Palace Coup 45

The breathing of the person behind her grew increasingly heavy. Xie Miaoxuan's heart skipped a beat, and as she turned her head, she caught sight of his clouded gaze, bloodshot eyes, and an expression brimming with forced restraint.

"You!" she gasped in a low whisper, only to find herself also exhaling a puff of hot air. "Is there poison in the air?!"

His voice was hoarse and deep, hovering close to her ear, "Hold your breath. Enter a state of embryonic hibernation."

Hold her breath? Xie Miaoxuan was momentarily stunned. He wanted her to stop breathing?

Yet he had no time for a detailed explanation; he simply placed his hand over her mouth and nose.

Knowing that he must have a good reason for doing so, she did not struggle, understanding and cooperating with him at once.

The breathing of the man behind her seemed to have ceased as well. Although she had been diligent in her physical conditioning lately, she could hold her breath for only a short moment at most.

The thin air was utterly exhausted, and her chest felt as if it were about to burst. Just as she could no longer resist the urge to pull away the hand covering her face,

that hand lifted, and her face turned backward along with it.

A soft warmth pressed against her lips.

Breath was passed over from his mouth into hers. Their eyes met, and an inexplicable ambiguity lingered between them.

Whenever her breath failed, he would transfer air to her again.

Several times, shadows flashed across the ground visible through the cracks.

After a moment.

"There's nothing unusual over here," that voice paused, tinged with malice. "If anyone really had a death wish to come wandering in here, they'd probably be... hehe..."

"Enough, let's keep moving. We're in charge of this sector tonight, and there are far too many places to inspect. If we linger too long in one spot, neither of you nor I will survive the full rounds."

"Let's go! The potency of this drug is truly fierce; I can barely stand it anymore. Do you still have any antidote pills left? Give me one."

Hearing the word "antidote," Xie Yuanguan's mind raced. The strange sensation within his body made him decide to take a risk.

"Wait for me here."

Knowing that he undoubtedly intended to obtain the so-called antidote pills from those two men, she nodded silently.

Soon, he slipped out in pursuit.

Xie Miaoxuan slowly emerged from the fissure in the stone wall.

Her eyes gleamed with shifting, complex emotions as she looked toward the bronze tripod.

Scorching breath, surging waves.

Xie Miaohan's cheeks burned as she laboriously placed the object in her hand into her pouch.

Her right hand was already scorched bright red.

Just moments before, she had forced open the lid of the bronze tripod and scooped out several pills that were on the verge of completion.

Barely managing to crawl back into the stone wall's fissure, she could no longer sustain herself and collapsed to the ground.

Counting the time in her heart, she waited for Xie Yuanguan to return.

After an unknown length of time, the familiar figure returned once more.

Xie Yuanguan pulled up Xie Miaoxuan, whose consciousness was already growing hazy.

"Don't."

As if touched by a live wire, the moment his hand pressed against her shoulder, half her body tingled with numbness.

Involuntarily, she wanted to reach out and grasp him.

Her body was held tightly in the embrace of the tall man, and she could not stop herself from panting.

With eyes closed, she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips fiercely against his as her body trembled uncontrollably.

Xie Yuanguan tilted his head back, using one hand to cup her chin and halt her restless movements, while slipping something into her mouth.

He gently wiped the tears from the corner of her eye, speaking in a raspy voice, "Endure it just a little longer, it will pass soon. Hold me tight, we're going back."

Feeling as though she were being swept away by ocean waves, she writhed like a water snake, consumed by an unbearable emptiness.

Her bewitching eyes opened slightly, and her hands helplessly wandered over him.

Veins throbbed at Xie Yuanguan's temples. Forcing his hands to lock hers in place—while harboring a sudden regret for bringing her to such a place—he saw that her consciousness was entirely slipping away and delivered a sharp blow to the back of her neck with the edge of his hand.

The young maiden slumped softly into his arms.

When Xie Miaohan awoke once more, she had already returned to the estate.

Aside from a lingering physical weakness, there was nothing amiss with her.

Only her right hand felt a cool sensation.

Lowering her head, she raised her hand and saw that her entire right hand was wrapped in white cloth.

Resting on the desk was a piece of silk fabric, upon which was written: "The golden elixir has been secured. The internal formula will be deciphered as soon as possible, and I will return swiftly."

His thoughts aligned with hers; he had successfully obtained the golden elixir.

The smile on her lips grew broader, deepening her dimples.

Xie Miaoxuan did not find fault in his delicate ability to fathom her intentions.

Instead, she felt that having someone by her side who anticipated her troubles and relieved them without requiring her to speak was remarkably convenient to have around.

Naturally, her estimation and regard for him deepened by several notches.

Only....

She had seen Lige record accounts on wooden tablets, whereas Xie Yuanguan wrote on silk.

The widespread use of paper was still not quite high enough at present.

It seemed that among her traveling belongings, there was also something akin to paper—yellowish in hue, a small single sheet kept within a precious wooden box, appearing exceptionally valuable and rare.

Perhaps, in the future, she could even make a small fortune out of this.

At that moment, towering flames raged within the Xuantu Palace, licking upward until they reached the stone walls.

Real Master Qiongshan was consumed by fury, storming into the mountain cave regardless of the inferno. Beneath the bronze tripod, only a few dying embers remained, scattered with a handful of unformed pills.

He struck out with a palm against the two men kneeling behind him, "I sealed the palace to search for intruders, yet you allowed thieves to burn the mountain right under your noses without even catching a glimpse of their faces!"

And yet they had still let the culprits escape!

"Master, spare our lives!"

The two men knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately and pleading for mercy.

"You deserve to die!"

A moment later, only two corpses remained in the cavern.

That day, the biting morning chill rushed into the lungs, instantly invigorating the spirit.

Xie Miaoxuan stood in the courtyard, watching as Lige moved as lightly as a falling leaf before her eyes. The forms he drilled were precisely the techniques from the wooden tablet he had given her, and the long blade that she had coveted so dearly complemented his ghostly footwork, kicking up a series of bizarre, shifting gales.

After executing a complete set of saber techniques, not a single droplet of sweat stained his face.

"Once you master this set of saber techniques, our transaction will be considered complete."

Xie Miaoxuan had assumed she could immediately begin practicing the saber techniques he had just demonstrated.

To her surprise, however, his first requirement for her was to execute a thousand forward slashes and a thousand diagonal chops.

Xie Miaoxuan could not help asking, "If that's the case, why did you demonstrate it in the first place?"

Would it not have been simpler to just let her start practicing directly?

"A martial artist must understand not only the action, but the reason behind it," he stated, his gaze fixed straight ahead as he pointed out a flaw in one of her practice swings. "By showing you the fruits of your labor after mastery first, you naturally develop a desire for it. And with desire, you will spare no effort to learn."

"Oh..."

In other words, his demonstration earlier was actually meant to kindle her desire to learn.

He was worrying needlessly, though; her resolve to become a grandmaster was more steadfast than anyone could possibly imagine.

"A grandmaster?" Lige's mesmerizing eyes remained entirely devoid of ripples, his voice clear and resonant like shattering jade. "I'm afraid you won't reach that height in this lifetime."

Xie Miaoxuan: "......"

A moment ago he was encouraging her to practice diligently, and now he was already tearing down her confidence.