=== Chapter 49 ===
Qin Li, caught in a sudden ambush, had no time to dodge. He could only let golden light erupt before him, attempting to condense it into armor plating.
Before the golden armor could fully form, he was struck by a palm from Meng Qingze. Amidst the sound of clashing against rotting wood, he stumbled back several paces, slamming into the vermilion wooden pillar that supported the Listening-to-Water Pavilion.
The golden light on his chest dissipated in an instant, and his clothes fluttered away like decaying butterflies, revealing a sinister, dark-green palm print.
Qin Li, initially merely stunned and bewildered, was suddenly overcome with rage. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he swore to return the blow, to ensure Meng Qingze suffered a grievous injury in return.
As they engaged in a fierce exchange, the other two guards of Ren Youyang turned their gaze toward Su Chongxiao with expressions full of malice.
"You Heavenly Maiden Sect members are not of our Great Zhao sects, so by what right do you come to compete for the Huai Fruit?"
"And you, Su Chongxiao, by what right are you so handsome, so outstanding in bearing, that the maids and female relatives of the Zhen Mansion we met along the way could not tear their eyes away from you?"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
One of them rushed toward Su Chongxiao like a gale, while the other seemed to merge with the shadows cast by the sunlight through the window lattice, quietly circling toward Su Chongxiao’s flank.
"Are you even worthy of raising a hand against me?" Su Chongxiao felt both amused and annoyed, a trace of hostility surging in his chest.
He leaped up instantly and flicked his sleeves.
Amidst a mournful whistling wind, the guard of Ren Youyang attacking from the front suddenly felt as if he had arrived in autumn:
The sun was not hot, casting a gentle warmth that summoned a soft, refreshing breeze; the fragrance of wheat and fruit drifted by, intoxicating the spirit.
On such a day, one should simply lie on a rattan bed, drowsy and perfectly content.
Ren Youyang’s guard was immediately overcome with sleepiness, his body drained of strength, wanting nothing more than to lie down right there and enjoy the autumn leisure.
"Twelve Paths of Great Void" — Path of Autumn Fatigue!
As his movements slowed, the sound of a whip cracking echoed from his body—*pop, pop, pop*—a series of strikes overlapping into one.
The guard was sent flying backward, his body covered in bloody whip marks. Some had broken his ribs, others carried a soft force that penetrated his body, and one struck directly at his temple, knocking him unconscious.
The Heavenly Maiden’s Invisible Whip—one hears only the sound, but sees no trace!
Su Chongxiao was still able to restrain the hostility in his heart; this strike clearly showed restraint. Otherwise, with his ability, had all six whips landed, the opponent would surely have died.
"The Great Method of Thousand Changes and Myriad Transformations to Charm the World? The Boat-Capsizing Sect?" Su Chongxiao cast his gaze toward the door.
Faced with such a bizarre turn of events, Zhen Qianfan, who sat at the head of the table, also stood up with a swish.
At this moment, Zhen Quanwang, standing at his side, had no idea when his eyes had turned red.
"You old wretch, why won't you just die?"
"I have been over thirty for several years now, yet in this mansion, I can only make decisions on trivial matters!"
"If you die, I will be the head of the family!"
Zhen Quanwang pushed out a palm, seemingly carrying the weight of ten thousand jun of water.
Around Zhen Qianfan, tiny specks of light suddenly ignited, resembling shimmering water.
Almost simultaneously, within a radius of three zhang, the sunlight dimmed. It was as if layers of illusory waves had gathered into a deep sea, and the black shadow beneath Zhen Qianfan’s feet expanded violently, like a behemoth lurking in the ocean depths.
The further Zhen Quanwang’s palm pushed forward, the slower it became, eventually coming to a halt deep within the heavy "water waves."
"Hmph!" Zhen Qianfan flicked his sleeves, sending this good-for-nothing flying, causing him to land with his teeth knocked out and blood streaming from the corners of his mouth.
Immediately following this, he looked at Su Chongxiao with eyes full of malice, took a step forward, and threw a punch.
The illusory water waves rippled, each layer adding to Zhen Qianfan’s punch. The floor of the Listening-to-Water Pavilion quickly became damp, and within three or four zhang, there was a sensation of drowning, making it difficult to breathe.
Seeing this, Su Qingli quickly moved away from her original position with the agility of a rabbit, dodging toward the corner of the building, her maid following closely behind.
She had said she only knew a little about martial arts, and indeed, it was only a little. It was fine for playing tricks on "Extraordinary Beings" using changes and illusions, but in a battle involving masters like this, she could only consider her skills as mere flowery punches and kicks. They were useless here, so it was better to hide far away and not distract her second uncle.
Just as she crouched in a corner far from the battlefield, Su Qingli discovered someone else hiding there:
Ren Youyang, whose feathered robes and high crown were disheveled and crooked.
"What a coincidence," Su Qingli said with a twitch of her lips, not at all surprised by the performance of this direct disciple of the True Spirit Sect, a man famous on the "Martial Arts Jade Tree Ranking."
Ren Youyang replied quite awkwardly:
"Miss Su, the fact that we are less affected shows that we are both peaceful of heart, people who love flowers and cherish grass, unable to bear harming others. It is indeed a coincidence."
"Generally speaking, the higher one's martial arts, the more lives one has taken; it is inevitable that a sense of malice accumulates. Only someone like me, with such meager martial arts, has no thoughts of hurting others." While bickering with Ren Youyang with a hint of hostility, Su Qingli kept her eyes on her second uncle.
Facing Zhen Qianfan’s strike, Su Chongxiao tapped his feet on the ground and retreated rapidly, his sleeves flying. Between the two, the sound of whip sheaths breaking through the air rang out repeatedly, only to be swallowed by the rippling water and blocked by Zhen Qianfan’s fists.
Seeing himself gaining ground, Zhen Qianfan’s heart suddenly filled with joy, as if he could see himself killing his powerful enemy and obtaining the object he had dreamed of, finally completing his foundation.
He broke through again and again, continuously breaking through—entering the Heavenly Human Realm, climbing the Spirit Platform, finding the method to sever the connection between heaven and earth and enter the Heavenly Realm.
His smile became pronounced, and his whole body felt light, flying higher and higher, higher and higher; the Heavenly Realm was already in sight.
He relaxed his entire being, and suddenly, a fair, slender palm appeared in his eyes.
The palm descended from the "Heavenly Realm," pressing toward the top of his head.
"Twelve Paths of Great Void" — Path of Ascension!
As the palm reached his crown, a sudden, intense sense of danger erupted in Zhen Qianfan’s heart.
He had no time to think; he let the pitch-black shadow at his feet, which had transformed into a behemoth, shrink and rise, merging with him as one.
With a splashing sound, Zhen Qianfan suddenly thrust a single palm upward.
This palm was like a giant fish leaping from the deep sea, possessing the ferocity to overturn rivers and seas, stirring the surrounding illusory water and forming a violent vortex.
The dark, gloomy vortex, with Zhen Qianfan’s palm as its core, drew in Su Chongxiao’s "Ascension" palm, and the two collided.
Boom!
Water exploded, falling downward like rain, filling the hall, and rising upward like a fountain, shattering the roof.
Zhen Quanwang, who had been jolted awake by his father, saw this scene and felt that staying in the Listening-to-Water Pavilion was a very dangerous thing. He scrambled to flee toward the back of the hall, escaping outside the building.
At the same time, Dai Shen of the Boat-Capsizing Sect, wearing a bamboo hat, and Ma Hanjiang of the Small Boat Gang bypassed the retainers, guards, and servants who had already begun to slaughter each other and arrived at the main entrance.
Dai Shen’s bright red lips, which had a bird-like texture, curled into a grin. He seized the moment when Su Chongxiao was flipped upward by Zhen Qianfan’s palm to dissipate the force, and Zhen Qianfan’s feet were stuck in the damp ground, making it difficult to move. His right palm, with tiger claws stained blood-red, reached straight for Zhen Qianfan’s forehead with sharp, pointed tips.
Zhen Qianfan did not panic in the face of danger; he took a sharp breath.
It was like a long whale drinking water, instantly drawing all the surrounding illusory water into his body.
A moment later, having no time to thrust his palm upward again, Zhen Qianfan threw a light, empty punch.
A violent sound of water erupted, and streams of illusory water surged from the point where Zhen Qianfan’s fist collided with the air, as if a river had burst its banks.
This caused the waterfall from the rockery outside the hall to slam into the room at an angle, surging forward and pushing Dai Shen back a zhang, causing him to miss his chance.
Ren Youyang’s guards and Su Chongxiao’s attendants were all blown away by this.
Ma Hanjiang of the Small Boat Gang did not join the siege on Zhen Qianfan; his mind was filled only with the thought of turning the Zhen Mansion into a river of blood.
Seeing the back of Zhen Quanwang fleeing, his murderous intent surged to his brain. A turtle shell appeared on his body, and he ran in wild pursuit.
In a corner near the main entrance, Su Qingli, who was crouching quietly, said to Ren Youyang:
"It’s quite dangerous here, easy to get caught in the crossfire. I plan to find another place to hide."
Without waiting for Ren Youyang’s response, she braced her hands and smashed through the wooden window, landing lightly on the corridor outside the Listening-to-Water Pavilion. Her movements were graceful, rising and falling, sometimes leaping over eaves and walking on walls, sometimes nimbly swaying as she moved away from the scene of mutual slaughter.
Her maid followed with the same movement technique.
After fleeing for a while, Su Qingli saw Ren Youyang charging through various scenes of combat like a mad dog, but there was a group of guards in front of him engaged in infighting, making it difficult to bypass.
Sigh. The young girl sighed, turned back, grabbed Ren Youyang by the shoulder, and with him in tow, kicked off a wooden pillar, leaped onto the roof, crossed the rows of black tiles, and jumped down from the other side.
…………
Lotus Pond Courtyard.
Qin Nansheng, having sent Cuihe away to do other tasks, had followed Liu Yuzao’s instructions, changing into simple maid’s clothing and styling her hair into a double-bun.
"Later, smear some dust on your face, pretending you fell on the way while escaping the Zhen Mansion." Qi Xiaoxiang, who went by the alias Liu Yuzao, gave a few pointers.
Without waiting for Qin Nansheng to speak further, she nodded gently and said:
"Once the chaos begins, you must flee outside the Zhen Mansion. Go to the Li Family Steamed Bun Shop on Guangsheng Street and say you want to buy three white buns: one donkey meat filling, one venison filling, and one fruit filling. Someone will be there to meet you and arrange for you to leave Dingjiang Prefecture."
"You have performed very well over the past two years, and the Sect Master is very satisfied. After this is done, do you want to take a sum of silver and live a life of leisure, or would you like to choose a supreme technique to practice martial arts?"
Qin Nansheng was quite surprised:
"I am already twenty-two years old; can I still practice martial arts?"
"I didn't start Aperture Refining until I was twenty-four. Didn't you also practice Body Tempering and Qi Refining at the Zhen Mansion?" Qi Xiaoxiang said in a cold, clear voice.
Qin Nansheng’s face lit up with joy, and she performed a deep bow:
"Thank the Sect Master on my behalf!"
Qi Xiaoxiang returned to her silent state, waiting patiently.
It was unknown how much time had passed when a "boom" sounded from somewhere in the Zhen Mansion, and the sounds of shouting, killing, and the clashing of blades could be faintly heard.
Qi Xiaoxiang nodded to Qin Nansheng, walked out of the Lotus Pond Courtyard by herself, and took out a mechanical device resembling a firework from her bosom.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three fireworks, red, yellow, and green, flew into the sky and exploded into brilliant flowers.
…………
Inside the Magistrate’s Office, Qiu Chen, alias Ding Shengyi, was processing documents as usual, seemingly unaware that some of his colleagues were watching him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He looked up toward the window and saw the fireworks blooming in the sky.
A constable who had pretended to come over for a casual chat suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head, and long, whisker-like appendages seemed to extend from his nose, mouth, and ears.
His vision went black, and he drew his saber, slashing violently at another constable nearby.
In the clerk’s room, several others also rose up in a frenzy.
…………
At the docks.
Seeing the red, yellow, and green fireworks blooming in the sky, Ding Daniu’s face instantly broke into a wide grin.
He turned around abruptly and slammed a fist directly into the foreman’s face.
Bang!
The foreman’s entire face caved in, and his body flew more than a zhang away.
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