PROPELLED BY QI, the debris exploded outward. The onlookers had no time to dodge; fragments of tile sliced toward them, opening bloody scratches on their heads and faces.
The two fighters remained unscathed in the eye of the storm, shielded by their qi. Yet they faced no less pressure than the onlookers. Feng Xiao couldn't guess Xiao Lü's thoughts at that moment, but he himself only had one: When swimming against the current, one must keep pushing forward or be swept away.
In their previous fight, Xiao Lü had concealed his identity and feigned incompetence; Feng Xiao had been unable to assess his true abilities. This time, though mentally prepared, he was still secretly shocked by the strength of his opponent. Xiao Lü, having fully absorbed the Jade of Heaven Lake, now possessed unfathomable internal power. Supported by this vast reservoir of energy, his martial arts had reached unprecedented heights.
Feng Xiao really might find victory difficult to achieve. But even if his odds were slim, he couldn't afford to lose.
Fengyun Tavern lay in ruins around them. The two men traded strikes amid the debris, their palms colliding thrice. Xiao Lü sustained a blow to the shoulder, while Feng Xiao took a strike to the ribs. They both fell back three steps, but a keen observer could spot the subtle difference between them—Xiao Lü's steps were smaller than Feng Xiao's.
But Xiao Lü didn't press his attack. He pulled back, waiting for Feng Xiao to reveal a weakness.
Feng Xiao waited as well, secretly regulating his breathing. Qi rose from the dantian in one's lower abdomen, then split at the Baihui point at the top of the head, flowing down into the rest of the body in two streams. As he breathed, his injured meridians were soothed, showing gradual signs of recovery. But it wasn't enough. Xiao Lü wouldn't give him time to heal. He was only biding his time until he saw the perfect moment to strike.
Qi swirled around them, current and countercurrent, gently testing one another. The instant one of them withdrew, the peaceful facade would drop, and the qi would swirl up, savage and howling.
Dark clouds swarmed overhead, and heavy raindrops began to fall. The combatants seemed not to notice as they let the rain soak their clothes.
Feng Xiao closed his eyes, plunging himself into an endless darkness where light and shadow faded. His qi waned like rain clouds chased by the wind—struggling to gather despite the futility of their efforts.
Xiao Lü shot forward. Brandishing a bare longsword, he moved with the same swiftness as his sword glare. It painted a dazzling streak through the rainy night as he hurtled toward Feng Xiao like a shooting star.
Resigned, Feng Xiao watched him come. The sword glare bore down on him, yet he merely pressed a hand to his injured abdomen in apparent disregard for the danger.
Qin Miaoyu gasped. Her sweaty palms were so cold she forgot she was still sitting in a puddle of muddy rainwater. Feng Xiao was their only hope right now. If he fell, Cui Buqu might survive, but Xiao Lü would show no mercy to the rest. What was more, Qin Miaoyu originally hailed from the Buyeo Sect, which was loyal to the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai. She was a traitor to Xiao Lü.
Initially, she'd joined the Jiejian Bureau merely to save herself, but over time she'd grown accustomed to her new life. The Buyeo Sect's members were spies and assassins; they couldn't operate in the open. While the Jiejian Bureau, too, completed clandestine missions from time to time, the atmosphere was nothing like the harsh indifference of the Buyeo Sect. At least she had a kind-hearted boss like Ming Yue and a dimwitted but easy-to-bully colleague like Pei Jingzhe.
But her survival tonight didn't depend on her. Qin Miaoyu could only hope that Feng Xiao, who prided himself on being best in the world, would demonstrate his true prowess tonight. At the very least he ought to show some compassion for his pitiful subordinates, who earned meager salaries and were always running to and fro.
She couldn't resist sneaking a look at the man beside her. Cui Buqu was also watching the fight. Qin Miaoyu had sealed his acupoints to stop the bleeding, but this didn't alleviate the pain. His shoulder blade remained shattered.
Qin Miaoyu understood that kind of pain. She'd once suffered a broken arm in a fight. The agony had been unbearable, only eased through groans and tears. But Cui Buqu didn't shed a tear or utter a single groan. He remained silent, keenly observing the unfolding battle as if he wasn't injured at all.
What strength of will was required to ignore such bone-crushing pain? Qin Miaoyu couldn't imagine it.
A loud bang echoed over the street as qi collided. She whirled to see that Xiao Lü's sword glare had halted just two fingers' width from Feng Xiao. Feng Xiao's palm flipped smoothly from his abdomen into an open-handed strike aimed at Xiao Lü's face. At the same moment, his other hand unleashed a string.
The string and sword qi collided with a thunderous roar, and the two sprang apart. They touched down on opposite eaves, landing lightly as drifting feathers, their footing as steady as a mountain. After a beat, a stream of bright crimson trickled from the corner of Feng Xiao's mouth.
Xiao Lü remained serene, sword in one hand and his other arm tucked behind his back.
Qin Miaoyu was shocked. Oh no. Her boss was clearly the one at a disadvantage.
Yet strangely, Xiao Lü didn't attempt a finishing blow. Sword glare and zither string clashed again, but this time, it felt as though the two had reached some unspoken understanding. Neither struck with their full power, cautiously testing one another as they advanced and retreated, light and shadow weaving together in the rain. While this jousting of qi was thrilling in itself, it lacked the spectacle of a life-and-death struggle.
Could it be that Xiao Lü had been enchanted by her boss's handsome face and couldn't bear to end the life of this incredible beauty? But that was impossible. From what she'd seen, Xiao Lü might have some sympathy for Cui Buqu, but he would show no mercy to Feng Xiao. And given Feng Xiao's pride, it was impossible for him to truly compromise and act the submissive wife, as he was doing now.
There had to be something she'd missed.
Qin Miaoyu was baffled, but Feng Xiao knew exactly what had happened. He'd played a little trick, taking advantage of the rain and night fog as cover to intertwine three zither strings into one. With a swift flick, the string had split again and struck Xiao Lü in the lower abdomen. Now that his opponent was also injured, things were a little fairer. Feng Xiao smirked.
Xiao Lü flipped his wrist, unleashing a sword glare that undulated like the tide crashing in waves upon the shore. It came toward Feng Xiao like a mountain on the brink of collapse, boulders and pine trees tumbling from its peak. Like Mount Tai crumbling or the Yellow River breaching its banks, heaven and earth shook as the rocks collapsed and the waters surged up.
This attack was nature manifest, great enough to astonish even the gods. Feng Xiao felt as though he was walking alone at the foot of a towering mountain caving in on itself, struggling against a relentless flood. Pressure closed in around him, stifling his movements and forcing him backward. He felt an overwhelming urge to kneel and plead for mercy, to beg the unforgiving heavens to spare his life.
As he gazed around his mind's eye, all he could see was desolation. Everything but the mountain had been reduced to ashes. Those who prided themselves on being blessed by heaven were but a drop in the ocean, insignificant amid such profound change. The heavens and earth, the wind and rain, all howled at him to kneel and submit, just as those already consumed by the torrent had—lowering their heads to the ground before dissolving into ashes as their souls scattered away.
But how could Feng Xiao submit? His lip curled in a sneer.
As far back as Feng Xiao could remember, he had never knelt before heaven and earth, let alone cried or begged for mercy. People pleaded with him. He had never pleaded with others.
He came as he pleased, left as he liked. The wealth and nobility of the human world, the ultimate summit of martial arts, the heavenly will as it was wrought upon the secular realm—he didn't give a damn about any of it!
If Feng Xiao failed tonight, that invalid would be taken away without his approval. Since when could anyone else decide where Cui Buqu would go and whether he would live or die?
If my almighty self cannot, neither can Xiao Lü!
At that moment, Feng Xiao felt as if he'd broken free of some unseen shackle. He had been confined by the world's rules, but now he realized that both the laws of heaven and the laws of society stemmed from the fragmented chaos of the void. And if they were established from something fragmented, why couldn't he fragment what had already been established?
His skills had greatly improved after absorbing the two sarira, but they remained constrained within his current limits. A persistent fog hung thick before him, preventing him from making any progress. But now, in this moment of desperation, he grasped the path to survival. He cleared the mist and uncovered blue sky beyond, igniting his heart with fighting spirit. His mind was crystal clear.
There were no enemies, there was no Xiao Lü, there was no towering wave of sword qi in front of him. There was only the mountain.
When obstructed by a mountain, blast through the stone. When obstructed by a river, split the waters.
Feng Xiao raised his hand. Three strings shot forward, launching like glittering arrows toward the breach in the raging mountain torrent.
As far as Xiao Lü was concerned, his sword glare was near-flawless. It had transcended all boundaries, and almost no one in the world could overcome it. The only possible weakness lay in the sword glare's angle when it clashed with the opponent's true qi. Still, in a life-and-death battle between experts, it was impossible to predict every outcome. Minor flaws were insignificant. He didn't want to waste any more time battling Feng Xiao. Though his opponent's skills were formidable, they still fell short of his own—that difference would decide the battle's outcome.
The sword glare burst forth like a rainbow, illuminating the dark skies. The three strings swept forward, each taking a slightly different trajectory. With absolute precision, one slid into the gap created by the slight deviation of the sword glare as it collided with Feng Xiao's qi.
Xiao Lü's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that, in such dire straits, Feng Xiao could still launch a counterattack. He grew even more determined to kill him here tonight.
In the blink of an eye, his opponent closed the distance, deflecting the sword glare with his strings as he flew forward. Concentrating all his qi into his palm, Feng Xiao struck, leaving Xiao Lu no way to evade.
Qin Miaoyu's wide-open eyes saw two shadowy figures, thin as wispy smoke, separate. Quiet coughs and muffled groans echoed through the debris, leaving her unable to discern which man the sound came from.
While she hesitated, Ming Yue leapt into action, as if he'd been preparing for this moment all along. He jumped up from the ground, charged toward Xiao Lü, and struck out with his palm.
Xiao Lü and Ming Yue's palms slammed into each other. The third chief crumpled to the ground like a broken paper kite, but Xiao Lü too staggered back several steps. He wasn't smiling anymore—only cold murderous intent remained.
As he glanced over, a chill ran through Qin Miaoyu's heart, and her body went stiff. But Xiao Lü's eyes didn't settle on her. His gaze swept past, alighting on Cui Buqu for the briefest moment.
Xiao Lü's cold voice reached their ears, but the man himself had drifted away. "Looks like I must ask Cui-xiong for pointers some other time. I won't forget the humiliation of Lingbo Villa's destruction."
Qin Miaoyu was momentarily stunned. She asked stupidly, "He left, just like that?"
Ming Yue pushed himself up into all fours and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood mingled with shredded flesh. He'd clearly sustained severe internal injuries from Xiao Lü's last palm strike.
"He was seriously injured," Cui Buqu said softly. "He still had some strength left, but so did Feng Xiao. Xiao Lü couldn't guarantee his victory, so he left."
Feng Xiao was incredulous. "I was the one who stymied him just now. Why did he only say farewell to you?"
Cui Buqu's face was drawn, yet his eyes remained bright and keen. A hint of a smile flickered within them, softening that sharp edge and lending a gentleness to the raindrops that fell around him. "Maybe because the only opponent he cares about is me?"
Feng Xiao snorted coldly. "If you both admire each other so much, why not just go with him?"
He advanced slowly toward Cui Buqu, still cloaked in bloodlust and murderous intent, like an evil Asura or the lord of the underworld.
Qin Miaoyu lifted her gaze and saw Feng Xiao's cold eyes. Just as when Xiao Lü had glanced at her earlier, she felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. Her reason screamed for her to run away, yet her body remained frozen.
Yet Cui Buqu had the presence of mind to sigh with regret. "He left too quickly; there wasn't time."
Feng Xiao strode up and dropped to one knee before him, though only to make it easier to look down on him. "You could have easily stayed in your secure governor's residence and let us mutilate each other. What on earth possessed you to come all the way here?"
"Just passing by."
"I saw you say 'worth it.'"
"You must be blind."
Feng Xiao narrowed his eyes. "You said you would entrust your back to me."
Cui Buqu's face was devoid of expression. "What I meant was that I would take over the Jiejian Bureau after your death. There's no need to thank me. Helping others is the foundation of happiness, and we've known each other for some time, after a—"
Barely a minute had passed and he was denying everything. Feng Xiao laughed in anger. Rather than waste time arguing, he took hold of Cui Buqu's chin and lowered his head, swallowing those unfinished words.