Chapter 560

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said, "What are you doing at the City God Temple? Taking a stroll in the city and chatting isn't bad either." He had figured that Xu Mitian was looking for him for something, and moreover, eight or nine out of ten she wanted to use him to practice cultivation; otherwise, why would she need to choose the City God Temple?

Xu Mitian indeed came to see him this time to practice cultivation; she had thought Hu Xiaotian should understand, but this kid gave her a show of pretending ignorance while knowing the truth, and Xu Mitian couldn't just come out and say it straight; this matter really was somewhat hard to bring up. After holding it in for a while, she finally managed to utter a sentence: "I'm hungry!"

Hu Xiaotian almost laughed out loud, hungry? Yet he didn't know which mouth of yours was hungry. With his hands behind his back, he raised his head and gazed at the bright moon in the night sky, saying: "It's been a long time since I've seen such beautiful moonlight. The moon is bright over one's hometown; I wonder if after passing Yongjiang River, I'll still have the chance to see such a beautiful moon."

Xu Mitian said: "What exactly are you scheming by advising the Tang family brothers to leave?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm hungry too; how about I treat you to a drink?"

Xu Mitian said: "Cangmu County is really poor, and it's night now; where can we find food?"

"That's also right!"

Xu Mitian said: "Doesn't it feel uncomfortable in your heart to personally hand over the princess you love to someone else as a wife?"

Hu Xiaotian started in surprise, hastily looking left and right; Xu Mitian's lips curled with a faint cold smile. Hu Xiaotian said: "If you don't stop talking nonsense, you'll die."

Xu Mitian said: "If I died, you wouldn't be any better off; don't forget that the reason you're still alive to this day isn't because I've been secretly helping you."

At this moment, a group of riders came over from the distance; Hu Xiaotian worried that someone would see them together, so he hurriedly lowered his head and entered the City God Temple.

Xu Mitian followed closely; the two stood in the courtyard of the City God Temple, their gazes meeting. Xu Mitian felt the heat in Hu Xiaotian's eyes. She actually dared not look at him, and spat softly: "What are you staring at me for? It's not like you haven't seen me before."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Are you thinking about that again?" This guy is really straightforward.

Xu Mitian really felt she had nowhere to hide; thinking of her status as Xu Mitian, what kind of person she was—the number one poison master under heaven who made mighty warriors tremble at the mere mention of her name—now she had fallen to this point, being toyed with and mocked by this fake eunuch. After all kinds of humiliation, Xu Mitian bit her lip and said: "Hu Xiaotian, if you dare to speak to me like that again, don't blame me for turning hostile without mercy."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You looked better in your original appearance." Facing that face all wrapped in bandages, Hu Xiaotian had no interest in doing anything to her.

Xu Mitian turned away, and when she turned her head back again, she had already recovered her bewitching, alluring appearance. She lifted her head, her beautiful eyes gazing at Hu Xiaotian, and exhaled like an orchid: "Do you know what I originally looked like?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Is it important?"

"Isn't it unimportant?"

Hu Xiaotian shook his head and said: "In my heart, you have always merely been a substitute for Le Yao."

Xu Mitian felt her inner self as if lashed fiercely by a whip, her pupils suddenly contracting. A feeling of unprecedented humiliation filled her heart, while at this moment Hu Xiaotian suddenly pulled her into his embrace, roughly and passionately kissing her cherry lips; their figures vanished into the darkness.

Hu Xiaotian was about to pull off her clothes when Xu Mitian grabbed his ear and twisted it hard, causing him to grunt in pain. Then Xu Mitian punched him in the abdomen; Hu Xiaotian, completely unprepared, was doubled over like a shrimp from that blow, covering his belly and kneeling on the ground. He felt his intestines churning, breathing becoming difficult, stars flashing before his eyes, and he gritted his teeth and cursed: "You damned woman, you're so poisonous..."

Xu Mitian grabbed Hu Xiaotian's hair bun, brought her pretty face close to his, and in the darkness fixed her gaze on his eyes, saying: "Remember this: Le Yao is dead, and I killed her; no matter how much you once liked her, she is already dead."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled.

Xu Mitian bit her lip: "What are you laughing at? What's there to laugh about?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "No matter how powerful you are, you're still just a woman, Xu Mitian; have you ever thought about what the purpose of your life is?"

Xu Mitian was stunned by Hu Xiaotian's question, then she whispered: "I live in order to become the number one expert under heaven, cultivate the Myriad Toxics Divine Body, and achieve immortality."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Even if you became the number one expert under heaven and could live forever, what would be the point of living then? When that day comes, you'll realize you've lost the meaning of life, watching others undergo birth, aging, sickness, and death while you remain alone—what kind of agony would that be?"

"Narrow-minded, you, a eunuch, how could you know my aspirations!"

Hu Xiaotian had by now fully recovered his strength: "Although I don't know what you were like in the past, nor have I seen your true appearance, I can see clearly that you have always lived in deceit, self-deception; while most people in this world live for themselves to some extent, you alone live in a muddled haze, not knowing for whom you live."

Xu Mitian gritted her teeth: "Don't think I dare not kill you."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I fear death, but you fear it even more; otherwise, why would you endure humiliation and cling to life?"

Xu Mitian raised her fist; even if she didn't kill Hu Xiaotian, she would certainly give him a sound beating to vent her anger. Just then, a squeaking sound came from the corner of the wall; Xu Mitian followed the sound and saw that in the corner, tiny lights the size of mung beans were flickering nonstop—actually dozens of rats were swiftly moving toward them.

Hu Xiaotian was fine, but an unexpected scene unfolded: Xu Mitian, who had just been glaring at him with cold eyebrows, actually fled in fright to hide behind him, tightly gripping his arm and trembling as she whispered: "Rats..."

Hu Xiaotian initially thought Xu Mitian was pretending, but he soon felt her delicate body pressed against his trembling nonstop, and immediately realized that Xu Mitian also had a soft spot—the number one poison master under heaven was actually afraid of rats.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Aren't you the number one poison master under heaven? What's there to fear about rats? Just use some rat poison and kill them all."

Xu Mitian gradually calmed down; her initial fear was not feigned, merely a natural reaction, but the rats around them kept gathering more and more. Xu Mitian furrowed her brow and trembled: "The situation seems wrong!" She lifted her head to look at the roof, then whispered: "Jump up."

Hu Xiaotian nodded, wrapped his arms around Xu Mitian's slender waist, and the two leapt into the air together, landing on the roof of the main hall of the City God Temple.

Moonlight poured like water over the temple's flying eaves, reflecting a deep, icy glint; in the deep night, a cold light shot down following the moon's shadow. Xu Mitian lifted her head and saw that the swooping figure was a handsome snow eagle; on its back stood a person standing against the wind—who else could it be but the Feather Demon Li Chang'an?

Hu Xiaotian's victory in Fenglin Valley was pure luck; at the time, one reason was that Li Chang'an was too careless, another was that he had several strong experts by his side, and of course it also benefited from Li Chang'an cherishing his reputation and keeping his promises. Afterwards Hu Xiaotian also thought Li Chang'an wouldn't let it rest, but he never expected him to dare appear in Cangmu Town; here their strength had not weakened but actually increased due to the local garrison being reinforced, so Li Chang'an's choice to strike here seemed hardly wise.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Mitian had already changed her appearance; even though Hu Xiaotian was right next to her, he couldn't see exactly how she had altered her looks. It seems Ji Feihua's disguise technique surpasses even the masters of face-changing in Sichuan opera; although he had learned some disguise arts from Qin Yutong, compared to Xu Mitian's profound transformation skills, it's not even worth mentioning.

Li Chang'an drifted down like a light cloud from the snow eagle's back, landing at a point about five zhang away from Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua; his icy gaze stared steadily at Xu Mitian. Xu Mitian understood in her heart that her whereabouts were likely already exposed eight or nine times out of ten; she showed no panic, her gaze subtly noting the surroundings of the City God Temple as she silently considered the most possible escape route.

Hu Xiaotian took a step forward, just happening to block Li Chang'an's line of sight; in fact, from Li Chang'an's appearance to the present, he had never once glanced at him, and Li Chang'an's target was never him originally; although his footwork was exquisite, if it weren't for Liang Yinghao secretly assisting yesterday, he would have surely lost then.

Li Chang'an furrowed his brows and said coldly: "This matter has nothing to do with you; if you're sensible, get lost."

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "Mr. Li, your fame spreads across the world, and you're known as the Feather Demon; with such renown, you must be a man of your word. What did you promise me yesterday? You said that if you lost, you wouldn't bother us again; how is it that after just one day you've gone back on your word? If this gets out, you wouldn't fear being laughed at."

Li Chang'an said: "I did promise not to trouble you, but I'm looking for Xu Mitian; whoever dares to interfere between me and her is my enemy." He gave a sinister grin: "You probably don't know what fate awaits those who oppose me, nor do you know the true meaning behind the title 'Feather Demon' that the martial world gives me."

Hu Xiaotian swallowed a mouthful of spit; Li Chang'an's gloomy gaze made him feel a chill from the bottom of his heart. Although Xu Mitian had once cultivated together with him, the two basically had no emotional foundation; besides, what business did he have meddling in the grudge between these two experts? Even if he wanted to intervene, he'd have to weigh his own worth. Hu Xiaotian chuckled: "Mr. Li, you've mistaken the person; he's just a low-ranking soldier under my command."

Li Chang'an slowly spread his arms, with a bang! the tiles behind him shattered, and a black mass of rats surged up from the holes like a tide.

Although Hu Xiaotian wasn't afraid of rats, he now felt a creepy sensation; he nodded and said: "I'll go ahead first; you two talk privately." As the saying goes, he who knows the times is a true hero—if not now, when? Hu Xiaotian had just taken a step when Xu Mitian grabbed him; he gave a wry smile: "What are you grabbing me for? This matter has nothing to do with me, and Mr. Li isn't looking for me."

Xu Mitian angrily shouted: "You thing without Conscience!" She suddenly seized Hu Xiaotian's throat and roared at Li Chang'an: "If you dare step forward again, I'll kill him first!" (To be continued~^~)