Su Changqing probably never dreamed in a million years that, while he had planned to lure Su Yu out the following day, she would show up tonight instead. Just like death and misfortune, you never know which one will arrive first, or perhaps both come together.
Dragging the man in black along, Su Yu took off straight into the air. Powered by her genuine qi, flying up beyond the highest heavens might have been a bit of a stretch, but soaring three to five thousand meters into the sky was definitely manageable—though she had no idea how long she could keep it up.
With a soft thud, she located a relatively secluded residence and slowly descended, dropping the man in black unceremoniously onto the ground. "Is this the place?"
"Ugh, cough, cough, cough!"
"Y-yes, this is it, my lady! Can this humble servant go now?" The man in black wore a look of utter terror, not just from the fear of being carried in flight for the first time, but from the shattering of his entire worldview.
Earlier, when Su Yu had darted from behind the wall to his side in mere seconds, he had rationalized it by blaming the cover of darkness and assuming she was simply a peerless martial arts prodigy. But now, he no longer believed that for a second. What normal person, no matter how skilled in martial arts, could fly?
Flying was something only immortals or spirits could do. This young lady possessed an ethereal aura, and judging by her face, she was certainly no spirit; therefore, she had to be an immortal. Although he was a loyal assassin trained by Su Changqing, he wasn't stupid. How could a mortal fight an immortal? He was willing to risk his life fighting ordinary people, but he had no desire to die at the hands of an immortal. In front of an immortal like this, everything he did was meaningless. When you couldn't even choose how to die, what else was there to talk about?
"I never said I was going to let you go!" Su Yu gazed down indifferently at the fellow before her. Her emotionless eyes instantly plunged him into a freezing abyss. What was human life worth in her eyes?
"However, considering that you are atoning for your crimes by rendering service, I will spare you for now. I have left a mark of my genuine qi on your body. If we cross paths again, I will show no mercy."
The man in black had originally thought tonight was his doomsday. In that previous instant, his life was supposed to flash before his eyes like a reel of film, but to his utter astonishment, the next second she let him go just like that. Overjoyed, he hurriedly dropped to his knees, kowtowed twice with heavy thuds, and then bolted away without ever looking back.
Su Yu glanced sidelong at this little fish swimming away. She didn't have the morbid sense of humor to say "see you next time" only to turn around and finish someone off. A mere little fish—if she was going to kill, she wanted a big fish, like the one inside the residence before her.
Although this residence was relatively secluded, it lacked none of the usual security. Two stationary guards stood right at the front gate, while various mobile patrols watched the other areas. The defense was exceptionally tight.
Su Yu had no intention of sneaking in stealthily. She simply strolled openly toward the main entrance. The guards holding torches at the gate saw a figure approaching and hurriedly barked, "Halt! Who goes there?!"
Without answering, Su Yu raised her hand and delivered two sword strikes. Swords qi surged straight forward, decapitating the guards before they could even wait for a reply.
Su Yu's sword qi was so fast that the pair couldn't even emit a scream. Having cleared away the two cannon fodder at the entrance, she split the closed main gate in two with a single slash.
"I'm coming in, okay?" Su Yu murmured softly, sounding like a soul-reaping Grim Reaper.
The falling door panels quickly attracted the guards inside the courtyard, and a large group of torch-bearing men rushed out in no time. Their reactions were certainly prompt.
Unfortunately, the opponent they encountered was a terror beyond their imagination.
Su Yu raised her treasured sword and said apathetically, "One strike..." Sword qi swept across in a massive arc, slicing everything it touched in two. In an instant, blood spewed forth, and the air seemed to rain blood—terrifying and bizarre.
Stepping over the litter of severed limbs and broken bodies step by step, Su Yu reached the door of Su Changqing's room. With a single sword stroke, the door shattered into pieces.
Inside, Su Changqing was leisurely reading a book by candlelight when he suddenly heard a commotion and footsteps outside. He frowned, an ominous premonition suddenly welling up in his heart.
He immediately stood up, intending to instruct his subordinates to escort him away through the secret passage. But before he could utter a command, the door suddenly shattered.
Right behind it appeared a figure—the pivotal target of his entire scheme, Su Yu.
It was her? How could it be her?
How had she gotten here? It didn't look like his subordinates had managed to kidnap her a day in advance as planned. What was going on here?
Although Su Changqing couldn't make sense of the situation, whenever abnormalities occurred, something demonic was afoot. He had no intention of acting arrogant in front of Su Yu or wasting breath asking useless questions like how she got here, even though she was carrying a sword whose blade was entirely unstained by blood, looking for all the world like an innocent little girl.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing was best, and Su Changqing didn't think there was any shame in that. Having lived for so many years, the most important lesson he had learned was that only by staying alive did one have a chance to make a comeback!
And so, Su Yu—who was standing by, waiting for her opponent to exchange a couple of lines of dialogue with her like a theatrical villain—watched wide-eyed as the man simply spun around and slipped like grease into the secret passage. At the same time, he didn't forget to order the death squad inside the room to block her with all their might.
"Kill this little girl for me, fast!" Su Changqing screamed at the top of his lungs. In the same breath, he flashed into the back room, frantically pressed a mechanism, and a cabinet clattered a few times to reveal half of the secret passage entrance. Without even waiting for it to fully open, Su Changqing squeezed his body sideways through the gap and began running for his life down the tunnel.
"?" Su Yu tilted her head in confusion. What on earth? This escape speed was so fast and decisive that even she, the sole immortal in this mortal world, failed to react in time. Did he really not want to stay and look just a little longer? Taking another look wouldn't make him explode, after all.
"Prepare to die!" The death squad members in the room proved reasonably dedicated, blocking Su Yu's path with their lives. Unfortunately, discounting the few seconds Su Yu had spent in a daze, this assassin couldn't hold out for even a single fraction of a second. After delivering his final line of dialogue in this lifetime, he promptly went off to report to the King of Hell.
Now staring at the empty room, Su Yu—who had faced everything in this life with serene indifference since birth—finally experienced a tiny crack in her composure.
She had actually let her target slip right under her nose. How could she possibly accept this?!
"Hmph, trying to run?"
Su Yu used Spirit Sight to probe the target's current location, then took a deep breath. For the very first time, she truly raised her treasured sword, Chengdao, in earnest, aiming it directly at Su Changqing's escape route.
"This strike: Dawn Breaks the Heavens!"
Accompanied by Su Yu's soft cry, "Go!", the genuine qi within her body surged into the blade, transforming into tangible sword qi. With a single sweep of her sword, a massive crescent moon suddenly lit up mid-air, illuminating the entire night sky as brightly as day. The moment the sword qi manifested, it plunged violently toward the ground below.
Whatever it touched—tables, chairs, benches, and various other utensils, along with the building ahead—was pulverized into dust. The ground beneath the entire estate was cleaved open. Following the path of the secret passage, the sword qi overtook the frantically fleeing Su Changqing in the span of a single breath.
At that moment, Su Changqing was calculating his next steps after escaping death. Before he could even emit a shriek, he merely felt the ground rumble and shake amidst a thunderous roar, and then the sky turned bright.
"How strange, why would the sky turn bright inside a secret passage?" That was Su Changqing's final thought. Then, a crescent moon swallowed him whole, pressing forward several hundred meters further before finally dissipating.