I'm Feng Aotian—And I’m Running Away from My Wedding - Chapter 10

“I heard that girl from the Qin family failed to draw in Qi again!”

“Tsk, she’s been cultivating diligently for over ten years and still hasn’t stepped into the ranks of an apprentice martial artist. She’ll probably remain an ordinary person for the rest of her life!”

“But she comes from a good background. Being part of a prominent family, she’ll never sink to the point of begging for food.”

In the inn, three people sat at a table, cracking melon seeds and gossiping.

Li Baiying was also cracking melon seeds. Her original intention was to listen to some rumors from the streets, but she found that what these people were discussing was no different from the baseless gossip she had heard within her own family.

For some reason, hearing their unrestrained mockery ignited a fire in her heart.

“Smack!” She slammed the table and glared coldly at the laughing martial artists. “You lot are only at the first or second level of apprenticeship, what’s there to be proud of? It’s just the pot calling the kettle black!”

“You!”

One of them made a move as if to charge at her and fight, but his companion quickly pulled him back.

“Don’t be impulsive! Her strength far surpasses ours!”

Li Baiying made no effort to conceal her inner energy. On the contrary, a faint red glow shimmered around her, her eyes gleamed sharply, and her breathing was deep and steady, clear signs of profound internal power.

“A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. Let’s go.” Realizing they were no match for her in a direct confrontation, the three stood up resentfully and slipped out through the inn’s back door.

After this commotion, the martial artists sitting near Li Baiying no longer dared to gossip openly and instead whispered among themselves.

She paid them no mind, finished her meal, left a stack of copper coins on the table, and strode upstairs.

“Creak, ” The old wooden door groaned, faint cracks appearing along its edges.

“Tsk, the inn’s conditions are much worse than at home.”

Li Baiying muttered to herself. With night having fallen, the desire to rest took precedence. She tossed her luggage onto the table and lay flat on the bed.

“No, I still need to cultivate.”

No sooner had she lain down than she sprang up again like a carp leaping out of water. But at that moment, a sudden eerie wind blew the window open, and a sharp arrow shot through the air.

“Who’s there?!”

Li Baiying’s reaction was swift. She immediately twisted to protect her vital points, a red glow flashing in her palm as she struck out with a gust of force, cleanly splitting the poisoned arrow in two.

“Rustle…”

Outside, the wind howled, and a faint chill seeped from the thick night into the room, blending into the shadows.

Li Baiying remained on high alert, her eyes fixed warily on the window, ready for the next attack.

“Who’s out there? Dare to reveal your name and face me in a fight?”

She deliberately raised her voice.

The surroundings remained deathly silent. If not for the shattered arrow fragments on the floor, she might have thought it was all an illusion.

“Whoosh!” Another sharp arrow flew toward her. This time, Li Baiying was prepared. With a single punch, she shattered it to pieces.

However, as she stepped forward with the momentum, the room’s door was suddenly flung open by a tremendous force, and two fierce palm strikes aimed straight for her back.

In that split second, Li Baiying swiftly drew her serrated wolf-tooth blade and parried lightly.

“Clang!”

The blade took the full force of the blow, vibrating intensely, and the impact sent her flying backward toward the window.

It was at this moment that she clearly saw the attire of the ambusher: a black cloak completely concealed their face, leaving only a pair of menacing eyes exposed.

“Who are you? Why are you ambushing me?” She steadied herself mid-air, her toes lightly touching the windowsill as she landed.

The other party did not respond, instead charging at her with the shattered halves of the door, clearly intending to engage in close combat.

“Not talking? Fine, then I’ll beat you until you’re willing to speak.”

Li Baiying was infuriated by the relentless assault. She could tell that her opponent’s cultivation level was only slightly higher than hers, not a significant gap, and certainly not enough to make her retreat.

Moreover, having not fought for so long since descending the mountain, she felt a certain itch for action.

With this thought, she tightened her grip on the sword hilt, pivoted, and delivered a fluid slash, her arm and elbow moving in perfect harmony.

Crack!

The wooden plank shattered instantly. The cloaked figure, unable to dodge in time, was struck squarely by the energy enveloping the blade and staggered backward.

“Hmph, let’s see where you run now!” Li Baiying lunged forward, but in a fleeting glance, she noticed the corner of the cloaked figure’s mouth curl into a strange, mocking smile, as if taunting her for overestimating her abilities.

In that instant, she sensed something was amiss.

A faint, almost imperceptible chill traveled up her spine, followed by the piercing cold of an arrow tearing through her skin, bringing with it a searing, fiery pain.

“Damn it! What kind of skill is ambushing someone from behind?” Gritting her teeth, Li Baiying advanced instead of retreating.

Ignoring the arrow embedded in her flesh, she spun around and swung her blade.

A sharp arc of light, infused with an unstoppable red energy, struck the cloaked figure squarely in the face.

Caught off guard by her reckless determination, the figure let out an agonized cry and crashed heavily against the wall, unconscious and uncertain whether alive or dead.

If you cut the grass without removing the roots, it will regrow with the spring breeze. Li Baiying leaned in and delivered a decisive slash to the neck. A flash of white light, and the head separated from the body.

She repeated the process with the other assailant, then proceeded to search their belongings.

“If this arrow is poisoned, I’m in serious trouble.”

Li Baiying quickly stuffed everything into her pack, clenched her teeth, and yanked the arrow from her back.

With no time to properly dispose of the scene, she hastily lit a fire and tossed it onto the two corpses before leaping out the window and fleeing into the distance.

…

Suburban Clinic.

Under the cover of night, Li Baiying sprinted relentlessly. To avoid drawing attention, she pulled a garment from her pack to cover her head and vaulted across rooftops.

The wound itself didn’t feel particularly unusual. Having trained in martial arts since childhood, she was accustomed to bumps and bruises, and over time, such pains had become tolerable. What truly alarmed her was the faint, tingling itch around the edges of the wound, as if insects were wriggling beneath her skin, making her entire body uneasy.

“That arrow was most likely poisoned.”

This realization sent her already heavy heart sinking further.

Who would go to such lengths to hunt her down, and how did they pinpoint her location so accurately? It seemed they had been tracking her from the shadows ever since she descended the mountain.

Choosing to strike at the inn, during her most relaxed moment, indicated that these two were seasoned assassins. Had they not underestimated her, escaping would have been far more difficult.

What puzzled her was: Who would expend such effort to target her?

If not for the urgency of time, she would have liked to interrogate those two thoroughly, using whatever means necessary to extract the truth.

Knock, knock, knock!

Seeing that the clinic’s lights were still on, she knocked on the door, clinging to the hope of finding a lifeline.

“Come in,” a voice that felt strangely familiar reached her ears. As the door opened, a graceful figure appeared before her.

“Why is it you?” Li Baiying exclaimed in surprise.

“Come inside.”

In contrast, Qin Yixiao remained much calmer, as if welcoming an ordinary patient, and guided her to a partitioned room in the backyard.

“Where are you hurt?”

“Well, I took an arrow to the back.” For some reason, Li Baiying felt a little restrained. Perhaps it was because they hadn’t seen each other in years, and she still remembered their unpleasant parting in the secret realm six years ago.

Did the other still remember it?

On her fifth furtive glance at the girl’s radiant profile, she was caught red-handed.

“Take off your clothes.”

“Ah?” Li Baiying instinctively took a step back.

“If you don’t take off your clothes, how can I treat your wound? Or do you want the poison to spread further?” Qin Yixiao looked at her helplessly, feeling her cheeks grow slightly warm.

In her eyes, the impulsive girl from six years ago had grown much taller, her features had matured, but her gaze remained much the same, clear and intense as it had been back then.

“Oh, right.” Only then did Li Baiying snap out of it and hurriedly lifted her clothes.

Soon, she felt a cool sensation, as if some kind of medicinal herb had been applied to the wound, soothing and chilly.

“This might hurt a bit. Bear with it, it’s to cleanse the wound and prevent the poison from spreading further,” Qin Yixiao said softly.

“It’s fine. A little pain like this is nothing to me. I… I’ve endured a hundred, a thousand times worse…” Li Baiying gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face.

Knowing she was putting on a brave front, Qin Yixiao didn’t call her out and instead quickened her movements. Soon, the surface of the medicinal herbs turned pitch black, clearly saturated with venom.

“Why are you working at a clinic?”

Li Baiying lay face down on the table, unable to see the other’s expression, but that didn’t stop her from asking one question after another. “I had no idea you knew medicine. How many things about you am I unaware of?”

“What else could I do? It’s not like I could remain a useless person who knows nothing.”

Qin Yixiao pressed down on her wound with a bit more force, making Li Baiying hiss in pain. “Don’t talk. I need to focus right now.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t say another word.”

Li Baiying continued to endure, gritting her teeth. Before long, she blurted out, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else about this skill of yours.”

Whether it was her imagination or not, she thought she heard a soft chuckle from the girl before the words had even fully left her mouth.

“It doesn’t matter if you tell them. No one would believe you anyway.”

Qin Yixiao’s tone carried a hint of self-mockery, though she quickly masked it. “Your wound has been contaminated with poison for about fifteen minutes. It’s likely already seeped into the flesh. I need to scrape away the decayed tissue around the injury. This process will be very painful. You-”

“I know. I can handle it.”

Li Baiying took a deep breath. “Go ahead. I can take it.”

Despite her words, her heart was in turmoil. Unconsciously, she tilted her head slightly and happened to catch a flicker of concern in the girl’s eyes that hadn’t yet faded away.

In that instant, she completely forgot that one of the “three requirements” her mother had given her was to stay away from the Qin and Wu families.