Chapter 319: Zheng Qi

"What—"

The stinging pain in his palm surged in an instant. Since mastering the "Profound Observation" protective Qi, he had not experienced such pain in decades!

Zheng Anqi's gaze suddenly shifted to his palm.

The long sword was vibrating in his hand.

Hum—

Zheng Anqi's pupils shrank abruptly.

With this vibration, the long sword was actually slowly slicing through his protective Qi, the blade touching his palm... leaving a wound in the center of his hand!

"Do you think... I would appear before you without any certainty? Do you think that after killing so many fellow disciples and carrying the blood feud of Penglai, I would give up my life so easily?"

A cold, emotionless female voice rang out.

Before the words had even faded, Zheng Anqi suddenly let out a cry of pain!

Blood splattered!

The long sword pierced through his palm, thrusting straight toward his face!

————————

Forty-eight years ago.

A merchant ship moved slowly across the sea. The keel pressed against the water, emitting a low, muffled sound; the vibration traveled to the bottom of the hold, waking a rat.

It crawled out from among the debris, scanned left and right vigilantly, and crawled forward.

Slap!

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak—

A fair, slender, and scarred hand suddenly gripped it and lifted it up.

It struggled with all its might, biting frantically at that hand, even tearing off a piece of flesh the size of a fingernail—but the hand did not waver in the slightest.

A pair of bloodshot eyes appeared before it.

Then came a delicate mouth, cracked and dry, and teeth that slowly opened—biting into its head.

Crunch.

The sound of chewing and swallowing, accompanied by forcibly suppressed retching, echoed in the hold. Warm blood surged into her throat, bringing a trace of warmth to a body that was nearly at its end.

When the last remains of the rat had been swallowed, the young girl slowly propped herself up, hid back in the pile of debris, closed her bloodshot eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

She seemed to be dreaming of something; her body trembled involuntarily.

"Father, Mother... Penglai..."

"Ying! Zhou!"

The soft voice, in her sleep, gradually became as cold and hard as raw iron.

Forty-five years ago.

In a water stronghold, several corpses lay on the ground, fresh blood seeping into the earth along the cracks. The girl sheathed her sword and looked at the burly man sitting on a tiger-skin chair before her.

"Big Boss, with my Wu Gong, can I join the gang?"

The burly man stroked his chin and suddenly laughed loudly.

"Of course, of course! With your Wu Gong, little lady, you are more than qualified to take the third chair in this water stronghold!"

"You and I shall swear an oath in blood; from today on, you are the Third Boss of my stronghold!"

The girl walked slowly up to the high platform and sat in the chair to the burly man's right.

Hundreds of water bandits below shouted in unison.

"Third Boss! Third Boss! Third Boss!"

The girl was expressionless, her hand gripping the long sword not wavering in the slightest.

Forty years ago.

A tall, headless body fell to the ground.

The young woman, now fully grown, gritted her teeth, struggled to crawl to the door, inserted her long sword into the door latch, and then slowly slid down to sit on the floor against the door.

Faint discussions could be heard from outside the door.

"The Third Boss has no choice but to submit this time. The Big Boss specifically bought Soft-Bone Powder from Tang Men and aphrodisiacs from Green Willow Manor; even a top-tier expert would fall for it!"

"It's a pity the Third Boss is so beautiful, yet she's cold as ice all day and ignores the Big Boss... If she had submitted to the Big Boss earlier and handed over her Wu Gong, the Big Boss wouldn't have had to go to such extremes."

"Why think so much? Since the Big Boss has already turned hostile, after he's done enjoying her, he'll definitely torture the Third Boss for her Wu Gong... Maybe we'll all get a turn, hehe!"

The young woman glanced at the headless corpse on the floor; the last trace of emotion in her heart vanished.

She channeled her internal energy, bit by bit forcing the poison out of her body.

Thirty-six years ago.

In the deserted mountains, the sound of weapons clashing exploded continuously!

"You, you are not from Yingzhou! You are a fellow disciple from Penglai!"

The man shouted in shock and anger.

"I—for the sake of our shared sect, I still have a wife and daughter, don't kill me!"

Wounds continued to bloom on his body; looking at his expressionless opponent, the man gradually fell into despair.

"Since we are both fellow disciples, why must you move against me?"

The cold female voice rang out.

"Because you have forgotten Penglai."

A horizontal slash of the sword, and his head flew up.

Before the headless corpse could fall, the woman stepped forward, gripped his heart meridian, and released a burst of Qi, sweeping through his dantian—seizing a trace of extremely subtle Qi.

A trace of protective Qi, thin as a cicada's wing, gradually appeared on her arm.

Twenty-three years ago.

The woman rolled off the bed and dressed herself bit by bit.

The man on the bed looked at the graceful body before him, his heart swaying, and reached out to hold the woman's hand.

Pfft.

Blood gushed from the man's mouth. He glanced at the long sword piercing his chest, his mouth opened and closed a few times, and he slowly collapsed onto the bed, silent.

The woman sheathed her sword and touched her lower abdomen with her left hand.

"It's already done... Yingzhou has already discovered that someone is hunting Penglai people; they could track me down at any moment, and I could die at any time."

"After I die, someone needs to take my place and continue the revenge against Yingzhou."

Glancing at the corpse on the bed, the woman turned and left.

Twenty years ago.

A woman stood on the rooftop, looking down at the courtyard with indifference.

Xue Bang was standing in the courtyard, her face full of struggle. She suddenly spoke.

"You are there, aren't you?"

"You are my fellow disciple... You are killing me because I stopped seeking revenge and forgot the hatred, right?"

The woman on the roof had no expression and gave no response.

Her gaze was fixed on Xue Bang's lower abdomen, where Qi and blood were faintly congealing.

This reminded her of a young, small voice.

"Mother! Mother!"

"Mother, can you tell me another story? I'll definitely go to sleep obediently after I hear it, okay?"

The woman watched as Xue Bang kept asking questions in the courtyard, her voice growing lower and lower, until it finally turned into a plea.

"I can die... just let my child live, okay? Even if you take her away and let her take revenge with you... just let her live, okay?"

The woman looked at Xue Bang expressionlessly for a long while, then turned and left.

Fifteen years ago.

"Master Shi, this is Eunuch Cun Dong, a powerful figure who covers the sky with one hand in Nanjing. Why don't you pay your respects quickly?"

The woman stepped forward and bowed to the ground.

"Greetings, Eunuch."

Cun Dong sat in his chair and glanced at her.

"In the future, I will block any trouble from the officials for you. Will you share your profits with me?"

The woman said respectfully.

"It is not too much."

Five years ago.

The woman used her sword to behead the person from Yingzhou in front of her, but she herself was also heavily injured and fell to the ground. After panting for a moment, she barely managed to stand up and chased in one direction.

A moment later, she saw Zheng Yi running forward in the reed marsh while crying.

She watched expressionlessly as Zheng Yi ran further and further away, until she completely disappeared from sight.

"Do not appear before me again."

As if she had shed the last bit of burden, and as if she had severed the last bit of emotion, the woman walked toward Nanjingcheng without a trace of hesitation.

"Time is running out."

————————

Time returns to the present.

The long sword, sharpened for forty-eight years, pierced through Zheng Anqi's face.

Zheng Anqi bit the tip of the sword with his teeth. In shock and anger, he channeled his full power and struck the woman's chest with all his might!

Bang!

Fresh blood sprayed from her mouth, and the woman flew high into the air.

She suddenly remembered her own name, a name that no one had called for decades, a name she herself had almost forgotten.

Zheng Qi.

Hatred is like fragrant grass; even if cut down, it grows again.