by N/A
Du Xiao Li got a shock from hearing this information. Water Moon Paradise was already one of the top three forces in Jiang Hu, yet it was unexpectedly just one branch of a sect! Then just how formidable must the strength of the sect be?! Moreover, everyone only knew about Moon Water Paradise and had no idea about any other sect. It was clear that they must have concealed themselves tremendously well!
“Wait a moment,” Du Xiao Li interrupted Fairy Shui Qing. “You said whoever can play the Phoenix Flute is your what… Sect Master?”
“Yes. That’s why I said we’re not here to snatch away the secret book. Instead, we’re here to find you,” Fairy Shui Qing replied.
“You came to find me… to make me your Sect Master?”
“Yes. You managed to play the Phoenix Flute, so you’re our Sect Master,” Fairy Shui Qing said with certainty.
“My father is a member of the Imperial Court.”
Members of the Imperial Court and Jiang Hu normally had no dealings with each other, and there had never been a case in which a member of the Imperial Court was the leader of some Jiang Hu force.
Of course, people like Feng Li Shang who entered the Imperial Court with a hidden identity weren’t counted.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I refuse.”
“Miss Du, you don’t need to make a decision for this matter so quickly. I know that perhaps it may be momentarily difficult for you to accept all of this since you’ve only just been made aware it, but I believe Miss Du will thoroughly consider the merits and drawbacks of this matter. In fact, the line dividing Jiang Hu and the Imperial Court isn’t a particularly clear one. Aren’t your parents the best example of that?”
After Du Xiao Li returned to her own room, she lay down on the bed and thought about all the information she’d been given today. This matter did indeed shock her somewhat, and she also found it rather hard to accept. However, upon thinking of Su Su Xin, Du Xiao Li felt she would be stepping into the Jiang Hu world sooner or later anyway.
At dawn of the second day, Du Xiao Li and the others checked out of the inn as the members of Water Moon Paradise had already prepared the horses the previous day.
Ever since Du Xiao Li’s conversation with Fairy Shui Qing and Feng Li Shang the previous afternoon, the latter two didn’t bring up the matter again. Even during dinner time, they only spoke about other things. Still, it was only because Beiling Yi Cheng was injured that Du Xiao Li accepted Fairy Shui Qing’s offer to send them back to the city.
Due to Beiling Yi Cheng’s injury, Du Xiao Li’s party could not travel at a fast speed. So when they passed through the same woods from the previous day, they even encountered the corpses from the previous day’s battle.
Initially, because of the previous day’s interrupted assassination, it should have been a fairly smooth-sailing journey at present. Nevertheless, they were still stopped midway.
Du Xiao Li gazed at the black-clothed people who suddenly appeared on the col [1]. She truly never expected that she would encounter so many problems during this short trip out of the city. It seemed that many people wanted to get rid of her—the thorn in their side!
“Protect Miss Du!”
Fairy Shui Qing gave out an order, and the members of Water Moon Paradise dispersed to form a protective circle around Du Xiao Li and Beling Yi Cheng.
“There are many more people this time in comparison to yesterday! Are they members of Hitman Pavilion?” Beiling Yi Cheng asked.
“No, their clothes aren’t the same,” Du Xiao Li.
Beiling Yi Cheng took a more careful look. Although the people were also dressed in black clothes, these black clothes were indeed somewhat different from those of the people from the previous day.
Seeing the ferocious group of people, Du Xiao Li laughed grimly. She said, “I didn’t even know... Surprisingly, there are so many people who want to kill me!”
Logically, there should have only been a small number of people who knew about her departure from the city. Aside from Du Yun Han and Han Ming Yi, the only one remaining was that person on the throne, the Emperor. However, he shouldn’t be someone who wants to kill her, at least not at present. Otherwise, Northern Qi’s princess was going to die in Feng Ming, and that was definitely something he wouldn’t want to see happen.
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Ch. 089.5 – She’s One of Moon Water Paradise's People?! (5)
It seemed that there was information leaking from somewhere in between!
“Attack!”
One of the black-clothed people shouted, and the two hundred people charged toward Du Xiao Li’s party of ten or so people.
The mounted members of Water Moon Paradise simultaneously began playing the instruments they held in their hands. However, because their Sound Arts weren’t powerful, it was somewhat difficult for them to deal with this many opponents. Nevertheless, they still managed to stop the opponents from coming within 10 meters or so of their protective circle, preventing them from getting even one step closer.
Beiling Yi Cheng was somewhat stunned upon once again seeing Sound Arts being used to kill.
“This is the fourth level of Sound Arts—using sound to kill,” Fairy Shui Qing said to Du Xiao Li.
At the first level of Sound Arts, one could influence the mood of the surrounding people, like when Du Xiao Li blew the flute to soothe Hu Yi Jian previously. Upon reaching the higher realm of the first level, one would be able to influence the mood of animals.
At the second level, one could control animals and get them to attack humans. Simultaneously, it would also be possible to injure other humans somewhat.
At the third level, the power of the sound produced by the musical instruments would have the ability to kill humans directly. However, the amount of power was still not that great at this stage, so the attacks would only be able to focus on one or two targets.
At the fourth level, it was the ability to kill a group of people. The magnitude of its power would depend on how low or high the user’s rank was within the level.
At the fifth level, the power would be amplified, and the number of people that could be killed simultaneously would increase. Additionally, the user would be able to easily control the actions of other people.
These were all abilities that Du Xiao Li had already mastered at present. All of the higher ranks used the fifth level as a foundation for expansions of power, and upon reaching an even higher realm, it wouldn’t be an issue to control more than a thousand people simultaneously.
However, Fairy Shui Qing assumed that Du Xiao Li’s Sound Arts was still within the first two levels. After all, Du Xiao Li didn’t have a teacher and had only been relying on self-study. One’s progression in Sound Arts would be comparatively slower without guidance. Moreover, Du Xiao Li had been training in the Sound Arts for only a short period of time, unlike these members of Water Moon Paradise that Fairy Shui Qing brought along. They had been studying Sound Arts for close to ten years, with some having studied for even longer than that. Yet until now, they had merely reached the third level. Even Fairy Shui Qing, who was acclaimed to be Water Moon Paradise’s most gifted member, had slowly and gradually worked her way up to the fourth level, first interacting with Sound Arts at the age of five until her current age of 20.
The first batch of black-clothed people was completely blocked off. Regardless, the person who had given out the order waved his hand once more, and another batch of dozens of people rushed over. Besieged by the hundreds of people, the members of Water Moon Paradise were already at their limits.
Seeing this, Fairy Shui Qing placed her own flute by her mouth and started playing it. At this moment, the beautiful notes of the flute became the embodiment of fatal curse-talismans [1], reaping the lives o
f the black-clothed people into her sack.
The sight of those black-clothed people, who were all well trained, gave Du Xiao Li a familiar vibe like she’d seen them somewhere before. Then she suddenly remembered that when she had also encountered a situation like this when she entered the capital with Imperial Tutor Meng’s family. Those imperial bodyguards who protected Imperial Tutor Meng had given her a similar vibe.
The ones who sent these assassins out to kill her were from the palace!
Indeed, it was because they were these sort of people that they had the power to send so many people over.
“Oh——”
The members of Water Moon Paradise had exhausted too much internal strength, yet they still forced themselves to continue using Sound Arts. Consequently, they suffered a backlash from the musical instruments, and quite a few of them had blood leaking out of their mouths. After a long while, even Fairy Shui Qing felt somewhat strained.
“Miss Du, the two of you should leave first. We’ll handle things here.” Fairy Shui Qing had no choice but to allow Du Xiao Li to leave as the opposing party was simply too great in number.
After such great difficulty, Water Moon Paradise had finally found a person who could play the Phoenix Flute. How could they allow her to die prematurely at this point?!
When Du Xiao Li saw they were doing their utmost to protect her, she sighed inwardly and spurred her horse to go over to Fairy Shui Qing’s side. Then she said, “Lend me your flute.”
Fairy Shui Qing turned her head and saw Du Xiao Li’s bright eyes. Seeing the confidence in them, Fairy Shui Qing’s anxious heart calmed down instantly, and she passed her flute over to Du Xiao Li.
Du Xiao Li took hold of the flute and gently caressed it several times. Soon after, she covered the flute holes with her fingers, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She then reopened her eyes to reveal a cold and murderous gaze. Watching the group of black-clothed people charge over incessantly, Du Xiao Li placed the flute by her lips and began to play it.
The first note flew out from the flute, and Fairy Shui Qing’s body suddenly shook. With a face full of disbelief, she looked toward Du Xiao Li. She was unexpectedly sensing a power greater than her own from Du Xiao Li’s flute notes.
“This… This is the fifth level…”
For Sound Arts, there was a huge dividing line between the fourth and fifth levels. In Du Xiao Li’s words, the fourth level was like a machine gun in her previous world. Whereas, the fifth level was like a mightily powerful bomb, making it simply too easy of a feat to destroy an entire area with an explosion.
Du Xiao Li’s fingers were moving extremely quickly, and the force of each note went straight toward the opponents. Although she was attacking a group, the power she displayed was several times greater than Fairy Shui Qing’s. The black-clothed people rushing over at the front of the group all lost their lives in an instant.
When the rescued members of Moon Water Paradise heard such a powerful flute sound, they all turned back to look in amazement. Then when they saw that the person playing the flute was Du Xiao Li, they were stunned.
Fairy Shui Qing waved her hand at these people. She seemed to be telling them that with Du Xiao Li around, it would only be a matter of time before the opposing party was eliminated.
“Senior Sister, this is…”
Faced with the shock in everyone’s eyes, Fairy Shui Qing nodded. Soon after, she stopped speaking and just watched Du Xiao Li use the sounds of the flute to kill the opponents before them one by one.
Compared to the members of Water Moon Paradise, the opposing black-clothed people were even more astonished. They had never imagined that Du Xiao Li would not only know martial arts but Water Moon Paradise’s Sound Arts as well! After all, everyone in the martial arts world and the Imperial Court knew that aside from members of Water Moon Paradise, there was no one who knew Sound Arts.
However, how could she be a member of Water Moon Paradise?!
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Ch. 090.1 – Attack! (1)
As Du Xiaoli’s fingertips flitted along her flute, waves of power flew out from it and reaped the lives of those people like a harvesting machine. Very quickly, more than half the people had collapsed onto the ground.
“She’s s-so powerful!” The members of Water Moon Paradise were all stunned by this scene before them. Wasn’t this the sort of strength that only the sect’s law-keepers and the elders possessed?!
The black-clothed people were so frightened by Du Xiaoli’s power that they dared not advance any further. She was clearly just a 14-year-old child, and she was clearly just holding a flute. Yet she gave them a kind of feeling as if she were the reincarnation of Asura. The killing intent she was emitting made them take a step back unconsciously.
When the black-clothed man standing right at the back saw his subordinates’ reactions, he chided the latter: “All of you, advance! No one’s allowed to retreat! Your lives are not yours. Think of what will happen if you retreat! Keep going forward!”
With nowhere to retreat, all of the black-clothed people charged forward again. They were even greater in number this time around, and this made the heartbeats of Water Moon Paradise’s members and Beiling Yicheng suspend in worry.
“You sure are acting recklessly!”
Du Xiaoli laughed coldly for a moment, then there was a change in the flute’s melody. It was not as intense as the one just before. Instead, its vibe was a bit hard to pinpoint. However, this sort of music was even more shocking than the tune she had just played. That was because the moment those black-clothed people heard this tune, they all pointed their swords at their own allies in succession.
They were being controlled!
Those people were like puppets with absolutely no consciousness as they used their blades to swing wildly at the people beside them. Consequently, the number of black-clothed people began to decrease rapidly. By the time Du Xiaoli’s tune ended, the over two hundred people—aside from the person who had been commanding them from the very rear—had all gone to check in at the King of Hell’s place.
“Who sent you?!” Du Xiaoli was just holding a flute while sitting on a horse, yet her small figure gave others a kind of feeling like a weight of 18,000 kilograms was pressing down on their head. Her question was asked in a tone that was utterly bereft of emotion like that of a voice from hell.
Seeing the completely unharmed Du Xiaoli, the one remaining black-clothed person felt a burst of cold chill his heart. Du Xiaoli was so young, yet she had already hidden her real self so deeply without the slightest trace of exposure. Was it truly a good thing for his master to be enemies with this sort of person?
The black-clothed man wanted to flee, but he didn’t know where he should run to. His family members were all under the control of other people, so if he were to escape, they would be killed in his place. Suddenly, he looked up at the sky and let out a hearty laugh. After laughing for a while, he collapsed with his eyes wide open, displaying his resentment.
212 people were completely wiped out, without a single person left alive.
Du Xiaoli didn’t say anything for a long while as she gazed at the corpses before her. An autumn wind blew against her face, and wafting in the midst of the cold wind was a strong smell of blood. In her distracted state, that familiar scent made her once again recall the battles she’d fought in her previous life. She thought of the first time she killed someone. The room had reeked with the scent of blood, making her unable to eat or even have a single sip of water for three days and three nights. At that time, she was only 14 years old. Since then, she slowly began getting used to coming into contact with bright red blood.
Ever since coming to this world, Du Xiaoli had always been making herself more powerful as
she knew she would once again encounter that sort of situation. Upon smelling this familiar scent of blood again, she felt the different times and places had intertwined, and she couldn’t distinguish between her past and current lives.
When Fairy Shui Qing saw Du Xiaoli staring dazedly at the corpses, she yelled: “Miss Du. Let’s carry on with our journey.”
Du Xiaoli came to her senses and saw Fairy Shui Qing’s somewhat worried expression. Handing the flute in her hand back to Fairy Shui Qing, Du Xiaoli said, “Let’s go then.”
Once she finished talking, she pressed against the sides of the horse with her legs, and the horse broke into a run. Meanwhile, the others hurried to catch up with her. Before long, they had cast that pile of corpses far behind them.
Beiling Yicheng was following Du Xiaoli from behind. Seeing that small figure on the horse in front of him, his heart shook like never before. He had never ever encountered a girl like her. Although he had been interacting with her for only a few days, she had shocked him time and time again in unbroken succession. With her medical expertise and martial art skills, someone like her was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in this world. Her dutifulness, decisiveness, good-natured attitude toward the common people, and callousness toward her enemies—every aspect of Du Xiaoli was different to those of the girls he’d interacted with previously.
Such a wondrous girl… Just what sort of existence was she?!
During the journey back, Du Xiaoli didn’t speak a single word. Everyone knew that she wasn’t in a particularly good mood, so they didn’t bother her.
It was at around noon that the party of people finally returned to Phoenix City. Upon reaching the city gates, the members of Water Moon Paradise parted with Du Xiaoli after telling her to go looking in the courtyard behind Blizzard Pavilion [1] if she wished to find them.
Du Xiaoli knew that there was a courtyard behind Blizzard Pavilion, but she had never imagined it would be Water Moon Paradise’s territory.
After parting with the members of Water Moon Paradise, she and Beiling Yicheng returned to Sui Yuan Club together. They entered from the back gate and headed straight for the Northern Qi’s women’s courtyard.