An unexpected blow, an indescribable heartache.
Xiang Mantang stared blankly at Chen Qianqian, who wore a mocking smile, then looked down at the long sword hilt protruding from her own chest, her complexion turning ashen.
"Hehehe... Hehehe... Hahaha..."
Afterward, Xiang Mantang let out a long, desolate and helpless laugh.
Indeed, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment!
In her heart, she had always harbored doubts. Why, as soon as she had entered the valley, had a group of people come in to encircle and attack her?
The root cause of all this, of course, was that Chen Qianqian had lured her into an ambush!
Yet she never wanted to think in that direction.
However, in the end, she had bet on the wrong horse.
This ambush was indeed a trap Chen Qianqian set for her!
The dream of a happy family reunion she had been pursuing had finally been shattered.
"Tch!"
Xiang Mantang forcefully pulled out the long sword from her chest, triggering a spray of blood.
Fortunately, her heart was naturally positioned somewhat to the side, and Chen Qianqian's strike hadn't actually pierced her heart.
Otherwise, even as a Martial Arts Grandmaster, had her heart been pierced, Xiang Mantang would not have survived!
Though Chen Qianqian's sword did not pierce her heart, it had utterly shattered it!
"You?! You, you, you?!"
Chen Qianqian watched as Xiang Mantang pulled the long sword from her chest, her pupils contracting, never expecting that having been stabbed in the chest, she would not die.
After that, Chen Qianqian came to understand that Xiang Mantang must have a misplaced heart, and that she had not really stabbed her heart.
Having realized this,
Chen Qianqian, worried that Xiang Mantang might lash out in a dying counterattack, hurriedly picked up another long sword from the blood-stained ground and, with a vicious intent in her eyes, chopped at her!
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Xiang Mantang knelt on one knee, one hand pressing the ground, while the other hand wielded the long sword she had pulled from her chest, crossing blades with Chen Qianqian.
With Chen Qianqian's fierce attacks, Xiang Mantang came to realize that she knew martial arts and had reached the peak of Dark Energy.
It turned out that her previous timidity and fear, hiding behind him and screaming "Brother, save me," were all an act!
"Agh!"
Xiang Mantang let out a roar of pain.
She almost lost control over the surging killing intent that wanted to cleave Chen Qianqian in two!
Even though she was seriously injured now, she was still a Martial Arts Grandmaster; a mere Peak Dark Energy was something she could easily handle.
But looking at Chen Qianqian's face—the one she had daydreamed and nightmared about—she couldn't bring herself to strike!
Xiang Mantang could not be sure whether Chen Qianqian was indeed the enemy who had schemed from behind, deliberately giving her surgery to look this way, or was she truly her own younger sister, just brainwashed by the enemy when she was young?
If it were the latter, leading to fratricide, and if she had indeed killed her only to examine the body later and find out they were truly siblings…
Could she still carry on living?!
"Hehehe..."
Xiang Mantang parried Chen Qianqian's killing moves while letting out a laugh filled with both despair and sorrow.
After several intense exchanges,
"Shick!"
Xiang Mantang's injury acted up, the side effects of the Forbidden Secret Technique surfaced once more, and the poison from the Assassin's Poison Blade began to erupt; she could no longer hold on and Chen Qianqian's strike opened a foot-long gash across her chest, nearly gutting her.
"Clink!"
Chen Qianqian's next sword swing knocked the long sword from Xiang Mantang's weakened grip to the ground.
"Swoosh!"
Chen Qianqian held her sword at Xiang Mantang's throat, her gaze ice-cold and merciless, and said, "Beidou Tianshu is nothing special after all."
Xiang Mantang lay powerlessly in a pool of blood, breathing faintly, his pupils dilated, unable to utter a word.
In the recent fight with Chen Qianqian,
he actually had countless opportunities to strike a deadly blow, but he always missed those chances in hesitation.
After all, the person he was fighting against was likely his own blood-related younger sister, one of the few remaining relatives he had in this world.
Even if she didn't recognize their kinship and wanted to kill him, he simply couldn't bring himself to deal the fatal strike.
After struggling several times, Xiang Mantang ultimately couldn't bring himself to kill her, instead giving Chen Qianqian the opportunity to knock his long-sword away, completely defeating him.
At this moment, Xiang Mantang had severe internal injuries and the poison had erupted; even without Chen Qianqian finishing him off, he would not last much longer.
Chen Qianqian understood this as well, and not worried about Xiang Mantang fighting back at death's door, she sneered holding the knife to his neck, crouching down, and mockingly said, "Do you have any last words?"
Xiang Mantang's pupils were dilated, and his lips moved slightly. Chen Qianqian couldn't hear him, so she leaned her ear closer, wanting to hear how he would curse her before dying.
After this, she could torment him even more! And she wouldn't feel guilty in the slightest.
Leaning close to Xiang Mantang's mouth, Chen Qianqian heard his barely audible voice.
"Sister, you must... live on... well..."
His last words held no resentment, no unwillingness...
They contained only a sincere blessing, and from the bottom of his heart, regret...
Chen Qianqian's expression stiffened; she hadn't expected that even at this point, Xiang Mantang bore no grudge against her!
A strange feeling suddenly rose in her heart.
She touched her own cheek with her hand.
Her face, of course, wasn't modified by cosmetic surgery, nor was it changed through any disguise, but was truly hers.
Could it be...
Could she really be his sister...
Chen Qianqian abruptly shook her head, not daring to continue such thoughts!
No, no, no!
She had a happy family, countless senior brothers who treated her well, sisters, how could she possibly be his sister!
Chen Qianqian forced herself to stop thinking about it.
Mostly because she couldn't bear to consider the consequences—what if Xiang Mantang really was her brother?
The consequence was too much for her to bear; it would cause her to break down.
Looking down at the dying Xiang Mantang, Chen Qianqian's original determination to behead him wavered.
Thinking that Xiang Mantang was about to die, and this place being so remote, who could save him?
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Qianqian threw away the long-sword and ran towards the valley entrance, her mind in chaos!
Listening to the sound of Chen Qianqian leaving, Xiang Mantang's consciousness was no longer clear, hanging on to just a few final thoughts.
'Senior Brother, I'm sorry, I might not be able to attend your wedding…'
'Senior Brother, the billions in gift money, I hope Liu Mei will give it to you on my behalf…'
'Ah-Xiu, whether you are Ah-Xiu or not, I hope you can forget the unpleasantness of today and live a good life...'
'...'
Xiang Mantang's vision gradually darkened, and his consciousness fell into confusion.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
"Ah-Xiang! Ah-Xiang!! Hang in there!!!"
Heart-wrenching cries echoed in his ears, sounding so familiar to Xiang Mantang... It was…
Mu Jinyu's voice.
Senior Brother?!
As this thought emerged, Xiang Mantang with great effort, strained to open his eyelids.
Finally, his eyelids slowly parted a crack, and Xiang Mantang saw the panicked face of Mu Jinyu.