The young man from the Demon Gate struck once and immediately withdrew, without the slightest hesitation.
Panic broke out on the third floor of the River-View Tower. The righteous experts might dislike the Purple Cloud Palace's ways, but they could not stand by and watch its representative die there.
Fortunately, the Daoist priests from the Qingcheng Sect knew what they were doing. They were skilled in both martial arts and spells. Working on both fronts, they sealed her acupoints with internal power to slow the bleeding, used spells to heal the wound, then cleared away the pooled blood and stitched her up with catgut. The woman from the Purple Cloud Palace was pale, and the seam at her waist looked frightening, but at least her life had been saved.
Once she caught her breath, she glared at Jiang Bei and shouted, "You dare keep company with heretics and fiends!"
Jiang Bei showed her no courtesy. "Cruel, vicious, despicable, shameless—and you have the nerve to call someone else a heretic? A thief crying 'thief'!"
"He tore out an organ with his bare hands! That was plainly an evil art!"
"Nothing compared to how you repaid kindness with betrayal," Jiang Bei said angrily. "If we hadn't stopped you, you and Young Hero A-Fei would both be dead!"
"Ridiculous! What right does a brute like him have to drag me down with him?"
Pan Long gave a cold laugh. "Once this meal is over, I'll be waiting for you outside by the river."
Ren Fengtao hurried to intervene. "Brother A-Fei, let's set this aside for now. We still have treasure to seek tomorrow!"
Pan Long glanced at Ren Fengtao and nodded. "Fine. For your sake, Branch Chief Ren."
Then he said to the woman, "If you think your sword is fast enough, name