Moon shadows were blades, beast hides a forest.
Moonlight was sliced apart by hundreds of air-dried beast hides hanging like curtains. Through their gaps, narrow silver flecks fell like scattered fragments of blades, flickering across the ground.
More than twenty assassins split into several teams, curved sabers in hand, threading through layer upon layer of hide curtains in search of Wang Yang.
One assassin caught a badger pelt swaying faintly out of the corner of his eye and immediately signaled his companions. The four approached with light footsteps. One pressed his sword tip gently against the hide, then flicked it sharply upward!
The other three moved at once: one thrust straight through the center, one slashed low to the side, and one held his blade crosswise to guard. Their strikes were fierce, their coordination tight-
No one was there.
Only a pale green Jade Pendant shaped like a Vermilion Bird lay quietly on the ground.
Suddenly, the Jade Pendant slid left! A silk thread was pulling it!
The instant their eyes followed the Jade Pendant, Chen Qing Shan's sword silently thrust out from behind the hide curtain on their right. Cold light flashed, piercing one man's throat with deadly precision!
The other three hacked at her frantically, their blades sweeping toward her with murderous force! With no time to pull her sword free, Chen Qing Shan released the hilt, stepped onto a drying rack, and sharply contracted her waist and abdomen. She backflipped over the three men, landing behind them with her knees slightly bent to absorb the impact. Twisting her powerful waist, she slammed her right elbow into the center assassin's back!
The man in the middle staggered forward. The two on either side reacted swiftly, turning and slashing almost simultaneously!
The curved saber on the left cut toward