CHAPTER 623: CHAPTER 517: THE MIAO KING ARRIVES!

"Mother, you might have to endure some indignity for a while."

"Hmm?"

Liu Qingyun looked puzzled.

Meng Qianqian suddenly drew the dagger from her waist and placed it against Liu Qingyun’s neck. "Drop the crossbows, or I’ll kill her!"

The assassins wearing bronze masks noticeably froze for a moment.

They had gambled correctly—what they wanted was Liu Qingyun alive.

As for herself—

The group adjusted the angles of their crossbows slightly, aiming at the center of the two women’s foreheads.

Liu Qingyun whispered, "Daughter-in-law, why do I feel like they’re even more intent on killing us now..."

Meng Qianqian’s gaze sharpened.

A tactic?

Or did the mastermind really want Liu Qingyun dead?

No, that wasn’t right.

If they wanted Liu Qingyun dead, they would have acted earlier.

At close range, the lethality of crossbows far exceeds that of ordinary bows and arrows.

"Bluffing," Meng Qianqian said to Liu Qingyun. "Mother."

Liu Qingyun understood, closing her eyes. "Do it."

Meng Qianqian twisted the dagger in her palm.

She gripped the blade tightly and plunged it viciously towards Liu Qingyun’s heart.

At that very moment, a cold silver flash streaked by, momentarily dazzling Meng Qianqian’s vision.

Through the reflection on the dagger’s blade, Meng Qianqian saw a man wearing a bronze mask, wielding a scimitar, charging towards her forcefully.

Meng Qianqian quickly raised her dagger, blocking the edge of his blade.

Liu Qingyun once again feigned blindness.

The man flipped mid-air and retreated backward.

Taking advantage of the moment, Meng Qianqian grabbed his wrist, leveraging his momentum to leap off the horse’s back. Her legs wound tightly around his neck in a chokehold, slamming him heavily to the ground!

"Well done!"

Liu Qingyun clapped her hands in admiration, full of pride. "As expected of my daughter-in-law!"

This man must be one of the leaders of the bronze-fanged masked assassins; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the lead in attacking.

After he was taken down, Meng Qianqian swiftly twisted her dagger, pressed his head down, and slit his throat.

Fast, ruthless, precise—no hesitation whatsoever.

If one hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that such decisive cruelty was the handiwork of a young maiden.

She wore the simplest and most elegant attire, untouched by dust.

Yet the dagger in her hand was dripping with fresh blood.

Even more chilling was the utter calmness in her gaze.

All the assassins wearing bronze masks were momentarily stunned, unsure whether to marvel at her skills or to fear her ferocity.

Suddenly, someone shouted an order: "Fire arrows!"

The location where Meng Qianqian had taken down the man was deliberately chosen; north and south were covered by crossbows, and she had landed on the northern side.

At this moment, the archers simultaneously aimed at her, firing volleys of arrows. Dense clusters of arrows intertwined like a net, descending upon Meng Qianqian with no escape possible.

Liu Qingyun’s face changed dramatically. "Girl—"

In that instant, she understood everything.

The young girl appeared to be in sync with her plan to capture the leader first, but in reality, she was seizing the opportunity to distance herself and lure the archers to focus on her.

As if the white horse had long been in league with her, at the moment the rain of arrows enveloped her, it raised its front hooves and bolted away like the wind, carrying Liu Qingyun at lightning speed.

Meng Qianqian calmly watched the arrows raining down on her, grabbed a corpse from the ground, and used it as a shield to block the first wave.

The second wave of arrows arrived.

Meng Qianqian employed the same trick.

The companion’s corpse was turned into a pincushion of arrows. Seeing that this tactic wasn’t working against Meng Qianqian, the bronze-fanged masked man who had taken over leadership issued another order: "Form an array!"

Meng Qianqian furrowed her brows slightly.

They actually knew arrays.

These people weren’t ordinary Miaojiang fighters, were they?

Meng Qianqian thought of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

The Thousand Mechanism Pavilion was most renowned for its mechanical techniques and hidden weapons.

But in an effort to expand their sect, the pavilion had recruited talents from all over the world, incorporating various factions. Arrays had become one such addition.

Miaojiang traitors might very well have traded Miaojiang Gu techniques for arrays and mechanical techniques from the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

It wasn’t impossible.

It seemed that the connections between the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion and Miaojiang ran deeper than imagined.

No, there were more tangled forces behind this conspiracy.

But it didn’t matter how grueling this path of vengeance might be—she was determined to see it through to the end.

Meanwhile, Liu Qingyun was carried several miles away by the white horse.

She finally understood why Lu Qi’s King Horse had lost to it. With her decades of horseback riding experience, she suspected she wasn’t riding a horse but a leopard...

She vomited profusely, utterly exhausted and weak.

The white horse, however, seemed tireless, galloping faster and faster.

Liu Qingyun, jostled until her eyes rolled back, groaned: "Oh, child, other people’s horses cost silver, but yours costs lives..."

The white horse, panting heavily, charged on.

Bam!

Something was sent flying by the horse.

Before Liu Qingyun could see clearly, another "bam" sounded.