Nangong Xiao raised an eyebrow. He got so easily enraged; he really couldn't handle any provocation!
The fierce wind was close at hand. He raised his eyelids, flicked his wrist, and snapped his folding fan shut. Using the fan as his hand, he began to fight Qin Junhao. In an instant, white and sandalwood figures intertwined, hands and folding fans weaving back and forth. Gusts of wind arose, blowing people's clothes fluttering. The ruthless and rapid moves were dazzling to behold.
Qin Junhao was highly skilled in martial arts, and his strange moves were endless. Nangong Xiao's moves were simple but powerful and effective. In a short time, the two had exchanged several moves.
Li Youlan stared intently at Nangong Xiao and Qin Junhao, who were fighting in mid-air. Their martial arts skills were similar, and their strengths were also comparable, so it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time.
Qin Junhao ran to the deck and declared that he would capture Shen Lixue. His visit to Qingyan had been exposed, and as clever as Shen Lixue was, she would surely guess his purpose. If he let her go back, Dongfang Heng would be on guard, and their next move would be much more difficult. So he decided to go all the way and capture Shen Lixue to prevent the secret from being leaked.
Thinking of this, Li Youlan secretly gave the guards a wink.
The three guards understood immediately. With grim expressions, they slowed their pace and rushed towards Chen Lixue quietly and quickly.
Shen Lixue kept an eye on the fight in mid-air, but she didn't let her guard down around Li Youlan and the others. She noticed the three guards as soon as they moved. Looking at the three people who were so close to her, she smiled coldly. They actually wanted to ambush her. How stupid of them.
"Zi Mo." A clear, cold voice drifted through the air, and three guards appeared out of thin air, drawing their swords and confronting the three guards of the Zhan Prince's Mansion. The sound of fierce fighting rang out, and Zi Mo appeared out of thin air in front of Shen Lixue, holding a long sword, vigilantly watching every move around him, protecting her safety.
Li Youlan was taken aback, then realized that Shen Lixue was seven months pregnant. Given how much Dongfang Heng doted on her, she must have powerful bodyguards protecting her in secret. She had been careless and naively thought that Shen Lixue had only taken a maid with her when she left the mansion.
Shen Lixue turned to look at Li Youlan and smiled, "Princess Zhan, your sneak attack method is not very clever."
The deliberately drawn-out tone was full of sarcasm, and Li Youlan's small face instantly turned as black as ink: "Shen Lixue, don't be so smug. When I, Li Youlan, capture people, I can do it openly and honestly. There's no need for a sneak attack."
As she spoke, Li Youlan lightly touched the ground with her toes, gripped a gleaming dagger, and thrust it straight at Zi Mo. Zi Mo was highly skilled in martial arts; even if ten or eight ordinary guards from the Zhan Prince's Mansion attacked him together, they might not be a match for him.
Li Youlan is skilled in light footwork and martial arts, and is also proficient in poisons. If she takes action herself, defeating Zi Mo should not be a problem.
Zi Mo's gaze turned slightly cold as he raised his sword to meet Li Youlan's killing move and began to fight her. Long swords and daggers flashed repeatedly, their cold light gleaming as black and crimson figures crisscrossed, a sight that was dazzling to behold.
On the deck, three secret guards from the Holy King's Mansion were locked in fierce combat with three guards from the Zhan King's Mansion. In mid-air, the fight between Nangong Xiao and Qin Junhao had also reached a fever pitch, with the sounds of intense weapons clashing constantly filling the air. The surrounding temperature gradually dropped due to their murderous intent.
Shen Lixue, with her fair hands supporting her waist, quietly and quickly retreated to a safe corner. She was seven months pregnant and it was not advisable for her to fight with others, otherwise, if she disturbed the fetus, the baby would be the one to get hurt.
Concentrating on protecting the fetus, she didn't see a man in black standing on the edge of the deck, silently reaching out to grab her.
Hearing the sounds of fighting in the cabin, Chu Youran rushed out to investigate. Stepping onto the deck, she saw the man in black reaching out to grab Chen Lixue, and her expression changed drastically: "Lixue, be careful!"
As soon as she spoke, she rushed over and stood in front of Shen Lixue. The man in black grabbed her arm, and looking at her beautiful, panicked face, a sharp, impatient glint flashed in his eyes. He then forcefully flung her backward.
"Ah!" Her slender body traced a graceful arc in mid-air before plunging into the deep blue lake with a splash.
The incident happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that no one had time to react. When Shen Lixue looked closely, Chu Youran was thrashing about in the water, bobbing up and down: "Help... I can't... swim..."
"You Ran!" Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened, and her cyan whip shot through the air, landing in the water and tightly wrapping around Chu You Ran's waist. Just as Shen Lixue was about to pull her up, the man in black on the edge of the deck suddenly appeared in front of Shen Lixue, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her quickly toward the edge of the deck.
The man was very strong, gripping Shen Lixue's wrist so tightly it hurt. She struggled but couldn't break free. Her eyes turned cold, and she gathered all her inner strength in her left hand, striking the man fiercely. She had planned to save Chu Youran before teaching the man in black a lesson, but she didn't expect him to attack first. She wouldn't be polite then.
The man in black neither dodged nor evaded, but instead swung his other hand to meet Shen Lixue's palm strike. However, instead of meeting her palm strike head-on, he tightly gripped her wrist like an iron clamp, and no matter how much she struggled, she could not break free from his control.
Shen Lixue was secretly shocked. Her martial arts skills were considered above average in the capital, similar to Zi Mo's. Yet, she was completely powerless against this man. When did Dongfang Zhan acquire such a powerful subordinate? "Who are you?"
The man looked up at Shen Lixue. He was shrouded in black, with only his eyes showing. His eyes were gentle yet sharp and sinister, like those of a wild beast, determined to win. The familiarity of his gaze shocked Shen Lixue: "You...it's you!"
Dongfang Zhan personally intervened. No wonder she couldn't break free from his grip. Their martial arts skills were far inferior, and she was pregnant. How could she be his match?
"The princess of the county."
"Li Xue".
During the fight, Zi Mo and Nangong Xiao both saw Shen Lixue being captured and were about to break free from their opponents to rescue her. The man in black narrowed his eyes slightly, grabbed Shen Lixue, and jumped off the deck, landing on the surface of Qingshui Lake. He lightly touched the water with his feet and flew forward quickly.
Dozens of men in black descended from the sky and landed steadily on the deck, blocking the two men's path. The barely audible thuds of their landings came from all sides. Nangong Xiao turned around and saw that the men in black were densely packed, surrounding him, Zi Mo, and the guards of the Holy King's Mansion.
"Nangong Xiao, I said I would capture Shen Lixue today, and now my wish has come true." Qin Junhao laughed triumphantly, striding up to Nangong Xiao, his arrogant gaze sweeping over Zi Mo and the other three: "None of you will leave here alive."
Nangong Xiao looked at the surface of Qingshui Lake. The man in black was flying rapidly with Shen Lixue, and would be out of his sight in a moment. He raised his dark eyebrows slightly: "Qin Junhao, if you want to keep this young master here, you'd better see if you have the ability."
The tightly closed folding fan suddenly opened, and Nangong Xiao flicked his wrist, wielding it with unrestrained speed. The edge of the fan swiftly sliced across the necks of the men in black, and in an instant, blood gushed out. Before the men in black could even be shocked, they collapsed to the ground one after another.
Nangong Xiao's fan was pure white, without a trace of blood. A wicked smile appeared on his lips. Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, he leaped off the deck and chased after Shen Lixue. His triumphant voice echoed in the air: "Qin Junhao, this young master is going to save the beauty first. I'll deal with you when I get back."
Blood flowed on the deck, quietly gathering along the grooves and seeping into the cracks. The thick stench of blood permeated the air. Qin Junhao was furious and glared fiercely at Zi Mo and the other three: "Kill them all, leave no one alive."
The men in black had icy eyes as they swung their swords at Zi Mo and his companions. The four of them were not to be outdone and huddled together to fight back. The sounds of weapons clashing rang out. Qin Junhao paid no attention to them and turned around to chase after Nangong Xiao: "Nangong Xiao, stop right there."
Dozens of meters away, the man in black pulled Shen Lixue forward at high speed, his toes lightly touching the water's surface as if walking on flat ground, steady and fast.
Shen Lixue glanced at the man in black who was walking straight ahead, her eyes turned cold, and several silver needles suddenly appeared on her pale fingertips, which she then stabbed into the man's acupoints.
She is a pregnant woman, and Dongfang Zhan will not do anything to her. However, he will use her to blackmail Dongfang Heng. At that time, Dongfang Heng will be put on the defensive and controlled by Dongfang Zhan in every way. This is not a situation that Shen Lixue wants to see.
A sudden pain shot through her wrist, and Shen Lixue abruptly stopped moving. The silver needle pressed lightly against the acupoint, but she could no longer move it even a little.
Under her angry gaze, the man in black grabbed her wrist and held it up in front of him. Looking at the sharp, thin silver needle, which reflected a faint, cold light in the sunlight, the man in black's eyes were deep and sharp: "I didn't expect that you could still sneak up on me even with your wrist restrained."
Taking advantage of the man in black's distraction, Shen Lixue slapped his hand away, quickly took a step back, and looked at him coldly: "Let's not beat around the bush. I know you captured me to threaten Dongfang Heng, and I won't let you have your way."
A surge of anger suddenly welled up in the man in black's eyes. In her mind, he had only grabbed her to threaten someone, and had no other purpose: "That's not up to you." If she guessed wrong, he would just go along with it.
With a large stride, the man in black instantly appeared in front of Shen Lixue. He quickly pressed two fingers together to her pressure points. She was pregnant, yet she was still able to launch a sneak attack on him while under his control. Her intelligence was beyond his expectations. He had to be careful before taking her back and could no longer indulge her.
Shen Lixue's gaze darkened slightly, and she instantly withdrew her inner force, preparing to fall into the water. Her martial arts skills were far inferior to those of the man in black, and her pregnancy made her movements even more clumsy. If the two were to fight, she would be defeated and captured within five moves.
Qingshui Lake is very large, and there are large lotus flowers in front of it. She is a good swimmer, and as long as she dives into the lotus flowers, she will definitely be able to escape from the man in black.
The man in black's fingers were inches away. Shen Lixue's toes touched the water, and she was about to fall when her waist suddenly tightened. A faint scent of pine resin lingered in her nose, inexplicably making her feel at ease. A familiar male voice came from above her head: "Don't do anything foolish."
Before she could even feel joy, a muffled sound rang in her ears: "Bang!" Two palms collided with a powerful force, and water columns two or three meters high rose up around the three of them, completely enveloping them.