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“Seeking death!” Zhu Xiaoyao shouted angrily.
Her loose robe billowed in the wind, enhancing her light and agile presence.
This sudden turn of events caught her completely off guard, especially the ruthless attack that turned the galloping horse into a poisonous blood mist—members of the Mysterious Heaven Alliance who were nominally under her command.
It was like a slap in the face.
But there was no time to dwell on that now. No matter why the overseer Yinshen had allowed so many enemies to slip through the defenses along the way, the righteous path was clear: first, eliminate these troublemakers.
Zhu Xiaoyao moved with grace and precision, her attacks reflecting that same elegance.
Compared to the earlier deadly strikes that felled horses, her palm strikes now swung between the extremes of softness and force.
When her palm came down, the assailant had no choice but to dodge, unwilling to meet her strike head-on.
Wang Xiaoshi, who had retreated alongside Bai Choufei, silently approved.
“To channel the power of a supple, yin-style palm from the wrist—no wonder she holds the position of Second Holy Lord of the Mysterious Heaven Alliance.”
In the next moment, a gentle but powerful palm struck one man’s back, followed by the terrifying sound of bones breaking.
The struck man couldn’t utter another sound before collapsing to the ground like a piece of rotten flesh.
Zhu Xiaoyao’s wrist flicked lightly, her fingertips already pointing at a second target.
The wind howled through the air as before her palms landed, an invisible, supple palm strike had already split the black-clad man’s face.
But the attackers were not mere sitting ducks, especially considering the great purpose behind their mission!
The black-clad leader’s blade twisted in the air like a dragon’s roar—his sword technique was extraordinary from the first stroke.
Yet this blade, rising against the wind, failed to strike the advancing Zhu Xiaoyao.
Willows swayed gently in the strong wind, bending but not breaking, moving with momentum as she spun and danced.
A streak of palm force sliced through the gap between the blade, aimed directly at a third man’s vital point.
That was Zhu Xiaoyao’s third palm strike.
Another successful hit!
Still, no joy appeared on her face.
“What are you standing there for!”
In the brief pause between her attacks, she turned back to see another group of ambushers leaping out from the shops lining the street.
Taking advantage of the disruption caused by the first wave of attackers splitting their formation, they launched another assault.
Unfortunately, Deng Cangsheng, who was accompanying the wedding procession, reacted a half-step too slow.
He should have been fighting alongside Zhu Xiaoyao.
Before she could finish scolding him, the situation shifted again.
All the music and ceremony abruptly ceased, replaced by chaotic melee between the Mysterious Heaven Alliance members and the black-clad assassins.
Amid the turmoil, she distinctly heard a sudden, sharp whistling of a blade.
Right after, a cold blade clashed against Deng Cangsheng’s palm-blade.
Zhu Xiaoyao’s eyelid twitched.
Among the black-clad men was a highly skilled swordsman, and his chosen opponent was none other than Deng Cangsheng!
It wasn’t that the Third Holy Lord had been slow to act—it was the pressure of the situation.
Preemptive strikes couldn’t block that terrifying blade. Only a steady counterattack like Deng Cangsheng’s could offer a chance.
His palm blades, forged from bare hands, unleashed fierce, unrestrained killing intent with reckless swings.
Yet even so, at best he could only draw even with the attacker.
Meanwhile, the swordsman whom Zhu Xiaoyao had already slain two underlings of had transformed his blade into a dense net, blocking her from seizing any chance to retaliate.
...
“What’s the background of those two?” Wang Xiaoshi kicked up a chopping board to block a loose long knife, giving a fleeing spectator some room to escape.
Bai Choufei’s cold gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield, his fingers twitching slightly. “You already know the answer. No need to say more.”
The fighting styles of those two swordsmen were well-known among itinerant warriors like themselves. How could they not recognize them?
What baffled them was why these men chose this moment to strike at the Mysterious Heaven Alliance.
It seemed the number of people in the capital who did not want Guan Qi to regain his clarity far exceeded their expectations!
Wang Xiaoshi fell silent but reached behind his back.
There was not only the medical kit he had been carrying as a physician but also a knife wrapped in cloth.
If this chaotic battle was the opportunity he had long awaited, and if Bai Choufei thought the same, then he would choose to act.
But the first word he heard from Bai Choufei was firm: “Wait!”
They would remain spectators for now.
To act now would be to expose themselves to the many powers lurking in the capital.
And aiding the Mysterious Heaven Alliance might not grant them the chance they wanted.
Moreover, the key players were not all on the stage yet—they must not act recklessly.
Most importantly, they needed to see whether the recent rumor circulating in the capital was true or false.
Did Guan Qi, Holy Lord of the Mysterious Heaven Alliance, regain his clarity and former status thanks to his new wife?
From Bai Choufei’s sharp eyes, it wasn’t hard to see that while the two swordsmen tangled with Zhu Xiaoyao and Deng Cangsheng, a volley of arrows and throwing darts was speeding straight toward Guan Qi.
...
Before the flashing cold blades, Guan Qi’s gaze remained hollower than most, confirming once more his state of confusion.
He seemed unable to comprehend another signal.
News came at the same time that the Sanhe Building was on fire, meaning the Great Holy Lord stationed there could not arrive swiftly to support them as planned.
Then suddenly, he moved.
The third swordsman among the crowd, just about to draw his blade silently, barely had time to register the change before feeling a chill in his chest.
The screams and shouts around him instantly severed from his awareness.
He could only watch as his body inexplicably exploded open, and one by one, the black-clad men around him fell to the ground.
Like blades and shields of internal energy, wild and surging.
At the center stood only one person—
Guan Qi!
The groom’s formal wear bore no trace of blood, save for a faint blush on his cheek swiftly wiped away.
Guan Qi spoke deliberately, teeth clenched, staring at the frozen scene before him. “I am to marry my wife. Why do you seek to tear us apart?”
To him, those who came to cause trouble had no identity or allegiance—only one label: enemies!
He and his wife had been apart long enough; no one would be allowed to stand in their way.
Not even the most honored in Bianjing City.
If these people were reckless enough to defy him, then they would all become corpses.
Yet in the stillness after he killed several men in succession, someone dared to answer.
“Because you should have retired from the martial world long ago!”
“Who’s there?”
The reply came as a brilliant sword light.
A young man in a pale robe held a long sword swirling with power, descending from the air.
Even after seeing the pile of crushed flesh at Guan Qi’s feet, his sword intent only grew stronger, climbing higher.
Even Guan Qi could not ignore the chilling aura hidden beneath that corpse-like face—truly a deadly weapon in a bundle.
So he needed no answer.
He only needed to know this newcomer was a formidable martial artist.
But so what!
The robed youth was stunned to see Guan Qi raise his hand to meet a move identical to the sword technique he had trained for years—a sword intent matching or surpassing his own!
There was no way he could parry this strike.
In a flash, with barely a moment to think, he instinctively tossed aside a mechanical box, suddenly realizing that his earlier boast to the Chief and Master Lei was premature.
Fortunately, he had come prepared.
The box exploded into a thousand silver flashes, momentarily masking the brightness of the two sword strikes, and surged toward Guan Qi’s face.
Wang Xiaoshi barely had time to wonder why the youth’s moves seemed familiar before seeing the dreaded hidden weapons.
Among the rain of silver light, only a few points were true killing blades.
But when hidden weapons moved so quickly, quantity mattered little.
Guan Qi was their target.
Yet he merely lifted a foot and was suddenly in front of the youth, as if the earlier silver flashes had been effortlessly brushed aside.
That unrecovered sword strike shattered the youth’s first attack and then stabbed directly toward his forehead.
The robed youth’s face turned as white as paper at that moment.
Without hesitation, he threw aside the bundle on his back.
In an instant, a cold light far more dazzling than the sword or the strange hidden weapons swept out from the bundle.
Even Guan Qi, strong in martial cultivation, could not avoid pausing for a moment, interrupting what should have been a killing blow.
That brief hesitation was enough for the robed youth.
Among the black-clad men accompanying him were many death warriors who seized the gap to create an escape route.
But before he could climb to a rooftop and flee, Guan Qi swept away those worthless obstacles and gave chase again.
“You—seek death!”
A master like him no longer needed to be bound by weapon forms.
He could imitate his opponent’s moves to strike at their vital points.
The newcomer might be a prodigy among the younger generation but was no match for him.
Yet as his palm cut down, he saw that pale face lift, revealing a meaningful and triumphant smile.
Trouble!
Guan Qi didn’t know what thinking was, but bound by obsession and system, he knew better than anyone that his wife’s life came first.
If his opponent could not kill him but wanted to stop the wedding, the only way was to kill the other key player.
He immediately turned, eyes blazing with fury, to see a scene like a blow to his head.
Zhu Xiaoyao and her group had not yet fully shaken off the attackers’ entanglement.
He was still tied up by the crafty youth’s maneuvers.
Thus, the defenses around the bridal sedan relaxed considerably.
Those guarding nearby would not suspect an elderly woman, especially one who seemed to have fallen amid the fleeing crowd’s jostling and sought shelter near the sedan.
Yet this seemingly harmless old woman suddenly sprang to life, scattering a handful of golden and silver flying beans.
They rained down like shattered pearls.
Both toward the guards around the sedan and the sedan itself!
Inside the sedan sat only his wife, who knew no martial arts.
“Damn it!”
Among the onlookers, Bai Choufei and Wang Xiaoshi still had energy to act, but their attention was captured by the robed youth’s hidden weapons.
By the time they noticed the change at the sedan, it was too late.
They could only watch helplessly as the deadly beans pierced walls and bones, flying straight into the sedan.
If the person inside lacked an iron body, their lungs would be shattered in an instant!
Guan Qi had no time to kill the robed youth and immediately turned back to aid.
But no one’s lightness skill could outrun those close-range flying beans.
The old woman rushed into the sedan with the beans, seemingly determined to follow up with a fatal strike if her attack was evaded.
A sudden scream rang out from inside the sedan.
Yet as the sound came, everyone realized it was not the voice of a young woman.
With a bang, before anyone could verify, the old woman who had charged in to kill was thrown out faster than before.
No, it was not a simple throw.
She barreled through several people like a stone hurled violently, crashing onto the ground.
More accurately, she was pinned down, unable to rise immediately.
No one knew what had happened inside the sedan, only that—
In that moment, two arrows, one black and one white, protruded from her shoulder.
The searing pain in her lungs made her gaze flicker and lose focus, but she managed to see the inscriptions on the arrow tails: one carved with the character “Love,” the other “Human.”
Then images replayed vividly in her mind.
Inside the sedan was not the bride, but a slender, delicate young man.
He sat upright, like a proud and pure winter plum blossoming in the cramped sedan—yet clearly a plum with poisonous thorns.
Love.
Human.
Lover’s arrows!
The fallen old woman finally whispered, trembling, “Ruthless...”
Ruthless—Chief Detective Wu Qing of the Six Doors.
In the capital under the emperor’s gaze, the faction that most upheld order was undoubtedly the Six Doors.
The four famed detectives of the Six Doors studied under the divine strategist Zhuge, each formidable in martial skill, with the eldest brother being Wu Qing.
Though he should have no ties to the Mysterious Heaven Alliance nor any reason to appear here, yet he had come, replacing the bride’s place.
Rumor had it Wu Qing’s specially modified sedan was to accommodate his crippled legs—likely the very sedan draped in red.
Who would have thought that the greatest twist would not be the assassination on the street, but here?
Even the robed youth who had escaped Guan Qi’s grasp turned pale and shouted harshly, “Chief Detective Wu Qing, this has nothing to do with you. Why are you here?”
Today, the combined efforts of Master Lei, the Prime Minister, and Young Master Fang sought to prevent Guan Qi from regaining sanity—to either eliminate him or the mysterious wife. What business did the Six Doors have?
Even without seeing inside the sedan, he knew that with Wu Qing’s involvement, today’s matter would not end well.
Damn it! Who called him here?
Why was he present?
Inside the sedan, the occupant tugged at the corner of his mouth—a complex mix of emotions upon first receiving this request.
As a representative of the Six Doors, he would not display his troubles to others.
A cold voice came from within the sedan.
“I am a detective. You murder and disturb order here in Bianjing City. Of course it concerns me.”
That resolute statement rang crystal clear in the now quiet scene.
The robed youth cracked his knuckles.
This... was indeed a good reason.
If the others weren’t such seasoned veterans of Bianjing, they might suspect the Six Doors had new official duties to maintain wedding order.
But since Wu Qing said it, they could only treat it as a law not to be broken.
“We—”
“We’re leaving.”
Just as the robed youth prepared to call for retreat, the sedan carrying Chief Detective Wu Qing suddenly shot backward, blocking some people’s escape.
This was not intentional on Wu Qing’s part.
Just as he finished speaking, Guan Qi leapt forward, striking the palm force he hadn’t yet released toward the sedan.
Wu Qing retreated swiftly, but the sedan curtains were shredded by the fierce palm wind, revealing the face inside.
It locked with Guan Qi’s now less hollow expression.
“You are here—”
Guan Qi frowned, voice laced with anger.
“Where is my wife?”
Guan Qi cared not for official titles or thieves—he only wanted to know where Shi Qingruo had gone.
Wu Qing: “...”
That was an even harder question to answer.
...
Not far from here, in the second floor of a tavern, two people sat opposite each other.
Behind the woman in a wedding dress stood a cold and aloof youth in black, cradling a thin, unsheathed sword.
His seemingly indifferent face bore a hint of the same silent expression as Wu Qing.
Opposite them sat a patient.
The man in apricot robes looked ill, but what caught the eye first was not the flush from a recent cough but his eyes—clear and cold as ice fire.
“To meet Mistress Su is truly no easy task,” Shi Qingruo raised her tea cup, a faint smile on her lips.
Just like Bai Choufei and Wang Xiaoshi, despite their high martial skill and time in the capital, they had never seen the world-famous Mistress of the Golden Wind and Gentle Rain Pavilion.
Such was the norm in Bianjing’s martial world.
Su Mengzhen withdrew her attentiveness from the outside noise, replying coldly:
“To hear such words from one who sends thieves to call detectives, who lets Chief Detective Wu Qing enter the sedan, and who has the cold-blooded head detective guarding this place—that is even harder.”