ONE HOUR EARLIER, Feng Xiao, Qiao Xian, and Jinlian fought their assailants, three against many. Twelve figures in black were led by one figure in blue. All were top-tier martial artists, the leader in blue likely the strongest of the lot.
This wasn't the toughest or the trickiest battle of Feng Xiao's life. When he'd first left the mountains, he'd once dueled three of the top demonic experts on one of the summits of the Snow Mountains. That day, he'd proved himself their equal. He'd fought with his zither on the banks of the Wei River, thwarting his fellow practitioners' many attempts to kill him. His current opponents weren't the most troublesome he'd faced—but they clearly wanted to stop him from getting to Cui Buqu. The longer the battle dragged on, the more danger Cui Buqu would be in.
Qiao Xian understood this as well. She spared no effort trying to break out from the ring of their opponents, but her wounds had yet to heal—she lacked the strength to push through. Less than a dozen exchanges and she was gasping for breath.
The twelve fighters in black worked together seamlessly, their collective strength more than the sum of its parts. Jinlian and Qiao Xian were surrounded on all sides, while their enemies took turns meeting their attacks. They were soon exhausted; they had no energy to spare to help Feng Xiao.
With a toss of his sleeve, Feng Xiao shook off his opponent's weapons with another burst of internal energy, even as more glinting chains swept in toward him from all directions. Feng Xiao didn't retreat; he leaned aside to evade the strike, then leapt atop one of the thin chains and sprang into the air.
His opponent had expected this; he leapt after him in pursuit. They exchanged a dozen blows in midair, the wind from their palms whipping around them. Their robes billowed with true qi, snapping as they were caught in the whirling gales. Their palms moved faster and faster, until they were an indistinguishable blur.
Feng Xiao's opponent had known his target was no ordinary martial artist. But he'd been confident in his abilities; even if there was a gap, he'd been sure it was a small one. Besides, Yuxiu had told him Feng Xiao was injured—how could he lose? Only when they'd begun to fight did he realize he'd underestimated Feng Xiao. The man's skills were unfathomable. Even parrying Feng Xiao's basic palm strikes had pushed him to his limit. Finding his opponent much more difficult than expected, his confidence was sapped; in his panic, he lost the upper hand.
The man in blue took in Feng Xiao's dark clothes, his handsome face and elegant movements. Feng Xiao's expression was carefree, as if he wasn't engaged in a life-or-death battle but a casual spar. He gave no sign of being wounded.
Fine metal chains shot from blue sleeves like falling stars, or an arrow springing from a bow. Silent as soft rain, they flew toward Feng Xiao from both sides. Only when they struck their target would there be noise. In all his years wandering the jianghu, from the northern nations to the Central Plains, this move had never failed the man in blue. The chains were fine and flexible—two hands weren't enough to count the number of people who'd lost their lives to them. They wouldn't fail him this time either.
The man in blue didn't hesitate. He poured every ounce of his internal energy into the chains, which rushed toward Feng Xiao with unstoppable momentum, ready to splinter everything in their path like dry bamboo. Any human hand they struck would be destroyed, the flesh ripped apart and the bones shattered.
Feng Xiao had only two options: evade, or meet it head-on.
The man in blue had already sealed off all avenues of retreat. Unless Feng Xiao could take flight or sink into the ground, he had no choice but to take the blow barehanded. The moment his hands were injured, the man in blue would launch his next attack.
"I remember now," Feng Xiao said. Then he vanished.
The chains hit nothing but empty air.
How could this be? As the man stood in stunned disbelief, a wave of bloodlust swept up from behind him.
Shit!
Feng Xiao was no ghost or demon; he couldn't disappear, nor was this some arcane magic. He'd employed a technique used by ninjas in Yamato to confuse their enemies—an optical illusion, created by exploiting the human eye's limited field of vision. It wasn't at all mysterious once explained, but in that fraction of a second, the man in blue had fallen for it. The attack he'd staked everything on missed.
Lightning-quick, he turned and flung his chains out again. But in a fight between martial experts, that split second was enough to turn the tide. He'd lost his opportunity and handed the initiative to his opponent.
Feng Xiao's palm slammed into his back.
Blood spurted from the man in blue's mouth even as he lurched forward to avoid Feng Xiao's next attack.
"Without Cui Buqu here to remind me, I couldn't figure out who you were at first." Feng Xiao didn't give chase. Hands clasped behind his back, he strolled up to the man in blue. The steps he took looked ordinary, yet somehow, he moved a great distance with each one. No matter how quickly the man in blue fled, the distance between them remained unchanged.
"Your weapon is unusual, but your moves have much in common with Qin Miaoyu and Su Xing. Those two lack your skill and powerful internal energy; they weren't anywhere near my match. You, then, must be the leader of the Buyeo Sect, Go Un."
The man in blue neither confirmed nor denied Feng Xiao's guess. He'd known killing Feng Xiao would be difficult, but it was the sole reason he was here. If he couldn't take Feng Xiao's life today, he'd have failed. Still deliberating, he touched down on a tree in front of him and pushed off, turning sharply back toward Feng Xiao. His chains snaked through the air toward Feng Xiao's wrists and he leapt after them, aiming a kick at Feng Xiao's knee.
Jinlian saw the glint from the tip of the man in blue's boot. "His shoes!" she cried. But it was too late; the boot and its blade were about to sink into Feng Xiao's flesh. She hardly needed to think to guess it was tipped with deadly poison.
Several black-clad men surged forward, swords slashing toward Jinlian's face. She dodged, losing sight of Feng Xiao for a moment. When she looked over again, what she saw made her heart stop.
Feng Xiao was collapsing backward—the poisoned blade had met its mark. Jinlian wailed internally. With no thought for the men pursuing her, she flew toward Feng Xiao. If he died, it was over. They could forget about rescuing Cui Buqu or restoring their honor; the three of them would perish here today.
Qiao Xian was of the same mind. The pair raced toward the crumpled figure of Feng Xiao—only to see him leap into the air. The whip sword at his waist gleamed as it streaked toward his opponent in an arc of light. As fluid as an ocean wave yet as strong as stone, it ran through the man in blue's chest in a single deadly strike and kept going, nailing itself to the trunk of the tree behind him.
Go Un had been certain his mission would succeed. He had never thought it would claim his life. His wide eyes were filled with resentment, boring into Feng Xiao even in death.
Qiao Xian was quick. She lunged forward and yanked the whip-sword out of the tree, then tossed it to Feng Xiao. He caught it deftly and charged into the formation of black-clad men without a backward glance. The loss of their leader had thrown them into disarray, and he fell upon them like a wolf on its prey. In the blink of an eye, several heads hit the ground.
These men were all under orders to fight to the death—even if it was a losing battle, there was no option of retreat. But of course some still valued their lives; those who tried to flee during the chaos met swift ends at the hands of Jinlian and Qiao Xian.
"Leave a few alive. Hold their jaws open!" called Feng Xiao. He strolled through the enemy formation, completely at ease, as if no one stood in his path.
His words were timely, and Qiao Xian was swift. She grabbed two of the men's lower jaws, preventing them from biting down on the poisonous pill in their mouths. "Leave this to us. Go save the lord chief!" she urged.
She'd also realized by now that anyone who gave orders to the leader of Buyeo Sect must be someone of immense power. Cui Buqu was in terrible danger.
"You're not afraid I'll push your lord chief around?" Feng Xiao chuckled. "You should be doing all you can to rescue him first. How could I take that from you?"
Qiao Xian ground her teeth, wishing she could grind Feng Xiao's head too. "I beg of Deputy Chief Feng: please save our lord chief. I'll serve you every day if that's what it takes to repay you!"
"Unnecessary," said Feng Xiao. "I have no interest in seeing that churlish face of yours every day. Just think—right now, your lord chief is almost certainly enduring all manner of torture. Maybe he's even half-dead. Save your kindness for him during his darkest hour, when he's in desperate need of help. You'll get the most return for your goodwill that way. Don't you agree?"
Qiao Xian was ready to burst into flames from rage. You're nothing but a conniving little weasel, she thought. This man wouldn't lift a finger unless there was something in it for him. The Jiejian and Zuoyue Bureaus were at odds, so why had she placed her hopes in Feng Xiao? She should have begged the lord chief to let Zhangsun Bodhi come along after all!
She wasted no more time on pointless words, but quashed her fury and dashed toward the yurt where Cui Buqu was detained. But within a scant few steps, she felt a pressure in her chest as the flow of her internal energy was blocked by her injury. She crashed to the ground, blood trickling from her mouth, and could move no more.
Feng Xiao smiled. "I see I have to do everything around here. Cui Buqu, oh, Cui Buqu, you owe me another gargantuan favor. However will you repay me this time?"
Repay you my ass! Qiao Xian snarled in silence.
Feng Xiao gave a good-natured laugh, then leapt out from the middle of those fallen black-clad men and arrowed toward the royal yurt. Within a few nimble bounds, his figure dwindled into the distance.
Struggling upright, Qiao Xian watched as two silhouettes burst from the yurt and soared into the blue sky.
One was Feng Xiao. As for the other…
"Khagan?!" Jinlian cried.
Everyone stared as, in broad daylight, the elderly Apa Khagan met Feng Xiao with qinggong so quick and light he could have plucked the very moon from the sky.