Chapter 114: Vigil, waiting for what? (2/2)

“Heisha[1], the entire mountain has been surrounded. Now isn’t the time for you to cause trouble,” the black-robed woman lowered her voice in reminder, sounding very displeased.

“I don’t care! I want the antidote!” Heisha spoke, ignoring all the ominous warnings to draw her sword.

Not expecting this, Han Yunxi hastily backed away. She never thought that Heisha would really make a move. From what she understood, Northern Li’s spies were a tightly organized group that were strictly disciplined. It wasn’t very possible for them to violate a superior’s orders. Why did this girl hate her so much?

The older woman immediately caught up and hit the girl’s sword with a clang, but the girl only brushed her aside as easy as turning over her hand. The woman tried again, but the girl easily deflected her sword and knocked it to the ground. The black-robed woman might have better poison skills, but the female kidnapper had far better martial arts. She took two to three steps and stopped before Han Yunxi, resting the blade against her throat.

“Antidote!” she snarled.

Han Yunxi didn’t want to give it up. This was her one chance and only counter, considering she had no idea why they’d kidnapped her.

“Are you handing it over or not?” Heisha said sternly. She pressed down harder until the blade pierced Han Yunxi’s skin.

It hurt!

Han Yunxi was originally open to persuasion and wanted to hesitate, but now her eyebrows furrowed as she retort, “I won’t!”

Heisha’s eyes narrowed into slits as she emanated a dangerous aura. Because her hand was holding the sword too tightly, the entire blade began to tremble. Han Yunxi narrowed her eyes as well to stare back. The two of them engaged in a battle of wills as the atmosphere turned tense.

“Heisha, think it over clearly. Are you going to the master with your head bowed, or will you die here?! You only have an hour’s worth of time!” the black-robed Qingyi[2] reminded her, her calm stirred into agitation.

Heisha’s hands turned numb as she wavered. But right at this moment, Han Yunxi unexpectedly moved forward so that the blade sank in even deeper, leaving a stream of blood in her wake. The irresolute Heisha immediately withdrew her sword, breaking out into a cold sweat from fear. “Han Yunxi, you’re insane!”

“If you have the guts, then kill me! Otherwise, beat it!” Han Yunxi said coldly.

“You!” Heisha was speechless. She admitted that she had completely lost even before her master could subdue Han Yunxi. “Han Yunxi, you got me!”

Sheathing her sword, Heisha bore her unresigned face as she turned to leave, disappearing from the cave opening. Han Yunxi took out some gauze to press against her neck. Though she managed to buy back a breath, it was a shame that her counter was useless now. She never expected their master to be so close.

If they could meet him within an hour, it meant that he was nearby. Since that was the case, why didn’t they meet up now? What was the point of kidnapping her? And how far were they from the Celestial Fragrance tea plantation anyways? Long Feiye should’ve found out that she’d been kidnapped, right? Would her save her? Or…

Fine, she knew herself that this was Long Feiye’s chance to get rid of his arranged marriage Qin Wangfei.

Seeing Han Yunxi calmly treating her wound, Qingyi’s eyes flashed with admiration. No wonder master would kidnap this Qin Wangfei without regard to the consequences. Compared to Heisha, this girl was far more outstanding.

Han Yunxi slowly finished taking care of her injury before looking towards the woman with a cold question. “Speak, what honorable business did you invite me here for?”

Hearing her words, Qingyi couldn’t help but laugh. “Han Yunxi, where did you learn your poisons from?”

“If you want to talk about this with me, why don’t we go back to the Celestial Fragrance Teashop? We can speak at our leisure there,” Han Yunxi said simply.

“You’re very intelligent,” Qingyi wasn’t sneering at her, but affirming her skills.

“Did you administer the Ten-Thousand Snake Poison?” Han Yunxi took the chance to ask.

Qingyi didn’t reply, but walked towards the exit of the cave. Han Yunxi immediately followed, still asking, “How many more people have you guys hidden in Tianning?”

But Qingyi was extremely tight-lipped and didn’t reply. Han Yunxi was going to say more when two black-robed figures walked in from the exit to block her.

“You’re waiting for someone? Your master?” Han Yunxi asked.

Qingyi not only refused to answer, but commanded, “Tie her up and toss her inside.”

Compared to Qingyi, Han Yunxi would’ve preferred that Heisha had stayed behind instead. This woman was completely airtight. She couldn’t get any information from her questioning, much less find a chance to escape. Quickly, her hands were tied behind her back by a rope looped around her neck. Then she was tossed deep inside the cave.

What was Qingyi waiting for?

-o-

[1] Heisha (黑煞) – possibly a code name. Hei means black, Sha meants to ‘stop, halt, tighten’ It’s also another form of Sha (杀), or to kill.

[2] Qingyi (青衣) – literally “black clothing,” a possible (literal) codename for the black-robed woman.