The emperor’s chief eunuch, the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—someone like that was naturally well-versed in breaking down psychological defenses, effortlessly toying with a person’s mind.
Xiao Yunting, worried about Qi Yuan’s injury, grabbed her tightly and said, “Stay focused. What matters most is right in front of us!”
Qi Yuan clutched her shoulder, but with complete indifference, suddenly smiled at Pu Wuyong and said, “Pu Gonggong, you seem clever—why do you keep doing such stupid things? That useless nephew of yours, I stabbed him dead with a single strike before he could even cry out for help. Why would you think that after I’m dead, he’d somehow be able to deal with me?”
At those words, Pu Wuyong’s expression instantly changed.
Qi Yuan sneered inwardly.
Mind games? Who doesn’t know how to play them?
She might not be skilled in everything, but when it came to killing with words, she was a master.
Pu Wuyong glared at her with venomous eyes. “Once you’re dead, I’ll make sure you’re obedient—one way or another!”
“Oh really?” Qi Yuan chuckled sarcastically. “If those monks and Taoists were really so powerful, why did you go through all that trouble to arrange a ghost marriage? Why didn’t you just have them resurrect your precious nephew?”
Sharp as a blade—her mouth was lethal.
Pu Wuyong was furious. “You’re asking for death!”
“Pu Gonggong, your old eyes must be failing, and clearly your brain too,” Qi Yuan mocked. “Those monks and priests won’t be able to keep me down. And if I do die, I swear I’ll make your nephew die again and again—until his soul is shattered, and he can never reincarnate!”
Even the other Embroidered Uniform Guard were unnerved.
No one is truly unafraid of ghosts and spirits.
But this girl—she really seemed not to fear them at all.
Not only unafraid—she had no taboos whatsoever.
They could feel it—she was one of them.
Pu Wuyong was thoroughly enraged now. He roared at the Embroidered Uniform Guard: “Are you all dead?! Kill her! Kill her for me!!”
The Embroidered Uniform Guard surged toward them.
But Qi Yuan leaned close and said softly to Xiao Yunting: “Leave it to you!”
With that, she slipped past him, shot a sleeve dart that struck down a Embroidered Uniform Guard, then seized the opening to charge straight at Pu Wuyong.
Take down the leader to break the enemy.
She had said she would kill Pu Wuyong today, and she meant it—no tomorrow.
Xiao Yunting was caught off guard. Qi Yuan moved too fast—so fast he couldn’t stop her in time. He had no choice but to join forces with the Daoist soldiers to hold off the fierce, life-risking Embroidered Uniform Guard elite.
Qi Yuan had already leapt up, grabbing a tree branch with both hands. Using its momentum, she flung herself forward—her entire body sailing through the air.
Pu Wuyong should have panicked seeing her come at him like this.
But instead, he just curled his lips coldly and, calm and unhurried, pulled something from his robe.
When Qi Yuan saw what it was, her eyes flashed—and she instantly rolled sideways.
A split second later—bang, bang, bang! The sounds of fireworks exploding rang out in the night sky.
That sound…
Qi Yuan and Xiao Yunting almost seemed to look at each other through the dark, even though they couldn’t truly see one another. And yet, in that moment, it was as if they could.
A musket!
That eunuch b*stard—he’d smuggled a musket from the Firearm Division!
Xiao Yunting could no longer hold back. After cutting down an Embroidered Uniform Guard, he charged toward Pu Wuyong, flinging his blade toward the legs of Pu Wuyong’s horse.
The horse reared in fright.
At the same time, Qi Yuan acted immediately—slicing down the torches the Embroidered Uniform Guard had brought, sending them tumbling from the trees.
Now, under the cold, pale moonlight, they could barely make out each other’s silhouettes.
Xiao Yunting seized the moment and swiftly pulled out a hidden weapon, striking the horse squarely on its back.
Pu Wuyong could no longer stay on horseback—he was thrown to the ground, grimacing in pain.
At his level, such a humiliating moment was rare.
Furious to the point of madness, he immediately fired his weapon toward where the torches had been moments before.
Several branches were hit, and large swaths crashed to the ground.
Xiao Yunting felt his heart almost stop. He shouted at the top of his lungs: “Qi Yuan!”
As the Imperial Grandson, he naturally understood the devastating power of the Ministry of Works’ newly developed muskets—they could take a life from a hundred meters away. They were essentially fireworks that could be fired in any direction.
Even a glancing hit would leave a gaping hole.
“I’m fine!” Qi Yuan called out—but then, no further sound came from her.
Pu Wuyong was truly enraged now. Ahead, the Embroidered Uniform Guard were steadily losing ground under the Daoist soldiers’ assault, and many had already fallen.
No matter how thoroughly he had calculated this ambush, he had never anticipated that Xiao Yunting would stake his life like this.
And now he was even injured.
Qi Yuan—that wretched woman—was like some unkillable monster.
Just as she had said: even if she died and became a ghost, she would still go down to the underworld to kill other ghosts.
Gritting his teeth, Pu Wuyong pointed the musket at Xiao Yunting, his expression fierce and resolute.
If he couldn’t kill Qi Yuan, then he would kill the Imperial Grandson first!
To an eunuch like him, killing a royal heir was enough to make his death worthwhile.
He was just about to pull the trigger when he suddenly heard a sharp whoosh in the air beside his ear.
Something was coming!
Startled, Pu Wuyong reflexively turned the musket toward the sound.
But it was too late. A sharp pain shot through his wrist, and the musket fell from his grasp.
At nearly the same instant, Xiao Yunting rolled across the ground, grabbing the fallen weapon.
And Qi Yuan—who had just kicked the musket from Pu Wuyong’s hands—seized him by the throat.
Pain from her right shoulder shot through her, and she couldn’t break his neck immediately.
Pu Wuyong now looked like a strangled chicken, squawking in panic: “The dart you took—it’s poisoned! If you kill me, you won’t live either! You won’t live either!”
Qi Yuan let out a cold laugh. “Embroidered Uniform Guard poison? You’re not the only one with the antidote.”
“True, others may know the antidote… but those people at your estate—only I know where they are!”
That line stopped Qi Yuan in her tracks.
Seeing she really didn’t move, Pu Wuyong burst into crazed laughter.
“Oh, so much for your talk about not caring. Turns out, you care a lot, don’t you, b*tch?” His rage found an outlet at last. He turned his cold, wicked gaze on her: “You want to know where they are? I sealed them in coffins and buried them. I was just waiting for you to die, so you could all go down together and keep my dear nephew company.”
Qi Yuan thought of those two tiny red handprints on the paper.
And for a moment—she truly couldn’t bring herself to kill Pu Wuyong on the spot.
What if he was telling the truth?
Her voice dropped low and cold. “Where are they?!”
Hearing her ask, Pu Wuyong laughed maniacally and suddenly pulled out a sleeve dart, aiming it directly at Qi Yuan: “Miss Qi, you’ll never know. So let’s die together!”
With her dead, even underground, he could suppress her vengeful ghost.
And this way, he could consider himself as having avenged Cishan.
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