Chapter 258: Strange, a detour around them
Everything happened too fast. It should’ve been Long Feiye and Han Yunxi who retreated together and Jun Yixie and Duanmu Yao stuck outside the door, but who expected things to end up like this? Han Yunxi still hadn’t recovered her senses. The same moment she was pushed out of the door, she saw with her own eyes Long Feiye entering the secret chamber with another woman. Though she had collapsed by his feet, he hadn’t stopped at all.
That kind of feeling was no good at all!
Actually, Long Feiye was in the same state as Han Yunxi, not expecting this to happen. As soon as he landed, it was to push aside Duanmu Yao without a second glance and rush out the door. But all he saw was Jun Yixie holding Han Yunxi by the throat, a warning look on his face.
“Let her go, or else your lordship won’t forgive you!” Long Feiye’s rage towered to the skies.
On the side, Gu Qishao had no time to bother with Mu Linger as he said impatiently, “Jun Yixie, come inside if you want to settle accounts!”
If Jun Yixie didn’t come in, the flesh-eating rats would catch up. At this, Jun Yixie actually went for the lion’s share of goods and said, “It’s fine for your lordship to go in, but the rest of you have to come out first! Otherwise, your lordship isn’t willing to budge!”
So unwilling!
“You’ll submit even if you’re unwilling!” Gu Qishao took out his sword-fan and prepared to fight, but Long Feiye had long withdrawn the whip by his side to stand outside the door.
Immediately, Jun Yixie tightened his grip on Han Yunxi’s neck and said coldly, “Your lordship can kill her first!”
Both Long Feiye and Gu Qishao stopped at his words. Jun Yixie was basically cutting off all means of retreat. Either he and Han Yunxi lived, leaving Long Feiye and the rest to all die by the flesh-eating rats, or he and Han Yunxi died, leaving everyone else inside the secret room to survive. He didn’t give Long Feiye a second option, nor did he leave himself any way to retreat. He was gambling with this woman to see how important she was in Long Feiye’s heart! Just how much was she worth to him? Who would know?
In any case, Han Yunxi herself had no idea! Her neck was squeezed so tightly that it made it hard to breathe and impossible to speak. Right now, she was the one in most danger, because it was highly possible that Jun Yixie would kill her first before the flesh-eating rats arrived. Still, her face was completely expressionless. She looked at Mu Linger, then at Long Feiye and Duanmu Yao, her gaze deep but inscrutable.
Was she afraid?
She was, but she’d experienced so many disappointments in this life that even feeling frightened wouldn’t make them disappear. Showing kindness, only to be repaid with enmity, showing emotion, only to be repaid with ruthlessness. Moreover, every time it was always her that got hurt.
When Duanmu Yao heard Jun Yixie’s terms, she said angrily, “Jun Yixie, just what are you playing at?” He actually wanted her to go out as well. She’d given no end of help to his poisoned body this whole trip, but now he was pulling down the bridge after crossing the river–abandoning his benefactor! Didn’t they agree to work together so he’d help her kill Han Yunxi? But as it turned out, he wanted Long Feiye dead instead!
Duanmu Yao had overestimated her importance here, because no one paid her any attention.
“Jun Yixie, think it over clearly. If Han Yunxi dies, you have to die too!” Heaven knows how furious Gu Qishao was. He had never called Poison lass by her full name. On the side, Mu Linger even grew frightened just by looking at him. She knew that Qi gege didn’t have time to settle accounts with her right now, but when everything was over, she had no idea how he’d treat her. A thread of regret flitted through her heart before Mu Linger gritted her teeth. She wanted to ignore the feeling, but she couldn’t. She tried her best to tell herself that she wasn’t in the wrong!
Jun Yixie didn’t even pay attention to Gu Qishao. In his eyes, only Long Feiye was a worthy opponent, so he leisurely said, “Long Feiye, there’s not much time left.”
Were they going to trade all their lives for Han Yunxi, or turn back and close the stone door, leaving Jun Yixie and Han Yunxi to be buried with the swarm? Everything hedged on Long Feiye’s decision. For a second, everyone looked his way. At the same time, the white-robed man concealed behind a rock was looking at Long Feiye as well. He hadn’t left at all. His forehead was furrowed as he tried to move, but he had been injured too severely. Right now, blood was incessantly streaming from the corner of his mouth, staining a large patch of his white face veil red. Just then, he had used all his strength at the Xuan gold door to reach those speeds. Now he was someone who had a wish, but no energy to back it up.
Despite this, he kept observing Han Yunxi and the rest. Even though using his energy one more time might make him useless in the future, he didn’t balk at the idea. This woman’s blood had opened the Xuan gold door. He was now certain that she was the person he had to protect for the rest of his life, and the purpose for his existence in this world. More and more blood flowed from his lips as he kept circulating his inner energy without giving up. But by now, Long Feiye had finally come to a decision.
“Using one life to trade for multiple ones isn’t a deal that your lordship will do.”
Everyone was startled by his words. Han Yunxi’s darkened eyes didn’t brighten any further, but immediately dimmed. Was this Long Feiye’s decision? How cruel!
“Long Feiye, you’re certain?” Jun Yixie was caught off guard, loosening his grip on Han Yunxi in the process.
This was exactly the chance that Long Feiye had been hoping for. Until now, he’d been constantly searching for Jun Yixie’s weak point. There was no way he’d abandon Han Yunxi, but he was perfectly able to sacrifice everyone else’s lives for her sake. However, that was an incomparably stupid idea. His cold and icy rationality had never made him an impulsive, brainless person. As Jun Yixie lowered his guard, Long Feiye narrowed his eyes and focused on his shoulder. A thick dose of inner energy silently streamed into his whip. Heaven knows how much power he’d poured into that whip to make his forehead break out in sweat. In the silence, Han Yunxi looked at him with unfocused eyes, but he was too busy to pay her too much attention. He kept his gaze on Jun Yixie’s weak point and prepared to strike.
But!
The best-laid plans of men couldn’t compete with Heavenly designs. The second before Long Feiye struck, there was a sudden rumble from above the stone door. A giant chunk of rock came crashing down, bringing with it a huge rat.
What a familiar scene!
Hadn’t the other flesh-eating rats poured in from in front of them? Their commotion was getting closer, but suppose that they were above them as well? Subconsciously, everyone looked up, only to see a giant mass of flesh-eating rats pouring down in an unbroken torrent of bodies!
Heavens, there were actually two swarms of flesh-eating rats!
Long Feiye and Gu Qishao backed away simultaneously before they were crushed beneath the flood. All of the rats ended up in front of the stone door, completing separating Long Feiye and the rest from Jun Yixie and Han Yunxi. Oddly enough, though Jun Yixie and Han Yunxi were the easier targets for attack, the rat swarm ignored them entirely. They stood in front of the stone door instead, wanting to go inside yet hesitant because of their fear. The entire scene seemed abnormal, but there wasn’t enough time to think about that now. The crown of flesh-eating rats had completely blocked off Long Feiye and the rest. Long Feiye’s powered-up whip could save Han Yunxi in just one move, but now there was no way for him to reach them at all. He didn’t use his whip but harbored a stomach full of fire as his expression turned horrifyingly gloomy!
Naturally, Jun Yixie had discovered the rats’ peculiar behavior as well. He didn’t know why things had turned out like this, but he kept a death grip on Han Yunxi, not daring to make any sudden movements. At this point, the other swarm of flesh-eating rats had caught up. Unexpectedly, this same swarm that’d been chasing Jun Yixie beforehand actually detoured around him and Han Yunxi directly to merge with the other swarm by the door.
This…
“Rather interesting!”
“They’re not aiming for us, are they?” Even the usually playful Gu Qishao had turned fidgety, while Tang Li was enraged. He pounded his fist against the wall. Meanwhile, Mu Linger and Duanmu Yao stood to one side, neither of them speaking as they turned over their own thoughts. Long Feiye creased his brows and stared wordlessly at Han Yunxi. So much time had passed that he’d finally noticed how dead her eyes had become, the pupils as still as stagnant water.
Under such circumstances, how could someone with her skills let Jun Yixie threaten her as he wished? At a time like this, how could someone with her personality still be so quiet? But she hadn’t made any moves from beginning to end. When she usually looked at him, it was either with foolish infatuation, or a delicately pretty blush, or a wrathful glare. Sometimes she’d be too afraid to meet his eyes as well. Her eyes had always been sincere and genuine without hiding or feigning anything. They’d never looked like hers right now, so full of despair that it looked like she’d given up on everything, including him.
Long Feiye couldn’t even be bothered to think of the flesh-eating rats as a senseless fear suddenly stole upon his heart. This was the first time he actually understood what it meant to be afraid.
What’s wrong with this woman? Is she feeling unwell somewhere?
“Jun Yixie, let her go!” Long Feiye suddenly shouted in rage, giving everyone else a fright. None of them had ever seen this man lose his grip on his reason. His voice disturbed the flesh-eating rats, all of whom arched their backs and started dully scratching with their paws.
At this, Jun Yixie curved his lips into a mocking lilt and laughed disdainfully. “Certainly!” So speaking, he really did let go of Han Yunxi’s neck. But at the same time, he grabbed her shamelessly around the waist!
“Jun Yixie!” Long Feiye gnashed his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly that the joints cracked against each other. The noise they made was markedly obvious in the silent secret chamber.
Jun Yixie swept his gaze across the ground covered in flesh-eating rats and smiled coldly. “Long Feiye, I hope that we never…meet again!” Then he tightened his grip on Han Yunxi and turned to leave.
“Jun Yixie, your lordship will make you regret this!” Long Feiye raged. He was close on the verge of shouting Han Yunxi’s name, but in the end he didn’t. Jun Yixie’s shoulder was heavily injured, but why wasn’t this woman resisting him? She had an arsenal full of hidden weapons and a pouch full of poisons! As Jun Yixie’s arrogant figure gradually drew further away, it vanished into the distant secret passage. Meanwhile, the flesh-eating rats circled around the door as usual without any plans to scatter. Heaven knows when they’d finally leave.
“Strange…” the white-robed man murmured to himself.
The flesh-eating rats were creatures summoned by the poison beast to deal with intruders. Because the secret chamber carried the scent of the poison beast, the flesh-eating rats feared to go inside. But he couldn’t figure out why they had avoided Han Yunxi and Jun Yixie. Back at the Xuan gold door, they were perfectly willing to attack Han Yunxi. And hadn’t Jun Yixie been chased down by them as well?
Why did they suddenly stop attacking those two?
“Where’s the poison beast?” the white-robed man took another glance into the secret chamber, not understanding. He didn’t spend too much time looking, though. Taking a deep breath, he placed a hand over his heart and quickly chased after Jun Yixie…