Given his cultivation, Solitary Ice wouldn’t have been killed in just a few short seconds if he’d faced off against her directly, even if he was no match for her. If he’d activated his ice ki armor, it would have taken the daoist nun a significant amount of effort to break through it.

Unfortunately, most of his attention had been focused on eavesdropping on the conversation happening below him. He was also too overconfident, believing that his senses were so keen that not even the sound of the wind blowing through the grass could escape his detection.

He had no idea that a powerful enemy had already crept up on him silently, and he wasn’t even granted the slightest opportunity to fight back.

Even in the jungle, when two evenly-matched vicious beasts fought, the one who was caught off-guard would be killed immediately. Who cared whether or not his cultivation was equal to the daoist nun’s?

Below them, Qiu Honglei lifted her head in confusion. “Solitary Ice, did something happen?”

Even though Solitary Ice didn’t manage to put up any sort of meaningful resistance, his feeble struggle still produced some small bit of sound. Qiu Honglei was also a cultivator, and this sudden disturbance didn’t escape her ears.

Of course, she didn’t think too much of it either, but posed this question casually. After all, it was hard to imagine that one of the glorious Solitary Eight of the Devil Sect could be quietly assassinated.

Strangely, there was no reply at all. Qiu Honglei turned to the window in confusion, and called out again. “Solitary Ice?”

The window was suddenly smashed open, and a flash of apricot yellow burst in. A pair of fair-skinned palms flew towards her chest with great force.

Qiu Honglei had no time to think. She raised her own palm in front of herself to ward off the blow. The two of them clashed, and she felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Blood sprayed out from her mouth, and her aura immediately weakened considerably.

The attacker was, of course, the daoist nun. She gave a grunt of surprise. “As expected, the lady saint of the Devil Sect has some skill!”

Even though her tone was full of praise, she didn’t stop her assault, but continued to target Qiu Honglei’s vitals.

It was already a miracle that she had managed to block one attack while caught off-guard. There was almost no chance for her to escape the next blow.

A hint of despair flashed across Qiu Honglei’s eyes when she saw those vicious white hands coming towards her. Her internal ki had been thrown into an absolute mess by the previous strike. Given her cultivation, she be able to recover within three breaths, but her opponent obviously wasn’t going to give her the chance.

Another person suddenly appeared in front of her, and a warm arm wrapped around her. “We have to go!”

Zu An used his Grandgale skill at the crucial moment and rescued her from the deadly situation.

The daoist nun’s palm strike lost its intended target, and slammed into the pillar behind the spot where Qiu Honglei had originally been standing.

There was no earth-shaking noise. In fact, there was absolutely no sound at all, which was a surprise, given the aggressive momentum of her palm. It seemed an utter contradiction.

When she retracted her palm, however, the massive pillar instantly collapsed. It didn’t break into pieces, but turned into powder instead, scattering across the floor.

Both Zu An and Qiu Honglei grew pale at the sight of this. Surely they would have been reduced to a puddle of blood if they had been struck by that blow!

The two of them finally had a chance to see their attacker. She was a daoist nun dressed in apricot-yellow robes, and holding a horsetail whisk in her hand. She seemed rather ordinary, but gave off a strangely flirtatious aura.

Zu An was stunned when he saw her attire. “Li Mochou?”[1]

Her dressing and general demeanor was just too similar to Li Mochou! However, her beauty was still rather inferior.

“Hm?” That daoist nun didn’t press the attack, and looked at Zu An in surprise. “What was that that you just used? Why is it so fast?”

Zu An snorted. “Why should I tell you? Why don’t you tell me about your palm strike first?”

The daoist nun sneered. “Damned brat, you’re courting death!”

A palm flew towards them at once. It moved extremely quickly, and almost reached them in an instant.

Zu An cried out in alarm. He quickly used his Sunflower Phantasm to split into three copies which took off in different directions.

The daoist nun struck one of the afterimages, and her eyes widened further in greater shock. “This movement technique…!”

Zu An didn’t dare act carelessly. Carrying Qiu Honglei in his arms, he tried to burst through the doorway.

Of course, the daoist nun had no intention of letting him do as he pleased. With a flick of her horsetail whisk, the strands, which were several feet long, instantly stretched out to become tens of feet long, blocking his path to the door.

Startled by this sudden development, Zu An changed directions at once.

However, the strands of white horsehair seemed to be alive. They curled and began to wrap around the two of them like snakes.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Zu An noticed a stray strand brush across a wooden bench. Immediately, the sturdy bench split in two, and the looked extremely smooth. It was as though it had been sliced through by a laser beam. There was no way he could let those strands touch him.

He used his Sunflower Phantasm to continuously evade the attacking strands. However, the white strands of horsehair seemed to be never-ending. They continued to grow and extend, eventually criss-crossing the entire room like a spider’s web. The safe spaces through which he could move grew ever smaller.

A cruel smile appeared on that daoist nun’s face, like a cat who had finally cornered a mouse. “Kid, you really are quite the surprise. Your cultivation is rather average, yet your movement technique far surpasses that of many master rank cultivators. I’m growing more and more interested in you.”

“Why are you being so ruthless if you’re interested in me?” Sweat began to pour from his temples. White strands of horsehair streaked across the entire room. He knew that he was going to be captured in less than half a minute.

That daoist nun beamed and said, “It is precisely because I’m interested in you that I’m taking my time capturing you. I adore young and healthy men like you.”

A chill ran down Zu An’s spine. “Sorry, I don’t have any interest in old hags like you!” he yelled.

“What did you say?!” That daoist nun erupted in fury. She let out a scream, and the threads of her whisk began to move even more aggressively.

You have successfully trolled Mosquito Daoist for 678 Rage points!

“Mosquito daoist?” Zu An was startled when he saw the notification for the Rage points. He had been sure that she was a spider type.

Unfortunately, the price of angering her was great. The violent strands had blocked off all paths of escape. He could only look on as those threads closed in on him.

Qiu Honglei suddenly brought out a lantern, and pale yellow light began to spill out of it. The incoming strands seemed to have been frozen in place.

Even though Zu An had dodged all around the room earlier, he had moved extremely quickly. In reality, not much time had actually passed. Qiu Honglei had finally sorted out her chaotic ki.

“What? The Empress Lantern!” The mosquito daoist stared at the lantern in her hands, her eyes lighting up with greed.

Qiu Honglei was sweating profusely. “We need to go now! I can’t hold her back much longer!”

Zu An hurtled around the room with her in his arms, feeling rather indignant. I want to flee as well, but this room is like a bloody spider’s cave right now. How the heck are we supposed to escape?

The mosquito daoist giggled. “Your cultivation is too low, so you cannot utilize the lantern’s full power. I’ll recover soon. When that happens, this lantern will also be mine.”

She didn’t expect her luck to be so good. Earlier in the day, she had run into an ignorant fool outside. Even though he had been rather dumb, he was young and his cultivation was pretty high, which meant he tasted fabulous. The one on the roof had been a little older, which meant that he tasted slightly worse, but his cultivation had been even higher.

Her plan was to kill the lady saint of the Devil Sect, then slowly torture the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra out of Zu An. She never expected to find the Empress Lantern here! Even though it wasn’t as powerful as she remembered, this was probably because Qiu Honglei’s cultivation was too low.

She cackled with glee as she counted out her spoils for the day. I had to keep a low profile all this while because of my reputation, but once I cultivate the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra and obtain the Empress Lantern, who else will be able to do anything to me?

1. Li Mochou is a character from Jin Yong’s The Return of the Condor Heroes. She is a vicious killer who wields a horsetail whisk.