Toying

To anyone who valued logic and rational thought, the existence of a Book Turner was an unsolvable bug.

Without question, as long as Stone Guanyin was not involved, Wuhua could remain perfectly rational. Precisely for that reason, he simply could not work out how Fang Yunhua had foreseen this scene.

"I did think of one explanation."

Chu Liuxiang spoke.

"He understands you, and he understands me. More importantly, he understands that, under certain circumstances, you would cast aside all regard for our friendship and exploit this trait of mine to win yourself a slim chance of survival. All he had to do was use the conditions at hand to lead us into those circumstances."

"But why? Did it need to be so complicated?" Confusion filled Wuhua's eyes. At that moment, both men seemed to have set aside their past grievances, for, faced with this puzzle of the century, both wanted a reasonable explanation they could accept.

"Perhaps this was his true revenge against you."

Such merciless words rarely came from Chu Liuxiang's mouth, but this was the only explanation he could think of.

Besides, in his view, the unspoken second half would pierce the other man's heart and lungs even more deeply.

And that was...

He was simply toying with you!

"Heh heh heh heh..."

Brothers indeed. At that moment, Wuhua gave the same cold laugh as Nangong Ling, a laugh steeped in despair, in repression and fury beyond an ordinary person's understanding, and in... helplessness.

Wuhua laughed for a long time. Beside him, Chu Liuxiang looked up at the bright moon in the sky and felt desolation well up in his heart.

Perhaps, for Wuhua, this outcome was an even more merciless form of revenge.

Or perhaps...

Chu Liuxiang thought of Fang Yunhua. He felt an urgent desire to meet him. Yet one thing was plain: he still did not understand Wuhua.

Just as Chu Liuxiang's thoughts wandered, a smoke bomb appeared in Wuhua's hand-the same kind he had used earlier to escape pursuit. His eyes no longer held that tangle of emotions.

He was calm, as calm as a block of ice.

He had not forgotten his predicament for a moment, nor had he ever truly considered abandoning the slim chance of survival still within his grasp!

Chu Liuxiang's words had shaken him to his core, but so what!

As long as he lived, there would be a chance!

As long as he lived, he could settle this score someday!

As long as he lived, he could send that arrogant face of the Amorous Young Master-the man who now scorned him, toyed with him, made a fool of him, and disdained him-crashing from the heights into the depths of the valley!

Life! As long as he lived, hope was boundless!

Boom!-

The next instant, the smoke bomb exploded right in Chu Liuxiang's face. Caught off guard, he felt gust after gust of palm force closing in. After blocking seven strikes, he discovered that his opponent had used the force of his palms to flee at speed!

The spreading smoke seemed to contain some irritant specifically targeting the eyes. Chu Liuxiang barely opened his eyes before tears streamed down his face.

Seizing that opportunity, Wuhua shook him off completely once again!

Yet not a trace of anxiety showed on Chu Liuxiang's face. He calmly cleared away the smoke, then, after confirming that contact between the stream water and the irritant would not cause an even worse reaction, washed away every trace of residue around his eyes.

Then his gaze followed the little stream downstream.

With a soft sigh, his figure vanished without a trace.

Wuhua pushed his lightness skill to its limits!

As one of the finest lightness skill practitioners of the age, he knew that, as long as he followed the stream to Crossroads at the foot of the mountain, he would not have lost this round completely!

The sole chance of survival within his grasp was almost before him, and the excitement sent his heart racing!

There was indeed great terror in walking the razor's edge between life and death, but the intense thrill it brought was intoxicating too!

Wuhua believed that, after this ordeal, his martial prowess would improve enormously. A single shift of thought could open up heaven and earth. Always playing the part of an enlightened monk had, in truth, shackled his wild, untamed, freedom-loving soul!

Soon! Very soon!

Chu Liuxiang! Fang Yunhua! Just wait! Wait for the day he, Wuhua, returned as king!

With his spirits soaring ever higher, the speed of his lightness skill increased by another ten percent!

Yet at the very instant he accelerated, a small pebble suddenly shot toward him!

Bang!

He instinctively struck it down with his palm. As he felt a faint chill spread from his right hand, Wuhua had no choice but to halt!

He looked to his left.

His delighted, frenzied expression gradually stilled, then darkened, until it twisted like the face of a fiend that had crawled back out of hell!

For he had seen someone.

A man whose looks and bearing were no less impressive than his own!

The man sat on a large rock, his left hand braced on a longsword while his right tossed several pebbles. Tucked against his chest was a telescope he had made in private. Though Wuhua did not recognize the object, the smile on the man's face brimmed with malice.

From it, he dimly understood that his confrontation with Chu Liuxiang had probably provided the man with quite a show.

As for the man's identity...

He had never seen him in person, but he knew this was Fang Yunhua, the man who had occupied his thoughts and whom he hated enough to grind his teeth!

"Hey!"

After throwing away the pebbles in his hand, Fang Yunhua even gave Wuhua a friendly wave.

He really had just witnessed a rare and splendid performance. After climbing the tall pine tree behind him, he had watched Chu Liuxiang and Wuhua exchange blows, seen Wuhua pull his fake-death trick again, and clearly observed every change in Chu Liuxiang's expression, from concern to livid fury!

Naturally, he had also seen Wuhua take advantage of the moment when the other man was lost in thought to abandon all martial decorum and simply take to his heels.

It was a pity that he could not enjoy synchronized sound and images as though he were there in person. Though he could make out some of the content by reading their lips, the sensory experience was greatly diminished.

Still, those flaws could not dim the jade's luster. He felt he ought to applaud the man's dedication to his performance.

Clap clap clap clap! Clap clap clap! Clap clap clap!

In the quiet moonlit night, the applause rang out especially loudly, and Wuhua clearly felt the thick malice the other man was conveying!

He stared hard at Fang Yunhua, as though he meant to engrave that hateful face in his heart forever!

Then-

He turned and ran!

Such was the confidence of a man with supreme lightness skill!

He still had not lost! His chance of survival remained firmly in his grasp!

And Fang Yunhua, whose lightness skill Chu Liuxiang had rated as utter rubbish, truly could not catch him.

Of course, Fang Yunhua had no intention of getting up.

He shook his head helplessly, yawned, then turned toward the upstream stretch of the little creek and asked.

"Aren't you going to keep chasing him?"

A figure emerged from the woods. It was Chu Liuxiang.

He looked at Fang Yunhua with a complicated expression. The illustrious Fragrant Marshal could hardly fall into the same pit twice; in fact, just thirty seconds after Wuhua had bolted, he had already been confident he could intercept him.

But he had wanted to wait a little longer and watch a little more.

Now, just as expected, the person he had been waiting for had arrived.

So what came next would no longer be a starring scene belonging to Fragrant Marshal Chu alone.

"I trust you won't let him leave."