Chapter 39 – The Threat

Neither Zhan Changfeng nor Gongsun Jing wanted to play the fool who fights while a third party reaps the rewards — they separated the moment they made contact and did not strike again.

The sword thrust Zhan Changfeng had driven into Wu Cheng back then had been delivered with lethal intent; even if it hadn’t killed him, it should have left him gravely wounded. Yet here he was, appearing perfectly unharmed.

Wu Xingshan’s abilities could not be measured by ordinary standards.

What Zhan Changfeng was more interested in, however, was what kind of relationship Wu Cheng and Wu Xingshan currently shared.

Parasitic cohabitation?

Half-fusion?

Coexistence?

Controller and controlled?

Whatever the case, the mere thought of two people sharing one body made her skin crawl. If it were her, she would absolutely never allow such a situation to arise — regardless of whether the inhabiting soul was harmful or not, it ought to be excised entirely, even if it meant mutual destruction.

Her reason for wanting to kill Wu Xingshan back then was only partially due to what he had done to the Founding Emperor. The greater part was that he had actually dared to attempt an invasion of her soul sea.

Zhan Changfeng’s sense of sovereignty over herself was even more ferocious than her obsession with cleanliness. Her fastidiousness could be suppressed depending on the situation, but her sovereignty — that she would not yield by even a fraction.

If one could not even command one’s own mind, one’s own body, one’s own soul, then being alive was a genuine waste.

Wu Cheng somehow managed to read a overwhelming, crushing disdain from that handsome, cold face. He curled his lip and leapt down from the upper floor. “Be a good boy and surrender quietly. Save yourself the suffering.”

Gongsun Jing’s expression was icy. His fingers flicked out a porcelain vial, pouring out a cloud of mist that expanded to several zhang in the wind, wrapping him at its center. “You play with a few insects and think yourself somebody. Who gave you that confidence?!”

Wu Cheng quietly released one of his insects; the moment it touched the mist, it ceased advancing entirely. His heart tightened — he could tell these people were not ordinary — but he deliberately ignored this and snapped back, “Who was even talking to you?!”

His gaze fixed on Zhan Changfeng, burning with intensity.

Zhan Changfeng was indifferent. “This nameless individual wants my Dragon Scale Divine Scripture. What do you want?”

“You know perfectly well what you took away — that was something the Founding Master spent countless years of his heart and soul cultivating!”

Unwilling to be ignored by both of them, the nameless individual sneered coldly at Zhan Changfeng. “Looks like you’re carrying quite a few treasures.”

“Do you think I could hide a flower on my person?” Zhan Changfeng raised an eyebrow. “But I won’t tell you where it is.”

Wu Cheng’s expression darkened. What was that supposed to mean?

Gongsun Jing was still sneering coldly — but then he saw Zhan Changfeng glance toward him. “The Dragon Scale Divine Scripture is inside my head. Unless I speak, you will never obtain it.”

Gongsun Jing’s expression darkened as well, his eyes flickering.

Zhan Changfeng delivered her conclusion. “I will only cooperate with one person, and give that person the one thing they want.”

Sowing discord, was she?

Gongsun Jing scoffed arrogantly. “Hmph. You’re nothing but two clowns. Dealing with both of you is well within my means.”

“…” Wu Cheng, who had just been considering joining forces with him, shut his mouth. Where did this insufferable second-generation brat come from? What the hell was this guy?

“Heh heh, looks like we’ll each have to rely on our own abilities then!”

As for cooperating with Zhan Changfeng — that was even more impossible. Wu Cheng still vividly remembered the soul-tearing agony of a sword piercing through his abdomen!

The Gaotian Tribe did not practice martial arts; they dealt in venomous gu. But their gu had not yet reached the level of being able to poison the heavens and the earth. As a result, the two opponents they faced today — one wrapped in mist that the gu insects could not approach, and one capable of freezing insects to death outright — spelled disaster. It was as though layer after layer of coal ash was being smeared across Wu Cheng’s face.

Yet with Wu Cheng present, Zhan Changfeng and Gongsun Jing could not go all out either. The three restrained and countered one another, and the situation fell into a deadlock.

Suddenly, Wu Cheng smiled. “Give me that thing, and I’ll help you hold him down — how about it?”

“There’s no need for you to—” Zhan Changfeng hadn’t even finished speaking when Gongsun Jing swiftly scattered a cloud of powder. In an instant of dizziness, Zhan Changfeng found her vital points sealed.

She pressed her lips together slightly. “What is this substance?”

Gongsun Jing’s mood lifted greatly. “This is Bewildering Powder. Even a slight inhalation will cloud one’s mind and drastically weaken one’s cultivation! Hmph — chatting idly with others in the middle of a fight. This is the consequence.”

Zhan Changfeng was quiet for a moment. “Exactly who are you? The Yin Dynasty has controlled this land for eight hundred years. Even those barbarian tribes were nothing more than unruly subjects who split off from our dynasty. Yet there is no record of your people anywhere.”

Beneath Gongsun Jing’s cold arrogance was an undeniable satisfaction and ferocity of one who has gotten what they wanted. “Listen well, you of the Yi surname — I am of the Gongsun clan!”

“…The surviving bloodline of the ancient Jialán Tribe?”

“Precisely!”

So it was yet another sin committed by the Founding Emperor. That Dragon Scale Divine Scripture truly hadn’t been taken for nothing — both karmic debts left behind by the Founding Emperor had come crashing down onto her.

Gongsun Jing leaned close to her ear and spoke in a low, dark murmur, vicious and unbridled. “Your Yin clan nearly exterminated us entirely — but now, we have returned!”

We have returned, and we shall crush the Yin Empire to dust!

“So all these centuries, your people have been hiding in…” Zhan Changfeng spoke calmly. “Cangyun Ravine.”

Gongsun Jing’s expression shifted violently, killing intent surging. “How do you know of Cangyun Ravine?!”

“Hmph.”

Wu Cheng was growing anxious. Hadn’t this woman been brimming with confidence just moments ago? How had she been captured in the blink of an eye? If she’s captured, what’s going to happen to my flower?!

Wu Cheng waved a hand and the four members of the Gaotian Tribe closed in. “Your subordinates are finished. Hand her over to me, and I’ll let you leave!”

“Brazen words!” Gongsun Jing swept his gaze over his fallen subordinates, his heart heavy.

He was alone now. While he wasn’t afraid of Wu Cheng and the others, letting go meant Zhan Changfeng would escape — but not letting go meant he couldn’t leave either.

If he hadn’t been so utterly confident in the Bewildering Powder, he might almost have suspected Zhan Changfeng had allowed herself to be captured on purpose.

Damn it.

The sky was darkening. The fishing lanterns on the river barely reached this place as faint, flickering light. Everyone was caught in that half-dark, half-lit twilight, faces unreadable.

Gongsun Jing’s mist had a time limit — it was thinning with the passage of time. He noticed it. Zhan Changfeng noticed it. Wu Cheng noticed it too.

Wu Cheng held all the cards. “Right now you still have a chance to leave. A moment from now — who can say?”

The killing intent was blatant.

“Quite right.” Zhan Changfeng expressed her agreement, which made Gongsun Jing want to stab her on the spot.

“Even if I die, I’ll drag you down with me!”

“I must respectfully decline.”

Would you two ever stop?!

Wu Cheng kept feeling something was off. This woman who’d been captured was entirely too calm — so calm it reminded him of what had happened at the ancient tomb…

“Ah!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two members of the Gaotian Tribe were dragged into the darkness. Something extraordinary had occurred.

While everyone was still in shock — a flash!

The eerie creature struck again!

This time everyone saw it clearly — it was a massive serpent. With a single sweep of its tail, it dragged yet another member of the Gaotian Tribe into the shadowy undergrowth, and agonized screams rang out without cease!

“Heh, what a fine night and beautiful scene — what a shame to let it go to waste.”

A graceful silhouette approached from the end of the street, wreathed in dim radiance with elongated shadows stretching crookedly behind her — like a demon of the night.

Wu Cheng’s face went white as a sheet, and he nearly fled in a panic! That woman who wouldn’t stop haunting him!

And at that very moment, Zhan Changfeng abruptly lifted her head, condensing her soul force into a needle and driving it into Gongsun Jing’s Baihui acupoint.

Beyond the Baihui acupoint lay the soul sea — the very seat of the soul. Gongsun Jing immediately crumpled, his body trembling too violently to stand.

“You—!”

“‘You’ what?” Zhan Changfeng brushed a crease from her sleeve, showing not the slightest trace of weakness.

The Bewildering Powder might work on humans, but she — was not entirely human.

In her undead state she was practically half-lich right now so that small amount of medicine had absolutely no effect on her.

Gongsun Jing had held her captive for so long without ever noticing she wasn’t breathing. He truly had been too arrogant.

“You did this on purpose!”

“Too late.” Zhan Changfeng swung her sword down, its cold light sharp and piercing!

This time Gongsun Jing experienced genuine terror, his eyes filled with nothing but that terrifying gleam of cold light.

“You can’t—!”

His head rolled to the ground.

Although Zhan Changfeng liked to say a word or two when the mood struck her, when it came to killing she was clean and decisive, never wasting words.

But at that very moment, a streak of bloody light flew out from Gongsun Jing’s body and, at a speed that left no time to react, struck Zhan Changfeng’s wrist.

Yet it did not hurt.

Zhan Changfeng raised her hand to look — emblazoned clearly on her wrist was a Bauhinia flower.

Her eyes darkened slightly. The Bauhinia was the national flower of the Jialán Kingdom. Had she been marked as a target?

Meanwhile, elsewhere —

In the Great Hall, a robed figure erupted in fury. “Who was it — who killed my beloved disciple?!”