Chapter 538: I Was the One Who Injured Her

“Whether Yucang is Xiaoyue Pavilion's Pavilion Master or not, his public identity is too deeply entangled with too many people for them to risk losing him.”

“Xiaoyue Pavilion will certainly mobilize enormous strength against you.”

Guan Fangyi looked anxiously around them.

“If we truly stumbled onto Yucang's identity, then this time we've really stabbed Xiaoyue Pavilion in a vital spot.”

“Once a colossus like that throws everything it has into dealing with us, just thinking about it is frightening.”

“Where are we going now?”

“We can't hide forever and never show our faces again.”

“Wherever is safest,” Niu Youdao answered.

“I refuse to believe Xiaoyue Pavilion dares run wild on territory controlled by the nine supreme experts beneath Heaven.”

“The immediate problem is shaking them off.”

“If we survive this round, what looks like a disaster now may yet become a good thing.”

They had originally planned to make a trip to the State of Wei.

This incident had completely disrupted that plan.

Xiaoyue Pavilion's forces were spread throughout the various states.

Until they escaped the present danger, how could Niu Youdao possibly show himself openly in Wei?

...

Inside a quiet room at Fufang Garden, Yucang sat cross-legged on a cushion without moving.

Both hands rested on his knees.

His eyes were half open, cold and unfathomable.

Dugu Jing knocked, entered, and shut the door behind him.

Before he could say anything, Yucang asked, “Have you found where they're going?”

Dugu Jing came forward and knelt opposite him.

“That cur is extremely cunning. He deliberately circled around and changed course several times.”

“What he doesn't know is that a tracking lure was already planted on him.”

“All that circling only delayed him and gave us more time to alert people in every direction and prepare.”

“We've confirmed his final direction.”

“He's heading toward Boundless Pavilion.”

“Boundless Pavilion!” The corner of Yucang's mouth twitched.

Then he gave a cold laugh.

“Of course.”

“He knows we won't dare move against him inside Boundless Pavilion.”

“And we truly do not dare cause trouble there.”

“This matter cannot be allowed to fail.”

“We cannot let them reach Boundless Pavilion. That would put us in a very unfavorable position.”

“They must be stopped before they get there.”

“Master can rest assured,” Dugu Jing said.

“The bait is already on him. So long as he doesn't discover it, he can't escape.”

Yucang warned, “Don't forget Guan Fangyi carries Heavenly Sword Talismans.”

“She cannot possibly possess an endless supply.”

“We've already mobilized a large number of experts to intercept them.”

“Even with Heavenly Sword Talismans, they won't get away.”

“Even if we cannot capture Niu Youdao alive, killing him will not be a problem.”

...

At Tianwei Residence, Xuan Wei sat behind her desk reading a secret report.

Smack!

She suddenly slapped the letter down on the table, her face cold.

“What was Kang He doing?”

Ximen Qingkong paced over, drew the letter out from beneath her palm, shook it open, and read.

Afterward, his brows drew together slightly.

He understood why Xuan Wei was angry.

“According to the report, Shao Pingbo himself was unwilling to come.”

“You cannot sweeten a melon by twisting it off the vine.”

“If he left, then let him leave. Why get angry over it?”

Xuan Wei shook her head.

“If someone had snatched him away from us, that would be one thing.”

“What angers me is that he himself refused to come.”

“He looked down on the State of Wei and chose someone else instead.”

Ximen Qingkong said, “Perhaps he still cannot let go of Beizhou.”

“He cannot return to Beizhou now.”

“Even the State of Qi has begun moving against him.”

“If he wanted to get out of Qi safely, another power must have taken him away.”

“What is wrong with Wei?”

“Of all the Seven States, Wei is the wealthiest.”

“In what respect are we unworthy of him?”

Ximen Qingkong tried to soothe her.

“Don't be angry. When an opportunity appears, I'll teach him a lesson.”

Xuan Wei turned her head and gave him a sidelong look.

For a moment, she had the air of an ordinary young woman, and there was even a faint trace of charm in her expression.

“Niu Youdao refuses to let him go. Qi now wants him as well. And he's offended Wei on top of that.”

“If he stays hidden, then so be it.”

“But if he dares show himself again, he will certainly do so only because he has someone powerful behind him.”

“By then, I fear even you won't be able to teach him a lesson so easily.”

A beauty by nature, yet she insisted on turning herself neither man nor woman.

Ximen Qingkong liked seeing this side of her.

He smiled.

“He is only a homeless dog.”

“There is no need to brood over him.”

“If he wants to leave, let him.”

“He was the one who failed to appreciate your favor.”

“Forget it.”

Xuan Wei lifted her gaze toward the doorway, almost as if speaking to herself.

“I would like to see who he chose when even the State of Wei was beneath him.”

Just then, another eunuch entered, placed a secret report on the table with both hands, and withdrew.

Xuan Wei casually dragged it over and read it.

Then she gave another cold laugh.

“Wonderful.”

“We didn't eat the meat, yet somehow we've ended up covered in the stink.”

“Everyone thinks Wei is responsible.”

Ximen Qingkong took this report from her hand as well.

It was a message from Yuan Gang.

He was demanding Shao Pingbo from them and saying the terms could be negotiated.

Both of them knew perfectly well that Yuan Gang was merely standing in front.

The person truly demanding Shao Pingbo was Niu Youdao...

The sky stretched high and vast. Evening had already arrived.

From high above, the broad earth ahead looked as though an enormous dragon lay across it.

On one side stretched boundless grassland.

On the other lay desert without end.

Yuan Gang knew this terrain well.

Memories of an unpleasant episode surged into his mind.

Then dark specks rose from the mountain range lying across their path.

Not one.

Three.

Thoughts matching old memories jolted Yuan Gang awake.

“Master Dao!” he shouted.

Niu Youdao had already noticed them.

And there were not only three.

More black specks rose from both left and right, cutting across their path from either side.

“Behind us!” Guan Fangyi cried.

Niu Youdao whipped his head around.

Three more black specks had risen from the ground below behind them, climbing at different heights as they closed in.

This was plainly a four-sided encirclement.

It could not possibly be coincidence.

Niu Youdao could not understand one thing.

Even if someone had anticipated that he would head for Boundless Pavilion, the sky and earth were vast.

There were endless possible flight paths.

How could an ambush have been laid with this degree of precision?

The attackers knew their exact line of flight.

Front, rear, left, and right.

Ten flying mounts in all.

Someone had committed ten flying mounts to this interception.

Everyone tensed.

Niu Youdao had already warned them during the journey that trouble might find them and told everyone to remain alert.

“The desert! Charge straight ahead!”

Yuan Gang had drawn the Three-Roars Saber.

He pointed the blade forward and bellowed.

They could not simply keep climbing forever.

Even giant flying mounts had limits to how high they could fly.

Niu Youdao knew Yuan Gang could summon sand scorpions.

If they reached the desert, they would gain another source of support.

Their three Black Jade Eagles immediately drew together and drove forward in a tight triangular formation.

Yuan Fang twisted his head about nervously, fear all over his face.

Yin'er, by contrast, looked completely ignorant of danger.

Seeing how calm she was, Yuan Fang felt reassured.

“Scarlet Hunting Eagle!”

The three Black Jade Eagles beneath them gave uneasy cries.

Guan Fangyi's expression changed as she shouted the name.

Among the three flying mounts blocking the way ahead, one suddenly accelerated.

As it drew closer, they could see an enormous eagle covered in crimson feathers.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle was the natural enemy of the Black Jade Eagle.

It could hunt Black Jade Eagles, and it flew faster than they did.

And the danger was not only ahead.

One Scarlet Hunting Eagle also surged toward them from the left, and another from the right.

Three Scarlet Hunting Eagles attacked from three directions.

All were faster than their mounts.

There was no avoiding them.

As the three black-clad, masked men atop the eagle ahead became clearly visible, all three swept out an arm almost simultaneously and took bows in hand.

Each nocked three arrows at once.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Nine arrows shot straight toward them.

Just as Niu Youdao and the others prepared to defend, all nine arrows suddenly dissolved like smoke and spread apart.

“Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows!”

Guan Fangyi cried out.

With a flick of her hand, a streak of light shot forward.

Boom!

A Mountain-Splitting Talisman detonated in midair.

Powerful aura exploded outward in a violent blast.

When their three mounts plunged into the chaotic gale that followed, countless filaments finer than human hair could be seen drifting and whipping through the air.

The assault released by the Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows had been forcibly blown out of formation by the Mountain-Splitting Talisman.

The deadly filaments had become a cloud of disordered threads and no longer possessed any focused attacking power.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle charging straight at them shrieked in alarm and abruptly climbed.

It passed over the three Black Jade Eagles rushing beneath it.

But the two Black Jade Eagles carrying six black-clad masked men farther ahead had already closed in.

Five of the six raised bows at once.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Fifteen arrows shot toward them.

“Bastards!”

Guan Fangyi cursed.

The word sounded almost like a signal.

She was not the only one to act.

Old Six Xu, riding with Yuan Gang, Uncle Chen, riding with Yuan Fang and Yin'er, and Guan Fangyi all shot streaks of light forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three Mountain-Splitting Talismans detonated one after another in front of them.

Their three mounts once again charged through clouds of drifting needle-fine filaments.

Niu Youdao stood on the eagle's back with his sword planted before him, his face expressionless.

Then he suddenly extended one hand and caught a slender needle between two fingers.

The metal gleamed a deep blue.

Poison.

Guan Fangyi's sleeves snapped again and again as though performing sleight of hand.

Six streaks of light shot out in succession, roaring toward the two Black Jade Eagles charging at them.

Now that she knew the killers belonged to Xiaoyue Pavilion, there was no reason to hold anything back.

If they could break through, she was willing to spend whatever it took.

The other side was doing the same.

Every Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrow was difficult to forge.

Every single one was enormously expensive.

The six black-clad masked men charging head-on were startled.

Throwing talismans around like this—how many could this woman possibly be carrying?

If they had not known exactly who their target was, they might have thought they had run headlong into people from Tianxing Sect.

The only masked man without a bow, and without any visible weapon on his body, suddenly shot off the back of one Black Jade Eagle.

In an instant, he unleashed a wash of green palm shadows.

The sight of those green palm shadows immediately reminded Niu Youdao of Duan Hu's description of the attack in which Black Peony had been injured.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

All six Mountain-Splitting Talismans erupted at once.

The masked man burst out through the violent blast of aura.

He swung one arm.

An enormous phantom arm shrouded in green qi swept upward from below.

At its end, a gigantic claw shadow like a dragon's talon surged skyward.

The underside of the three Black Jade Eagles was completely undefended.

No one was guarding below.

The rising claw shadow struck all three squarely.

“Graaah...!”

The three Black Jade Eagles gave miserable cries.

Feathers exploded through the air.

Blood sprayed across the sky.

The tremendous impact sent their riders scattering in every direction as well.

Old Six Xu grabbed Yuan Gang and plunged downward.

Uncle Chen seized Yuan Fang and Yin'er.

Guan Fangyi, who had just thrown out two more talismans to block the killers on the two Black Jade Eagles, caught Niu Youdao and dragged him away.

“Do something!” Yuan Fang shouted at Yin'er in panic.

As they fell, Yin'er lifted her head.

She stared at the feathers drifting through the sky and at the three Black Jade Eagles tumbling downward.

Her brows slowly drew together.

“Master Dao!” Guan Fangyi suddenly screamed.

For one careless instant, Niu Youdao had torn free of her grasp.

When she looked back, she discovered he was actually gliding away in another direction.

He was chasing the expert who had just attacked them.

All around, the flying mounts carrying assassins had already turned and were pursuing them.

The unarmed masked man saw Niu Youdao gliding toward him.

His eyes plainly flickered with surprise.

He had been worried Niu Youdao might escape.

Unexpectedly, the man was actually chasing him instead.

Amused, he deliberately increased his drag and slowed himself.

Niu Youdao caught up in midair.

For a moment, the two glided side by side.

Both turned their heads and looked at the other.

Niu Youdao stared at him.

“The last time your people hunted me, at Jiudao River—were you the one who injured Black Peony?”

The masked man blinked.

His voice, when he answered, sounded somewhat aged.

“Jiudao River?”

“You mean the woman I knocked off the cliff who managed to escape?”

“If that's who you mean, then yes.”

“I was the one who injured her.”

[End of Chapter 538]