body, a second skin.
Through the almost transparent black silk one could faintly see the snow-white, delicate skin beneath, and the contours and slight shadows of her most intimate parts, which added a forbidden sensuality.
Even bound by chains, the strange black silk stayed perfectly still and clung tight to her voluptuous body.
Her long jet-black hair fell down her back like a waterfall and wrapped her snow-white neck, a sharp contrast with the mysterious black silk.
Her full, high breasts looked even larger and rounder under the black silk.
The deep cleavage and the full shape of her breasts were clearly visible.
Her slender waist was so delicate it could be held in one hand.
Her soft, alluring curves were as marked as a snake’s.
She sat with her legs crossed.
Her long, straight legs looked even firmer and more supple under the black stockings.
The texture of her skin showed faintly through the thin fabric and gave off a sensual allure unique to a mature woman.
Her firm, full thighs stretched the black stockings taut, like jade carved from white jade, mixing a young girl’s delicacy with a mature woman’s pull, dazzling and hard to look away from.
Her full, rounded buttocks, like ripe peaches, sat high.
The black stockings clung tight to them and outlined their exaggerated curves.
The shape of her snow-white buttocks showed faintly through the thin stockings, plump and elastic, gleaming with an alluring sheen, as smooth as if coated with honey.
The sheer black stockings clung to her private parts and outlined their full shape, faintly showing the mysterious valley and shallow shadows within, a forbidden temptation that made the mouth go dry.
Mo Xingyun swallowed without meaning to.
The woman before him had an icy yet fiery air.
That mysterious, sexy black silk made his blood heat.
Her eyes were empty and lifeless.
The chains bit into her fair skin.
Under the blood-red light the whole scene felt desolate and heavy.
He was kind by nature and felt a pang of pity for this mysterious woman.
He did not know where she came from, but he still asked in a deep voice, “Who… are you… and why are you locked up here?”
When she heard a voice the woman slowly raised her head.
A faint black spiritual aura rose from her.
Seeing her icy manner and the chains tight on her skin, he hesitated, then gathered his courage, stepped forward, drew his sword, and slashed at the black chains.
The sword light was like a rainbow.
Metal rang several times.
The crimson light surged.
He gritted his teeth, pushed his inner strength to the limit, and sparks flew as he managed to cut the chains in two.
The woman swayed gently as she rose.
The mysterious black stockings, draped with silk, set off her tall, graceful figure and showed curves as if they had been sculpted.
Her full, high breasts trembled a little beneath the taut black stockings.
Those large, rounded breasts were like snow-white jade balls, firm and elastic.
The deep cleavage showed faintly through the black stockings.
The tender flesh rippled gently with her movement.
Her slender waist, supple as a water snake, drew an exaggerated, alluring curve.
Her long, straight legs stretched out slowly.
The firm, plump flesh was full and rounded under the black stockings.
The smooth texture of the fabric barely showed between her thighs.
The lines of her long legs were incredibly fluid.
She looked like a newly awakened witch, her cold beauty radiating a captivating pull.
Her large, cold eyes met Mo Xingyun’s.
Her delicate body trembled a little.
A faint black mist spread around her.
As if she sensed something, she asked coldly, “You… are a descendant of the Immortal Palace?”
The Immortal Palace was the ancestral home of his mother, Ning Xuefei.
He was surprised she knew so fast, but he was deep and careful by nature.
He asked warily, “Who… exactly are you…?”
When she heard he was a descendant of the Immortal Palace, the woman’s beautiful red lips curved in a brief, cold smile.
A strange light flashed in her eyes.
She said in an icy voice, “You need not hide it.
As the sun and moon change and the stars shift, the Immortal Palace and I are destined to be bound for a thousand years.
My name is Long Yue.
Just now, when you fell into the lake, I used my spiritual energy to save your life.”
Mo Xingyun remembered how he had lived through the fall into the lake, and how his fatal sword wound had healed because of this woman.
He felt deeply grateful.
He had never heard the name Long Yue, but he was new to the martial world and his experience was thin, so that was no surprise.
He bowed with respect and said, “Thank you for saving my life, Fairy Long Yue.
May I ask why you were trapped here?”
Long Yue narrowed her beautiful eyes a little.
Her face was cold and stern.
She said in a flat voice, “This matter has nothing to do with you.
But I am waiting for someone from the Immortal Palace who is destined to meet me.
Our meeting today is truly the will of Heaven.”
He thought that though she was rude, she had saved his life.
He bowed again and said, “This junior is new to the martial world and my skill is weak.
I was surrounded by powerful enemies and ambushed.
I will never forget the great kindness of the fairy.”
A hint of disdain showed on Long Yue’s cold, beautiful face.
She said with pride, “The reason you are in such a state, surrounded by powerful enemies, is simply that you have not mastered the proper methods of martial arts and know nothing of the mysteries of the Immortal Realm.”
He heard the deeper meaning in her words and understood at once that he had met an unmatched master who meant to pass him skill and guidance.
He knelt and kowtowed.
“This junior’s martial arts are shallow, and I am often bullied.
I regret it deeply and beg the fairy to guide me.”
A strange light appeared on Long Yue’s cold, beautiful face.
“Since you are a descendant of the Immortal Palace, you have great potential in you.
I have a peerless martial art I can pass to you, to help you unleash the ‘treasure’ inside you.
If you are willing to become my successor, you can repay my life-saving grace and also settle my thousand-year karmic bond with the Immortal Palace.”
He was puzzled by her talk of a thousand-year predestined bond, and even more baffled by her mention of treasures.
Still he said with respect, “Thank you for your guidance, Fairy!
But I entered the demonic sect by mistake when I was young, and my foundation is impure.
I wonder if it is too late for me to become your disciple now?”
Long Yue’s full breasts rose and fell a little, making the skin under her black stockings look even more taut.
A glint flashed in her eyes.
She said coldly, “It is all right.
Although my cultivation method is peculiar and hard to understand, it is not hard to practice.
You possess a treasure.
Once you grasp its true essence, your progress will be rapid.
When you reach the peak, you can become invincible in this world and ascend to the Immortal Realm!”
He was overjoyed and kowtowed in thanks.
“Thank you for your kindness, Fairy!
Please enlighten me!”