Chapter 952: Long Feiye’s trap (1/2)

Following behind Xu Donglin was none other than the youngest daughter of the Baili Clan, Baili Qiyu’s little sister Baili Mingxiang! At first, she had been the daughter of a rich and powerful family in the capital city. Countless suitors had graced her doorsteps for a hope to wed her, but she never took a fancy to any of them. Later on, she had willingly entered the Duke of Qin’s estate to wait on Han Yunxi as her servant girl. After than, rumors grew of a love affair between her and Long Feiye in the Baili Army, of which multiple accounts now existed.

Some said that Baili Mingxiang harbored wicked intentions from the start, and had become a servant girl at the Duke of Qin’s estate for the sole purpose of drawing closer to Long Feiye; she later succeeded into a high position after Han Yunxi and Long Feiye had their falling out. Othersclaimed Long Feiye had feelings for Baili Mingxiang to begin with and that he was the one who arranged for her to enter the Duke of Qin’s estate in the first place; Long Feiye had been only using Han Yunxi this entire time. In any case, the rumors were so diverse and confusing that Baili Mingxiang’s name had long grown memorable and well-known across the continent.

While she had been sitting by her brother’s side, it wasn’t strange to see her cheering for Long Feiye’s sake. But now that she had stood out with Xu Donglin to provoke Bai Yanqing, one couldn’t help but wonder. Was she going to get involved in this conflict? On what grounds did she have the right? While everyone was surprised, Bai Yanqing didn’t find it shocking. As soon as he saw Baili Mingxiang, his calm gaze turned into ice.

Naturally, Shi Jiuxia recognized Xu Donglin and Baili Mingxiang as well and curled his lips in contempt. “Hehe, and here I was wondering who you were! So it’s nothing more than Long Feiye’s dogs! Head Commander Xu, tell your master that my old sect leader personally set up this stage to wait for him! Don’t have him hide behind Han Yunxi! What does it count for, cowering behind a woman?”

Before Xu Donglin could retort, Baili Mingxiang beat him to it. She fumed, “Our Highness doesn’t fear Bai Yanqing’s poisons! It’s clearly Bai Yanqing who doesn’t have the guts to go up the mountain! Someone’s already uncovered his lair, but he’s still standing around fooling himself!”

It was rare to get a chance to fight on His Highness’s behalf, so the usually gentle Baili Mingxiang seemed to have transformed into a different person altogether, someone fierce and truculent.

“Hehe, if Long Feiye wasn’t afraid of poisons, why did he team up with Han Yunxi? Does he have any shame to fight two against one?” Shi Jiuxia challenged back.

Baili Mingxiang was stifled. Bai Yanqing couldn’t fight one on one against the princess in poisons or against His Highness in martial arts. There was no way to set an absolutely level playing field in these circumstances. While she struggled to retort, the entire scene grew silent. As things began to grow awkward, she risked it all to shout, “Shi Jiuxia, are you blind? Can’t you tell how many people here are aiming for your Hundred Poisons Sect? Scum of the earth like you lot are getting it easy with a two versus one match!”

Everyone was taken aback. How could such a magnanimous, gentle woman curse someone so thoroughly? Even Xu Donglin had a fright from her words. Baili Mingxiang’s face was completely red as her heart pounded in her chest. She too, had scared herself. But she only clenched her fists and told herself to stay calm. No matter what, she had to defend His Highness and the princess’s honor. No matter what, she couldn’t let them lose face!

If this was before, someone would have stepped out to discredit her by now. But with Long Feiye and Han Yunxi already on the scene, who would dare to stand on Hundred Poisons Sect’s side? They weren’t an orthodox sect; furthermore, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi’s current strength were too much for anyone to challenge.

Shi Jiuxia’s face turned green with fury, but he couldn’t retort either. In a low voice, he muttered, “Old sect head, this subordinate will eliminate these two curs first!”

“Alright,” Bai Yanqing didn’t waste words. His eyes hadn’t shifted an instant from Baili Mingxiang’s form.

Shi Jiuxia immediately threw a poison dart towards Baili Mingxiang. Although none of the disciples had attacked Long Feiye and Han Yunxi on the mountain, that was to lure the couple down. There were no such limitations here. He refused to believe that Han Yunxi and Long Feiye wouldn’t show up after he killed these two!

However, Xu Donglin had kicked the dart aside before it ever touched Baili Mingxiang. As the Hundred Poisons Sect disciples specialized in poisons, not martial arts, they were weak at long-distance poison attacks. They could only use their poisons without reservations in close range. Xu Donglin had long understood this point, or else he wouldn’t bring Baili Mingxiang out here in the first place.

As his poison dart went flying wide, Shi Jiuxia shot out a second. This time, Baili Mingxiang moved even quicker than Xu Donglin by pulling out the flexible sword hidden by her waist and knocking the dart backwards! Although it wasn’t a strong blow, it was enough to send the weapon back onstage!

Everyone was shocked: Baili Mingxiang knew martial arts?!

Only Bai Yanqing remained unruffled. Instead, his considering gaze grew even more thoughtful. There were all sorts of rumors about Baili Mingxiang circulating in the continent, but few knew this woman could use martial arts. Nor did they realize she had been secretly sent up to Celestial Mountain on the pretext of treating Long Feiye’s wounds when she was actually dual cultivating with him! Bai Yanqing had been keeping watch on Baili Mingxiang this whole time. Although he wasn’t privy to all her details, he had a rough idea of her movements. Before, he’d been listening to nothing but reports from his subordinates, but now he’d witnessed her martial arts with his own eyes.

After being rebuffed twice in a row, Shi Jiuxia couldn’t take it anymore. He immediately took to the skies and flew towards Xu Donglin and Baili Mingxiang. At the same time, at least ten more disciples of Hundred Poisons Sect came to surround the pair. A moment ago, he’d been mocking the opposition for fighting two against one, but now he was pitting a majority against a minority. This was simply slapping his own face! Still, for people like him it was better to play even dirties instead of dying from rage!

How did one play dirty? In this case, it was through martial arts!