Chapter 9

As a shadow darted across the wooden lattice gate, Ning Xiaoling opened her eyes.

"Who's there!"

A chill ran through her limbs, and she shouted fiercely, instantly becoming fully awake.

Complete silence.

But it was only for an extremely brief moment, not even enough for Ning Xiaoling to take a full breath. From the darkness on her right, a low humming sound accompanied by a concealed killing intent suddenly pierced through.

The sound of a porcelain bottle breaking rang out clearly.

A long blade thrust out from between the wooden racks on the right, the coldness coalescing into a single point, aiming directly for her neck.

It was an extremely dangerous strike, like a venomous snake suddenly darting out from the grass, with astonishing speed and lethal intent.

Yet, Ning Xiaoling, for some reason, had a sudden intuition and reacted by pulling back even before the porcelain bottle broke. When the blade's intent reached her, she had already taken two steps back, and the blade's momentum could no longer reach her.

The assassin was surprised by her reaction, and with the carved cabinet between them, he was limited and could not immediately make a second strike.

Although Ning Xiaoling had dodged the terrifying strike, she was still trembling, her eyelids fluttering wildly.

The door was tightly closed, and the room was not spacious. In the darkness, the sharp blade still pointed at her.

Ning Xiaoling had never experienced such a situation before and had no time to make any effective response. The sound of the long blade breaking through the wood rang out, and the assassin did not choose to withdraw the blade and circle around the cabinet. Instead, he slapped the hilt, making the blade fly directly at her, while simultaneously circling the cabinet at high speed.

The killing intent came again.

Ning Xiaoling could not see the path of the blade, but the intuition in her heart suddenly magnified, making her instinctively step back and lean backward.

Whoosh!

Just as the blade was about to reach her, a gust of night wind suddenly blew, and a window was blown open. The curtains fluttered, and the light from the corridor illuminated the room, casting the blade's light into bright red points.

That was the window the assassin had opened when he entered the room.

In that thin light, Ning Xiaoling saw the blade's trajectory. In that instant, her body moved several times faster. She stepped on the ground, leaned over, and slapped the ground with her palms, then leaped to the side, skillfully splitting the deadly strike.

With a clink, the blade had already pierced into the partition behind her.

All of this happened in an extremely short time, and the assassin's figure also appeared in the darkness. However, his palm strike also missed, only touching a bit of her clothing.

He had no time to wonder why this little girl suddenly became so agile and instinctively pulled the blade back.

He found that he could not move it.

Then, a pain erupted from his wrist, as if something had bitten him hard.

The assassin violently shook his wrist, throwing a white figure off.

It was a snow fox without a tail, small like a kitten. But its reaction was incredibly fast. As soon as it touched the ground, it leaped like a bullet, jumping toward the girl.

The assassin instantly understood and was filled with shock: "A congenital spirit? You can actually form a spirit?"

Among the world's cultivators, those who could form a spirit from birth were one in ten thousand.

Ning Xiaoling did not waste words and directly ran toward the window where the light was coming from. She shouted for help and was about to break the window and escape.

The assassin's shock was brief. He instinctively reached for a small crossbow at his waist.

As Ning Xiaoling jumped, he immediately aimed at the position where her body would leap and pulled the trigger. With a whoosh, the arrow instantly broke the string and flew out.

No matter how talented the girl was, she lacked experience in matters of life and death.

Her current cultivation was not enough to change her speed and position in mid-air without a support point.

So, after she jumped, the arrow followed her trajectory, and she had no way to avoid it.

The wind tore through the air, and the small arrow was both fast and straight.

The snow fox sensed the killing intent, its fur bristling, and leaped into the air, trying to block the deadly arrow.

But the spirit was just formed, and it was shattered upon contact with the arrow, disintegrating into smoke and flowing back into Ning Xiaoling's mind. She felt a sweetness in her throat, and before the blood could spurt out, the arrow was already aiming at her waist.

At this decisive moment, the assassin suddenly froze.

He rubbed his eyes, unsure if he was seeing things.

The arrow had torn through the paper and the window, nailing into the wall, and the little girl's figure seemed to vanish into thin air like a ghost.

Then, the door suddenly opened.

A young man in a green robe, expressionless, walked in. In his hand, he held a frightened little girl, Ning Xiaoling.

The assassin was on high alert.

"Go back, don't make me change my mind." The young man in the green robe opened his palm, revealing a jade token.

The assassin was stunned. "A Qinghua Si jade token... how did you get it?"

Ning Changjiu said, "Seeing this jade token, you must obey. Go back. If you are still unsatisfied, you can come again, and I will try to kill you."

As he spoke, Ning Changjiu reversed his grip on the hilt and pulled it out. With a flick of his arm, the blade returned to its sheath with a whoosh, the sound of the blade shattering like a firecracker.

...

...

In the room, the woman's sleepwear was disheveled, and she was drenched in cold sweat.

She slumped onto the bed, still unable to believe what she had just seen.

The formation had been completed, and the young man was clearly trapped like a caged beast. Yet, in just three breaths, she watched him pick up the lamp on the table, step precisely in seven steps, not a moment too early or too late, and break through the formation, appearing before her.

"This is the sincerity I offer you." He said only this, then took the jade token from under her pillow without another word.

At that moment, she finally understood that the sincerity he spoke of was strength.

Because he was strong enough, they had to take him seriously, even cater to him.

But... why was this young Taoist so powerful?

She took a deep breath and immediately looked for paper and a pen.

No matter his background or which side he would stand on, this matter must be reported to the young lady immediately, and he must not become a key factor affecting the overall situation.

After taking the paper and pen, she whistled to the outside.

By the time she finished writing the note and the ink had dried, a small red sparrow had landed on the window frame, staring at her with its black eyes.

She quickly rolled up the note, and the sparrow opened its mouth, directly taking the note into its beak and flying into the night.

She sighed deeply, looking into the misty night, feeling a bit more at ease.

The events of the night were too sudden, and she had no power to speculate on the underlying causes. She could only do what she needed to do.

"Yuer, what... what are you doing?"

A voice came from outside the door.

The woman was startled, turning to see Zhao Shisong, still in his sleepwear, standing at the door, looking at her with a complex expression.

She had been too nervous and had not noticed Zhao Shisong's arrival at all!

"You..." Zhao Shisong trembled, pointing at her. He remembered the red sparrow that had just flown away and said in disbelief, "Are you her person?"

The woman did not answer, looking at him with a complex expression.

Zhao Shisong was no longer sleepy and stomped his foot in anger. "Tang Yuer! What have I done wrong to you? You were just a servant to her, but to me, you had silk clothes, fine food, and all the luxuries. Even when you were sick or possessed, I still stayed by your side for several days. What more could you want?!"

Zhao Shisong's body trembled with agitation, his beard quivering, and the wrinkles around his eyes deepening.

The woman named Tang Yuer said softly, "I know you treated me well, and I am grateful. I wanted to treat you well too, but..."

The emotion in her voice gradually faded, like the rain that had quietly stopped that night.

"But twenty days ago, you should not have led so many people to surround the Empress's palace. The moment you left, everything was decided."

Zhao Shisong was angry and confused. He crossed the threshold and quickly walked to her, staring at her young and beautiful face, and said with pain:

"What magic does that woman have? You grew up there, but with your status, how could you have ever met her? Why are you so blindly loyal? Now, although Zhao Xiang'er has returned, she is still weak... You still have a chance to turn back. I... can forgive you."

As he spoke, he reached out to touch her shoulder.

Tang Yuer subtly stepped back, her gaze becoming more determined.

"If I am blindly loyal, then you are foolish."

"Why?"

"You dare to say the Empress is dead without seeing her remains. What else could that be but foolishness?"

"But..."

Tang Yuer did not want to listen anymore. Her eyes grew colder: "Moreover, twenty days ago, many people died in the Gan Yu Palace, some of whom were my former sisters."

Birds chirped outside the window, and the red sparrow returned.

Zhao Shisong glanced at it, a great fear rising in his heart. He finally realized something and immediately stepped back, shouting loudly, "Help!"

...

In Ning Xiaoling's room, the floor was in disarray, and the assassin had left.

Ning Xiaoling was still shaken by what had just happened.

As she helplessly watched the arrow fly toward her in mid-air, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her out.

She clung to Ning Changjiu's hand, almost crying.

Everything that happened tonight was too sudden.

She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat heavily, thumping in her palm, unable to calm down.

She lay on the bed, frowning and looking at her senior brother: "Senior Brother, let's go back..."

Ning Changjiu said, "I will find a suitable time to send you back first."

Ning Xiaoling asked, "What about you? Aren't you coming with me?"

Ning Changjiu said, "I need to stay here."

Ning Xiaoling asked, "Is what's happening in this palace related to you, Senior Brother?"

Ning Changjiu said, "That is their grudge, not my cause."

"Hmm..." Ning Xiaoling thought for a moment, then gathered her courage to ask, "What cause is Senior Brother looking for?"