The rain began to thin, and the thunder’s tempo slowed.
Summer thunderstorms always came fast and left just as quickly; little time remained.
Zhong Lingxiu didn’t miss her chance. She no longer held back—striking as fiercely as she could, trading wounds if necessary to leave a few marks on him.
If she fought like this, Linghu Chong fought even harder, throwing caution to the wind.
A cold wind swept through, soaking all three to the bone, forcing involuntary shivers that distorted their moves.
Tian Boguang retracted his blade, unwilling to linger any longer.
After all, he cared most about himself. There was no need to risk everything fighting them. If he died, what would be the point? Besides, though annoyed with the two, he didn’t absolutely have to kill them.
Linghu Chong was straightforward and honest, disdainful of underhanded attacks. Over the past three days, he’d had chances to strike sneakily but never took them.
As for the little nun, she repeatedly ruined his plans and babbled nonsense, which irritated him. But he was naturally lustful, and she was young, beautiful, and graceful.
More than killing her, he wanted to capture and toy with her—to see her ashamed and furious, regretting her decisions.
At this moment, the thunderstorm hadn’t ceased. Both sides were injured, and the night wind was bone-chilling. Without finding a dry place to warm and dry their clothes soon, they might well meet disaster in the shadows.
He didn’t want to die.
“You’re no match for me,” Tian Boguang said. “Linghu Chong, I respect you as a man, so I’ll let you and your little lovebirds off this time. But if I catch you again, I’ll make you pay with interest.”
Having said his harsh words, he stopped talking, climbed a tree, passed through its shadow, and left without looking back.
Linghu Chong immediately goaded him, “Brother Tian, how shameless of you—run when you can’t win? If anyone heard that, they’d laugh their teeth out.”
“Hey!” The wind carried the other’s unabashed sneer from afar. “Only your Mount Hua’s Elder Yue cares about being a gentleman or not. Tian Boguang has no shame—why else be a flower thief? Ha ha ha ha!”
Linghu Chong’s most respected person was his master, Yue Buqun. Hearing this made him furious. He wanted to chase after him but was restrained by his injuries, so he held back for the moment, going over to support Zhong Lingxiu.
“Junior Sister Yixiu, are you alright?”
“A little hurt.” Zhong Lingxiu looked toward the distant red glow, took a gentle breath, and quickly took out a pill from her pouch. Swallowing a White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pill, its medicinal effect spread, replenishing her energy and blood. “You take one too.”
Linghu Chong didn’t hesitate and took the pill from her hand.
Zhong Lingxiu returned to the ruins and rummaged through her bundle. “Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“When I came here, I found a tree hollow.” She had considered an emergency plan before entering the ruined temple—if things went wrong, where to hide. She had surveyed the terrain and knew there was a tree hollow nearby just big enough for an adult.
After a brief orientation, Zhong Lingxiu moved cautiously and found the hollow after about the time it takes a joss stick to burn down, sighing quietly, “Luckily, it wasn’t struck by lightning.”
“The rain’s easing,” Linghu Chong said. “I’ll go find some firewood.”
“You need to prioritize.” Zhong Lingxiu grabbed his arm and handed him a Tianxiang Duanxu glue pill. “Apply medicine first.”
She slipped into the hollow and pulled out clothes from her bundle. “I’m changing; you keep watch at the entrance.”
Linghu Chong had wanted to come inside too, but upon hearing this, he immediately turned, only to forget and bang his forehead on the tree trunk inside, making his face twitch in pain. He pretended nothing had happened and stood at the entrance with his back turned.
Zhong Lingxiu took off her soaking outer clothes, crushed the Tianxiang Duanxu glue, and applied it to her wounds, then changed into dry clothes.
“You can come in now.” She moved aside.
“Excuse me.” Linghu Chong’s lips were pale from the cold; he shivered as he crawled into the hollow.
Zhong Lingxiu wasted no words and sat cross-legged to regulate her breath.
The White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pill had taken effect; warmth blossomed in her dantian, generating true energy that dried the clothes closest to her body.
The chill dissipated by more than half. She meditated a little longer to recover some inner power, then saw Linghu Chong’s whole body steaming white mist, his complexion improving. She asked, “Are you alright?”
“No problem.” Linghu Chong asked, “What’s the plan now?”
“Keep chasing.” Zhong Lingxiu said decisively. “Tian Boguang has three major advantages: martial skill, inner power, and experience, but we have our strengths too.”
She looked at Linghu Chong and raised a finger. “For example, I have White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills and Tianxiang Duanxu glue. He doesn’t.”
Everyone knew how important medicine bottles were in a fight.
The better the blood medicine, the more health it restored. Even bosses could be worn down.
Tian Boguang wasn’t short on money, but top-tier healing medicines were secret recipes of various schools. What good medicines could a wild man with no sect have? But she had plenty.
“I remember the direction he ran. Let’s pursue.” Zhong Lingxiu picked up her long sword, secured her bundle, and hurried out of the hollow.
The long night was just beginning.
After sprinting a kilometer, the rain stopped, and the air carried the earthy scent unique to after a thunderstorm.
Flying insects buzzed, and nocturnal predators began their hunt.
Zhong Lingxiu identified footprints and observed her surroundings but found no sign of the red glow.
She considered: even martial artists wouldn’t travel at night. One should never underestimate nature’s might.
Tian Boguang was wounded and had spent much of his inner power. It was nearly impossible for him to dash out of this forest in one breath.
He had to be nearby. No red glow meant he was hiding somewhere.
Maybe another tree hollow, or a cave.
She lightly leapt onto a treetop, sinking her energy into her dantian. “Tian Boguang, I see you!”
Linghu Chong caught on and called out from another direction, “Brother Tian, what’s the point of hiding? Come out and face me!”
Both infused their voices with inner power, the sound echoing through the quiet woods, scaring off many wild beasts and startling the hiding Tian Boguang.
Damn strange. He thought to himself. These two young ones weren’t even that old but had tempers harder than rocks in an outhouse.
Just chewing him out nonstop, injured and refusing to rest, determined to fight to the death.
Did they have some blood feud with him?
He couldn’t recall any connection between those he had killed before and the Mount Hua Sect. But the nun… he seemed to have encountered her before.
Could she be the little nun’s master? Most likely.
If so, neither side would rest until one was dead.
Even if he shook them off tonight, the little nun would come after him again.
Her martial arts were neither weak nor strong, but her spirit was tenacious. Having her cling to him would be troublesome.
He had to deal with her.
Tian Boguang made up his mind, retracted his energy and held his breath, silently slipping out of the cave, following the distant female voice.
Under a black clouded sky, the forest was pitch dark. He lightly stepped on a tree trunk, silently climbing into a tree, hiding his figure.
After a moment, the wind rustled the leaves, and he moved along, leaping smoothly to another large tree in the wind’s direction.
The entire process was swift and silent.
Even though he was only a step from Linghu Chong, he remained unnoticed, moving alone to another spot.
A faint smirk curled on Tian Boguang’s lips; he ignored Linghu Chong and used the same technique to fly dozens of yards, finally resting behind a tree.
A night owl perched on a branch, its cat-like eyes glowing green.
He slowly and silently drew his knife, waited two breaths, then caught the howling wind from behind and struck, blending the blade’s whoosh with the wind’s sound, aiming at her back with the most covert and swift attack.
Honestly, Zhong Lingxiu didn’t notice him at first.
Although her golden finger—her internal prompt—was active, it only worked within her line of sight.
Tian Boguang was cunning; he moved in her blind spot and hid behind a tree when still, completely out of her view.
But to be safe, he waited for the wind before striking.
As the wind blew, leaves swayed, exposing a flash of red.
Zhong Lingxiu’s heart stopped for a moment. Without hesitation, she swung her sword.
He was a step slow; she was a step fast. Her long sword blocked his blade with a loud clang that shattered the night’s silence.
They clashed again, instantly sensing each other’s status.
Tian Boguang’s inner power hadn’t recovered; he dared not take risks and immediately withdrew.
Zhong Lingxiu chased him, wildly thrusting her Hundred Flowers Sword Technique.
A sudden gust of wind blew green leaves down, obscuring her vision and hampering her attacks.
At first, she had to deviate two inches to avoid the leaves, but then inspiration struck.
Why avoid? Just stab straight through.
Blessings and curses go hand in hand.
If the leaves blocked her sight, they would hinder Tian Boguang too.
He wouldn’t know which leaf hid the sword tip, making it harder for him to dodge.
So she acted on impulse, letting her long sword cut through the verdant leaves, not aiming for vital points, but any scratch counted.
Because…
When she’d been tracking him earlier, she’d stepped in a fresh pile of dung left by some small animal.
A huge one.
She had to scrape it off on a tree trunk. While doing so, an idea struck, and she stabbed it with her sword for a moment.
Fresh, infectious, and highly damaging poop.
“Ha!” Zhong Lingxiu, still not fully disciplined in cultivation, couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Afraid he’d notice, she quickly added, “Want to run again?”
Tian Boguang said nothing, sidestepped, back-kicked Linghu Chong who had joined the fray, then used the momentum to leap sideways onto a tree, quickly disappearing into the canopy.
“He got away again?” Linghu Chong couldn’t help but ask. “Keep chasing?”
“Chase.” Zhong Lingxiu said, “If we can’t kill him, we’ll wear him out.”
–
The rain stopped, the wind died down, and dawn crept in; the night passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhong Lingxiu parted the grass carefully, studying the leaves. “This astragalus root has been picked. It’s probably Tian Boguang.”
“He only has surface wounds,” Linghu Chong stifled a yawn. “How could it be so serious?”
“Wounded and soaked by rain, it’s normal to get a cold infection.” The wounds she had cut earlier weren’t clean. Zhong Lingxiu wasn’t surprised and focused on tracking. “His lightness skill is excellent, barely leaving a trace. We have to hurry.”
Linghu Chong chuckled bitterly and plucked some astragalus leaves, stuffing a few into his mouth to chew and swallow.
“What’s wrong? Do you have a fever?” She touched his forehead in surprise, then relaxed—it wasn’t hot. The Tianxiang Duanxu glue was reliable. “Does your wound hurt?”
Linghu Chong dodged her hand, helpless. “Aren’t you tired?”
“No.” Martial artists have ample qi and blood, so they need less sleep than ordinary people. Zhong Lingxiu, still growing, only slept three hours, and lately, with improved inner power, she could easily stay up one or two nights. “Are you tired then?”
That shouldn’t be. Their inner power was about equal. Why did he look so weary? Had he not slept for days, or was it the injury?
Linghu Chong said nothing and gazed into the distance. “Is that smoke?”
“I’ll check.” Zhong Lingxiu climbed a tree to look.
Sure enough, wisps of cooking smoke curled up. “There’s a village that way. Tian Boguang will definitely head there.”
She glanced at Linghu Chong and decisively said, “I’ll go first. You take your time.” With that, she sprang off like a flying swallow, showing no sign of weak inner power.
Fifteen minutes later.
She found Tian Boguang inside a villager’s house.
He had changed into dry clothes, with herbal poultices on his arm and thigh. Holding a bowl of thin porridge, he said calmly, “One more step and I’ll kill them.”
Zhong Lingxiu averted her gaze.
By the old table sat a widow holding her young son, a long knife slung over her shoulder. She trembled uncontrollably, her eyes full of terror.
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