I'm Feng Aotian—And I’m Running Away from My Wedding - Chapter 15

In the dim, dense forest, a crimson light shot straight into the sky.

Countless birds took flight in alarm, and beasts scurried in disarray, anxiously avoiding the powerful shockwave.

“What a relief!”

Li Baiying emerged from the cave and gazed up at the blazing sun above, feeling as if she had been reborn into a new world.

She had been in seclusion for over a month. Although the Red Spirit Pill could break through bottlenecks, the accumulation of internal energy still required time. The transition from the tenth level of the Innate Realm to the first level of the Golden Core Realm had brought her changes no less profound than a complete transformation.

Previously, her five senses could only monitor a radius of ten miles, but now, no movement within a hundred miles could escape her notice.

Her original internal energy had been compressed into a mist-like vapor in her dantian, depleting with every use and requiring meditation to replenish. Now, however, a fiery golden core hovered steadily within her dantian. With every breath she took, the core rotated, and fine crimson threads continuously transformed into internal energy, spreading throughout her entire body.

It was no exaggeration to say that she had finally transcended the mortal realm and was advancing further along the path of martial arts.

“Hmm?”

But as soon as she stepped out of the cave, Li Baiying sensed something amiss.

The carriage was gone.

Not only that, but Qin Yixiao was also nowhere to be seen.

Had something unexpected happened? Or had the other party left early for some reason? But if it were the latter, they wouldn’t have left without even a note. Her heart tightened with worry, and the joy of her breakthrough instantly vanished.

Just then, a faint whistling sound shot straight toward her back.

Li Baiying spun around abruptly, catching a black arrow between two fingers and clutching it in her palm.

“You again?!” Recognizing it as the same weapon used by the masked figures in black, her expression darkened instantly, and a mix of old and new grudges surged within her. “Since you dare to return, don’t even think about leaving this time!”

In the blink of an eye, she drew the serrated wolf-tooth dagger she carried with her and, with a light tap of her toes, charged toward the shadowy figure without hesitation.

Unlike the previous ambush, this black-clad figure seemed to be deliberately waiting for her to catch up, pausing every so often to glance back with a posture full of provocation.

“Rustle…”

Two figures darted swiftly through the dense forest, one after the other, leaving only faint afterimages in their wake. Where they passed, a few leaves drifted down from the branches.

Seeing that the other’s speed was on par with her own, Li Baiying’s eyes grew colder. Without hesitation, she retrieved a small vial from her person and tossed two Lightness Pills into her mouth.

Instantly, her steps became as swift as the wind, and the black-clad figure was now within reach.

“Swish!”

Just as she was about to strike, a sharp pain erupted from her dantian. Stumbling, she lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground.

“What’s happening?” Shocked and bewildered, Li Baiying abandoned the chase and immediately turned her focus inward to inspect her dantian.

The smooth, round golden core was still rotating steadily, with threads of energy flowing through her body according to her cultivation technique. Everything seemed normal.

But the pain she had felt was definitely not an illusion.

“Wasn’t the Red Spirit Pill said to break through any bottleneck without side effects? Or did it clash with my constitution?”

Li Baiying was utterly perplexed, but she had no time to ponder the matter deeply, as she needed to devote half her attention to dealing with any sudden threats from the outside.

“Whoosh!”

Another sharp arrow shot toward her.

This time, Li Baiying leaned to the right, dodging it nimbly. She lifted her head and locked eyes in a silent standoff with the black-clad figure perched on a tree branch.

“Where is Qin Yixiao? What have you done to her?”

“…” The other party remained silent, leisurely drawing the bow and firing three arrows in succession.

“Damn it!” Realizing the opponent was deliberately provoking her, Li Baiying gritted her teeth. Without channeling her internal energy, she relied solely on her physical strength to roll aside.

“Hiss!”

She suddenly gasped sharply.

The pain in her dantian had returned. This time, it spread from her abdomen to the muscles in her arms, making it difficult for her to even hold her weapon steady.

What in the world is going on?!

She had never encountered such a situation before: her skills rendered useless, leaving her as fragile as someone without an ounce of strength.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black-clad figure draw the bow again, aiming at her unhurriedly, as if engaged in a hunt with no suspense.

This time, she did not dodge. Instead, she feigned weakness, raising her hand as if to block.

“Crack!” She snapped off the poison-coated arrowhead and allowed the shaft to pierce her flesh, embedding itself in her body.

Pretending to collapse weakly to the ground, she heard the black-clad figure’s footsteps drawing closer.

“Heh heh, you’ve been hit with the Five Poisons Powder. Even if you’re a peerless genius, you can’t escape the fate of losing your power!”

Another arrow struck her squarely in the back.

Li Baiying didn’t even let out a groan, gritting her teeth to endure the pain as she continued to feign unconsciousness.

She could feel the energy within her gradually slipping from her control, like wild fish rampaging through her meridians, impossible to gather.

In such a state, if she continued to fight back head-on, she would only fall into the opponent’s trap. It was better to take a gamble, bet on the enemy’s underestimation of her.

Finally, the footsteps drew nearer.

At this critical moment of life and death, Li Baiying cleared her mind and continued to focus inward. This time, she did not draw upon the energy in her dantian but instead gathered the scattered energy in her meridians into a single point, quietly condensing it in her palm.

Even such a simple action felt as if her internal organs were being torn apart, the pain nearly making her cry out.

“Swish!”

The opponent drew their sword. In that split second, she leaped up and struck the enemy’s chest with lightning speed.

“You… you!”

The black-clad figure’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if never expecting her to still have the strength to retaliate. The person flew backward like a kite with its string cut, landing ten zhang away, vomiting blood, and died on the spot.

“Huff… huff…”

Li Baiying knelt weakly on the ground. After a while, when she could finally move again, she pulled the arrows from her body.

Blood splattered, and the wounds burned with a searing pain. But she paid it no mind, simply taking out a cloth strip to bandage them roughly.

Right now, what she wanted most was to figure out: what exactly was happening to her?

Could it really be that the Red Spirit Pills were problematic, and she hadn’t noticed?

And why did the enemy say she had been poisoned with the Five Poisons Powder? Hadn’t Qin Yixiao already cured her of the poison?

More and more questions surfaced in her mind. She flipped the black-clad figure’s corpse over, directly taking the pouch hidden on their person and dumping its contents onto the ground.

“First-Class Kill Order, Acceptor: Li Ruoruo.”

The moment she read the name, a cold glint flashed in her eyes. The questions that had plagued her for so long were instantly resolved. “No wonder I’ve been targeted since I left the mountain.”

Killing one’s own kin, did they hold no regard for the clan’s rules? Or were they coveting her position, eager to surpass her and take her place?

“Very good, very good.” After repeating the phrase twice, Li Baiying stored the collected pills and talismans in her pouch and limped deeper into the forest.

She had to return to Taichu Mountain to confront Li Ruoruo face to face. There were matters she disliked leaving unresolved, it was best to settle them directly and decisively.

Moreover, she had no intention of letting her family nurture a viper in their bosom, allowing such a treacherous individual to wreak havoc unchecked.

“I should still inform Mother in advance, give her a warning.”

Leaning against a large tree, she let out a long, piercing whistle.

But after waiting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the family’s messenger bird still hadn’t appeared.

Refusing to believe it, she whistled three more times in succession and continued to wait.

After trying for nearly half an hour, the forest remained eerily silent, broken only by her increasingly labored breaths.

“How could this be…”

An inexplicable sense of crisis weighed on her heart. Without hesitation, Li Baiying turned around, suppressing the discomfort in her dantian, and sprinted swiftly back the way she had come.

The fact that she had been ambushed and the family’s messenger pigeons had vanished was no mere coincidence.