After that delay, Ren Yijue was naturally nowhere to be found.
Qian Xuelang was in no hurry. He knew how carefully Ren Yijue handled matters. If he had dared go alone, the affair could not be too troublesome. Besides, Ren Yijue had overcome every difficulty even before meeting Qian Xuelang. There was no reason he should become less capable after making Qian Xuelang’s acquaintance.
So Qian Xuelang simply returned to the cottage and continued waiting.
Unexpectedly, Ren Yijue did not return until dawn, looking weighed down by worries. Finding Qian Xuelang waiting outside, he was startled and managed a smile. “Has the Jade Beauty not rested?”
“You made too much noise,” Qian Xuelang said indifferently. “Why such a troubled face?”
Ren Yijue shook his head, plainly unwilling to explain. He forced a teasing tone. “It’s nothing. But Jade Beauty, worrying about such things on the eve of your duel? Aren’t you afraid you’ll lose focus and be defeated by Lord Pu?”
“The little snake has a decent character, but his strength is far inferior to mine.” Qian Xuelang gave him a level glance.
In other words, Lord Pu did not require his undivided attention.
Ren Yijue had been thinking entirely of the other man’s welfare, so such arrogance angered him. He gave a cold laugh. “Lord Pu is certainly weaker than the Jade Beauty. But fortune changes. If the Jade Beauty should fall from the clouds one day, what then? Would you still be so proud and defiant?”
Qian Xuelang saw his anger and remained unperturbed. “You’ll know when the time comes.”
Naturally, the conversation ended unhappily. Ren Yijue was about to storm back to his room when Qian Xuelang called, “Stop.”
Ren Yijue hated how he actually stopped whenever he was told to. Sometimes he desperately wanted to forget restraint and act outrageously in front of Qian Xuelang for once. How delighted he would be to see surprise on the Jade Beauty’s face! Yet he knew perfectly well that Qian Xuelang did not care what anyone thought. In the end, the only person who would regret a missed opportunity or grow angry at his own dissatisfaction would always be himself.
“What is it?” Ren Yijue’s voice had turned cold too.
“The Wuming Sword Case is better off with you than with me.” Qian Xuelang offered him the case. “Take it.”
Ren Yijue lowered his eyes to the Wuming Sword Case, suddenly unable to guess what Qian Xuelang intended. Surely he was not asking him to protect the Demon-Slaying Sword inside. Judged purely by strength, it ought to be that sword protecting him, not the reverse.
Then perhaps, looked at another way, this was concern, or trust, or…
After hesitating only a moment, Ren Yijue accepted the case. Qian Xuelang turned and went inside without another word.
He did not ask anything further, either.
Ren Yijue sighed softly. Carrying the case to his own room, he sat beside the bed and gazed at it without moving, slowly recalling what had happened earlier.
When Ren Yijue had arrived, Elder Silkworm’s carriage had already blackened from within. Before he could wonder why, someone suddenly emerged from it. Flames surged as the curtain was lifted, and thick smoke rolled out.
Only then did Ren Yijue understand that the fire spell had been confined to the inside of the carriage. Within, a raging blaze consumed everything; the exterior was gradually reduced to ashes, and once the contents had burned away, nothing but a heap of ash would remain.
Elder Silkworm himself and those adorable little shadow puppets had probably died in the fire without alarming anyone nearby.
There was no time to grieve. Ren Yijue hurried after the person and discovered it was White-Jade Skeleton. Before they had traveled even a few li, the other man detected Ren Yijue, and they exchanged several brief rounds of blows.
Ren Yijue had been prepared to invoke the Jade Beauty’s name to frighten his opponent if he found himself outmatched. To his surprise, this White-Jade Skeleton was only about as strong as he was. After a brief stalemate, the man apparently feared his opponent had companions nearby and fled in panic.
If the White-Jade Skeleton who had killed Bone Lingding had possessed no more ability than this, the Jade Beauty would have captured him that very day and taken him back to face Shui Wuchen.
Thus the White-Jade Skeleton who had appeared in Liuyanzhu, despite calling himself White-Jade Skeleton, was probably just an impostor acting on behalf of the real White-Jade Skeleton.
News of Lord Pu’s revenge duel had spread throughout Liuyanzhu. Perilous Rock wanted to measure their strength. Someone calling himself White-Jade Skeleton had appeared here recently…
Ren Yijue considered these scattered clues and fitted them together anew.
White-Jade Skeleton must have been detained by Jiufang Ce and could not reach Liuyanzhu at the same time as they did. He had nevertheless learned their whereabouts and ordered a subordinate in Liuyanzhu to call himself White-Jade Skeleton, first to make himself appear blameless and second to frighten Perilous Rock into revealing himself.
Once Perilous Rock learned his enemy was nearby, he would surely lose his composure and make a mistake.
Apart from Perilous Rock, the person who concerned White-Jade Skeleton most was probably the Jade Beauty. The more moves he made, the likelier he was to be exposed, and given the Jade Beauty’s cultivation, there was no telling how many of his schemes might be ruined. He would have to find some way to target the Jade Beauty.
Lord Pu had likely attracted attention for this very reason. He had asked Elder Silkworm and Huanqing about the Jade Beauty’s whereabouts and might have revealed some weakness in the process. Even if he had not, he must certainly have betrayed his hostility—
Huanqing was one thing, but Elder Silkworm was a merchant of information. For the right price, there was scarcely a secret he would refuse to sell.
That was probably the chief reason Elder Silkworm had met his end. If he could sell news about Lord Pu and the Jade Beauty, he could just as easily sell leads concerning White-Jade Skeleton.
At this thought Ren Yijue suddenly rose, his expression changing drastically. “Doesn’t that mean today is the best possible moment to strike?”
Lord Pu was upright by nature and would certainly refuse to join forces with White-Jade Skeleton. Ren Yijue was not worried about that. What truly alarmed him was the possibility that White-Jade Skeleton would arrive during today’s duel and wait at the sidelines for his best opportunity to intervene.
To avenge his parents and settle the guilt he bore, Lord Pu would hold nothing back. His appointment with the Jade Beauty was a duel to the death, not a friendly contest that would end with a single touch!
Uprooting the danger and catching them all in one net: just White-Jade Skeleton’s style.
Suddenly golden bells began to ring, announcing the start of the duel.
Ren Yijue was horrified but had no idea how to respond. There was far too little time for him to devise another plan.
Outside, a door opened. Qian Xuelang had already set out for their appointed meeting.
Shadowed Spring was one of the few spirit springs in Liuyanzhu, but it had dried up completely a hundred years earlier as the Fourth Veil expanded. All that remained was a smooth, basin-shaped hollow. So many people had fought duels here over the past century, leaving countless traces, that it had become a natural battlefield.
Carrying the sword case, Ren Yijue climbed to the highest peak and looked down at the two figures in Shadowed Spring. Mist swirled everywhere, and another figure seemed to be approaching faintly in the distance.
It was difficult to judge direction through the mist. Ren Yijue could not tell who had arrived, only sensed the fog stirring in the wind. Before long, a crowd of curious spectators appeared, chattering about Elder Silkworm’s death.
Some had come merely for excitement; others hoped to gain insight and experience from watching another person’s duel. A few even intended to offer commentary from the sidelines.
The situation was far too chaotic.
Watching everything below with growing concern, Ren Yijue saw Jing Pu and Qian Xuelang exchange a signal and dispense with further words. Lord Pu swiftly reached for his waist and snapped his hand.
Above them, a harsh cry suddenly rang out from the vast mist. A chi dragon burst through it with a roar. The crowd cried out in alarm. Covered in tarnished-silver scales, the dragon rose and coiled through the clouds, its head and tail glimpsed now and then while the full length of its body remained concealed.
Jing Pu had refined this long whip from snakeskin he had shed himself. His mind and spirit were united with it; it was like another serpentine body.
Ren Yijue gripped the sword case more tightly. Below, the shadows of the whip spread into a net that covered the sky. Then red light flashed. The chi dragon let out a long cry as it suffered a grievous blow, and the web of whiplashes shattered at once.
The spectators had just experienced the dragon’s dreadful power and were still shaken. Seeing the saber wielder below dispel its attack in a heartbeat, they stared at one another, aghast. None knew when such a formidable expert had come to Liuyanzhu.
The battle shifted in an instant as attacker and defender exchanged places. The white-clad saber wielder went on the offensive, driving the illusory chi dragon into the air to dodge and maneuver. Only when its master showed an opening did it sweep its tail to help him; if that failed, it immediately retreated to shield him.
After several saber strikes, the chi dragon, though not a real flesh-and-blood body, transmitted the injuries through its spiritual bond with Jing Pu. Several wounds split open on him. His savage yao nature erupted, and he transformed into a gigantic snow-white python, lunging into an even fiercer counterattack.
The spectators watched them trade several hundred moves, hearts pounding. They whispered among themselves. Some had fought Jing Pu, or had lost acquaintances to his hand, and remembered suffering bitterly at his hands. Seeing him at a disadvantage, they began commenting freely.
The dragon and snake shared one mind and attacked from both sides, seeming to entangle Qian Xuelang and leave him no way out. The crowd grew louder, as though they themselves were trapped in danger.
Yet Qian Xuelang moved with floating grace and had already slipped clear without a trace of panic or strain.
Those of lower cultivation, seeing him evade the attack so easily, assumed Jing Pu was inept and began hurling insults. The more accomplished cultivators, though unable to see every detail, knew they themselves could never have escaped and grew terribly solemn.
Several hours passed. One after another, spectators could no longer withstand the corrosive demonic qi of the Fourth Veil and withdrew. The fight below continued, but Jing Pu was plainly running out of strength.
Another half-hour passed. Even the few remaining onlookers could endure no longer. Although the battle had yet to end, its outcome seemed decided, and virtually everyone departed.
Seeing the crowd leave and Jing Pu wounded, Ren Yijue realized White-Jade Skeleton’s opportunity was approaching. He stroked the sword case again and again, his heart burning with anxiety.
At that moment, someone suddenly plunged into the battlefield and struck Jing Pu in the back, directly over his heart.
Taken completely off guard by the blow, Jing Pu’s three extraordinarily poisonous Heart-Guarding Needles triggered in response to the danger. In the same instant, the intruder twisted Jing Pu’s body and sent him hurtling straight toward Qian Xuelang.
Ren Yijue understood what was happening and cried, “No!”
“Bastard!”
Seeing that someone had interfered, Qian Xuelang’s expression hardened. He stretched out an arm to catch Jing Pu, only to feel something strike his chest and send a searing pain deep into his lungs.
Qian Xuelang reacted swiftly enough to catch the gravely injured Jing Pu and retreat a step. Darkness washed across his vision; every limb and bone felt as though it were burning. With the little snake lying unconscious in his arms, his life or death uncertain, he suddenly realized the cause: the three Heart-Guarding Needles.
The needles had no consciousness and activated automatically when danger threatened. The attacker had seen his opponent holding back against the little snake and would certainly reach out to catch him…
Qian Xuelang never lost his composure in a crisis. Even after falling into this trap, he remained unhurried. He raised his eyes toward the assailant. Though black and white were already swimming across his failing vision, he could still barely recognize White-Jade Skeleton from Daihai. “Have you come to kill me?” he asked coldly.
White-Jade Skeleton smiled faintly. “Yes. But not only that.”
Qian Xuelang asked, “Then why haven’t you struck yet?”
“Because Your Excellency still has strength left,” White-Jade Skeleton replied. “I heard those three Heart-Guarding Needles kill an ordinary cultivator on contact, yet you can still speak to me. So I’m waiting.”
“Waiting for the poison to take effect?”
“That would be best of all. I’m not especially eager to kill you myself.”
Qian Xuelang smiled. He actually still had strength enough to smile, though black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. White-Jade Skeleton was clearly surprised. “Waiting for that friend of yours? I’m afraid he won’t be able to save you.”
Qian Xuelang said nothing. He laid the little snake on the ground and slowly rose. By then he could scarcely hear, and all light had gone from his eyes.
From the all-encompassing darkness he said coldly, “I never wait for anyone.”
Qian Xuelang drew his saber and slashed. A tremendous beam of red light shot straight toward White-Jade Skeleton’s face.
Startled, White-Jade Skeleton dodged in haste. The saber-light struck deep into the spring’s stone wall, splitting the mountainside with a huge fissure.
After that blow, Qian Xuelang began vomiting blood uncontrollably. His hands and feet went weak. As he lost consciousness, he suddenly thought of Ren Yijue’s angry face, hoping that man’s legs were as quick as his mind and that he would run far away instead of wasting time being angry.
Everything changed in a heartbeat. Ren Yijue’s heart shook, but his mind became crystal clear. The sword case in his hands suddenly began to tremble.
I should go. I should leave right now. The Jade Beauty and Lord Pu are both grievously wounded. I could never defeat White-Jade Skeleton alone. Fighting him would gain me nothing. Why let my feelings dictate what I do?
Why act on emotion?
Just as Ren Yijue was about to plunge into Shadowed Spring, a voice suddenly spoke inside his mind.
“Do you want to protect them?”
Ren Yijue spun around in shock. “Who?!”
There was no one behind him.
“Of the three thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion, your greed lies in refusing to let go, insisting you must save them. Your anger burns in your heart and drives you to rash action. Your delusion lies in your foolish attempt to pit the weak against the strong.”
The voice seemed to laugh softly.
Before Ren Yijue could react, the sword case opened with a clack. A pillar of light, black and white intertwined, shot into the clouds. The demonic mist around them dispersed at once.
The Demon-Slaying Sword rose into the air, dispelling all evil and radiating an awe-inspiring majesty.