Chapter 362: Zheng Qi

"What—"

The stinging pain in his palm surged in an instant. Since mastering the protective True Qi of "Xuanlan," 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 contracted sharply.

Following this vibration, the long sword was actually slowly slicing through his protective True Qi, the blade making contact with 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 bearing the blood feud of Penglai, I would simply throw my life away 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 seawater, emitting a low, muffled sound. The vibration traveled to the bottom of the hold, waking a mouse.

It crawled out from among the debris, scanned its surroundings vigilantly, and crawled forward.

Snap!

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 pair of lips, covered in cracks, and teeth that slowly opened—biting into its head.

Crunch.

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

When the last remains of the mouse had been swallowed, the young girl slowly propped up her body, 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 trembling 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 the water stronghold, several corpses lay on the ground, fresh blood seeping into the earth along the patterns. The young girl sheathed her sword and looked at the burly man sitting on the tiger-skin chair.

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

The burly man stroked his chin and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Of course, of course! With the young lady's Wu Gong, 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 this water stronghold!"

The young girl walked slowly onto 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 young girl remained expressionless, her hand gripping the long sword not wavering in the slightest.

Forty years ago.

A tall body without a head 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 sat down on the floor along the door.

Discussions could be heard faintly from outside the door.

"The Third Boss has no choice but to submit this time. The Big Boss specifically bought Soft Tendon Powder from Tang Men, and aphrodisiacs from Luliuzhuang; 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 long, ignoring 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 be so ruthless."

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

The young woman glanced at the headless corpse on the ground, and the last trace of emotion vanished from her heart.

She channeled her internal energy, bit by bit expelling the poison from 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 fellow discipleship, I 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 do you want to strike at me?"

The cold female voice rang out.

"Because you forgot 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, exhaled True Qi, and swept through his dantian—snatching away a trace of extremely subtle True Qi.

A trace of protective True Qi, as 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 take the woman's hand.

Pfft.

Blood surged 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 fell onto the bed, losing all signs of life.

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

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

"After I die, I need someone 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.

The woman stood on the roof, looking coldly into the courtyard.

Xue Bangzhu 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 the revenge and forgot the hatred, right?"

The woman on the roof remained expressionless and did not respond.

Her gaze was fixed on Xue Bangzhu'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 sleep obediently after I finish listening, okay?"

The woman watched as Xue Bangzhu kept asking questions in the courtyard, her voice getting 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 Bangzhu expressionlessly for a long while, then turned and left.

Fifteen years ago.

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

The woman stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Eunuch."

Cun Dong sat in his chair and glanced at her.

"In the future, I will block any official trouble for you. Will you share your profits?"

The woman said respectfully.

"It is not too much."

Five years ago.

The woman slashed off the head of the Yingzhou person before her, but she herself fell to the ground with heavy injuries. She panted for a moment, barely propped herself up, and chased in one direction.

A moment later, she saw Zheng Yi running forward in the reed marsh, 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 cleared away the last trace of attachment, and as if she had severed the last trace of emotion, the woman walked toward Nanjingcheng without a hint 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 ten percent of his internal energy and struck the woman's chest with all his might!

Bang!

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

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

Zheng Qi.

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

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 363 =====