Cheng Shi frowned in the direction Da Yi had vanished, then turned to whisper to Poison:
"Did you do sothing to him?"
Poison blinked innocently: "What?"
Cheng Shi pursed his lips: "Don't play dumb. Da Yi is rough around the edges, but he doesn't seem like soone this impulsive. His desire for the Gift of Sores is way too intense. Did you use your tricks on him?"
Poison stared at Cheng Shi for several seconds. Her eyes first swept toward Jiang Chi, who stood nearby with his eyes closed in ditation, then she curled her lips and whispered back:
"Are you worried about him being influenced, or about yourself being influenced?"
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. His expression darkened.
'This [Corruption] follower really had made a move. Terrifyingly subtle — she'd managed to influence a fellow assassin without leaving a trace. And Da Yi apparently... hadn't even noticed?'
Cheng Shi glanced toward where Da Yi had disappeared, unease gnawing at him. Had the man truly not realized?
'What was his plan in choosing to leave at this mont?'
'And what about himself — had he been affected too?'
Cheng Shi wore a puzzled expression on the surface while secretly gripping the key in his hand.
At that mont, Poison edged closer, seemingly trying to squeeze inside Cheng Shi's down jacket for warmth.
"Why would I ever move against you, little priest? I trust you completely. Otherwise, how could I entrust my back to you?"
As she spoke, Poison turned around and began backing toward Cheng Shi, simultaneously reaching for her jacket zipper — as if about to bare that flawless snow-white back once more in the blizzard.
This ti, Cheng Shi didn't stop her. Instead, he mirrored her, turning his own back, hand rising to his down jacket's zipper — initiating another round of "frank openness" with this [Corruption] follower.
Both stepped backward in small incrents. The mont their backs collided, Cheng Shi sneered:
"Strip then. Why'd you stop?"
Poison puffed her cheeks in a coyly indignant pout, then "obediently" yanked the zipper open and tossed the jacket aside. But this ti, what lay beneath wasn't bare skin — it was a snow-white assassin's combat suit.
Poison struck!
Before the jacket hit the ground, she shot into the blizzard like a bolt. Simultaneously, Cheng Shi dropped all pretense. With deadly seriousness, the hand at his neck flicked out three scalpels, hurling them at the wall directly ahead.
The scalpels sliced through the wind. They were about to embed in the wall when empty space before it suddenly rippled, scattering the surrounding snow. Three tallic clinks rang out as an invisible force deflected all three blades to the ground.
'Soone was there!'
'The Chaleon!'
Cheng Shi's eyes narrowed. He stepped back, away from Jia Lun and Jiang Chi.
If Poison hadn't turned her back to tip him off, he truly wouldn't have noticed that his other two "teammates" had closed to striking range.
So was Da Yi's departure the hunters seizing an opportunity — or had Poison created the opening for them?
'Was she trying to take out Gongyang Jiao here?'
'On what basis?'
'Certainly not a defenseless priest. So her trump card was Jiang Chi?'
'Most likely!'
Because the instant Cheng Shi retreated, the Pointer Knight moved.
At so point, he'd drawn an intricately inscribed Hour Hand Sword from his spatial storage. Held vertically before him, his bearing was incomparably sharper than when he'd wielded the sundial needle at the plaza.
The mont space warped before the wall, the Pointer Knight laughed aloud, thrust his sword tip forward, and channeled [Ti]'s power. The distorted space froze. Even the falling snowflakes slowed. Then he seized the opening, launched from the ground, and whirled his blade like an umbrella of steel — a wind-piercing drill boring into the warped space.
Jiang Chi was powerful. Honestly, Cheng Shi had never seen a Pointer Knight who could freeze the [Ti] of an entire spatial zone. Perhaps the ones he'd encountered before were simply too low-ranked — they'd managed at most to slow or freeze an opponent's movents. But Jiang Chi's technique was on an unreasonable level entirely.
The Chaleon had clearly been caught on timing. In the split second after being forced out of stealth but before he could reposition, the hurricane-wreathed Hour Hand Sword had already pierced his left shoulder.
Hiss—
Jiang Chi didn't go for the kill. This was still a warning strike.
The sword tip punched through and out the other side, trailing a line of blood that splattered across the wall behind — a splash of vivid crimson in the white world.
But the knight's elegance was short-lived. The instant blood hit wall, the Chaleon before him gritted his teeth, tanked the sword through his shoulder, and surged forward an inch. With a devastating swing, he smashed Jiang Chi clean away.
Jiang Chi was struck in the shoulder as well. His expression darkened as he staggered backward. Looking up, he saw his opponent wielding — a longbow. The hunter's standard weapon!
This hunter actually had formidable close-combat power. He'd used nothing but the bowstring to swat a point-blank warrior away!
'Insane!'
'Was the warrior too weak, or the hunter too strong?'
Cheng Shi was dumbfounded. And not just Cheng Shi — even the Chaleon himself seed montarily stunned, apparently not expecting his raw strength to contest a Pointer Knight's.
But he recovered quickly. He sprang to the wall's summit, nocked an arrow, drew, and began firing at range — but not at the staggering Jiang Chi. His target was Cheng Shi, who'd been cautiously spectating from the side!
???
Cheng Shi was shocked. Four words flashed through his mind: Kill the healer first!
'Damn!'
Seeing [Silence]'s power gathering at the arrowhead, Cheng Shi's face darkened. He turned and bolted, cursing as he ran:
"Are you sick in the head!? The knight stabbed your shoulder, not your brain! He hit you — go hit him back! Why are you aiming at !?"
But the Chaleon was unmoved by words. He loosed five arrows at Cheng Shi's retreating form. The first four each grazed him — shaving off slivers of flesh without striking anything vital. But the fifth found its mark just as Cheng Shi tried to vault a low wall, slamming into the center of his back and sending him crashing down.
Everyone heard a muffled grunt, then a heavy thud behind the wall. After that — silence.
Jiang Chi's expression shifted. His sword spun in a storm of flourishes, [Ti]'s power erupting wildly to drag at the Chaleon's footing. But the Chaleon disengaged instantly, refusing to linger. The mont his target went down, he sprinted along the high wall toward where Cheng Shi had fallen.
Jiang Chi tried to pursue, but after two steps realized he'd stumbled into a [Silence] trap. All five senses cut out at once. Unable to tell direction, he began running in place.
Seeing his trap immobilize the knight, the Chaleon didn't press the advantage. He simply drilled an arrow through Jiang Chi's foot to pin him, then broke away at speed.
In his view, finishing off the priest would make this hunt half-won.
Yet when he leapt down from the wall and vaulted over the low barrier, the landing zone held nothing but a pool of blood. Not a person in sight!
The priest had vanished!
No matter. Tracking was a hunter's specialty.
The Chaleon frowned, scooped up a pinch of blood-stained snow, and sniffed. Then, with a look of grave focus, he sprinted in a specific direction. As he ran, his silhouette once again blended into the blizzard and disappeared.
Seconds later, a figure streaked back from the periter in flashes of red and white.
Poison landed and imdiately coughed up blood, but she quickly wiped the stain from her lips. Then she froze in surprise:
"Where's the little priest?"
Jiang Chi tumbled free of the trap, casually sliced the arrow shaft from his foot with the Hour Hand Sword, and replied with a flat expression: "Captured."
"?" Poison's gaze hardened. She fixed the Pointer Knight with a cold stare: "I didn't partner with you so you could throw the match, Jiang Chi."
Jiang Chi snorted softly. He crouched to quickly tend his wound, then looked up with an amused expression:
"Our agreent doesn't include a 'protect the priest' clause, does it?
"Besides, I have to consider my partner's interests. Every extra person in this team lowers your chances of obtaining the Gift of Sores.
"One competitor is enough trouble. That Da Yi is no pushover."
Poison smiled. She curled her lips and studied Jiang Chi with interest:
"So you're going for the easy target?"
"More or less. I know there are no easy targets at this level. But a Fate Weaver is definitely softer than a Gap Light Iron Thorn."
Poison scoffed: "Oh? You've tested that theory?"
"..." Jiang Chi's mouth twitched. He said nothing.
Poison shook her head with a laugh. She retrieved a healing potion from storage and began applying it, murmuring in a voice too quiet for anyone to hear:
"Jiang Chi, Jiang Chi. I'm afraid you picked the wrong persimmon. The little priest...
"Is very hard.
"Exceptionally hard."
She laughed softly to herself, then stole a glance toward the direction Da Yi still hadn't returned from. A flicker of wariness crossed her eyes.
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