The Jianghu of Feng Qingcheng and Mo Xibei - Chapter 98
"Why didn't you escape when you had the chance?" the newcomer asked curiously.
"You only run when you can escape. Why waste your energy knowing you can't escape?" Mo Xibei sneered. "You were so relaxed in the stone formation. Didn't you also calculate that even if I tried my best to escape, I would not be able to escape your grasp?"
"Hmm, this is getting interesting, Mo Xibei. I'm starting to understand why so many people like you. There are many people who think they're clever these days, but fewer and fewer who know how to see the bigger picture. It would be a shame to kill you." The man nodded, but after saying just one sentence, he changed the subject, "However, you still have to die. If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for being born into an imperial family."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sword light flashed like lightning and pierced through him. Mo Xibei dodged it, but the opponent's sword momentum was endless, like a ball of soft silk that had nowhere to attach, tightly binding him, making it impossible for him to avoid.
Unbeknownst to her, after a hundred or two moves, Mo Xibei began to feel her strength waning, and her breathing became increasingly heavy. She knew in her heart that if things continued like this, she could maintain this pace and barely defend herself for the next three to five hundred moves unless her opponent unleashed their inner energy and increased the force of each sword strike. However, after three to five hundred moves, her stamina would be completely exhausted. At that point, she wouldn't even have the strength to escape, let alone defend herself.
The sword tip piercing his skin—this wasn't the first time Mo Xibei had experienced this sensation, but at that very moment, his heart remained cold and numb. His gaze involuntarily followed the splattering blood to the person opposite him. Then, he burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"It's too late to laugh now that death is imminent." The enemy's sword was pointed squarely at Mo Xibei's throat. The tip of the sword stung her skin. With just a little more force, it would have been enough to take her life. Yet, Mo Xibei continued to laugh uncontrollably.
"What are you laughing at? Are you scared?" The newcomer frowned. The exquisite mask fit his skin perfectly. If it weren't for the deep resentment in his eyes, Mo Xibei would have thought that the person standing in front of her was Mu Feinan, and that all of this was just a joke he was playing on her, just like the day she half-tested and half-teaseed him. However, heaven was clearly punishing her. Her jokes always went too far, so this time, it was for real. She couldn't help but think that if she survived this time, the first thing she would do was to hug Mu Feinan and drag him away from the capital, as far as possible. If he refused, she would simply break his legs and drag him away anyway.
"I'm happy, I can't help but laugh." Mo Xibei stopped laughing, not bothering to wipe away the blood beads that were seeping from the wound on his neck where the other's sword tip had left, which had made his body tremble slightly from laughing.
"I don't want to hear your nonsense. You're a cunning strategist; you must be plotting another way to escape." The newcomer snorted, his sword trembling slightly as he advanced a little further.
"I have nothing more to say. I am just a woman. Although I was born into the royal family, I am not accepted in the palace. I should have died more than ten years ago. All these years of living have been a bonus. I never thought that I would die, but on my deathbed, I could exchange this life for another. Moreover, this life is very precious. It is truly a sure-fire deal." Mo Xibei finished speaking in one breath, laughing continuously. His eyes became clearer and clearer, calm and undisturbed.
"What do you know? Now I'm the butcher and you're the fish on the chopping block. What will you give me in exchange for my life?" The man was taken aback by Mo Xibei's words, but then he understood. "Your little tricks are too naive. They won't fool me."
"I know a little more than you can imagine," Mo Xibei said, raising his chin with a smug smile. "As for how I'll trade my life for yours, it's simple. Just look at that sword strike you just delivered, and this wound." He raised his right hand slightly; the sword had fallen to the ground when he was injured, leaving only an ugly scar on his arm. "I forgot to remind you, when I first came to the capital, I was poisoned by a poison that was said to be incurable. What was it called again? Let me think... oh, it's called Blood Sea Fragrance. This poison came from Japan, but now all the blood people who could cure it are dead. So, the poison in my blood is incurable."
"Don't try to fool me with that 'Fragrance of Blood Sea' thing. If you've been poisoned for so long and haven't been cured, how could you still be alive?" The person disguised as Mu Feinan raised his voice slightly, but in an instant, it returned to its calm and indifferent tone.
"What's the point of scaring you when I'm about to die?" Mo Xibei snorted. "If you don't believe me, you can take a deep breath and see if there's anything wrong with the spot where my blood was just on you."
"Only a fool would believe you." He scoffed, seemingly unconcerned, but a moment later, he swayed, almost crying out in alarm. The blood that Mo Xibei had splattered on him earlier had vanished in several places, leaving no trace, as if it had magically seeped into his skin. Seeped into his skin, seeped into his skin—the thought sent a chill down his spine, and cold sweat nearly broke out. "I didn't ask you to believe anything; I'm just telling you the result." Mo Xibei remained completely indifferent. "This Blood Sea Fragrance poison often torments me to the point of wishing I were dead. Now that someone else is in the same boat, it's truly a cause for celebration. But you've planned for so many years, done so much, only to end up doing all that work for someone else, all for nothing. I'm sorry."
Volume 3, Chapter 32: The Night
"So what if it's really a sea of blood and fragrant?" The newcomer calmed down instantly. "Perhaps this poison is incurable for you, but for me, it may not be. Mo Xibei, your wishful thinking is going to fall through. You're just going to lose your life like this. You can only blame yourself for being too clever for your own good."
"Is that so?" Mo Xibei was still smiling, but somehow, in the eyes of the person opposite her, her smile gradually multiplied into two, then three, and became violently swaying. "You..." The person finally couldn't help but stagger two steps, and the sword in his hand left Mo Xibei's throat.
"Everyone says you're poisoned. Although it's not Blood Sea Fragrance, the anesthetic from my Wine Immortal's One-Day Intoxication isn't to be underestimated." Mo Xibei sealed the acupoints on his arm to stop the bleeding, then tentatively approached. Seeing that his opponent was powerless to resist, he pressed a few acupoints on him, then threw his sword far away with one hand, and with the other, he found the connection point of the human skin mask on his neck without any hesitation, and then tore it off forcefully.
She had delayed for half a day, even risking injury, all in anticipation of a moment when her opponent, confident of victory, would let their guard down. She wanted to see just what kind of person had come, so determined to kill her.
A muffled groan was heard. To make the mask fit well and look realistic, the glue used to stick it on is essential. Normally, to remove the mask, you have to wet it with water first and then take it off little by little. But now, Mo Xibei tore it off with force, which was no less than peeling off skin.
Lying before Mo Xibei was a middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty. Although his youth had faded, he was clearly well-maintained, with no wrinkles on his skin, straight, high eyebrows that extended to his temples, a high nose, and thin lips. His eyes were also delicate, but his gaze was gloomy and murderous. In his youth, he must have been an absolute heartthrob, but if he had looked at people with that kind of gaze back then, Mo Xibei thought to himself with a hint of disdain.
Young. The word "young" flashed through Mo Xibei's mind, then quickly returned. When he was young, yes, when he was young. When this person in front of him was young, if he were twenty years younger, his eyebrows and features... would look so much like someone else.
"Northwest!" Chu Junfeng's exclamation came almost at the same time that Mo Xibei was slightly stunned.
At that moment, a sinister force silently approached. Mo Xibei instinctively leaped backward, but he knew in his heart that it was too late. It was ultimately too late. He hadn't expected his opponent's internal strength to be so profound. He had actually suppressed the effects of the anesthetic in such a short time, and even broken through his acupoints.
With a loud "bang!", a dull thud like the sound of gravity striking the chest, Mo Xibei subconsciously reached out, his fingers barely touching Chu Junfeng's body blocking his way, but he was immediately forced back two or three steps by a surge of true energy before regaining his footing.
The force that forced her to retreat even through the crowd came from the person who had just been lying on the ground. After his attack, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. Without hesitation, he used the force to fly out and disappeared beyond the walls of Plum Blossom Manor in a few leaps.
"Brother Chu, how are you?" Mo Xibei supported Chu Junfeng from behind, then anxiously tried to turn around to the front to check his complexion.
"It's alright, I'm fine." Chu Junfeng answered without hesitation, his voice still low and gentle. He gently patted Mo Xibei's hand that was supporting him and slowly turned his head back.
A trace of fresh blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth, but when he saw Mo Xibei, a faint smile still appeared on his face.
"Is the injury serious? Let me see." Mo Xibei reached out to grab Chu Junfeng's wrist, but he was wearing a tight-sleeved outfit, and the thick wrist guard made it impossible to feel his pulse. Mo Xibei was furious and tried to tear it off with both hands, but Chu Junfeng stopped her with a wry smile, taking two steps back before saying, "You're a young lady, can't you be a little more refined?" As he spoke, he loosened the wrist guard himself and then held his hand out to Mo Xibei.
The pulse is slightly weak and floating, which is due to internal injury. However, judging from the pulse alone, it does not seem serious and the heart meridian has not been damaged.
Mo Xibei breathed a sigh of relief, then withdrew his hand. "How did you get here?"
“We all live here. If the enemy were to attack, they certainly wouldn't only target you. But it seems the people who were dealing with me were just trying to stall me. By the time I realized something was wrong, dealt with them, and rushed over, I found you squatting there like an idiot. You didn't even notice the person in front of you breaking free of your pressure points.” Chu Junfeng said with a slight reproach, “What happened to you just now? How could you be so careless?”
"I just saw that person's real face and was shocked. Luckily you're alright, otherwise I would have been in deep trouble." Mo Xibei was somewhat flustered and didn't notice when Chu Junfeng reached out and gently took her hand.
“I only glanced at him,” Chu Junfeng frowned slightly, “I didn’t pay much attention, but his face looked normal. How could he scare you?”
"Don't you think he looks familiar?" Mo Xibei tilted his head and thought for a moment. "I think he looks a bit like..."
"Northwest!" Chu Junfeng suddenly interrupted Mo Xibei, "Don't you think it's strange that someone suddenly attacked us and even tried to kill you?"
“It’s not surprising,” Mo Xibei sighed. “Didn’t we think before that Tian Xin’s patience was about to reach its limit? In my opinion, he is very likely to make a move against the emperor tonight.”
"What are your plans?" Chu Junfeng nodded in agreement. Seeing Mo Xibei's furrowed brows, he couldn't help but say, "If we run away now, I doubt anyone can stop us from joining forces. Otherwise, let's run away."
“If we run away today, we’ll probably be wanted by the ends of the earth tomorrow. Most of what Empress Dowager Jiang said was just to comfort me, but she was right about one thing: as long as the emperor is still the same emperor, I can live relatively peacefully.” Mo Xibei slowly shook his head and said, “I need to go to the palace now. I hope it’s not too late. You’re injured. Wait for me to come back here, okay?”
"Of course not." Chu Junfeng shook his head. "You personally examined my injury. It's just a minor injury. The Forbidden City is probably a den of dragons and tigers tonight. If I don't go and see such a challenging place, I will regret it for the rest of my life."
Volume 3, Chapter 33: The Drug
Mo Xibei remembered hearing someone say that the darkest hour of the day is before dawn. Hearing this reminded her of a trip to the beach with her classmates to watch the sunrise. It was October and the weather was very cold, especially in the morning. The guesthouse didn't have an accurate sunrise forecast, so she and her classmates waited on a small hill by the beach at around 4 a.m. The cold and the darkness of the sky made her vow never to see the sunrise again.
Looking at the time, there was still more than an hour before the darkest hour before dawn, but for some reason, when Mo Xibei once again sneaked into the Forbidden City, which he had become familiar with these past few days, he still felt a chill for no reason. For the first time, he felt that this huge inner palace was as if it were shrouded in an opaque dome, so dark that one could hardly see their own hand in front of their face.
"The emperor's residence is indeed vast." Chu Junfeng suddenly spoke up beside him. Although his voice was barely audible, a group of guards on night duty happened to pass by nearby. Mo Xibei quickly turned around, put his index finger to his lips, and shushed them, but his gaze fell on Chu Junfeng's smiling face.
"Sneaking into the palace at night, you're dead if you get caught, and you're still laughing." She glared, her lips moving as she silently uttered a sentence. However, this small interruption from Chu Junfeng dispelled the heavy shadow cast by the darkness that had been weighing on her heart.
Chu Junfeng didn't respond, but just smiled, then turned his head to signal Mo Xibei to lead the way and continue walking.
The palace was heavily guarded at night, but that depended on who they were talking to. The two men darted across the rooftops of palace after palace, their movements lighter than birds, landing without a sound.