221 Untitled (2/2)
Shadow Blade pulled Meng Fuyao and ran. The flaming arrow behind them was fast, but it was not as fast as the two of them. From afar, the arrow looked like a little meteor following the two nimble black-robed humans. Eventually, it lost by a considerable distance.
Meng Fuyao released the breath she had been holding only to hear a terrible whistling sound. The sound was urgent and fearsome, and in that instance, a shower of flaming arrows was headed straight towards them from behind, piercing the air and aiming directly at Meng Fuyao's back!
The arrow was so fast it seemed impossible to describe its speed. What incomparable arm strength!
In that instance, Meng Fuyao actually thought of Zhan Beiye. From the time she entered the Five Regions Continent to this day, of all the archers that she had met, only Zhan Beiye had reached this stage. It was unthinkable that the nation of Xuanyuan would also have such a master!
The flaming arrow whistled through the air as the flames danced a fiery red. Three arrows were shot in rapid succession, one after the other, to the point where the trajectory of the arrows was no longer clear, and one could only see a brilliant wall of fire in front of them. In the blink of an eye, the last arrow had already caught onto the back of Meng Fuyao's robe!
Meng Fuyao laughed coldly as Destiny Rebellion flashed by her side, ready to counter. However, Shadow Blade, who was beside her, suddenly shouted softly, ”You can't receive it!”
Before he finished speaking, he had already lunged forward and pushed Meng Fuyao away, replacing her body with his own. Meng Fuyao stumbled forward and immediately heard a low sizzling sound followed by the stench of burning flesh.
As she turned around, she saw the flaming arrow pierce Shadow Blade's back, and in an instant, his entire back burst into flames as the fiery flickers of fire danced upon his back. Even his hair had also been burnt as it disintegrated into ashes. Meng Fuyao leaped forward to extinguish the fire, but Shadow Blade stopped her and snapped, ”Move away!”
His tone was full of pain and panic, but the panic did not seem to be because of his own injuries, but rather that he was afraid of Meng Fuyao coming into contact with the arrow.
Meng Fuyao was momentarily stunned by his tone and did not move, but in that instance, the fire seemed to burn even more ferociously, and the smell of burning flesh penetrated deep into her soul. She couldn't help but remember Hua Zi who had been burned alive before her eyes in the Forest of Death. Upon remembering that burns were the most painful and difficult-to-treat kind of injury, tears almost sprung from her eyes.
Shadow Blade remained expressionless and calmly reached behind him and pulled out the arrow. His actions were extremely slow and careful, and Meng Fuyao soon became anxious as she berated, ”Can't you pull it out faster! Burn wounds can kill, you know!”
However, Shadow Blade ignored her completely as he held onto the burning arrow with his bare hands. In an instant, his palms had been scalded bright red, and his eyebrows twitched slightly. Nonetheless, he remained unflinching as he continued to pull the arrow gently as if it were a treasured item, as though his hands had not been scalded by it, resisting the immense pain as he slowly, gently, placed the arrow on the ground.
His actions when he placed the arrow down were extremely careful as though it were a fragile treasure and ignoring the excruciating flames on himself. Nonetheless, after putting down the arrow, he immediately got up and patted the flames on his hand away before swiftly rolling away the flames on his back. By this time, Meng Fuyao had already rushed forward and was frantically patting the flames away. However, Shadow Blade grabbed onto her and muttered, ”Hurry up and leave!”
He placed the still flaming arrow on the highest point of the ground and pressed it down with a rock. Then, taking a rope out of his robes, he tied it to the stone and grabbed Meng Fuyao's hand and ran. Behind them, the guards had almost chased up to them, and when they reached the point, Shadow Blade viciously pulled at the rope!
The stone toppled and hit against the arrow beneath. The arrow rebounded, and the sky was illuminated with a blinding light.
Bang!
A huge explosion followed and even the ground beneath the two who had already dashed several miles away trembled. Countless glass debris rained everywhere—and this was already the effect far away from the imperial palace. One could only imagine the huge damage in the epicenter of the explosion.
Meng Fuyao widened her eyes in shock. 'That arrow, what a terrifying arrow! No wonder Shadow Blade did everything he could to block the arrow. No wonder he would rather endure the excruciating pain of being burnt by the fire and carefully take out the arrow.' If she were the one that had received the arrow and attempted to slice it, she, Shadow Blade, and even Lord Yuan Bao would have turned into ashes instantly.
If she were the one who had been pierced by this arrow instead, would she have been able to endure the pain from the fire burning through her heart? Given the level of tolerance and patience required to slowly release the arrow, could she have ensured the safety of the people around her?
”What arrow is this? It's that powerful?” Meng Fuyao couldn't help but ask. Suddenly, she felt something sticky in her palm and looked down to see that Shadow Blade's burns had begun to blister and burst, and pus was flowing out, sticking against her hand. Nonetheless, seeing that he was in such pain, she decided not to let go of his hand.
”That was the Spirit Shocking Arrow, a single arrow can shock the nerves and cause blindness for days and months,” Shadow Blade replied softly. ”Xuanyuan Cheng was once a disciple of Moon Soul, as well as the true number one archer in all of Xuanyuan.”
Meng Fuyao remained silent, thinking that she had been too arrogant and naïve. Blinded by her own ability, she had actually dared to barge into the imperial palace without even knowing this. After a long time, she finally murmured, ”Are you alright…”
Before she could finish speaking, Shadow Blade took a deep breath and suddenly collapsed. In his semi-conscious state, he held onto Meng Fuyao's hand tightly. Caught by surprise, Meng Fuyao let out an astonished ”Ah!” and proceeded to fall along with him…
Meng Fuyao had just landed, but she had already caught Shadow Blade in midair, and after landing lightly, she looked around. It seemed to be a cold palace, and nobody was around. Although it looked like it was cleaned regularly, it was roughly used. The courtyard and rooms were filled with several old chamber pots, brooms, and other miscellaneous items, and they looked like they had not been used for a long time. It was a rather quiet place.
The imperial palace had always been the best at wasting resources, and one could find an empty room by simply looking around. Meng Fuyao looked at the badly burnt beautiful assassin in her arms and heard the onslaught of hurried footsteps outside. Since it was probably impossible to carry Shadow Blade and escape out of the palace, they might as well stay in the room and rest. They would figure out what to do after he woke up.