The sound
As dusk settled, a sharp "whoosh" was heard as a cold arrow shot out from the void, carrying the force of air-piercing as it struck a pillar in the main hall of the Yang residence. The fletching at the end of the arrow trembled incessantly, its buzzing sound lingering for a long time.
The flower fell, splashing with a soft sound.
A moment later, on the other side of the Yang residence, Ji Feng, with his head bowed, reported to the newly awakened Zhou Yanzhi about the hijacking of the Xiangsi carriage.
"Kidnapped?" Zhou Yanzhi heard such terrible news as soon as he woke up. His brows furrowed instantly. He asked, "Were they Yang Hui's men?"
Monsoon said remorsefully, "No."
"I clearly saw Miss Biao get into the carriage, but I don't know why..." As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from behind him and whispered, "This was just in the main hall, and it's related to Miss Biao."
Along with the arrow came a white beaded flower, which Zhou Yanzhi recognized as the one Jie Xiangsi often wore.
Inside the room, the beaded chains clinked softly. Zhou Yanzhi abruptly rolled out of bed, his robes sweeping across the bed curtains and creating a gust of wind. He snatched the note from Ji Feng's hand, his eyes quickly scanning the handwriting, his breathing becoming heavier.
Liu Su, who was standing to the side, was puzzled. He picked up the note and glanced at it. The note read: "Tomorrow at 5:00 a.m., at the foot of West Cliff Mountain, Yang will exchange Jie Nu."
Noticing the unusually solemn expression on Zhou Yanzhi's face, Liu Su couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, this Jie Nu...?"
“I admire her.” Zhou Yanzhi raised his eyes, his tone without the slightest hesitation.
Unexpectedly, Liu Su was stunned for a long time before stammering, "Then this exchange...?"
“Tomorrow, I will take Yang back.” Zhou Yanzhi closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his eyes were full of determination. He said in a deep voice, “She cannot be harmed.”
Looking at his tense jaw, Liu Su nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll go arrange the manpower right away."
Zhou Yanzhi nodded and bowed to him, "Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Liu."
...
The next day at dawn, the sky was still a dark blue, and only a few stars were visible on the horizon. The cold wind rustled through the bare trees in the mountains, and the snow underfoot crunched underfoot.
Jie Xiangsi was grabbed from behind by the shoulders, with a short blade pressed against her front, the blade gleaming coldly.
The man in black behind him raised his voice: "Zhou Ce'an, tell everyone lying in ambush in the woods to retreat, or else..."
With a slight exertion of his wrist, the tip of the knife pressed a shallow indentation into Jie Xiangsi's neck; any deeper and it would have drawn blood.
"Your sweetheart is about to get hurt," he teased.
Zhou Yanzhi stood in the snow three zhang away, his black cloak fluttering in the wind. Upon hearing this, he raised his hand with a cold face and waved it behind him.
Only after a few soft sounds came from the shadows and the forest fell completely silent did he speak, his voice filled with barely suppressed coldness: "Is this alright?"
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yanzhi was actually under his control. The man in black chuckled twice, lowered his eyes and whispered to Xie Xiangsi in front of him, "I didn't expect that Prince Zhou would be so interested in you. Your charm is even greater than I thought."
With a slight twitch at the corner of her lips, Jie Xiangsi stared intently at Zhou Yanzhi in front of her, her gaze sweeping over his clenched fists, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "You should think about how you're going to escape later."
The man chuckled softly, "That's none of your concern."
She looked up at Zhou Yanzhi and asked, "Where is the person I asked for?"
Zhou Yanzhi raised his hand, and Ji Feng, carrying Yang Hui who was bound in a ball, flew out.
Seeing this, he smiled, his tone becoming harsher, "Young Master Zhou, I told you to have your men leave. Can't you understand human language?"
Seeing the anger rising on Ji Feng's face, he added fuel to the fire, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Or is this person not human?"
"You son of a bitch..." Ji Feng was furious.
"Ji Feng," Zhou Yanzhi said, "you may leave."
"grown ups!"
"Get down!"
Finally, at Zhou Yanzhi's insistence, Ji Feng glared fiercely at the man in black, kicked Yang Hui hard on the ground, and then flew away.
Looking down at Yang Hui, who was sprawled at his feet, Zhou Yanzhi looked up at the opposite side and said in a deep voice, "Is it alright now?"
The man in black nodded and pointed at Yang Hui on the ground, saying, "Now, throw him over here."
Zhou Yanzhi frowned. "My cousin is still in your hands."
The implication was that they didn't believe he would obediently release the person soon.
The man chuckled lightly, “I’m not like you people from the Dali Temple, who take your salaries and do nothing, blinded by gold and silver, and deaf to power. You say one thing and do another, spending your days as lackeys of the powerful and having no conscience whatsoever.”
These words were extremely harsh, and looking at Zhou Yanzhi opposite her, Jie Xiangsi couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"He's probably never been insulted so harshly and sarcastically before. But this person did say one thing right: there really aren't any good officials in this world these days."
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yanzhi asked, "What do you intend to do?"
The man in black said, "I told you, throw him over here."
Zhou Yanzhi said, "I don't believe you."
The man in black said, "But you have no choice but to believe it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Xiangsi's chin was suddenly lifted by the back of the knife. With a slight movement of his wrist, the hilt of the knife rotated, and the sharp tip of the knife gently touched the fair skin, leaving a shallow spot of blood.
He raised an eyebrow provocatively at Zhou Yanzhi across from him and said loudly, "Don't forget... your sweetheart is still here with me."
With his eyes fixed on the knife tip against Xie Xiangsi's neck, Zhou Yanzhi suddenly looked up and met the man's gaze, saying in a deep voice, "Don't touch her."
The man in black raised an eyebrow and looked at Yang Hui on the ground.
Zhou Yanzhi bent down, grabbed Yang Hui by the back of his collar and lifted him up, then used his inner strength to push him out with a palm strike.
At the same time, the dagger pressed against Jie Xiangsi loosened slightly.
An unexpected change occurred!
Jie Xiangsi slammed backward, quickly ducked and turned around, kicked up snowflakes, and kicked off the person behind her, using the force to fly out and carry Yang Hui straight towards the oncoming Zhou Yanzhi.
"cousin!"
Unexpectedly, he was tricked by Xie Xiangsi at the last minute. The man in black laughed angrily and was about to use his lightness skill to chase after her when a falcon suddenly swooped down from the sky and struck him heavily.
"Oh."
He sneered, ignoring the blood and gore on his arm from Wu Goulang's pecking, and grabbed the eagle's claws, pulling it down and viciously tearing off a handful of its feathers before throwing it forward.
Zhou Yanzhi took the Wu Gou Lang and placed it beside Xie Xiangsi. Then he stepped forward, quickly drew the soft sword from his waist, and engaged in a fierce battle with the black-clad man's dagger.
The blades clashed with a crisp sound, and for a moment, the two fought fiercely, neither gaining the upper hand.
Meanwhile, looking at Wu Goulang, who had a patch of skin torn off and was burying his head in his hands in self-isolation, Jie Xiangsi picked up a few of its fallen feathers and silently stuffed them back in.
He whispered, "Please accept my condolences."
Then, holding the grieving Wu Gou Lang in one arm and carrying Yang Hui in the other, he quickly retreated several feet.
Since we can't help, we should try our best not to cause any more trouble.
...
A soft sword is easy to cut but not easy to chop; a dagger is better suited for close combat than for long-range attacks.
When the man in black was once again entangled by Zhou Yanzhi's soft sword, he narrowed his eyes and forcefully pulled the soft sword to the side. Sensing his intention, Zhou Yanzhi then exerted force in the opposite direction.
"Snap—"
With a soft sound, the soft sword and the dagger broke apart together.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Yanzhi let out a sharp whistle in the air, "Wu Gou Lang!"
Upon hearing the sound, Wu Goulang, who had been withdrawn in the distance, rose up and, following his master's instructions, flew straight towards the man in black.
Enemies meeting are bound to be furious. The cold wind blew on the bald spot where Wu Goulang had been pulled, making it feel slightly cool. Therefore, its anger reached its peak at this moment. With a shriek, it clawed at the black-clothed man's hair, determined to make him bald!
Unexpectedly, the man was prepared and dodged by turning backward, but Zhou Yanzhi seized the opportunity and ripped off his mask from behind when he was off guard.
The cold wind howled, and the mask fluttered.
Upon seeing her true face beneath the black cloth, Jie Xiangsi couldn't help but gasp.
This is really...
What an incredibly terrifying face!
One side of his face was covered with scars, and there was even a scar that ran from his right forehead to his left jaw, running straight through his entire face!
What startled Jie Xiangsi even more was that this person's eyebrows and eyes... seemed strangely familiar to her.
She stared intently at the man in black, her heart pounding inexplicably.
The next second.
Amidst the swirling snowflakes, countless tiny silver needles flew out from the sleeves of the man in black, piercing straight into the bodies of Zhou Yanzhi and Wu Goulang.
Feeling a wave of dizziness, Zhou Yanzhi and Xie Xiangsi spoke at the same time.
"The sound of a flute."
"elder brother."
With a thud, the former lost consciousness and collapsed on the snow.
Meanwhile, Xie Xiangsi's eyes reddened instantly. A sudden surge of joy from the bottom of her heart made her dizzy, but reason held her back from losing consciousness.
She also wondered why she felt vaguely familiar with this face.
It turns out that this was her own brother, Xiao Jiangsheng!
Looking at Xiao Jiangsheng's face, which had become unrecognizable, and recalling his hoarse voice, Jie Xiangsi felt a pang of sorrow. She couldn't bear to think how her once handsome and proud brother had become like this.
How did he come to accept himself as he is now?
After all, besides martial arts, what he loves most... is his own face.
And those silver needles were the coming-of-age gift I gave him.
She still remembers saying with a smile, "Since you cherish your face so much, brother, then I, your sister, will give you this. If you ever encounter a womanizer, you can knock him out with just one needle!"
Xiao Jiangsheng accepted her strange gift, but didn't forget to tap her on the head and said in a serious tone, "Your brother is so skilled, you'll probably never have to use this gift."
Then the brother and sister looked at each other and laughed, and started making a ruckus.
But now...
But this was the only way she could recognize him.
When old friends meet, they do not recognize each other.
The cold wind ruffled her hair. As Xiao Jiangsheng walked past the drugged Zhou Yanzhi toward her, her eyes reddened further, as if tears were about to fall at any moment.
And that was indeed the case; even before Xiao Jiangsheng got close, she burst into tears.
"Brother!" she couldn't help but call out.
Xiao Jiangsheng paused in his action of lifting Yang Hui, then turned his head and said calmly, "Calling me brother won't help. I won't let you go."
Even though his tone was full of disgust, Jie Xiangsi couldn't help but laugh, then she couldn't help but start crying, laughing one moment and crying the next...
She looked up at Xiao Jiangsheng, and said in the familiar tone of the siblings, sounding aggrieved, "Brother, I'm Xiao Yan..."
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