Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 29: Slain!

Under the white light of the moon, Yun Ruoyan’s red attire was particularly eye-catching.

“Ah, she’s heading in our direction!” Yi Qianying was the first to call out, so panicked that she didn’t know what to do.

Yun Ruoyao and the others turned pale as they confirmed Yi Qianying’s exclamation. Clearly, she was trying to pull them down with her! What a frightening and vicious girl!

Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu cursed Yun Ruoyan in their hearts, but Yun Ruoyan couldn’t care less. With her phantom-like footwork, she swiftly passed through the gap between Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu, hiding behind the two of them!

The canines of the saber-toothed tiger appeared right afterwards, and, having no time to dodge, the two girls could only raise their swords to block the attack.

Yun Ruoyao felt that defending against the tiger’s canines was just like swinging her sword at an unbelievably tough piece of steel, and the backlash rattled her body. She was flung back a few steps by this force; Yun Ruoyu, on the other hand, fell onto the ground. As she turned, she spat out a mouthful of blood.

This was the difference between a fourth-rank and fifth-rank blademaster: Yun Ruoyao was able to defend against the saber-toothed tiger’s blow head on and survived rattled but unscathed, whereas Yun Ruoyu suffered an internal injury as a result.

“Ah, Brother Ziao, be careful!” Yi Qianying called out.

After noticing that Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyu could barely defend against a single blow, she used her footwork again to hide behind Pei Ziao.

Although Pei Ziao and Yun Ruoyao were both fifth-rank blademasters, Yun Ruoyao had only been a fifth-rank for less than half a year.

On the other hand, Pei Ziao had already been a fifth-rank blademaster for at least two years.

Based on Yun Ruoyan’s understanding of his cultivation, he had the strength to deal with three blows from the saber-toothed tiger.

Pei Ziao’s weapon was a long spear that could be extended or contracted at will. After blocking two blows, he found a gap in the tiger’s defenses and thrust its spear at one yellow eye.

As he thrust, the spear itself stretched to twice its original length, and it looked as if his blow would succeed.

But after having been struck in the chest by Yun Ruoyan, the tiger had become more vigilant, and it tilted its head just as the blow landed, snagging the spear between its canines.

It was originally planning on breaking it in one blow, but it hadn’t expected the spear to be just as tough as its canines.

After all, Pei Ziao was the only heir of the Pei family. After he’d almost lost his life trying to save Yun Ruoyan, Pei Yingxiong had become even more concerned for his safety and had even lent him his own weapon for this expedition.

Pei Ziao refused to let go of the spear that was stuck between the tiger’s canines.

The tiger violently shook its head in fury, and Pei Ziao was flung up into the air.

“Brother Ziao, let go!” Yi Qianying shouted at him from afar.

Pei Ziao grit his teeth. This spear was his father’s treasure, and he was loath to give it up just like that. But his life was more important, and, in the end, Pei Ziao released his grip, his body flying up into the air and coincidentally arcing down towards Yi Qianying.

“Ah!” Yi Qianying let out a pained scream.

By the side and watching all this happen was Yun Ruoyan, and she couldn’t help but shake her head and sigh. This pair of illicit lovers really seemed fated to be together!

After the saber-toothed tiger had disabled Pei Ziao, it turned and began attacking Yun Ruoyan once more.

Why does it keep on chasing me? Do I smell particularly enticing?!

The tiger loosened its jaws and dropped the spear onto the ground. Immediately afterwards, it opened its jaws wide and pounced on Yun Ruoyan.

In the beginning, the tiger had played with Yun Ruoyan like a cat with a mouse, but the battle had completely uncovered its bestial nature.

Yun Ruoyan leaped up from the ground, avoiding the saber-toothed tiger’s attack. Its sharp canines landed on the spot that Yun Ruoyan had been on before, and a large pit immediately appeared on the ground!

Yun Ruoyan rolled and dodged before picking up the spear that Pei Ziao had dropped, and then mimicked his attack stance.

“Ruoyan, throw me the spear!” Pei Ziao called out towards Yun Ruoyan. “This spear can only be handled by a fifth-rank blademaster, you won’t be able to use it at all!”

He was about to dash over when Yi Qianying grabbed hold of his wrists tightly.

“Brother Ziao, I’m scared!”

She had just been smashed onto the ground by Pei Ziao’s body. Based on her cultivation, it shouldn’t have been a problem for her, but, intentionally or otherwise, she too ended up spitting blood from her mouth.

Pei Ziao looked at Yi Qianying, lying in his lap with a terrified expression on her small face, a few traces of blood by her lips, and his heart clenched.

Yun Ruoyan naturally ignored Pei Ziao’s words. While the saber-toothed tiger was recovering from its failed blow, she quickly thrust the spear at its body.

But because the spear was too heavy, Yun Ruoyan didn’t use sufficient strength in her thrust, and the spear ended up only pricking the tiger’s front paw, barely hurting the beast.

In rage, the tiger swung its tail at the spear. This time, Yun Ruoyan was unable to respond to the attack fast enough and flew up into the air.

“You’re really seeking death, aren’t you?!” Pei Ziao shouted in frustration. He’d told her she wouldn’t be able to use the spear, she’d ignored him, and look what happened!

Seeing that the prey it had chased for what felt like half the day had finally fallen, the tiger howled in excitement. It was about to impale Yun Ruoyan with its canines when several arrows flew towards its eyelid.

The tiger turned and glanced at the source of the arrows. Zhuo Yifeng hung from a tree not far away, pulling his bow and pointing it at the tiger.

While Zhuo Yifeng was distracting the tiger, Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue quickly rushed over to Yun Ruoyan and shielded her.

“Sister Ruoyan, are you alright?” Both her cousins looked back at her prone body.

Yun Ruoyan wanted to stand up, but her chest hurt so much that she barely managed to sit up using the spear as support.

At this point, Yun Ruoyao had staggered to Pei Ziao’s side with the injured Yun Ruoyu.

“There’s no need for us to court death with them!” Yun Ruoyu exclaimed, clutching her chest.

The tiger’s blow had led to quite a serious internal injury. Although she’d consumed the life quintessence pill that had been given to her, she could no longer fight.

“The saber-toothed tiger’s only interested in her. We have to run now while we can, or it’ll come after us after it’s done with her,” Yun Ruoyu continued.

“I never expected Ruoyan would try to use us as her shield.” Yun Ruoyao shook her head in disappointment. “And to think we treated her like a sister! How much more vicious can she be?!”

Yun Ruoyao and Yun Ruoyao had conveniently forgotten about how they usually schemed against Yun Ruoyan, as well as who had pushed her into the lake in the first place. Right now, all they could think about was the fact that Yun Ruoyan had to be the most malicious woman in the whole world.

“That’s right! She was the one who tried to take advantage of us first!”

“But what if Uncle found out that we left Ruoyan behind to die?” Yi Qianying asked quietly.

“There’s no proof of any of that! As long as we don’t mention anything, no one will know!” Yun Ruoyao’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Furthermore, even if they did know, isn’t it better for her to die and us to live than for everyone to die together? I’m sure Father won’t say anything. Now, are you coming with me or not?!”

Yi Qianying looked pitifully at Pei Ziao, and a snippet of conversation with his father flashed into his mind. “I’d thought that the second daughter of the Yuns was easy to manipulate, but she’s surprisingly firm-willed. If you can’t get close to her, then you might as well let it be for now.”

Pei Ziao looked at the Yi Qianying in his lap, thinking that safety was more important. He could come back tomorrow to reclaim his father’s spear if he had to! By that time, Yun Ruoyan and the others probably would have been fully consumed by the tiger, so that not even their corpses would be left behind.

“Alright, we’ll leave!” Pei Ziao stood up, helped support Yi Qianying, and rushed into the woods with the Yun sisters.

As he did so, he subconsciously turned around and suddenly met Yun Ruoyan’s mocking gaze. In alarm, he turned back and began walking even more quickly.

Upon seeing Yun Ruoyao and the others slip away, Yun Ruoyan actually relaxed.

With them around, she was scared of exposing too much of her strength, and she didn’t dare to use the bracelet’s strength too much either.

Even so, they had already been shocked by her abilities. If she revealed the true extent of her strength, it would surely lead to unnecessary trouble for her.

“Ruoyan, the rest of them actually fled! Those snivelling cowards!”

Lin Qingxue half-knelt by Yun Ruoyan’s side. Blood seeped out of her mouth; her cultivation wasn’t too far off from Yun Ruoyu’s, and she had also suffered an internal injury due to the tiger’s ridiculous strength.

“For some reason, I’m the only one the tiger’s focused on,” Yun Ruoyan said as she tried to catch her breath. “If we really can’t defeat it, don’t worry about me and run!”

“What are you saying, Ruoyan?!” Lin Qingxue was indignant. “We’re sisters, and we’ll live and die together! We won’t just leave you behind like those stupid Yun sisters!”

Lin Qingxue spat out two mouthfuls of saliva, but she was still aggravated.

Yun Ruoyan’s heart warmed. She clutched Lin Qingxue’s hand, promising, “I swear I won’t let any of you die.”

Ahead of them, Lin Qingchen and Zhuo Yifeng were stopping the tiger together, but their defense was about to fall apart.

Yun Ruoyan hurriedly swallowed her life quintessence pill, which melted in her mouth. Bursts of energy emanated from the pill, quickly healing her injuries.

This time, Yun Ruoyan didn’t hide the strength which the bracelet had endowed her with. She marshalled all the strength into her right hand, which held Pei Ziao’s spear, and stood up from the ground.

“Sister Ruoyan!” Lin Qingchen looked at Yun Ruoyan in a daze, suddenly getting the impression that her sister seemed like a particularly powerful cultivator.

“You won’t have my life so easily, beast!” Yun Ruoyan flew towards the tiger.

“Move aside!” She shouted to Lin Qingchen and Zhuo Yifeng. The two turned around, saw a shadowy figure flying toward them, and subconsciously drew back.

Seeing Yun Ruoyan approach, the tiger let out a howl and sprang forward.

The others, upon realizing that Yun Ruoyan was preparing for a direct confrontation with the beast, quickly went pale.

With her footwork, Yun Ruoyan avoided the tiger’s preliminary attacks before jumping high up into the air.

She gripped the spear tightly with both hands, angling it at the tiger’s brain.

It sunk all the way into the tiger’s head.

This series of actions, graceful and fluid, was completed in the blink of an eye. The outcome left Zhuo Yifeng, Lin Qingchen, Lin Qingxue, and Zhuo Lin’er, hidden in the branches of a large tree, all stupefied.

The saber-toothed tiger opened its jaws, but no longer had the energy to make any noise. It gazed at Yun Ruoyan, her body still in mid-air, its eyes wide with disbelief.

Yun Ruoyan looked into the tiger’s eyes, a sparkling smile by her lips. She planted both feet on the tiger’s head and pulled out the spear, somersaulted in the air, and landed on the ground.

The next moment, the tiger’s giant body fell by her feet!

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