Yin Hu’s expression froze: "You are—"
ng Qianqian turned around and fixed her gaze on him: "I..."
Lu Lingxiao also heard that "Yin Hu," but he didn’t realize ng Qianqian identified him by sound; instead, he thought she recognized his face.
Though, he hadn’t figured out how she saw it either.
He pressed his chest, stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the man: "Could it be another impostor?"
Yin Hu ignored him, flicked the broken bamboo, and seized both ng Qianqian’s token and Brocade Spring Saber.
Glancing at them, he said, "A court official?"
He discarded the broken bamboo and reached out to remove the mask on ng Qianqian’s face.
This ti, ng Qianqian fought back, retreating with a light step of her toe.
Yin Hu casually plucked a bamboo leaf and shot it toward ng Qianqian.
With a flick of her wrist, ng Qianqian unleashed a silver needle, breaking through the leaf and aiming straight for his brow.
Yin Hu caught the silver needle effortlessly between two fingers.
Focusing on it, sothing flashed briefly in his eyes. His expression chilled, and with murderous intent, he shot the silver needle back at ng Qianqian!
ng Qianqian didn’t dodge; she didn’t even blink. She simply stared at him unflinchingly.
Lu Lingxiao clutched his chest: "Hey! You—"
"Ah—!"
A mournful scream ca from behind ng Qianqian. A masked man collapsed to the ground in a pathetic heap, a needle embedded in his brow, dead.
Shock flashed intensely in Lu Lingxiao’s eyes.
"Why didn’t you dodge?"
Yin Hu asked.
"Didn’t want to." ng Qianqian replied.
Yin Hu walked over, pulled the silver needle from the man’s brow, cleaned it with the pristine snow, then wiped it with a piece of bamboo leaf. He also retrieved the first silver needle ng Qianqian had shot and handed them both back to her.
He said, "If you et the Shadow Guards of Beiliang, don’t engage head-on."
ng Qianqian accepted the needles and obediently nodded: "Alright."
Yin Hu was montarily stunned.
Lu Lingxiao, having infiltrated Beiliang Royal City for years, naturally had heard of the Shadow Guards of Beiliang, who shared so similarities with the Jinyi Guard of Great Zhou, except their missions were primarily assassinations.
Each Shadow Guard was an elite among elites. He hadn’t expected soone in Yin Hu Guard to defeat one so quickly.
He recalled Wan’er ntioning that Yin Hu wasn’t considered the most skilled in martial arts among the Twelve Guards. No wonder His Majesty coveted the Black Armor Guards—their strength was terrifyingly overwhelming.
Lu Lingxiao was now certain that the man before him was indeed a true mber of Yin Hu Guard. He cupped his fists and bowed: "This junior, Lu Lingxiao, greets Yin Hu, senior."
Yin Hu looked him over and asked: "Oh, I rember now; you’re the fool who saved the wrong person."
Lu Lingxiao flushed with embarrassnt: "Senior... you knew about my rescue attempt at the Beiliang Army Camp?"
Yin Hu candidly admitted: "Ah, I was trailing right after you all."
Lu Lingxiao asked in confusion: "Senior, why didn’t you warn us that we had saved the wrong person?"
Yin Hu arrogantly replied: "Why should I warn you?"
Lu Lingxiao furrowed his brows. Rumor had it that the Black Armor Guards only swore allegiance to Chu Grand Marshal and didn’t even acknowledge royal authority. It seed the rumors were true.
"Court matters don’t concern . You can go; you stay." Yin Hu’s last words were directed at ng Qianqian.
ng Qianqian said, "Yin Hu, can I ask you to help detoxify soone? I’ve used silver needles to seal his acupoints; he can only last three days. One day’s already passed while I ca to find you."
Yin Hu hesitated.
ng Qianqian understood what he wanted to say: "If you detoxify him, I’ll answer anything you want to ask."
Yin Hu said, "You only have one condition for to detoxify him?"
ng Qianqian paused, then admitted honestly, "I also have so questions to ask you."
Yin Hu gazed deeply at her before agreeing, "Alright, I’ll go with you to save him!"
Lu Lingxiao felt sothing odd between the two of them. It was indescribable. She addressing Yin Hu directly by na was one thing, but Yin Hu didn’t seem angry—in fact, he seed almost indulgent toward her.
Sure enough, won always seem better at charming n.
Yin Hu looked around: "One horse?"
Lu Lingxiao said to ng Qianqian, "I told you earlier to tie up the horse."
ng Qianqian turned away, pulled off her mask, and whistled toward the woods. A plump horse proudly trotted back on its own.
Lu Lingxiao was dumbfounded.
ng Qianqian put her mask back on.
Yin Hu was just about to mount the horse when his body stiffened, and he kneeled on one leg, coughing up blood.
"Yin Hu!"
ng Qianqian’s expression changed as she crouched down to check his pulse.
Yin Hu brushed her hand away nonchalantly and stood up: "Just took a few hits. Breaking through a chanical formation always cos at a cost. It’s no big deal."
Lu Lingxiao suddenly understood—so Yin Hu had been trapped in the chanical formation. No wonder Yu Zichuan and he hadn’t found him after all that searching; they had only retrieved an impostor.
Yin Hu mounted the horse: "Alright, there’s no ti. If we delay any longer, your friend won’t make it! Boy, get on!"
"Yes, Senior."
Lu Lingxiao shared a horse with Yin Hu, while ng Qianqian rode solo. Together, the three raced toward Yun Pass.
However, just as they were about to leave the bamboo forest, the Shadow Guards of Beiliang caught up with them.
Yin Hu said, "You go ahead; I’ll handle them!"
ng Qianqian said, "No, you go ahead; I’ll hold them off. He’s Lu Yuan, the Grand Commander of the court."
With that, she suddenly yanked her reins, bringing her horse to an abrupt halt, turned around, and charged toward the Shadow Guards of Beiliang.
Lu Lingxiao hesitated briefly but ultimately didn’t stop her.
Fewer experts by Lu Yuan’s side would only benefit him.
Besides, with her gone, he would decide when they would reach the army camp with Yin Hu.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Yin Hu’s icy voice rang in his ear: "Boy, I suggest you behave. If I don’t see your court’s Grand Commander by nightfall, I’ll kill you myself!"
Lu Lingxiao gripped the reins tightly.
The number of Shadow Guards was greater than ng Qianqian anticipated. With her current strength, she couldn’t match them.
But she wasn’t trying to kill them—stalling for enough ti for Yin Hu to escape was enough.
She opened the pouch at her waist—the one Yin Hu had hung there when returning her silver needle and Brocade Spring Saber.
She pinched a small paper packet between her fingers. The mont two Shadow Guards lunged at her, she used her inner strength to scatter the powder inside.
Screams erupted as several Shadow Guards fell off their horses, clutching their burning eyes and wailing in agony.
ng Qianqian raised an eyebrow: "So effective."
Relying on various poisons and poison pills provided by Yin Hu, she took down nine Shadow Guards in total.
When she was about to deal with the tenth, she realized she had run out of Yin Hu’s poisons.
ng Qianqian considered seriously for a mont, then said, "If I can’t win, I’ll run!"
Without hesitation, she dismounted and scurried away!
The abandoned horse: "..."
"Chase her!"
"She ran into the mountains!"
"Damn it!"
"It’s unlikely we’ll capture the Yin Hu Guard now, but this woman’s identity must be significant. Capturing her will still suffice!"
Horses struggled on mountain roads, so they had to abandon their mounts and follow ng Qianqian’s trail on foot.
ng Qianqian realized they had entered the mountains in pursuit. To cover her tracks, she captured a deer and rode it deeper into the mountains.
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