Han Yunxi looked at Long Feiye and Tang Li as her mouth twitched. Her stomach was full of doubts, though all she knew was that Long Feiye wanted her to poison someone to death. As for the specifics, she didn't know a thing. But it looked like the difficulty would be quite high. The two men faced off, Long Feiye standing strong on one side, his potent aura the obvious winner.
"You and her are both coming. Cut the useless chatter and hand it over, or else your lordship will bring you back to the Tang Clan immediately," Long Feiye used his last vestiges of diplomacy.
"You!" Tang Li felt depressed. He'd only escaped his wedding with difficulty, so he'd rather die than return. Long Feiye's hand was already in front of him, so Tang Li could only compromise. "Long Feiye, you better guarantee that woman can poison those people to death. Otherwise, there won't be a next time!" So speaking, he reluctantly revealed a black, diamond-shaped weapon in his palm and handed it over.
That's the legendary Pear Blossom Rain Needles?
Han Yunxi immediately crept closer for a look, her eyes sparkling as if lit by lanterns. Long Feiye pondered as he looked at her. He was about to activate the switch when Tang Li hastened to stop him. "For goodness' sakes, don't waste it, all right?"
As soon as the mechanism was pressed, it'd launch and waste a needle. Each Pear Blossom Rain Needle could store 27 individual needles, so it could only kill 27 opponents. Heaven knows what kind of rare treasure could truly catch Long Feiye's eye, but he allowed Tang Li to get anxious without really pressing the switch. He was only gesturing so Han Yunxi knew how to use it.
A good assassination weapon was not only quick and strong, but easy to use. After a simple demonstration from Long Feiye, Han Yunxi immediately understood. 27 needles corresponded to 27 separate little switches. A light press was enough to send a needle flying explosively towards its target. Han Yunxi silently sighed with emotion. Something like this was almost on par with modern-day firearms.
"You understand?" Long Feiye's patience wasn't half-bad.
Han Yunxi nodded as she accepted the Pear Blossom Rain Needles. Unexpectedly, she almost dropped the tiny thing since it was heavier than it looked. Seeing this, Tang Li laughed coldly. "Long Feiye, this is the woman you've taken a fancy to?"
Taken a fancy?
Long Feiye's face remained expressionless. It wasn't clear whether he'd heard the words at all. Han Yunxi narrowly avoided choking on her spit. There were different shades of meaning to 'taken a fancy to,' so which one did Tang Li mean?!
"A bit too weak, isn't she?" Tang Li laughed again.
This guy. When he didn't talk, he was somewhat like an Immortal, but his words really made him disagreeable. They'd only met for the first time, so she had no idea how she'd offended him. An angry Han Yunxi held the Pear Blossom Rain Needles like a handgun in one hand, the other supporting her wrist. Her index finger rested on a switch as she narrowed her eyes and focused, professional-style, at Tang Li. Coldly she asked, "You want to try and see how weak I am?"
Tang Li was startled and immediately dodged aside from fright. Besides his old man, there was no one else in the world who was clearer on the powers of the Plum Blossom Rain Needles. A simple mistake would cost a life!
Han Yunxi withdrew the Plum Blossom Rain Needles and stylishly blew a puff of air across its holes. She cast him an icy glance and said, "What kind of man gets frightened so easily? Pathetic!"
Tang Li couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded by Han Yunxi's cool act and unrestrained speech. For a second, he forgot to retort and almost felt like the Pear Blossom Rain Needles were Han Yunxi's to begin with. The posture she had when wielding them was pleasing to the eye from any angle. All right, since Long Feiye had brought her along, he'd believe in her for the time being. Long Feiye took note of Han Yunxi's stance just then as a satisfied expression flashed across his face. There was a fierce battle up ahead, but it doubled as a trial. He hoped that this woman could continue to please him.
Just as he and Tang Li were about to leave, Han Yunxi stopped them. "Hold it!"
She pointed to the mass of needles on the table and asked curiously, "Are these all assassination tools, too?"
"They're useless," Tang Li replied coldly.
"Then you don't want them?" Han Yunxi asked again.
Tang Li laughed coldly and didn't bother to reply. Compared to the Pear Blossom Rain Needles, everything on the table should be thrown away. They couldn't match up at all. When Long Feiye told him to provide some assassination weapons for Han Yunxi, he'd just casually grabbed a bunch, but he was just going through the motions.
"If you don't want them, then give them to me and teach me how to use them. I learn very fast." The Pear Blossom Rain Needles were excellent, but the needles were useless once they'd been used up. Who knew how many years of effort and money were needed to make another one? Meanwhile, these other needles looked mass-produced from a glance. Last time at Medicine City's Medicinal Forest, she'd been surrounded by assassins and deeply realized how weak her own poisoning skills were. Learning how to use concealed weapons was a fine solution. These needles were all small and exquisite; if she coated them in poison to attack others, she'd definitely get proficient in the skills with practice.
Since Han Yunxi was pleading for a favor, her smile was especially flattering.
Tang Li still had lingering fears from being threatened recently, so he had nothing good to show Han Yunxi. Raising an eyebrow, he said coldly, "This young master still wants those things. Don't you mess with them."
Stingy dregs, this fellow acted completely opposite of his looks!
Han Yunxi immediately dropped the needles in her hands. She wouldn't covet them! Yet Long Feiye actually turned back and selected a few needles before tossing them to Han Yunxi. "Hold onto them. If you can return this time, your lordship will teach you personally."
If she could return?
Han Yunxi gave a start. Did the words need to be so serious?
"Your Highness, exactly who do you want me to poison?" Han Yunxi asked earnestly.
"You'll know when you get there," Long Feiye said before turning to leave.
The entire way, they sped through mountain ranges like an arrow in flight. Han Yunxi only knew this young master Tang Li was the young head of the Tang Clan. Because he was dissatisfied with his arranged marriage, he ran away from the Tang Clan. In turn, they put out fugitive orders to catch him.
She was ignorant of anything else. Even after asking Long Feiye twice, he refused to tell her. Naturally, Han Yunxi felt uneasy. He wanted her to poison someone, yet he'd given her the Pear Blossom Rain Needles as well. Heaven knows how scary her murder target was? Thinking up to here, Han Yunxi spent the journey secretly practicing her hand movements. She kept one hand hanging as it held onto the Pear Blossom Rain Needles until she gradually grew better with it. A few days later, they reached a village halfway up the mountains, stockaded and within distance of Medicine City.
The night was dark and the winds high as the three of them slipped past the village gates like ghosts before lying in ambush by a bamboo fence. This village wasn't very big, but it had many people, all of them dressed in black robes and face veils. Even the simple guards by the gates emanated a dense killing intent. Finally, Han Yunxi lost her calm and asked, "Your Highness, what exactly do you want to do? Can you say it now?"
"There's a poison master in the house at the deepest part of this village. She's the only one we're leaving alive," Long Feiye finally opened his taciturn mouth.
"So…" Han Yunxi still didn't understand.
"There's at least 100 assassins hidden in this courtyard that we'll leave to Tang Li. The house of the target has 10 top-level Poison Human assassins that will all be yours," Long Feiye said coldly.
Poison Humans?
Han Yunxi found this too unexpected. The first time she met a Poison Human was during her kidnapping at the Celestial Fragrance tea plantation. Both Madame Li and Heisha had been Poison Humans. Later on, she'd mentioned this to Long Feiye. Most likely, the Duke of Kang had nurtured both Madame Li and Heisha. Poison Humans had immunity to most poisons. To cultivate one was difficult enough, let alone the ten here! Moreover, Han Yunxi never thought that Long Feiye wanted her to face off against ten experts by herself! No wonder he'd give her such a high-level weapon like the Pear Blossom Rain Needles.
Han Yunxi's lips twitched. "Then what will you do?"
However, her words had hardly left her when Long Feiye suddenly grabbed her and flew into the air!
Han Yunxi wasn't prepared at all and unconsciously held onto him with her arms. Their movement roused the assassins within the courtyard into flying their way. Han Yunxi only felt a gust of wind before a white shadow flitted past her. Tang Li had made his move.
His speed was inhumanly fast, but his kills were even faster. Heaven knows what kind of concealed weapons he was using, but one after another, the assassins fell down without even knowing how they died. Again, Han Yunxi felt that you couldn't judge someone by looks alone and viewed Tang Li with new respect. Of course, she didn't have much time to look, because Long Feiye had successfully brought her in a flash past the assassins and onto the flat roof of the target's house.
As soon as he released her, she subconsciously let go of him as well. But she immediately regretted the action when she remembered he'd said there were 10 Poison Humans here! Han Yunxi had only half released him when she was ready to hold on again, but Long Feiye immediately retreated with the words, "Don't disappoint your lordship."
His voice reached her ears at the same time he vanished.
Pah!
Han Yunxi was furious. What was Long Feiye playing at?! Though the Poison Humans used poisons, they couldn't be any more formidable than the Duke of Kang. He should still be able to take care of 10 of them, so why was he leaving her to fend them off alone? Even if she was supposed to poison them to death, he should help out, shouldn't he?
Long Feiye, you're the one that keeps disappointing this wangfei, all right?!
While Han Yunxi was feeling resentful, her detox system suddenly alerted her to poison quickly approaching her from behind. Han Yunxi swerved to look and saw a black-robed female assassin rushing towards her with a sword. If this sword hadn't been coated in poison, she probably would've died without being any the wiser!
Immediately, she dodged to one side, allowing the sword to stab past her at the air. The blade then swiped towards her in a horizontal arc, so Han Yunxi squatted on her heels just as the weapon swept over her head. It sliced off a few strands of her hair, narrowly missing her body. Like a flint striking a match, Han Yunxi turned over and rolled on the ground to create distance between her and this assassin until she was leaning against a wall and panting for breath. Terrifying!
Though Han Yunxi had released a breath, the assassin didn't stop. Her sword came towards her immediately afterwards, while she had nowhere to retreat. It was at this moment of peril that she finally remembered her weapon. This time, she didn't dodge despite her fear, but braced herself to face the incoming sword before suddenly taking out the Pear Blossom Rain Needles and pressing one of its switches. A single needle flew out with a whoosh…
The female assassin had no idea that Han Yunxi was armed and ready to counterattack. The needle sank into her heart, freezing her in place before blood poured out from her lips. Soon afterwards, she fell to the ground!
Seeing this, Han Yunxi expelled another breath. She was about to get up when various black-robed figures appeared out of thin air to land in front of her. There were a total of nine people, all of them assassins!
Nine at once?! Han Yunxi could only feel her scalp turning numb as she cursed Long Feiye ten to a thousand times in her heart. Yet she was very clear that he had abandoned her here. She had to rely on herself to keep her life!