Escape

By the time he finished laughing, Du Tianchou seemed utterly unconcerned about his injuries, his face exceptionally smug. He did indeed feel rather pleased. Although it was a pity that he had not been the one to possess Zhao Xin'er's body, the thought that her purity had been taken by this Daoist in somewhat tattered clothes filled him with both pain and pleasure. Who was Zhao Xin'er? Even someone as outstanding as himself could not catch her eye. Countless talented men more formidable than he were pursuing her, yet she had never accepted any of them. Now this man before him had taken everything from her. If word got out, what a tremendous laughingstock she would become.

"Shut your mouth!" Zhao Xin'er shouted.

"Angry? Has your shame turned to rage?" After laughing loudly, Du Tianchou turned his gaze to Huang Xiao, who lay on the ground. "So that's it. Your acupoints were sealed."

Du Tianchou casually jabbed a finger through the air. Huang Xiao felt a jolt in his chest, and his entire body regained its freedom.

Huang Xiao removed the silk handkerchief covering his face, then scrambled up from the ground and hurriedly straightened his disheveled clothes.

"You stinking Daoist, you've certainly had luck with women. Who would have thought the toad would end up feasting on swan flesh?" Du Tianchou did not know who this man was, but he truly felt somewhat envious. He had never expected this Daoist to reap the benefits. He had coveted Zhao Xin'er for so long, and so many others had their eyes on her, yet none of them had gotten a share. In the end, this stinking Daoist had obtained her. How could that not arouse jealousy and envy?

"You ought to thank me properly. If not for you, how could you have enjoyed such luck with women?" Du Tianchou said. "When you and Miss Zhao tie the knot, you must at least offer me, Du Tianchou, a cup of wine. After all, I am your matchmaker."

Huang Xiao ignored Du Tianchou and merely stared blankly at Zhao Xin'er. Before this had happened, he would never have dared stare at her like this, but things were somewhat different now. Whatever else might be said, he and Zhao Xin'er had shared the intimacy of husband and wife, and nothing could change that.

"Keep staring and I'll gouge out those damned eyes of yours!" Zhao Xin'er glared at Huang Xiao. She had intended to kill him just now, and only Du Tianchou's timely arrival had spared him from death. But that did not mean her desire to kill Huang Xiao had faded.

"Zhao..." Huang Xiao mustered his courage to speak, but before he could finish, Zhao Xin'er abruptly shouted, "Shut up!"

"Hahaha! Zhao Xin'er, you're nothing but a withered flower and a ruined willow now. Why keep pretending to be so pure and lofty?" Du Tianchou laughed. "Still, I am a magnanimous man. If you beg me, I could refrain from spreading word of today's events, and even take you as my concubine. What do you say?"

"Go to hell!" Zhao Xin'er's right palm shifted slightly, then struck out fiercely. An immense surge of palm force immediately roared toward Du Tianchou.

Du Tianchou had no way to evade this Profound Yin Palm. After all, he had only dodged the earlier attack by incurring a backlash from his cultivation technique. Now that he was gravely wounded, how could he withstand it?

His body was blasted straight out of the Daoist temple. As he flew, he smashed through several pillars inside. The temple had already been dilapidated beyond repair; how could it withstand such battering? It immediately fell apart.

At the same time, Du Tianchou laughed even louder as he flew backward. "Zhao Xin'er, as long as I, Du Tianchou, remain alive, I'll make certain today's events are spread far and wide! I'll let all those men pursuing you know that you're nothing but a shameless, worthless woman! Hahaha!"

Huang Xiao scurried out with his arms over his head, covered in dust and looking utterly bedraggled. Zhao Xin'er, however, floated out without a speck of dust on her.

But by the time Zhao Xin'er appeared outside the temple, Du Tianchou was already nowhere to be seen.

After coming out, Huang Xiao also hurriedly searched for traces of Du Tianchou, but he found none whatsoever. Even gravely wounded, Du Tianchou's cultivation was beyond anything Huang Xiao could compare with.

Zhao Xin'er frowned. She had not expected to fall into Du Tianchou's trap in the end. He had used those final words to enrage her, making her strike him away in her shame-fueled fury. Then he had used the force of that blow to smash through the pillars and bring the temple down. Its collapse had delayed Zhao Xin'er briefly, and that had been enough for Du Tianchou to flee far away.

In her fury, Zhao Xin'er had failed to realize this at the time, allowing Du Tianchou to exploit an opening and seize a sliver of a chance to escape.

Du Tianchou had indeed miscalculated this time. He had originally thought that even if Zhao Xin'er had not been poisoned, although her cultivation surpassed his, she could only defeat him. Killing him would still be beyond her.

But he had never expected Zhao Xin'er to use Heavenly Mountain Pavilion's cultivation technique, the Bliss Canon, to draw upon intercourse between man and woman, not only dispelling the Spirit-Transforming Powder within her but even using that mingling of yin and yang to make her cultivation soar. This was the wondrous aspect of the Bliss Canon. Through this technique, the disciples of Heavenly Mountain Pavilion would only make great strides in their cultivation after finding a partner.

Of course, once Du Tianchou finally saw Huang Xiao, he understood everything. He knew that unless he found a way to escape, he could only die at Zhao Xin'er's hands. Her strength had now increased tremendously, and he was no match for her at all.

Whatever else might be said, Du Tianchou was an outstanding disciple of the Tianping Sect, and he was naturally exceedingly resourceful. At this moment of life and death, his mind had instead become even calmer.

Those final words had been meant to enrage Zhao Xin'er, and she had indeed been unable to endure such provocation, allowing his scheme to succeed.

"Miss Zhao..."

Once again, before Huang Xiao could finish, he felt a heavy blow to his chest. His body was sent flying thirty feet before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Get lost!" Zhao Xin'er shouted.

Huang Xiao wanted to speak but stopped himself. He climbed to his feet and glanced at Zhao Xin'er, then dragged his injured body away, slowly disappearing into the night.

After Huang Xiao left, Zhao Xin'er let out a roar and struck the trunk of a nearby tree so thick that it took two people to encircle it with their arms. The trunk immediately splintered. Then she unleashed several more palm strikes in succession, chopping the tree clean through at its middle.

Zhao Xin'er vented her anger for quite some time before wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her heart was filled with pain and grievance. Who could have imagined she would encounter something like this on this journey down the mountain?

She had wanted to kill Huang Xiao, but he had been unaware of the circumstances, after all, and in a certain sense had helped her. Otherwise, she would probably have fallen into Du Tianchou's hands, and if that had happened, her fate would likely have been worse than this. Thus, she had spared Huang Xiao's life.

Zhao Xin'er calmed herself. What had happened was already settled, and nothing could change it. She reached out and grasped through the air, drawing the sword that had been embedded in the pillar out of the ruins and into her hand. Then her figure flickered, and she vanished beneath the moonlight.