Chapter 705: His Highness Duke of Qin’s reward (2)
Everyone sucked in a cold breath. Even the Carefree City group was stunned, while pandemonium had broken out atop the city walls. Lady Leng Yue's face had completely turned black.
Massacre the city? How could he be so cruel?!
Han Yunxi was stunned as well, but this was Long Feiye's style thorough and thorough. Since he made a detour specifically to this city, he wouldn't show an ounce of mercy. A massacre was cruel, but which member of that city wasn't cruel themselves? Which one wasn't a professional killer who murdered men? Who hadn't exterminated entire families in their time? How many of them even followed Confucian principles of morality and fidelity, much less justice and honor? All their lives, they had only followed the creed of murder for money.
Han Yunxi was a doctor, but faced with forces like these, she'd long hidden away her own sympathy. Affairs of the jianghu should follow laws of the jianghu as well! In fact, the denizens of Carefree City quite liked Long Feiye's ruthless style. They immediately agreed with his challenge.
Third Elder Qi laughed out loud and said, "Since when has Lady Leng Yue turned into a tortoise who shrinks in her shell?"
Meanwhile, the rest of the jianghu group went to stand on Long Feiye's side as well.
"This scum of the jianghu! If we don't destroy her den, they'll rise again from the ashes one day!"
"Your Highness Duke of Qin is wise and brilliant. Destroying the City of Daughters today will act as a warning to the rest. It's about time we put some fear into these crooked schools and evil sects."
Now the Carefree City group grew unhappy at the words. Fortunately, Third Elder Qi held them back before a fight could break out between the forces and turn everyone into a laughingstock.
Such warnings only incensed Lady Leng Yue. "Long Feiye, don't be so brash. Do you really think this old woman's afraid of you lot?"
Around her, six to seven other assassin clan heads chorused, "City Lord, we'll pledge our lives to protect this city. No one is allowed inside a step!"
Lady Leng Yue had already decided on the duel, but Leng Shuangshuang held her back and muttered, "Mother, you mustn't fall for their psychological ploys! They've come prepared to use their strength to bully the weak!"
Perhaps it was the fact that she held no real fury towards His Highness Duke of Qin, but Leng Shuangshuang was still clear minded in the midst of all this chaos. The City of Daughters was no weakling. Despite losing half of their experts at Lost Void Lake, they still stood strong. However, Long Feiye had gathered up Carefree City and various martial arts circle experts to vastly suppress their power. This was the inevitable truth.
On one side, the eldest daughter Leng Bingling1 added with a murmur, "Mother, now isn't the time to let your emotions affect your decisions. We have to outwit them!"
Lady Leng Yue finally calmed down. Although she wasn't willing, she had to face the truth: their only choice now was to escape. Everything now had been her fault. If she had refused Bai Yanqing's offer, the City of Daughters wouldn't have fallen to disaster today. As the City Lord, she was responsible for shouldering the consequences. She had already pit herself against Long Feiye at Lost Void Lake, but it was only a cursory duel. At first, Duanmu Yao and Han Yunxi had gotten involved as well. Then Han Yunix had crippled her twin swords. More than Long Feiye, Lady Leng Yue hated Han Yunxi the most!
If she fought Long Feiye in a duel and lost control of her swords again, she'd have no chance of victory.
What to do now? How can we outwit them?
While Lady Leng Yue hesitated, Long Feiye's patience ran out. He simply unsheathed his sword, which signaled the other three groups to draw their own weapons. Immediately, the situation turned tense with weapons flashing.
Lady Leng Yue panicked and shouted, "Long Feiye, if this lady duels with you, what are the terms for the losers and winners?"
Long Feiye laughed coldly. "Your lordship has already said that I'm here for revenge, not to throw down a challenge. Where does victory or defeat play in? With you dead, the City of Daughters will belong wholly to me. Your lordship's revenge will be done by then."
Lady Leng Yue was still the ruler of an entire city and her own clan! If she could accept such a slight, even outsiders would look down on her, to say nothing of the City of Daughters. For an assassin, victory or defeat laid in life or death. Without hesitation, she flew down the city walls and cried, "Fine! Long Feiye, either you or I shall die today!"
"Go back to the carriage and wait for your reward," Long Feiye muttered to Han Yunxi as he released her hand.
Reward?
The City of Daughters?
Han Yunxi's heart beat fast, unable to believe his words. She was a good-for-nothing when it came to martial arts, but Long Feiye wanted to award her the City of Daughters? Wasn't that…too much against the natural order?
She quickly took out her magnetite. Seeing this, Lady Leng Yue's hands shook, but Long Feiye didn't take the stone. "No need," he said instead.
Seeing the arrogance in his gaze made Han Yunxi even more anxious and excited. "Alright," she replied, "I'll wait for the reward."
She put the magnetite back in her pouch and returned to the carriage, where the shadow guards immediately moved to form a line of protection against outsiders. Lady Leng Yue was only thrilled that Long Feiye hadn't accepted the magnetite. Beyond that, she was filled with admiration: he was certainly a character!
Of course, her own confidence increased as well. As long as she could maintain her double swordplay, she didn't fear Long Feiye. No matter how formidable he was, he was still of the junior generation. His internal energy and battle experience couldn't hope to compare to an old veteran of the jianghu like herself.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd grew uneasy when they realized Long Feiye meant to duel her in earnest. Third Elder Qi couldn't help but yell, "Duke of Qin, this isn't the time to flaunt your prestige!"
"Exactly. Your Highness Duke of Qin, didn't you hire us top experts of Carefree City? What do you mean by this?"
"Your Highness Duke of Qin, there's no reason to a one-on-one duel here. Everyone's come today, so we can't simply leave empty handed!"
Each and every word of complaint was rooted in the belief that Long Feiye wouldn't win this fight. Qi Yaotian had once tried to coax the Carefree City city lord to put Long Feiye and Han Yunxi on their blacklist. He had experienced Long Feiye's skills firsthand, but even he didn't believe that the man would beat Lady Leng Yue.
There were five well-known masters in the jianghu. If one ranked them in terms of martial arts skills from greatest to least, then they would be: Celestial Mountain Sword Sect's master, Li Jianxin, Celestial Mountain Sword Sect's head elder, Cang Qiuzi, Tang Clan's (former) clan head, Tang Zijin, Carefree City's city lord Qi Zonglin2, and the City of Daughters' city lord Lady Leng Yue.
Long Feiye was outstanding amongst the younger generation, but he couldn't even make the lists against his elders.
"Your Highness Duke of Qin, we're here to take revenge. Why duel one-on-one? Everyone should attack at once!"
"That's right. That old demoness Leng Yue wrecked so many of our jianghu compatriots. Today, we have to join hands and kill her once and for all."
All of the martial artists wanted to step forward. Han Yunxi looked down on their actions even if she disliked the City of Daughters. It was obvious they wanted to gang up on Lady Leng Yue! By contrast, the Carefree City group was much better behaved. Despite their complaints, they remained where they were.
Long Feiye swept his sword aside to block the jianghu members. "Don't blame your lordship's blade for being indiscriminate if you dare to interfere!"
He wasn't joking, because he slashed with his weapon as soon as he spoke. Its sword awn swept out in a vast arc that left a deep cut across the ground, startling the jianghu faction into backing away. Lady Leng Yue and Carefree City's fighters were alarmed as well. They never thought Long Feiye would have such vast reserves of internal energy to manage such a slash. All they knew now was that they'd underestimated the man, especially Lady Leng Yue herself. She realized that he had just been cooperating with Han Yunxi back there instead of exerting full force.
Just how powerful is this young man?
Not daring to underestimate him further, she took up her sword and split it into two blades again. Long Feiye purposely adjusted himself until he was facing her directly. Silence fell upon the scene. From the carriage, Han Yunxi looked out nervously.
Suddenly, Long Feiye and Lady Leng Yue moved at the same time in a surprise attack. There was a clang as their blades met midway, glowing with energy. But it was obvious that Long Feiye's weapon shone the brighter to overwhelm Lady Leng Yue's. Soon enough, he pressed forward until Lady Leng Yue was forced to block him with both hands on her hilt. But her other, free-flying blade had long reversed to fly towards Long Feiye's back. In this situation, Long Feiye's only choice was to evade the blow, which would give Lady Leng Yue the chance to counter his strike. If she was fast enough, he'd be in definite danger. An exchange between experts could be determined by seconds alone.
Moments before the second blade stabbed into his back, everyone held their breaths. But a sudden burst of true qi next exploded from Long Feiye's form to send the incoming weapon flying backwards!
Heavens! He's suppressing Lady Leng Yue without any support from his internal energy? That outburst of true qi was terrifying.
Seeing this, everyone was stunned and shocked. Just how much true qi has this young man accumulated in the past few years? It's too unexpected!
Between experts, exchanging blows was only secondary to one's internal energy reserves! Long Feiye's show today proved that he deserved to stand amongst the elders. But could he defeat Lady Leng Yue?
She was bearing the brunt of his onslaught while unable to summon her other sword. Completely stuck, she could only hold out and fight Long Feiye's internal energy with her own. Despite her shock, she still refused to believe that his reserves could best hers. And yet, he only pressed closer until she was forced to lean back.
Only two sword lengths separated him and her. His blade pushed against her own, which was already pressed against her body. If Long Feiye used a little more force, he'd end up killing her by her own weapon. Lady Leng Yue's back was soaked in sweat as her face dripped with perspiration. She was already using her full reserves of internal energy to fight against Long Feiye, whose icy expression and even breathing made it obvious that he was still holding back. As everyone watched flabbergasted, Long Feiye lowered his voice.
"Leng Yue, your lordship will give you one last chance. Tell me just who it was that hired you to kidnap Grand Concubine Yi!"
Lady Leng Yue grew stunned. In the end, Long Feiye had still suspected the circumstances of the kidnapping despite Bai Yanqing's careful machinations.
"Will you confess or not?" Long Feiye asked.
"I won't!" Lady Leng Yue would never betray Bai Yanqing.
Long Feiye smiled coldly. "As expected, there's a mastermind behind the scenes."
Only then did Lady Leng Yue realize she'd fallen into a trap. Long Feiye not only suspected the events at Lost Void Lake, but also her own involvement in the mess.
No!
Even if she lost her life, she wouldn't fall into Long Feiye's hands. Her life belonged to Bai Yanqing, so she'd never betray him. Ignoring him, she steeled her resolve and gave up all resistance, preparing to die by her blade.
And yet…
Leng Bingling (冷冰凌) – her name literally means "cold icicle." ↩ Qi Zonglin (齐宗霖) – Qi is a surname meaning "neat, uniform, even," Zong is "ancestor, clan, sec, principal aim/purpose," Lin is "continuous rain." ↩