The shard of ice gleamed with an eerie blue chill, shooting straight at Cui Jiuyang's face as fast as lightning!
Cui Jiuyang was already on guard. How could he let a sneak attack like that succeed?
He shifted his footwork and moved half a foot to the left, narrowly dodging the shard.
At the same time, he pressed two fingers of his right hand together, and a dazzling beam of golden light shot from his fingertips straight at the woman's face!
The golden light was as fast as a meteor, forcing the woman to hurriedly deflect it with her sleeve.
With a soft ripping sound, the golden light sliced her sleeve open, revealing the face she had kept hidden.
Cui Jiuyang took a close look and thought, Just as I suspected!
The woman was none other than Jiang Xiao'e, the pretty widow who had offered him a "stroke of luck" the night before!
But before Cui Jiuyang could speak, the ice shard he had dodged seemed to grow eyes. It made a bizarre turn in midair and doubled back, bearing the whistle of rushing wind as it silently attacked the vital spot at the center of his back!
Jiang Xiao'e spoke in a bone-chilling voice, like a resentful wife lamenting her plight. "Mr. Cui, how heartless you are! You left me waiting for an entire night. Haven't you heard how hard it is to sleep alone?"
Without turning, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, Cui Jiuyang swiftly drew a small, exquisite golden bronze gong from his sleeve with his left hand and held it behind his back.
With a clear clang, the returning ice shard was completely caught within the gong.
Then came a muffled boom. Fire flashed inside the gong, instantly melting the ice