In Gao Xu's plans, ruining Tang Mei'er's scheme had never been the difficult part.
For one thing, he was hidden in the shadows, striking while she was unprepared. For another, the more intricate a plan was, the less room it had for error. Just look at what happened: one link in the chain—the captured girl—had gone wrong, and Tang Mei'er had been forced to transform into a Succubus ahead of schedule, drink a precious bloodline-enhancement potion, and sacrifice two of her subordinates. She had already used most of her trump cards, so any further complication would leave her helpless.
With Su Mei's help, Gao Xu's actions would be even harder to detect. In fact, he did not need to show himself at all to make Tang Mei'er lose in a bewildering, agonizing fashion.
But Tang Mei'er's existence had become a thorn in Gao Xu's heart. If he simply let her fail and retreat, he might never escape the shadow of what had happened in his past life!
So he had to watch Tang Mei'er receive the punishment she deserved with his own eyes before he could be satisfied.
Revenge was sweet; all he wanted was to set his heart at ease!
The Snake Demon and Fox Demon had cut their losses and withdrawn from the battle, leaving Tang Mei'er without anyone to hold Gao Xu in check. By now, she hated him to the marrow and wanted only to capture him and make him wish he were dead. Only then could she soothe some of the fury and resentment burning inside her!
As the Snake Whip came crashing down toward him, Gao Xu quickly stepped back and smiled faintly. "You wicked woman, your vicious plot has failed, and now you want to kill me to silence me? Do you really think the Lin Family Fort has no one to defend it?"
"The Lin Family Fort? Hmph. Are you still hoping that fool Lin Tiannan will come save you? How naive..." Tang Mei'er sneered. Her mood was at rock bottom, so naturally her tone was less than pleasant. Besides, in the eyes of most Reincarnators, characters from the story were just NPCs in a game, there to be manipulated as they pleased. They would hardly show them any respect in private.
"Don't you dare insult Lord Lin!" Gao Xu's expression changed as though he could not bear Tang Mei'er's abuse. He raised his sword, ready to counterattack.
"Wicked woman, you dare!" But someone was even faster than him. A figure like a rosy cloud swept into the room, accompanied by a cool voice brimming with anger. She landed lightly, and the moment her clear, beautiful eyes fell on Tang Mei'er, Tang Mei'er's heart gave a jolt. She instinctively took half a step back.
The newcomer looked about seventeen or eighteen. She was tall and slender, with long, shapely legs. Her flowing hair was tied to one side, and her oval face bore bright, limpid phoenix eyes and soft, red lips. She had a charming beauty, while her sharply angled brows lent her a touch of heroism. She was none other than the heroine of Legend of Sword and Fairy 1, Lin Yueru, the young lady of the Lin Family Fort!
"You dare insult my father?" Lin Yueru first nodded to Gao Xu, then fixed Tang Mei'er with a stern, commanding gaze. She swept her whip through the air and cried, "At first, when A-Mei told me a villain had infiltrated the demon-slaying party, I wasn't sure whether to believe her. I never imagined that among the martial heroes Father had invited, there really was someone as cruel and deceitful as the Snake Demon! Hmph. If not for Young Hero Gao's keen eye and willingness to put himself in danger, you wretched woman would have ruined the reputation of our Lin Family Fort!"
"Gao Xu, you're despicable! You set a trap and lured me right into it?" Tang Mei'er was extremely clever. As soon as Lin Yueru appeared, she understood why Gao Xu had repeatedly mentioned the Lin Family Fort and Lin Tiannan, and why he had acted and spoken like a native of this wuxia world. He had known all along that story characters were hiding nearby. He had been acting the entire time!
That meant he could use the story characters to kill her, win their favor, and then rely on their strength to complete his optional mission—all in one stroke. What a brilliant scheme!
"This kid's still a newcomer, yet he's planned for everything. He's a freak! Damn it!" Seeing Gao Xu's endless tricks, as if she could never guess what his next trump card would be, Tang Mei'er finally began to consider retreating.
If she stayed, she would die!
Lin Yueru was renowned as peerless among her generation, and the reputation was well deserved. Her martial arts foundation was exceptionally solid—nothing like that of a little maid such as Dongmei. She opened with the difficult Benhui Art, and her whip's shadow curled around Tang Mei'er, encircling her completely. Clearly, she had no intention of letting Tang Mei'er escape.
In whip technique alone, ten Tang Mei'ers would not be a match for Lin Yueru. But martial arts were not the only thing Reincarnators could rely on. Tang Mei'er avoided a direct clash with Lin Yueru. Her body swayed, and a phantom shot toward Lin Yueru. As Lin Yueru raised her whip to fend it off, Tang Mei'er ducked and sprinted for the exit.
Phantom Assault was the only C-rank skill Tang Mei'er knew. It was a control skill, and she was confident it could tie Lin Yueru up for at least three seconds.
That precious window for escape was terribly short, so Tang Mei'er naturally could not afford to let anything go wrong. She focused most of her attention on Gao Xu.
Her instincts told her he would never let her leave in peace!
But what happened was beyond Tang Mei'er's expectations. Gao Xu stood to one side with his sword in hand, watching her quietly. He made no move to stop her.
Yet the look in his eyes filled Tang Mei'er with an inexplicable unease. She felt as though she had forgotten some crucial factor.
The exit was getting closer. Tang Mei'er no longer had time to wonder what the meaning behind Gao Xu's gaze was. She would get out first. Once she had left the fight, she could use an item to return to the space and save her own life, then figure out how to "repay" Gao Xu properly.
But when Tang Mei'er was only a few steps from escaping, several figures suddenly lunged at her from the side. Ignoring the Snake Whip's attack, they clung tightly to her legs!
"Damn it! Those useless fools—how dare they attack me?" Tang Mei'er had been kept so busy dealing with Gao Xu's endless tricks, and the pink mist the Fox Demon had released before leaving had clouded her vision. She had not noticed that the newcomers, who should have been lying on the ground, had somehow disappeared. They were now blocking the entrance, waiting for her to walk right into their trap!
As for why the newcomers were acting in such unison, it was obvious that Gao Xu had secretly given them the order. Betrayed and nearly killed, they needed only a little encouragement before they charged Tang Mei'er like wild beasts.
Many of the weaker newcomers soon collapsed beneath the blows of the Snake Whip and could not get back up. But three of them, eyes bloodshot, continued to cling desperately to Tang Mei'er.
Kong Jun was the strongest of them. The man who had once been so devoted to Tang Mei'er now wore the most ferocious expression. The veins stood out on his face, and it seemed as though his blood was boiling. No matter how Tang Mei'er whipped him—even when he was on the verge of death—he did not retreat.
"Get off! Get off me!" Tang Mei'er had never imagined that the weak newcomers could pose a lethal threat once they fought back. The blow to her confidence was immense, and she could no longer keep her panic under control.
Though Lin Yueru's martial arts were formidable, the Reincarnators' skills were completely unfamiliar to her. Phantom Assault had caught her off guard, nearly letting the enemy escape. Furious, she finally unleashed the Lin family's true secret art: Sword Qi Finger!
A flash of white light streaked past. Tang Mei'er let out a cry of pain and staggered back, clutching her wrist. The Snake Whip fell to the floor with a smack. The razor-sharp sword qi had severed the tendons in her wrist, robbing her of most of her fighting strength.
After gravely wounding her opponent with one strike, Lin Yueru darted forward. Like a great roc spreading its wings, she pierced through the shadow of the whip and aimed straight for Tang Mei'er's heart.
Tang Mei'er twisted aside, barely dodging the attack. She threw herself into it and finally broke free of Kong Jun's grip, but her heart had turned to ice. After all her planning and scheming, was she really going to die here?
"No!!! I won't accept this! Gao Xu, Gao Xu, Gao Xu! Even if I die, I'm taking you with me!!!" With death closing in, Tang Mei'er plunged into a final frenzy.
She was utterly confident she could drag Gao Xu down with her. She still had one last trump card, a gambit that would take both of them down—a card Zhu Hao and Qin Guang knew nothing about!
But Tang Mei'er never imagined that Gao Xu's all-seeing gaze could truly read her thoughts. The moment she turned and lunged at him, he had already vanished into the mist without a trace.
"Gao Xu, come out! You coward! Do you dare face me in a fight to the death? Come out!!!" Tang Mei'er screamed. Her graceful, seductive bearing had been utterly ruined by the blood and the savagery in her expression. She used one item after another, trying only to delay Lin Yueru's attacks long enough to find Gao Xu and fulfill the last wish of her life.
But today, she was destined to die with regrets.
Only when a streak of sword qi pierced her brow, as her consciousness began to fade, did Gao Xu's sigh finally echo in her ear. "The cause in my past life is the effect in this one. Goodbye. This is the part of my past I least want to look back on."
"What does that mean? What could it possibly mean..." Even as she died, Tang Mei'er kept wondering how Gao Xu had seen through her scheme so early, and what he meant by the past he least wanted to look back on. Filled with resentment and confusion, she sank into endless darkness.
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