Hidden Shadow – CH 100

Chapter One-Hundred: Jade Tears on Clothes (2)

Several teachers from the clan school and the Shadow joined the battle, finally reversing the fate of the Mei family being slaughtered.

“It was Master Mo who saved her.” Mei Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the two figures, thinking that Mei Ruyan must be happy now.

Mo Sigui approached Elder Qi, pulled the plug off the jade pot, and rolled into the battle circle along the ground.

Wisps of smoke seemed to be attracted by clothing, constantly sticking to the clothes of those people.

“You brat!” Elder Qi quickly swallowed a Hundred Poisons Antidote.

Upon seeing this, the black-clad men realized that the smoke was actually poison. One of them threw a hidden weapon and smashed the jade pot, but the smoke did not disappear; instead, it burst open like an explosion, releasing a thick white mist!

“Oh no!” Mo Sigui exclaimed, returning to shove a bottle of medicine into An Jiu’s hand. “Give them the antidote!”

The smoke did not discriminate between friend and foe. An Jiu saw the black-clad men attacking Elder Qi slump in the mist, knowing the poison would take effect quickly. Without a word, she swiftly poured out the pills and distributed them to the Mei family members around her.

“Sister?” Mei Ruyan recognized her as she received the antidote.

An Jiu nodded, glancing at Master Mo. His eyebrows were like swords, his thin lips slightly pursed, his expression as cold and arrogant as ever. His half-disheveled hair softened his features slightly, but he still seemed unapproachable.

Having heard Yao-Ye describe Master Mo’s background, Mei Jiu now felt he indeed exuded a chilling aura. How could she have previously thought he was an ethereal immortal?

Perhaps the image of him in white robes, playing the guqin in the bamboo forest, was too beautiful. Indeed, appearances could be deceiving! Mei Jiu sighed.

Headmaster Zhao and Master Qingming approached to retrieve the antidote.

“Tch! You bastards, today it is either you or me!” Headmaster Zhao flicked his robe, raised his sword, and rejoined the battle.

Mei Jiu was astonished, and even An Jiu was somewhat surprised.

In her memory, Headmaster Zhao was a schoolteacher who knew no martial arts and was severely nearsighted. When Yao-Ye called him “Jade-Faced Fox,” An Jiu felt the image was far from reality. Even if it were true, he should be a gentle, refined, and elegant handsome man. How could he be so rough and wild!

Just then, a member of the Mei family’s secret guard ran over. “Master Mo, please lend the Grand Madam a hand!”

An Jiu glanced around and saw that more than ten black-clad men had surrounded the Grand Madam.

The man’s words had barely faded when Master Mo leaped forward, his speed so swift it seemed as if man and sword were one, a single, sharp blade piercing through the air.

A whirlwind whipped up smoke and fire, the sword light pouring down like a dense, overwhelming snowstorm. Blood splattered wherever it touched.

Out of the corner of her eye, An Jiu saw Mei Ruyan’s lips slightly upturned, her bright phoenix eyes reflecting the flames and the silhouette of his white robes.

Her faint smile made Mei Jiu feel uneasy. With each stroke of his sword, lives were being taken! Suddenly, An Jiu’s earlier words echoed in her ears: Mei Ruyan might never have had good intentions from the start…

Mei Jiu could not be sure if it was true, nor did she want to know the answer. She only felt a deep unease—even Mei Ruyan had begun to adapt to this life of killing, while she alone remained an outsider, seemingly forever unable to integrate.

This feeling filled her with despair.

An Jiu, observing the battle, suddenly sensed a tremendous mental power. Looking in that direction, they saw a figure on the rooftop drawing a bow, the arrowhead gleaming with a ghostly blue light.

“Grand Madam, be careful!” An Jiu immediately shouted a warning. “There’s a master archer to your right rear!”

Whoosh!

An Jiu clearly heard the vibration of the bowstring. Immediately afterward, a crane’s cry echoed through the plum blossoms, and the ghostly blue light streaked across the sky like a meteor.

It happened incredibly fast. The Grand Madam was caught in a pincer attack and could not completely dodge. The arrow pierced her shoulder.

Startled by the arrow, the Grand Madam swayed, her cane embedding itself in the ground. She stood motionless.

Master Mo swept aside the surrounding black-clad men with his sword, quickly retreating to An Jiu and Mei Ruyan’s side.

“Master!”

“My Lord!” The Mei family’s guards, who were fighting nearby, saw this and rushed to the Grand Madam’s side, while the black-clad men desperately tried to stop them, making the battle even more ferocious.

The head of the Mei family was dead, and the next head fled with his men. Except for Elder Qi, all the other elders had perished in battle. Now, with the old matriarch in trouble, chaos erupted.

According to the Mei family rules, Elder Qi should have been in command. Unfortunately, while he could bring the dead back to life, he lacked any leadership skills.

Now, there was no other way but to continue fighting, but such desperate warfare required a pillar of support.

Amidst the chaos, An Jiu sensed that the force suddenly reappeared behind her.

She turned around and saw “Madman’s” second arrow already nocked, its blue light glowing eerily, accompanied by a crane’s cry like lightning, aimed directly at Headmaster Zhao.

An Jiu tried to warn him again, but it was too late. Headmaster Zhao, his eyes bloodshot from the battle, felt a powerful force rushing towards him. A blade plunged into the abdomen of the black-clad man before him, and he instinctively pulled the man aside to shield himself.

The arrow pierced through the black-clad man, the tip embedding itself in Headmaster Zhao’s chest, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.

“Ha ha ha, I’ve found you!” the madman shouted joyfully, nocking another arrow and aiming it straight at An Jiu!

Many of those present carried bows and arrows. Unable to find An Jiu, the madman grew increasingly agitated, indiscriminately killing friend and foe. Cui Yichen instructed him to fire arrows from different directions; An Jiu would surely be the first to notice, and the first to react would undoubtedly be the person he was looking for!

An Jiu frowned, turned, and ran towards the eaves, properly holding her bow as she ran.

She spread two fingers of the empty bow, a sudden burst of killing intent erupting. In that brief moment of rapid movement, the bowstring hummed softly. She immediately drew an arrow from behind her back and released it.

The madman, oblivious to the crane’s cry, was inwardly mocking when suddenly his mind went blank, and he froze. By the time he reacted, a solid arrow was already upon him.

“Ha! How amusing!” The madman laughed wildly, his inner energy surging around him. The arrow stopped an inch from his heart; he moved slightly, and it was instantly pulverized.

“Fourteenth Young Lady! Come out and face me head-on!” The madman, recalling their confrontation on the cliff of the ancient temple, roared, his blood boiling. “Otherwise, I will take them all down with one arrow!”

An Jiu lay prone on the beam of the corridor, unaffected by the madman’s threat. Mei Jiu, however, was growing anxious.

The madman’s voice was deafening; everyone heard it clearly.

Mo Sigui seized the opportunity amidst the chaos to dart down the corridor. “Fourteenth! Can you handle this?”

“Impossible,” An Jiu replied curtly. Last time, she had only managed to fire the ‘Startling the String’ with the help of Chu Dingjiang’s inner energy. This time, her meridians were completely destroyed; even if someone infused her with inner energy, it would be useless.

The so-called “Mental Powered Startling the String” could only deal with those of slightly lower martial arts levels. Facing the madman head-on was tantamount to suicide.

“We have to leave now,” Mo Sigui said. “It’s easy to get in, but hard to get out. The ambush has been going on for almost half an hour, and I’ve noticed their men are slowly gathering here. More and more are coming. We only have fewer than sixty people left. Try to stall them a bit and buy them time to escape.”

This task was daunting. An Jiu asked Mei Jiu, “Are you going to run away or listen to him?”

After asking, An Jiu felt she had made a fuss. Mei Jiu would definitely choose to stay; she could not tolerate so many lives being lost.

Sure enough, Mei Jiu said, “In this situation, how can we just ignore it?”

An Jiu had no attachment to the situation anyway. Since Mei Jiu chose to stay, she had no objections.

“You said you could shoot a ‘Startling the String’?” An Jiu’s cold voice carried a hint of mockery. “But you still used an arrow. Is this what you call a ‘Startling the String’? Utterly laughable!”

“If you do not believe me, I will show you!” The madman threw down the arrow and drew his bow empty-handed.

Mo Sigui shrank back, trying to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

An Jiu gently pushed open the broken window behind her with her bow, preparing to leap inside as soon as he released an arrow. There was a fire inside, and she could easily be burned, but it was better than being hit by the arrow.

“Your spiritual power is scattered. If you can unleash a true ‘Startling the String’ with this attack, I will go out and be your target!” An Jiu knew that spiritual power was key to controlling the concentration of internal energy. She could not sense internal energy, but she was very sensitive to spiritual power.

“Shut up!” the madman said irritably.