Legend of Fu Yao

“Don’t go there!”

With a “ping”, the stone door was pushed open, and a slender black silhouette came flying out, first kicking away the stepping stool hidden under cross dresser Xuanyuan Min’s feet. Xuanyuan Min gave an astonished shout as he dangled for real this time, and Meng Fuyao had already flown outside and banged into Shadow Blade—”It’s a trap!”

The force in which she had rushed forward was like a cannon, and Shadow Blade had his attention focused on Xuanyuan Min and was unguarded against her. As such, she had managed to launch herself into his chest, and he reached out instinctively to grab her shoulder but did not let go. In the flurry of events, he raised his head and glanced at the dangling Xuanyuan Min once again.

The two of them made eye contact, flashing in the dimness of the candlelight.

Still holding Meng Fuyao, Shadow Blade turned around and asked in a low voice, “Why can’t I go over?”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, as though he had suffered a voice-related injury before, but it was not unpleasant to hear. On the other hand, the raspy quality of his voice had a sort of magnetic effect, and each word uttered seemed to swirl around. There was a kind of touching quality to it, and Meng Fuyao listened to it drunkenly, thinking that every aspect of Shadow Blade was good, even the “defect” in his voice turned out to be a blessing in disguise bestowed by the heavens.

“That guy is a trap,” Meng Fuyao said as she pointed at Xuanyuan Min. “Everything on him is fake.”

Shadow Blade’s eyes glinted as he replied, “Oh?” Without a second word, he dragged Meng Fuyao along and left.

Still hanging from the punishment rack, Xuanyuan Min opened his mouth as if he wanted to shout something, but then he immediately closed it again as he watched the two figures leaving with a piercing expression. After a moment, a mysterious smile appeared on his lips.

He kicked his leg up lightly and undid the rope binding his left hand, and with a mid-air flip, the rope on his right hand came undone as well.

He landed on the ground and pressing his slender fingers against his lips, he smiled faintly.

Shadow Blade held onto Meng Fuyao’s hand as they ran through the palace grounds in the darkness of the night.

The entire palace was already on alert, from the Regent King’s manor to the imperial palace, and guards carrying torches were moving swiftly. Everyone was headed towards a specific direction, precisely the direction opposite from them. There was a group of men in black who were streaking about like lightning, constantly entering the vision of the pursuers.

This was probably the power that Shadow Blade had employed to divert the attention of the palace guards. Meng Fuyao watched from afar as a man in imperial golden robes ordered the guards to surround the men, his aura commanding and unhurried. From the looks of it, he was probably Xuanyuan Cheng, and Meng Fuyao looked at the black-clothed men worriedly. “If they get caught, it will be very hard to save them,” she muttered under her breath.

Shadow Blade turned around and glanced at her with his glassy eyes. “Why save them?” He asked, mildly.

“Ah?” Meng Fuyao gaped. “If we don’t save them…” She continued with great difficulty, “Then what will happen to them?”

“Die.”

It was such a simple and honest answer without any malice, and Meng Fuyao was thoroughly stumped by the single-worded reply. After a moment, she shook her head and sighed noiselessly.

After sighing, she shook off Shadow Blade’s hand from her own and turned to leave.

However, Shadow Blade suddenly reached out and grabbed her sleeve. Meng Fuyao’s eyebrows scrounged together, and she turned around, ready to unleash her anger when Shadow Blade pressed her head down.

He pressed with such force that Meng Fuyao’s face was planted in the ground as she thought of protecting the possibly squished-to-death Yuan Bao under her, but Shadow Blade refused to let go as he continued pressing her down.

Immediately, something began to glow in front of Meng Fuyao’s eyes, and a huge ball of light lit up high above their heads. It was more than enough to light up the roofs of several houses around them and needless to say, Meng Fuyao and Shadow Blade’s figures were well lit up for the guards to see.

From afar, Xuanyuan Cheng had also turned around. The middle-aged man in imperial golden robes raised a strange-shaped bow in front of him and calmly looked to their direction. He was able to discern that the fireball that forced them to reveal themselves was caused by him. Thereafter, Xuanyuan Cheng continued looking at them expressionlessly, and after focusing his energy, he released a powerful flaming arrow towards them. The flaming arrow looked like a shooting star, glowing brilliantly in the night sky and shining upon Meng Fuyao and Shadow Blade.

“Go!”

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.