Chapter 191 – Earth Bound Spirit Poison
The woman dressed in white felt an indescribable sensation, and couldn’t help but quiver all over as she was stared at by those eyes. Immediately after, she realised that the youngster’s cultivation base was only at Qi Refining stage, and she coldly snorted. “Boy, I’ll acknowledge that your little trick worked, you were unexpectedly able to cover your tracks. Unfortunately though, you’ve overestimated your abilities, and if you had escaped a moment ago, perhaps you would have had the opportunity to live. I didn’t expect you to be so stupid, delivering yourself to my door! Humph, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Hexi slightly raised her brow. “Oh, is that so? So that’s to say, you’ve following me the whole way because you intend to kill me?”
Is she really so easy to bully that people think they’re able to come and assassinate her? The account between Drought Demon Organisation has yet to be settled, and yet here comes another one.
The woman dressed in white coldly said, “At first the order I accepted was to find out your identity, then to look for an opportunity to get rid of you. But now it seems that I don’t have to investigate and can just let you die without a burial place, regardless of your identity and background. Haha...”
“So you want to kill me here?”
“What, now you know how to be afraid?” The woman dressed in white burst out into loud laughter. “Unfortunately, it’s already too late!”
As she finished speaking she began to gather her spiritual power, and bringing out her Flying Sword with a ‘swish’, she flew towards Hexi.
The Flying Sword not only headed straight for Hexi with severe power, but also brought with it an icy cold energy, freezing the air around it into frost as it travelled.
The most peculiar thing of all though, was that the spiritual energy in the atmosphere seemed to be absorbed as the Flying Sword swept past. This caused the momentum of the Flying Sword to become fiercer, and so as the Flying Sword drew closer to Hexi, she also sensed the intense suction of spiritual energy.
“Annoying boy! Go die!” Spiritual power ruthlessly rushed forwards from the woman’s hand, her delicate and pretty features warped into a sinister smile.
Yet the moment the Flying Sword was about to pierce Hexi, stabbing her weak body, the woman dressed in white thought something flashed before her eyes, and suddenly Hexi had already disappeared from her original position.
The woman stared blankly, then she abruptly went white with shock and wanted to recall her Flying Sword.
But the next moment, she found that she couldn’t move.
With her body frozen with one leg forward, and one leg back, her hands flailed about as she tried to use her spiritual power. This position was very strange and hilarious, yet she was unable to budge even the tiniest bit.
The worst part was that she could feel her feet becoming colder and slowly freezing, as if someone was wrapping a layer of mud around her skin.
It was at this moment that Hexi’s cold voice echoed in her ears. “How is it, do you still want to kill me now?”
Panic flashed across the woman’s face, her eyes filling with intense dread. “You...what are you doing to me? Why can’t I move?”
“Oh, this is a type of poison called Earth Bound Spirit Poison, I made it for fun in my free time,” Moving around to the front of her, Hexi kicked the woman’s stiff lower leg, indifferently laughing as she said, “Earth Bound Spirit Poison makes a person’s body completely stiff; it’s like it becomes possessed by an evil spirit binding them to the ground, causing them to be unable to move a muscle. With time the body deteriorates, gradually becoming stiffer and weaker, until finally, it resembles a stone statue. One touch is all it takes for it to break into a million pieces.”
The more the woman dressed in white heard, the more pronounced the fear on her face became. She was so afraid, that the muscles in her face started twitching.
Hexi nonetheless laughed. “But you don’t have to worry, Earth Bound Spirit Poison’s solidification is only really effective on an ordinary person’s body. For a martial artist, as long they have spiritual power to protect themselves, it isn’t so easy for them to become a stone statue. Earth Bound Spirit Poison will only hinder you from moving for a few hours, that’s all.”
Chapter 192 – Squirrel Human Fish
Hearing this, the woman dressed in white immediately released a sigh of relief, yet before the fear in her eyes could vanish, Hexi continued. “You don’t have to worry about Earth Bound Spirit Poison, because what you should be worrying about, is what I’ll be doing to you next.”
With that, she pointed at the Flying Sword lying on the ground. Suddenly, the Flying Sword that had originally belonged to the woman dressed in white leaped into Hexi’s hand.
Test slicing the long sword through the air a few times, Hexi then lightly tapped the sword’s edge against the woman’s face.
The woman dressed in white felt the cold metal and sharp edge against her cheek, and instantly turned pale with fright. “What are you doing?”
Is there any woman who doesn’t appreciate her own beauty? No woman wouldn’t feel scared when their face was being threatened.
Hexi coldly said, “Speak, who sent you? If you tell me, I’ll leave your body intact!”
The woman’s eyes flashed with a trace of alarm, and she immediately shouted, “Since I’ll die anyway, why should I tell you anything!”
“Oh, such a courageous spirit,” Hexi withdrew the long sword, clicking her tongue as she said, “However, don’t you know how many kinds of methods there are to kill people? If you’re beheaded; you’re dead, if you’re skinned alive; you’re dead, one long slice across the waist with a sword; you’re also dead...do you really think that dying by these methods is all the same?”
The complexion of the woman dressed in white quickly became deathly pale. Hexi had only described simple methods of execution, but the woman was already so scared that her whole body was trembling. Unable to bear it any longer, she yelled, “Don’t you know who I am? If you kill me, you absolutely won’t be able to escape, I...”
Abruptly halting her words, the woman dressed in white firmly bit her lips, refusing to continue speaking.
A corner of Hexi’s mouth curled upwards. “Do you know what my favourite dish is?”
The woman dressed in white didn’t understand why Hexi suddenly changed the topic to food, yet not daring to speak, she could only firmly glare at Hexi.
Hexi continued speaking, “My favourite dish is called squirrel mandarin fish. The so-called squirrel mandarin fish isn’t really made with squirrels, rather, it’s made with fresh fish. First you slice the fish meat into thin pieces without completely cutting them off, then, you take a spoonful of hot oil and pour it on top. Just listen to the squeaky sounds it makes, it resembles the sounds a real squirrel makes. The delicious and fresh taste that dances on the tip of your tongue; it’s a temptation that most top chefs can’t resist.”
The woman dressed in white paled further, while the expression in Hexi’s eyes as she looked at her caused the woman’s hair to stand on end.
Hexi’s next words frightened the woman so badly that she nearly fainted. “I know, how about I make you into a squirrel human fish? First, I’ll slice the flesh on your body into strips, making sure that the thickness is well-distributed so that they won’t rip off. Then, I’ll place you on a big iron plate to grill you, slowly pouring on the hot oil. Hmm, I’ve never made such a big squirrel human fish before, but I believe that the taste will be particularly delicious.”
As she finished speaking, she examined every inch of the woman’s skin, mentally measuring up the material she had to work with.
The woman dressed in white was so frightened that she almost collapsed, and as she was on the verge of sobbing, her voice cracked as she spoke, “You wouldn’t dare–! You wouldn’t dare do that to me...”
But, without waiting for the woman dressed in white to finish shouting, the long sword in Hexi’s hand suddenly waved through the air.
“Ah ah ahh—” The woman let out a miserable shriek, tears and mucus streaming down her face.
Where before there was smooth skin on her cheek, there was now a thin piece of flesh hanging down to her neck, exposing the tender pink flesh inside.
However, what was weird is that even though this was clearly such a big wound, not the slightest amount of blood could be seen oozing out from it.
Hexi lightly laughed. “You still want to say whether I’ll dare to or not?”
After saying this, she approached and looked at that piece of flesh. “Seems that the thickness of the cut isn’t well-distributed. Since I haven’t made squirrel mandarin fish in such a long time it seems that my hands have become stiff, I’d better try slicing another section.”
Chapter 193 – Demon
After Hexi finished speaking, she raised the longsword in her hand.
The woman dressed in white saw the cold edge of the sword press closer to her, and was no longer able to endure the painful torture and her fear. Her expression collapsed as she shouted, “I’ll speak, I’ll speak, I beg of you to spare me!”
“Then speak; on whose order did you come here to kill me?”
“It...it was Hell King Manor! The people from Hell King Manor ordered me to kill you!”
“Hell King Manor?” Hexi narrowed her eyes. “Why would the people from Hell King Manor want to kill me? And which person is the one who wants to kill me?”
The woman’s entire body twitched, and with her eyes slightly flickering to the side, she weepingly said, “It...it was Qing Long! Right, it was Qing Long who order me to kill you! Because you’re a man, and yet you still dared to seduce His Highness Hell King, ruining His Highness Hell King’s reputation. This caused Qing Long and the others to want you dead, so they sent me to kill you.”
Qing Long wanted to kill her? Because she used the identity of a man to seduce Nangong Yu?
This was simply a big joke, did they think of her as a three year old foolish son?
However Qing Long, Bai Hu, and the others, already knew that she was a woman. Moreover, if they wanted to kill someone, they wouldn’t send such a trashy person to do it for them.
Hexi sneered, slicing another chunk of flesh off of the woman’s face. “Since you don’t want to tell me, then don’t tell me, I don’t have much interest in who wants to kill me anyway. As a matter of fact, you would be better used as a practice dummy for my knife skills.”
The flesh on the woman’s face, and the flesh on her arms, was sliced off piece by piece. The woman dressed in white let out a sharp shriek filled with misery.
Even though this type of injury was common for martial artists and could easily be cured, the process of this torture was really too horrible.
The woman thought that the person before her eyes was simply a demon, causing her to experience true fear this time. Who knew what kind of terrible punishment would be waiting for her next!
The woman dressed in white finally broke into tears. “I’ll speak, I’ll speak, it...it was Zi Yan who ordered me! Please spare me!”
“Zi Yan?” For a moment, Hexi didn’t react to the name Zi Yan. “Who is she? Why does she want to kill me?”
The woman dressed in white wept while saying, “I’m Bai Zhi, I serve my Young Miss. Compared to me, Zi Yan is a higher ranked servant as she is Young Miss’s personal maid. Zi Yan said that you were seducing His Highness Hell King, causing our Young Miss heartbreak, so she ordered me to kill you. As long as I could accomplish this task, she would request that the Young Miss raises my status!”
Hexi’s eyebrows slightly pursed. “Is your Young Miss that Ice Lotus Fairy?”
“That’s right!” The mention of her Young Miss made the woman dressed in white’s face to immediately expose an expression of reverence. “My Young Miss is the Feng family’s Young Miss, born of the First Wife. She is also Liu Li sect’s young Clan Head. Throughout all of Mi Luo continent, the only one who is fit to partner with Hell King is my Young Miss. Who are you, you’re a man and yet you’re unexpectedly so shameless as to willingly lie low under a man’s body! Even attempting to vainly snatch away His Highness Hell King! I’m warning you, you had better release me this instant, otherwise, my Young Miss will absolutely not let you off!”
“Okay!” The trace of a sneer appeared around the edges of Hexi’s mouth. “I’ve heard your warning very clearly. Now as for you, you can go and die already.”
With her words having barely fallen from her mouth, and without waiting for Bai Zhi to react, Hexi gripped the woman’s neck with one hand. Slightly pressing down with her fingers, a ‘crack’ could be heard echoing down the alley. Bai Zhi’s eyes abruptly opened wide, her face filled with horror, and soon, her head drooped down, her neck lacking any strength.
She, a second ranked servant of the Feng family, a martial artist at the peak of Foundation Establishment stage, in the end was unable to even let out a groan and silently died.
Hexi stared at the dead body, not a trace of emotion visible in her eyes. From a pocket near her chest, she then removed a small bottle of Corroding Bone Water, pouring it onto the dead body.
Chapter 194 – Old Beggar Man
A moment later, the dead body issued ‘shh’ sounds, followed by clouds of white smoke and a rotten stench that permeated the air.
After several breaths, Bai Zhi’s dead body disappeared without a trace.
****
After she had finished dealing with Bai Zhi’s body, Hexi turned around to leave when suddenly, from behind her, she heard a faint sigh. “Such a vicious Baby Doll! Not even such cruel torture was enough, you even went and destroyed that person’s body, exterminating all traces of her. Haha, but whatever, you let me see such a good play.”
Hexi abruptly quivered all over, then quickly turned around.
But once she turned around, it was to discover that there was no one there, it was just an empty alley. Not even a person’s shadow could be seen, and yet she had obviously heard someone’s voice. Moreover, even though she was releasing her spiritual power and Divine Sense with all her might, she couldn’t sense the slightest hint of another party’s existence.
How could this be possible?! Even if it was Nangong Yu standing in the shadows, her highly perceptive awareness would be able to sense him! In the end, just how powerful was this person?!
Hexi became frightened, however, on the surface she still looked calm. With her eyes tightly scrutinising her surroundings, she coldly shouted, “Who are you? A person who hides their head and only reveals their tail while peeping on others, is that decent behaviour?”
The sound of laughter suddenly echoed throughout the empty alley, and this time since Hexi was listening very carefully, she discovered that it was the voice of a man. Furthermore, it was the voice of an old man.
While Hexi was still bewildered, a figure unexpectedly appeared in front of her out of thin air.
It was an old man dressed in rags with messy hair and a dirty appearance. As an indescribable stench wafted from his body, he examined Hexi and laughed. Standing in the alley, he would occasionally take long gulps from a broken gourd bottle in one of his hands.
An old beggar man such as this could be said to be a common sight on this street. If he were to mix in with the other beggars lying on the ground in piles at night, no one would be able to detect any abnormalities.
But at first glance of this person Hexi had felt like she was facing an enemy, and was unwilling to let down her guard in the slightest.
Because, even with her extraordinary abilities and how she was able to effortlessly determine Nangong Yu’s rank, she was completely unable to determine the rank of the old beggar man before her eyes.
And this old beggar man, not only had he been able to follow her without her realising, but he had also managed to see through her disguise as a man with just a glance.
What made Hexi even more apprehensive, was that after Dandan had noticed the old beggar man, he kept shouting at her in a panic from her space. “Mother, I’m afraid!” Then hide in the Spirit Firmament Palace and don’t dare come out!
Dandan’s fear, coupled with how she still couldn’t sense any spiritual power fluctuations coming from the old beggar man’s body, could only prove that the old beggar man’s rank was higher than her’s.
But, Hexi’s character has always been one that would rather break than bend. Even if she was facing a strong opponent that would end with a fight to the death, she would never choose to back down and show weakness.
Therefore, after only being shocked for a moment, she then coldly asked, “Who are you that you’ve come to fight for justice for her, were you that woman’s partner?”
“Baby Doll, your looks are very pretty, but how can your eyesight be so bad? Does this old man look like that woman’s partner?!” Hearing what she asked, the old beggar man became angry. As he jumped around and pointed at Hexi while scolding her, he completely lacked the poise and refinement of a gentleman.
If Hexi hadn’t known beforehand that he was a high level expert, she would seriously think that this was just an insane old man.
Hexi sneered. “Peeping from the shadows, following someone, and saying bad things behind a person’s back; those things don’t count as decent behaviour, right?”
The old man choked, his beard whipping furiously through the air as he replied, “This old man is clearly an honourable and moral person, how could this be considered as peeping?! It’s you, Baby Doll’s ability that’s not decent! Just because you were unable to discover this old man’s presence...why do you have to blame me?!”
Hexi was too lazy to pay attention to this old beggar man who seemed like an annoying troublemaker any longer. Since he had no malice towards her, then it wasn’t necessary for her to debate with him anymore.
Chapter 195 – Surprise Attack
Unfortunately Hexi had barely lifted her foot to walk away, when she abruptly felt a burst of coldness coming from behind her.
The next moment she sensed a strong force of spiritual power, honed into a sharp blade, heading towards her spine at the speed of lightning.
Without time to think, she removed her whip from her space. Rotating her body one hundred and eighty degrees, she used the momentum of her turn to firmly whip the weapon that was attacking her.
A ‘crack’ echoed down the alley, and the tip of the Bone Whip scraped against the ground, causing a burst of sparks to fly into the air.
However, the weapon that had been attacking her surprisingly disappeared without a trace, only to unexpectedly reappear swaying before her eyes.
Hexi’s mouth flattened into a thin line. She hadn’t expected that it would be a gourd bottle that was attacking her.
The gourd bottle was now swaying in the air as it floated before her, occasionally nodding forward, as if it was mocking Hexi for her incompetence.
Hexi glared at the old man. “Didn’t you just say that you and her weren’t partners?”
The old beggar man scratched at the louse on his head, and while laughing mischievously, he said, “Of course this old man isn’t her partner! But you wrongly accused me Baby Doll, and if I don’t do anything as payback, then how could this old man have any face!”
As Hexi’s expression sank, she turned around to escape by using her Evade Technique.
Unfortunately, even though her movements were fast, the gourd bottle ended up being faster than her. Practically every time she would try to use her Evade Technique to leave, the gourd bottle would completely intercept her.
When Hexi used her Bone Whip to attack, the gourd bottle would dodge and withdraw to a safe distance, swinging its rotund body as it continued to ridicule her efforts.
Hexi’s eyes slowly hardened. It seemed like the gourd bottle was able to clearly read her mind, as it was able to predict her every action.
Since there was no way to guess what her opponent’s first strike would be, she could only catch him off guard with a surprise attack.
With her next course of action planned, Hexi pretended to use her Evade Technique, and sure enough, the gourd bottle went to attack her with a strong amount of spiritual pressure. Yet Hexi not only didn’t stop this time, rather, she suddenly she released all of her spiritual power. So without retreating, and instead continuing forward, her whole body was like a sharply honed blade as she dashed towards the gourd bottle.
In a split second Hexi’s whole body released a bitingly cold, murderous aura, that could cause people to tremble.
The old beggar man’s expression abruptly changed. Originally he had had the look of one watching a good play, but now he was slightly startled as he stared blankly at Hexi. And due to his absent-mindedness, the gourd bottle’s attacks halted and it froze in midair.
With a loud ‘crack’, the gourd bottle was split in half by the Bone Whip, before it then shattered into hundreds of small pieces and fell to the ground.
This caused the spiritual wine inside to cascade out, permeating the air of the alley with the smell of wine.
The old beggar man stared blankly once again, then immediately rushed over to the gourd bottle in distress. As he reached the puddle of wine, he repeatedly walked around it as he breathed in the fragrance of wine. “Ahhh, my wine, my divine wine! You must be a girl who’s unable to tell the difference between good and bad! Do you know that this wine isn’t easy to get?! Only after trading away a thousand treasures was I finally able to get this small amount! Did you know, that throughout all of Yan Jing City there isn’t a second bottle?”
Hexi raised her nose into the air, disgust promptly revealing itself on her face.
What divine wine? According to what she had seen, calling it imitation wine would be good enough!
It could in no way come close to matching the spiritual wine that she currently had fermenting in the Ninth Secluded Spirit Spring. When she thought of the fruit wine that she had brewed in her past life, she knew that even the taste of this wine was incomparable to that. Apart from the small amount of spiritual energy that the spilled wine had held, what was so special about it?
Furthermore, being unable to find another bottle in all of Yan Jing City? Why not just say that you hadn’t seen another one in the whole world!
The old beggar man grabbed Hexi’s shoulders and yelled, “I don’t care! Baby Doll, it’s you who knocked over my wine, so quickly replace it as compensation. Otherwise, I’ll finish you!”
Hexi’s complexion turned black and she glared at him. “What do you mean, you smelly old man! It was obviously you who attacked first, so why I should I compensate you?”
“I don’t care!” The old beggar man was furious. “You had better compensate me for my precious divine wine! If you don’t, then in the future, you can just become my little maiden girl!”