Chapter Fourteen: No Need to Worry About the Escape for Now

The entire camp was in an uproar—two of their brothers had died last night. Though their lives weren't worth much, they weren't so cheap as to be thrown away so carelessly. The culprits were naturally the three who had vanished. What heartless, ungrateful wretches! We kindly took them in, and they repaid kindness with treachery. Such beasts must be killed. That same day, Leader Zhou Li also succumbed to his severe injuries and died, and everyone couldn't help but link the two incidents together. Thus, the cries for blood grew even louder.

No one worried about failing to catch the killers—Miss Hai was here. Compared to the earth-shaking clamor outside, the carriage remained warm and cozy. For the formal breakfast, there were two kinds of pastries, two kinds of side dishes, and a bowl of fine porridge each. Though not extravagant, it was still refined. However, only one person was eating—the red-haired Kyle, chewing slowly and deliberately.

"Your art of divine sense is quite marvelous." Kyle set down his bowl and chopsticks, carefully wiping his mouth.

"Sir Kyle's divine arts have opened this young woman's eyes as well." Hai Qing smiled gracefully, not a trace of killing intent in her demeanor. After all, only two ordinary men had died; Hai Qing felt no anger, nor was this enough to provoke her. Her only concern was the Kyle sitting across from her. A slender sword lay on the table before him, and it had actually sealed off the entire carriage—not a wisp of divine sense could escape.

This delighted Hai Qing greatly. She felt she needed to reassess Kyle's worth. A young, talented cultivator was already worth courting vigorously, and with his excellent bearing and conversation, he was already a very fine standard for a spouse. Men like this would be pursued by most women.

In ordinary times, Hai Qing would at most cast a glance his way. First, because among cultivators, young female cultivators of high cultivation were rare; second, because of her own extraordinary family background. But with Zhou Li's death—the fall of a Spirit-Formation cultivator—Hai Qing had been placed in a difficult position, especially now when the struggle for the family head position was raging like a storm. She had suddenly lost a right arm. So now, Hai Qing told herself, she must keep Kyle, even if it meant losing some people's loyalty, or even losing herself. A woman who achieves great things does not dwell on trifles.

Kyle sat across from her, completely unaware of the many thoughts running through Hai Qing's mind. His mind held only one sentence from Wu Yue: Stop this Second Miss, or you die now. Kyle had complied. He wore brocade robes; he had no desire to don that suit of armor. Kyle didn't know where he came from, nor why he was here—only his memories of his identity. But the moment he saw Wu Yue, a voice echoed in his heart countless times: Listen to this man. He is your master. Otherwise, you will die.

Kyle had obeyed. At that time, he wore his armor, and he was the glorious Sky Knight. He followed that man's orders because of the Knight's Heart, but the first thing he was told to do was steal food, with the claim that it was to test whether it was poisoned. The laughable part was that he had believed it then—again because of the Knight's Heart.

He was deceitful; when his power was insufficient, he only made excuses, even to me. He was shameless; he actually thought of robbery. What was even more pitiful was that he abandoned his companions... Kyle could feel the Knight's Heart resisting. And so he successfully shed his armor and changed into magnificent clothing. This feeling pleased him greatly. Gone was the foolish obedience of a knight; all that remained was the wisdom of a nobleman.

"To be honest with you, sir, our family is in the midst of competing for the position of clan head. My sisters and I are now at daggers drawn. Whoever loses in this competition will likely face a miserable end. This is precisely the time to win people's hearts, and since I am their leader, I must seek justice for them." Hai Qing's words were sincere—no far-fetched embellishments, no exaggeration. She painted a vivid picture of a young girl's pitiable circumstances and difficult choices. And of course, this was precisely her brilliance.

Kyle slowly sheathed his sword, and Hai Qing felt the entire carriage's atmosphere lighten considerably. But she did not rashly release her divine sense just because the restriction had vanished. Instead, she blinked her eyes, looking at Kyle with a puzzled expression.

Kyle gave a bitter laugh and said apologetically, "I know this is very wrong of me. But I still beg Miss Hai Qing to spare those three people. There are... some unspeakable difficulties."

"Sir Kyle, I'll do as you say." Hai Qing directly interrupted Kyle's words, then said softly, "Everyone has their own unspeakable difficulties. Hai Qing understands."

Kyle took a deep breath and thanked her solemnly. At the same time, his heart relaxed. If this was the case, he would no longer be threatened by Wu Yue, right? This was a rather naive thought, and also a method of compromise and exchange filled with noble wisdom.

The answer was, of course, no. Wu Yue was not a noble, and Kyle was merely a summoned person, though he didn't know it himself. Wu Yue was only waiting for a brilliant starry sky, and for himself to grow just a little stronger.

The three of them were on the run. The calmest of all was actually Yu Fu. After making his move swiftly in the carriage, he had quickly looted the two corpses. The spoils were over five taels of loose silver, two blow darts, and a longsword he'd picked up.

Speaking of which, it was worth mentioning that all of Wu Yue's funds had been lost in the two fierce battles at Blackcurtain City. Still, there was no regret—after all, they hadn't lost their lives there, which was already quite fortunate.

Returning to the matter of the escape—Yu Fu wore an absurdly calm expression, and there was even a hint of nostalgia in his gaze. The route was also chosen by Yu Fu: heading back.

Not until dawn broke did the three hide behind a small earthen mound. Yu Fu pulled from his bosom the lotus leaf that had once wrapped a lotus-leaf chicken, now holding several other kinds of food. He grinned, "Eat up quick, so we can keep running after." Then he shot a sidelong glance at Zhao Qingzhi. "This here's got my spit on it, mind you."

Zhao Qingzhi was a young girl. Though she had trained in some martial arts, her stamina was inevitably lacking. After running half the night, she was ravenous. She was just reaching for the food when she heard those words, and her hand froze mid-air. Yu Fu didn't care at all. He picked up half an elbow of pork and began chewing loudly.

"Do you want a beating?!" Zhao Qingzhi said fiercely. Yu Fu, utterly unafraid, rolled his eyes instead. "Hit me? Who was it that last night couldn't even bring herself to stab? Had to have little master here handle it. And you were crying, saying 'I don't dare, I don't dare'—ha ha, that's hilarious, little master's dying of laughter."

"You—!" Zhao Qingzhi pointed at Yu Fu, her eyes reddening in an instant. At that, Yu Fu was suddenly at a loss, scrambling to console her. "Don't cry, alright? I'm wrong, I admit it. I was lying—I didn't spit on it, really. Don't believe me? I'll eat it in front of you. No wait—Wu Yue, you eat it to show her—"

It would have been better if he'd said nothing. The moment he spoke, Zhao Qingzhi's tears came streaming out. The sudden shock of last night, the fear that had gripped her the whole journey, and now Yu Fu's mockery—Zhao Qingzhi burst into tears, falling like a curtain of rain. Yu Fu panicked and reached out to wipe them away, forgetting that he'd just been handling the pork and had gotten his hand all greasy. So Zhao Qingzhi cried even louder.

Wu Yue sat in meditation. He wasn't too worried about pursuers; he believed that without that Second Miss's divine sense sweeping the area, they had an eight-in-ten chance of escaping. In at most another six hours, he would be able to summon Chang'an once more.

Best to simply absorb spiritual energy and cultivate properly. After all, he had to start from scratch again. Without having condensed a qi vortex, the Primordial Purple Qi Art had no recovery capability. At most, since his body had absorbed some spiritual energy, he was more familiar with the condensation process—re-condensing might be somewhat faster.

Still, through last night, Wu Yue had witnessed firsthand the power of the Primordial Purple Qi Art. It truly deserved Qing Yuzi's claim of being among the top ten killing arts in the world! Had it been any other technique, someone at the Qi Condensation stage couldn't possibly unleash any powerful spell, let alone kill a man. But last night, Wu Yue had seen it with his own eyes. With that single breath, the burly man had fallen dead on the spot—not a sound uttered, his face unrecognizable, his body riddled with holes.

This kind of power was deeply alluring to Wu Yue. But the Primordial Purple Qi Art demanded an extremely strong innate qi—the original vital energy one is born with—which was why it was typically cultivated from early childhood, and the earlier the better. As for someone of Wu Yue's age, the innate qi in his body had long since vanished without a trace. That was why cultivation was so incredibly difficult. And this was only the beginning; it would only grow harder.

Yet despite all its limitations, the Primordial Purple Qi Art had its unique merits—for instance, its killing power was unmatched. If one possessed innate qi, one could also progress extremely quickly.

Unfortunately, what Wu Yue didn't know was that the Primordial Purple Qi Art was a path of singular extremes—a road that would grow ever narrower. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether knowingly or unknowingly, Qing Yuzi had not told Wu Yue this.

All divine arts under heaven have their flaws and omissions. So Wu Yue now began to ponder: how could he attract innate qi?