Chapter 70: Chapter Twenty‑Eight [The Fallen] (Part 1)

He twisted open the bottle's mouth and aimed it at Murong Feiyan's nose. Murong Feiyan inhaled the gas from the bottle, sneezed several times, and actually woke from her stupor. She blinked her eyes, saw Hu Xiaotian dressed in monk's robes before her, and immediately realized her hands and feet were bound. She let out a frightened scream, "Ah!" and cried out in terror: "You… what do you want to do?"

Hu Xiaotian was both laughing and crying; he was clearly a hero saving the beauty, yet this Murong lass thought him what kind of person? Apparently in her heart he had never been a positive image. Since you think of me this way, I might as well scare you a little, Hu Xiaotian gave a wicked grin and said: "What do you think I want to do?"

Murong Feiyan turned deathly pale with fright: "Hu Xiaotian, I am a court‑appointed……official……you you you……how dare you……"

Hu Xiaotian said with a grin: "You're a court‑appointed official, so I'm not? With my character, what couldn't I do? What's more, this place is in the wild countryside, with no one around; even if I did something heinous to you, no one would know. Afterwards, at worst I could destroy your corpse and erase all traces, throw you off the cliff, and the wild beasts in these mountains would devour you down to the bones—who would know? And who would know?"

Murong Feiyan snapped: "Aren't you afraid of being struck by heavenly thunder?"

As soon as the words were spoken, several bolts of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a series of low rumbles of thunder. Hu Xiaotian shrank his neck in fright, thinking, "I said, no need to take this so seriously?" He went behind Murong Feiyan and first untied the rope binding her wrists, but then he dared not continue spouting nonsense.

Only then did Murong Feiyan realize she had misunderstood him; her face flushed, and she whispered a curse: "Shameless wretch, all you know is how to threaten me."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I've told you all to be more careful, yet you still go by the title of the capital's number one female divine constable and almost fell into the lascivious monks' trap. If it weren't for my alertness, we would surely have been wiped out this time."

Having freed her hands and feet, Murong Feiyan wanted to stand up, but her body felt limp and weak, a wave of dizziness and blurred vision nearly made her collapse. Fortunately Hu Xiaotian timely supported her; to be precise, he embraced her, and half of her delicate frame pressed against his chest.

Murong Feiyan, both embarrassed and anxious, said: "Let go of me……"

Hu Xiaotian, however, obeyed, quickly let go and stepped aside; Murong Feiyan gave a startled cry and fell stiffly straight to the ground. Her limbs were obviously rigid; if she landed hard, she would surely end up with a bruised nose and swollen face. Perhaps sensing her tragic fate, this time her scream was even more piercing than before.

Once again, Hu Xiaotian timely reached out; this time he fully embraced her, catching her before her face hit the ground and pulling her back. Murong Feiyan felt she had never been this weak in her life, breathing weakly as she looked at Hu Xiaotian. Hu Xiaotian said: "Being strong also requires a foundation; I didn't forcefully drag you along—it's you who insist on clinging to me."

Murong Feiyan glared at him hatefully.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Do you know what 'dog bites Lü Dongbin, doesn't know a good heart' means? That's you!" He helped Murong Feiyan up again. Outside, the monk Wuxing's manic laughter rang out once more—this guy had actually woken up again.

Murong Feiyan had Hu Xiaotian support her as they went out. Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, she knew one thing for sure: it was definitely Hu Xiaotian who had turned the tide and rescued them. If it weren't for his alertness, she feared… Murong Feiyan hardly dared to think further.

Monk Wuxing lay on the ground, the blood on his face washed clean by the heavy rain. Seeing Murong Feiyan being helped out by Hu Xiaotian, he realized the antidote had already been found by them; today's meticulously planned robbery had utterly failed. Wuxing was vexed to the extreme; after being brutally beaten by Hu Xiaotian just moments ago, every part of his body ached. Recalling Hu Xiaotian's ruthless methods, he couldn't help but feel chills run down his spine. Given this guy's viciousness, who knows what else he might do.

Seeing Wuxing gnashing his teeth in hatred, Murong Feiyan told Hu Xiaotian: "Kill him!"

Hu Xiaotian replied: "Why don't you do it yourself!"

Murong Feiyan knew her condition; her whole body was sore and weak, she didn't even have the strength to hold a knife. Without relying on Hu Xiaotian's support, she could barely move her feet.

Hu Xiaotian glanced at Murong Feiyan beside him, secretly amused; even the formidable Murong lass would have a day of clinging like a little bird. He lifted his foot and kicked Wuxing hard in the jaw; Wuxing was knocked unconscious again by the blow.

Hu Xiaotian first brought Murong Feiyan to the side hall; along the way he again saw the corpse of the monk he had previously killed. As a constable, Murong Feiyan was accustomed to bloodshed and wasn't frightened, yet she was still amazed that this kid's martial arts were so ordinary, yet he had somehow eliminated so many wicked monks. Murong Feiyan didn't know the details; in fact, two more monks had been slain by Hu Xiaotian in the rear courtyard.

Returning to the side hall, Hu Xiaotian picked up the porcelain bottle and brought it close to each of the four servants' noses in turn. Stimulated by the foul odor, the servants all woke up. They had no idea what had happened, their expressions blank; just like Murong Feiyan when she first came to, their limbs were sore and weak, and they would likely need a while to fully regain their strength.

After resting a while, Murong Feiyan felt she had regained some strength. She took out a bronze mirror and discreetly examined herself, soon discovering the kiss mark on her neck. Her hatred for the wicked monks of Lanruo Temple intensified to the extreme, and she also felt a lingering fear: if Hu Xiaotian hadn't arrived in time, she would surely have met disaster. She whispered to Hu Xiaotian: "This matter must be reported to the local authorities as soon as possible."

Hu Xiaotian secretly laughed at how simply Murong Feiyan thought—let alone reporting to the authorities in these remote mountains, even if she did, she couldn't make it clear. He then told her that he had killed three monks in total. Hearing this, Murong Feiyan was also greatly startled. Seeing Hu Xiaotian's body covered in bloodstains and his forehead a bruise, she guessed that in rescuing them he must have endured many dangers, and a feeling of gratitude welled up in her heart. Yet even though she felt this way, she was reluctant to express it in words.

Hu Xiaotian called Murong Feiyan to the doorway. Given her deep martial arts foundation, having just circulated her qi twice, her strength, though not fully restored, was sufficient for her to walk unaided.

Hu Xiaotian dragged the corpses hidden in the corridor to the rear courtyard and placed the other two bodies together. Having heard the wicked monks say earlier that they intended to throw all the corpses off the cliff, he inferred that the cliff they spoke of must be not far from the back gate.

As expected, just beyond the back gate, less than ten zhang ahead lay an abyss of ten thousand zhang depth. To avoid future trouble, Hu Xiaotian, without hesitation, threw the three monks' corpses over the cliff.

Murong Feiyan watched the whole process; although she didn't help, she also didn't try to stop him, clearly acquiescing to Hu Xiaotian's actions. Among the four wicked monks, one was still alive, and Hu Xiaotian dragged Wuxing to the edge of the cliff.

At that moment, Wuxing happened to wake up again. Seeing his surroundings, he was instantly terrified out of his wits; his earlier brutality and stubbornness had been washed away by wind and rain. This guy wailed: "Grandfather, spare my life! Grandfather, spare my life! I dare not, I dare not……"

Hu Xiaotian snorted disdainfully: "Saying that now is hardly too late?"

Wuxing said: "Sir… I'll give you silver. I've hidden a lot of silver inside the Buddha statue in the Mahavira Hall. Take the silver and go; please spare my life."

Murong Feiyan stepped forward at this point and said coldly: "As a monastic, you actually committed such a heinous act—aren't you afraid the Buddha will bring down punishment?"

Wuxing trembled as he said: "Miss, please spare me. Although I harbor ill intentions, I haven't even touched a single finger of yours… I… I'm not a monk; the four of us were originally bandits who looted homes and robbed travelers. After being suppressed by the authorities, we fled here, killed the monks of Lanruo Temple, seized this temple for ourselves, and are merely staying temporarily……"

If he hadn't spoken, it would have been better, but hearing him admit to plotting harm against the monks of Lanruo Temple, Murong Feiyan's fury was already unstoppable. Recalling the kiss mark on her neck and then thinking of their ordeal tonight, her heart burned with extreme hatred. She lifted her foot and kicked Wuxing in the chest, sending him over the cliff. In the stormy wind and rain, only his fading cries could be heard drifting away.

Hu Xiaotian lowered his gaze to look at the unfathomable ten‑thousand‑zhang abyss, involuntarily sucking in a breath of cold air. He turned to look at Murong Feiyan, saw her beautiful eyes fixed on him without a trace of smile, cold as ice, and inwardly shuddered, quickly stepping back inside.

Murong Feiyan seemed to see through his thoughts, half‑smiling, she said: "Are you afraid I'll kick you down too?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "One must have a conscience!" Although he knew this guy would never do something as ungrateful as repaying kindness with enmity, just to be safe he hurried back to the safe zone, bearing in mind that women are the most irrational creatures in the world—who knows, a sudden rush of blood to the head might drive them to impulsive acts.

Gazing at Hu Xiaotian's back, Murong Feiyan felt a faint, knowing smile appear at the corner of her mouth for no apparent reason.

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