Reversal

"When I came to Chongzhou, I consulted the Hidden Spy Bureau's reports on the Bloodbath Alliance. This man murdered husbands, seized wives, daughters, and family assets. His crimes were numerous, and he has already been placed on the Great Li Court's purge-and-kill list," Cang Yinyue explained.

She cast Yu Changlu a cold glance, as though she were looking at a dead man.

By now, Yu Changlu had been tormented by the poison until his consciousness was on the verge of collapse. Apart from barely clinging to a shred of will as he begged Li Musheng for help, he had no attention left to defend himself.

Li Musheng nodded slightly, then turned and leaped onto the mule-horse, vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger.

Though the mule-horse was inferior, it possessed some understanding of human nature. It seemed to know that Li Musheng had saved it and affectionately rubbed its head against him.

Li Musheng looked down at Yu Changlu, whose poison had reached his heart and whose gaze was gradually losing focus. He shook his head, then turned to Cang Yinyue.

"Miss Cang, you seemed to mention some purge-and-kill list just now. Does the Hidden Spy Bureau, besides capturing spies and agents from various nations, also bear the duty of clearing out villains from the martial world?"

As Cang Yinyue circulated her true qi and forced the poison from her body strand by strand through her palm, she explained,

"For now, we are only gathering information. It is not just the Hidden Spy Bureau—the Imperial Secret Police and the Heavenly Brocade Guard are doing the same."

As she spoke, a sharp glint appeared in her eyes.

"The martial world's forces are too great, and the Court finds them difficult to restrain. Even if certain criminals steeped in evil make it onto the government's wanted lists, the Court can do nothing to them when they are sheltered by certain martial sects and gangs."

"Worse still, some martial forces themselves prey upon the common people and are the root source of calamity poisoning Great Li. This entire martial world should have been cleaned out long ago. The Great Li Court merely lacks an opportunity."

Hearing this, Li Musheng raised his brows and asked quietly,

"This ought to count as a Court secret, shouldn't it? Aren't you afraid I'll spread the news and stir up turmoil in the martial world?"

Cang Yinyue's expression remained calm as she looked straight at Li Musheng.

"Have you forgotten that you are a prince of Great Li?"

Li Musheng shrugged.

"Isn't that still nothing more than a character without even the first stroke written? Besides, what if I suddenly get the urge to become Martial Alliance Leader?"

Cang Yinyue's eyelid twitched slightly as she expelled the last trace of poison from her body.

Then she sprang up lightly and seated herself atop her own mule-horse.

"It would not matter even if the news got out. The martial world is full of rumors snatched from the wind and caught in shadows, some true and some false. Some will believe them, while others will dismiss them with a scornful sniff."

"Before anyone truly makes a move, rumors will forever remain rumors. Besides, few people in the martial world would believe that, with enemy states watching like tigers around them, the Court would dare lay its hands on the martial world."

As Cang Yinyue spoke, she reached down to stroke the mule-horse beneath her. Yet inwardly, she clicked her tongue in wonder. The horse's eyes were shining now—it looked a hundred times more spirited than she did.

"You have a point."

Li Musheng nodded, patted the horse's back, and continued onward.

The masked woman had gone after the Bloodbath Alliance members. With no one paying attention to them now, it was plainly the perfect time to travel.

Yet after thinking it over, he asked another question out of curiosity.

"Can the Great Li Court swallow this entire martial world?"

At that moment, Cang Yinyue sat upright. A flash of blade-light flickered beneath her hand, and Yu Changlu, groaning on the ground, was instantly severed into head and body.

"I do not know. Nor is that something I should be considering."

Cang Yinyue shook her head and did not continue the discussion. After granting Yu Changlu a swift death, she departed alongside Li Musheng.

They only needed to cross one more mountain ahead, and the road afterward would be easier. In roughly three more days, they would reach Shangyang City.

However, they had not traveled far when a thunderous crash suddenly rang out from the distant mountain forest.

Under the night sky, a swath of lush, leafy trees snapped with a chorus of cracks, crashing one after another into the shrubs and tall grass, whipping up a fierce gust and a cloud of wood dust.

Immediately afterward, a black shadow staggered out of the dense forest. It happened to pass across the mountain road ahead of Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue, racing toward the valley to one side.

"You were struck by this old man's Thousand Leaf Wind-Destroying Palm. Half the meridians in your body must already be shattered. Where can you possibly flee to in these wild mountains? Why not stop and accept death, so this old man may grant you a quick end?"

Three figures pursued closely behind the shadow. The speaker was none other than the black-robed middle-aged man who had retreated earlier.

By then, Cang Yinyue had also seen the fleeing black shadow clearly. It was unexpectedly the masked woman who had gone after the three men earlier.

Her expression changed. She immediately grabbed Li Musheng and pulled him backward, keeping away from this person who wielded poisonous arts.

The masked woman hastily glanced at them, but had no time to bother with them. Clutching her chest, she quickly fled into the valley ahead.

The Bloodbath Alliance's three experts arrived in the blink of an eye and likewise spotted Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue.

Yet they merely swept them with cold looks and did not pause at all, instead continuing their pursuit of the masked woman.

Clearly, the black-robed middle-aged man and the two old men considered the masked woman the greater threat and believed they had to eliminate her first.

Cang Yinyue and Li Musheng stopped by the roadside. She looked toward the valley, a strange expression flashing across her face.

She seemed somewhat surprised. The masked woman had clearly been pursuing the poisoned Bloodbath Alliance trio—how had she become the one being hunted in the blink of an eye?

However, she gave it no further thought and immediately pulled Li Musheng away, intending to seize the chance to leave.

In their current situation, once the Bloodbath Alliance dealt with the masked woman, they likely would not spare the two of them either.

Yet Li Musheng waved his hand and looked toward the valley.

"Do not rush. Let's watch first."

At this moment, although the masked woman had fled into the valley, the black-robed middle-aged man and the two old men caught up with her and blocked her retreat from three sides.

"Look at what you have done! This old man will skin you and pull out your tendons later, ensuring you die without a good end!"

The black-robed middle-aged man swept his gaze over the Bloodbath Alliance disciples lying in the valley in miserable deaths and roared in a voice cold as frost.

The faces of the other two old men were equally ugly, as if they could not wait to kill the masked woman and be done with it.

Yet the surrounded masked woman suddenly sneered.

"A pack of hypocritical wretches. You knew I had laid poison around the valley, yet you secretly took the antidote yourselves and deliberately let your disciples be poisoned to death, all to lower my guard. The people who truly killed them were not me, but you!"

At her words, the black-robed middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. The fury on his face gradually faded, and he gave a heavy snort.

"If we had not done so, how could you have fallen into the trap?"

One old man stared at the masked woman and said gravely,

"Your poisonous arts are too terrifying. We had no way to take you down before, so we could only resort to this inferior scheme. Otherwise, if we let a poison woman like you escape, who knows how many people would die by your hand?"

"Stop wasting words on her. To prevent complications from growing with the night, break her limbs first!"

At this point, the other old man clearly understood that too many words led to trouble. He immediately struck with thunderous force, charging toward the masked woman.

The masked woman's expression changed sharply. She hurriedly shouted,

"Junior Brother, what are you waiting for? Why have you not attacked yet?!"