Although Song Ze and the others were also choking so badly that they could barely keep their eyes open, they were elite hidden guards with willpower far beyond that of ordinary people. Moreover, they had already steeled themselves for death, so they remained relatively composed and immediately realized that this was their only chance!
“Kill!”
Song Ze endured the agony of tears streaming down his face and let out a hoarse roar. He was the first to pounce like a tiger upon the enemies who had temporarily lost their sight and descended into chaos.
The other hidden guards understood at once. Only by seizing this fleeting opportunity and turning every enemy before them into corpses could they protect their master’s secret.
As for whether the masked man was friend or foe, they would capture him first and leave his fate to their master.
The hidden guards moved as one, their coordination flawless.
For a time, they became merciless reapers amid the smoke-filled battlefield.
Blades flashed, blood sprayed, and screams rose one after another.
The black-armored guards and “bandits,” stripped of effective organization and their advantage of sight, were like lambs awaiting slaughter before these hidden guards, each of whom had already resolved to die.
Using teleportation, Cheng Yao continued to deliver killing blows and stop anyone who attempted to escape the smoke.
She deliberately avoided Song Ze and the others’ paths to prevent another misunderstanding.
The slaughter continued for roughly the time it took to burn a stick of incense, amid the pungent smoke and horrific screams.
When the smoke gradually dispersed, all that remained at the scene were corpses strewn across the ground and a thick, overpowering stench of blood.
Song Ze and the others were drenched in blood. Leaning on their swords, they gasped violently for breath, every one of them at the end of his strength.
They warily scanned their surroundings, searching for the masked man, only to discover that he had vanished without a trace.
“Clean up the scene! Make sure there are no survivors! Then withdraw immediately!” Song Ze suppressed the heavy doubts and shock in his heart and issued the order in a hoarse voice.
This was not the time to investigate. They had to deal with everything as quickly as possible and get far away from this place.
Cheng Yao returned to her space and slowly opened her eyes.
A powerful wave of dizziness and the sensation of having her soul hollowed out swept over her, leaving her almost unable to stand. The consecutive, high-intensity teleportations, killing, and throwing of tear-gas bombs had nearly exhausted her mental strength.
She took a bath to make sure no trace of blood or the irritating scent of the tear gas remained on her. Then she changed back into the clothes she had been wearing before she left and ate a steak to replenish her energy.
Only after finishing all this did she reappear in the corner. She curled up beside Zhan Haoting, who was huddled against the wall, and gently lay down.
She thought she had covered her tracks flawlessly, even deliberately adjusting her breathing to be slow and steady.
However, she failed to notice that, the instant she lay down, the eyelashes of the man beside her—who appeared to be asleep—trembled almost imperceptibly.
Zhan Haoting had been awake the entire time. From the moment she had quietly left, to the return of her disordered breathing, to her present attempt to feign calm in sleep, he had been aware of everything.
He could even faintly detect a peculiar mixture of saltpeter and spicy scents that lingered on her despite her strenuous efforts to wash it away, as well as the deeper weakness caused by the exhaustion of her soul power.
He did not open his eyes or make a sound. He merely tightened the fingers hidden within his sleeve ever so slightly.
In the darkness, a complex, unreadable light flickered in the depths of his deep-set eyes.
…
Thousands of miles away, nestled among a ring of mountains, lay a valley perpetually shrouded in mist, resembling a paradise beyond the mortal world—Heartless Valley.
The Valley Master, Gu Wangchuan, stood before the window of an exquisite bamboo building, gazing distractedly at a rare moonlight herb growing in the medicinal garden outside.
He wore a moon-white robe. His features were elegant and handsome, yet his face carried the pallor and aloofness of someone who had spent years sheltered from the sun.
He had stood there for a long time, as though he had become a statue.
Suddenly, his finely shaped brows drew together almost imperceptibly. He lifted his eyes toward a certain direction beyond the valley, his gaze sharp as an eagle’s.
A moment later, a figure dressed in a black robe, with its face hidden beneath a hood, drifted lightly down before him like a falling leaf. The figure clasped both fists and said, “Reporting to the Valley Master: yesterday, this subordinate detected an extremely faint but indescribably peculiar aura of law. It seemed to be attempting to penetrate the layers of formations you arranged outside the valley and spy on what lies within. The aura vanished in an instant, like an illusion.”
“Hmph. It overestimates itself.”
The corner of Gu Wangchuan’s lips lifted into a cold smile filled with the disdain of one who held absolute control. He had immersed himself in the study of the esoteric arts of divination and formations for decades. The maze formations, illusion formations, and killing formations surrounding Heartless Valley were interlocked layer upon layer. Let alone ordinary experts—even an entire army would find it impossible to enter easily.
This reckless attempt at spying was not even worthy of his personal investigation.
He soon cast the minor incident aside, turning his thoughts to more important matters—the disappearance of the seven-leaf flower, and… the woman who had just been brought back, Shao Yutong.
After pondering for a moment, he turned and descended from the bamboo building.
Inside the room, Shao Yutong drew a deep breath of air, her eyes alight with delight.
After her initial panic had passed, she was now filled with irrepressible excitement!
Heartless Valley!
The gathering place of the world’s greatest apothecaries!
Rare flowers and exotic herbs grew everywhere, and the air itself was permeated with a faint medicinal fragrance. To her, someone determined to change her fate, this was practically a dream come true.
“Tong’er, we were brought here and made prisoners for no reason.” Zhan Yurong hugged her arms, panic and unease written across her face. “This wretched place is cut off from the outside world, and there’s no way to call for help. What are we going to do?”
“Mother, since we’re already here, we must make the best of it. Don’t panic and throw yourself into disarray.”
Judging from the way the people in the valley treated her, as well as the food, clothing, and accommodations provided, Shao Yutong did not believe she was a prisoner.
She composed her appearance and pleaded with the maid to take her to meet Valley Master Gu.
The maid was placed in a difficult position, so Shao Yutong adopted a weak, innocent, and touchingly lovely demeanor and begged her over and over.
The maid’s heart softened at once. Remembering that the Valley Master had instructed her to treat the young lady well and not neglect her, she deliberated for a while before going to report the matter to Gu Wangchuan.
To her surprise, Gu Wangchuan actually agreed.
In an elegant yet lavishly appointed hall, Shao Yutong met the legendary world’s greatest apothecary. Her heart was filled with both nervousness and anticipation.
To clear herself of any suspicion regarding the theft of the seven-leaf flower, she revealed the carefully woven story she had prepared, placing particular emphasis on the various “strange” aspects of Cheng Yao: her knowledge of rare methods of gathering medicinal herbs known only to imperial physicians, her ability to casually draw diagrams from lost medical texts, and even the possibility that she possessed some extraordinary treasure…
At the end, she said, “Valley Master Gu, that Cheng Yao is extremely strange. The seven-leaf flower may well have been stolen by her using some demonic art! It has nothing to do with this humble girl. Please investigate carefully.”
Shao Yutong knelt on the floor, her voice mournful and pitiful.
Yet the fury or interrogation she had expected never came.
Gu Wangchuan sat at the head of the hall, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the rosewood chair. His gaze rested on her, yet it seemed to pass straight through her and settle upon some distant, nonexistent point.
Even in those eyes that had seen through the ways of the world, there flickered the faintest trace of memories in which sweetness and pain were intertwined.
