Hidden Shadow – CH 211

Chapter Two-Hundred-Eleven: Deadly Strike

The ugly woman standing beside the female leader ripped off the fur cloak covering her head, staring intently at the ghostly figure’s full head of white hair, her whole body trembling.

“Mo Sigui…” she managed to squeeze out of her throat. “It’s him…it must be him!”

In this world, there might be many who could extract the ghostly figure’s heart’s blood, but the only one she could think of who could extract it and preserve his life was Mo Sigui!

“Ningzi, in your opinion, has the ghostly figure’s heart’s blood been completely extracted?” The female leader clearly also felt that the ghostly figure’s vitality was somewhat strange.

This ugly woman was Ning Yanli, and the female leader was Yelu Huangwu.

Ning Yanli said, “Shatter his mask. If the heart’s blood is completely drained, the medicine user will age rapidly.”

Yelu Huangwu relayed the order.

Dozens of burly men swarmed around the ghostly figure like ghosts, their pure qi erupting forth. The surrounding snow and wind stopped, instantly melting away, and Gu Jinghong’s mask and fur coat quietly shattered.

A fierce wind whipped up the scene, white fox fur flying like snowflakes. Pieces of white jade fell, revealing a face as beautiful as jade. His already clear phoenix eyes, reflected in the snow, appeared even more luminous.

“He…” Ning Yanli stared at his face in astonishment, not because of his ageless appearance, but because his features were so similar to someone else’s!

Yelu Huangwu’s gaze swept over the sedan chair.

“And heart’s blood,” Ning Yanli regained her senses.

Yelu Huangwu nodded, and immediately the surrounding men charged forward.

Gu Jinghong took a deep breath, discarded the broken sword in his hand, and drew the soft sword hidden at his waist to meet the attack.

The powerful aura stirred up the snow on the ground, creating a dense blanket of snow within a ten-zhang radius, obscuring almost all human figures. Only splashes of bright red blood were visible, their origin unknown.

Yelu Huangwu grew increasingly horrified. If she remembered correctly, Ghost Shadow was only about twenty years old. Yet he possessed such martial arts prowess! Although the martial arts levels of those burly men were similar to his, his strength clearly overwhelmed everyone.

However, even so, outnumbered, Gu Jinghong struggled considerably. Soon, numerous bloody welts appeared on his body, the bright red stains spreading across his white clothes, a horrifying sight.

Yelu Huangwu frowned slightly, murmuring, “That… is he an abandoned son of the Yelu royal family? Someone who does not even have a name?”

Ning Yanli’s emotions fluctuated, causing the purplish-blue marks on her face to deepen, eventually turning completely black, as if charred by fire, grotesque and terrifying. Her already not-so-beautiful appearance became even more unsightly with these marks.

Mo Sigui’s poison failed to kill her, but it left indelible marks on her body. She hated it yet was even more excited, having encountered such a formidable opponent on her path to the pinnacle. This made her life worthwhile!

The battle in the snow grew increasingly fierce.

Gu Jinghong, like a drawn sword, fought with an unyielding, bloodthirsty spirit. He was closing in step by step; he wanted to kill Yelu Huangwu. He wanted to kill the person in the sedan chair!

“The Yelu royal family actually has such a prodigy! Hahaha!” Yelu Huangwu laughed heartily, as if it were the most amusing thing ever. “A cruel joke from heaven!”

For centuries, the Yelu royal family had suffered from a hereditary disease; their children were either mentally challenged or exceptionally intelligent. Others were plagued by various ailments, and no matter how much they were cared for, they would not live past their prime. But looking at the ghostly figure before her, even after having his heart’s blood drained, he still possessed such spirit. Clearly, he was not destined for a short life!

But he was actually a discarded pawn of the Yelu royal family.

Yelu Huangwu laughed until tears almost streamed down her face before slowly regaining her composure.

Over there, Gu Jinghong moved with lightning speed. A dozen burly men approached, but he neither dodged nor evaded, raising his sword to meet them. His hair was gray, his eyes bloodshot, filled with a frenzied killing intent. His sword strike was imbued with pure true qi. Normally, no one could see the shape of true qi with the naked eye, but now, the dense snowflakes in the air were stirred up by the true qi; where the true qi was present, not a single snowflake remained. Everyone clearly saw a gigantic sword blade appear above their heads!

As Gu Jinghong’s sword fell, the illusory giant sword suddenly erupted with killing intent, like a hurricane crashing down. The four or five feet of snow on the ground was sliced ​​open, forming a white snow curtain that surged to both sides.

The dozen or so burly men standing opposite him felt their blood surge, and the two directly beneath the blade were bleeding from their seven orifices.

The guards left behind were horrified by this scene.

Gu Jinghong’s figure vanished.

As the snow rushed towards Yelu Huangwu, a blood-stained white figure approached again, piercing through the snow with lightning speed and thrusting a sword into Yelu Huangwu’s chest.

However, the sword tip was stopped by a force only a cun deep.

Ning Yanli shot out a dozen silver needles, but they were deflected by true qi.

Yelu Huangwu, with a silver needle between her fingers, struck the attacker’s chest with a palm strike.

Gu Jinghong gripped his sword with both hands, gritting his teeth and channeling all his true qi into the blade. He pushed forward again, but the silver needles in Yelu Huangwu’s hand were already embedded in his chest.

Ning Yanli took out a jade bottle and flicked out a semi-transparent object, like a rope, which wrapped around Gu Jinghong’s sword-wielding hands.

The “rope” corroded his clothes upon contact, then his flesh, and drops of blood mixed with a black substance dripped into the snow, instantly congealing into blackish-red droplets.

Gu Jinghong’s wrists were already showing bare white bone, but with an indomitable will, he gripped the longsword tightly. His blood vessels and meridians were severed, his true qi unable to flow, yet he used brute force to slowly push the sword into Yelu Huangwu’s body.

He knew that with his current strength, he could not kill the person in the sedan chair, so he might as well kill Yelu Huangwu, taking someone down with him!

“Why waste your energy?” Yelu Huangwu laughed calmly, as if the sword were piercing someone else’s body. “Even if you do not kill me, I will not live past thirty.” The surrounding guards rushed forward, and Gu Jinghong’s remaining true qi exploded in a suicidal manner, his eyes fixed on Yelu Huangwu.

In that instant, Yelu Huangwu clearly saw hesitation in his eyes.

However, what happened next was unknown. A woman’s voice softly hummed a Liao nursery rhyme, the sound seemingly echoing throughout the hall.

She saw herself as a child, lying in her wet nurse’s arms, eyes wide open, refusing to sleep. “Has Father returned?”

“His Majesty is tired and should rest early. Princess, would you like to see His Majesty again tomorrow?” the wet nurse coaxed patiently. “Princess, go to sleep.”

She closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling, and crystal tears welled up in her eyes. “Wet nurse, my father will never return…”

The wet nurse stopped patting her gently and hugged her tightly, her voice choked with emotion. “Princess, you still have the Empress’s love. This servant will serve you for life.”

Yelu Huangwu knew this was an illusion, so she lowered her eyes, trying to escape this illusion. Suddenly, memories flooded back like a tide, scene after scene: her glorious moments wielding great power, her lonely days guarding the imperial tomb…

She was young, and her life had already seen many ups and downs. Yet, in her heart, everything changed on that day when the entire Liao Kingdom wore mourning clothes, when she said in her wet nurse’s arms, “Father will never return.”