Flower Stealing Master

Dongfang Muxue had just shot blind several more Green Standard troops who blocked her path. She looked toward Li Kexiu’s position—the commander’s banner was only a few hundred paces away. Her thoughts raced. She had been planning to use the suicide squad behind her to distract the enemy while she relied on her Qinggong to charge through. Perhaps she really could cut down the banner and capture the commander.

Just as she was about to move, a cry of alarm came from behind her. Turning her head, she saw that Xia Qingqing’s horse had been shot. With a pained whinny, it collapsed. Xia Qingqing, caught off guard, fell as well.

Seeing several spear tips thrusting toward her, Dongfang Muxue’s gaze sharpened. Though she had the strength to help, she did not intervene. Instead, she stood by and watched.

In the critical moment, Xia Qingqing pushed off with her toes. Her body seemed to perform a “Drunken Concubine” move—relying entirely on the strength of her waist, she held her upper body suspended in midair, evading the lethal spears. Then a flash of gold—the Golden Serpent Sword swept out and drove back her attackers.

*The flexibility of that waist… tsk tsk. So many positions must be possible. That Song Qingshu is a lucky man indeed.* Dongfang Muxue had no idea why such a thought crossed her mind at such a critical moment.

Seeing more Green Standard troops surging toward her, a cold smile flickered across Dongfang Muxue’s face. She knew Xia Qingqing would soon be overwhelmed. Just as she was about to leave, Xia Qingqing’s voice rang out: “Miss Xue, don’t worry about me. Go capture Li Kexiu!”

Noticing Dongfang Muxue looking her way, Xia Qingqing thought she was about to come to her rescue and shouted loudly.

Dongfang Muxue’s brows furrowed. If Xia Qingqing had cried for help, she would have left without a second thought. But this situation made her hesitate.

Seeing Dongfang Muxue frozen there as if dumbstruck, Xia Qingqing grew anxious. She flung several Golden Serpent Awls, killing a few soldiers who were about to attack Dongfang Muxue from behind. “Miss Xue, go!”

Only then did Dongfang Muxue snap out of it. With a snort, she used her Qinggong and charged toward the commander’s banner.

“Miss Xue, take good care of Qingshu in the future.” Watching her retreating figure, a relieved smile appeared on Xia Qingqing’s face. She shouted with the last of her strength, then had no energy left to defend against the spears thrusting at her from all directions.

Hearing the voice behind her, Dongfang Muxue paused. A look of painful struggle crossed her face. Finally, she bit her lip and turned back, pulling Xia Qingqing back from death’s door at the critical moment.

“Why did you come back?” Xia Qingqing showed no joy at having escaped death. Instead, she looked somewhat angry. She could see that there had been a chance just now, but the opportunity had slipped away. Capturing Li Kexiu was likely no longer possible.

“I wonder that myself,” Dongfang Muxue said coldly. She would never admit to being softhearted. After thinking it over, she finally found a reason to convince herself: *This scheme of using a borrowed knife would fool everyone in the world, but that brat Song Qingshu is cunning as a ghost. He’d surely figure out the truth. There’s no need to create a rift between us over a pretty widow…*

As she consoled herself, Dongfang Muxue continued fighting her way toward Li Kexiu’s position with Xia Qingqing. But because of the delay, Li Kexiu’s troops had regrouped. More and more soldiers surrounded them.

Enemies pressed in from all sides. Dongfang Muxue’s greatest asset—her evasive footwork—had become useless. She was like a phoenix with drenched wings, able to fly but exhausted by the clinging weight of the sea of soldiers.

No one knew how long they had been fighting. Dongfang Muxue and Xia Qingqing looked around and saw no trace of their comrades—only enemies on all sides. They knew full well that the entire suicide cavalry unit had been wiped out.

“Miss Xue, your Qinggong is excellent. Find a chance to escape. I’ll cover you.” Xia Qingqing stood back-to-back with Dongfang Muxue, gritting her teeth. She had no strength left and knew she wouldn’t last much longer. But Dongfang Muxue was different. Though assassinating Li Kexiu was now impossible, with her Qinggong, she still had a chance to flee.

“Flee?” Dongfang Muxue gave a cold snort. “This one has roamed the *wulin* for a lifetime, with few rivals under heaven. To flee once was a humiliation beyond bearing. How could I flee a second time?”

Her ambush on Blackwood Cliff by Ming Zun had been a humiliation she swore never to repeat. Never again would she allow herself to be so reduced.

Xia Qingqing was stunned by the change in her demeanor at that moment. She sensed a presence from her that reminded her of someone she would rather not recall… She quickly shook her head. *Miss Xue couldn’t possibly be Dongfang Bubai.*

Dongfang Muxue had no idea what Xia Qingqing was thinking. She drove back the Green Standard troops closing in on them again. Then her expression suddenly changed. Inside her body, everything was in upheaval!

She had been wounded by Feng Qingyang’s innate sword Qi and struck by Ming Zun’s full-force attack. Any ordinary master would have died many times over. That she had survived at all was thanks to being the once-peerless Dongfang Bubai, whose profound internal energy had carried her through. But the cost was that she now had only thirty to forty percent of her peak strength, and she had to divert part of her power to suppress her injuries.

She had been fighting for so long, exhausting herself, narrowly escaping death many times. Under such circumstances, how could she keep track of her internal condition? Unbeknownst to her, she had even diverted the power suppressing her injuries. By the time she realized it, all her injuries had burst forth.

It was like floodwaters held back by a dam. Once the dam breaks, the flood is twice as fierce. Dongfang Muxue’s injuries had been forcibly suppressed by her powerful internal energy—they had long been building up fury. Now that they had a chance to break free, they were unstoppable.

“Wah—” Dongfang Muxue spat out a mouthful of blood. All strength drained from her body. Her meridians felt as if they were being cut by knives and pierced by needles.

“Miss Xue, what’s wrong?” Sensing that the body behind her had suddenly gone as soft as cotton, Xia Qingqing was alarmed.

But Dongfang Muxue no longer had the strength to speak.

The nearby soldiers, seeing an opening, surged forward. Xia Qingqing’s vision had already gone dark. It felt as if she would fall asleep the moment she closed her eyes. At the critical moment, she bit down hard on her lip, drawing blood. The pain bought her a moment of clarity.

Using the Golden Serpent Sword, she cut through several spears aimed at Dongfang Muxue. But waves of dizziness washed over her. She no longer had the strength to stand. She could only watch helplessly as the Green Standard soldiers surged toward them again.

The gleaming spear tips were inches away. Xia Qingqing instinctively clutched Dongfang Muxue tightly in her arms. Her last thought was: *I wonder if being stabbed by a spear hurts…*

Just as the soldiers raised their spears to skewer the two women in the center, a divine sword wreathed in sword Qi descended from the heavens. The radiating sword Qi was too much for the soldiers to bear. Their armor shattered, and they fell one after another. When the dust cleared, an extraordinarily handsome man stood before the two women.

“Big Brother Song!” Xia Qingqing’s eyes widened in disbelief. Tears welled in her voice.

Dongfang Muxue, unable to speak because of her injuries, still had sparkling eyes as she gazed at his back.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Song Qingshu helped the two women to their feet, one on each arm. Curious about the identity of the bronze-masked woman, he reached over and removed her mask. He was startled. “It’s you.”

“Surprised?” Dongfang Muxue barely managed to squeeze out a few words. Her hoarse voice showed that her condition was dire.

“A little,” Song Qingshu said with a slight smile. He quickly assessed her condition. His brow furrowed briefly, then relaxed. “Don’t worry. Leave the rest to me.”

Dongfang Muxue smiled and nodded, showing absolute trust in him.

Just then, earth-shaking cheers erupted from the Golden Serpent Camp’s direction. The entire camp had believed the bronze-masked leader was their own commander. Seeing her unstoppable charge, the camp had exploded with excitement. Then, as she seemed to be swallowed by the Green Standard army, a deathly silence had fallen over them—a hopeless despair. Now, with the real Song Qingshu descending like a heavenly soldier, the Golden Serpent Camp, after a moment of stunned silence, burst into thundering cheers. It was as if their suppressed emotions had finally been released.

“Song Qingshu?” From a distance, Li Kexiu also saw what was happening. His whole body swayed. “He’s not dead?”

In that instant, all kinds of negative emotions surged through him. Only his iron will kept him from collapsing on the spot.

“I killed you once. I can kill you again!” Li Kexiu was already committed. He quickly issued orders: anyone who killed Song Qingshu would be promoted three ranks and rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold.

Under such heavy reward, there would always be brave men. The Green Standard troops, hearing the order, their eyes gleaming green, charged forward with howls.

Song Qingshu held Xia Qingqing in his left arm and Dongfang Muxue in his right. Seeing them charge, he flicked his toe. The Heaven Sword stuck in the ground before him spun like a high-speed cutting wheel, radiating razor-sharp sword Qi. Around him, soldiers fell in droves.

Within a radius of several *zhang*, no Green Standard soldier dared approach. Only then did Song Qingshu ask the two women, “How did you end up in such danger?”

Held in his arms, Xia Qingqing felt nearly overwhelmed with happiness. At his question, she snapped back to reality. “We planned to charge the central army—to capture the commander first…”

She explained the situation the Golden Serpent Camp faced and their plan, then sighed softly. “But Miss Xue came back to save me, and it cost us our chance. Now Li Kexiu is heavily guarded. A surprise attack is impossible.”

“Your plan was excellent. As for Li Kexiu…” Song Qingshu looked toward the Green Standard commander’s banner. Though only a few hundred paces separated them, thousands upon thousands of troops blocked the way. The defenses around Li Kexiu were as solid as iron.

Even Dongfang Muxue was about to advise him to retreat and regroup when Song Qingshu continued, “Taking the enemy commander’s head from amidst tens of thousands of troops—as easy as reaching into a pouch!”

Before the two women could react, a stirring Tang poem echoed across the battlefield:

*”A hero of Zhao, with a plain tassel on his cap,*

*His Wu blade gleaming like frost and snow—”*

Both Golden Serpent Camp and Green Standard soldiers stared wide-eyed. As the poem sounded, Song Qingshu, holding Xia Qingqing in his left arm and Dongfang Muxue in his right, took a single step forward—onto invisible, layer-upon-layer steps in the air. The three of them walked upward, step by step, into the sky!

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