The knives and swords in their hands wouldn't be strong enough to cut down those trees even if qi was infused into them. Unless they were renowned blades forged from high-quality metal, otherwise, the sword's body would bend regardless of how many times it was used to chop.
Without makeshift axes, they were only left with the option of using their hands.
Listening to Cui Buqu's orders, Pei Jingzhe accepted his fate as he approached a tree and slammed a palm against it. The trunk split apart when the hit landed. After two more hits and a kick, the tree tumbled sideways and fell thoroughly to the ground.
His hand hurt…
Qin Miaoyu, however, still thought him too slow. "Be quick! The Third Commander wouldn't be able to hold much longer!"
Pei Jingzhe pursed his lips. Just as he was heading into another direction, he caught sight of an elongated black moving object from the corner of his eyes. He lowered his head and his breath hitched!
The fallen tree had an empty core, and a long worm was crawling out from it.
Qin Miaoyu had a sharp sight and a quick reflex. Her sword flew towards it and minced the long worm into pieces.
Flesh and blood clung to the tip of her blade. Qin Miaoyu gave a disgusted snort: "These trees were originally scentless. Those fragrances came from these worms!"
Pei Jingzhe felled another tree. Similarly, a long worm stood where its core should have been.
Every tree had one.
Pei Jingzhe and Qin Miaoyu's expressions changed.
Then, Pei Jingzhe realized something strange happened.
The fog that lingered around the forest gradually receded after a few trees were felled. After that, the endless and imperceptible sight of the forest also became clearer.
Pei Jingzhe's mind clicked and he sped up, ignoring his swollen and numb hand as he subsequently slammed a few other trees down.
Qin Miaoyu's train of thought interlinked with him as she started attacking all those long worms.
As the fragrance gradually wore thin, so did the dizzy spells that caused their lack of consciousness. Just as Pei Jingzhe was about to raise his hand to slam the juniper tree in front, Qin Miaoyu's shriek sounded from behind, "Watch out!"
A figure suddenly appeared from the thick and strong trunk. In a blink of the eye, he came before Pei Jingzhe before the latter could attack. Caught surprised, Pei Jingzhe shifted sideways in an attempt to avoid it, though his shoulder had taken a hit.
A searing pain spread through his shoulder, like he'd just been pricked through by a needle. The prickling itch made him want to cut his shoulder down at that moment.
Cui Buqu exclaimed loudly, "Seal the meridians around your shoulder!"
Pei Jingzhe spared no time hesitating. He instinctively followed Cui Buqu's orders. On the other hand, Qin Miaoyu's sword thrusted as she engaged into a fight with the black-robed person.
"My… Something seems to be in my shoulder. It's wriggling!" Pei Jingzhe's face paled, his voice trembling.
"Lie down!" Cui Buqu yelled and tore his clothes open. He realized that there was a red dot on Pei Jingzhe's shoulder the size of a bead of rice like the bite of a mosquito. If one hadn't examined it closely, they would not have noticed it.
"What is it? What is that thing?" Pei Jingzhe's voice was shaking. The situation had all happened within a flash. He could not see clearly what the black-robed person carried on them. However, if what they've brought was simply a hidden weapon or poison, they would not have frightened him so The living thing in his shoulder would continue to wriggle upwards if he hadn't sealed his meridians.
Cui Buqu used a dagger to slit open a bloody red line.
Then he used his hands to force it open.
Blood spurted out of the wound. The pain caused Pei Jingzhe to burst into a sweat, but he forcibly stomached them.
Other than blood, there was something black in colour.
The black-coloured object was wriggling in aversion to the sunlight. It was giving all it could to struggle and dive back once more into the flesh!
As the black-robed man battling with Qin Miaoyu saw this scene unfold, their expression changed and they lunged themselves at Cui Buqu without a second thought, but Qin Miaoyu held them back. The black-robed man slapped Qin Miaoyu's softsword away with their bare hand while they simultaneously snatched it with immense strength. Qin Miaoyu was pulled forward, then felt a wave of malicious wind coming for her head so quickly that she didn't even have the time to withdraw.
I'm finished! She thought and instinctively closed her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to witness the moment her scalp would crack and shatter.
The expected pain never came. Pei Jingzhe had struggled up from the ground and stopped the black-robed man from their rear. As they fought, Qin Miaoyu wrangled the time to escape free.
Qin Miaoyu sniffed her nose, reminding herself that she would never call Pei Jingzhe dumb again. She withdrew her softsword and rose into the air to swirl around the black-robed person.
The wound on Pei Jingzhe's shoulder hurt more the more intensely they fought. Just back then, before Cui Buqu could force the worm out of his shoulder, Pei Jingzhe was forced to stand up to rescue Qin Miaoyu. At this moment, he had wounded his qi and the squirming worm inside his shoulder had caused him to quickly lose all senses on his shoulder.
Then, he heard someone's shout.
"A-Qu, you really came to rescue me!"
The owner of this voice bullied and teased him on usual days, but in such a situation, Pei Jingzhe felt hot and warm tears of relief threatening to flow out of his eyes the moment he heard that voice.
"My Lord! There is a worm in my shoulder!"
Even if he was at the brink of death now, Pei Jingzhe was confident at sustaining himself. Ironically, worms are the things he was most afraid of in life, especially when these worms of unknown origin were wriggling into his body. As he thought about Lu Ming and Zhou Laoqi, and the thought that the worm would still be inside someone's body after death, he couldn't help feeling both hateful and pained and disgusted.
"Yo, has that worm laid eggs in your body? If the eggs hatched, wouldn't there be a thousand little worms wriggling out of your body soon enough?"
The black-robed person was unguarded when Feng Xiao crept up behind him like a foreshadowing ghost and slapped a palm onto his back. The black-robed person immediately fell forwards, face into the ground, unknown whether he was dead or alive.
Despite that, Feng Xiao still had enough to spare to tease Pei Jingzhe.
Listening to this, Pei Jingzhe's face grew paler and his soul was scared out of his wits. Even the hairs on his head prickled from where they stood.
He couldn't stop himself from looking to the side. Lu Ming's head was lying not far off, looking at him with a dull and ashen gaze, like he was urging him to quickly accompany him in the afterlife.
"Don't move!" Cui Buqu pressed his body down, treating him like a squirming fish.
As that worm drilled deeper and deeper, it reached the spot slightly above his right chest. The skin trembled like something inside of it was alive.
"Commander Cui, I don't want to lose all my sense of judgement like those people from the Yandang Estate and attack all of you. If I am unable to make it, please kill me!" Pei Jingzhe spoke through gritted teeth, terrified, "Please tell my Lord that I've hidden some money in my room in the Jiejian Bureau. It's placed on the beam on top of the fourth pillar. Let him buy me some paper money and burn them for me every month. I'm afraid I won't have enough to use when I'm down there!"
Near the end, his voice had turned into sobs.
Cui Buqu said expressionlessly, "Feng-er, seal all the meridians around his body. Don't let the worm escape. Qin Miaoyu, on my orders later, catch the worm."
Qin Miaoyu nervously nodded her head.
Feng Xiao was precise and ruthless and he was a few times quicker in speed than Qin Miaoyu's. His fingers adeptly tapped on a few spots on Pei Jingzhe's body a few times, quickly immobilizing him. He glared at Cui Buqu with widened eyes as the latter drew a few more long bloody lines on his chest.
The worm quickly saw the opportunity. Once it realized there was an opening in the flesh, it wriggled elsewhere. But those places were all pried open by Cui Buqu, exposing part of its body.
"Catch it!" Cui Buqu shouted.
Practically at the same time, Qin Miaoyu sprinkled the fragrant powder in her hands. The worm looked like it was extremely afraid of these sort of scents. It froze on the spot before Qin Miaoyu reached out to pinch it and pulled it out!
Refusing to leave its host, the worm hooked it's tail onto the body and pulled some of the flesh and blood as it was forcibly dragged out.
Even with her hand coated with fragrance, Qin Miaoyu dared not touch the worm for too long. She immediately tossed it onto the ground. As the worm hit the ground, Feng Xiao struck it with a pebble using his index and middle finger and killed it on the spot.
Following afterwards, the black-robed person who had been half-conscious spit out a mouthful of blackened blood. His ordinary-looking face withered away and quickly turned into an old man of seventy to eighty years of age. Bundles of white hair seeped out from the black-robes he wore.
This death of his caused a few trees to wither along with him. The fog cleared out and the poisonous fragrance thinned out.
Everyone who had been in a frenzy came back to their senses and vomited.
Yuan Sansi's state of mind had been so occupied by the black-robed person that he's forgotten to make use of their misery. Now that the illusion had disappeared, and Feng Xiao was once again reunited with Cui Buqu, it was difficult for him to think of any ways to attack. So quickly, he left.
When Ning Shewo came to notice this, Yuan Sansi was long gone.
As he bowed at Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu with his hands clasped, Ning Shewo cussed at Yuan Sansi in his heart, "Many thanks to both of you who saved us. This humble one surnamed Ning would still be trapped in the array otherwise and. However, one could never have thought that there would be someone else so skilled in arrays other than Master Fan!"
However, Cui Buqu said: "This person isn't skilled in arrays. He is simply skilled in this."
He pointed at the black worm.
Ning Shewo guiltly begged for an understanding, "May I ask where this poisonous worm came from?"
Cui Buqu glared at him, "Why should I tell you?"
Ning Shewo was taken aback, but he dared not be mad. He retained a smile as he said: "Reasonable. This humble one surnamed Ning sincerely admires both of you from the depths of my heart. The Jinhuan Gang would serve you until death!"
Cui Buqu coldly said, "I want you to bring word to Xiao Lu."
These words meant that Cui Buqu would not be killing him today. Having been rest assured, Ning Shewo quickly added: "Commander Cui, speak your words!"
Cui Buqu: "Tell Xiao Lu honestly all that happened today and ask him whether he is willing to form a truce on this matter. If he is willing, then meet me at the Zuoyue Bureau in the capital."
Ning Shewo caught the point of his words. "Are we to work together?"
Cui Buqu abruptly laughed, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. However, once this is over, the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai and I are still enemies. I believe Pavilion Lord Xiao and Gang Leader Ning would understand this?"
Ning Shewo smiled in return, "Naturally, this humble one surnamed Ning understands!"
The person Ning Shewo was wary of wasn't Cui Buqu, but Feng Xiao. As he spoke, his gaze would sometimes steal glances at the latter.
Feng Xiao asked: "Old Ning, what do you think about my looks?"
Ning Shewo was momentarily stunned, but then he smiled: "Commander Feng is the most outstanding person I have ever seen in my life!"
These words did not come from solely just flattery.
Feng Xiao smiled. He sighed and said, "What a pity!"
Ning Shewo's hands itched, but he still gave an honest smile and spoke with a naviety that resembled a child's. "A pity of what?"
Feng Xiao: "A pity that someone like me who wears a grace that resembles a jade tree swaying in the wind would require a lot of maintenance. For example: one must use spring water from the mountains when one baths, best use the water from the first snow. Moreover, these robes of mine are made from silk. It's soft and fine texture wouldn't scar my skin. Understood?"
Ning Shewo, "…"
His gaze turned vacant, having completely no idea what Feng Xiao was trying to imply. Ning Shewo had a swift and quick mind. Even in the Southern Dynasty, he could make a name for himself and understood many words that lay hidden between the lines. But in spite of that, he could not understand what Feng Xiao was trying to say.
To think that he, Ning Shewo, was also considered a heroic figure. If someone ignorantly tried to flaunt smartness in front of him, he would have already fed them to the fishes with a command of his hand. But now, in addition to not having the privilege to be furious, Ning Shewo even had to comply with Feng Xiao's words.
"This humble one surnamed Ning is slow. I beg Commander Feng to… enlighten me?"
Cui Buqu coldly said: "He means that he is a gold-swallowing creature, and that he needs money during all moments of his life. If you have the smarts, then buy your own life with money."
Ning Shewo's mind clicked. He immediately fished out all the money from his pocket as well as a jade tassel from his belt. "This humble one came in a hurry. I haven't brought many valuable items with me." He pleaded, "Please, Commander Feng, kindly allow me to return and send you a hundred guan of money to the Jiejian Bureau!"
Feng Xiao said in displeasure: "Just you alone? Then what about those helpers of yours? And Yuan Sansi? Since he's gone, then you should bear his part of the portion."
Blood practically spurted out of Ning Shewo's mouth. He cussed: How could Yuan Sansi be a free man, while he was here paying his part of the deal? However, it was not his choice to disobey when his life was in someone else's hands. Quickly, he ordered everyone else to take out any items of worth on them.
Not long later, there was a little "mountain of money".
There were gold, silver, copper, and daggers inlaid with gems or jade ornaments of mediocre quality.
Every item may not be worth much, but the amount of everything here added up was enough for Feng Xiao to dine in the finest restaurant in the capital for an entire year.
Feng Xiao sighed, "It seems the Nine Groups of Caoyun looks quite well off."
Ning Shewo laughed dryly, "Commander Feng overestimated me. Could this humble one surnamed Ning leave now?"
Feng Xiao: "What about your clothes? And everyone else's weapons?"
"What?" Ning Shewo thought he'd heard wrongly. He bitterly laughed, "Commander Feng, let us not have a bad sense of humour."
Feng Xiao smiled, "Look at my face and tell me whether I look like I am not being serious."
Ning Shewo twitched his lips. As he accepted his fate, he took off his clothes and his followers followed suit and took off all their weapons, leaving only their underpants.
Under a moonless winter and having just braved through a ferocious battle, they were frozen stiff.
Feng Xiao finally found the kindness in himself to let them go.
"Bring these items onto the horse carriage and trade them for money. Today, everyone who participated shall be rewarded. Those who are wounded will be additionally compensated. The severely wounded and the dead will be compensated thrice as much."
"Many thanks, Second Commander Feng!" Qin Miaoyu happily replied.
"Am I… Am I considered severely wounded?" Pei Jingzhe raised his hand. Due to the worm, he'd ended up with a few open wounds on his body. Although his wounds were not severe in reality, the gruesome sight of his body was quite intimidating.
Feng Xiao gave him a half-smile, "The beam on the fourth pillar, hm?"
Pei Jingzhe: "…"
Just as they were taking, Cui Buqu had already walked towards the black-robed person and knelt on his knee. He used a sword to fling away the robes and clothes.
A little copper tin fell down.
Cui Buqu wanted to reach out to pick it up.
But halfway, Feng Xiao caught his wrist. He gave Cui Buqu a look before flicking a finger to break that copper can apart.
There was nothing.
This can was most likely used to hold those long worms. Now that the worms were finished, nothing would be left in it.
Cui Buqu raised a brow.
"Poisonous worms? Are there any such experts in the Jianghu?" Feng Xiao curiously asked.
"This is a gu1. Using one's life to cultivate these gu, and using it to form an array." Cui Buqu solemnly said.
...
Kuhezhen spit out a mouthful of blackened blood.
He lowered his head and undid his clothes to look at the small and large bloody holes appearing on his chest.
"A-Qi is dead." He gave a quiet sigh, "The Central Plains truly holds a lot of capable people. My fault for underestimating them."
The servant went up to help him, but he was pushed away with a wave of his hand.
Tuan Qinghe, who was sitting on the other side made a serious remark: "I wish to have a serious battle with Feng Xiao. I beg the Seventh Prince to leave him for me."
"Naturally. There is no need for you to worry. There is someone else who was more impatient than me, and I've merely only just begun warming up. To say in the words of the Central Plains: "This pool of water is already muddy, and I am simply just reaching out to make its waters muddier.'"
Kuhezhen crooked a brow slightly. When he smiled, a gentle look bounced off his blue-irises like a sea of ocean water.
"I heard the Empress became ill."
Tuan Qinghe suspiciously said, "When you enter the palace the day before, wasn't she still well?"
Kuhezhen nodded. "She fell ill yesterday. As a means of courtesy, I should pay her a visit at the palace."
He adjusted his clothes again after he'd finished speaking and rose to his feet to fling the dust away.
"There is no need for you to accompany me into the palace."
Tuan Qinghe was naturally glad not to. He would rather spend his time practicing martial arts.
Kuhezhen was bringing people out of the house and passed through the corridor, leaving the manor that the Sui Emperor had bestowed upon him.
He raised his head to look at the colour of the sky then mumbled to himself, "Goodness, it seems like there's going to be a storm!"
The servants on his left and right raise their heads along with him only to feel confused at the bright and sunny sky above their heads.
====
[1] 蛊 (gu): The gu is a venom-based poison culturally associated with Southern China, particularly Nanyue. The process of making gu poison is by putting various venomous insects into a closed container so they could devour one another until a single survivor is left. The remaining survivor, where all the concentrated toxic is in, would be fed to a large larvae and the last larvae is the final complex poison produced. Gu was used in black magic practices such as manipulating sexual partners, creating malignant diseases, and causing death. According to Chinese folklore, a gu spirit could transform into various animals, typically a worm, caterpillar, snake, frog, dog, or pig.
Translator's Notes:
Feng-er really lives for ququ to both pit him (hard) as well as be his knight-in-shinning armour. As long as it's ququ playing the other role, he's super happy about it. ?????