Wang Yu let out a sigh, clapped his hands, and sat back down on the edge of the bed. He said helplessly to Meng Zixiao, "See? We delayed, and now your chance is gone."
Meng Zixiao's eyes darted frantically as she forced a smile. "I beg the two princess consorts' pardon. Little Sister merely felt an instant connection with Brother Zhao. Tonight was only to repay Brother Zhao for saving my life; I will be leaving first thing tomorrow morning and truly harbored no other intentions."
Li Yunxiu glanced at Qianqian. "You saw through her as well?"
Qianqian offered a delicate smile. "Little Sister didn't know what she had in mind and was merely playing along. Didn't Elder Sister see through it?"
Li Yunxiu's smile remained intact. "Little Sister's acting is superb; Elder Sister considers herself inferior."
The corners of Qianqian's eyes curved in amusement. "Thank you for the praise, Elder Sister."
Meng Zixiao did not understand what they were talking about—or perhaps she did, but was neither willing nor daring enough to admit it, leaving her to gaze at Wang Yu with desperate hope.
"Stop looking at him, he isn't a fool either," Li Yunxiu said coolly. "Did you really think he enjoys toying with corpses?"
Wang Yu raised a hand in protest. "Objection! No personal attacks!"
"Objection overruled," Qianqian said, beaming. "Consider it punishment for not being picky about what you eat."
Wang Yu countered, "Wasn't I just trying to bait her into exposing a flaw?"
Li Yunxiu remarked, "I think you were thoroughly enjoying yourself. Just now, she tried to strike the Lingtai acupoint on your back; she had already exposed herself completely."
Wang Yu came up with another excuse: "I wanted to uncover her motive for approaching me."
Qianqian giggled. "Just take her down and interrogate her. What girl could possibly withstand the eighteen tortures of our Prince of Zhenxi's Manor?"
"Makes sense!" Wang Yu's eyes lit up, and he reached out once more to grab Meng Zixiao by her lapel. "Are you two going to step outside, or stay and watch in person?"
Li Yunxiu scoffed. "There's no need for your hands. The manor has over a hundred elite guards; that is more than enough."
Wang Yu drew a sharp breath. "That vicious?"
Qianqian said softly, "Not only more than enough, but they'd even have to queue up. If you don't mind, you can take the back of the line."
Wang Yu's eyes widened. "Shouldn't I be at the front of the line?"
Li Yunxiu shook her head. "Could both of you be serious for once?"
"You were the one who started being improper," Qianqian huffed. Leaning forward, she propped her arms on the windowsill, pressing out two full curves as she looked at Meng Zixiao with keen interest.
Wang Yu and Li Yunxiu turned their gazes upon Meng Zixiao as well.
Meeting the three sets of eyes, Meng Zixiao's gaze shifted, and she regained her composure, smiling. "Actually, this isn't any secret. I only came looking for *All Streams Returning to the Source*."
The corner of Wang Yu's eye twitched. "You're the disciple of the Crippled and the Deficient?"
Meng Zixiao glared. "They are the Twin Stars of the Xingxiu Sea!"
Wang Yu blinked. He hadn't expected that Meng Zixiao would turn out to be the apprentice taken in by Zhaixingzi and Zhuixingzi.
Listening to the exchange between Wang Yu and Meng Zixiao, Li Yunxiu narrowed her eyes and gave Wang Yu a deep, searching look. Then, shifting her gaze, she locked eyes with Qianqian and was met with a charming, coy smile.
Meng Zixiao said calmly, "My two masters had an arm and a leg severed by your father, and my grandmaster's *All Streams Returning to the Source* was stolen. It is entirely right and proper for me to reclaim on my masters' behalf the manual plundered by the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor."
Wang Yu chimed in, "And take revenge while you're at it?"
Meng Zixiao's gaze darkened. "If you say so, then so be it."
Li Yunxiu caressed her wrist and looked at Wang Yu. "Could you tell me what this is all about?"
"Ahem!" Wang Yu gave a dry cough. "Didn't my father injure Zhaixingzi and Zhuixingzi in the battle at the Xingxiu Sea back then? But in truth, he also seized the manual they inherited from Old Man Xingxiu called *All Streams Returning to the Source*. Meng Zixiao is their apprentice. Now that she's finished her training, she came to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor wanting to reclaim the manual."
Li Yunxiu glanced at Qianqian, then back at Wang Yu. "Where is the manual?"
Wang Yu spread his hands. "When my father died, I was still in the capital. How would I know where he hid the manual?"
Li Yunxiu raised an eyebrow. "You don't know either?"
Wang Yu shook his head. "Of course I don't."
Meng Zixiao suddenly spoke up: "Your father seized the manual before he sent you to the capital. Did he really not tell you?"
Wang Yu was rendered speechless. "I was not even ten years old back then. Are you sure he would dare tell me something so important?"
Meng Zixiao couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly. "True. It seems I miscalculated."
Despite being subdued by Wang Yu and having confessed her identity, Meng Zixiao showed no fear; instead, she seemed somewhat relieved. "Now that I've fallen into your hands, whether you kill me or flay me, do as you please."
Wang Yu looked quietly at Meng Zixiao, seemingly in thought.
Neither Li Yunxiu nor Qianqian spoke, only watching Wang Yu intently, waiting for his decision.
Wang Yu sighed and reached out to help Meng Zixiao up.
Yet just as he drew within three feet of Meng Zixiao, she flashed him a bright, trusting smile, reminiscent of the silent rapport when their gazes met during swordplay.
In the very next instant, Meng Zixiao abruptly snapped her leg upward as a one-inch blade popped from the tip of her shoe, glinting with cold light amid whistling gusts of force.
This strike was swift and vicious, far exceeding the skills Meng Zixiao had revealed before. Swift and razor-sharp, it rivaled Wei Honggang's prowess, aimed straight at Wang Yu's vitals with lethal intent.
Yet Wang Yu seemed to have anticipated it. Pausing and leaning back, he evaded Meng Zixiao's strike, then drifted backward through the air to grab his sword from the table.
Meng Zixiao had no intention of giving Wang Yu the chance to reach his sword. Stamping her heel, the short blade previously lodged in the tip of her shoe shot out, darting straight for Wang Yu.
At this moment, Wang Yu was suspended mid-air with nowhere to dodge, and neither Li Yunxiu nor Qianqian could intervene in time. Murderous intent finally flared in Meng Zixiao's eyes.
Then she saw Wang Yu, hanging mid-air with nothing to push off from, suddenly pivot at a sharp angle to evade the blade, gliding toward Li Yunxiu.
Meng Zixiao was astounded, yet her movements showed not the slightest hesitation. Tapping her foot again, another blade flew from the tip of her left shoe, shooting toward Wang Yu once more.
"Husband!" Li Yunxiu's heart jolted with shock. She knew full well that the *Swallow Carrying Spring* lightness skill allowed for only a single shift in mid-air. Flicking her wrist, three gold needles shot straight toward Meng Zixiao, while she sprang forward to intercept the flying blade aimed at Wang Yu.
Outside the window, Qianqian's right shoulder shifted subtly as she too prepared to act.
And then they saw Wang Yu pivot in mid-air yet again, actually changing direction a second time! Not only did he effortlessly dodge the blade's attack, but he also caught Li Yunxiu around the waist as she swept past him, drifting down lightly beside the table inside the room and drawing his sword with a backhanded stroke.
*Clang—!*
With the longsword drawn from its scabbard, Wang Yu looked back at Meng Zixiao, shaking his head with a sigh. "You missed an opportunity."
"Just being touched by you makes me sick!"
The moment Meng Zixiao launched the second blade at Wang Yu, she had already leaped toward Qianqian. Even though Wang Yu dodging her second blade sent a chill down her spine, her primary objective right now was escaping the manor.
On that front, she remained exceedingly confident, for Zhuixingzi was most adept at lightness skills—and her greatest forte, in truth, was lightness skills as well!
"Bitch, get out of the way!" Meng Zixiao pressed two fingers together like a sword, aiming straight at Qianqian's throat.
Meng Zixiao charged forward aggressively. Qianqian turned pale with fright and hastily dodged to the side.
Seeing that Qianqian truly appeared to possess no martial arts, a cold glint flashed in Meng Zixiao's eyes. As she vaulted through the window, she twisted her body and slashed with her finger-sword, intending to carve a bloody wound across Qianqian's face.
*Whoosh—!*
Their figures crossed, and Meng Zixiao swept past.
"Qianqian!" Li Yunxiu cried out in alarm, breaking free from Wang Yu's embrace. But just as she sprang into motion, she saw Qianqian standing outside the window, beaming with smiles, completely unharmed.
Li Yunxiu halted, her expression returning to calm as she said evenly, "I knew you were no ordinary girl."
Qianqian smiled and raised the dagger in her hand. A bead of blood still clung to the tip. "Pity she didn't know," she murmured softly.
Wang Yu came to Li Yunxiu's side and saw outside the window that Meng Zixiao, having dashed fifty feet past Qianqian, was slowing down dramatically. By the time she reached the courtyard wall, she came to a complete stop.
Meng Zixiao turned around, her eyes fixed on Qianqian, filled with venomous malice.
A wet, rattling gasp came from her mouth as both hands clutched her throat, yet she could not stem the gushing torrent of blood. At last, her legs gave out, and she collapsed face-down on the ground.
Li Yunxiu withdrew her gaze. "She brought it upon herself."
Wang Yu looked at the blood spreading beneath Meng Zixiao's body, then at the short sword in Qianqian's hand, shaking his head with a sigh. "What a waste."
"Indeed," Qianqian nodded. "Using my Bright Moon Sword to send a woman like that to her grave truly is a waste."
Li Yunxiu turned back to Wang Yu. "How did you know she had already unsealed her acupoints?"
Wang Yu shook his head. "Because I was never that proficient at striking acupoints to begin with. She's the disciple of the Crippled and the Deficient, so her martial arts were bound to be higher than what she showed. Breaking through sealed acupoints wouldn't be difficult for her. I was simply keeping an extra trick up my sleeve."
*Swish, swish, swish—*
Under the moonlit night, several guards of the Prince's Manor leapt out and hurried to the vicinity of the main quarters, calling out in flustered alarm, "Your Highness?"
They had seen Wang Yu carry Meng Zixiao into the main quarters, after which Li Yunxiu and Qianqian had each arrived outside; the guards had not dared to make a single move.
One was the prince taking the initiative, while the other two were the princess consorts catching him in the act. Their duty was merely to protect the prince and his consorts; they had neither the gall nor the desire to get entangled in such high-society melodrama. In fact, they had purposely retreated a distance, afraid to even eavesdrop.
Then they had seen Meng Zixiao's figure dashing out at breakneck speed.
At first, they had assumed the two consorts had caught them in bed and Meng Zixiao was fleeing in disgrace. Only when Meng Zixiao ground to a halt, turned, and collapsed did they realize something was wrong, prompting them to swiftly abandon their hidden posts and rush to the main quarters.
"It's fine now," Wang Yu waved his hand. "Meng Zixiao was an assassin from the Xingxiu Sea. Her attempt failed, and she has already been executed. Summon people to clean this up."
"Yes, Your Highness!" The guards bowed and withdrew.
A moment later, maidservants and servants rushed over, accompanied by Zhao Rong and Zhao Yingjie.
"Meng Zixiao is the disciple of the Twin Stars of the Xingxiu Sea?" Zhao Rong asked.
Unlike the ordinary guards, who were in the dark, Zhao Rong and his son naturally knew of the past battle between Zhao Zheng and the two masters. Hearing the mention of the Xingxiu Sea, they instantly guessed Meng Zixiao's connection to the Twin Stars.
"That's right," Wang Yu nodded. "She came seeking revenge for her two masters."
Zhao Yingjie glanced around the room and spotted the two short blades embedded in the wall and the window frame, testament to how fierce the clash had been.
Once the servants pried loose the two blades, Wang Yu gestured for them to hand them to Zhao Yingjie. "Put them together with the eagle-beak mattocks and the refined iron staff. Consider them my trophies."
...
After the servants finished cleaning up, Meng Zixiao's corpse was carried away, and the bloodstains in the courtyard were washed clean. Inside the main quarters, only Wang Yu, Li Yunxiu, and Qianqian remained once more.
Chapter 47