Chapter 230: Sword Cuts Rakshasa, Do Not Chase the Fleeing Enemy (Combined)

Willow Lane, inside a large mansion.

Deep night.

A single candle flame, two silhouettes.

"What? Dao Mo has arrived?"

Qi Yu's expression was far from pleasant—Dao Mo was a fifth-rank expert; they had assumed he wouldn't return to Qinghe for at least half a year, yet he came three months early.

"No good—we act sooner."

Liu Jiaoniang's eyes flashed with cruelty.

The two of them staying in Qinghe certainly wasn't for any marital life.

Gathering intelligence was one purpose.

The other was to incite chaos at the Trade Office market—even if they couldn't shut it down entirely, a few months' disruption would suffice.

Whether it was the Qi clan of the Southern Frontier or the Ghost Ming Sect, neither wished to see the market grow; the best way was to create turmoil and scare the Yu merchants into fleeing.

Moreover, the Wu state's war is about to begin; cutting off the silver and gold trade will surely make the new Wu emperor suffer.

"Fine. We move in three days."

Qi Yu gritted his teeth.

Many tasks remained unfinished, but Dao Mo's arrival disrupted their plans—they could only act early, or else if Dao Mo found them, all would be lost.

Dao Mo was a fifth-rank expert, and he lived right inside the Trade Office; their carefully laid plans were always at risk of exposure.

The longer they waited, the more dangerous it became.

"By the way, haven't you killed that man yet?"

Qi Yu stared at Liu Jiaoniang.

Liu Jiaoniang sneered: "Tonight, he will die."

The man Qi Yu referred to was a man named He Shan.

Her poison hadn't killed him; instead, he went mad searching for her across the land, and now he'd tracked her to Qinghe—once, he nearly found Willow Lane.

Qi Yu already knew of He Shan's existence.

"It's time to settle this."

Liu Jiaoniang's thin lips curled, growing even more cruel, her killing intent surging.

That day.

Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Li Rui set down his notebook and rose to open the door.

There stood a disciple of the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

"Lord Li."

The disciple bowed respectfully.

Li Rui was now the Grand Master of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, and disciples often came to deliver messages.

"Speak."

He spoke coolly.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance disciple bowed low: "It's Master He, who resides in the Alliance. You ordered me to watch him, but he hasn't left his quarters for days—I find it suspicious, so I've come to report."

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

After placing He Shan in the Heaven and Earth Alliance,

He Shan had always left during the day and returned only late at night.

Li Rui had visited He Shan several times himself.

According to He Shan, he was searching for Liu Jiaoniang.

When a man is willing to sacrifice his life, he unleashes unimaginable energy.

"Good."

Li Rui nodded.

He mounted his demonic steed and galloped off.

Moments later, he crossed half the city to reach the Heaven and Earth Alliance; as Grand Master, the gate disciples recognized him and dared not block him.

Soon after,

he arrived at his former residence within the Alliance.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

After a long while,

no one opened the door.

Li Rui frowned at the young disciple who had followed him: "He's not inside?"

The Heaven and Earth Alliance disciple scratched his head in confusion:

"That's odd—I've watched the door every day without fail; Master He shouldn't have left."

Li Rui understood.

He Shan had already left the Heaven and Earth Alliance.

He didn't blame the disciple.

After all, their cultivation realms were too far apart; if He Shan wished to conceal his whereabouts, this disciple could never detect it.

He stepped lightly, floating over the high wall and landing in the courtyard.

He scanned the area.

Quickly, he spotted a sheet of paper pinned under a stone on the stone table.

"Brother Li, I've found that demon woman. All this stems from my wife. As a husband, I must avenge her. I've already dragged you into this once—I won't drag you into further danger. I leave without farewell. —He Shan."

Li Rui stared at the letter.

He sighed softly.

In truth, He Shan was the one truly entangled.

If Liu Jiaoniang hadn't sought to recover her divine qi, she wouldn't have set the trap with the Meinu.

Li Rui rubbed his temples:

"Karma is hard to sever."

Deep night, a dark alley.

He Shan wore a wide-brimmed hat, his long blade drawn, his steps quickening.

Ten zhang.

That was the distance between him and his vengeance.

"Thousand-Faced Rakshasa, the karma must end now."

His fingers tightened around the hilt, turning white; his breath grew ragged.

He could not calm himself.

He simply could not.

Suddenly,

a light breeze rose from the ground, and in an instant, a voluptuous woman appeared before him—her body fiery, her eyes icy.

"Looks like Xiao Jiu has good taste in men—you actually made it here."

'Xiao Jiu?'

He Shan frowned.

'Is that Xiao Lan's real name?'

He took a deep breath, locking his gaze on the woman before him.

How many nights had he dreamed of finding her?

"Tell me—why did you kill her?"

He Shan asked the question burning in his heart.

Watching He Shan's expression, Liu Jiaoniang burst into laughter: "Why kill her?"

"Because she deserved to die!"

In an instant, Liu Jiaoniang's gaze turned utterly cold.

"A lowly Meinu, shameless and unrestrained—doesn't she deserve death?"

' Meinu?'

Confusion flickered in He Shan's eyes.

This wasn't what he'd imagined.

"How could Xiao Lan be a Meinu?"

He had searched for so long—even paid years of his life to hire a ghost diviner—just to find Liu Jiaoniang.

He knew perfectly well what a Meinu was.

Confusion gave way to boundless rage; his eyes turned crimson in an instant.

"No, no—!"

"You're lying! Don't try to shake my mind—die!"

He swung his long blade in a full arc, slashing toward Liu Jiaoniang.

Liu Jiaoniang twisted her waist, effortlessly dodging his strike, a cold sneer on her lips: "Fine. I'll send you down to join her—when you meet her, ask her yourself."

Her supple, boneless hands pushed forward.

Yet they carried the force of ten thousand jin.

Puff.

He Shan's chest caved in visibly; a gush of blood spewed from his mouth.

He flew backward several zhang, crashing into the courtyard wall, bleeding uncontrollably, his face as pale as gold paper.

When he looked again, Liu Jiaoniang's palm had transformed into a grotesque, terrifying ghost claw.

"Evil God Technique!"

He Shan's pupils shrank sharply.

After only a few exchanges, he had already been defeated.

His mouth tasted bitter.

Liu Jiaoniang sneered at the man before her: "You really think some crude blood technique grants you the right to kill me? Delusional!"

She slowly raised her right hand.

She intended to finish He Shan, then join Qi Yu to launch the rebellion and flee Qinghe.

Once gone, with heaven high and earth wide, who could ever find her?

"Die."

Hearing Liu Jiaoniang's soft command, He Shan closed his eyes.

He had accepted his fate.

But he waited long, and still no palm struck him—he slowly opened his eyes.

He saw Liu Jiaoniang's right palm hovering one chi above his head, her gaze filled with dread as she stared behind him.

He turned his head.

"Li… Li Laoge?" He Shan's pupils widened as he stared at the old man standing beside him, whispering.

Li Rui's face was as icy and expressionless as a mountain; he looked down at He Shan: "Brother He, you're not dead yet, are you?"

He Shan grimaced.

It hurt.

"Not yet."

"Good."

Li Rui nodded, then raised his head to look at Liu Jiaoniang and sighed softly: "It's time to end this."

Liu Jiaoniang stared fixedly at Li Rui.

For some reason, a flicker of retreat stirred within her.

The old man before her was like an endless abyss—impossible to fathom.

=9+ Shu _ Ba

She had watched Li Rui in Qinghe for a long time, yet never struck.

Not only because of his rank as Trade Captain of the Anning Guard, but because she could not see through this little old man.

The Twelve Blood Disciples were all butchers.

As a butcher herself, she instinctively dared not strike a prey she could not understand.

"Who are you?"

Liu Jiaoniang spoke slowly.

She always felt this old man concealed his true identity.

Li Rui smiled lightly:

"Me?"

"Li Rui."

In an instant!

A brilliant slash of blade-light illuminated the night, becoming the only light in Liu Jiaoniang's eyes.

"Ugh."

A thin red line slowly appeared across Liu Jiaoniang's forehead; her eyes lost their luster, pupils beginning to dilate.

One strike!

Crimson spread across her vision, until the black night turned blood-red.

"How could he be this strong?"

Liu Jiaoniang stared at Li Rui in disbelief—until death, she never even had a chance to move.

That slash had been too fast.

He Shan stared wide-eyed at the beautiful corpse lying on the ground.

"The Twelve Blood Disciples, the Thousand-Faced Rakshasa… just like that?"

He felt it wasn't real.

He looked up again.

Li Rui sheathed his blade and said to He Shan in a calm tone: "Brother He, I know you have many questions, but now is not the time to explain. Tomorrow, I'll tell you everything. This place will soon become extremely dangerous—leave."

He Shan struggled to his feet.

He gave Li Rui a long, deep look.

Clearly,

Everything that had happened to him was far beyond what he had imagined.

Li Rui's strength was far more terrifying than he had ever guessed.

Both were swordsmen—he knew better than anyone how powerful that slash had been. No joke: within Anning Prefecture, no one could match Li Rui in sword technique.

The First Sword of Anning.

The overwhelming power of Li Rui left him feeling utterly powerless.

Then came endless confusion.

Finally, he took a deep breath: "Fine. I'll wait for you."

Saying this, as if all his remaining strength had been drained, he dragged his blade and walked step by step into the depths of the alley.

Inside the large mansion:

"Why is that woman taking so long?"

Qi Yu looked up.

He glanced at the sky—it was nearly midnight. Liu Jiaoniang had been out for a full hour.

"Did she get tripped up in a ditch?"

Qi Yu's eyes darkened.

He didn't care whether Liu Jiaoniang lived or died—but if she delayed or leaked tonight's operation, he would drag her out himself and whip her corpse.

After long consideration, Qi Yu gritted his teeth.

"Ah Hu, go check on her. At midnight, strike on schedule."

"Yes!"

A burly servant at the gate answered, then footsteps sounded.

Qi Yu glanced at the sky again, his expression growing more anxious.

Less than half a quarter-hour had passed.

He could no longer contain his restlessness and strode out the door.

Just as his right foot crossed the threshold—

A thunderous crash of splintering wood came from the courtyard gate.

The servant Ah Hu, who had already left, was kicked through the gate like a sack of sand, rolling twice on the ground before landing at Qi Yu's feet.

Qi Yu's eye twitched as he stared at the old man striding through the broken gate.

"Li Rui!"

He spat the two words through clenched teeth.

He never imagined Li Rui would appear here.

Li Rui smiled warmly at Qi Yu: "Anning Guard on official duty—any who defy orders are executed on the spot!"

With that,

A line of men filed in behind him.

Among them, even several Wugu people.

Qi Yu looked at the crowd before him and felt a slight relief.

At least Dao Mo hadn't come himself.

He was still disguised as Liu Jiaoniang; clinging to a final hope, he forced a smile: "Your Excellencies, what's going on? We're law-abiding citizens!"

He hurried forward to Li Rui's side, crying out his innocence.

Li Rui looked at him with a faint, knowing smile:

"Innocent?"

"Three seventh-rank guards in this courtyard, none registered with the Anning Guard—you call that innocent?"

Hearing this,

Qi Yu exhaled in relief: "Your Excellency, I didn't know the rules."

Saying this, he pulled a small box from his robe and shoved it into Li Rui's hand.

"This fifth-rank Qiangqi Pill is a humble offering; I humbly ask His Lordship to accept it."

Li Rui smiled and took the pill.

Qi Yu sneered inwardly: "All Yu Kingdom officials are the same—insatiable greed!"

He only wanted to get rid of Li Rui and his group as quickly as possible.

Li Rui offered a "kind" reminder: "Young brother, have you angered someone? We're acting on a tip—just routine procedure."

Qi Yu flew into a rage and pulled out another pill.

"My Lord, please tell me who's framing me?"

Li Rui chuckled:

"A woman. Seems her name is Liu Jiaoniang."

Liu Jiaoniang!

At the name, Qi Yu's eyes could no longer hide his killing intent.

'That bitch dares betray me.'

'I knew that woman couldn't be trusted!'

In his heart, he longed to flay her, break her bones, and tear her to pieces.

With visible pain, Qi Yu pulled out his last fifth-rank pill and offered it to Li Rui with a forced smile.

He asked his final question:

"My Lord, where is that woman now?"

Li Rui accepted the fifth-rank pill without expression, calmly adjusting his bulging robe as he replied casually:

"She's dead."

Qi Yu's pupils shrank sharply; he involuntarily gasped: "What?"

Li Rui, possessing the instincts of a shrewd merchant, kindly added: "Yes. I killed her."

Before Qi Yu could move,

a smile curled at his lips:

"The time is nearly up."

Qi Yu was stunned by this cryptic remark.

"Time?"

"What time?"

Li Rui offered one final, kind warning: "Young Qi, Dao Mo has already finished his work at the Weiheshimao Office. You'd better run—wait any longer, and you won't escape."

Qi Yu was utterly shocked.

He finally understood.

Why had the ambush at the Weiheshimao Office remained silent even though it was past midnight?

Because Dao Mo had struck early.

"Damn!"

Enraged, Qi Yu drew his sword and lunged to carve a bloody path to freedom.

Li Rui didn't stop him—he even stepped aside to clear a path.

Qi Yu barely broke a sweat as he burst from the mansion and vanished into the dark alleys.

Tan Hu tried to chase, but it was too late.

Frustrated, he snapped at Li Rui: "Big Brother Li, why didn't you stop him?"

Li Rui replied coolly:

"Hu Zi, haven't you heard this saying?"

"Never pursue a cornered enemy."

(End of Chapter)