Chapter 9: Intercept Qin Xiao

hy would you keep all his belongings If you hadn’t planned to stay by his side from the start, how could Zhu Bao have targeted you And if I hadn’t been shut out by you, we wouldn't be in this dire sit...Chapter 9: Intercepting Qin Xiao

"Sput sput"

A man was clutching his left arm and running for his life. His left arm had already lost half of it, blood gushing out uncontrollably. But he couldn’t afford to treat the wound as he continued to run desperately. Behind him was a pack of wolves gradually closing in, with over fifty of them.

Even though he ran for his life, the man still fainted due to excessive blood loss and was tripped by a vine, falling onto the ground. He struggled a few times trying to stand up but found himself completely exhausted. Seeing the approaching wolves, he closed his eyes in despair.

"Swoosh swoosh"

Suddenly, he felt wind rushing past his ears followed by several wolf howls. The man weakly opened his eyes and saw a flash of green color swiftly pass before him. Although there was only one person, as soon as the green-clothed man stood still, the wolf pack retreated slightly, fear evident in their eyes. This man… could he be more terrifying than the wolves But, he had been saved, wasn’t this what he wished for The man let out a faint sigh of relief but then his vision went black and heard cloth tearing at his neck before he was lifted up straight. He met the brown gaze of the green-clothed man who looked playful yet more menacing than the wolves. The man took in a sharp breath, wondering if this was good or bad

Kong Qing turned his spear around once and the man was steadily pinned to a nearby tree. The wolf pack also retreated several steps due to the commotion. Unable to bear such an impact, the man spat out a mouthful of blood water. Kong Qing looked at him smugly and said coolly, "You only need to answer my question."

Under the pressure from Kong Qing's aura, the man could only nod dumbly.

Kong Qing raised his lips and continued, "Tell me where Qin Xiao is"

Hearing the name Qin Xiao, a flicker of surprise flashed across the man’s eyes before it was replaced by confusion. Everyone in Phoenix City knew who Qin Xiao was — an influential figure close to the emperor and the first guardian general of Phoenix City. However, how could such a person be here personally The man shook his head weakly and said with difficulty, "Is General Qin in this place I don’t know, please spare me…"

A flash of light appeared, and the man felt a chill at his neck but couldn't utter any words. He numbly reached out to feel it and found a stream of heat instead before falling straight onto the ground, with Kong Qing’s towering figure reflected in his pupils.

Kong Qing did not look at the dead man on the ground, instead he was satisfied to see that his spear remained spotless. Although he had killed someone, there wasn’t even a drop of blood on it. However, being a stickler for cleanliness, he took out a smooth silk cloth and gracefully wiped it clean before discarding it ruthlessly, regardless of it being the snow satin given by the prince.

With the troublesome man dealt with, Kong Qing placed his spear on his shoulder and smiled slightly at the wolves who had retreated over ten meters. He lifted himself off the ground lightly and glided between tree trunks before vanishing in no time.

At this moment, Qin Xiao was surrounded by the wolf pack and couldn't advance or retreat. He could only defend his position. However, he clearly felt a strong killing intent coming from the forest, directly targeting him. He recognized that killing intent; it could only come from that man, Wang Kai of Anbang Kingdom, who had returned victorious. What surprised him was how quickly this had happened.

"Howl~"

The wolf pack seemed to sense danger and let out fearful cries as they kept retreating until they disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Just when Liang Hu and others were puzzled, Qin Xiao leaped up and flew away from the ground, swiftly moving between trees. As Ju Li and others tried to chase after him, they were stopped by Liang Hu, who glared at them angrily.

Liang Hu quietly watched in the direction where Qin Xiao had disappeared and said calmly, "If you go now, you'll die even faster. It seems there's nothing left for us here. Let’s wait outside."

Turning around, Liang Hu walked towards the edge of the forest, knowing that this was no longer a matter for hunters. Staying any longer would only lead to their deaths. After taking a few steps, he stopped and said, "Of course, I won't stop you from going to your death."

Ju Li was taken aback; the current Liang Hu seemed like a completely different person compared to before. Not just his aura but also his eyes had changed, becoming somewhat deep and cold, making them shudder. Realizing they couldn’t keep up with Qin Xiao's pace anyway, they left as well.

On another side, however, Qin Xiao stopped after walking a hundred meters. In front of him was Kō Qing wiping his long spear, surrounded by the bodies of wolves that had all been slit at their throats—only he could do this, known as the first long spearman in Fenghuang Kingdom.

"As expected, it's you," Qin Xiao said without surprise when seeing Kō Qing, but the smell of blood from dozens of wolf corpses was rather unusual; not like human blood, but a thick metallic stench. "It seems Anbang King has returned."

“Whoosh”

No sooner had Qin Xiao spoken than he felt an icy killing intent closing in and finally stopping one inch from his nose as a shining spear. The coldness of the aura spread through the blade, but Qin Xiao remained calm; this was something he was used to.

"Kō Qing, you haven't changed at all," Qin Xiao said slowly.

Kō Qing narrowed his icy eyes. In the next instant, a flash appeared and the spear had been sheathed again. The killing intent in Kō Qing's eyes disappeared instantly, replaced by harmless laughter as if what just happened didn’t exist. He slightly tilted his head up and looked at Qin Xiao with a cold snort, "I haven't changed, but you certainly have."

"How do you come to that conclusion" Upon sensing the sarcasm in his words, Qin Xiao didn't get angry. Instead, he felt like Qing Kong was acting like a petulant child.

"Do I need to spell it out for you, Senior Brother" Qing Kong deliberately emphasized the term 'Senior Brother', looking at Qin Xiao with sharp eyes and saying, "When did you become so timid Do you really need help from those uncultured peasants to deal with a pack of wolves Heh heh... or is it His Majesty's wish"

"Shouldn't you be by Prince Anbang's side" Qin Xiao ignored Qing Kong’s question and shifted the subject to another person.

Seeing Qin Xiao's disdainful expression, Qing Kong mistook his words as a provocation. He sprang over and stood in front of Qin Xiao, glaring at him and saying, "Hmph, our prince arrived earlier than you did, Qin Xiao—no, make it Captain Qin. You’d better take your uncultured peasants away. Our prince has already received the imperial decree. There’s nothing for you to do here."

"But I haven’t been given an order to leave," Qin Xiao said coolly upon hearing Qing Kong's words. He thought that Prince Anbang had arrived and was now looking for the妖女, and if he stayed around any longer, they might get a head start on him. Even if he ended up being credited with catching her in the end, he wanted to be the one who captured her himself; perhaps he could learn something from her.

"You—" Qing Kong was furious but couldn’t find a way to argue back and just glared at Qin Xiao. "Hmph. Qin Xiao, our prince doesn't need anyone bothering him when he's working. Please excuse yourself."

"As the bodyguard of a prince, you're supposed to be protecting him, yet you’re here shirking your duties. Qing Kong, what do you think is your punishment for this"

"Our prince likes solitude and told me specifically to clear out any unnecessary people," Qing Kong wasn't about to back down either. He leaned his spear on his shoulder, swung one leg over a broken tree branch with ease, drew a line in front of him with the tip of his spear and lifted his chin as he said, "If you dare cross this line, my spear won’t stop."

Qin Xiao knew Qing Kong was just trying to make things difficult for him but he didn't have time to waste here. He also had no intention of fighting with him; even though he was confident in his ability to win against Qing Kong, it would still be troublesome.

Qing Kong knew Qin Xiao wouldn’t give up so easily, but the prince's order was to stop anyone who wanted to interfere with him. He didn't care about why the prince did what he did; all he cared about was that he had stopped ten hunters so far and was still waiting for Qin Xiao—there was no way he could let someone like Qin Xiao past.

Because he hated Qin Xiao.

He once vowed to kill Qin Xiao.

The brother he used to know, who was now dead...

The two of them calculated silently in their minds, without saying a word to each other.

Although Qin Xiao knew he couldn't fight Qing, he also clearly understood that it was difficult to achieve this.

A slight smile appeared at the corner of Qing's mouth. A few rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves and gently sprinkled over his green clothes. It had been threatening rain earlier, but now there were patches of sunlight piercing through the thick clouds, directly shining on the earth, creating quite a scenery to admire.

After what seemed like an eternity, Qin Xiao suddenly leaned back against a tree, with a slight smile playing at his lips as he leisurely gazed at Qing. He picked up a flower beside him and idly played with it in his hand.

This action left Qing stunned. Qin Xiao's attitude was as if he had already given up advancing. This way It’s completely pointless! Qing impatiently wiggled his feet, continuously rubbing the long spear with both hands, looking like an ant on a hot pan.

Even though Qing tried to remain calm, it couldn't hide the impatience on his face. Seeing Qin Xiao showing no signs of moving forward, he had imagined countless ways in his mind to kill Qin Xiao, even deciding where exactly to strike him first. But now that Qin Xiao made no move at all, Qing was left with no option but to admit defeat. He was always an impatient person, and before the tea time was up, he had already reached his limit.

"Come on, you damn it, why don’t you make a move Aren't you supposed to catch that demoness for your emperor's harem If you miss the deadline, aren’t you scared of losing your head" Qing picked up the long spear and impatiently urged Qin Xiao forward, unintentionally crossing over the line he had drawn.

Qin Xiao smugly raised his lips but remained composed. Once Qing stepped out ten paces beyond the boundary, he had already gathered his internal power in his palm. Seizing the moment, he suddenly flung a large hand forward, sending all the wolves flying towards Qing. Qing was momentarily stunned but quickly waved the spear to swiftly disembowel the incoming wolves. Suddenly seeing a dark figure flying over, Qing smiled smugly, thinking that Qin Xiao had finally decided to act. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air to instantly tear apart what he thought was his target. However, upon landing and realizing the mistake, he found out it wasn’t flesh but just clothes. By then, Qin Xiao had already used this distraction to fly far away.

"Qin Xiao, you damn liar! I'll chop off your legs today so that you can't fly anymore!" After a few curses, Qing slightly gathered his strength and rapidly chased after him.

But alas, his kung fu was not as agile as Qin Xiao's, making it impossible for him to catch up.

"Brother, if you want to kill me, you have to be able to catch me first," Qin Xiao said even though the speed of swords and spears couldn’t match Qing’s. Nevertheless, his agility and wisdom still surpassed Qing’s, which was why he could easily overcome this barrier with mere feints.

Unfortunately for him, it was a royal robe that had been damaged in the process, as it had been made from imperial silk. It looked like he would face criticism upon returning home again.kiss properly."“Are you an idiot” Qi Lin wanted nothing more than to slap him, but she held back her anger: “Have you ever seen anyone asking others how to kiss It's something one is born knowing!”"So...