Behind a pile of wood, Xie Wangyi lay face down. Her clothes were scorched and her skin was blackened, but her body was still intact and had not been burned!
Xie Wangyi's eyes were already closed. She was struggling to dig at the ground, where countless characters for "wind" were written. Many of the characters were so overlapping that they were no longer recognizable.
Yi Mei carefully removed her bloodied and mangled fingers and called out, "Xie Wangyi..."
Xie Wangyi showed no reaction; her fingers moved mechanically.
Yi Mei picked her up. Su Xiaoying said, "Let's go to Ganzi!"
By the time they arrived in Ganzi, it was nearly 9 AM. The patients in the clinic saw a woman carrying a half-dead body burst in, and with a whoosh, they involuntarily made way for her.
The clinic owner frowned upon seeing this, watched as Yi Mei rushed in to find a doctor, then grabbed Su Xiaoying and said, "Young man, the consultation fee is three taels, you'd better prepare it first."
Su Xiaoying was taken aback. Yi Mei had already received three hundred taels of gold from Banshao Manor, but it was likely that all of that gold, along with previous money, had been burned to ashes. Calmly, Su Xiaoying pulled the shopkeeper to a secluded spot and asked with a smile, "Three taels for the consultation fee?"
The shopkeeper replied, "Yes." Suddenly, a flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, followed by a "thud." He blinked again and saw a gleaming longsword embedded straight into a blue brick in the ground. The sword trembled on its own; the blade had pierced through the brick, yet the brick hadn't shattered!
Su Xiaoying laughed and said, "Stop rambling. Is this sword strike worth three taels of silver?"
The shopkeeper was dumbfounded, unable to say whether it was worth it or not. As he was in a daze, he suddenly heard a woman inside the clinic call out, "Su Xiaoying! Su Xiaoying!"
Male body woman
After working for a whole day and night, Yimei finally had time to sit down and have a proper breakfast the next morning. She ate a bowl of porridge and a sesame seed cake, and feeling unsatisfied, she ordered a bowl of pea flour cake. She slurped down the thin pea flour cake and then sighed contentedly.
"What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that? You should eat too." Yi Mei licked her lips contentedly and said to Su Xiaoying.
Su Xiaoying stared at her intently for a long time before asking, "How did you know that Banshao Manor would catch fire, and why did you carry the silver notes with you?"
Yi Mei said nonchalantly, "How would I know there was a fire? I just always carry the silver notes with me."
Su Xiaoying exclaimed in astonishment, "That night... how come I didn't notice!"
Yi Mei glanced at him and said, "You? You're still too green. What do you know?"
"Hmm..." Su Xiaoying said thoughtfully, "It seems that following you around the world will definitely not be a bad thing."
Yi Mei said smugly, "Do you think I'm an assassin for nothing? I'm a very prestigious assassin. You won't suffer if you follow me. If you were alone, you would have starved to death somewhere long ago."
Su Xiaoying chuckled and said, "Alright, you don't want to be an assassin either. If you wanted to be an assassin, why would you open a riverside villa in Dagoujiang?"
Yi Mei paused for a moment, looked at him for a while, and said, "Luckily you're on my side now, otherwise you might have been able to steal my job. -- How about this, you help me, and together we'll take the title of 'Number One Assassin' from Fu Daiyue, what do you think?" As she spoke, she burst into laughter.
Su Xiaoying laughed, "'The number one assassin's sword is nothing. When we have time, let's open an inn together. You provide the money, and I'll do the accounting. From now on, you'll be the 'number one innkeeper'!" Martial arts figures get a 10% discount. If Fu Daiyue comes, the price will double.
Yi Mei burst into laughter, and after laughing for a while, she asked, "Su Xiaoying, aren't we being heartless by having so much fun?"
Su Xiaoying said, "No one lives to be a hundred years old, why be so gloomy? Of course you should be happy."
Yi Mei said, "That's right, money and fame are all fake; only happiness is real. — I say, Su Xiaoying, we should go out to a restaurant and have a good drink. We're kindred spirits!"
The two walked hand in hand and found the nearest tavern. They ordered a plate of boiled pork, a dish of peanuts, and two catties of strong liquor, and began to drink. Su Xiaoying and Yi Mei were surprisingly good drinkers; after several bowls of liquor, their faces didn't even turn red, but they became quite talkative.
Yi Mei suddenly asked, "Hey, Su Xiaoying, when exactly did you start to take a liking to me?"
Su Xiaoying couldn't help but chuckle and asked in return, "And you?"
Yi Mei said earnestly, "I can't say for sure. Maybe it was when I first saw you at Linjiang Villa, wearing such dirty cotton clothes, unable to even afford a bowl of the cheapest old-fashioned liquor, yet looking so content, that I started to take a liking to you. Maybe it wasn't at that time, but later when you helped me settle accounts... Sigh, who knows?"
Su Xiaoying smiled mysteriously and said, "Ever since I started traveling the martial arts world, I've heard of a person who killed Wuyi Peak, a woman who would be moved by any woman, with a single sword. From that moment on, even though I've never met her, I've already started to fall for her."
Yi Mei rolled her eyes and said, "Stop lying to me, what's going on here?"
Su Xiaoying protested, "How can it not count? Haven't you heard of long-standing spiritual connections?"
"God, you big dummy! Do you think I'm still a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl who would believe your nonsense?"
"Why don't you believe me..."
“I’m asking you, you didn’t just take my money first and then my body, did you?” He suddenly became suspicious and said, “You’re not just pretending, are you? Su Xiaoying, let me tell you, if you dare to betray me, I’ll tear you to pieces and chop you into mincemeat to stuff.”
"Yimei, please spare me... How could I dare..."
"What wouldn't you dare to do? You'd dare to go anywhere, from the heavens to the earth!"
"I dare to do anything, except betray my wife," Su Xiaoying quickly clarified, swearing.
“Alright,” Yi Mei seemed satisfied and nodded, “You must remember this.”
Just then, a woman selling melons entered the tavern. She was quite stout and, seeing the two of them sitting and drinking, she quickly greeted them, "Young master, young mistress, you must be thirsty after drinking. Why don't you buy some melons to quench your thirst? They're only five coins."
Su Xiaoying said, "I don't mind the melon... Yimei, do you want some?"
Yi Mei said, "Try it first, and buy the sweet ones."
The woman smiled and said, "Sweet, sweet! Everyone loves the melons here. After you've had some, young lady, you'll want to come back and buy more." As she spoke, she cut one open on the spot, handed a piece to Yimei, and then cut another piece for Su Xiaoying, saying warmly, "Young master, please have some too."
Su Xiaoying took it first, smelled it, and said, "It really smells good."
Yi Mei said, "I'll try some too." She reached out to take it. The woman handed it to her, laughing, "So fragrant and sweet..." She had only spoken half a sentence when, suddenly, Yi Mei's hand moved like lightning, gripping the woman's wrist. The woman's expression changed drastically; her left hand twitched slightly, about to raise, when suddenly she felt a chill on her neck—a gleaming sword was already pressed against it.
Su Xiaoying casually tossed the melon in her hand and said with a smile, "It's so fragrant and sweet, would you like to have a piece to try?"
The woman remained calm and sneered, "Assassin Yi Mei lives up to her name. How did you see through her?"
Yi Mei coldly sneered, "You came in and went straight to my table, which I found a little strange. If you hadn't reacted so strongly when I took your pulse, you would have already sold this melon. Who are you?"
The woman said, "I am just someone who wants to kill you."
Yi Mei coldly replied, "Stop talking nonsense to me."
The woman said, "Women naturally talk a lot of nonsense."
Yi Mei said, "That's right, women talk a lot of nonsense and usually cherish their faces. Xiao Ying, please draw seventeen or eighteen lines on her face."
Yi Mei's voice was ruthless, and a hint of fear flashed in the woman's eyes, yet she struggled to say, "You dare!"
Su Xiaoying said, "What you said is quite interesting." He drew his sword quickly; a white shadow flashed, and the tip of the sword had already slashed below the woman's ear.
The power of the Twilight Rain Sword was well controlled, only managing to cut the thin layer of skin under her ear, yet there was no blood! At the point where the skin was cut, a small piece of thin skin was gently lifted up.
Yi Mei's expression suddenly changed drastically. Her arms stretched out dramatically, and she ripped off the woman's face. Beneath the skin, instead of a bloody mess, there was another layer of flesh-colored skin! Yi Mei shuddered and cried out, "Manager Feng!"
Taking advantage of the situation, Feng Wuhua suddenly leaped up, let out a strange cry, and flicked his sleeve forward, causing a burst of white smoke to rise. Yi Mei retreated rapidly, and after a few leaps, she was ten steps away. Before she could even stand still, her body shot forward like an arrow, and Han Guang was unsheathed in mid-air with a clang.
However, drawing Han Guang's sword was completely unnecessary! The moment the white smoke rose, a chilling sword light flashed. Under the cover of the smoke, even Yi Mei couldn't see the path of the sword. She only heard the two swords clashing rapidly. In the blink of an eye, one of them groaned as his long sword was swept away.
As Yi Mei swept up, Su Xiaoying's Twilight Rain Sword was still pressed against Feng Wuhua's neck, as if the scene from just now had not happened.
Feng Wuhua's face turned from green to white, then from white to green, and after a long while he finally said, "What excellent swordsmanship! You actually have such swordsmanship!" He had already returned to his original appearance, with a pair of thick, dark eyebrows that looked quite imposing. However, he still spoke with a female voice, and coupled with his women's clothing, he looked very strange.
Su Xiaoying said, "You flatter me. I only lacked the action of drawing my sword."
Feng Wuhua's eyes flickered, and he surprisingly adopted a woman's seductive manner. Yi Mei, who happened to be standing directly in front of him, involuntarily got goosebumps. Feng Wuhua said, "Do you know how I practiced my swordsmanship? I practiced it with the lives of two young girls! And you can be faster than me! Good, good, good!"
Yi Mei's eyes flashed with murderous intent as she said, "It really was you!"
Feng Wuhua laughed and said, "It was me. I was the one who refined the wrong flower pill. If you hadn't interfered, I would have refined another wrong flower pill." As he said this, he pointed with his finger in a charming manner and chuckled hatefully, "That son of a bitch Xie Yuanlan, I want him to die a horrible death."
Su Xiaoying frowned and said, "You should speak in your original voice."
Feng Wuhua cried out, "What original voice? This is my original voice! I've disguised myself as a man for so many years to get revenge. If it weren't for revenge..." At this point, she started to sob.
Yi Mei was horrified. She took Han Guang and ran it across his ear again, only to find a blue line on his skin that then turned red – it was his real skin, no longer a human skin mask.
Feng Wuhua pressed her wound and screamed, "If you dare to disfigure me, I'll take you down with me!"
Even though Yi Mei was experienced and bold, she was still taken aback, her expression one of disbelief. After a long pause, she finally said, "Alright, I promise I won't ruin your appearance, but tell me, what grudge does Xie Yuanlan have against you?"
A deep sorrow suddenly welled up in Feng Wuhua's eyes. He abruptly looked up and stared at Yimei, then laughed. However, this laugh was truly tragic, as if it could bring tears to his eyes. "What grudge?" Feng Wuhua said with a smile, "No grudge in the world can compare to the grudge between him and me. My sister thought so highly of him, willing to be his wife, yet he cut off my sister's hand. He killed my sister!"
Yi Mei was suddenly startled and asked, "Fu Wuqing?"
Feng Wuhua ignored Yi Mei and said to himself, "Women in this world are all infatuated, and men in this world are all fickle. There is not a single good man."
Yi Mei sneered and couldn't help but say, "You're a man too."
Feng Wuhua screamed, "You're talking nonsense! You shameless bitch!"
Su Xiaoying thrust the Twilight Rain Sword forward and slashed his neck, coldly saying, "You'd better not talk nonsense."
Blood immediately flowed down, but Feng Wuhua was not afraid at all. He continued to curse "bitch" and "slut" indiscriminately. His voice was definitely a woman's voice, which made people's hearts tremble.
The sharp cursing stopped abruptly as Su Xiaoying's sword moved to his face.
Yi Mei said, "You've already killed everyone in Banshao Manor, why do you still want to kill us?"
Feng Wuhua snorted, "One more is missing, Xie Wangyi! Where did you hide Xie Wangyi? I came to find you only because of her!"
Yi Mei sneered, "Fine, I'll tell you where Xie Wangyi is, but you also have to tell me where your 'Mistake Flower Painting' came from, and why you wrote the little poem from the 'Mistake Flower Painting' on the flower stationery?"
Feng Wuhua suddenly sighed deeply and said, "Of course I have to inscribe that poem. That poem was written by my sister, and it was her favorite. She even wrote it on the 'Inlaid Flowers' painting. That poem... that poem is a symbol of my sister..."
"What did you say!" Yi Mei exclaimed, "How could it be your sister!"
Feng Wuhua's expression changed drastically, and he said, "There is no woman in the world who is smarter or more beautiful than my sister! She could read at the age of three, compose poetry at five, and was already a highly skilled doctor at ten. By the age of nineteen, she had created the 'Intricate Flower Painting'! Who can compare to her! Who can compare to her!"
Yi Mei's face had completely changed; she couldn't even speak, and her hands were trembling slightly.
Su Xiaoying caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but frown, a hint of doubt flashing through his mind. Then he asked, "Was the 'Mismatched Flowers' painting written by Fu Wuqing?"
Feng Wuhua laughed and said, "Not bad!"
Su Xiaoying said, "You've been the manager of Banshao Manor for ten years, just to seek revenge on Xie Yuanlan?"
Sorrow welled up in Feng Wuhua's eyes again. He said, "My sister ordered me to take revenge, but I have failed her. I have practiced swordsmanship for ten whole years, and I am still no match for Xie Yuanlan! My sister once told me, 'A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. If I cannot take revenge after ten years, then I have practiced the wrong sword technique...'"
Yi Mei coldly interrupted him: "Your sister must be mentally unstable."
Feng Wuhua's eyes instantly turned red, and he jumped up wildly, trying to deflect the blade of the Twilight Rain Sword. Su Xiaoying spun the sword, and half of Feng Wuhua's hand was instantly severed and fell to the ground.
He didn't shout, but instead revealed a charming yet sinister smile.
Yi Mei was startled and shouted, "Watch out!"
Unfortunately, she woke up a little too late. She felt a slight swelling in her head, and the effects of the drug were spreading very quickly. After she finished saying those two words, she saw stars before her eyes.
Su Xiaoying abruptly withdrew her longsword and slashed her left arm. Blood stained the Twilight Rain Sword, making the light it emitted appear slightly red. The intense pain jolted Su Xiaoying awake. The Twilight Rain Sword struck with lightning speed, piercing Feng Wuhua's back with a "snap," the tip protruding through.
Feng Wuhua's hand had just touched the hilt of his sword.
Su Xiaoying thought to herself, "What a stroke of luck!"
Feng Wuhua collapsed to the ground, unable to rise, blood gushing out, yet he did not die immediately. He revealed a strange smile and asked intermittently, "Xie...Wangyi, where is Xie Wangyi?"