Chapter 170: Sword Illuminates the Red River Bank
Hundreds of hard white stones shot toward Xu Yourong’s body like sharp arrows.
But this was not the beginning of a brutal battle—it was the start of an escape.
Facing Xu Yourong, Chu Su had no confidence in defeating her, not even daring to strike.
Hot blood? Battle? Those were choices only the most foolish would make.
He only hoped to leave alive. If he could retreat unscathed, that would be best of all.
Using those white stones as cover, he smashed through the wall of fire and turned into a gray shadow fleeing out of the alley.
Only an extremely miserable cry of pain echoed in the small courtyard.
That wall of fire was Xu Yourong’s Phoenix Blood True Flame. Even he had to pay a terrible price to break through it head-on.
Xu Yourong watched the disappearing gray shadow, her delicate brows slightly raised.
A fierce wind howled, and the stones that had been flying toward her fell to the ground one after another.
Two white wings, carrying a sacred aura, fluttered behind her.
The wall of fire vanished abruptly. The flames covering the ground disappeared.
Xu Yourong also vanished, turning into a streak of light as she chased after him out of the alley.
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The ground was covered in crystal powder, now stained with a foul, rotting smell and turned black.
The few small wooden pagodas had long since decayed into something like mud.
Wuqiong Bi’s face still held lingering fear, her eyes vacant.
Bieyang Hong glanced at her, then with difficulty raised his hand to pat her head, comforting her, “It’s over.”
When his hand touched Wuqiong Bi’s head, she let out a scream like a frightened little animal, and then a stream of foul-mouthed curses burst from her thin, pale lips, continuing for a long time without stopping.
She cursed Xuan Yuan Po and Xu Yourong. The gist was that Xuan Yuan Po, that bear cub, only cared about marrying the demon princess and didn’t care whether she lived or died. As for Xu Yourong, since she was in White Emperor City, why had she appeared so late? Was she deliberately trying to make her look bad?
Bieyang Hong’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but after a moment, it returned to normal. He knew his wife had never faced any real setbacks in her life. The events of the past few days had truly frightened her badly. Her mind was now somewhat dazed, and he couldn’t bear to scold her.
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The bell of the Heavenly Tree Servant Temple fell silent. The mist on Songding Street was drawn by some force toward the imperial city. Sanheli Alley was quiet. If not for the still-miserable scene in the small courtyard, it would be hard to believe that an extremely fierce battle had taken place here earlier.
That battle had moved away from the small courtyard and into other streets and alleys.
The accumulated water on the wet street suddenly disappeared, leaving it unusually dry. Leaves rustled down from the windbreak forest along the shore, turning yellow at a visible rate as they fell, then blackening, as if painted by an invisible brush.
Suddenly, a great radiance burst forth on the banks of the Red River.
Several water lines appeared on the river’s surface, followed by towering waves. Yu Jing, the massive creature, let out a low cry of reverence and submission, diving deep into the water, afraid of being caught in the battle.
The waves gradually calmed. The forest swayed gently in the wind. The blue stone slabs on the street became wet again, and the smell of sewage slowly returned.
Xu Yourong returned to the front of the small courtyard, holding a thin, severed arm covered in scales and black fur.
The wound on the arm seemed to have been smeared with something, with no blood seeping out.
If it were an ordinary young girl, seeing such a strange, inhuman severed arm would surely make her scream, let alone hold it.
Xu Yourong cared about cleanliness but not about this. Her expression was very calm, though her brows were slightly furrowed, as if lost in thought.
No one could see the battle that had just taken place with their naked eyes, but it had truly occurred, and it had been extremely fierce and dangerous.
On a reef on the Red River bank that had been split in two, she had used her Zhai Sword to sever Chu Su’s right arm, but she hadn’t been able to keep him there.
The Yellow Springs technique Chu Su practiced was indeed terrifying. His methods were unpredictable and bizarre. Even with her clear Dao heart, she couldn’t fully see through him.
Xu Yourong was about to enter the small courtyard to check on Bieyang Hong’s injuries when she suddenly sensed something and vanished.
Since he had come, she naturally didn’t need to appear. Or rather, at this moment, she didn’t really want to appear before him.
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Deep in the mountains on the opposite bank of the Red River, Chu Su emerged from a mountain stream, clutching a heavy stone with his left hand.
His black robe was soaked through, clinging tightly to his body, revealing his twisted, deformed figure. He looked very disheveled.
At the most dangerous moment earlier, he had used his right arm to block Xu Yourong’s Great Radiance Sword, dived into the river, used Yu Jing’s massive body as cover to sink into the riverbed mud, slipped into the exit of a hidden underground river, and narrowly escaped.
With his severed arm and severe injuries, he couldn’t withstand the turbulent currents of the underground river. If he hadn’t held onto that heavy stone, he might have been swept back into the Red River, becoming a soul beneath Xu Yourong’s sword, or died in a suffocating crash against the underground river’s stone walls.
He threw the stone to the ground and sat on it, lowering his head to gasp for breath, looking extremely pained.
In the past, even if he was severely injured and lost an arm, the Yellow Springs secret technique he practiced could help him regenerate the limb. That was why in every assassination or battle, he could go all out, attacking strong opponents like Chen Changsheng or Xiao Zhang with near-madness.
But this time, his severed arm would never grow back.
On the wound of the severed arm was a sacred aura, coming from the Zhai Sword of Southern Creek Temple.
Even more terrifying, there was a drop of Heavenly Phoenix True Blood on the wound, already spreading.
Forget about regenerating the arm—if he couldn’t find a place to meditate and heal immediately, that drop of Heavenly Phoenix True Blood would follow his flesh and meridians, eating its way inward until it destroyed all his Yellow Springs Yin orifices, his physical body, and his entire consciousness.
Suddenly, a crane’s cry came from afar.
Chu Su’s body trembled. He looked up in that direction, his eyes filled with fear.
If Xu Yourong found him again, he would surely die.
He decided not to return to White Emperor City, even though Madam Mu was there, willing to protect him.
He hadn’t completed the task Madam Mu had given him, and Xu Yourong was in the city.
He was truly afraid of Xu Yourong.
He had been before.
Now, even more so.
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A white crane landed in the small courtyard.
It was followed by a scream and Wuqiong Bi’s curses.
The entire Songding became lively.
The Western Wilderness Dao Hall’s archbishop and dozens of priests, the Tang family stewards and over a dozen Southern Heaven cultivators, the Great Zhou officials and military strongmen, and the demon clan experts led by the bear clan chief—all of them had arrived, tightly surrounding the small courtyard.
The scene was somewhat similar to last night’s, but the atmosphere was even more murderous.
Because the Pope had come.
No one noticed that Xu Yourong was standing on the eaves of the Heavenly Tree Servant Temple.
She saw someone—or perhaps didn’t see someone—and was very satisfied.
So she smiled slightly, stunningly beautiful.