Chapter 457: Chapter 444: Night of the Startled Soul
Zhao Changhe hadn’t gone far, he even left Wuzhui in Li Si’an’s caravan without taking it with him.
After leaving the town and following the edge of Erhai to the south for not too long, he plunged into the sea happily for a thorough bath first before anything else.
After all, he was about to et Hongling; it really wouldn’t be polite to et her slling so unpleasant.
Technically, though it was called a sea, it was essentially a large lake; the water was extrely pure and felt quite comforting. The only problem was the nearby grass slled strongly of cow dung, always leaving one to wonder whether bathing might end up getting oneself sared with sothing undesirable…
That bastard Li Si’an, saying once inside the town, “wash as you like,” yet it’s still not possible, in the end, one must head outside to clean up.
Huh…
While he was pondering this, he felt the Dragon Sparrow in his ring shivering slightly, conveying a thought – a distant mory that hadn’t surfaced for a long ti: “Who dares covet my body!”
A premonition of an assassination!
Since receiving the Dragon Sparrow, it had only manifested a few tis in the early days, the most crucial one being the assassination attempt by Wan Dongliu. Afterward, he never encountered such situations again as he faced adversaries head-on and no longer needed alerts from the Dragon Sparrow. Ordinary malice, with his current sharp Five Senses, was already enough for self-awareness.
Unexpectedly now, taking on the identity of Wang Daozhong today, he experienced once more this long-lost feeling. It would have to be a surveillance outside the scope of his senses, beyond his ability to detect.
That ans… arrows!
Zhao Changhe suddenly kicked his legs, abruptly darting several feet forward in the water.
Simultaneously, with a “twang” of a bowstring, an arrow, originating from who knows where, with fierce spiraling Qi Force, narrowly missed him and buried where he had just been bathing.
“Splash!” Water shot skyward as Zhao Changhe, spinning himself, rushed to shore, attempting to get onto solid ground.
It was inconvenient to move in water; if a few more arrows were to co, it would be hard to say whether he could dodge them. He had to get to solid ground. Turns out Li Si’an’s nonsense about fighting soone with a swinging pendulum was coming true…
“Swish!” Just as he leaped above the water’s surface, a second arrow targeted his chest.
Zhao Changhe painstakingly fetched the Ancient Sword Dragon Emperor from the ring, barely deflecting the arrow. The shock left his hands tingling, unable to muster strength to fall back and once again plunging into the water.
A chill went through Zhao Changhe’s heart, not because the archer was particularly skilled, but it seed as if he himself had weakened!
No wonder there was confidence in assassinating “Wang Daozhong of the Earth List”; currently, there was no Earth List to protect him.
Yet upon introspection, he could find no issue, neither injured nor poisoned.
This water can’t be poisoned; besides, discussing toxicity without considering dosage is absurd in such a sea-like lake. There’s no poison in the world that could work diluted in so much water, defying common sense.
Could this be…
Witch Gu magic?
“Swish!” Another arrow ca, and Zhao Changhe again deflected it, urgently diving deeper. Each arrow felt heavier; in reality, he was becoming increasingly weaker. If this continued, he would soon be unable to deflect at all. He needed to dive deeper, where the water’s resistance would affect the arrows, and aiming would be impossible.
But as he dived, he felt several figures attacking from underwater, the Water Dividing Spear silently chilling.
Zhao Changhe twisted his body, exploiting the mont before the attackers encircled him, darting out of the encirclent like a fish. At the sa ti, a mirror appeared in his hand, reflecting his image.
The attackers nearly laughed out loud — in such a tense mont of escape, there was actually soone pulling out a mirror to check his face, wanting to see his own handso face before death? In the deep water at night, you couldn’t see anything anyway!
However, in Zhao Changhe’s eyes, the mirror did show sothing… He could see a cloudy mark between his eyebrows, strange black Qi radiating, coiling, and visibly, his muscles and blood deteriorating.
The treasure of the Cui Family, the Qinghe Mirror… He hadn’t expected to need its power so soon.
From what the mirror showed, he initially thought that Gu insects had infiltrated the water, but it seed that it wasn’t that; rather, it was so sort of curse. Relying on so unknown conduit, a weakening spell had been cast. Miao Region’s strangeness indeed knows no bounds.
The source of its effect was… the heart.
Thank goodness it hadn’t affected the Dantian True Qi.
Zhao Changhe suddenly turned his head as an incoming Water Dividing Spear grazed past his cheek. He swiftly clamped down on his attacker’s wrist, giving it a fierce twist.
With the sound of dislocating bones, Zhao Changhe kicked the attacker in the abdon, propelling himself several ters forward. The Rejuvenation Technique fully activated, preserving his heart and blood vessels.
The Rejuvenation Technique wasn’t a healing skill but a law-level revival. This curse, relying on who knows what, could only induce slight weakness, and in the face of the Rejuvenation Technique, it wasn’t excessive. Zhao Changhe clearly felt his blood and strength recovering, the black Qi gradually being eradicated.
Who says having a healing ability as a Berserker is useless… It’s quite handy, fighting while healing, and others don’t even realize…
The key is to discern the root cause; without finding the source, everything is useless. Old Cui’s mirror is quite fascinating…
Several Water Dividing Spears sliced through the water, attacking Zhao Changhe from the front, back, and sides. He suddenly reached out with his left hand, seizing a strike from the left, pulling, and tossing it backward, hitting another attacker coming from behind. Simultaneously, his right hand pulled the person blocking from the right, kneeing them squarely in the groin.
The person lost their voice and was about to scream as the lake water gurgled in, instantly robbing them of their ability to fight.
“Whoosh!” An arrow penetrated from above.
Zhao Changhe, grasping or, lifted the unfortunate one upwards. The arrow, already slowed by the water, was further blocked by a human shield and lost its threat.
Zhao Changhe rose to the surface once more, his head breaking through the water.
An archer stood on a floating log on the water, aiming downwards. Seeing Zhao Changhe’s head suddenly erge, he clearly got a shock.
“Swoosh!”
The Dragon Emperor unsheathed, the Azure Dragon rose from the water.
A massive burst of Sword Qi erupted, covering the archer in blood holes. He collapsed with a thud.
In the distance, soone in the forest exclaid in surprise, then another arrow shot out like a shooting star, seeking an opportunity in the mont when “Wang Dao” was regaining his strength.
Zhao Changhe quickly spun around, an arrow grazing a bloody streak across his right shoulder. He then stepped on the log, leapt from the lake, and dashed into the forest.
Only birds remained in the forest; the person was gone.
When he looked back, the lake was pitch black below. It was unknown where the water ghost had subrged to. Zhao Changhe caught his breath slightly, gazing at the clear lake water as if looking into the maw of a dark beast, not daring to enter the water in search.
His arm, just grazed by the arrow, hurt more severely than any grievous wound tearing through. Looking down, it was oozing black blood— the arrow was highly poisonous.
The Rejuvenation Technique operated again, neutralizing the poison, but it was sowhat straining; this poison’s level had almost overwheld his rudintary Rejuvenation Technique and was certainly not sothing basic Poison Resistance from the Six Harmonies Divine Skill could counter.
Zhao Changhe took a fresh set of clothes from his ring, changed, and concealed himself behind a rock in the forest to quietly recuperate, waiting for daybreak.
He dared not wander around that night.
Ever since returning from beyond the border, it seed like a long ti since he’d faced such peril. In just a few breaths, it felt like he had walked to and from the Ghost Gate.
“Interesting.” Zhao Changhe slowly expelled the poisoned blood from his arm, applied dicine, and suddenly laughed.
This sensation was truly thrilling—not a bit less intense than the feeling of charging through thousands of troops.
The world was vast with many unusual techniques; it wasn’t enough just to show off nas from the Earth or Human Lists and expect to dominate everywhere. No wonder Lei Ao didn’t exhibit the usual reverence for the Earth List when facing “Wang Dao.”
So was this assassination attempt his doing?
If so, why would he do this?
If not, then who could it be… Wuding? But Wuding hadn’t acted personally… it didn’t quite fit.
Zhao Changhe pondered for a mont, then decided to return to Xizhou.
Regardless of whether it was Lei Ao or not, his supposed departure from this area was just a pretense to prevent Wuding from finding him; Yue Hongling was here, so why should he run off to Cang Mountain?
It was better to return and just find a spot to squat, keeping an eye on Wuding and seeing whether Lei Ao was up to anything.
As he was thinking this, a sense of alarm suddenly arose in his heart.
Under the moonlight, a faint whistle arose from sowhere, sorrowful and lanting.
Accompanying the whistle, the surrounding area rustled. Looking around, countless poisonous snakes had gathered without his notice, their nurous green eyes staring straight at him, their tongues wildly flicking in the moonlight, chilling to the bone.
Zhao Changhe’s hair stood on end, about to leap into the air, when from above a multitude of venomous snakes hung down like long hair from trees, filling the air above with a toxic fog. Not knowing the details, he really dared not charge recklessly.
Zhao Changhe’s upward motion halted, and he returned to the ground.
A laughter like the tinkle of bells ca through, “The Langya Wang family indeed has so tricks; it’s curious, how do you break the curse, how do you expel the poison… Tsk tsk, it really makes one wonder, can you withstand these snake poisons once more?”
Though the scene was ghastly, that enticing laugh rippled like a lover whispering, luring one to do sothing quite fun.
Even the real warrior from the Earth or Human List here would find this situation ominously dangerous.
But Zhao Changhe, on the contrary, rolled his eyes and casually leaned back against a rock, resting with his arms folded and eyes closed, “Snake poison isn’t interesting, but it’s been a long ti since I saw your snake-like waist. When can I see it again?”
The voice now wasn’t mimicking “Wang Dao” anymore but returned to his own.
The laughing stopped, transforming into uncertain surprise, “How… could it be you? Is your Disguise Technique that skilled?”
Zhao Changhe retorted in annoyance, “What’s more unexpected is, why are you impersonating Yue Hongling in Miao Region? Was it you who assassinated the Provincial Governor this evening?”
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