Danger in the palace
The result, of course, was that they were frightened away by the gaping maw of the Candle Dragon.
If everything in the palace were in normal order, no one would dare to risk venturing into this place because of the legend of the giant snake eating people.
Even the palace must be in chaos.
Gu Yi repeatedly added several layers of formations with artificial hills and scattered rocks in the abandoned garden of Liyang to confuse people's eyes.
The interior of the palace is ultimately limited in space and completely exposed. The place has been abandoned for a long time, and there is no furniture or belongings suitable for hiding. However, if one were to hide in the garden, the flowers, plants, and trees would obstruct the view and make one less noticeable.
At times like these, it's not only necessary to guard against palace servants who barge in, but also to prevent them from leading unruly soldiers into the area.
During the day, with Gu Yi constantly by her side, everything was fine. But at night, if someone broke in while Gu Yi was away, it would be troublesome.
"In this situation, you should escape to the abandoned garden and make no noise so as not to alert the intruder."
She thought about it and still felt scared, so she held tightly to Gu Yi's clothes, not letting him leave.
Gu Yi looked up at the pitch-black sky outside, sighed deeply, and then looked at her with a gentler gaze.
"Ah Qiu, don't be afraid. Master... will definitely come back for you."
"These chaotic situations will soon come to an end."
At that time, she was unaware that it was precisely because of his repeated involvement and control during nighttime raids that the chaos would soon come to an end.
If she had known that back then, she would have been incredibly proud of her master.
The hand that had been tightly gripping her master's clothes finally slowly loosened.
Gu Yi knew she understood, so he reached out and patted her head before turning and leaving.
One bolt of lightning after another struck the abandoned garden, illuminating it as if it were daytime.
Zhulong is probably fast asleep in some remote place deep within the ruined palace.
She was the only one crouching on the stone steps, feeling the thunder and rain, worrying about Gu Yi while keeping an eye out for any movement at the palace gate.
Even in this ruined palace of Liyang, one can still hear distant cries and the red-hot sky to the northwest of the palace city.
It was so late; everything that had happened should have passed. She comforted herself with this thought until the thunder and rain subsided, and she could no longer hold on, becoming so tired that she drifted off to sleep.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, a sudden alarm bell rang in her mind, and she instinctively looked up.
It was too late.
With a piercing sound and the clanging of metal, the wooden door of the ruined hall was smashed open instantly by a weapon such as a saber, shattering into pieces scattered all over the ground.
A troop of cavalry suddenly appeared, their torches illuminating a woman whose fate was unknown, hanging from her horse.
The torch illuminated her face, leaving it nowhere to hide.
She immediately realized she had made a huge mistake.
With her master absent, she should have hidden in the formation of the abandoned garden, or at least been with Zhulong.
But she chose this spot closest to the temple gate because it was the first place she could meet her master when he returned.
At the same time she saw the soldiers, they also saw her.
In the firelight, a sudden look of amazement flashed across their eyes, quickly replaced by a malicious expression.
They probably never expected to find such a treasure in this desolate place; it was truly an unexpected delight.
Immediately, a man jumped off his horse and approached her with a sinister grin.
She knew something terrible was going to happen, yet her heart became unusually calm.
Her gaze fell on the saber at the man's waist, the hilt of which was bound with rags and was sticking out.
During this time, she had witnessed Gu Yi practicing his sword countless times. Advancing, retreating, pulling, thrusting, and parrying—the movements were now vividly clear and lifelike before her eyes.
Just as the man reached out and was about to touch her, she suddenly and accurately dodged under his arm and with a single swift movement, drew the saber from his hand.
The next instant, she raised her saber with both hands, plunged it into the man's abdomen with all her might, twisted it, and then pulled it out with lightning speed.
Her series of movements—dodges, drawing of the knife, and thrusts—were executed flawlessly, as if she had rehearsed them countless times in her mind.
Before the man could even let out a scream, he collapsed to the ground with an expression of disbelief on his face before he died.
The turn of events was so astonishing that the other three soldiers present, who were behind that person and had not yet understood what was happening, all stopped their joking and jumped off their horses, drawing their knives and approaching her.
She gripped the saber tightly in her hand, her hair and clothes completely soaked with cold sweat.
That strike just now was purely by chance, because the opponent was completely unprepared.
How could a tall, burly soldier, used to being domineering, have expected that a small child could possess such composure, accuracy, and speed?
But in the current situation, there is absolutely no room for luck.
A bright, sharp blade flashed towards her.
She instinctively parried with her knife, and the angle of her block was perfectly accurate.
However, a small person is weak.
In the blink of an eye, her knife slipped from her hand and was pulled straight down to the ground by the opponent's knife.
The white light reappeared, striking straight at her face, intending to split her in two.
This was an attack launched by someone else.
Once the knife was out of her hand, she closed her eyes and awaited death.
Screams rang out all around him, one after another, but the expected knife did not fall on his head.
She opened her eyes wide, only to see Chu Yuanyi, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air, calmly pulling out a world-renowned "Wind and Thunder Cleaver" from the shattered chest of a man.
The scattered limbs and remains, the wide-open eyes of the dead, were her handiwork.
For some reason, upon witnessing such a cruel scene, A Qiu felt no fear whatsoever towards Chu Yuanyi, who had struck her so hard. Instead, she felt as if she were seeing a family member, and tears welled up instantly, her throat becoming choked with emotion.
After Chu Yuanyi finished killing the people, he went to check on the horses.
She checked the woman's breath on the horse, then immediately withdrew her hand and instead slapped the horse's rump with her palm.
The horse, in pain, immediately neighed and rushed out of the abandoned hall.
The other three horses, seeing their companion flee, immediately gave chase.
The four military horses finally left the abandoned palace in Liyang.
Chu Yuanyi then turned around, sat down next to A Qiu, and muttered blankly, "That woman is dead."
Tears streamed down A Qiu's face as she squatted down on the blood-soaked ground and began to vomit.
If Aunt Yuanyi hadn't arrived in time, she couldn't imagine what would have happened to her.
Having seen so much of this in the palace over the past few days, Chu Yuanyi had become numb to it. She just sat there motionless, actually panting heavily.
Her sudden attack that killed three people had also exhausted a lot of her strength.
The most difficult part is to eliminate them all in an instant, without giving anyone a chance to escape, otherwise the people here will be exposed, and it may also attract a large army to attack.
Chu Yuanyi took a breath and looked at her with approval, saying, "Little Aqiu, your act of drawing your sword to kill someone in the face of danger was decisive and courageous, showing the demeanor of a king. You are indeed worthy of being your father's daughter. It's a pity that you're cooped up here. Although your master is a master, he doesn't teach you any kung fu. It's a waste of your time."
It turns out that Chu Yuanyi had been visiting A Qiu from time to time these days. Gu Yi had previously avoided her, but later, seeing that she was mentally unstable and seemed not to find it strange that there were people in the hall, he gradually stopped avoiding her, and she also got used to ignoring Gu Yi.
In fact, any normal person would understand that if she left an infant named Aqiu in the abandoned palace and only checked on him once every ten days or half a month, and Aqiu was able to grow up well, crawl and walk, and gradually become quite presentable, then there must have been someone secretly raising and caring for him.
Chu Yuanyi couldn't have imagined these things, but he naturally accepted Gu Yi's existence.
Chu Yuan coughed for a while, then suddenly said, "Little Qiu, do you want to learn martial arts? If you learn martial arts from your aunt, you won't be afraid of being bullied by others."
At this time, she still did not understand what "martial arts" was, but upon hearing the words "You are not afraid of being bullied by others," she immediately nodded vigorously.
Just now, Chu Yuanyi had killed those three bullying soldiers so quickly that they were left without a trace. She didn't feel any bloodshed; instead, she felt great admiration for him.
If it weren't for Aunt Yuan Yi's abilities, even if they wanted to protect her, the two of them would have ended up like the woman on horseback.
Chu Yuanyi nodded with satisfaction and said, "You are a good child. You are calm, brave, and eager to learn. If your father had even a fraction of your talent..." She sighed and stopped talking. She stood up with difficulty and said, "Aunt's Wind and Thunder Cleave is a family martial art passed down for hundreds of years in the Chu family. I will demonstrate it for you. You must remember it carefully."
After Chu Yuanyi finished adjusting his breathing, he demonstrated a set of sixty-four moves of the Wind and Thunder Slash Hand to A Qiu. Because she was a child, Chu Yuanyi performed it very slowly, raising his hands and making his feet, each movement perfectly executed. It took him more than half an hour to complete the demonstration of the palm technique.
Although Chu Yuanyi was mentally confused, he knew she would never remember it. Seeing that she was staring intently at the screen, he asked, "Little Qiu, how much have you remembered?"
She added, "It's normal if you can't remember it after one time. Your aunt will teach you again later. It took me three whole years to master this Wind and Thunder Slash Hand technique, from beginner to expert."
A Qiu blinked, jumped up from the ground, and immediately recited the palm technique that Chu Yuanfang had just performed from beginning to end, relying on his memory. Except for a few moves that were reversed and the details that were not so particular, he had grasped the general technique pretty well.
Chu Yuanyi was surprised and delighted that she could memorize her palm technique so clearly after only one look, even though she had never practiced martial arts. Her single eye lit up instantly, and she exclaimed, "Good child! You are a martial arts prodigy!"
She pointed out all the mistakes in A Qiu's palm technique and patiently explained the details before patting her head and saying, "From now on, you must practice this palm technique at least three times a day so that the skill can take root in your body, understand?"
A-Qiu nodded as if she understood but not quite.
At that moment, her brow suddenly felt hot, as if she had sensed something.
Someone staggered into the hall, covered in the smell of wind, rain, and blood.
Chu Yuan's eyes flashed with alarm. He had barely moved, about to strike, when A Qiu rushed forward to meet him, calling out, "Master!"
The person who came was Gu Yi, who was soaked to the bone. When A Qiu saw that he was covered in blood, she felt very sad and just threw herself into his arms without saying a word.
Gu Yi said in a low voice, "It's alright, it's all someone else's blood."
He glanced at the chaotic scene inside the hall, his expression instantly changed, and he immediately pulled A Qiu away, looking her up and down. Seeing that she had no injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then had the leisure to look at Chu Yuanyi sitting to the side, saying in a deep voice, "Thank you!"
Chu Yuanyi didn't reply, only panting. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Gu, although I don't know what you've been up to in secret, it's really inappropriate for A Qiu to be following you like this."
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