The party led by Mao Ya reached Fuliu Mountain past the hour of Shen. Once inside the woods, Mao Ya seemed to feel her presence. Could it be she had come specifically to aid that pig Song? Recalling the rumors of them standing together, Magic Peaks and Swords, against their foes in the mountains, his heart gave a painful lurch. Arriving at the front of the warehouse, he saw Liu Shaoqin’s group waiting, as if they had been there for a long time. Mao Ya found this odd, calculating the travel time and realizing their arrival should have been close.
Liu Shaoqin ordered his men to move the five wooden crates transported from Zhongdu into the warehouse as per Mao Ya’s instructions, then respectfully handed over the keys with both hands before stepping back.
Mao Ya glanced at him, then examined the crates of medium size. He mused that they were unsuitable for storing bows, sabers, or swords. What divine weapons could they be, for the Master to send them from afar? Mao Ya inserted a key into the lock. The tumblers felt deep. Turning from north to west, it stopped at east, preventing the lid from opening. He withdrew the key, returning it to its original position to examine it. Just then, Mao Ya heard the faint sound of a metal wire snapping, followed by a creaking noise. He hastily retreated. The wooden crate immediately exploded, triggering a chain reaction with the other four. The flames did not greatly injure Mao Ya, but the iron sand sprayed from the blast struck him in both eyes.
While Liu Shaoqin stood dumbfounded, his subordinate Huang Rui swiftly cut his throat. Simultaneously, Liu Shaoqin’s team members thrust their swords at the now-blind Mao Ya. Outside the warehouse, hidden reinforcements surged in, intercepting Mao Ya’s contingent. A figure clad in dark robes descended from the rooftop, a spinning sword grazing the hands of those attacking Mao Ya, then pulling him outside.
Sensing it was Nan and not her, Mao Ya felt a flicker of disappointment. Hearing the approaching ambushers led by Huang Rui emitting cries like those driving away demons, the darkened Mao Ya felt a warm joy surge within him—She came to save me!
Wu Nanying glared fiercely at Lin Chaoying.
Lin Chaoying raised her eyebrows slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. She turned and shook her steel cable, forcing back the team blocking the gate.
Still that same smug look! Wu Nanying gritted her teeth, gripping Mao Ya tighter, and followed him as they fought their way out.
The eight surviving subordinates of Mao Ya, who had been attacked, kept close behind. Huang Rui’s men, fighting with open swords and spears, were no match for Lin Chaoying and Wu Nanying. Moreover, though Mao Ya was blind, he could still discern movement by sound and scent.
They fled west into a deep valley. Without calling out to Lin Chaoying, who was clearing the path ahead, Wu Nanying helped Mao Ya lean against a rock. She used a small bamboo tube to suck up water, alternately blowing it into Mao Ya’s eyes to rinse them. Seeing his cheek twitch slightly, she could imagine how painful the injury was. Her heart ached as if pricked by needles. Knowing he would likely detest it, she couldn't help but say, “When the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked. How many times have I warned you to be wary of Wanyan Yong and the approaching old ministers, but you never listen.” As she spoke, she gently pried open his eyelids and wiped them with a cotton cloth, softly massaging the area around his eyes to allow the sand within the sockets to flow out naturally.
Mao Ya said, "I understand."
You don’t understand! You don’t know! Wu Nanying replied, “Wanyan Yong is harder to guard against than Wanyan Liang, and far more insidious.” Staring at Lin Chaoying, who was pacing closer, she continued, “The Luan Alliance changing Prime Minister Li’s route cannot be reversed. Why be so stubbornly loyal and offer yourself up for sacrifice! Why always make futile sacrifices for those who are not worth helping?” Seeing their strange looks, she remained silent. *Hmph, this again. I’m not a child anymore, don’t expect to succeed in provoking my anger! I will never…* “I’ll go check on them.” With that, Wu Nanying turned and walked towards the eight injured soldiers.
Lin Chaoying said, “She’s improved.”
Mao Ya replied, “Still storming off in a huff, unchanged since childhood.” *Do you understand?*
Lin Chaoying changed the subject, saying, “The sand is poisonous. Nanying’s words about Wanyan Yong are not without reason.” As she spoke, she handed him a bottle of Jade Bee Nectar. Mao Ya drank the nectar in one gulp and said, “Losing my value of utility is not necessarily a bad thing. At least I can give up, and stop striving for things I shouldn’t possess.” Lin Chaoying felt a pang of regret. “It would be safer for you to flee far to the west.” Mao Ya said, “To Cuihua Mountain.” Seeing her silence, he added petulantly, “Then let’s hide in the Tomb of the Living Dead.” Lin Chaoying said, “Be rational! Nanying is right. The environment is not what it used to be. Why not go to a new place and live a new life? You might have a different experience.” Mao Ya asked, “Why can you persevere, yet you advise me to give up?” Lin Chaoying thought, it was time to be ruthless, and said coldly, “Because my perseverance has already succeeded, and by giving up, you can avoid failure.” Seeing his lowered head and pursed lips from the side, she knew she had truly hurt him. Lin Chaoying felt miserable too and moved away, unable to bear it.
Lin Chaoying saw a dark figure circling the trees in the forest, striking tree trunks along the path with a saber and palm. She called out, “Be careful that one doesn't collapse and teach you a lesson because of your temper.” Wu Nanying glared back and said, “Hmph, you’re always bringing up that one time you blocked for me. Did I save you and help you less back then?” Lin Chaoying couldn't recall ever being saved or helped by her; she only remembered her getting angry often, yet always staying close. Lin Chaoying said, “Not taking the Dark Swordsmen, but coming alone, you must intend to coerce and manipulate me into eloping with you, brother.”
Wu Nanying said indignantly, “So what? Escaping to the Western Regions is just right for avoiding you, you plague!” Lin Chaoying said, “The Western Regions are precisely what I desire… ‘White robes must not be offended’… Are you looking for those twin brothers to detoxify you?”
Wu Nanying became increasingly resentful, as if her thoughts were all being guessed. She said, “You’ve been expelled from the mountains, stop meddling in our affairs. Anyway, we will never see each other again.” Lin Chaoying felt a surge of emotion. “I no longer have to be forced by you to eat those strange-tasting fruits.” Back then, she often had a tightness in her chest. She didn’t know from where in the mountains she would always pick fruits and force her to eat them. After taking them, she did feel much better, but the taste was truly peculiar. Even after these years apart, she remembered the taste. Wu Nanying continued, “Nor do I have to climb through the bushes to pick flowers and make perfumes for you.” But her Qinggong greatly improved from this. Wu Nanying added, “If you feel indebted to your senior brother because of Song pig, I’ll grudgingly allow you to escort him.”
Lin Chaoying thought: I don’t need you to provoke me with words; I would escort him out of this dangerous situation myself. Besides Grandma, brother is the only relative I have in this world.
Suddenly, Wu Nanying saw Lin Chaoying hastily turn back to Mao Ya’s location. Knowing something was amiss, she followed closely. Lin Chaoying arrived to find twenty-six Dark Swordsmen attacking Mao Ya, with Chong and Wu directing them from the side. These swordsmen, persuaded by Chong and Wu, had secretly betrayed Wu Nanying and pledged allegiance to Jiang Chudao, who controlled the Luan Alliance, and accepted his teachings of the “Tiger Ice Formation.” The red copper staffs they wielded contained internal mechanisms, allowing them to combine with the formation, disassemble into double, triple, or even quadruple sections, making them unpredictable. Mao Ya, seasoned by years of dark operations, was not significantly hampered by his blindness. He unleashed the deadly moves of his “Youxu Sword Style,” seeking a swift resolution to severely punish the traitors, and more importantly, to quickly leave this place and avoid truly encountering Song pig’s group, which would put Lin Chaoying in a difficult position. Within the formation, the straight staffs struck like tiger claws, while the segmented staffs swept like tiger tails, exhibiting a formidable and unpredictable, tightly coordinated assault. Mao Ya wielded his sword like a falcon hunting, always striking at the critical junctures of their offensive and defensive maneuvers, and sneered, “Old wine in a new bottle. Plagiarizing Cao Kaixiu’s ‘Purple Gold Mystic Staff’ but doing it poorly. Jiang Chudao is too full of himself.” Lin Chaoying also identified flaws, drew her sword, and joined the fray, turning the formation’s offense into defense. Mao Ya rejoiced, thinking, *We practiced together since childhood; this time, standing together, Magic Peaks and Swords, we’re no less than that Song pig.*
Wu Nanying silently attempted to capture Chong and Wu, but he sensed her and dodged. Before she could speak, Chong and Wu berated her, “It was you who shattered our shared commitment. For this demon, you have abandoned what we worked hard to achieve, time and again. I will destroy him and remove this demonic obstacle for you.”
The situation changed at this moment. Mao Ya and Lin Chaoying, their lower bodies constantly under threat, were forced to ascend. Chong and Wu chuckled coldly, “Who is arrogant? Heh, treading on a tiger’s tail, wading through spring ice; a misstep leads to danger…” Wu Nanying unleashed her “Small Thicket Scattered Butterflies,” her sword erupting like a swarm of butterflies from the thicket, thrusting towards Chong and Wu’s face, neck, and shoulders. Chong and Wu circled with his right hand and gracefully moved his left palm, disrupting the sword’s aim. Wu Nanying said, “Jiang Chudao treated you well. He actually imparted some of the subtle techniques of ‘Flowing Water Ripples’.”
A fierce shout echoed from within the formation. The staffs scattered outwards and struck the upper path. Mao Ya and Lin Chaoying suddenly seemed to fall into a deep abyss, like breaking through thin ice. Mao Ya grabbed Lin Chaoying with his left hand and forcefully threw her out of danger. Lin Chaoying, airborne, threw her steel cable, coiling it around Mao Ya’s waist. The two of them flew out of the formation like a pair of swallows. Wu Nanying watched this, her chest tightening with emotion.
“What a pair of flying swallows!” Chong and Wu said, hooking their fingers to grab her vital points on the back of her neck. Wu Nanying turned and suddenly threw her “Butterfly Love Flower Needle.” Chong and Wu retreated rapidly to avoid it and said, “You and he will have no good outcome.” His figure vanished into the woods. Hearing Chong’s command, the Dark Swordsmen also withdrew their formation and dispersed.