The blade pressed tightly against Xiang Lan'er's pale neck, already leaving a bloody mark. The slightest slip of his hand could open a great gash across that fair throat.
His other arm clamped tightly across her chest, holding her close. This was a textbook hostage hold.
With Xiang Lan'er's back pressed against his front, each could clearly feel the other's body heat and contours. Shi Chun had no mind to appreciate either just then. What he felt was danger closing in.
Xiang Lan'er's face, however, flushed with humiliated fury. Though she came from a brothel, she sold her talents, not her body, and no man had ever held her so tightly.
Even when Bian Weikang impulsively embraced her, she would swiftly slip free.
Most mortifying of all, this damned scoundrel's arm squeezed her breasts so tightly that her face reddened with shame and anger. She believed Shi Chun was doing it deliberately. Hadn't he abducted her for precisely that sort of thing?
She herself had no idea how she had been captured so inexplicably.
Had they fought openly, she could guarantee that all these men together would have been no match for her. Yet they had captured her with absurd ease.
To prevent her from making a sound, they had even sealed her mute acupoint. Unable to voice so much as a warning, she could only endure his groping. The anger bottled up inside her was so unbearable that she nearly spat blood.
Shi Chun's reaction also baffled the others. They had no idea why he looked as though a formidable enemy stood before him.
They glanced around but found nothing amiss. Cen Futong asked in confusion, "Brother Chun, what's wrong?"
Shi Chun urgently called out, "Jinliang!"
They were old partners who had spent years licking blood from the knife's edge together. Wu Jinliang understood at once and darted over to stand back-to-back with him, equally alert to their surroundings.
Only then did Shi Chun warn the others, "Everyone, be careful. This woman may have backup."
He said this purely because Xiang Lan'er's earlier reaction had been far too unusual. He did not know whether his guess was wrong, nor how strong anyone who might appear would be.
Whether anyone was there or not, whether they were strong or weak, securing a hostage to shield himself first could not be wrong.
Hearing this, Xiang Lan'er was somewhat surprised. Her eyes shifted from side to side, but she could not see the man behind her. With her chest still tightly constricted, she was already plotting how to make this scoundrel beg for life and be denied even death.
The masked men also scanned their surroundings warily for a while. Yet it was so quiet they could hear insects crawling and see birds preening on the branches. There was simply no sign of anyone.
Cen Futong did not dare be careless either. He called out, "Brothers, go check around."
His three masked companions whistled and sprang up onto the branches of the tall trees, spreading out to search their surroundings carefully. They soon vanished from Shi Chun and the others' sight.
Looking this way and that, Cen Futong asked, "Brother Chun, aren't you overthinking this? Why would this woman bring backup? Did she predict we were coming and prepare to deal with us?"
No sooner had he spoken than the entire crown of a large tree on the nearby mountainside suddenly shuddered and rustled. There was no other sound, but it put Shi Chun and the others even more on edge.
Suddenly, a figure burst from the woods and hurtled through the air, shouting in panic, "Run!"
It was one of the masked men from before.
Cen Futong hurriedly shouted, "What happened?"
Two sharp whistles of displaced air streaked across the sky.
A long, slender shadow flashed past, too fast for anyone to make out what it was. Blood sprayed in midair, accompanied by a scream of "Aah!" from the masked man who had just leaped out.
Before they could see what had happened, the second slender shadow struck the masked man in another burst of blood. Then a large tree shook violently, and the masked man remained stuck against its trunk instead of falling, his body twitching as blood dripped beneath his feet.
A branch as thick as an arm had pinned him to the trunk. Only then did they realize what those fleeting slender shadows had been: tree branches.
There was another hole in his chest, pierced through by the first slender shadow.
Cen Futong visibly shuddered. His voice trembled as he said, "Brother Chun, this brother of mine had already reached the upper completion realm of Advanced Martial cultivation. Just who have you provoked?"
The implication was plain. An Advanced Martial cultivator in the upper completion realm had been unable to fight back at all. Whoever had attacked from hiding had to be at least in the grand completion realm of Advanced Martial cultivation. Even if they had not reached the Human Immortal realm, they were only one step away from becoming an immortal among mortals.
How would Shi Chun know who it was? "I haven't provoked anyone. Don't be afraid. We have a hostage. At worst, we'll all die together."
He spoke loudly, intending the hidden attacker to hear that they were ready to burn jade and stone alike.
Inside, he was also urging himself, Get nervous. Get nervous! He hoped that becoming nervous would trigger his right eye's miraculous ability again, allowing him to pinpoint the hidden attacker.
Damnably, the more he consciously reminded himself to become nervous, the less nervous he could become.
A mocking expression also appeared on the captive Xiang Lan'er's face. The man behind her claimed he was not afraid, but the way he unconsciously tightened his grip across her chest betrayed his inner fear. He was squeezing so hard that she could barely breathe.
Saber in hand, Wu Jinliang's Adam's apple kept bobbing. How could he not be afraid? In the Land of Exile, he had never fought an Advanced Martial expert, much less one in the grand completion realm. He was a full three realms below them. The guards in Zhixu City started at Advanced Martial, but he had never been qualified to fight them.
Cen Futong turned to leap toward Shi Chun, hoping to huddle together for warmth. A whistle cut through the air, followed by a crash as the loose rocks at his feet exploded. A branch lodged right before him, its warning not to move unmistakable.
Cen Futong froze in terror and shouted, "A misunderstanding! Friend, there must be some misunderstanding between us! My uncle is Cao Puqing of Skyward City. Might you know him?"
He was clearly trying to invoke a connection to save his life.
Shi Chun bolstered his own courage. "Better to untie a knot of enmity than tighten it. It won't do anyone any good if this gets out of hand. You don't want Bian Weikang to see this either, do you?"
Before the incident, Xiang Lan'er had wanted wild fruit, which had played right into their hands and conveniently sent Bian Weikang away. If he still thought it had been "convenient" now, his brain must have been waterlogged. Clearly, Xiang Lan'er had deliberately sent him away for the same reason they had: she did not want Bian Weikang to see.
But no sooner had he spoken than a figure floated out of the woods. It was a masked person in black, clearly a woman judging by the curves faintly visible beneath her clothes. She landed lightly, carrying someone in one hand. It was none other than the very Bian Weikang Shi Chun had just mentioned.
Bian Weikang's limbs hung limp and swayed. He appeared to be unconscious.
The masked woman casually tossed him to the ground and spoke in a woman's voice. "Do we still need to worry about him hearing or seeing anything?"
It was a blatant slap in the face.
But her voice sounded familiar. Realizing that she was with Xiang Lan'er, Shi Chun was startled. Wu Jinliang, who had been turning his head to look from time to time, shouted first, "It's the madam of Liyun Tower!"
Shi Chun stared fixedly at the masked woman, each word forced out separately. "Feng Chi!"
The masked woman raised a hand and pulled down her face covering, revealing her true appearance. Sure enough, it was Feng Chi, the madam of Liyun Tower.
That gesture made Shi Chun sense the danger even more keenly. Someone who dared let you see a secret naturally knew you would never have the chance to reveal it.
Cen Futong, however, regained his courage and snapped, "Feng Chi, what do you think you're doing? Touch so much as a finger of mine, and my uncle won't spare you!"
He was also a regular at Liyun Tower and had long been accustomed to ordering this madam around. He believed his status could cow her.
Shi Chun was utterly speechless and inwardly cursed the idiot.
Sure enough, Feng Chi immediately twisted her toe against the ground. Something clinging to a boulder beside Cen Futong-whether root or vine-suddenly tore free and swept across like a thunderbolt. Startled, Cen Futong jumped to evade it, but he was already too late.
Bang!
The whipping shadow swept past, snapping both of Cen Futong's lower legs. Blood burst out, leaving only scraps of flesh connecting his dangling feet. A truly harrowing scream rang out in midair, and after he crashed to the ground, he kept howling in agony. Unable to stand, he lay where he had fallen.
Wu Jinliang's heart lurched in terror. We've really screwed this up now.
Shi Chun had not the slightest attention to spare for sympathizing with Cen Futong. The stronger his opponent was, the more he had to summon every ounce of concentration and keep his hostage's life hanging by a thread, preventing his opponent from acting rashly.
He hastily freed a hand to draw a small knife from inside his clothes, then swiftly wrapped his arm around Xiang Lan'er again. At the same time, the small knife's edge hooked against her ribs beneath her armpit, piercing her clothing and drawing blood, ready to slice beneath her ribs at any moment. His saber remained pressed firmly across her neck.
Seeing blood on the Saintess's neck and beneath her arm, Feng Chi was both alarmed and furious, yet helpless. This scoundrel's defenses were too tight, his technique extremely practiced, leaving her no opening. She could seize the Saintess by force, but doing so might cause her serious injury-a price Feng Chi could not afford to pay.
"Miss, those masked fellows delayed me earlier. They were sneaking around up ahead, and I didn't know their intentions, so I couldn't approach rashly. By the time I got close, you had already been taken hostage. I feared the noise of a fight would draw Bian Weikang over, so I simply went and knocked him unconscious."
Faced with the Saintess's predicament, she felt she had to make a point of explaining. It was not negligence on her part; there had genuinely been reasons for it.
She was actually rather puzzled as well. Although the Saintess was still young and her cultivation was lower than Feng Chi's, she should have been more than capable of dealing with this bunch. No matter what, she should not have been taken hostage, should she?
That was why she was so baffled. Even without anyone secretly assisting her, the Saintess's strength should have been enough to deal with these two dark-skinned fellows. Someone else had been sent partly to avoid exposing the Saintess by having her act, and partly to capture the pair for questioning.
Had she really allowed herself to be captured simply to avoid exposure?
And why had this fellow named Shi Chun taken the Saintess hostage so early to guard against her, leaving not a single opening from the outset and denying her even the chance to thread a needle through a gap and snatch the Saintess away?
Unable to speak, Xiang Lan'er could only shift her eyes. Her intention for Feng Chi to kill the man behind her was obvious, but Feng Chi did not dare act rashly.
From the woman's words alone, Shi Chun knew that the other two masked men had probably already lost their lives.
Cen Futong was still howling on the ground.
Feng Chi, however, barked, "Come out!"