Chapter 094: Taking the Initiative (Please Subscribe)

“Your Highness, Wan Lifei, the leader of the Golden Sword Alliance, has already brought the experts of his alliance to the Martial Capital. They have come to seek vengeance against the man surnamed Fang. Now that word has spread that His Highness the Crown Prince’s illness is nearly cured, why not let Wan Lifei of the Golden Sword Alliance and Qiu Qianqiu strike directly at the clinic?

“We can secretly aid them in entering the city and pull away the nearby city guards, creating the conditions for their attack.”

Beside him stood another man in a black robe and a black hat, his face swallowed in shadow beneath the brim. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Your Highness, what is the state of the defenses inside the clinic? Since the Crown Prince is there, would His Majesty not assign experts to guard him?”

Prince Wu Yuntian frowned. “Now is the best time. We have three Transcendent grandmasters. Even if His Majesty has placed one or two Transcendent grandmasters there, they would not be our match.

“Besides, the greatest skill of the Five Poisons Sect’s leader, Qiu Qianqiu, is not his martial cultivation but his poison arts. With him alone, enough poison can be unleashed to kill a great many ordinary experts. The chances of success are very high.”

“Then let it be tonight at the third watch. Otherwise, once the Grand Princess returns to the city and reports to the emperor, they will strengthen their forces, and it will be difficult to strike,” the black-robed man said. By then night was falling, and less than four hours remained before the third watch.

“Clatter...”

By this time, the Grand Princess and Fang Xian’s party had already entered the city. Fang Xian hurried off to the clinic to make preparations, while Grand Princess Wu Qingluan first returned to the princess’s manor with her personal guards, gathered three thousand of them, made a series of arrangements, and only then came back to the clinic.

“Princess, we have received news that someone has drawn away the city defense troops patrolling the North Street district,” Wu Lanxin reported as she accompanied them back to the clinic.

“It seems they will move tonight. Has the Crown Princess and the two young princes already been sent away?” Wu Qingluan asked.

“They have been safely returned to the Eastern Palace.”

After Fang Xian returned, he had sent away all the members and servants of the Situ household, and he had also ordered Wu Qingluan’s personal guards to escort the Crown Princess and the two children back to the Eastern Palace.

At present, only Fang Xian and the eight first-rate experts he had brought remained inside the clinic, along with Crown Prince Wu Yunxiao and several dozen guards, as well as Wu Qingluan and three hundred personal troops.

Of course, around the clinic, Wu Qingluan had already quietly deployed three thousand personal guards in ambush. If anyone from the Five Poisons Sect dared show themselves tonight, none of them would be allowed to escape.

“They’ve appeared,” Fang Xian said suddenly, opening his eyes and speaking to Wu Qingluan when it was about a quarter of an hour before the third watch.

“Where are they?” Wu Qingluan asked with killing intent.

“To the east, several li away. They’ve stopped for the moment, but I can already smell the poison aura on them,” Fang Xian said, pointing east.

“No. We cannot let them charge in here, or else many of the three thousand guards will surely die from poison. Fang Lang, can they sense you?” Wu Qingluan thought for a moment and asked.

“They probably can’t,” Fang Xian replied. “Do you mean to take the initiative and kill our way over?”

“That’s right. We are not afraid of the Five Poisons Sect’s poison. Let us strike directly, catch them off guard, and if possible, kill Qiu Qianqiu,” Wu Qingluan said with a nod.

“Very well. Then we’ll sneak over. I’ll also let them taste poison for themselves,” Fang Xian answered.

The two of them then vanished from the clinic like wisps of smoke, using the darkness to drift toward the Five Poisons Sect’s position.

A few dozen breaths later, they had crept up outside a government residence. Fang Xian sensed that it was filled with a thick reek of poison. After signaling Wu Qingluan, the two of them moved to the windward side, and Fang Xian took out a packet of poison powder and gently scattered it into the breeze, letting it drift into the residence.

“Fellow disciples, our sect has stood for centuries, only for all our foundations to be ruined in an instant. If we do not avenge this, we are unworthy to call ourselves disciples of the Five Poisons Sect.

“Tonight our targets are Grand Princess Wu Qingluan, Crown Prince Wu Yunxiao, and that miracle physician surnamed Fang. Once the action begins, rush into the clinic and kill everyone. Leave no chickens or dogs alive.”

Qiu Qianqiu, the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, stood in a black robe before the remaining dozens of disciples and addressed them. Aside from him, most of the others were wounded; they were all survivors who had escaped the emperor’s encirclement and extermination force.

“Revenge! Revenge!”

The disciples of the Five Poisons Sect growled in unison. At that moment, the wind suddenly carried a series of fragrances, rich and savory like stewed meat, and many of them could not help but inhale deeply.

The wind was blowing from behind Qiu Qianqiu, and the fragrance was drifting from behind him as well. When Qiu Qianqiu saw the others all drawing deep breaths in front of him, their faces drunk with pleasure, he too inhaled the stewed-meat scent.

“Not good. There is poison in this fragrance.”

As the leader of the Five Poisons Sect and one of the foremost poison masters in the world, Qiu Qianqiu was not without true skill. He detected that something was wrong after only a wisp of the scent reached him, and his expression changed at once as he roared the warning.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...”

Before his words had even faded, a rapid shriek of cutting wind suddenly rang out. Three sharp arrows flashed out of the darkness like lightning. Qiu Qianqiu had no time to block them and could only watch helplessly as three Five Poisons Sect disciples were pierced through the body. They let out miserable screams, each left with a fist-sized hole through the flesh.

“Ah...”

What was more, the arrows were so forceful that after piercing one person, they still struck another Five Poisons Sect disciple. Though they did not pierce that man’s body, they still brought him crashing to the ground on the spot.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...”

In the darkness, arrows kept flying. The disciples of the Five Poisons Sect fell into utter disorder. Many drew their weapons and waved them wildly, yet one after another they were still shot down.

“Charge!”

Qiu Qianqiu’s expression changed drastically. He had no idea how many people were lying in ambush around them and could only roar in fury, leading the remaining men toward the clinic.

“Qiu Qianqiu, take your death!”

However, just as they burst out of the residence, a woman in fine clothing stepped forward with a sword and blocked Qiu Qianqiu head-on. She erupted with a terrifying aura and was instantly locked in combat with him. She was, in fact, a Transcendent grandmaster.

“Kill!”

At the same time, another man in white also charged at the Five Poisons Sect disciples with sword in hand. His aura was not particularly strong; he was only a first-rate expert.

“First surround and kill this one!”

Among the Five Poisons Sect disciples were two more elders, both first-rate experts. Several of the other disciples were second-rate fighters, and the rest were third-rate martial artists. One elder roared and pounced at the white-clad man.

“Ah...”

Yet the instant they exchanged blows, the white-clad man’s figure flashed by like lightning, and his sword thrust straight through the elder’s heart. The elder let out a miserable cry, still unable to understand why his movements had slowed.

In truth, all the disciples of the Five Poisons Sect had already been struck by the poison Fang Xian had released earlier. It was a poison specifically aimed at the body, causing the muscles to react sluggishly and fail to keep up with the commands of the nerves.

“Ah...”

After killing one Five Poisons Sect elder with a single strike, Fang Xian did not pause but turned to slaughter the surrounding disciples. Though the disciples released all manner of poisonous powders and venomous insects, none of their poisons had the slightest effect on Fang Xian, and any venomous insect that came near him was certain to die.

In the blink of an eye, Fang Xian killed seven or eight more people, striking fear into the hearts of the remaining disciples of the Five Poisons Sect. There had originally been only thirty or forty disciples left. More than ten had already been shot to death by Fang Xian’s hidden arrows, and now, after he killed another seven or eight, the sect had already lost half its number in less than the span of a few breaths.

And Fang Xian still did not stop. He rushed at the Five Poisons Sect’s last elder and unleashed a fierce assault. No matter how the man resisted, he could not escape Fang Xian’s pursuit, and within a few breaths he died beneath the sword.

“Ah!”

Seeing the disciples of the Five Poisons Sect falling one after another under Fang Xian’s sword, Qiu Qianqiu flew into a rage. With a wild roar, he forced Wu Qingluan back at all costs, then instantly flashed toward Fang Xian and unleashed his final absolute poison. Had he not hated Fang Xian to the bone, he would never have used such a poison against him.

“Qiu Qianqiu, is this your ultimate poison?”

Yet Fang Xian was not in the least afraid of it. With a sweep of his sleeve, he actually gathered the poison into his robe, then flicked his hand and scattered it over the remaining disciples of the Five Poisons Sect.

“No...”

Qiu Qianqiu was horrified, but everything had happened too quickly. He had believed that the ultimate poison would surely kill Fang Xian, never imagining that Fang Xian could actually take it from him and turn it back upon the Five Poisons Sect’s disciples.

“Ah...”

“Ugh...”

“Sect Leader, save me...”

In an instant, the remaining dozen or twenty disciples of the Five Poisons Sect all went dark-faced beneath the coverage of the ultimate poison. Some dropped without a sound, some fell with screams, and some struggled as they stretched out their hands toward Qiu Qianqiu for help. In the end, however, every one of them collapsed. Not a single one survived the poison.

“Who are you? How do you know ultimate poison?” Qiu Qianqiu stopped behind Fang Xian with bloodshot eyes, staring at him fixedly and asking, as though he intended to remember every detail of his face, for Fang Xian was the culprit who had annihilated the disciples of the Five Poisons Sect.

“Qiu Qianqiu, have you forgotten the debt you owe in the Great Bashan Mountains? You have quite the nerve, daring to poison His Highness the Crown Prince. How could your Five Poisons Sect possibly escape destruction?” Fang Xian snorted coldly, then took the initiative and attacked Qiu Qianqiu. Wu Qingluan also rushed over, sword in hand, and together they besieged Qiu Qianqiu.

When the fighting here erupted, two other groups were also hiding in the darkness on the other two sides of the clinic. One of them was the disciples of the Golden Sword Alliance, led by its master, Wan Lifei.

“What is going on? It sounds like the Five Poisons Sect has moved?” Wan Lifei frowned after hearing the commotion from afar, for there was still nearly a quarter of an hour before the agreed time.

“Alliance Master, a signal came from that side. They have begun ahead of schedule.” At this moment, a disciple of the Golden Sword Alliance hurried in from outside to report.

“Then charge. Revenge our fallen brothers!” Wan Lifei drew his sword and shouted. This time the Golden Sword Alliance had come out in full force. Not only had he, the alliance master, come in person, but he had also brought five first-rate experts and several dozen second- and third-rate disciples.

“Kill...”

Just as Wan Lifei led the experts of the Golden Sword Alliance toward the clinic, from another direction a black-robed man led a group of similarly clad martial artists as they shouted and charged toward the clinic as well.

“Which rabble dares act so brazenly in the Martial Capital?”

At the very moment the two groups reached the front of the clinic, an old eunuch suddenly appeared in midair. With a sinister cold voice, he cried out, and a Transcendent grandmaster’s aura radiated from his body.