The Jianghu of Feng Qingcheng and Mo Xibei

Chapter 97

"What happened?" Pushing away the hands gripping his shoulders tightly, Mo Xibei, who hadn't spoken for a long time, nor even drunk a drop of water, sounded somewhat hoarse.

"I went to bring you food but didn't see you. I thought you left without a word." Chu Junfeng refused to let go and instead pulled Mo Xibei into his arms forcefully.

“I didn’t offend you, so I wouldn’t run away secretly. But you went out during the day, and I felt that if I went out too, I might expose my whereabouts. Anyway, I’d be staying here anyway. What time is it now?” Mo Xibei looked at the entrance of the wine cellar. Chu Junfeng had come in in a hurry and hadn’t closed the door. However, no light was shining in from outside, so it must be dark.

"It's past dusk. I've been a bit out of sorts today. I probably didn't sleep well last night. Please don't mind." Chu Junfeng only then realized that his fingers had almost dug holes in Mo Xibei's shoulder. He quickly let go, his face flushed, and he looked at Mo Xibei with some embarrassment.

"It's getting dark, let's go back to sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping lately, but I've finally gotten back to normal today." Mo Xibei ignored Chu Junfeng's embarrassment, smiled slightly, and walked out of the wine cellar first.

In recent days, Mu Feinan has often come to visit Mo Xibei. Of course, these visits usually happen late at night. So when Mo Xibei and Chu Junfeng walked back to Mo Xibei's current residence one after the other, they were both startled to see Mu Feinan leaning against the armchair in deep thought.

"Could I interpret your expression as you suddenly seeing me and being happy?" Mu Feinan tapped his forehead lightly with his fingers, a smile appearing on his lips, his eyes casually sweeping over the two people opposite him.

"I'm really happy. I didn't expect to see you at this time. Did your undercover mission fail and you were discovered?" Mo Xibei's heart had been in turmoil ever since he discovered the secret room in the wine cellar. Now, after racking his brains, he finally came up with a sentence that would allow him to say it with a smile.

"Woman, you underestimate your man, don't you?" Mu Feinan snorted. Suddenly, she stretched out a hand to Mo Xibei and said very softly, "Come here."

"What are you doing?" Mo Xibei pouted, his eyes quickly scanning Mu Feinan. Although this guy wasn't wearing a mask today, his expression was unreadable.

"Come here, sweetie!" Mu Feinan coaxed her gently.

"Ahem!" Chu Junfeng, who was standing at the door, suddenly spoke up, "You guys talk. I'm leaving first."

"Go ahead!" Mu Feinan smiled, his eyes darting around with a cunning glint. Seeing Chu Junfeng walk away, while Mo Xibei remained standing, he then said, "If you don't want to come over, then close the door first; it'll be easier to talk that way."

"Mu Feinan. You—" Mo Xibei was about to say that she was acting strangely when she saw the person in front of her suddenly move, bypassing her and going straight to the door. He quickly closed both doors and then interrupted her, saying, "I know that it's more direct for me to do such heavy work as closing doors myself."

"Feinan," Mo Xibei called his name softly. Just as she was about to turn around, Mu Feinan was already beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, and said softly, "Shh! Don't talk."

"Why can't you speak?" Mo Xibei's fingers touched Mu Feinan's wrist intentionally or unintentionally, feeling the other party tremble slightly, but the voice from his mouth remained gentle.

“These past few days, you’ve been hiding and have suffered a lot. I haven’t been able to be by your side often. You don’t know how bad it felt to see you and Chu Junfeng coming in from outside just now.” Mu Feinan said, taking a step closer, almost touching Mo Xibei.

"Silly boy!" Mo Xibei laughed. "You're here so early. Have you had dinner yet?" "Not yet. I can't eat if I don't see you when I get here. But now... just looking at you is enough." Mu Feinan gently tightened his arms around Mo Xibei, holding him closer and closer.

“But I’m hungry, you know, I get really hungry if I don’t eat.” Mo Xibei still smiled and gently patted Mu Feinan’s arm with his other hand. “Let go first, I need to eat something.”

"You greedy girl, all you know is eating. I've been here for ages, and you haven't even given me a proper look." Behind her, Mu Feinan suddenly sighed resentfully and gently turned Mo Xibei around. "Look at me, Xibei."

"What's on your face?" Mo Xibei turned around with a smile, looking Mu Feinan up and down. "Nothing, not even a single hair. What am I supposed to see?"

"Look into my eyes and tell me what you see?" Mu Feinan's voice grew gentler, his gaze tender and full of irresistible allure.

“I saw it…” Mo Xibei’s eyes met Mu Feinan’s, and his voice suddenly stopped.

"What did you see?" Mu Feinan continued to ask softly.

"..." Mo Xibei did not answer him, but his body suddenly went limp and he leaned back slightly.

"Northwest! Northwest! Mo Northwest?" Mu Feinan caught her as she fell, calling her name repeatedly, but there was no response.

"Women are just women, nothing special." The dark room was silent. After a while, a strange voice muttered coldly to itself, "If I had known you were this useless, I don't know how much trouble I could have avoided."

As soon as the words were spoken, a flash of white light appeared in the room, much like a bolt of lightning on a rainy night. However, after the lightning, there was no thunder following, only a soft hissing sound, more like the sound of a sharp blade slicing through a hard object.

"You're actually alright?" There was a hint of surprise in the unfamiliar voice, which then changed to Mu Feinan's voice. "I was just thinking that such a weak opponent would be incredibly boring. When did you see through my weakness?"

"You have too many flaws; there's no need to look at them at all," Mo Xibei chuckled. "Since you've come to kill me, you must be absolutely certain. Why bother disguising yourself as someone else and leaving me a confused ghost even in death?"

Volume 3, Chapter 31 (Part 1): The Eight Trigrams Formation

"Dead, dead, death is the end of everything. What difference does it make whether you're clear-headed or confused?" The person opposite Mo Xibei switched back to his previous voice. But upon closer listening, even without deliberate imitation, his voice was somewhat similar to Mu Feinan's, equally elegant and melodious. However, it didn't bring a sense of comfort like a spring breeze to one's ears; instead, it only made one feel cold, a gloomy cold.

“Death would certainly be the end of everything, but so far, I’m doing quite well. Besides, I hate doing things in a muddled way. I always keep clear accounts, one thing at a time, one person at a time. What should we do? It seems we can’t reach an agreement, so this deal can’t be done. Perhaps we should each go about our own business while it’s still early.” Mo Xibei glanced at the door, then suddenly moved, striking out with a palm strike. The door couldn’t withstand the blow and shattered into several pieces with a crack.

"Impressive skills indeed. Among the younger generation, you're definitely one of the best." Inside, neither of them actually moved an inch, remaining locked in a standoff. After Mo Xibei displayed his technique, the newcomer couldn't help but exclaim, "A feint is a good idea, but it depends on the target. Luckily you didn't move, otherwise..."

Mo Xibei inwardly cried out in relief. In fact, she had broken open the door just now in the hope of creating a momentary illusion to confuse the enemy, making them think that she was going to escape through the door so that she could jump out of the window. However, the moment she moved, she realized that the person opposite her had not fallen for the trap. At this point, life and death were hanging by a thread, and it was too late to think about anything else. If she hadn't reacted quickly and immediately countered with a palm strike, she would probably be injured or dead.

"Judging from your tone, you must be a senior expert. I'm just showing off my limited skills in front of Lu Ban, and I'm afraid I'll make a fool of myself." Mo Xibei discovered that the biggest benefit of practicing the internal energy cultivation method in the old book in the treasure trove was that her physical strength recovered quickly. Just now, she used 50% of her true energy with her palm strike, and her breathing was noticeably stable after saying a few words. This greatly boosted her morale, and even if she missed this move, she wouldn't panic.

"Hmm, you're good at getting information out of me, but I'm not falling for it." The newcomer snorted, drawing his sword again and slowly pointing it at Mo Xibei. "Since you refuse to obediently accept your death, then show me what you've got."

"Actually, a gentleman uses words, not fists. Fighting and killing only spoils the mood." Mo Xibei blinked. "I have no grudge against you, so why must we fight to the death?"

"Because you must die." The newcomer had clearly lost his patience by this point. As he spoke, a flash of sword light appeared, and the sword was aimed straight at Mo Xibei's throat.

Mo Xibei stepped back and drew his sword. He had considered taking the opportunity to leave the small room first, but the newcomer's sword, though seemingly a straight thrust, was actually trembling slightly at the tip, its shadow forming a plum blossom shape, containing many variables. It had completely blocked his escape route, leaving him with no choice but to fight to the death.

The two swords clashed, yet remained completely silent. This was because they hadn't truly collided; Mo Xibei could clearly see a slight gap between the sword tips. However, his own sword seemed to be magnetically attached, firmly stuck, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it an inch. Meanwhile, his opponent's palm struck silently, and even before the palm arrived, a chilling aura, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind, swept towards him.

Mo Xibei slipped slightly, seemingly losing his footing, but in an instant he flipped over, transferring the sword to his left hand. He circled around the attacker's sword, leaping and tumbling. In the split second before the opponent's first palm strike missed and the second had not yet arrived, he lightly touched the tip of the sword, his body sliding along with the blade, effortlessly breaking free from the opponent's weak grip. He then leaped outside the door and kicked the mechanism.

The mechanism at the entrance is no longer exactly as Master had arranged it. This is also a mischievous act by Mo Xibei, who has been extremely bored these past few nights. The courtyard is set up with a simple Bagua formation. The original positions of the eight gates, namely Rest, Life, Injury, Block, View, Death, Shock, and Open, have been slightly modified by Mo Xibei. Now that the mechanism has been activated, the pile of stones has shifted, and the sound is quite impressive.

She didn't expect the stone formation to actually stop the enemy, but she couldn't help but look back after leaving the formation.

Master Mo Xibei's arrangement of this Bagua formation was actually quite different from other sects. If you followed the usual rules, you would be trapped in it after just a few steps. However, when Mo Xibei turned around, he was greatly surprised.

I'm so sleepy today, sob sob. I'll finish this chapter tomorrow during the day.

Volume 3, Chapter 31 (Part 2): The Eight Trigrams Formation

The person disguised as Mu Feinan did indeed step into the stone formation while chasing her. However, by turning around the Shock Gate and circling the Block Gate, he swiftly retreated twice, even though he had already stepped into the Death Gate. Needless to say, even to an outsider, this clearly showed that he was someone who knew formations.

What truly chilled Mo Xibei was not that his enemy recognized the formation, but that the changes to the formation that had nearly led that person into the death trap were all modifications she had made in the last two days. In other words, if the formation had not been altered, this person could have moved freely within it without any hindrance.

In the blink of an eye, the newcomer had already leaped out of the formation. Seeing that Mo Xibei not only did not take the opportunity to escape, but instead stood a few steps away with his hands behind his back, he let out a slight "Eh".