Chapter 767: The Painstakingly Crafted Escape
When the clear, cold sound of the zither appeared for the second time, Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei both snapped to alertness. They gazed at the young girl and the middle-aged scholar emerging from the night, their expressions grave and wary—for anyone appearing on such a bitterly cold, deep night in such a remote, snowy mountain range could not possibly be ordinary.
A subordinate reported that this middle-aged scholar and young girl had once performed for money at the inn in Gaoyang Town, and many had seen them. But Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei knew they could not be ordinary zither players or ordinary busking girls, just as the zither music now winding through the mountain ridges was certainly far from ordinary.
Tianhai Zhanyi also sensed something was off, but after encountering so many events tonight, he had grown weary—or perhaps numb—and didn’t want to overthink it. In his view, with their overwhelming strength, even if circumstances forced them to rest here temporarily, how could these people possibly be a threat?
*No matter what schemes you have, I won’t give you a chance to execute them. I’ll just kill you outright with raw power. Can you really be like Chen Changsheng, appearing once and forcing us all to kneel in frustration and leave? Is there a second Pope in this world?*
With this thought, Tianhai Zhanyi casually waved his hand. The experts of the Tianhai family immediately charged at the young girl and the middle-aged scholar.
The zither music still echoed through the night when suddenly two streams of light flashed into the midst of those experts, and countless blossoms of blood burst open.
Severed limbs and shredded flesh rained down like a storm, crashing onto the frost-covered mountain path, splattering into more blood blossoms.
Two beauties appeared amidst the blood blossoms.
One was completely naked, exuding a mature, seductive allure; the other wore the skirt of the Ancient Sword Sect, gentle and reserved, presenting a stark contrast like black and white. What they shared was the red blood dripping steadily from their hands onto the ground.
That blood belonged to the Tianhai family’s experts.
The two beauties were also injured, but no blood flowed from their wounds—only faint streams of light seeped out, gradually congealing.
The night wind was chilly, and the frost and snow crunched like autumn leaves underfoot as the two beauties respectfully stepped aside. The wooden-faced young girl walked forward from between them.
Zhu Ye’s pupils contracted, and an unusually solemn expression appeared on his face as he looked at the young girl and said, “Could it be Her Highness Nanke?”
Having long resided in Tianliang Commandery, he knew many secrets of the demon race and easily recognized that the two beauties were spirit bodies—likely the legendary Nanke’s Twin Wings.
If so, then this young girl, who had been busking at the inn in Gaoyang Town, must be the demon race’s youngest princess, Nanke.
According to reports, during the rebellion at Snowfall City, the Demon Lord was cast into the abyss by Black Robe and the Demon Teacher. She too was severely wounded, risking everything to break through layer after layer of restrictions in her peacock true form, then vanished without a trace. No one knew where she had gone or if she still lived.
Who could have imagined she would appear tonight on this desolate snowy mountain?
Zhu Ye knew they were in real trouble now. To be honest, he would rather turn back and face Haidi head-on in that courtyard than encounter Nanke.
Nanke’s talent was too formidable, and with peacock true blood flowing in her veins, she could often unleash killing power far beyond her actual level in battle.
Still, no matter what, she was not as terrifying as Haidi. But the problem was her speed.
If he encountered Haidi and couldn’t win, Zhu Ye could still think about how to leave—or escape.
But before Nanke, he couldn’t entertain such thoughts. He could only think about how to defeat her.
If tonight it were just Nanke alone, even with her Twin Wings, Zhu Ye believed his side had enough strength to overcome her. The problem was…
“Are you the elder of the so-called Candle Yin Witch Sect?” Zhu Ye looked at the middle-aged scholar and said, “Wasn’t it said you were killed in the Zhou Garden?”
The middle-aged scholar kept his head down, gazing at the zither strings moving with the night wind, seemingly entranced, and paid no attention to his question.
With Zhu Ye revealing the young girl’s true identity, the atmosphere on the mountain path became extremely tense and oppressive. Tianhai Zhanyi’s face turned pale.
Logically, Zhu Ye should have been entirely focused on Nanke at this moment. His words to the middle-aged scholar were completely irrelevant.
How could a man like him waste words?
Ning Shiwei understood his meaning. With a hand gesture behind his back, he gave a signal.
Without any warning or military order, the crossbow soldiers from the Songshan Military Prefecture, under the cover of experts from the Peerless Sect and the Tianhai family, completed their loading actions at lightning speed and aimed at the demon race experts on the path.
Like a torrential downpour, the whooshing sound instantly drowned out the zither music.
Countless divine crossbow bolts, glowing with holy light, rained down like a storm, engulfing Nanke, the middle-aged scholar, and the two beauties.
But in truth, even before the rain of bolts had fallen, the two beauties had already vanished.
They transformed into two masses of light, then shattered into countless fragments, drifting behind Nanke and re-condensing.
A pair of wings formed behind Nanke.
Green wings swayed gently, tearing through the cold night wind, turning into countless streaks of green light in the dark sky.
She darted through the rain of bolts like lightning.
Except for Xu Yourong, no one in the world was faster than her. Even that rain of bolts couldn’t match her speed. In her eyes, they moved as slowly as falling leaves.
No one could clearly see Nanke’s figure—only the green streaks of light, only those streaks weaving through the crowd.
Divine crossbows snapped, red lines appeared on necks, blood splashed into the night sky, severed ears flew, and muffled groans rang out.
Amid the shattering sounds, dozens of figures collapsed.
The green streaks of light gradually faded, and Nanke’s form reappeared.
She stood among the corpses, her green wings slowly swaying behind her, blood dripping from the Southern Cross Sword in her hand.
Both the sword and the wings made her appear even smaller—and even more terrifying.
She looked at Zhu Ye and the others, her expression indifferent.
“Your Highness is truly a prodigy of the demon path. Aside from Xu Yourong, no one is faster than you,” Zhu Ye said, squinting. “But you are still too young. No matter how fast you are, you are still no match for us.”
At the mention of Xu Yourong’s name, Nanke fell silent for a moment, then began walking toward them.
Watching the small figure and those wings advancing along the mountain path, everyone felt fear, despite Zhu Ye’s confident words.
“Fight for your lives, and let’s see who survives today,” Zhu Ye said with a hint of emotion.
Ning Shiwei gestured for Tianhai Zhanyi to stand behind him.
Seeing this, Zhu Ye confirmed that Ning Shiwei had truly understood his words, and he felt slightly relieved.
Tianhai Zhanyi was surprised and also filled with gratitude.
Nanke stopped ten zhang in front of them.
In truth, Zhu Ye was not wrong. If Nanke was truly at the level of strength rumored—whether or not her injuries from the Snowfall City rebellion had healed—no matter how fast she was, she could not defeat two human experts at the Star-Gathering Upper Realm, especially with so many others present.
But for some reason, Nanke’s expression remained wooden, unchanged.
What happened next could perhaps serve as an explanation.
Ning Shiwei suddenly reached out and grabbed Tianhai Zhanyi by the collar.
Tianhai Zhanyi was shocked and about to resist, but he found that Zhu Ye’s finger had somehow already landed on his Nether Palace.
His body went completely rigid, unable to resist, turning into a stone.
Ning Shiwei lifted him up and hurled him with force straight at Nanke.