"Junior brother, it seems that woman has a profound connection with you. Just who is she to you?" Hu Wei walked slowly towards him, holding his long sword and asking with a smile.
"He only wants my life and it's unrelated to others. Can you let her go?" Tang Jian withdrew his gaze and asked.
"Oh, if you surrender peacefully, I can promise not to harm her," Hu Wei said, his eyes flickering slightly.
Tang Jian hesitated for a moment, about to speak, when his expression suddenly changed. He quickly dodged and leaped onto a large tree beside him.
No sooner had he left the ground than a yellowish-brown light appeared, and a circular rune formation, about a yard in diameter, emerged from it.
"Just missed, what a pity..." Hu Wei sighed, somewhat disappointed.
As he spoke, the corner of his eye involuntarily glanced behind Tang Jian. There, five slender purple light traces appeared out of thin air, reaching out to grab Tang Jian's back.
Tang Jian had been prepared for this. Without turning his head, he thrust his sword backwards.
A red flash appeared on the tip of his sword, and a long column of flame extended from the blade, piercing the purple light traces.
The owner of the light traces, the masked black-clad figure named Tang Hui, seeing his move exposed, decisively abandoned the assassination. His figure blurred and disappeared into the darkness like smoke.
After his strike missed, Tang Jian leaped and rushed straight towards where Yan Zi was.
"Where do you think you're going?" Hu Wei roared, and his wrist suddenly swung forward.
Two bright yellow fireballs, each the size of a human head, flew swiftly towards Tang Jian's back.
Tang Jian forcibly twisted his body in mid-air and quickly traced a pattern in the void with one hand. Two red fireballs, slightly larger than fists, immediately flew out and collided with the bright yellow flames.
Then, a sharp "zheng" sound was heard!
Amidst the flame screen produced by the collision of the two fireball spells, a sword light suddenly flashed, tearing through the middle. Hu Wei's figure passed through and chased after him.
Seeing that he couldn't escape, Tang Jian had to lift his sword and actively met him head-on.
"Rumble..."
On the other side, in the dense forest, the sound of roaring continued.
A black giant axe flashed with a faint glow, constantly chopping in the forest. Wherever it passed, trees broke and countless wood chips flew up.
"Hehe... little girl, your Lightness Talisman is almost depleted, isn't it? Let's see how long you can hide," Shi Qian taunted while swinging the giant axe in pursuit.
Yan Zi's face was solemn ahead, but she didn't reply. Two strands of breeze swirled around her feet as she skillfully dodged and weaved, flashing towards the denser depths of the forest.
Seeing this, a cunning smile suddenly appeared on Shi Qian's lips. He grasped the handle of the giant axe with one hand and formed a gesture with the other. Suddenly, he spoke the word "retract".
The spirit pattern on his black axe flashed, and it suddenly shrank into a short axe about two feet long, looking no different from an ordinary woodcutter's axe for splitting firewood.
He turned his wrist and swung it forward with a clever force.
The short axe immediately emitted a black light, "hu-hu" whirling forward at an extremely fast speed, bypassing tree after tree. It traced a semi-arc in mid-air and suddenly slashed towards Yan Zi.
Yan Zi hadn't anticipated this situation and couldn't dodge in time. The short axe sliced across her left shoulder.
"Rip!"
The sound of tearing fabric rang out, and Yan Zi's figure immediately flew forward, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Shi Qian caught the black hand axe that flew back and quickly chased after it.
"Oh no, don't break it. It won't be beautiful if that fair skin gets hurt," he said with concern, seeing Yan Zi lying motionless.
However, out of caution, he didn't immediately rush over to check. Instead, he flicked his wrist, and a yellowish-brown rope appeared in his palm. He threw it toward Yan Zi.
The rope flashed with light, as if it had come alive, wrapping itself around Yan Zi from head to toe, binding her tightly.
"Hehe, this trip was worthwhile..." Shi Qian rubbed his chin and chuckled before walking over.
As he approached, he tugged on the rope, pulling Yan Zi up.
"This isn't right..."
As he pulled, Shi Qian realized that the "Yan Zi" in his hand was light as a feather, unlike a living person.
Before he could regain his composure, a figure darted out from behind an ancient tree beside him. A snowy white sword flashed in the person's hand, and with a "pu chi" sound, the blade pierced straight through his heart.
"A doppelganger charm... I've been tricked..."
Blood seeped from Shi Qian's mouth as he mumbled and fell to the side.
A trace of blood trickled from the corner of Yan Zi's mouth. She stumbled, her face pale as she panted heavily.
She slowly withdrew the long sword from Shi Qian's body and stood in place, regulating her breath for a moment. Then she bent down, removed the yellow rope from the doppelganger, and along with the black hand axe, stored them in her storage ring.
Without the rope's restraint, the doppelganger flashed with light, first transforming into a green charm, then bursting into flames and turning to ashes.
Yan Zi watched, feeling a slight pang in her heart.
This charm was of average quality, the lowest among all transformation charms. The doppelganger it created was only a likeness and couldn't move, but it was still worth five hundred taels of gold.
Earlier, she had deliberately taken the axe hit. At the moment she fell, she activated the remaining power of the lightness charm on her leg, dodging behind the ancient tree. That gave her the opportunity to kill Shi Qian.
Tang Jian had been paying attention to Yan Zi's movements and almost immediately noticed the commotion. He felt a slight relief in his heart.
Hu Wei soon discovered that Shi Qian had been killed, and a hint of darkness flashed in his eyes.
He shook the yellow ancient sword in his hand, and a wave of yellowish-brown light surged outward, forcing Tang Jian back by several feet.
"Isn't it ready yet?" Hu Wei suddenly shouted.
"It's ready," a low, hoarse voice sounded in the night.
Upon hearing this, a fierce smile, which was extremely out of character for his affable face, appeared on Hu Wei's lips. He gripped his sword with both hands and thrust it down into the ground beneath him.
Tang Jian sensed something was wrong and flashed, intending to leap into the air.
However, beneath him, the ground suddenly shattered, and two purple claws shot out, grabbing his ankles and pinning him in place.
Immediately afterward, a loud "boom" sounded.
Centered on Tang Jian, the ground within a radius of several dozen feet suddenly sank by several feet. Dark yellow triangular iron flags emerged from the earth, their symbols flashing and emitting strange waves.
At the same time, rings of yellow light rose from the ground, contracting toward the center.
Tang Jian's heart sank. He quickly swung his sword at the purple claws on his feet, but it was too late.
Before his blade could fall, the contracting rings of yellowish-brown light enveloped him, binding him tightly in place.
"Rest in peace, my dear junior brother..."
Hu Wei's smile grew even more ferocious. He flashed forward, appearing before Tang Jian, and lifted his sword, thrusting it straight toward his forehead.
A sharp "clang" sounded.
A black figure suddenly burst out of the ground, standing in front of Tang Jian. Its hands were folded in front of its forehead, palms pressed against the tip of Hu Wei's sword.