Chapter 550: Can you be any stupider?
If possible, Han Yunxi didn’t want to run at all! But what else could she do? When she’d set Lil Thing against the poison butterflies to clear the way for Long Feiye, she had felt she’d been an asset. Now she was a burden all the same.
It really was a sad thing to know no martial arts.
Han Yunxi ran helter skelter into the deeper depths of the tunnel. If she headed from Long Feiye instead, he might not even notice her in the middle of his fight. There was always a chance that a stray arrow would shoot her dead instead. By contrast, running deeper into the tunnels with Lil Thing in hand gave her immunity against any poison threats to head her way.
As she ran, she tugged constantly at Lil Thing’s claws, hoping to wake it up. But Lil Thing had eaten so much of its fill that it was still dead asleep. It had no idea what was going on around it. Behind her, the old woman was in hot pursuit. She executed a series of flips and was soon standing right in front of Han Yunxi, who released more poison needles to attack. While the old woman dodged, Han Yunxi turned and turned towards the entrance of the tunnel. The old woman was quick to react and leaped in front of Han Yunxi…only for her to turn tail and resume running deeper into the tunnel.
Han Yunxi was clearly playing tricks on her!
“You’re seeking death!” the black-robed woman doubled back and landed right in front of Han Yunxi, before grabbing her by the neck. But before she could apply any pressure, Han Yunxi pulled out the hairpin from her head and stabbed it into the woman’s shoulder. The old woman was caught by surprise. She never expected a damned girl who didn’t even know martial arts to have such quick reflexes! She slapped Han Yunxi aside before discovering that her shoulder had been poisoned.
“You put poison in your hairpin!” she cried in alarm. She might have caught Han Yunxi if she tried to poison her in real time, but no one would guard against a poisoned hairpin unless they were extra cautious. She had been practicing poisons for years, but this was the first time she’d been so easily had. Young Master Tianyin was right. This girl has extraordinary poison skills.
Han Yunxi crawled to her feet, blood dribbling from a corner of her lips. The slap just then had left her face stinging, but she still managed to prop herself up and say coldly, “You realized it too late!”
“Damned girl, hand over the antidote!” the old woman stalked forward.
Han Yunxi didn’t avoid her, but gave out a cold laugh. “Come, then! I’ll hand it over once you’re here.”
The black-robed woman halted. If she got too close, Heaven knows what other kind of poisons the girl might try on her. She still hadn’t figured out what kind of poison was in her shoulder now, only that it was unbearably itchy.
“What, you don’t want the antidote anymore?” Han Yunxi provoked. In truth, she had no more tricks left. She was only taking the chance to bluff and buy time for Long Feiye to come back.
“Toss it over!” the black-robed woman demanded as she endured the itching.
Han Yunxi gave a snort of contempt. “I’m just joking. Do you really think I’m afraid of you? Let me tell you now, if you take another step forward, I promise your entire shoulder will rot away!”
“Rot away?” the old woman laughed out loud. “Damned girl. I might not be able to cure this poison, but I still know how they work! This is only itching. Who are you trying to fool?”
Feeling resentful, Han Yunxi quietly backed away. There was a limit to the effects of her hairpin’s poison. Moreover, not every poison could keep its potency after being applied on her jewelry while remaining undetected. Those who could were all non-lethal poisons. As a poisons master herself, Han Yunxi was quite clear that poison experts had greater tolerance for toxins than other people. Her opponent was fully capable of enduring the effects of this one. Still, she kept up her swagger and beckoned her with her finger, her expression provocative.
“Come here. Let’s have you experience what a real rotting shoulder feels like.”
The old woman actually grew fearful and kept her distance. Han Yunxi was privately rejoicing when the old woman actually revealed the hand she was hiding behind her back, which held an ebony bow!
“You really are from the Chu Clan!” Han Yunxi exclaimed angrily.
“This old woman’s been waiting for you for a long time,” the old woman said before notching an arrow and letting loose. Han Yunxi dodged as best as she could, having no other choice. She tumbled to the side, her heart pounding from the aftershocks. After experiencing life and death in one storm of arrows, she was quite clear on their destructive powers.
What now?
The black-robed woman was already aiming another arrow at her, about to shoot again.
“Wait!” Han Yunxi exclaimed.
The old woman only snorted and pressed her fingers over the release mechanism. She wasn’t about to give Han Yunxi a chance to flee.
“Just who send you to kill me?! At least let me die content!” Han Yunxi asked. Even here, she was holding out hope that Long Feiye could rush back at the last second.
The black-robed woman only laughed out loud. “That person wanted you…to die discontent!”
“I can give you double whatever they offered you!”
The old woman only shot her a sympathetic glance. Although she didn’t reply, she wasn’t going to waste any more words. The arrow cocked onto her bow. In that matter, Han Yunxi really felt afraid. Her mind went blank despite the fact that she was staring death in the eye. She never thought it could come so soon, or so suddenly. The only person left in her brain was Long Feiye. What is he going to do if I die today?
“Go die!” the woman yelled as she released the arrow. With a whoosh, it shot towards Han Yunxi, who squeezed her eyes shut. But no matter how long she waited, she didn’t die.
What happened?
As soon as she opened her eyes, it was to see a thick network of webs surrounding them, covered with black spiders. Not far from her was the arrow, caught in mid-air by sticky strands of the stuff. The black-robed woman had been tied up by the spiders as well and was currently trying to struggle free. Han Yunxi touched Lil Thing in her sleeve, but the creature was still fast asleep! Had the spiders in the tunnel saved her for Lil Thing’s sake?
However, the old woman had dared to lie in wait here, which meant she didn’t fear the black spiders. Before long, she found a way to break free from the wed. Han Yunxi simply climbed to her feet and fled deeper into the tunnel, hoping that the spiders could delay her pursuer some more. As she ran further into the tunnel, the surface actually began to slope upwards. By the end, Han Yunxi was practically crawling up its surface until she spotted an opening leading out.
As the black-robed woman had yet to catch up, Han Yunxi rejoiced and simply sprinted out of the tunnel. But her hopes were quickly dashed. The first thing she saw in front of her was none other than a cliff! In the midst of her despair, she suddenly spotted an overhanging not far below and to the right of her. Perched atop the surface was a distant spot of seductive red.
“Gu Qishao!” Han Yunxi shouted. When she recalled the division of the five tunnels back underground, she was certain that cliff was the opening to the first tunnel. If she hadn’t been so high up, she wouldn’t have spotted it at all!
She was too far away to see what Gu Qishao was doing, but she was certain the scarlet figure was his. Perhaps even he hadn’t realized there was another cliff opening above him.
“Gu Qishao! Gu Qishao! I’m over here!” Han Yunxi yelled at the top of her lungs. But she wasn’t loud enough to beat the roar of the wind, so Gu Qishao couldn’t hear her. She next tried tossing a stone at him, but the same winds blew it off course, so she launched some needles from the Pear Blossom Teardrop Rain next. Unfortunately, the needles were even lighter than the stones, so they couldn’t travel half as far. The wind blew them all away.
Han Yunxi was getting desperate enough to jump off the cliff herself. At that moment, a single arrow flew out of the tunnel past Han Yunxi, narrowly missing her. The old woman had caught up, but Han Yunxi had no more room to run. Instead of shooting her outright, the old woman approached her step by step, her weapon aimed at Han Yunxi.
“Damned girl, those poison spiders actually protected you? What are your origins?” the old woman didn’t understand. She had stood guard in the underground palace for a year before coming to understand all its creatures, but had no way to control them. Why would those poison spiders protect this girl?
Could it be, she’s related to the Poison Sect?
“Take a guess!” Han Yunxi’s back was soaked in sweat. Still, she kept a cool expression and sought to drag out time as much as she could.
Long Feiye, if you don’t come to pick me up now, there won’t be anyone left waiting for you.
“You want to stall for time?” the old woman was astute enough to guess her ploy. She smiled and notched her arrow. Han Yunxi knew she couldn’t escape this time, so she stared at her with her eyes wide open. If she was destined to die, it’d be nice to a see a little more of this world before she left!
But at that moment, she saw him. He was in her world in this very moment!
Like an illusion, he abruptly appeared behind the old woman. She couldn’t be any more familiar with his handsome, ice-cold face and those eyes she adored, both deep and fathomless. The moment he raised his sword, the old woman sensed him there, but it was too late for her to turn back. The blade sliced up and through the hand holding the bow, causing it to drop on the ground with her weapon in a trail of blood. The old woman was too shocked to even scream from pain, and simply stared at him blankly.
His gaze turned even colder. This time, his sword swiped downwards, its wicked tip impaling the woman through her foot to pin her to the ground.
“Ahhhh!” the old woman shrieked, too pained to remember her poisons. Han Yunxi took deep breaths as she wavered between shock, joy, and fear. The sight of Long Feiye’s familiar form almost made her burst into tears.
Long Feiye, you’re finally here!
Long Feiye looked towards her next. Han Yunxi was about to speak, but he suddenly roared, “Han Yunxi, could you be any stupider? Don’t you know you should’ve run the other way?!”
As soon as he killed off all the archers, he’d turned back to look for her but didn’t see anyone. Instead, there was a pile of poison spider corpses. Following the trail had led to to witness her attempted assassination. Han Yunxi had narrowly lost her lift to an arrow. He wasn’t sure whether he was more angry or afraid, but the other hand he hid behind his back hadn’t stopped trembling since.
Han Yunxi was scared speechless by his shout and stood there unmoving.
“Hurry and get over here!” Even as he shouted, Long Feiye made to move towards her instead.
But at this moment, the old woman behind him suddenly…
Today’s announcement post features commentary on Legend of Yun Xi by its lead actress, Ju Jingyi! It’s cute, so take a look if you haven’t already and have some time to spare. ^-^