Chapter 462: The Land of Certain Death, The People of Certain Death

Tianjia Village was dotted with villages of various sizes, crisscrossed by long and short dikes and irrigation channels. It boasted a large orange grove with over six thousand trees, whose Dongting yellow oranges were Grade B tribute items for the imperial palace. However, with the onset of winter, the glorious sight of abundant fruit was gone. Yet, it was customary in the orange grove to leave one orange on each tree, a tradition symbolizing "having leftovers at the end of the year to welcome the new year." Even the most mischievous and gluttonous children in the village, no matter how daring, wouldn't climb the trees to steal them; when playing near the grove, they only dared to gaze longingly from afar. At this moment, the orange grove presented a scattered scene of bright red dots. A young man, dressed like a scholar in a green robe, entered the grove. With a light flick of his finger, he dislodged some withered, weather-beaten red oranges, scooped them all into his arms, and without peeling them, took large bites, devouring half an orange at a time. Beside the elegant scholar was a gaunt, ordinary-looking old man, unremarkable, like a tangerine farmer guarding the orchard. The young man picked up an orange and grinned at the old man, who shook his head, indicating no interest in eating it. Chewing on the pulp and peel, the young man mumbled in the Northern Barbarian language, "This Jiangnan region of Liyang is truly a place where no one can starve. If we ever fight our way here, I'll definitely demand ten thousand acres of fertile land from Li Mibi. As for being an official, that's unnecessary."

The old man glanced at the young man's back, where three cocoon-like holes seemed to have forcefully sealed his wounds. Two sword wounds and one knife wound had pierced his body, yet he was surprisingly still full of vigor. The severely wounded young man paid no mind, devouring an entire bag of oranges, two bites per fruit. He reached out to pat dust from his clothes, which pulled at his wounds, making him grimace in pain. A finger lightly brushed over a cocooned wound on his chest; the other two sword wounds on his body were less problematic. The knife wound under his finger, however, was insidious, caused by a hand-blade strike, scarcely inferior to his own signature move, "Planting Willows for Shade." Thinking of the girl carrying a withered sunflower, the young man felt his head swell with trouble. He wished he had continued to fight the black-clad youth out of the city instead of exchanging opponents with Sword Qi-Jin. At the time, he thought that no matter how fierce the unknown young girl was, she couldn't be stronger than Xu Longxiang, who was born a Vajra. In Shenwu City, he had used a clever sword strike to exchange for Xu Longxiang's two purely powerful sword strikes, and hadn't felt at a disadvantage; in fact, he had a slight advantage. However, he couldn't stand the boy's expressionless gaze as he pulled the "Willow Shade" sword from his body. What a pity for the short sword he always carried; the boy had twisted it into a piece of scrap metal. Yijie Liu, still in his scholar's attire, turned and chuckled gleefully, "Old Moth, I heard Huang Qing fought that kid so fiercely he went through seven or eight swords?"

From the corner of the old man's eye, a tall and robust figure stood on a small mound, seemingly gazing into the distance. Yijie Liu flicked an orange, caught it in his palm, then tossed it to his companion, who was a full head taller than him. Without turning, the person caught the orange and began rolling it between their palms, lost in thought. It was a woman, stoutly built. The clothes she wore would have been too loose for a seven-foot man, yet on her, they appeared tight and restrictive. She wore the five-weapon ornament traditional for Northern Barbarian women on her head, and her face was adorned with yellow forehead dots and dimple marks. Unfortunately, due to her plain appearance, these adornments not only failed to add charm but made her look somewhat incongruous. Around her waist was a jade belt from which hung various small, practical items like a small knife, a small pouch, and a small flint, a veritable array that made her seem like a resourceful woman. Yijie Liu glanced at her, then squatted down, rubbing his cheeks fiercely and sighing heavily. He, along with two other genuine first-rank masters, was still being relentlessly pursued by that little girl. What justice was there in that? He and Old Moth were not only first-rank experts but also top assassins highly skilled in the Spiderweb organization. If word got out, not only would Yijie Liu lose face entirely, but the Spiderweb's reputation would be ruined as well. In a head-on, one-on-one fight, none of them would give the humorless little girl more than a 40% chance of winning. But the girl's assassination methods were endless, making the three of them suffer greatly. Even Old Moth, one of the Spiderweb's "Two Cocoons," said this girl was naturally born for this kind of work. However, the girl's situation was also dire; she had taken Old Moth's "Cocoon Bind" attack and a palm strike from Murong's women, and he had also crippled one of her arms, bringing her close to death. Yet, she refused to give up, continuing to harass them until today. Yijie Liu thought that her next appearance should be the day she completely left the martial world.

Old Moth looked around and muttered to himself, "That girl is skilled in Qimen Dunjia and is an expert in earth and water burrowing techniques. We suffered a loss by the river last time. Princess Murong specifically chose this village with soft soil and numerous ditches, probably intending to generously give her a chance to end this long pursuit, saving everyone the trouble."

Yijie Liu scoffed, "That girl is too clever; she won't fall for it."

Old Moth, the Northern Barbarian Spiderweb elder, shook his head and chuckled, "The little girl's methods are ingenious, but unfortunately, her physique can't keep up. She's been repeatedly wounded and won't last much longer. If the Princess were a bit more ruthless, not even giving her this current opportunity, and the three of us stuck together, that girl might have died silently on the road, which would have been a real shame. After all, the Princess is different from us rough men who live by the sword; she has a broader mind."

Yijie Liu glanced at the stout back of the unusually large-framed woman and chuckled knowingly, "Not just her mind, but her chest and other parts are also somewhat larger."

Old Moth was no sycophant, but he still didn't chime in. After all, the young woman was a favored kinswoman of the Empress. Among the two great imperial clans of Northern Barbarian, there were not only long-renowned martial prodigies like Murong Baoding, but also rising martial arts stars in the younger generation like Yelü Dongchuang and Murong Longshui. These two's cultivation levels surpassed even Tuoba Chunxun, who had newly entered the Vajra realm. Although Princess Murong's appearance was indeed somewhat unconventional, her reputation in Northern Barbarian was good. She was so familiar with the customs and ways of Liyang that she seemed like a scholar from the Central Plains. What was particularly rare was that despite being of imperial blood and possessing exceptional skills, her temperament was not unruly in the slightest. Any other imperial clan woman, hearing Yijie Liu's disrespectful remarks firsthand, would surely have turned red with anger and immediately retaliated.

The woman, renowned like Yelü Dongchuang, rolled the orange in her palm, and for some reason, recalled something. Her aunt had smiled and asked her that if Northern Barbarian were to annex Liyang, it would inevitably adopt Central Plains customs. How long could Northern Barbarian youths remain martial? If they couldn't even maintain it for a hundred years, what would be the point of the iron cavalry's southward advance for Northern Barbarian? At that moment, there was also another princess who favored mink-covered foreheads, and her answer was that sacrificing a million lives for a century of unification after the Qin Dynasty would be a profit, not to mention ensuring her aunt's name would be remembered for a thousand years. Even the most incompetent shopkeeper or the most flawed calculation wouldn't result in a loss. Upon hearing this, her aunt was greatly pleased. Murong Longshui clearly remembered the other princess's piercing gaze, challenging her, when she uttered those words. Murong Longshui's mood darkened somewhat. Traveling with Yijie Liu and the Spiderweb elder, constantly hounded by that little girl, Yijie Liu was clearly infuriated. In the dangerous skirmishes, at least thirty innocent women and children had been killed. Although she disliked this, she ultimately couldn't say much. The superficial peace between Northern Barbarian and Liyang today was bought with the lives of hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers. Several times, Liyang had launched northern expeditions, and fallen soldiers, unable to have their bodies brought south, were buried in makeshift graves on the spot. Over the years, these graves had been dug up countless times by the Northern Barbarians. Maxims like "calamity doesn't extend to wives and daughters," "respect the dead," and "it's better to reconcile enmities than to perpetuate them," which are universally accepted, were often meaningless in the face of national enmity and personal vendetta, becoming a mere joke if mentioned to others. Murong Longshui had traveled alone through Northern Barbarian several times and had seen many children of the North who, despite their ancestors clearly being far from war, would grit their teeth and twist their faces into grimaces at the mention of Liyang, showing not a trace of innocence. In one instance, a tribe had bought a Central Plains woman who had been abducted to Northern Barbarian for a high price. Though several months pregnant, she was disemboweled and killed, and a group of young boys, not yet skilled in horsemanship, wantonly rode their horses over her corpse.

Snapping back to the present, Murong Longshui clearly froze at the sight before her.

A slender girl, carrying a withered sunflower, walked gently towards them.

Over the course of about ten days of mutual pursuit, they had engaged six times in total. Four times, they were led into traps by their opponent but returned without success; if a strike missed, they would each withdraw and seek another opportunity. Twice, however, they had engaged in a true struggle, relentlessly pursuing each other for no less than a hundred li. Yijie Liu taking a vicious hand-blade strike was one such instance, and the little girl's left arm being filled with "Willow Shade" sword qi was another. Murong Longshui's closest encounter with her was while escorting Yijie Liu's escape; in a small alley, the girl, who had concealed her presence hanging from the eaves, slashed obliquely at her neck with a hand-blade. Even with her hands crossed in defense, Murong Longshui was still sent flying several zhang away. However, the girl also fared poorly; she was seized by "Moth Cocoon," one of the Spiderweb's "Two Cocoons," who took the opportunity to bind her with silk. Murong Longshui, disregarding the disadvantage of numbers, sprang up after rolling and landed a solid palm strike on the girl. The young assassin, after crashing through the alley wall, vanished in a flash.

Murong Longshui didn't bear much ill will towards her; it was simply that the little girl's interference had delayed too many pre-arranged plans from the Hand of the Grand Peace Edict, so she had to die.

Yijie Liu stared intently at the young assassin, wondering, "Given her current pathetic state, is there even a sliver of a chance for her to succeed in an assassination? Walking out so openly, does she think we were raised to be scared?"

Old Moth hesitated, "She likely still has a means to take us down with her."

Yijie Liu shook his head, "Given the chaotic qi flow she's revealing, she doesn't have that ability anymore."

Old Moth said gravely, "I recall the Master saying that above qi flow, there is destiny."

Yijie Liu immediately chuckled mischievously, "Princess Murong, this girl is at the end of her rope; she's all yours."

Despite his words, the three first-rank masters still began to spread out quickly. Murong Longshui, descending the slope, took the center position, with Yijie Liu and Old Moth on her left and right, preparing to encircle the little girl who was blindly walking into certain death.

The little girl carrying a withered branch moved her lips slightly.

She seemed to be calculating the distance and her steps.

The four of them suddenly looked up almost simultaneously.

Between the little girl and the trio, an uninvited guest crashed down from the sky with a thud.

Amidst the rising dust, the white-haired young man stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves, his back to the assassin girl, and facing Murong Longshui and her two companions.