You Believed Me Just Like That?

Thanks to learning that the people this so-called "King Cao" sought were inside this ruined temple, nearly all of them rushed toward it at full tilt. The monk possessed superior lightness skill and outpaced Bai Liuxian, which was precisely why he died first. Bai Liuxian had just dodged the monk's hurtling corpse when he looked up to find Fang Shuwen already right before him. Faced with a young man who had decapitated the monk with a single palm strike, Bai Liuxian no longer dared underestimate him in the slightest. Granted, in his view, the monk had not truly unleashed his supreme technique, nor had he invoked the Dharmakaya of Ultimate Bliss, so he had met a somewhat undeserved end. Even so, he had been slain by a single palm strike—and died a gruesome death at that. Without a second thought, Bai Liuxian flicked his hand, and the great black snake coiled around his neck lunged straight for Fang Shuwen. Immediately afterward, his own figure slithered like a viper, slipping to Fang Shuwen's flank with a twist, two fingers thrusting straight for the vitals at his waist. Both fingers were fitted with finger caps, steeped in deadly venom. A single graze would seal the throat with blood. Yet just as the two fingers were about to land, Fang Shuwen turned slightly, leaving the strike to plunge into empty air. Bai Liuxian's skull tightened as Fang Shuwen seized his head in an iron grip. He strained with all his might to break free, but under the surge of penetrating internal force, he could not budge an inch. Looking over, he saw Fang Shuwen's other hand holding the black snake seven inches below the head. "Fond of playing with snakes? "I liked them when I was young, too. After all, they're a rare delicacy." As Fang Shuwen spoke, he stimulated the creature with a pulse of internal force. Overwhelmed by pain, the serpent instinctively snapped its jaws—sinking its fangs straight into Bai Liuxian's neck. This time, Bai Liuxian's face truly turned pale. He had raised this snake himself and knew only too well how lethal its venom was. Though he carried the antidote on him, purging such potent poison would certainly not happen in an instant. Fang Shuwen tightened his right hand, and the great serpent, nurtured over so many years, was pulverized into a cloud of bloody mist. Blood and minced flesh showered the surroundings. For a moment, Bai Liuxian hardly knew whether to lament his own predicament or mourn the serpent he had fed on human flesh for years. Right out of the bloody mist, a figure abruptly darted forth. It was none other than the black-robed woman from before. Her movement technique was exceedingly bizarre; while Fang Shuwen and Bai Liuxian traded blows, she had vanished with a spin, masked by some unknown trickery. Bursting through the bloody mist now made her ambush all the more unexpected. Hazy, feminine phantoms of blood welled across her palms as she struck straight for the vital acupoints on Fang Shuwen's back. Just as her palms were about to slam into the center of his back, they seemed to hit an obstacle less than three inches away, completely blocked by something invisible. "What is..." A note of stunned disbelief entered her voice. "Protective true qi?" The moment the words left her mouth, a fierce counter-shock surged from her palms throughout her body, sending her flying backward with a thud. While she was still midair, a massive palm descended from the heavens. Vajra Throws the Pagoda! With a muffled roar, a palm-shaped crater over ten feet across cracked into the earth. The black-robed woman was stamped right into its center, pressed into a human-shaped depression within the palm imprint, fitting seamlessly inside. She jerked upward with a start, spewed a mouthful of blood, and when she fell back, her breath had ceased entirely. After striking the woman dead, Fang Shuwen did not attack again. Instead, he looked at the two elderly figures flanked to his left and right. He gave a soft chuckle. "Do you two still think you stand a chance?" The old woman sneered, "A mere youth relying on a bit of divine martial prowess, looking down on your elders. Such arrogance will do you no favors." "Your martial arts have indeed compelled this old man to view you in a new light," the old man said coldly. "However, with your strength alone, who can you possibly protect?" Taking advantage of Fang Shuwen's clash with Bai Liuxian and the others, those lurking in the shadows had already crept toward the mountain god temple. Now casting aside all concealment, they sprang out one after another, intending to storm inside. Lu Guiyan and Zhou Qingmei drew saber and sword, joining forces to hold them off. Suddenly, the whistling of rushing wind broke out in rapid succession. Flying daggers like shooting stars tore through the silent night, striking the sinister figures one after another. The old man's face shifted. "Flying Star Darts... disciples of Feixing Palace are lying in ambush nearby?" "Didn't you say there was no one else here?" the old woman snapped angrily. Fang Shuwen was caught between laughter and tears. "You're evil scoundrels after all, can't you manage a bit of nuance? You believed me just because I said so? Even Patrick Star is smarter than you." This had all been arranged between Fang Shuwen and Zuo Qingshuang beforehand. Though Fang Shuwen had not known the eavesdropper on the roof was called Feng Lixiao, he had known the Seven Righteous Sects' plans were exposed to Autumn Moon Nunnery. Taking advantage of this, the Seven Righteous Sects turned the tables and drew up a new strategy, turning their feint into an actual assault. Yet that raised a problem regarding whether Fang Shuwen and his companions should join the assault on Autumn Moon Nunnery. The Lu'an Escort Agency still had two client escorts with them, whose safety could not be ignored. Zuo Qingshuang had sought him out later specifically to discuss this matter. In the end, they decided to split their forces: the alliance would attack Autumn Moon Nunnery as scheduled, while Fang Shuwen remained here to uncover what lay behind it all. In addition, she would have disciples of Feixing Palace lie in wait nearby to lend him a hand. Fang Shuwen considered this arrangement far safer and naturally saw no reason to refuse. Feixing Palace excelled in both lightness skill and hidden weapons, and their methods of concealing true qi were extraordinary. Formidable though these old villains were, their preconceptions kept all their attention fixed on Fang Shuwen and Chen Qi, making them completely oblivious to the disciples of Feixing Palace. Only now, when the Feixing Palace disciples sprang into action, did they realize an ambush surrounded them. Although the elderly couple had no idea who this "Patrick Star" Fang Shuwen spoke of was, they knew it had to be a taunt. Infuriated, they were about to strike when Fang Shuwen stepped forward first, unleashing Vajra Throws the Pagoda at the old man. The old man snapped his head up and thrust both palms forward to meet the blow. When the palm strikes met, not a sound emerged. The force bypassed the old man's body entirely and smashed into the ground behind him with a deafening boom. Amidst the rising dust, two figures rose shoulder to shoulder before anyone noticed, striking Fang Shuwen's back simultaneously. "Brat... you dare attack the two of us without knowing our name as 'Thousand Voids and Hundred Illusions'?!" "Death is your only reward!!" Speaking one after the other, they unleashed their palm forces in unison. Yet in the very next instant, both turned pale. Their palm forces struck Fang Shuwen without finding solid purchase; instead, their internal energy rushed like a torrent into the young man's body. Terror seized them both to the marrow of their bones. They wanted to demand what martial art this was, yet neither could utter a single syllable. Instead, it was Fang Shuwen who gave a faint, chilly laugh. "Oh? Thousand Voids and Hundred Illusions? Truly... I have never heard of you. "But so what?"