Vallée Sauvage de Green Mountain (Transmigrée à la dynastie Song)

Chapitre 64

Shang Shaochang chuckled softly and said, "Good clothes!" Suddenly, he tilted his head back and let out a long howl! The exit was already ahead, and the place of imprisonment was an abandoned manor. His howl continued, clearly intending to summon his black horse.

A sweet yet chilling laugh rang out beside them: "Trying to escape on that famous Ferghana horse?" Two figures appeared beside them, one gray and one pink, none other than Lan Ye and Zhan Shang.

Lan Ye coldly laughed, "You two are quite something, actually managing to escape from my grasp to get here." Her beautiful eyes glanced at Shang Shaozhang, and she slowly said, "But there is no such thing as 'younger' or 'younger,' you must have killed at least thirty of my men."

Shang Shaozhang replied indifferently, "Thirty-four."

Lan Ye's eyes grew increasingly terrifying, and she almost gritted her teeth as she said, "You killed thirty-four of my men, and that vile woman beside you even slashed my face—" She said hatefully, "Well done, Bai Yi!! You actually managed to use Ju Xue within three months!"

I hugged Shang Shaochang—his entire body was almost ice-cold, only his chest was warm. We looked into each other's eyes, and I smiled slightly. "Three days."

Lan Ye suddenly burst into laughter, the sound jarringly loud in the corpse-strewn courtyard. Zhan Shang, who had been standing silently behind her, seemed oblivious to the gray-clad assassins lying scattered around him. After her laughter subsided, Lan Ye spoke, word by word:

"Are you stalling for time because you think your prized horse can come to your rescue?"

Before Shang Shaochang could answer, she continued, "You may not live to see your beloved steed again." Her eyes were fixed on Shang Shaochang, and her smile grew wider. "Who doesn't know that the world's number one assassin has two cherished possessions: the Autumn Water Blade in his hand and the black horse he rides? The black horse protects its master and has always been inseparable from you. So, I have scattered my carefully crafted 'Silence' around this manor."

Lan Ye laughed loudly, "So, your beloved black horse will surely die silently too!"

I felt Shang Shaochang's body suddenly shudder! Something warm dripped down his shoulder.

How ruthless Lan Ye is!

Shang Shao opened his mouth, but said nothing. A trickle of blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Having broken out of that confined iron cage and reached the outside of the manor, forced back Zhan Shang with a single strike, and then killed thirty-four assassins, the "Soul-Destroying" technique had consumed most of his strength. By the time he had managed to hold on until now, his strength was like a stream that was about to dry up, almost completely exhausted.

I glanced at Young Master Shang, then scanned our surroundings. Besides Lan Ye and Zhan Shang, seven or eight gray-clad assassins stood in a circle around us. They were wary of the power of Young Master Shang's Autumn Water sword, and while they were eager to test their skills, none dared to step forward and challenge him. Only when Young Master Shang's face turned pale and blood trickled from his lips did they slightly shrink the circle. If the circle had shrunk by just two more zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), Young Master Shang and I probably wouldn't have been able to leave this place alive!

Lan Ye chuckled softly, "Young Master Shang, why don't you want to stay? Everyone knows that the land of gentle pleasures..." Her eyes shone with boundless longing, and she said sweetly, "...the land of gentle pleasures...is the graveyard of heroes..."

Shang Shao coughed lightly, a few drops of blood spurting from his lips, and turned to ask me, "Xiao Yiyi, what do you think?"

My face was ashen, a cold glint flashed, and the jade sword "Ju Xue" was already in my hand. I said coldly, "What I, Baiyi, hate most is being threatened!"

Shang Shaozhang patted my head lightly with his left hand, his right hand holding a long sword as still as an autumn lake, and laughed, "Coincidentally, so am I."

Lan Ye said coldly, "It seems you two, like a pair of lovebirds, intend to die together. Then—" Her teeth gritted, clearly showing her extreme anger, and her left hand was already raised high. Seeing the tense atmosphere, it was clear that if Lan Ye lowered her slender, snow-white hand, the gray-clad assassins, like leeches clinging to bones, would pounce on her—

Suddenly, Lan Ye's hand froze in mid-air.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar.

As Lan Ye said, silence is a potent poison. Those who are poisoned will not even have a reaction before being silently taken away by death.

Since she had spread "silence" around the manor, then there should be no sound outside the manor, not even the chirping of insects.

How could there be the sound of galloping horses?

The sound of horses' hooves grew closer and closer, clear enough for everyone present to hear.

With each thud of the horse's hooves, Lan Ye's beautiful, devilish face paled a little more.

Almost instantly, a horse neighed and a man shouted, and a dark figure carrying a green figure charged into the arena like lightning! In the blink of an eye, the dark figure reached the center of the arena, reared up with a long neigh, and the crowd realized that the dark figure was actually a black horse! The black horse was exceptionally magnificent, easily taller than a person, its coat a dazzling black, without a single blemish, its four hooves firmly planted on the ground. The black horse galloped into the center of the arena, letting out another loud neigh, seemingly utterly disregarding the crowd present. On the horse's back sat a young girl in green, with a fresh and beautiful face, charming and adorable, bearing a five-point resemblance to Shang Shaozhang—who else could it be but Xiao Lü?

In this life-or-death struggle, Little Green and the Black Horse miraculously appeared together. I could hardly believe my eyes! Seeing Little Green smiling sweetly and the Black Horse so magnificent, I exclaimed in surprise, "Little Green, how did you—how did you get here?"

Xiao Lü lightly tapped her feet on the stirrups, and without any apparent movement, she floated down from the horse like a drifting cloud. She laughed and said, "Xiao Yunzi has gone back to Yunzhuang. Xiao Lü was feeling really bored all alone in Yanliang Valley, so I had to come out and play with you guys. Brother Shaochang won't be mad at me, will he?" After saying that, she stuck out her tongue slightly, but her eyes secretly glanced at Shang Shaochang, her expression quite innocent.

Shang Shaochang frowned and said in a low voice, "You're out again—" Xiao Lü stepped forward, covered Shang Shaochang's mouth with her hand, and said with a smile, "Brother Shaochang, you can't scold me this time, but you have to thank me handsomely." The two siblings chatted back and forth in the arena, as if the assassins in the arena were nothing.

I could clearly see from the side that when Shang Shaozhang said the word "come," he was speaking with his mouth open. Xiao Lü stepped forward and covered his mouth. As he opened his mouth, a pill slid down Xiao Lü's finger and into Shang Shaozhang's mouth.

Lan Ye's face flushed red and then turned pale, her expression constantly shifting. Fang Dao asked, "Who...who exactly are you? How can you not be afraid of my 'silence'?"

Xiao Lü raised her eyes and glanced at Lan Ye, who was standing not far away in a pink gauze dress. She said indifferently, "You—you are the gentle leader, Lan Ye?" Before Lan Ye could answer, she casually said, "'Silence' is nothing special. It's just a third-rate poison. You actually brought it out to show off? If you're talking about difficulty, 'Dream Sinking' is alright, 'Bone Corrosion' is a bit difficult, and 'Soul Ecstasy' is passable—but—", Xiao Lü laughed, "but I haven't even taken it seriously yet."

Lan Ye's incomparably beautiful face paled with each poison Xiao Lü named. When Xiao Lü finally uttered "Ecstasy," her face was even paler than Shang Shaochang's. She trembled as she said, "You...who are you...the white-robed one calls you Xiao Lü, but there is no one like you in the martial world!"

"Jianghu? Hahahaha—" Xiao Lü suddenly threw her head back and laughed, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down her face. When her laughter stopped, she put on a solemn and sorrowful expression: "I have another name: Xia Yanliang."

Lan Ye exclaimed in surprise, "You—you are actually—Xia Yanliang?! You're so young, and you're actually Xia Yanliang?!"

Xiao Lü exuded a chilling aura and coldly said, "That's right, the twenty-third master of Yanliang Valley: Xia Yanliang. Today, I will not only take Brother Shaochang and Sister Baiyi out, but also rid the martial world of you, you scoundrel—" Before Xiao Lü could finish the word "scoundrel," she suddenly reached for her waist with her right hand, and a dark shadow, accompanied by a strong wind, lashed out at Lan Ye's head!

This sudden turn of events was unexpected! No one could have predicted that Xiao Lü would attack so suddenly! The dark shadow instantly conjured three whip-like shapes in the air, enveloping Lan Ye with no way to escape. Zhan Shang, who had been standing silently beside Lan Ye, saw Xiao Lü unleash her whips, and his steel blade silently drew a dark gray semi-circle, slashing directly at the center of Xiao Lü's whips!

The steel blade was about to strike the black whip when the whip suddenly spun in mid-air from an impossible angle.

With that turn, she wrapped her arms around Shang Shaochang's waist.

Shang Shaochang's hand happened to be holding mine.

With a long howl, Xiao Lü landed on her horse like a light cloud, her left hand flashing out countless golden needles. I had long witnessed Xiao Lü's uncanny accuracy in locating acupoints, and these needles were second nature to her. Cries of "Ouch!" rang out as gray-clad assassins fell to the ground, struck by the needles. Even a master like Zhan Shang was momentarily hindered.

In such a short time, Xiao Lü was able to pull me and Shang Shaochang onto the back of the black horse.

I felt as if I were floating on clouds, and somehow I was on horseback. Shang Shaozhang was behind me, one arm around my waist and the other gripping the reins tightly. Xiao Lü gently supported his shoulder like a green leaf. All three of us were on horseback, but the black horse didn't seem to feel the weight at all. Its four hooves kicked up a trail of dust, and the three of us and the horse actually charged forward!

In the distance came the shrill shouts of a woman and the sounds of people running, but as the black horse galloped faster and faster, these sounds gradually blended into the dust kicked up by the horse and could no longer be heard.

Is this what running for your life is like?!

The wind whipped up by the galloping black horse cut like knives into my throat and cheeks; I never expected such a cold, strong wind to blow in the summer! I sat at the very front of the horse, my head almost buried in its mane, feeling as if my mouth was on fire. I didn't know where the black horse was going, only that time was ticking away, and we were getting closer to danger. I heard Little Green shout, "Brother Shaochang, hang in there!" I gritted my teeth, suppressing the urge to drink blood, and let the black horse charge onto the main road, galloping straight west.

As dusk approached, the black horse slowed its pace, leading us to a town that was becoming more populated, a far cry from the desolate scene we had passed through. Two women and a man riding a single horse was certainly a shocking sight, but we hadn't had a change of clothes, and both Shang Shaochang and I were covered in blood. We couldn't worry about that now, though. Thankfully, it was getting dark, and the streets were nearly deserted. We managed to wipe our faces clean and brush off the dust and dirt as best we could to look presentable. Xiao Lü had fed Shang Shaochang countless pills along the way, and although the bleeding had stopped, his face was still deathly pale. When we dismounted, Xiao Lü and I each helped him up, and we felt his entire body was ice-cold, trembling slightly. This once renowned and invincible assassin was now as weak as a four- or five-year-old child.

He didn't utter a single word from the moment he dismounted until he lay down in the inn.