Chapter 1083: Do you dare to enter? (2/2)

Jun Yixie laughed coldly and said, “Long Feiye, I have so many hostages in my hands. Which one do you want to see?”

“All of them!” Long Feiye replied frostily.

Jun Yixie gave a snort of contempt. “On what grounds do you have to talk terms with me, Long Feiye?”

Long Feiye replied, “This crown prince can still kill you without entering Tiger’s Prison.”

Before Jun Yixie could react, Long Feiye had already drawn his sword. His movements were so fast that Jun Yixie couldn’t even see them. The time it took for the sword to rise and fall gave way to a massive sword awn that snapped all of the arrows in the archer’s hands. However, the bows remained intact! The archers stared blankly at the fallen arrowheads while Jun Yixie’s heart gave a lurch. Han Yunxi’s martial arts skills were already beyond his expectations, but he never thought that Long Feiye’s skills had grown so consummate!

Back in the past, he and Long Feiye were on par with each other! They hadn’t fought in two or three years, but Long Feiye had already reached a level he couldn’t even dream of. Actually, even their status had long grown part. Long Feiye was the crown prince of the East Qin Dynasty, while he was a former subordinate of its royal clan. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi were no longer their old selves, but he himself had even regressed from his former status. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been doing for the past few years.

His original jealousy now wrecked havoc in his heart and swallowed up all reason. If he couldn’t surpass these two, he’d destroy them instead!

Loudly he shouted, “Someone come, bring Ning Cheng here!”

At this words, Long Feiye and Han Yunxi instantly exchanged looks while Gu Beiyue and Gu Qishao glanced towards them. Back at Celestial Mountain, they’d been threatened with hostages as well, but still snatched them out of the enemy’s hands. If Jun Yixie let them see all his hostages, they didn’t mind grabbing them outright. After all, none of them wanted to waste words with the man.

Very soon, the guards brought out Ning Cheng, but the sight of him stunned Han Yunxi and the rest. He was all tied up and a pack of gunpowder was strapped to his back.

“Ning Cheng!” Han Yunxi cried out.

Ning Cheng slowly raised his head. Sometime ago, he had removed the phoenix wing mask covering his right eye. Although his wan, sallow complexion was covered with stubble, he was still as handsome as ever. His features were raised and regular, his contours deep and curved. The beginnings of a beard on his chin made him gave him an added mature, masculine air instead of making him seem downtrodden.

His robes had been reduced to tatters from obvious whip scars. Heaven knows what Jun Yixie had done to him! Unless they looked closely, no one could tell that his right eye had no luster. But Han Yunxi and the rest well knew Ning Cheng was blind in that eye and could only see half of what he used to. His eyesight rested at once on Han Yunxi.

Then he actually broke into a small smile. Han Yunxi never knew that Ning Cheng could look so attractive and brilliant when he grinned. She suddenly recalled Ning Jing’s tear-streaked words back at Medical City[2] and suddenly didn’t dare to meet Ning Cheng’s eye. Even if the whole thing was an accident, even if she never meant to hurt him, she still lacked the courage to meet his gaze.

Damned Bai Yanqing, damned Jun Yixie, damned Black and Wind Clans! Damned enmity between East and West Qin! If there wasn’t so many misunderstandings, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Ning Cheng’s mouth was gagged, leaving him unable to speak. He could only move his head, but his smile quickly faded into a respectful nod at Han Yunxi in place of a bow. He slowly shook his head at the group, warning them not to come in. He wanted to let them know that Ning Jing and the rest weren’t here at all, but that he was his only hostage. Jun Yixie had not only strapped explosives to his back, but hid more in Tiger’s Prison. As soon as they stepped in, Jun Yixie would kill them all with him!

Meanwhile, Jun Yixie held Ning Cheng by a rope around his waist while fingering a match in his free hand, his threat obvious. Naturally, Han Yunxi’s group had seen Ning Cheng shaking his head and understood it was a warning to keep out from the traps. But how could they retreat just because of that?

Gu Beiyue silently walked to Long Feiye’s side to communicate with him in hushed tones. They were debating whether they’d have enough time to snatch the hostage out of Jun Yixie’s hands? Of course, this was pure conjecture. That was because they’d yet to see any of the other hostages yet.

“Where’s the rest of them?” Long Feiye demanded.

Jun Yixie laughed coldly. “Long Feiye, I never expected to see you afraid! What, afraid to come in?”

“If you only have one hostage, then we can only send one person in,” Gu Beiyue spoke up.

But Jun Yixie only retorted with, “Han Yunxi comes in first!”

Although he despised Long Feiye the most, he naturally wanted Han Yunxi to accompany him in death. He would make Long Feiye taste the flavor of loss and helplessness!

1. Please note that JYX at this point does not know that the baby is Ning Jing and Tang Li’s; the author later acknowledged in a later chapter that she forgot this fact, so simply treat JYX’s lines here as generalized mocking.

2. This would be when Ning Jing detailed all the sacrifices the Di Clan and especially Ning Cheng had done for West Qin over successive generations.