Chapter 17: You are the ninth

At that moment, my head buzzed, my feet kept stepping back; after a few steps, I turned and ran toward Dang Pu.

But just as I turned, the sound of horse hooves rang out again.

Neigh… neigh… neigh…

I don't know when, but that warhorse had appeared behind me.

On the warhorse, Zhao Zixun had one hand on his waist sword, looking down at me from above.

Under the wide brim of his military cap, I still couldn't see his face clearly.

But his whole body exuded a vicious and killing aura that made one dare not meet his gaze.

And behind that warhorse, a large red coffin was being dragged.

It was exactly the same as the eight coffins floating up on the west side of the river!

Under my gaze, Zhao Zixun clamped his legs around the horse's belly; after the warhorse let out a high-pitched neigh, it spread its hooves and charged straight at me.

The warhorse was only about ten steps away; I couldn't advance, nor dare to retreat, and after a few seconds it had galloped right up to me.

Zhao Zixun pulled the reins; the warhorse's front hooves rose high, its hind legs kicked hard, and the whole horse leapt up, brushing past the top of my head.

As the horse's hooves landed steadily, a clanking chain sounded from above and fell upon me; the large red coffin was right within reach.

The coffin lid suddenly flung open, like a giant beast lunging at me with its mouth wide open.

Just as the red coffin came down upon me, the scale pendant on my neck flared bright, layers of scales stacking continuously to form a semi‑arched shield that slammed into the red coffin.

With a bang.

The chains broke, and the red coffin fell to the ground.

The scale shield shattered, I was knocked to the ground, a sweet‑sour taste filled my throat; I lowered my head and saw the tail scale that Liu Junyan wore around my neck… had shattered…

It had saved me twice, but tonight it shattered forever…

I felt heartbroken.

But before I could recover, the sound of horse hooves rang out again from behind.

I struggled to rise, but that blow had been too heavy; my feet staggered, I hadn't steadied myself, and the chains shot at me like snakes spitting out their tongues, instantly wrapping around both my legs.

Those chains came from behind, from the eight red coffins on the river surface.

With the chains clanking, I was dragged onto the ground.

My whole body kept being pulled westward into the river by the chains.

From nearby came the eager laughter of young girls: "Xiao Jiu, come keep us company."

"You are the ninth, the ninth…"

"It's so cold underwater, Xiao Jiu, hurry and keep us company…"

Under the night sky, on the river surface rippling with glittering light, eight young women in red wedding dresses rode the red coffins; their pale eye sockets shed beads of blood that streamed down their cheeks.

The red coffins were wrapped in chains, and their bodies were also entwined with chains.

The moment I was dragged to the riverbank, they all tightened their grip on the chains in their hands and pulled me hard toward them.

Eight red coffins, eight directions.

I'm about to be torn apart limb from limb!

What made me even more desperate was that, in such peril, I could do nothing at all.

I am too ordinary.

Although I'd learned a bit of yin‑yang and feng shui from following my grandmother, enough to handle some funeral business, when faced with these supernatural forces I am nothing but a piece of fish on a chopping board, ready to be sliced.

The moment I turned eighteen, I became a tasty morsel that everyone wanted to bite.

The chains were pulled taut, and I clenched my teeth.

Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky.

In the bright white light of the lightning, I finally saw Zhao Zixun's face clearly.

It was a handsome face with thick brows, big eyes, a high nose bridge, and a defined jawline; though he looked barely twenty, he had already seen countless battles and could stand alone.

Yet such a person had a coffin nail driven fiercely into the space between his brows.

The coffin nail was mottled, whether from rust or blood I could not tell.

As the lightning flashed, he seemed to sense something, his sharp gaze turning toward Dang Pu.

Inside Dang Pu, a white tail as thick as a fighting cock's wattle, bearing Yīnfēng, swooshed toward the river surface.

That white tail was covered in silver‑white scales, exactly like the scale pendant on my neck.

The white tail swept over the red coffin and came straight for me.

The moment it coiled around my waist, Zhao Zixun had already drawn his long waist sword and slashed at the white tail.

The white tail wrapped around me, then flicked back toward the horse's legs.

Zhao Zixun's slash missed; as he prepared to strike again, a thunderclap boomed across the heavens.

Immediately, bolts of lightning fell like a net, enveloping the white tail.

The white tail had to release me, dodging quickly, but it was still struck by lightning, and blood seeped from between its scales.

The instant I was thrown down, the chains coiled back up.

This time, the chains had a clear target, dragging me straight into the water.

Zhao Zixun no longer lingered in combat; he grabbed the chain on the red coffin on the ground, swung his arm, and sent the coffin flying to slam down on me, already submerged in the river.

At the critical moment, the white tail coiled around my waist again, its tip smashing the red coffin to pieces.

But before he could pull me ashore, thunder rumbled once more.

I could feel the white tail pause slightly, but it did not release me; instead, it held me upright in the water, its tip slicing my brow and, dripping with my blood, continuously drawing something on my shoulder blades.

The instant the tail tip finished its drawing, far out on the Sea Surface a waterspout shot up like a blade, cleaving the lightning and thunder and sinking those eight red coffins…

Under that immense sword aura, Zhao Zixun had already vanished without a trace.

An accident occurred in the blink of an eye; after everything settled, I floated in the river, while that white tail drooped by the riverbank, its blood staining half the river red.

I endured the pain all over my body, desperately adjusted my posture, and swam toward the white tail.

In the distance, a car's roar came, and soon it arrived before us.

When Li Qingying jumped down from the car, the white tail had already retreated into Dang Pu.

Only a large patch of bright red bloodstain remained on the road.

Li Qingying pulled me out of the river, hoisted me onto her back in one motion, and carried me step by step toward Dang Pu.

I lay on her shoulder and smelled a strong scent of blood.

It wasn't mine; it was Li Qingying's.

On the right shoulder of her leather jacket, a weapon like a sword or knife had sliced a ferocious wound, very fresh.

I struggled to get down: "Qingying sis, you're hurt."

She said she'd be away for three days, so how did she come back so suddenly?

And she returned with such a serious injury.

Li Qingying, however, didn't loosen her grip: "Stay still, I won't die."

I feared aggravating her wound, so I lay still, afraid to move.

Li Qingying carried me to the entrance of Dang Pu; when she set me down, I lifted my head and saw Liu Junyan standing inside Dang Pu.

He stood there, pallid, still wearing that black python robe.

The large hand beneath the long sleeve clenched tightly, seeming to tremble slightly, as fresh blood dripped from the hem of the robe, mixing with the river water and continuously flowing down…