A short, hunched figure, dressed in a bulky, tattered cotton-padded coat and a thick leather hat that covered most of his face, was pushing a small, tightly wrapped wooden box toward the other side. Judging from his attire, he looked like a black market broker.
The man opposite him was tall and imposing, dressed in an inconspicuous dark gray outfit. His face was covered by a black mask that concealed the lower half of his face, revealing only a pair of eyes that gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the darkness! Those eyes were sharp and wary, carrying a kind of indifference and murderous aura from years of bloodshed! It was the unique gaze of a Blood Hawk member! In his hand, he held a heavy leather bag, clearly containing gold ingots.
It's him! The henchman Qi Huaiyu sent to collect the medicine!
A cold glint flashed in Xin Jiuwei's eyes! As long as they capture this person, they can follow the clues and find Qi Huaiyu's hiding place!
Just as the Blood Hawk member reached out to take the wooden box, and the broker was about to take the money bag!
Xin Jiuwei moved!
Like a long-awaited black lightning bolt, she no longer concealed herself, smashing open the already crumbling window and shooting into the room like an arrow released from a bow! A flash of black light appeared in her hand, and the uniquely shaped close-fitting short blade, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, aimed straight at the wrist of the Blood Hawk member holding the money bag! Intending to force him to let go, and at the same time snatch the medicine box!
"Who goes there?!" The two people inside the room shouted in shock and anger at the same time!
The Blood Hawk member reacted with astonishing speed! Facing Xin Jiuwei's premeditated and thunderous attack, he neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he abruptly retracted the hand holding the money bag, while simultaneously sweeping his left leg like a steel whip towards Xin Jiuwei's lower body! The movement was ruthless and swift, a deadly move used in the heat of battle!
Xin Jiuwei missed her attack and immediately changed her move. She lowered her short blade to parry the sweeping leg whip, and at the same time used the force to float backward. Her other hand reached out like a ghost and grabbed the wooden box on the table containing the Heart-Sustaining Grass and Jade Marrow Fungus!
"You're courting death!" The Blood Hawk member's eyes flashed with ferocity. He abandoned the money pouch, his palms like claws, whistling through the air as he aimed straight for Xin Jiuwei's arm and throat as she reached for the wooden box! Every move was deadly!
The black market broker, already terrified, let out a scream and scrambled out of the house.
In the blink of an eye, Xin Jiuwei and the Blood Hawk member had exchanged several blows! The clanging of metal against metal was particularly jarring in the empty, dilapidated post station! The Blood Hawk member was extremely skilled, with ruthless and cunning moves and immense strength, clearly an elite member of the Blood Hawks! Although Xin Jiuwei was not at a disadvantage, it would be extremely difficult for her to subdue him and seize the medicine in a short time!
What alarmed Xin Jiuwei even more was that, just as she was locked in combat with the Blood Hawk members, dozens of torches suddenly burst into flame from the darkness surrounding the post station! The flickering flames instantly illuminated the entire abandoned post station as if it were daytime!
"Surround them! Don't let a single one escape!"
A clear and melodious female voice, now carrying a chilling murderous intent and smugness, rang out like a viper's hiss!
Xin Jiuwei's heart sank to the bottom!
All around the dilapidated walls of the post station, a dense swarm of burly guards, armed with powerful bows and crossbows and dressed in uniform black, had appeared. The bowstrings were taut, and the arrows gleamed with a deadly glint in the firelight, firmly locked onto the center of the post station.
On the still partially collapsed second-floor corridor of the main inn, a slender figure stood gracefully. She wore a black, form-fitting outfit that accentuated her curves, but her face was covered by a silver mask that concealed her mouth and nose, revealing only a pair of curved eyes that were now filled with a mocking and malicious smile! It was Zhao Mingwei!
She looked down at Xin Jiuwei and the Blood Hawk member, who were heavily surrounded below, as if they were two prey caught in a trap. Her voice carried a cruel, cat-and-mouse satisfaction.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Miss Xin, staying up all night to come to this desolate wilderness to meet someone in secret... oh no, to trade for forbidden drugs? If this gets out, where will the Sixth Prince's face be... and the reputation of your 'benefactor'...?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly throughout the room, each word piercing to the heart! It not only confirmed Xin Jiuwei's crime of "secretly trading banned drugs," but also viciously placed her relationship with Xiao Xun at the center of a vortex of rumors!
A cold glint flashed in Xin Jiuwei's eyes! Rage and chilling killing intent surged instantly! She abruptly parried the Blood Hawk member's vicious claw attack, using the momentum to glide back several steps, creating distance. The Blood Hawk member also stopped his attack, cautiously looking around, clearly not expecting to be the one stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—he too had been surrounded!
"Zhao Mingwei!" Xin Jiuwei's voice rang out clearly amidst the crackling of torches, like icicles striking each other. "Hiding your head and revealing your true colors, framing and slandering—is this the style of your Zhao family? The methods of the Second Prince?"
"Slander?" Zhao Mingwei chuckled as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, her voice sounding particularly eerie in the wind and snow. "Caught red-handed, how can you call it slander? Xin Jiuwei, you left the palace without permission and came here in the middle of the night to trade with this person of unknown origin for forbidden medicines such as Xin Xin Cao and Yu Sui Zhi, which are strictly controlled by the court! The evidence is overwhelming!" She suddenly pointed to the small wooden box on the table, her tone turning fierce, "Take her down! Dead or alive!"
"Kill!" the leader of the black-clad guards roared!
Buzz—!
The bowstrings twanged! Dozens of powerful crossbows shot off, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, raining down on Xin Jiuwei and the Blood Hawk members in the courtyard like a torrential downpour! The wide coverage and the cunning angles clearly indicated that they were intended to kill the two on the spot!
A life-or-death moment!
Xin Jiuwei's pupils constricted sharply! She instantly unleashed all her inner strength to its limit! She didn't choose to withstand the rain of arrows head-on, as that would be tantamount to suicide! Her body, like a weightless willow catkin, lunged towards the relatively intact half-earthen wall to the side in the nick of time! At the same time, she used her toes to flick off the half-broken door panel scattered on the ground!
Puff puff puff puff!
A hail of arrows pierced the ground and walls where she had just stood, making dull thuds! Several arrows at tricky angles grazed her cloak, creating a sharp whistling sound!
Almost simultaneously with Xin Jiuwei's movement, the Blood Hawk member also displayed astonishing combat instincts and formidable strength! He let out a low roar, advancing instead of retreating, charging towards the nearest archer amidst the rain of arrows! His speed was so fast that he left only a blur! A poisoned dagger had appeared in his hand, gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light in the firelight!
"Ugh!" The crossbowman only saw a blur before his throat was slit open by a cold, sharp blade! Blood spurted out! His body fell to the ground!
Without hesitation, the Bloodhawk members moved like tigers among sheep, using the corpses and chaos of their comrades as cover. Their short daggers transformed into deadly serpents, instantly slicing open the throats of two more guards! The movements were clean, swift, and ruthless! He clearly understood the art of creating chaos in dire situations to carve out a sliver of hope!
"Useless! Stop him! Kill Xin Jiuwei first!" Zhao Mingwei, watching from the corridor, was both shocked and furious, and screamed sharply!
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