The icy sword shattered the air, surging forward with reckless abandon — just like Luo Bing's cold, resolute heart.
This strike was destined to hit nothing, for the gap in strength between Luo Bing and Yang Kai was far too great. She hadn't even reached the halfway point before Yang Kai had already guided his wooden boat away and vanished without a trace.
But the sword did not strike empty after all.
A burly figure materialized before Luo Bing, his gaze filled with a complicated mixture of pity and something deeper.
Luo Bing couldn't pull back in time. With a soft *pu-chi*, the long sword drove straight into the chest of that burly frame, sinking three inches deep. Blood sprayed outward.
Luo Bing froze on the spot, her entire being going blank as she stared in disbelief at that towering figure. The words tumbled out before she could think: "Brother Chai!"
The person who had suddenly appeared before her and taken the sword into his own chest — it was Chai Hu.
With his cultivation at the first-level Dao Source Realm, dodging this strike would have been effortless for Chai Hu. Even if he hadn't wanted to dodge, he could have deflected it easily by circulating his Source Power. But he had done neither. Instead, he had let Luo Bing land her blow.
Luo Bing, who had come here seeking death, finally panicked. She had ambushed Yang Kai with no intention of leaving alive — if she couldn't kill him, she would die at his hands and reunite with her father in the underworld. She had steeled herself for death before coming, yet somehow she had ended up wounding Chai Hu.
The crimson stain on Chai Hu's chest spread rapidly, and Luo Bing's pupils dilated. That swath of red seemed to blot out all the light before her eyes, flooding her entire world with its horrifying, bloody glow.
The massive shock to her mind sent her body going limp. She nearly collapsed to the ground.
Chai Hu reached out to steady her — but not only that, he grasped both her arms and slowly began drawing her toward him.
Luo Bing had no strength to resist. Being pulled toward him wouldn't have mattered, but the sword in her hand was still embedded in his chest. As she moved, the blade sank even deeper.
*Shhhk, shhhk, shhhk…*
The grinding of metal against flesh was unbearably shrill. In the blink of an eye, the sword pierced clean through his chest. Luo Bing's fair face turned deathly pale in an instant, and she cried out in alarm: "Brother Chai, what are you doing?! Stop, please stop!"
But no matter how she screamed, Chai Hu would not relent.
Chiyue and the others all had their expressions change drastically. None of them had ever imagined Chai Hu would do something like this. By the time they reacted, Chai Hu had already pulled Luo Bing right up against his chest, leaned close to her ear, and whispered: "Young Master Yang killed your father. I'm repaying him for it. Don't you raise your hand against him again."
"Stop, please stop! I won't seek revenge anymore — I'm not going after him! Brother Chai, let go!" Luo Bing broke down into tears, feeling the warm dampness seeping against her chest and knowing full well it was Chai Hu's blood. Her mind went blank with helplessness, guilt flooding every corner of her heart. If she hadn't been so reckless, so far over her head in coming here to cause a scene, Chai Hu would never have done this.
She hadn't known Chai Hu for long, and they weren't especially close. But when she had been in her darkest, most desperate hour, he had descended like a godsend warrior, pulling her from the depths of peril. Even if Chai Hu had his own selfish reasons for saving her, Luo Bing had never been able to forget that towering figure who had appeared so suddenly.
A young woman's tender heart had been stirred in that moment, and the most sensitive part of it had been branded with his silhouette.
These months of wandering had only deepened her longing for that feeling of safety he gave her. A faint affection, like fine wine sealed in a cellar, had been fermenting ceaselessly in her heart, and the figure buried deep within had grown ever more vivid, impossible to banish.
Yet now, upon seeing him again, her sword had pierced straight through his chest. Clean through — nearly killing him in an instant. Was over a decade of pampered, carefree living meant only to purchase this one moment of soul-shattering anguish?
If that was the case, she would rather have spent those years in poverty and hardship, so long as he remained safe and whole.
"Get away!" Chiyue roared in fury, swiping a hand to send Luo Bing flying backward. She crashed heavily to the ground.
Ghost Ancestor and the others rushed forward at once to examine Chai Hu's condition.
Luo Bing, after landing, paid no heed to herself at all. Instead, she scrambled and crawled toward Chai Hu, her pretty face completely wrecked by tears, her features overcome with guilt and remorse.
After a moment, Ghost Ancestor finally let out a soft breath and said: "It's fine — his heart meridians weren't touched. Not too serious."
As he spoke, he produced a pill and slipped it into Chai Hu's mouth. A pulse of Source Power sent the sword flying out of his body, and then he channeled his own strength inward, helping to neutralize the medicine's effects and heal the wound.
"I'll take him back first to recover," Ghost Ancestor said, already lifting Chai Hu into his arms and hurtling toward the Thousand Leaves Sect.
Before departing, Chai Hu coughed lightly and said: "Don't trouble her. She has her own difficulties."
Chiyue sighed: "What even is this mess?"
Today's events had been utterly baffling, but Chiyue had caught a glimpse of something beneath the surface — it seemed her Fourth Brother and the young princess of Crane City had some kind of history.