Volume 2, Chapter 95 – Fury (Two-in-One)

Leaving the safehouse, Bai Xiang slipped out of the building through the back door. Ignoring the stunned stares of the security staff, she lifted her head and glanced up at the high floors above.

She and Bai Zhuqing hadn’t actually done much. Other than that kiss, every word and exchange between them had happened while they were searching for and swapping out gear. All told, it had only been seven or eight minutes.

But it felt different. Even the world in her eyes—the flowers, the trees—no longer looked the same.

Flicking her sleeves, Bai Xiang crossed the street in a few strides.

The online news still hadn’t put out a wanted notice for her. That meant Xu Zhe was hesitating, wary of the consequences. He probably thought she had people from Xiang Xian stationed around her, and that they had to be stronger than Zhou Jing’an.

Of course he’d think that. Put anyone in Xu Zhe’s shoes and they’d be unwilling to believe a seventeen-year-old girl swordsman could casually take out two at the Core realm.

Which meant, for the moment, there was no power in the Chilong Circuit that could threaten Bai Xiang. She didn’t need to bother with ambushes or stealth. She could just walk straight into the food processing plant and get her people.

Of course, there was another possibility.

That the Prince of Nanling’s Manor valued this particular prey far too highly. That they’d send a dedicated team to the Chilong Circuit to cooperate with Xu Zhe in her capture, laying out traps on purpose and waiting for her to step into them.

But it didn’t matter.

There were always things they couldn’t predict.

Upstairs, in the safehouse, Bai Zhuqing was also pulling on the tight combat suit, hiding behind the curtain to secretly watch Bai Xiang’s retreating silhouette.

The girl’s gaze was soft as water. She let herself daydream about the scene of welcoming Bai Xiang back after all this was over. Her throat tickled without warning, and she coughed a few times, covering her lips with her hand.

Hm?

Startled, she slowly lifted her palm to take a look.

The center of her palm was smeared red.

She froze for a second, then felt even more rising up from her throat…

By now, Bai Xiang had already reached the factory gates.

Two men in security uniforms were standing at the entrance. One had a cigarette dangling from his lips, leaning lazily against the gate arm; the other was dealing with two black-clad inspectors, and from his expression and body language, he clearly knew them.

“Boss Shao! Come on, forgive me this once! I really haven’t seen any of those rioters!”

Old Jia had worked at Nanfeng Food Processing Plant for nearly twenty years. He treasured this job and did his best to cope with the harassment from these running dogs.

“Haven’t seen them? Then why won’t you let us inside to search?”

The one questioning him was a tall, dark-skinned Chief Inspector in a peaked cap. His eye sockets were deeper than most people’s, and he had a cigar clamped in his mouth. Hands stuffed in his coat pockets, his whole manner was lazy and cocky—more street thug than inspector.

“This—!” Old Jia glanced toward the row of punks squatting by the wall, but couldn’t think of how to answer for a moment.

He wanted to say… there was no way he could let these hoodlums march into the plant to “look for someone.” Even if they swore up and down they were “acting under Chief Inspector Shao’s orders,” everyone knew how well they lied. It wasn’t his call to make.

But Old Jia also knew that wasn’t the answer Shao Ran wanted.

“This one’s on me,” he said after thinking it over, bowing his back to the tall inspector before him, the habitual humble smile spreading over his face. “I really didn’t know… They go too far most days… If I’d known Boss Shao was behind it, there’s no way I’d have kept them outside…”

“Mm…” Seeing Old Jia yield, Shao Ran’s expression eased a good deal.

To be honest, he’d been baffled when the search order suddenly landed on his desk. But that didn’t stop him from subcontracting that order down level by level, then picking the fruit at the end.

Like these guys, the ones ordinary citizens avoided like poisonous snakes—these were his prized mastiffs.

They didn’t ask for much. Shao Ran didn’t have to pay them anything. He just had to close one eye when they were up to no good, and that alone was enough to have them treating him like a benefactor.

“Open the gate already!” The lead punk—the one with bright red dyed hair and metal rings in his nose, ears, and lips—shot to his feet, swaggering as he barked orders at Old Jia.

“Boss Shao’s here today, so I won’t hold this against you!”

“Otherwise I’d break your legs! You hear me?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Old Jia still wore that same humble smile as he hurried into the security booth, took out the key, and shoved it into the switch.

Vmmm—

The gate arm slowly lifted.

Ha!

The punks whooped in delight. They all knew that today they got to wear the tiger’s skin again and go on another plundering run.

Nanfeng Plant! One of the two biggest food plants in the northern district. Rumor had it the boss had some real pull.

So what?

In front of Shao Ran , in front of the might of the Inspectorate, that so-called “pull” was nothing more than a wall of thatch—a couple of shoves and it would collapse.

The punks rubbed their hands together, fantasizing about how much oil they could squeeze out of a plant this big. Only Red Hair looked down on them, occasionally flicking his eyes toward Shao Ran.

Officer Shao was still the picture of leisure.

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Idiots. They haven’t got a clue. The biggest prize this time wasn’t the chance to extort Nanfeng, it was that this strange assignment let Red Hair really get in with Shao Ran.

He let himself daydream: maybe he could use this to get into the Inspectorate someday.

Even if he only ended up like that old man at the gate, minding the door, it would still be like ascending to heaven!

…Coming back from his fantasies, Red Hair realized the mood around him had gone off.

The gate arm was fully raised now, but no one was rushing in.

Everyone—including Shao Ran—was staring blankly across the street. Quite a few even had drool hanging from their mouths, too dazed to wipe it away.

What the hell?

What were they looking at?

Red Hair turned around and finally saw the figure walking toward them.

Pale blue interwoven with emerald.

Gold thread alongside white cloud patterns.

A slender body wrapped snugly in inner lining and sash, the swaying skirt no less alluring for its modesty, the glimpses of black beneath lending an extra note of mystery.

Pure white hair pulled up in back, swaying lightly, the rest parted to either side, revealing a flawlessly cold, striking face and the blood-red vertical mark at the center of her brow.

The woman drawing closer wore a tranquil expression. Her left hand rested on the long sword at her hip, her right hand reaching across to the hilt.

She walked toward them.

Every move she made spelled out “peerless grace.”

Red Hair had never been to school; his vocabulary was far too poor to sum up the beauty of this stranger. All he could think was—every most beautiful word in this world could be used on her. He even felt like he’d give up anything, just to probe that mystery…

Swish!

A cold flash of light.

What happened?

Red Hair turned his head and saw a splash of blood on the wall.

The setting sun cast their shadows onto the painted surface. He watched, eyes wide, as those shadows’ heads toppled from their shoulders—and then his own world spun wildly…

“Y-you’re Bai Xiang!?”

Watching this terrifying girl chop down the punks without a word, Shao Ran’s hair stood on end. One hand clamped over his neck, he shouted, “Y-you dare interfere with an Inspectorate operation!”

Bai Xiang didn’t answer him. She swung her sword again, as if flinging out something invisible… The young security guard who’d tried to bolt was sliced neatly in half from crown to crotch, a vast spray of blood splattering the ground.

“You…!?”

The sense of danger pressing down on Shao Ran grew heavier by the second. Before he could even reach for the stun baton on his belt, a cold star of light slammed straight into his chest, the sword driving flat through his spine, its tip bursting from his back.

“You’re the Inspectorate’s man in charge of the northern district?”

Bai Xiang angled her sword a little, forcing Shao Ran’s feet off the ground so his body slid down the blade toward her.

“I am… What are you trying to do…” he gasped through gritted teeth.

He didn’t dare keep silent. He was scared out of his wits that Bai Xiang would simply cut him apart without a word.

“Good,” Bai Xiang said, nodding.

“Wait—”

Squelch!

A tidal wave of dread crashed through Shao Ran. He opened his mouth, wanting to beg for mercy. But the sword edge had already flipped to vertical. Bai Xiang didn’t even put any force behind it; the blade’s own sharpness was enough to slice his chest, neck, and skull open in one clean stroke. He toppled like one of those Demon Pool monsters—the “Skull-Splitters.”

And that still wasn’t the end.

Shao Ran’s dazed consciousness hovered in midair. Looking down at his own corpse, he suddenly felt those golden eyes lock onto him again. A hand stretched out toward him.

He was only at Nurture the Spirit, ninth segment. His soul was weak and flimsy, no match for Bai Xiang’s grasp. She pinched his remaining soul in her fingers and refined it directly into sustenance.

Interrogation was too much hassle.

I’ll just dig through your memories myself.

Closing her eyes, Bai Xiang swiftly sank into the memories in that scrap of soul.

She was getting more and more practiced at this technique. Leaving aside the question of whether it was “filling,” it was definitely an excellent way to sense information and uncover intel.

Scene after scene flashed before her eyes. She saw Shao Ran making calls, receiving orders to search the northern district. She also saw him drinking with a gold-chain-wearing man, listening to the man mention “snagging a dumb kid yesterday.”

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Jinhua Dance Hall, huh.

Opening her eyes, Bai Xiang looked up at the Jinhua Building towering in the distance.

“Chief Inspector Zhang,” she murmured, the corner of her mouth lifting.

“Compared to your lenience, it seems my methods are more effective.”

She definitely had to head over there at some point. Just not yet. She had to get Yu He and the others out first.

Ignoring Old Jia, who was trembling in the security booth, Bai Xiang turned to walk into the factory.

Boom…

The ground suddenly shook. Right where she’d been about to step—less than a meter away—the concrete split and erupted like a powerful bomb buried beneath the surface had gone off. Smoke and dust exploded outward.

Shadowy black figures seized the chance to claw their way up from underground. Looking closely, each stood nearly three meters tall, shaped much like the lizardman warriors who’d tried to assassinate Chen Jing at No. 1 High, with bulging muscles wrapped around stubby, deformed reptilian heads. Their reddened eyes roved around, as if searching for Bai Xiang’s corpse.

“So you were hiding in the sewers.”

Her voice drifted down from above. The creatures looked up to see her floating alone in midair—not just unharmed, but with not so much as a single torn strip of skirt.

“Do biochemical soldiers have souls too?”

Bai Xiang held the same posture as before, expression unchanged, her golden eyes alone looking down on them.

Boom!

Suddenly—thunder cracked above. Bai Xiang vanished from where she’d hovered and dove straight into the monsters’ midst, swinging her sword in a wide, brutal arc.

This time, she deliberately used a rougher qi-condensing technique, purposefully reducing the edge’s cutting power to enhance destructive force. Wrapped in qi-sha, Feixiang Heaven shredded the closest lizardman’s head into blood mist before impact, then carried that terrible momentum straight down into the concrete.

Shenming Sword: Ground-Smashing Flower.

Crack!

The ground split open in a diamond-shaped cut. Less than half a second later, an even greater tremor rippled out with surging sword-Qi, spreading in all directions. From the center it bloomed like a flower, and everything within its range—whether falling lizardman soldiers or scattered rubble—everything, all of it , was ground to powder in that savage shredding storm.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Standing in the crater she’d just created, Bai Xiang heard applause.

She straightened and saw an old Daoist in an orange-yellow robe hovering overhead. A bagua disk hung on his chest; a dust-whisk sat at his shoulder; an ancient sword with a silver crossguard was strapped to his back.

“Good! Good!”

The old Daoist squinted at Bai Xiang, his gaze lingering on the prominent line of her collarbone outlined by the tight inner layer. Lust flickered openly in his eyes.

“Seventeen years old, half a step into the Core realm!”

“Xu Zhe, that bastard… That’s not how he described you to me.”

The more he looked, the more he liked what he saw. This white-haired girl felt like heaven and earth had personally carved her, her looks, bearing, presence, and spirit all rare in this world. He couldn’t help flicking his whisk and calling down to her, “Would you be willing to serve under the Prince?”

Bai Xiang stared straight into his eyes. “You’re Yao Qingyuan’s man.”

“Indeed!” The old Daoist nodded, stroking his beard, pride on his face.

“I serve as the Prince’s steward. You may address me as ‘Uncle Chen.’”

“You may not know this, young miss, but the Prince cares about you deeply …”

Bai Xiang frowned and swept her gaze around. She could faintly feel more and more unfriendly qi presences converging on this spot.

“Looks like you’ve noticed,” Uncle Chen chuckled, showing off. “Those four were bait from the start.”

Bai Xiang said nothing. He went on, “You killed Zhou Jing’an. Impressive! In the Chilong Circuit as it is, you really could have lived free and easy. But unfortunately for you, you have attachments… Whether it’s Bai Shengju, or that pack of fellow students, or even these strangers—Yu He and the others—you can’t bring yourself to let them go. How could you possibly escape a setup like that?”

“Sooner or later, you were always going to face this calamity!”

“But to be honest, having you bite so fast was a pleasant surprise.” Uncle Chen leaned back. “I even discussed it with Lord Xu. He thought you wouldn’t come here—that we’d have to blow the ‘Shenli’ hidden in the Marrow-Washing Pills and force you to the school to save the kids…”

Slash!

He jerked backward, dodging an invisible blade of sword-Qi.

Seeing the smooth cut slicing through the concrete wall of the building above, Uncle Chen cursed, “What a hot temper!”

“Enough stalling! Call out the helpers who took down Zhou Jing’an with you already!”

Hovering in midair, he was putting on the full high-expert act.

But as more and more biochemical soldiers crawled out of fissures in the torn-up ground, and sirens began to wail in the distance, Bai Xiang still stood rooted where she was, unmoving.

What was this supposed to mean?

Uncle Chen froze.

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According to the plan, this was the perfect way to drag out the mysterious master Xiang Xian had supposedly assigned to guard her. That way, they wouldn’t have to worry about some hidden expert suddenly swooping in mid-battle to snatch her away… So why hadn’t anyone shown up yet?

Where was this person?

Weren’t they supposed to be protecting her?

Weren’t they afraid he’d suddenly strike and kill her?

Scanning the surroundings, Uncle Chen searched for any trace of that “expert.” After a full circle, he found nothing.

What he did find was a rising chorus of sobs and wails from below… a noise that set his teeth on edge.

He looked down and his eyes went wide. From the wreckage and shattered walls, a swarm of mangled human phantoms was streaming forth—men and women, young and old. Drawn by some mysterious force, they flew toward Bai Xiang and merged into her sword.

What kind of evil art was this?

Were those souls? Did souls really exist?

Whoosh—

Uncle Chen’s scalp prickled, his hair standing on end. He flung his whisk forward and yanked the sword from his back, slashing down with it.

Clang—!

Boom!

Thunder cracked in midair. Uncle Chen was blasted violently from his spot, his body smashing through the front of Nanfeng’s main office building.

Damn you!

Less than a second later, he shot back out of the hole, hair dusty but otherwise unharmed.

“Show yourself!”

Purple Qi surged around him. Uncle Chen tore the bagua disk from his chest and raised it like a shield.

“Bitch!”

“Show—”

“Did I hide?”

Behind him?

How—

Boom!!!

Another thunderous impact, then drifting dust. When it finally settled, Uncle Chen lay face-down, Bai Xiang’s hand clamped on the back of his skull, driving his head into the ground.

Sword-Qi scattered like before, shredding the approaching biochemical monsters to pieces. Bai Xiang sensed the qi-presence around her carefully and confirmed there were no more reinforcements nearby.

Is this really all they’ve got?

Or had most of their forces been sent to carry out Xu Zhe’s plan, gathered around Mao Xu and Le Ying’s middle school?

This man was Core realm too, but only a shade stronger than Zhou Jing’an and his accomplice combined. Bai Xiang had no interest in wasting words on him. She lifted his head—slammed it down—

Boom!!!

Lift—slam—

Boom!!!

Lift—slam—

Boom!!!

She repeated the motion nine times in a row, pounding Uncle Chen’s face into a bloody, mangled mess, until even his breathing whistled through gaps. Only then did she clamp down with her fingers and crush his skull outright.

Empowered by her spirit, she saw a scrap of soul drift up from the corpse.

Naturally she wasn’t about to let it go. She seized it, swallowing it down for nourishment while extracting its memories, intent on prying out every detail she could about the enemy.

Scenes whirled across her vision. She saw Xu Zhe, and she saw Zhang Daoming and Huang Qian… The two of them had resisted his control and been knocked out for their trouble, now temporarily imprisoned in the southern military camp.

They’re not dead?

Because of the Huang clan’s status in Dingbei Circuit?

Even after committing treason, Xu Zhe still wanted a backup plan. This “Lord Xu” didn’t seem entirely on the same side as the Prince…

Bai Xiang dug deeper. She saw a young Daoist, a female Daoist, and a short child Daoist.

All three wore the same orange-yellow robes as “Uncle Chen,” backed with swords and holding dust-whisks. One look and it was obvious they came from the same sect.

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All Core realm?

Four at the Core realm if she counted Uncle Chen—six, if Zhou Jing’an and his helper had survived.

Enough power to wipe out a small country. Yao Qingyuan really did take her seriously.

As she leafed through the memories, Bai Xiang thought about how to rescue everyone next.

She’d dug up crucial intel. On one side, she now knew Lian Feng was imprisoned in the Jinhua Building; on the other, the Marrow-Washing Pills had finally bared their fangs through Uncle Chen’s memories—packed inside them was the Demon Pool “Shenli”!

That damned thing! So it really came from the Prince’s Manor!

Which meant they had dealings with the Demon-Immortal Dao too.

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes.

The Prince’s Manor.

The Dao Army.

The Demon-Immortal Dao.

Zhengwo Dao.

Her enemies’ forces were piled so high it made her worry. Could her master really hold out in Qiyun Circuit…?

It was aggravating. Far too many shackles.

Here she had her little sister, Lian Feng, Yu He and the others.

Over there were Bai Maoxu, Bai Leying, and the Shenming Dojo full of people.

She was worried about Xiang Xian too… All these feelings tangled together, and Bai Xiang’s breathing grew rough. She felt as if some kind of barrier loomed over her head, like she was a cicada trapped in an Egg Case, unable to break free.

Her movements suddenly stilled.

A broken fragment of memory was playing in her mind.

Night. The silhouette of a building—the Shenming Dojo.

Her point of view hovered over it, staring down from the air, a voice speaking: “You sure you got it in her?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Another voice piped up beside him.

“This place doesn’t even have a single Condensing the Aspect. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Don’t you dare hit the wrong target.”

Uncle Chen’s voice said, “The target is the elder daughter in that big house. They’re all ** years old…”

“No mistake!” the other man laughed. “She’s the only one with demon blood that strong. How could I mistake her for anyone else?”

“Good.” Uncle Chen answered, then muttered, “They say this ‘treasure’ was extracted from Bai Nianchan’s remains, but it hasn’t worked out on anyone else. If their emotions fluctuate too violently, they keel over and die.”

“What do you think will happen to this kid?”

“Really looking forward to seeing how it plays out…”

Boom!!!!!!

In Great Yu’s northern district, everyone—whether standing on the street or peering out from inside buildings—heard the same thunderous crash.

Looking up, they saw clouds boiling over the entire north district, purple-blue lightning churning within them, threads of golden electricity flickering like snakes through the storm.

Crack! A massive bolt slammed down into the Jinhua Building, a lightning sword cleaving off a corner of the high-rise at an angle. Chunks of stone and steel plummeted toward the ground.

Screams erupted from below as people finally snapped out of it and ran for their lives.

“What a sin…”

Behind the broken gate of Nanfeng Plant, Old Jia crawled out, trembling, and lifted his head to stare at the thunderclouds, shaking his head with a sigh.

“Ah…”

“What a sin…”

Drip, drip.

Under the darkened sky, rain began to fall.

It came down harder and harder, like a curtain drawn across the circuit city, shutting out the last trace of sunlight.