Chapter 155
Chapter 155
Like a startled deer, Feng Lishu instantly retracted all her aggression and ducked behind Hu Yulin. “Brother Yulin, she wants to kill me.”
Yes, I wanted to kill her.
If the perfect opportunity presented itself, I would gladly put an arrow through her right here and now.
Who could tolerate an enemy who might seize control of them like a slave at any moment, prancing around in front of them all day?
Ignoring the excruciating pain of my pierced palm, I gritted my teeth and drew the bowstring taut once more. I adjusted my aim and fixed my gaze on Feng Lishu’s head. With a sharp whoosh, a ball of flame shot toward her.
Feng Lishu hunched behind Hu Yulin, tucking in her neck.
I honestly couldn’t understand it. She was clearly capable of protecting herself, so why did she always act so frail and helpless in front of men?
Especially men who had something to do with me.
Hu Yulin didn’t move.
He neither dodged nor attacked me again.
He stood rooted to the spot, staring at Fengwu in my hand.
The instant I loosed that ball of flame, an incredibly complicated array of emotions crossed his eyes.
Guilt, panic, doubt, disbelief… It wasn’t until the flames struck his shoulder and began to burn that he snapped back to his senses.
“Brother Yulin, are you all right?” Feng Lishu hurriedly helped extinguish the flames, asking worriedly, “Brother Yulin, why are you being so foolish? Why didn’t you dodge?”
She reached out to caress his injured shoulder, but Hu Yulin blocked her hand.
Feng Lishu froze.
By then, I had already drawn the bowstring taut for my third shot.
There was only one thought in my mind: today, either Feng Lishu died or I did.
I couldn’t let her control me, much less allow her to get past me and interfere with Liu Junyan while he broke the formation.
I had to seize every opportunity to restrain her.
A third ball of flame, then a fourth…
One hand held the Longbow steady while the other, dripping with blood, pulled back the string. Step by step, I advanced toward Feng Lishu.
I had to force her to act and throw off her rhythm.
Several balls of flame shot at her from different directions in rapid succession, yet Hu Yulin remained motionless.
Feng Lishu had no choice but to defend herself. She took out her own bow and drew it with all her strength.
The string released with a hollow twang, sending a wave of inner power surging toward the flames. Hu Yulin’s ears twitched, and he narrowed his eyes, studying Feng Lishu closely.
The hand she held her bow with trembled.
In that very instant, another ball of flame hurtled toward her.
Feng Lishu didn’t have time to draw her bow again. A pair of long, feathered wings suddenly unfurled behind her and beat forcefully in my direction.
A gale sprang up. Black energy rushed head-on into the flames, devouring every last one in an instant.
The next moment, she pressed a finger to the spot between her brows and began forming a hand seal.
An overwhelming sense of helplessness rose inside me.
The flames Fengwu fired could be consumed by her black energy.
And once she completed her hand seal, she could control me.
It was as if Feng Lishu had been born to be my perfect counter.
What in the world could I do to escape her control?!
Just as Feng Lishu was about to bring her finger to her lips, Hu Yulin pressed his closed fan against it.
Her hand seal was interrupted. She stared at him in bitter disappointment and accused, “I told you long ago that she stole my destiny and took my Lifebound Artifact! She and I cannot exist under the same sky! Hu Yulin, what are you doing at a time like this? You’re doubting me! After all the years we’ve known each other, is this how you repay me?!”
Conflict filled Hu Yulin’s eyes. He could no longer tell which of us was the real Ah Li and which was the impostor.
A Lifebound Artifact recognized its master, and of course Hu Yulin knew Fengwu.
When we first met at the Ghost Market, he had said he was looking for a bow without arrows.
He must have been searching for Fengwu even then.
I had retrieved Fengwu afterward, but I had never once taken it out or used it in front of him.
So when Hu Yulin saw me use Fengwu for the first time tonight, he began questioning his entire existence as a fox.
He realized he might have mistaken me for someone else and injured me by accident.
But Feng Lishu’s words kept him from being entirely certain what was true.
At that moment, his mind was in utter chaos.
Comparing the two of them, I suddenly found myself inexplicably moved. Liu Junyan had never once doubted my identity.
From the very beginning, he’d been certain I was the person he was looking for. No matter how Feng Lishu approached him or tried to drive a wedge between us, his faith in me had never wavered.
Being trusted so completely really did make it impossible not to feel drawn to someone.
“I’m not asking you to help me, but stay out of the business between her and me,” Feng Lishu declared resolutely. “Hu Yulin, I’m deeply disappointed in you!”
With that, she shoved Hu Yulin’s fan aside and strode toward me, rapidly forming a hand seal as she walked. Murderous intent filled her eyes as she stared at me. “Linu, kneel!”
The moment the words left her mouth, my legs went weak. They slipped beyond my control, and I actually began dropping stiffly to my knees.
Hu Yulin stepped forward and grabbed Feng Lishu by the arm. “Ah Shu, you-”
“Get lost!”
Feng Lishu flung him off and shouted again, “Linu, kneel!”
No. I couldn’t kneel.
If I went down now, I might never stand again.
But I couldn’t control my legs.
Feng Lishu had learned her lesson as well. She didn’t come too close, afraid I would punch her in the mouth again like last time.
She stopped barely three meters away and spat through gritted teeth, “Linu, I am your master. If I order you to kneel, you have no choice but to obey! Everything you are should belong to me! Kneel!”
I fought desperately to stay upright.
Feng Lishu suddenly took two steps forward, raised her foot, and slammed a vicious kick into my left knee.
She put all her strength behind it. I staggered, nearly toppling to the ground.
Hu Yulin rushed over and caught me, steadying me before stepping between us. “That’s enough, Ah Shu. Xiao Jiu isn’t a bad person. There may be some misunderstanding between you two.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Feng Lishu laughed, then abruptly changed tack and said mockingly, “Hu Yulin, do you really think you can protect her? Or are you willing to oppose the entire Phoenix Clan for her sake?”
Hu Yulin’s back visibly stiffened.
Feng Lishu sneered again, then put two fingers to her lips and blew a piercing whistle toward the sky.
A powerful current of air immediately came roaring from the distant horizon, bearing down on us with overwhelming force.
As the dark mass drew closer, pair after pair of tiny crimson eyes locked onto Hu Yulin.
I silently sucked in a sharp breath. Hu Yulin had already snapped open his folding fan, preparing to face the swarm of black crows.
There were far too many of them. They dove at him wave after wave.
Even if Hu Yulin had possessed three heads and six arms, he couldn’t have fended them all off. In moments, they had him completely surrounded.
Feng Lishu turned her attention back to me.
Wasting no more time, she immediately began forming another hand seal.
I had nowhere left to run. As for fighting back, firing flames from Fengwu alone wouldn’t work. Feng Lishu wasn’t afraid of them at all.
There was no water nearby, so I couldn’t activate Water Ripple either.
I retreated several steps. As I moved, the Golden Copper Coin hanging around my neck sent a cool sensation across my skin.
I seized the Copper Coin.
When Liu Junyan gave me this Copper Coin, he’d said he hoped it would stay by my side in his place — and that one day, it might become a deadly weapon in my hands.
I tore the Copper Coin from my neck, set it against Fengwu’s bowstring, and aimed at Feng Lishu…