Chapter 9

Shen Yao Xing tried to explain to her.

“Sister, you’ve got it wrong. I’m not participating in the competition.” As she spoke, she tried hard to pull her hand back.

Having freed herself, she walked around the woman, intending to leave, but was blocked again.

“Miss, since you’re already standing on this arena, you’re considered a participant. Please don’t make things difficult for me.”

Shen Yao Xing couldn’t help but roll her eyes. This wasn’t making things difficult; it was clearly troubling people. “Sister, please let me pass. I have matters to attend to at home.”

Shen Yao Xing impatiently pushed the person aside, but then saw Meng Xin Yi below the arena, signaling to her with her eyes. The woman behind her still wouldn’t let her go, annoying her to the point of wanting to hit someone.

“Wait a moment!”

Meng Xin Yi could no longer hold back and walked out from the spectator seats. She raised her hand to stop Shen Yao Xing, who wanted to jump off the arena, and said to the middle-aged woman behind her, “Please allow me to speak with her for a bit.”

The middle-aged woman hesitated a little. She glanced at Ye Xi Feng in the pavilion above and only stepped back after receiving permission.

Shen Yao Xing squatted at the edge of the arena with an unpleasant expression, glaring at the woman below. “Don’t tell me you want me to continue participating in this competition?”

The two had known each other for nearly a year, having experienced joys and hardships together. Shen Yao Xing understood this woman very well; she could tell what kind of fart she wanted to release just by the way she stuck out her bottom.

Sure enough, Meng Xin Yi “swished” open her folding fan, blocking their faces, and whispered, “This is a good opportunity. As long as you win the competition, you can obtain that deerskin map.”

“What do I need that deerskin map for?” Wouldn’t that just be creating trouble for herself?

“Have you forgotten what I told you the other day? The deerskin map mustn’t fall into the hands of Changsheng Pavilion.”

“Heh, easier said than done. Why don’t I see you going up there?” Acting like a military advisor, always telling her to do this and that, while she just sat there sipping tea and pointing at rivers and mountains. Shen Yao Xing was getting really annoyed.

“I’m injured.” Meng Xin Yi innocently spread her hands, pointing to her shoulder, and then honestly said, “And I can’t defeat him either.”

“So you’re that confident I can defeat him?”

“Yes.” The voice was particularly certain.

“……” Such a confident answer actually made Shen Yao Xing a little embarrassed. She felt a bit inflated, arrogantly raising her chin. “Alright, I’ll give it a try, but I want a weapon.”

Actually, she rarely used weapons when engaging others in combat. It was just that she was feeling a bit inflated right now and felt that having a weapon would make her look even cooler.

Meng Xin Yi smiled and walked to the spectator platform. She borrowed a three-foot-long broadsword from the woman closest to her. It had a narrow base and a wide blade, glinting coldly under the sun.

“Catch.” Meng Xin Yi tossed the sword over.

Shen Yao Xing caught it steadily and juggled it in her hand, satisfied as she walked towards the center of the arena.

The girl’s figure was more petite and slender than ordinary women, appearing weak and fragile, as if she couldn’t withstand a single blow. However, she held a clumsy, heavy broadsword that was extremely incongruous with her, creating a strong sense of contrast.

The horn signaling the start of the match sounded. A man dressed in black stood expressionlessly not far in front of her. Only upon closer look did Shen Yao Xing realize that this person was truly pale, pale to the point of turning green, and his pupils were frighteningly black, without a trace of light.

No matter how you looked at him, he seemed eerie.

Just as she was still observing, the black-clothed man’s figure suddenly disappeared from his original spot with a “whoosh.” Shen Yao Xing’s eyes narrowed slightly. She instantly turned around and raised the sword horizontally above her head, blocking the incoming sword.

The clanging sound of blades colliding made people’s skin crawl.

The black-clothed man’s reactions were extremely fast, and his movements were strange. The long sword in his hand was like a spiritual snake, with every strike seeking her vital points. What was even more bizarre was that Shen Yao Xing couldn’t sense his aura. It was like a ghostly apparition, constantly flashing and vanishing, with astonishing speed.

A chill assaulted her neck. Shen Yao Xing dodged backward, gathered strength in her feet, and swung the long sword in her hand from the bottom up, sliding across half of the man’s body. While he was evading, she raised her foot for a side kick, forcefully kicking his chest. The man was kicked quite a distance away but didn’t fall. His face remained expressionless as he stood straight, seemingly unharmed.

How is that possible?!

That kick had internal force behind it. Even if he didn’t cough up blood, he should have at least lost his balance. Shen Yao Xing, who was feeling inflated just a second ago, began to doubt herself the next second. Was she really that weak?

Before she could finish her self-pity, the black-clothed man dove forward, thrusting his sword at her. Shen Yao Xing blocked the blade with the sword in front of her body. She leaned to the side, and with a “clang,” the broadsword scraped past the sword’s body, slashing horizontally towards the man. The man leaped back, and the blade edge grazed his neck, leaving a white mark.

No blood…

Shen Yao Xing also leaped back, distancing herself. Her gaze was fixed on the sword mark on his neck. That’s right, she did hit him, but why was there no blood? Moreover, there wasn’t a trace of blood on her sword’s edge either.

Her line of sight shifted upward and landed on the man’s face, devoid of human color. A possibility flashed through Shen Yao Xing’s mind, causing her to shudder involuntarily.

The black-clothed man seemed tireless as he continuously attacked her. Shen Yao Xing dodged while pondering this hair-raising possibility. The two fought evenly, neither gaining the upper hand.

In the pavilion above, Ye Xi Feng’s interest grew. She leaned slightly towards the person beside her and discussed as if chatting with a good friend, “Who does Mr. Ming Yue think will win between the two of them?”

Jiang Ming Yue stared at the girl’s agile figure and said in a calm voice, “Ming Yue doesn’t have the ability to predict the future.”

His demeanor clearly indicated that he didn’t want to engage in further conversation with her. However, Ye Xi Feng seemed not to notice and, while watching the two on the arena, rubbed her chin. “Changsheng Pavilion is indeed a treasure trove. Such martial arts skills are rare even in the jianghu.”

Jiang Ming Yue’s slender fingers lightly tapped the handrail, his eyes following the figure. His words were neither salty nor plain. “Young Leader Ye is too humble. Everyone knows that experts abound in the Four Directions Conference. If we’re talking about individuals with exceptional skills, there are countless within your esteemed faction.”

Ye Xi Feng hooked the corner of her mouth and stared at him fixedly. She suddenly asked, “Does Mr. Ming Yue like Western cakes? My mother invited a chef who is exceptionally skilled in making Western cakes. After the competition ends, I’ll bring some for you to taste.”

The eyes that were originally fixed on the arena finally turned towards the woman, but after just a glance, they shifted away again. His thin lips parted slightly. “Thank you for Young Leader Ye’s kind intention, but Ming Yue doesn’t like sweet food.”

The man was like an iceberg, immovable no matter what you did.

Ye Xi Feng’s smile faded a little. She looked at him for a while before shifting her gaze back to the arena.

At this moment, the two people on the arena were still evenly matched. Shen Yao Xing realized that continuing to fight like this would only waste her energy. Despite fighting for so long, the man showed no signs of fatigue; instead, his attacks became increasingly fierce.

Shen Yao Xing became more and more certain of her speculation. This person, perhaps, was no longer human. She forcefully kicked the man away, holding the broadsword in her hand, her breath slightly disordered. Her gaze scanned for a spot on the opponent where she could strike.

Finally, her gaze settled on the man’s pale green neck.

Although she had been in this world for a long time, had seen dead people, and had witnessed others killing, she had crossed hands with many people but had never personally killed anyone. Shen Yao Xing looked at the black-clothed man not far away and suddenly realized that if she didn’t kill him, she might die here herself.

The words Meng Xin Yi had once said to her surfaced in her mind: Sometimes, killing someone is also a form of self-rescue.

Shen Yao Xing’s eyes darkened. She tightly gripped the long sword in her hand. The incoming blade seemed to turn into slow motion. She dodged to the side and suddenly raised her foot to kick the man away again. She charged forward with the sword, and just as the man steadied himself, she swung the sword.

There was no imagined gushing of fresh blood. The head quietly fell from the neck, rolling on the ground. The pale green face’s expression never changed. The body, as if losing support, fell forward stiffly, stirring up dust.

Shen Yao Xing stared blankly at the corpse on the ground. As if exhausted, she slumped her shoulders and silently dragged the long sword towards the edge of the arena. She returned the sword to the dumbfounded woman and walked over to lean on Meng Xin Yi’s back.

“My legs are weak. Carry me back…”

“……”

…

It wasn’t until nightfall that Shen Yao Xing woke up in the inn. She stared at the bed’s canopy for a good while before slowly sitting up, propping herself up on the bed.

“Awake? Are you hungry? I asked the waiter to send food in.” Meng Xin Yi, who was sitting at the tea table, asked with concern.

Shen Yao Xing stretched lazily and nodded. She caught a glimpse of the item in her hand and asked curiously, “What’s that?”

“This?” Meng Xin Yi waved the item in her hand. “It’s the deerskin map. Have you forgotten? You won the competition.”

Shen Yao Xing walked over and sat across from her, drinking tea while examining the deerskin map in her hand. She reached out. “Let me take a look.”

“You can take a look first. I’ll go out and call the waiter.” Meng Xin Yi handed the deerskin map to her and turned to leave the bedroom.

Shen Yao Xing spread the deerskin map on the table and casually examined it under the candlelight. The entire map was brown in color, and it felt soft to the touch, indeed made of leather. However, the things on it looked like scribbles, not resembling a map no matter how you looked at it.

Meng Xin Yi, who was carrying food from outside, saw the girl holding the deerskin map over the candlelight. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly went over to snatch the deerskin map. “What are you doing?”

Seeing her so nervous, Shen Yao Xing pouted. “What are you so nervous about? I just wanted to see if there was any hidden trick inside.”

On TV shows in the past, it was always like this. After heating it, words would appear.

Meng Xin Yi’s fingers brushed over the slightly heated part of the deerskin map. Seeing that there was no issue, she let out a sigh of relief and pushed the food in front of her. “Eat quickly.”

Shen Yao Xing, who was already famished, didn’t stand on ceremony. She grabbed a chicken leg and started gnawing on it. With something to eat, her spirits also improved quite a bit. “Didn’t you say this thing is harmful to people? Wouldn’t it be better to burn it?”

Meng Xin Yi shook her head and sighed. “It’s not that simple. If you burn it, I’m afraid the various major sects won’t let you off.”

Currently, there were still two deerskin maps whose whereabouts were unknown. Missing one map would render the remaining four maps useless. It was also for this reason that the current struggle wasn’t so intense. If the whereabouts of the other two deerskin maps were known, this map would become a death warrant.

Shen Yao Xing wasn’t concerned. Her cheeks were bulging when she suddenly thought of something and turned her head to ask indistinctly, “By the way, how is that person doing?”

“That young master?” Meng Xin Yi raised an eyebrow.

“Mm.”

Meng Xin Yi rolled up the deerskin map and placed it into a black long box. “He has already gone to see a doctor. The injury on his shoulder is quite severe. I’m afraid his left hand will have difficulty exerting strength in the future.”

Shen Yao Xing breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he wasn’t dead, it was fine.

Early the next morning, as soon as Shen Yao Xing opened the door, she was blocked by two guardian deities standing at the doorway.

“Miss, our Young Leader requests your presence.”

“……” So early in the morning.