Qi Yuan moved fast—almost at the same instant that Tian Bozhi lunged toward her, her horse neighed sharply, took a few jolting steps forward, and the carriage plunged off the cliff, smashing into the rocky mountainside with a series of deafening crashes that sent countless birds flapping into the sky.
There was no hesitation, no negotiation—just two brief exchanges, and then she acted.
This woman never stalled. What she said—she did.
Tian Bozhi threw himself to the cliff’s edge and fell hard, stretching out his hand. But all he managed to grab was a piece of the carriage curtain before he could only watch helplessly as the carriage plummeted into the abyss.
Beneath the mountain was a massive reservoir. With such a fall and the heavy weight of the carriage, even if someone could recover Tian Baoci’s corpse, all they’d find would be mangled remains.
How could anyone be so ruthless?!
Tian Bozhi felt like his heart had been ripped apart. He clenched his fists and slammed them onto the rocky ground. The stones tore into his skin until it bled, but he didn’t feel a thing.
All because of Qi Yuan.
She had not only caused his son’s death, but now even his corpse was gone.
That b*tch!
That curse!
That disaster in human form!
He turned his head and glared at Qi Yuan, eyes blazing with murderous fury. “Li Changqing was right about you. You’re a star of calamity, a demon spawned from h*ll. You should never have existed in this world!”
At this point, Tian Bozhi had lost all reason. All he wanted was to kill. His hatred for Qi Yuan had boiled over.
He pointed at her and roared: “You mutt! I’ll make sure you die with no body left to bury! I’ll have your whole family slaughtered! I’ll feed your b*stard brothers to the dogs!”
A nobleman of high rank, yet with no reverence for life, no compassion for the people, and no respect for the emperor.
Just because he was related to the Empress Dowager, he believed he had the right to enjoy the empire’s offerings—only to turn around and abuse its people.
Qi Yuan clicked her tongue: “That’s because Li Changqing died too early. He didn’t get the chance to read your fate too.”
She wore a faint smile, calm as ever. As Tian Bozhi charged at her, she darted aside and casually yanked down a hanging vine from a nearby tree, then lashed it hard.
With a sharp crack, the vine landed squarely on Tian Bozhi’s shoulder. The thorns tore straight through his clothing.
He stopped, touched the blood seeping from his shoulder, face twisting with rage.
But Qi Yuan remained completely unbothered. “If Li Changqing were still alive, he’d realize he made a mistake. You’re the real demon.”
Driven to madness, Tian Bozhi pulled out a matchlock pistol from his sleeve and fired at Qi Yuan.
But Qi Yuan was faster. She flipped out of the way. The shot blasted through a tree trunk behind her, snapping it clean in two.
It was then she remembered—Tian Bozhi was the commander of the Shenji Camp, one of the three main military divisions.
Of course he had firearms.
She gave a wry smile.
Tian Bozhi spat viciously: “Go die with my son!”
He quickly reloaded and fired again.
Qi Yuan leapt onto a tree branch, swung up, and bounded to another treetop.
Behind her, another tree exploded.
Liujin finally caught up, utterly terrified by what he saw.
Especially that matchlock pistol Tian Bozhi kept firing at Qi Yuan—his heart practically stopped. Without hesitation, he leapt at Tian Bozhi.
But Tian Bozhi reacted quickly too. He turned and aimed the gun at Liujin.
Liujin was scared out of his mind.
He knew exactly how deadly the gun was. Flesh and blood couldn’t withstand it. One hit, and not even immortals could save him.
But what could he do?
His Highness had said: “Protect Miss Qi with everything you’ve got.”
Besides, Qi Yuan had every reason to kill Tian Bozhi.
Those people in the dog arena—children and women—no one knew the suffering they endured before death.
Feeding humans to dogs— that was enough to incur heaven’s wrath.
Liujin closed his eyes.
But just then, Qi Yuan had already torn down another vine, ignoring the pain as she twisted two vines together, and then—with a sharp crack—snapped it forward and wrapped it tightly around Tian Bozhi’s arm.
With a hard yank, Tian Bozhi screamed in pain.
The gun slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
By now, several trees had already been blown apart.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Liujin’s heart nearly burst. But when he opened his eyes and saw the gun had fallen, he immediately rolled forward and snatched it up.
Only, Tian Bozhi reacted fast. He lunged forward and kicked the matchlock pistol out of Liujin’s hands—sending it tumbling off the cliff.
Liujin cursed loudly.
D*mn that Tian Bozhi. The man was vicious and tough—not easy to deal with at all.
At that moment, Tian Bozhi charged straight at Qi Yuan, grabbed a tree branch, and used it to launch himself up, both legs flying toward Qi Yuan in a double kick.
Qi Yuan nimbly dove to the side, catching another tree to support herself.
But Tian Bozhi had already predicted her landing—he didn’t waste a second. He swung a vine at her, striking her squarely on the back. Her clothing tore open, and blood streaked across her skin where the thorns hit.
Liujin cried out: “Miss Qi!”
She’d killed so many people before, but this was the first time he’d ever seen her injured.
Qi Yuan didn’t even glance back. As if she hadn’t been hurt at all, she gritted her teeth, let go of the tree, landed lightly, dodged another strike, and pulled a silver needle from the pouch at her waist—flinging it at Tian Bozhi.
Tian Bozhi knew she could use needles—he’d seen it back at Baiyun Temple. So he quickly ducked to dodge.
But that brief moment gave Qi Yuan her chance.
She sprinted forward, ran up a tree trunk like it was flat ground, and grabbed Tian Bozhi’s ankle, yanking him hard to the ground.
Before he could even draw another weapon, Qi Yuan dropped her knee onto his chest.
Liujin, watching from afar, couldn’t help but cry out.
Even at this distance, he heard the crack of Tian Bozhi’s ribs breaking.
Heavens. That was brutal.
Tian Bozhi spat a mouthful of blood. Before he could recover, Qi Yuan slapped him so hard his teeth flew out.
Liujin instinctively covered his mouth in shock.
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