Feng Xiao replied in absolute resolution: "Because no one could compare to the elegance of my demeanor, the grace of my appearance, and every lithe action of mine that are number one beneath the Heavens."
The black shadow was determined to achieve its goal, but unexpectedly, Feng Xiao appeared midway and launched a zither string from his hand with a spin.
Filled with qi, the zither drew an air-splitting sound and pierced right through the black figure!
The black shadow was reduced into black smoke, shattering into broken pieces.
Feng Xiao didn't remain there any longer. He subsequently cast two waves of qi at Cui Buqu and Qin Miaoyu.
Another two dark shadows that turned to dust!
They are fake.
Everything was fake.
"Play of the devil!" Snorted Feng Xiao coldly.
One may say that this illusion was quite stunning, but was he, Feng Xiao, so easily deceived? After seeing the Twin Spinning Compass Array that was made by that miserable old fool Fan Yun, the scene in front of his eyes now fell miserably inferior in comparison.
As those three black shadows shattered, the clouds dispersed to reveal a bright moonlit sky.
It was unknown when the sky had brightened. Although everywhere still looked bleak, at least it wasn't similar to the gloomy darkness earlier where ghost shadows roamed.
In the brightness, nothing within the sinister forest was hidden.
Yuan Sansi and the other two were trapped in an illusion, unable to withdraw themselves.
Hong Li's mind was in disarray. He waved his sword around wildly and ran into a tree.
After a dull, sickening and teeth-gritting bump, Hong Li shattered his own skull. His body fell limply to the ground with serous fluid mixed with blood oozing out of his brain.
Yuan Sansi and Ning Shewo had it a little better. Their martial arts were, after all, stronger than Hong Li's. Ning Shewo furrowed his eyebrows in frustration where he stood as he struggled; Yuan Sansi was gritting his teeth as he glared at Feng Xiao, falling in and out of consciousness.
Feng Xiao lifted his gaze to look around, but he couldn't see the silhouette of those horse carriages.
Feng Xiao originally intended to leave them be, but as he thought about the fact that they were now sitting in the same boat, they'd be two good scapegoats should any danger appear.
Taking this point into consideration, he flicked his finger at both of them.
The zither string bounced off the spot between both of their eyebrows. Both of them staggered before their illusions disintegrated in front of their eyes.
Ning Shewo looked like he had just woken up. Within a short period of time, their gazes cleared.
Yuan Sansi was obviously well-trained in the martial arts. When the zither string came, he could even shift his body sideways to avoid it and use his softblock to block the incoming attack. Feng Xiao shot out another zither string to bounce it off his shoulder. Taking two steps backwards, Yuan Sansi once more came back to his senses.
"What happened?" Ning Shewo's expression changed and instinctively assumed that Feng Xiao killed Hong Li.
But he quickly realized it wasn't.
Because Feng Xiao could have used the opportunity to kill him as well, but Feng Xiao hadn't.
Ning Shewo gathered himself, and after confirming that Hong Li had killed himself, he ignored the corpse and observed his surroundings instead.
"Weren't we trapped in the array? Does Commander Feng have an idea on how to escape this mess?"
Feng Xiao spoke immediately without delay: "If I had any inkling of how to escape, I would have just gone and killed the both of you just now."
Ning Shewo pretended not to hear the dripping ridicule. He thickened his face and smiled, "Many thanks to Commander Feng's high-handed mercy. The enemy obviously imprisoned us here together in an attempt to lure us into killing each other. However, Commander Feng not only forsook prior prejudices, he even chose to pull through together in such times of trouble. What a truly magnanimous generosity!"
Feng Xiao glared at him for a while, then he asked Yuan Sansi: "Is this Ning Shewo the real deal or a fickle of my imagination?"
Yuan Sansi barked impatiently: "The real one! He often curries favours with the officials of the Chen Dynasty. Who as an official wouldn't know how to speak like that?"
Feng Xiao beamed: "Me."
He truly didn't need this ability of having many faces. Yuan Sansi parted his mouth with the intention to mock him, but as he took their situation into consideration, he swallowed back his words.
All of a sudden, Feng Xiao wasn't at all in a hurry. He even weaved the two zither strings in his hand and made them into a flower.
Yuan Sansi's lip twitched as he glared at him from the corner of his eye.
Feng Xiao shook the 'flower' in his hands, and after a flourish, the flower burst into a loose bundle, turning back into two strings.
"Wasn't that pretty?"
Yuan Sansi: …Why was he here watching the Second Commander of the Jiejian Bureau playing tricks?
Because they could not get out either way.
Ning Shewo walked in circles and unawarely walked into the fog. After a while, he came back out from the other side tired and nervous, panting for breath.
Yuan Sansi looked at him. Ning Shewo shook his head, implying that he couldn't find the way out.
After walking past the fog, it seemed that everywhere was an exit, but they couldn't find the true exit that led out.
Who would place two parties who couldn't tolerate each other in the same palace?
Yuan Sansi could only think of one person.
Fan Yun.
This person had once betrayed the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai, and at the same time, he wasn't an ally to Feng Xiao and his people. Additionally, he was skilled in the arts of arrays as well as the concept of the Yin and the Yang. He was the strongest suspect.
Three top martial artists of the Jianghu trapped here, powerless. One feared that even if this incident spread, nobody would believe them.
After knowing this was a scheme of the enemy's, Yuan Sansi and Ning Shewo had no desire to fight to satisfy them.
Even if they wanted to fight, leaving should take priority.
As they pondered for a way out of the array, Feng Xiao plopped to the ground. He fished a mandarin out from his sleeve and began shredding it.
He's got that from Pei Jingzhe this morning. Originally, he wanted to use it to tease that man surnamed Cui on the journey, but who could have guessed they'd run into such a sinister array? The mandarin rolled against the warmth of his skin until it was warm so that it would taste sweeter in the mouth.
Seeing how sweetly he ate, Yuan Sansi gritted his jaw as he hissed those words out clearly: "Wouldn't Commander Feng want to leave this array?"
"I know nothing about arrays. What use is there walking in circles here? We could only wait for rescue." Feng Xiao so deservingly said.
Ning Shewo hopefully asked: "Is Commander Feng travelling with someone skilled in arrays?"
Feng Xiao: "Yes. Cui Buqu."
Yuan Sansi gave a malicious laugh: "Is Commander Feng expecting Cui Buqu to come to rescue you? Forgive me for being direct; if you died here, he would suffer no loss."
Feng Xiao smiled and said: "Here is where you are wrong. Even if Cui Buqu and I didn't know each other, he would rescue me."
'Worth it.' Those words from the tavern that night was proof enough.
Yuan Sansi furrowed his brows. His instincts warned him not to ask for an answer, but he couldn't stop himself and asked anyway: "Why?"
Feng Xiao replied in absolute resolution: "Because no one could compare to the elegance of my demeanor, the grace of my appearance, and every lithe action of mine that are number one beneath the Heavens."
Yuan Sansi: "…"
For the first time in his life, he suspected whether people who excelled too much in the martial arts would be defective in one way or another—for example, Feng Xiao's brain.
...
Pei Jingzhe never expected to see Qian Xian again.
She still looked cold like she had always been. Suddenly appearing, she reached out to grab his hand.
"Follow me quickly. I know the way out!"
"Maiden Qiao?!" Pei Jingzhe stuttered, "Wait, why are you here?"
Qiao Xian turned around suspiciously. "There was an attempted assassination on me along the way. I thought all of you wouldn't be safe either, and so returned quickly. I tailed behind you all and I could never have guessed that something really did happen."
Pei Jingzhe was dragged for a few steps, and suddenly he paused. "No. My Lord and Commander Cui are still in there. I need to save them!"
Qiao Xian said: "They have already gone out. I saw them myself just now!"
Pei Jingzhe curiously asked, "Where? Why didn't I see it?"
Qiao Xian pointed to a certain direction.
Pei Jingzhe turned around, and just as he was about to say that he saw nothing, an arrow flew into his direction, aimed between his brows. Just as he wanted to avoid it, Qiao Xian's hand around his wrist tightened as she flew towards him, pulling him into a hug and using her back to block the arrow.
"Qiao Xian!"
Pei Jingzhe hugged her body as she slowly slumped to the ground, feeling his mind go blank with everything forgotten.
"You… Leave quickly!" Qiao Xian spitted out a mouthful of blood as she choked and sputtered.
"If we are to leave, we leave together. I would never leave you behind!"
But the arrow that struck Qian Xian from behind was huge. Blackened blood flowed slowly from her back and clung to Pei Jingzhe's hands.
He felt the scent of blood suddenly turned dense, and very quickly it turned into a stench as if the fluid was swirling around him, sticking to his nose, not giving him the chance to retaliate.
"Qiao…"
Qiao Xian who was in his arms was already rapidly decaying. Beautiful features turned into wilted ash resembling that of an epiphytic flower.
But he couldn't let go! Pei Jingzhe gritted his teeth. He likes Qiao Xian. It wasn't just because of her beauty, but even if she turned into bones, it was still Qiao Xian. He wouldn't be such a shallow bloke!
"Ah!"
Pei Jingzhe felt his mind hurt. A scent of something different drifted into his nostrils like a blend of ginger and pepper but slightly more prickier, tugging violently at his mind until he was awake.
As he lowered his head, Pei Jingzhe was scared stiff until his hairs were standing on its tips, his soul scared out of his body!
It wasn't Qiao Xian in his arms anymore. It was the head that Qin Miaoyu had just cut off!
So he was hugging a bodiless head while he wailed all this time?!
"Are you silly?!" Qin Miaoyu couldn't stand it any longer. She smacked the back of his head once.
"What are you sitting there for? Get up and break through the array!" Cui Buqu urged with a raised brow as he coughed a few times from the side.
Pei Jingzhe quickly dumped the corpse, but as he recalled how disrespectful this was, he slowly let go while he twitched his face.
A raging battle was still going on all around them.
Ming Yue, Guan Shanhai, the eagle riders of the Jiejian Bureau, and the Zuoyue guards, as well as the elites from the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai that attacked them, had all blended indistinguishably among themselves.
Ming Yue and Guan Shanhai were in a slightly better position. Their eyebrows furrowed as they dragged their bodies and limped, fighting with their illusions while they were helpless from sinking into the frenzy of killing.
There were already quite a few corpses on the ground, and among them were people from their side as well as the enemy's. Qin Miaoyu suffered a few knife wounds to her body. If this continued, regardless of how they excelled in their martial arts, their inner strength would soon be depleted, and then only death awaits them.
Pei Jingzhe stared open-eyed and tongue-tied, not knowing what to do.
"There is something wrong with the fragrance here. It's the same as the one we found in the Yandang Estate! During that time, I was already suspicious, and so I scouted for any object of fragrance I could in the posthouse to grind them into powder. They could help you stay conscious for a bit!" Qin Miaoyu spoke with the quickest voice she was capable of, "But it is only a temporary solution. We should quickly take apart the array!"
She was quite knowledgeable when it came to fragrance. During the time she was still in the City of Six Crafts cowering in hiding, she had made use of fragrance to gain the attention of the best in the entertainment house and managed to find herself a place to hide using the identity of Maiden Miao. Feng Xiao also admired this talent of hers, and because of that, he had spared her to recruit into the Jiejian Bureau.
Qin Miaoyu was naturally sensitive to smell, but she could only solve the issue of fragrance that drove people into madness. She could not disassemble the array.
If one were to disassemble the array, they'd still need to depend on Cui Buqu.
Cui Buqu clasped his mouth and nose shut with a cloth that was dabbled with fragrance. This could prolong the poisonous fragrance from quickly entering his system.
Qin Miaoyu and Pei Jingzhe looked at him, placing all their hopes there.
Other than a few drivers and Cui Buqu, everyone knew martial arts. But now, the only one who could disassemble the array was someone who didn't know martial arts.
Cui Buqu said: "Cut down all the trees."
Pei Jingzhe looked at him silly, "Which tree?"
Cui Buqu cooly said, "Every tree you see. All of them."