Hidden Shadow – CH 128

Chapter One-Hundred-Twenty-Eight: The Sound of the Qin in the Evening Rain

“To almost wipe out the Konghe family, their strength must be formidable, right? If a large number of experts suddenly flooded in from another country, it would be hard not to attract attention,” Sui Yuntong said, feeling his way along the path. “And within the Song Dynasty, the only place with such strength is the Piaomiao Mountain mansion.”

Lou Mingyue was shaken. Sui Yuntong’s analysis was spot on! Why had she not thought of that? Even if the mastermind was indeed Yelu Huangwu of the Liao Dynasty, they must have had a stronghold within the Song Dynasty; otherwise, they could not be so elusive.

“Is this to send us to lead the charge?” Tao Zhu asked.

The fact that the opponent was indeed the Piaomiao Mountain mansion filled everyone with both excitement and apprehension.

An Jiu, however, remained calm. No matter who the enemy was or how dangerous the road ahead, nothing could faze her. An Jiu’s strength was truly worrisome within the Konghe Army; she knew it perfectly well. But a life lived on the edge always required fighting desperately; there was no safe way.

An Jiu once carried out a mission targeting the head of the Nationalist military. When the mission was assigned, everyone in the organization thought the best outcome would be for her to die alongside the target. However, despite heavy defense, she perfectly sniped the target and survived. This incident cemented her status as the Empress of snipers.

Her short life left countless regrets, but she achieved one astonishing feat after another in the art of killing.

In the eyes of the world, she was a top-tier assassin feared by all, fearless and tenacious, but at the same time, she was also mentally ill. Her mental illness, in essence, stemmed from her psychological fragility.

Standing at a height admired by all, An Jiu never felt pride, nor did she look down upon the world. Her heart was that of a numb and humble mouse.

She was a contradictory person, embodying both extreme strength and extreme weakness.

Heaven gave her a second chance. She could have chosen a comfortable life, but Mei Yanran and Mei Jiu, mother and daughter, unearthed the shackles that had bound her heart. In her past life, she had witnessed her mother’s abuse and regretted not uttering a single word of comfort when her mother died suddenly, caught between hope and despair!

An Jiu saw herself in Mei Jiu. Mei Jiu’s sudden demise made her believe that fate had given her a chance to make amends, so she was determined to save Mei Yanran, as if only by doing so could her heart be redeemed and she gain eternal peace.

“My body itches,” Li Qingzhi grumbled.

Sui Yuntong suddenly stopped. “Where does it itch?”

“The back of my neck.” Lou Mingyue overheard their conversation. She immediately fired an arrow; the crossbow bolt pierced the tree trunk, exploded with a bang, and burned with a ghostly blue light.

The surroundings suddenly lit up. An Jiu came to her senses and recognized it as a light crossbow made by Lou Xiaowu.

Sui Yuntong pulled Li Qingzhi into the light. By the light, everyone could see that Li Qingzhi’s nape was covered in dense blisters, resembling a thick layer of scales. Blood could be seen slowly seeping into the translucent blisters, sending chills down their spines. Upon closer inspection, they discovered tiny legs beneath the blisters—it was some kind of insect.

Sui Yuntong drew his dagger to scrape off the blisters.

“Wait!” An Jiu immediately stopped him.

Sui Yuntong looked at her suspiciously.

An Jiu reached out and tested the blue torch. Finding it as hot as a regular torch, she pulled it from the tree trunk and gently rolled it around Li Qingzhi’s nape. The insects fell off with a rustling sound.

“Will it get rid of them?” Sui Yuntong asked. The sharp spines of these bloodworms were embedded in the flesh. If only the surface was burned off, the spines would remain inside, and the flesh would quickly rot.

“Insects will quickly curl up when exposed to heat. They will not leave any residue,” An Jiu said.

Sui Yuntong was skeptical, but he leaned nearer for a closer look. He only had a superficial understanding of these things, and seeing that An Jiu was right, he felt relieved. Even a minor cut in this damp place could be fatal; thankfully, he had stopped in time after listening to An Jiu’s advice. He secretly rejoiced.

“The vegetation here is too dense; we need to hurry through the forest and into the valley,” Sui Yuntong said. “Light torches and use your lightness skill!” Lou Mingyue glanced at An Jiu.

“You guys go first,” An Jiu said. “I am an external cultivator; I do not know lightness skill.”

The others were surprised. Nowadays, most martial artists cultivate both internal and external skills, differing only in their emphasis on either. Pure external cultivators were rare.

No one objected to leaving An Jiu behind. Their team was already stronger than Chu Dingjiang’s team; losing one person was not a big deal. So far, there had never been a precedent of waiting for someone during a mission.

“Are you alright on your own?” Lou Mingyue asked.

“I am fine; you guys go ahead.” An Jiu waved the blue torch in her hand. “I will keep this torch.”

Lou Mingyue paused, then took off her blue-fire crossbow and line-throwing crossbow and handed them to An Jiu. “These two things will be a great help to you. Take care.”

In this dense forest, the line-throwing crossbow was a valuable asset for An Jiu. She did not refuse, accepting both crossbows and attaching them to her left and right arms, respectively.

After agreeing on the plan, the others lit their torches and used their lightness skills to move ahead.

An Jiu had used the line-throwing crossbow before; it was very suitable for those who could not use lightness skills. She aimed at a horizontal branch of a large tree ahead and pulled the trigger. With a whoosh, the crossbow bolt, threaded with extremely fine black silkworm silk, pierced the branch accurately.

Using the elasticity of the silk, she pushed off with her feet, leaping forward much faster than the others who used their lightness skills.

After landing, An Jiu tried to pull off the rope, but was surprised to find that the crossbow had been modified by Lou Xiaowu. It only contained two arrows and could not be untied like before. She fumbled for a moment, then pressed the trigger again, and the arrow was suddenly pulled back.

The force of the pull was so strong that she staggered back several steps, her entire arm burning with pain.

Even so, the modified crossbow’s functionality was still quite surprising.

An Jiu practiced a few times nearby, using her keen mental abilities and the crossbow to traverse the forest, quickly approaching Lou Mingyue and the others.

At this moment, An Jiu felt a sticky liquid on the spot where her arm was hooked to the crossbow. She touched it and discovered it was bleeding.

A superficial wound in this place was never a good thing!

An Jiu immediately stopped, released the crossbow, loosened her cuffs, applied wound medicine to the abrasion, and then bandaged it with clean cotton cloth.

Catching her breath in the distance, An Jiu pulled out a map and carefully examined it with her crossbow. She noticed that Lou Mingyue and the others seemed to be heading in the wrong direction.

That direction was indeed the shortest route, but it led into a dense, sunless forest, fraught with hidden dangers.

Considering her current situation, An Jiu decided to leave the forest.

Following her assessment, she hacked her way through the undergrowth until she reached the edge of the forest at dusk.

Looking at the sparse orange light, An Jiu suddenly felt a sense of peace. The Konghe Academy trials and the selection of Dragon Martial Guards were irrelevant to her; she needed to use this time to improve her strength!

As she reached the edge of the forest, a rainstorm began.

The rain was fine and gentle, blurring the sky and earth.

An Jiu climbed a large, leafy old tree, sat on a branch, ate her dry rations, and waited for the rain to stop.

From a distant valley came the faint sound of a zither, ethereal and enchanting, adding a mysterious atmosphere to the rain-soaked scene.

An Jiu remembered that this was the direction of the hidden location of the Piaomiao Mountain mansion.

Who was playing the zither?

Baiyun Mountain had many scenic spots, but this area was surrounded by dense forests. No famous scholar or refined person would waste time in such a dangerous place!

As An Jiu was thinking this, she saw a black-clad man slowly emerge from the woods. Judging from his appearance, he seemed like a puppet being led around.

She instinctively knew it was the zither music!

The black man’s clothes were embroidered with white cranes; he must be someone sent by the Konghe Army to monitor their trial.

After he had gone some distance, An Jiu quietly jumped down from a tree, put on a cloak, and used her mental power to conceal her presence. She also followed the sound of the zither.

The drizzle was silent, and her footsteps rustled through the grass.

“Hey, there are two!” A girl’s clear, melodious voice mingled with the zither music, causing An Jiu to pause. She was puzzled. She had used her mental power to conceal her presence, and besides, they were still far away; no one should have noticed!

And that voice… The surrounding area was a broken mountain, obscuring what was happening ahead. An Jiu crept closer, hugging the wall.

“The Konghe Army has sent quite a few people this time; it seems they’ve confirmed our background,” another male voice said.