Chapter 1309: The Last Glimmer of Hope

Ximen Qingkong smiled. She was finally willing to leave. She was finally going to go.

Only, to leave in this way... he did not know whether it had come a little too late.

"We can't return to the Qi capital. Even if we didn't want to leave, we have no choice now."

Xuan Wei said, "Yes. We can't go back to the Qi capital. My bracelet—the Mist Bureau roster is inside it. If anything happens, remember to take it with you."

Ximen Qingkong had no interest in such a thing. "Don't worry. The Mist Bureau has always kept a rendezvous point prepared precisely against emergencies. We'll reach it soon."

Xuan Wei gave a soft "Mm," nestled against his shoulder, and closed her eyes. She said nothing more.

Ximen Qingkong fell silent as well and maintained his speed. He had to reach the rendezvous point before the pursuers could spread out and form an encirclement. There would be a flying mount there to carry Xuan Wei to safety.

As for himself, he doubted he would be able to leave alive.

The poison from the Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows had already begun to take effect. He was using spiritual power to suppress it.

Yet he could not devote all his strength to suppressing the poison. He still had to flee, and he had to flee while carrying Xuan Wei, a burden he could not put down. He did not dare sacrifice speed.

Whether he suppressed his own poison completely no longer mattered to him.

What mattered was getting Xuan Wei to safety first...

They raced onward.

After a time, Ximen Qingkong could not tell whether it was his imagination, but Xuan Wei's body seemed to be growing cold.

Then he felt her begin to tremble faintly.

In truth, Xuan Wei was enduring it with all her strength. She did not want herself to shake. She did not want Ximen Qingkong to know she had been poisoned.

She understood him too well. The moment he learned that she had been poisoned by some unknown virulent toxin, he would inevitably take her back to the Qi capital to seek the Ghost Doctor's disciple in order to save her life.

How could they go back to the Qi capital?

Hao Yuntu had already sold her out. Going back would be walking straight into a tiger's den. It would be going there to die.

She already felt that she had wronged Ximen Qingkong far too deeply. She regretted ever compromising with Hao Cheng, and she believed she was the one who had dragged Ximen Qingkong into this disaster.

She could not let him die for her.

She wanted him to live well.

That was why she did not want him to know she had been poisoned. She wanted him to reach the rendezvous point safely.

But the body's reaction to a poison eating away at the flesh was not something willpower alone could suppress. Even her arms were gradually losing the strength to remain around his neck.

She held on with everything she had, hoping that she could at least last until Ximen Qingkong reached the rendezvous point before collapsing.

Ximen Qingkong noticed.

He noticed the unnatural trembling of her body.

A terrible thought suddenly struck him. He shook her loose from where she lay against his shoulder and gathered her in front of him.

Her lips had already turned a dark bluish purple. She was obviously poisoned.

What a vicious poison! Barely any time had passed, yet it had already reduced her to this.

Xuan Wei had been holding herself together through sheer force of will. Once he shook her loose, that concentration broke. She could no longer endure it.

She felt her consciousness begin to scatter.

Before losing awareness, she murmured, "The rendezvous point... go to the rendezvous point..."

Her eyes closed weakly. Her body went limp in his arms, utterly motionless.

"Xuan Wei!" Ximen Qingkong cried out in alarm.

He hurriedly examined her and finally found the three poisoned needles lodged above her ankle.

He tore them free and stared at the three needles gleaming a poisonous blue in his palm.

"Ahhh...!"

Ximen Qingkong threw back his head and released a cry of grief. The despair in it was beyond description.

The woman he had wanted to protect for his entire life had been hurt because he overlooked her injury in the frantic rush to escape.

The self-reproach nearly tore him apart.

He hated his own uselessness.

A grown man, vaunted as the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking, yet he could not even protect the woman he loved.

Memories of the past surged through him. He had watched helplessly as the woman he loved struggled in the vortex around her. What use had all his cultivation been?

He could not charge into battle and break through thousands upon thousands of soldiers to defend her homeland.

When circumstances pressed in, he had been powerless to overturn heaven and earth for her.

Even while staying at her side to protect her, he had failed to keep her safe.

All he could do was follow beside her like a block of wood and become a joke in other people's eyes.

Had they been wrong to laugh?

Was he not exactly that—a joke?

He no longer knew what he was capable of doing.

He felt like nothing but a useless man, utterly and completely useless.

In the despair of having no power and no way forward, he held one person in his arms and did not know where he could go.

He did not know what use a failure like him could possibly be.

Other than returning to the Qi capital and seeking the Ghost Doctor's disciple, he did not know what else he could do.

Yet he also knew that even if he went back and managed to beg the Ghost Doctor's disciple to act, returning to the capital would be no different from falling into a tiger's jaws. It would be sending Xuan Wei straight back onto a road to death.

But what else could he do?

He could not simply watch Xuan Wei die before his eyes.

He could not give up this final glimmer of hope.

There was nothing more to consider.

Without another moment's hesitation, he abruptly changed direction and, holding Xuan Wei in his arms, raced straight back toward the Qi capital.

How could he not understand why Xuan Wei had refused to tell him she was poisoned?

She did not want him to throw his life away!

She would rather die herself than let him die!

Precisely because he understood, the pain cut even deeper. Again and again along the way, he threw back his head and released cries filled with endless anguish and regret...

"He changed direction!" One of the pursuers spotted the distant black speck veering away and pointed. "Sir, he seems to be heading back toward the capital!"

Dugu Jing swept a hand forward and shouted, "After him!"

The entire group immediately changed course and pursued...

The city gate drew closer and closer. It was already ahead.

But Ximen Qingkong felt himself nearing his limit.

He had to suppress the poison in Xuan Wei's body, stabilize the poison inside himself, and carry another person over a long distance.

Most importantly, he had to devote the greater part of his strength to suppressing Xuan Wei's poison. There was no alternative. Too much time had already been lost. If he did not give everything he could, Xuan Wei would not last.

Under the poison's erosion, he truly felt that he was about to collapse. His own lips had turned blue-black.

"The target seems to be getting slower and slower!" one of the pursuers called.

They could all see the fleeing figure more clearly now.

His speed was plainly falling.

At the city gate, people streamed in and out.

Ximen Qingkong no longer had the strength to carry another person over the high city wall.

Holding Xuan Wei, he landed at the gate. His steps were unsteady, almost staggering, as he rushed straight toward the soldiers guarding the entrance.

"Who goes there?" The soldiers immediately moved to stop him.

The garrison commander, however, recognized him and hurried forward to salute. At the same time, he stared in shock. "Mr. Ximen, what happened to the Princess Consort?"

He only knew who they were. Men at his level had no idea what was happening above them.

A cultivator flew down from the city wall. "Mr. Ximen, what happened?" He reached out, intending to examine Xuan Wei.

Ximen Qingkong shifted slightly away and refused to let him touch her. He trusted none of these people.

Several times he tried to speak, but no words came.

Then suddenly, "Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out and splattered across the garrison commander's face.

The commander froze, blood dripping down his features.

That mouthful of blood finally eased Ximen Qingkong's blocked breath somewhat.

"Horse!"

He managed only the single word before shouldering straight past the soldiers with Xuan Wei in his arms.

Once the soldiers learned that the woman he carried was a Princess Consort and saw that something had clearly happened to her, they no longer dared obstruct him.

Ximen Qingkong grabbed the reins of a horse tied at a hitching post and snapped them free. Still holding Xuan Wei, he swung onto the saddle, turned the horse, and slammed both heels into its belly.

Ignoring the people coming and going through the gate, he charged straight into the city.

His spiritual power was already failing him. Combined with the poison, simply reaching the city had exhausted almost everything he had. He truly no longer had the strength to carry Xuan Wei and continue flying.

He could only borrow the horse's legs to cover this final stretch as quickly as possible.

The horse thundered onto the city streets, scattering terrified pedestrians in every direction.

The cultivator who had questioned him flashed back onto the city wall to make a report.

It was obvious that both Ximen Qingkong and Xuan Wei appeared to have been poisoned.

At the gate, the commander and his soldiers looked at one another.

A subordinate asked, "General, what happened?"

The commander waved him off. "Matters concerning those above us. If they don't tell us, then use your own eyes and know your place. Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." He snatched the towel from the soldier's belt and wiped the blood from his face.

By then, Dugu Jing had arrived with his people.

The cultivators guarding the city wall saw such a large group of cultivators flying toward them and immediately became wary. A number of them flew down and blocked the way.

Several disciples of Qi's three great sects recognized Dugu Jing.

"Dugu Jing, what are you trying to do?"

Dugu Jing countered, "Which direction did Ximen Qingkong go after he entered the city?"

The other man demanded again, "What are you trying to do?"

He suspected they meant Ximen Qingkong and Xuan Wei harm—and he was not wrong.

Dugu Jing's voice suddenly sank. "They killed Prince Hao Cheng. We can't let them escape!"

A commotion instantly spread through the city gate...

After racing through the streets, Ximen Qingkong pulled the horse to an abrupt halt in a narrow alley. The animal reared in pain and neighed.

Still holding Xuan Wei, Ximen Qingkong jumped down and rushed up the steps before a doorway.

There was no time to knock.

Without a word, he kicked.

Bang!

The door flew inward. The bolt behind it snapped away, and Ximen Qingkong charged straight inside with the momentum.

A figure flashed over and shouted, "Who are you?"

It was Yan Baoru, standing guard.

The number-one and number-two experts on the Golden Core Ranking had met again in this courtyard.

Once she saw who had forced his way in, carrying someone in his arms and looking utterly wretched, Yan Baoru was startled. "Ximen Qingkong? What happened to you?"

Panting, Ximen Qingkong said, "Save her! Quickly ask Mr. Wuxin to save her! Hurry!"

Yan Baoru looked back.

Wuxin and Guo Man were already coming out of the house. The crash of the door being kicked open had drawn them outside.

The moment Ximen Qingkong saw Wuxin, he ignored Yan Baoru and rushed straight past her.

Still carrying Xuan Wei, he dropped heavily to his knees before Wuxin.

Tears filled his eyes. "Please, sir, save her!"

He laid Xuan Wei flat on the ground, shuffled back several steps on his knees, bent forward, and repeatedly kowtowed, striking his forehead audibly against the ground.

"Please, sir!"

Yan Baoru could only sigh inwardly at the sight.

That proud and aloof Ximen Qingkong, the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking, had actually cast away all dignity before Mr. Wuxin.

Wuxin glanced at the woman on the ground.

With one look, he could tell that both of them had been struck by virulent poison.

Yet he remained unmoved. "You barge into my residence and smash down my door. After behaving with such discourtesy, you still expect me to save someone? Why should I save her?"

Ximen Qingkong jerked his head up, tears spilling down his face as he choked out, "If you save her life, then from this day forward, Ximen Qingkong's life belongs to you! I will serve you like an ox or horse, go through fire and water at your command, and die ten thousand deaths without refusal! If I break this oath, may Heaven strike me down and Earth destroy me!"

Wuxin fell briefly silent, as though considering something.

Yan Baoru moved beside him and murmured into his ear, "I've seen this woman before. Xuan Wei, the former female sovereign of Wei."

What mattered to Wuxin was not the identity of either person.

Rather, the last time Shao Liuer had come to beg him to save Ximen Qingkong, she had said Ximen Qingkong was her friend.

At the time, that was the only way Shao Liuer could put it. She could hardly have asked him to save a complete stranger for no reason.

[End of Chapter 1309]