Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Before Tang Tang could finish her sentence, her aunt had already shoved her head back into the car. The domineering black G-Wagon roared to life and sped away, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.

The men in black quickly retreated toward Aunt Tang, preparing for their own departure.

I reached out and gave Li Qingying a subtle tug. She understood immediately, and we both turned to run.

But we hadn’t gone more than a few steps before we ran straight into Old Lady Bai. Leaning on her cane, she looked remarkably youthful for her white hair, her eyes sharp and predatory.

A group of Bai Family members stood behind her, staring us down like tigers watching their prey.

Behind us, the waters of the Zhu Pan River were boiling. The ground trembled faintly, and the sound of thousands of stampeding horses seemed to echo from beneath the surface. Something was rolling and churning, about to break through the water.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Could it really be Chen Ping?

Right then, Old Lady Bai let out a sharp cry: “The Sacrifice continues!”

The Sacrifice continues?

Just moments ago, they had tried to use Tang Tang as my replacement. Now that Tang Tang had been rescued, Old Lady Bai still refused to give up. She had locked her sights back onto me.

Bai Jingmo rushed forward, shielding me. “Grandmother, you promised me you wouldn’t touch Xiao Jiu. You can’t go back on your word.”

“Jingmo, you botched your task,” Old Lady Bai said sternly. “Do you want the entire Bai Family to be buried with this woman? Wake up!”

With a wave of her hand, several people immediately rushed forward to seize Bai Jingmo.

Bai Jingmo resisted violently, descending into a brawl with the men.

Meanwhile, even more people were charging toward me. Li Qingying snapped her long whip, standing firm in front of me to protect me.

But we were outnumbered. It wasn’t just the Bai Family tonight; the Yellow Weasels and Giant Rats had joined the fray as well.

Soon, Li Qingying and I were completely surrounded, forced back step by step toward the Red Coffin that had been dragged from the water.

Li Qingying let out a long breath and whispered to me, “Xiao Jiu, I’ll break through to the north and carve out an opening. You circle around from there and head back to the Pawnshop. Once you’re inside, you’ll be safe.”

I shook my head. “Sister Qingying, I won’t be able to break out, and even if I could, I can’t just leave you behind. we stand or fall together.”

As I spoke, I stood back-to-back with Li Qingying. My fingers flew as I formed a hand seal, and I shouted, “Fengwu, come!”

Liu Junyan had anticipated I might end up in a situation like this, which was why he had infused me with True Qi beforehand.

With the True Qi fueling it, Fengwu emerged with its entire frame wreathed in flames.

The bow hovered in mid-air, a dazzling sight in the darkness of the wilderness.

I reached out and gripped the riser, took a deep breath, and pulled back the string with all my might.

The bow was drawn full; the string was taut.

I aimed the bow directly at Old Lady Bai.

With a sharp, resonant snap, the very air seemed to shudder. A ball of fire shot out like an arrow from a string, hurtling straight for Old Lady Bai’s face.

Perhaps because she hadn’t expected such a massive explosion of energy from me, Old Lady Bai hadn’t taken me seriously. The sudden turn of events left her people with no time to react.

In desperation, her confidant threw himself in front of her, using his body as a shield.

With a loud *thump*, the fireball slammed into the man’s forehead!

The confidant spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fire and collapsed heavily to the ground.

Old Lady Bai was caught in the aftershock. She stumbled, her hands white-knuckled as she gripped her cane to keep from falling.

This move temporarily stunned the Bai Family members.

However, I knew that the True Qi Liu Junyan had given me was only enough for that one shot.

I grabbed Li Qingying and tried to break through toward the north.

But Old Lady Bai recovered quickly. “Stop them!”

The Bai Family members were like maggots on a corpse, refusing to let Li Qingying and me out of their sight.

In that moment, I truly understood what it felt like to be at the end of one’s rope.

In the chaos, I hadn’t been able to pay any attention to Aunt Tang’s side.

But the moment I had summoned Fengwu and released that resonant snap, she had paused in her tracks and turned back to look at me.
With just a single glance, she froze in place, her expression becoming complex and profound.

Her red lips parted slightly, as if whispering the name ‘Fengwu’.

Then, she formed a Sword Finger with her right hand, swept it across the entire riverbank, and spoke a single word with resounding force: “Kill!”

Like spirits of the night, the dozens of figures in black charged back into the fray at Aunt Tang’s command.

In an instant, the sound of slaughter filled the riverbank.

But before I could even catch my breath, the Hexagonal Palace Lantern in my hand began to shake violently. The tiny flicker of fire inside crashed around frantically, as if it had sensed something.

My first reaction was that this wisp of essence from Fu Wan’s final Soul Sacrifice was reacting so wildly because it sensed Zhao Zixun’s presence.

When I looked toward the river, I felt as if I had been plunged into an ice cellar.

Zhao Zixun and that troop of soldiers were still there, sitting motionless atop their horses.

However, the water beneath the horses’ hooves was rising steadily, and the churning river water was surging toward me.

Beneath that pitch-black water, it felt as if some monstrous beast was hidden, waiting to swallow me alive!

I wasn’t the only one afraid; the Bai Family members were terrified too.

Some of the Bai Family group were being cut down by the men in black, while others fought as they retreated. But before they could take more than a few steps back, Old Lady Bai shrieked, “Charge! Anyone who deserts will be executed without mercy!”

Yet, the moment those at the very front came into contact with the river water, they collapsed one after another.

Their bodies fell into the water and were dragged into the depths by something beneath the surface, vanishing instantly.

Old Lady Bai, who had been shouting so arrogantly just a moment ago, was already dragging Bai Jingmo away in flight.

*Whiz!*

A short arrow shot out from the south, streaking diagonally into the sky.

I looked to the side and saw Aunt Tang holding a crossbow; that short arrow had been fired from her weapon.

As the arrow flew, the sound of chanting from before rose again.

The tail of the short arrow exploded into a spark in mid-air, and a rune ignited in the sky. In the darkness, the rune spread out into a net, falling over the water’s surface.

The surging river water receded rapidly under the confinement of the Talisman Net, and the river returned to its former calm.

Aunt Tang put away her crossbow, and the men in black retreated as well. The group piled into their cars, and the motorcade departed in a grand procession.

She didn’t even give me a chance to say thank you!

Li Qingying pulled at me, reminding me, “Xiao Jiu, let’s get back to the Pawnshop first. We can talk about everything else later.”

The things in the Zhu Pan River had been temporarily suppressed by Aunt Tang, but I wasn’t sure how long this suppression would last, or if the Bai Family would double back for a surprise attack.

So, without worrying about anything else, I returned to the Pawnshop with Li Qingying.

As soon as we were back, I immediately called Tang Tang, wanting to ask her exactly what had happened.

But the phone went unanswered, and she didn’t reply to my messages either.

Li Qingying brewed some brown sugar ginger tea for me. As I held the cup in both hands and felt the warmth of the tea, I finally felt as if I had truly come back to life.

I thought back to everything that had happened since Tang Tang arrived in Wufu Town.

Her outward warmth toward Bai Jingmo while secretly remaining on guard, her warnings to me, and that phone call she made the night before she left the Pawnshop…

It suddenly dawned on me.

That phone call must have been to her aunt. Tang Tang was pleading with her aunt to step in and help me!

She had walked into the trap herself to set tonight’s play, all to buy me a precious chance to escape.

But how did she know for certain that Bai Jingmo would target her and use her to trade for me?

Furthermore, the Sacrifice in Wufu Town required a Pure Yin Body. Not just anyone could take my place in the ritual.

Could it be… that Tang Tang’s constitution was also special?

Just what exactly was Tang Tang’s background?