allendalepharm Chapter 145 A Dying Struggle?
Chapter 145 A Dying Struggle?
"Has Your Excellency located the traitor's hiding place?" Han Yu asked.
"Ten miles west of the city lies the ruins of the old Zheng." Bai Yifei answered crisply.
Han Yu nodded slightly, not pressing further about how he found it—despite having already spread all his undercover agents throughout the city, he had still come up empty-handed. Han Fei's gaze, however, narrowed slightly, not because he suspected Bai or that Bai's methods were superior, but because another matter was churning in his mind: that day, Brother Lin clearly had never set foot in the abandoned city area, yet he was certain that Tianze was hiding there… Could he truly be a fortune teller? Or perhaps he possessed another pair of invisible eyes, piercing through the fog?
At the time, I was only concerned about Honglian's safety and did not investigate further.
Looking back now, the more I think about it, the stranger it seems.
After much deliberation, he finally shook his head and gave up.
Brother Lin is an enigma to begin with, so it's not surprising that he has some things that are hard for ordinary people to understand.
……
Before long, the group arrived at the abandoned city.
"General, five hundred elite Frost Cavalry have surrounded the four corners and are awaiting orders!" A captain, standing solemnly in armor, knelt on one knee to report.
"Give the order: launch a full-scale attack," Bai Yifei said succinctly.
"Understood!" The captain clasped his hands in a fist salute, stood up, and turned to leave quickly.
Bai Yifei did not rush forward, but stood quietly; Han Yu and Han Fei also waited silently, knowing that he must have a backup plan.
Half an hour later—
A sudden whooshing sound filled the air!
In an instant, dozens of icy spears tore through the sky, accompanied by a chilling shriek, and simultaneously pierced the ruins in the center of the desolate landscape.
Where the translucent ice spear swept past, the air frosted, leaving trails of snow-white streaks before crashing down with a deafening roar. Bricks and stones shattered, beams and pillars collapsed, and the entire building crumbled.
The moment each ice spear pierced the ground, it exploded into a crystal-clear ice lotus, petals bursting open and a surge of icy air.
The surrounding temperature plummeted, and a thin layer of frost instantly covered our clothes and hair.
Since the goal was to capture the thief, Bai could not afford to make the slightest mistake.
Based solely on his cultivation level, he already had a 70% chance of defeating Tianze; if he were to take advantage of the frost covering the ground, his chances of winning would approach 95%.
"The Blood-Clad Marquis!! Bai Yifei!!"
A deafening roar ripped through the deathly silence. From the depths of the building, which had been crushed into ruins by the icy spear, a beastly roar suddenly erupted—hoarse, scorching, and filled with a furious rage and chilling killing intent that seemed to burn everything in its path.
Immediately afterwards, a figure suddenly leaped into the air from the rubble, his chains dancing wildly like a living python, whipping and whistling, sending shards of stone flying.
Dozens of steps away, Tianze stared intently at Bai Yifei's face, his eyes bloodshot.
Behind him, Yan Lingji's robes fluttered, and the Corpse-Driving Demon stood hunched over, his peerless ghost towering like a mountain.
"Tianze, you have brought about your own destruction by assassinating the Qin envoy." Bai Yifei's voice was as cold as a frost-quenched blade.
"Ha...hahaha!" Tianze laughed wildly, his laughter full of sarcasm. "Bai Yifei! You framed me for Ji Wuye's death, and now you want to use Gu worms as a leash to control me—you should have known! I'd rather overturn this game than not bite your throat! I want to know, who exactly killed Ji Wuye? Who could have scared you, Blood-Clad Marquis, out of your wits? Could it be the shadowy figure who kidnapped Princess Honglian that night?!"
Before he finished speaking, Han Yu's pupils suddenly contracted, and his fingertips trembled slightly.
What?!
Ji Wuye... wasn't killed by Tianze?!
He subconsciously glanced at Han Fei and Zhang Liang beside him—both of them remained calm and showed no surprise.
"Ninth Brother knew all along? No wonder he was the first to attack Ji Wuye's former subordinates that day... But how did he know about the death in advance? And who was responsible? How could Bai Yifei be so wary of him?" Han Yu's throat tightened and his heart sank.
Bai Yifei didn't look at Tianze again, but turned his head and glanced at Han Yu and Han Fei: "Fourth Young Master, Ninth Young Master, there's no need for you to bother with this."
"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Marquis."
"Thank you for your trouble, General Bai."
Knowing that this place was already a battlefield, and that staying any longer would only cause trouble, the two immediately retreated to a distance.
Han Qiancheng drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the sharp arrow piercing the air and heading straight for the Corpse-Driving Demon; five hundred Frost Iron Cavalry surrounded them like silver waves, trapping Yan Lingji and Wushuang Gui in the center.
In the center of the battlefield, only Tianze and Bai Yifei remained, their two figures like two unsheathed weapons, facing each other across the air, the air thick with tension.
"Under my control, you could barely cling to life. Now that you insist on breaking free of your shackles—then I'll have no choice but to send you on your way myself." Bai Yifei's brows suddenly furrowed, his voice turning deep. "Hmm?!"
"The Gu Mother has malfunctioned?" Tianze's lips curled into a sinister smile.
Bai Yifei remained silent, his gaze deep and unfathomable. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "You suppressed the backlash from the Gu worms with potent poison?"
"The poison may not be able to eliminate the Gu, but it's enough to seal it for a while—and you, right now, must be hiding the Gu mother close to your body, right? As long as I kill you and take back the mother Gu, I will regain my freedom... So—die, Bai Yifei!!"
Three snake-head chains erupted like venomous fangs, shooting out in a triangular formation, tearing through the air and hurtling straight at his face!
"Overestimating yourself." Bai Yifei's voice was indifferent.
A crystal-clear ice barrier instantly rose from the ground, forcefully blocking all incoming forces.
Tianze dared to face death alone, he must have something to rely on. Bai Yifei was fully aware of this, otherwise why would he need to set up such a tight encirclement? He only needed to crush the Gu Mother, and Tianze would immediately bleed from all seven orifices.
Even though the mother Gu was temporarily ineffective, he remained as steady as a rock.
The earth trembled, and several towering ice blades burst from the ground, standing upright and encircling the two in a frigid battle arena.
The chains behind Tianze suddenly flared up again, and the black shadows poured down like a torrential rain, attacking from all directions!
Bai Yifei remained motionless, letting the snake's head crash into his chest—the next instant, he exploded into countless ice crystals, which scattered in a flurry.
Tianze looked up suddenly, only to find the spot empty.
"A dying struggle? Fine—let me see how many more times you can bounce around before you die." Bai Yifei's voice rang out simultaneously from the four ice walls, cold and echoing.
"Damn it!!"
Tianze clenched his teeth, straightened his back, and his aura surged violently. Thick, ink-like baleful energy erupted forth, and countless chains hissed and twisted, their fangs bared in a ferocious, predatory manner.
"It's worth a look, but unfortunately... it's nothing special." Bai Yifei had appeared before him at some point, his long sword drawn with a clang.
From the crimson scabbard, a blood-stained blade was drawn, its edge gleaming with a dark light, as if soaked in centuries of resentment and blood, emitting a pungent stench.
The clash of swords and the sudden attack were devastating! Tianze, already at a slight disadvantage, could only barely parry with the help of his chains. The slightest lapse in concentration allowed the chilling aura to seep into his veins like venomous snakes, forming a layer of icy white armor on his arms, shoulders, and neck.
The signs of defeat can appear in an instant.
"No...we have to leave!" Tianze's eyes darted around, his heart pounding—the surrounding ice walls were as high as a prison, there was no way to escape.
A direct confrontation? He believed he could cleave a rift in himself. But Bai Yifei would never give him the chance to even raise his hand.
"Damn it! What are they... waiting for?!" Tianze gritted his teeth, blood seeping from between his teeth, clinging to his last glimmer of hope on his three remaining subordinates.
however……
The first to fall was the Corpse-Driving Demon.
He could have used corpses as weapons, but the surrounding area was empty, not even a single mangled body could be found. Even though witchcraft was unpredictable, most spells required close combat—but his opponent was Han Qiancheng, bow in hand, arrow on the string, the two at least several dozen paces apart. Before the cold light even touched him, the killing intent had already sealed off any possibility of approach. The Corpse-Driving Demon himself was in grave danger; how could he possibly spare a hand to rescue Tianze?