The next strike... If the next strike landed on the girl, even if he managed to deliver his own, he would be unable to salvage anything!
This was no longer a moment for hesitation. Even if he still could not see anything clearly, this was already his last chance to strike!
Pei Ye drew his sword. In that instant, he knew he was stepping forward to meet defeat, but no matter what, he would not watch the girl bear it alone.
-Miss Ming, we didn't lose because you failed to wrest an opening from beneath her sword. In the end, I couldn't find that strike either.
Yet in the very instant Mountain Feather flashed from its sheath, the girl before him suddenly turned, her long hair flying. Behind those dark strands, her clear, unclouded face looked toward him again.
The sword's shadow was already pressing against her throat, but her eyes remained clear, quiet, and bright.
So familiar.
Pei Ye's movement stopped short.
He suddenly remembered the last time he had watched like this, his whole heart wrung tight, powerless to act.
That figure had remained branded into his Mindscape Realm. When black frost stained the entire sky, and he could only hide inside the lakeside hut formed by [Quail Head], that white-clad figure had driven back a seemingly invincible enemy, sword stroke by sword stroke, saving him from certain death.
Now their positions seemed reversed.
But you would still choose to trust her, wouldn't you?
Pei Ye stopped his sword, dazed.
Before him, Ming Yun once again allowed Gushe to gain a strike, freeing her sword arm completely.
Her accumulated disadvantage crossed that line. Even if Pei Ye successfully struck, she could no longer turn defeat into victory.
But the girl merely looked calmly at Pei Ye. Her cheek