Chu Huaizhou struggled to his feet and suddenly pulled out a brocade pouch from his chest, hurling it hard onto the ground.
Boom!
Thick smoke burst out, swallowing their sight.
"Ah Xiu, run!" He grabbed Xie Zhaolin's wrist and dragged her toward the forest under cover of the haze.
Behind them came curses and the chaotic stomping of boots.
She let him pull her along, but her divine sense stayed firmly locked onto the pursuers. The strongest among them was only at the second layer of Qi Refining. If she wanted, she could wipe them out in the blink of an eye.
But she was more interested in seeing how long Chu Huaizhou could keep this act going.
Pfft!
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering to his knees. His face was as pale as paper.
"Brother Huaizhou!" Xie Zhaolin cried out in just the right amount of panic, reaching to steady his swaying body.
"Ah Xiu…" He looked up at her with guilt written all over his face. "I'm sorry… I'm useless… I couldn't protect you…"
Her hand froze for a beat, and she almost laughed. She had already used her divine sense to check him. The blood was fake, the wounds were fake, even the trembling of his fingers carried the heavy hand of performance.
This man who prided himself on being so deep and devoted—everything about him right now was staged.
"Ah Xiu!" Chu Huaizhou's eyes suddenly blazed with false determination. "You go! I'll hold them off!"
Her fingers brushed against her sleeve, and her gaze carried a dangerous glimmer of amusement. Since he was so intent on acting out this hero-saves-the-beauty play, she might as well humor him. The ending, though, might not be what he expected.
"No, I can't leave you behind!" Her voice trembled, tears glistening perfectly in her eyes. At the same time, her fingers pinched a seal, releasing a wisp of black qi that burrowed noiselessly into the earth.
Chu Huaizhou was instantly moved by her show of devotion. He staggered upright, raising his sword across his chest. "Ah Xiu, get behind me!"
The footsteps drew near. Three masked men burst out of the smoke. The leader sneered. "Run, go on, why'd you stop running?"
Chu Huaizhou straightened his back, his tone tragic. "If you want to kill, kill me! Let her go!"
From behind him, she arched a brow. The script was painfully cliché, but for an inexperienced mortal girl, it worked well enough. Her divine sense swept over the trio. Fierce as they acted, none of them had even drawn their weapons.
"Brother Huaizhou…" she whispered softly, then suddenly let her legs buckle beneath her. "Ah!"
He panicked and turned to catch her. In that instant, her fingertip flicked, and a strand of black qi coiled soundlessly around his ankle.
Bang!
He stumbled hard, pitching forward!
Amid flashing blades, her fingers flicked again. Black qi slithered up his sword.
Clang!
At the moment of clash, his blade twisted at an impossible angle and drove straight into a masked man's throat.
Puchi!
The sound of steel tearing flesh rang unnaturally clear in the silent woods.
The man's eyes bulged, staring at the sword through his throat as blood gushed down the blade.
Chu Huaizhou froze, his hand trembling. He had only meant to block—so how did it…?
"Second Brother!" one of the others shouted in shock and fury. "You bastard—"
From behind, her lips curled faintly. Another hook of her finger sent black qi slipping around the next man's ankle.
"Ah!"
He pitched forward, right onto Chu Huaizhou's blade.
Puchi!
Another body fell, pierced through the chest. Chu Huaizhou stared at the corpse in horror, his face deathly white.
"I… I didn't mean to…" he muttered, his sword clattering from his hands.
The last masked man's face twisted. Finally sensing something was wrong, he spat out a threat as he backed away. "You'll pay for this!"
He turned and bolted into the forest, vanishing in moments.
The woods fell quiet again, only the stink of fresh blood drifting in the night breeze.
Chu Huaizhou collapsed onto the ground, staring at the corpses. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. "I… I…"
Behind him, bathed in moonlight, her shadow stretched long. She looked down at him with a cold, fleeting smile.
"Brother Huaizhou…" Her voice was soft, smooth as water. "We're safe now."
He looked up, and when his eyes met her gaze, the raw fear in them began to shift into something else, something tangled and complicated.
"Ah!" She suddenly exclaimed, eyes widening. "Your face… it's covered in blood!"
She crouched down and pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, carefully wiping at the blood on his face. Every motion was gentle to the extreme, though her eyes held only indifference.
"Ah Xiu…" He stared at her blankly, then suddenly jolted awake and grabbed her hand. "Wait—are you hurt anywhere?!"
She lowered her eyes, letting her gaze linger on the blood streaks at his knuckles. The blood hadn't even dried, and yet there was no panic in his face. She suddenly found the irony fascinating.
Her fingers curled lightly around his, her tone trembling at just the right pitch. "I'm fine… but you… Brother Huaizhou, why would you fight so hard just to protect me?"
His eyes flickered, then he gave a bitter smile. "Ah Xiu, I told you before, I'll protect you."
He dropped his head, voice heavy with false emotion. "I know I wronged you before, but if I can use my life… to win your forgiveness, then I'll die with no regrets."
She almost laughed out loud.
It took effort to keep her lips pressed in a look of fragile gratitude instead, though inside she sneered. The fool probably still hadn't realized that his carefully arranged hero-saves-the-beauty act had been ripped apart by her from the very start.
Still, having a ready-made cover was convenient.
"I don't blame you, I don't, Brother Huaizhou…" Her voice trembled, tears brimming right on cue. "But you've lost so much blood…"
He immediately straightened, forcing himself to smile reassuringly. "It's nothing, just a scratch." He even swiped the blood at his lips with mock bravado. "As long as I can protect you…"
Her finger curled again where he couldn't see.
Hiss! Chu Huaizhou gasped sharply as blood suddenly burst from a wound on his shoulder that hadn't been there a moment before. The red soaked fast into his clothes.
"Your wound!" She cried out, rushing to hold up his faltering body.
His face turned ghastly pale, cold sweat dripping down his brow. He clearly remembered the fight had been staged, that he'd never taken a real hit. So how…?
Supporting him, she let a strand of black qi slip soundlessly into his body.
"Brother Huaizhou, let's leave this place quickly," she said gently, her voice painted with concern.
He started to nod when suddenly his whole body went rigid.
With horror in his eyes, he looked down at the ground—