Chapter 394

Chapter 394: Try it-will she die faster or will I?

The Empress Dowager’s body finally relaxed. You Bing Yue also looked at ease. To them, a person about to die was nothing to fear.

The Empress Dowager spoke with disdain: “Enough. I summoned Official Yu today for real business; let’s stop talking about people who don’t matter.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s eyes turned cold.

She said, calm and sharp: “My master is only nearing the end of her lifespan, not already gone. Even if a Golden Core realm expert lives just one more day, there’s still a lot they can do.”

The Empress Dowager’s back, which had just loosened, stiffened again; the color drained from her graceful face. You Bing Yue also blanched. They had seen Immortal Qing Feng’s abilities before. Forget everything else-just Swordflight alone was enough to make the world revere him. And someone who can fly by sword can kill a mortal with laughable ease.

Watching their pallor with interest, Yu Zhi Yi half-smiled and asked: “You don’t actually think a Golden Core realm expert near the end of life is like a feeble old man that anyone can bully, do you?”

You Bing Yue dug her nails into her palm, and a thought slammed into her: [How did I forget that even a snake with its head cut off can still bite?]

Now that the masks were off, Yu Zhi Yi saw no reason to keep up polite pretenses. Decency is mutual.

“If His Majesty has nothing else, then I’ll take my leave,” she said, turning to go.

Suddenly, a heavy pressure crashed down. Yu Zhi Yi felt as if thousand-pound shackles clamped over her, her feet sinking into a mire. She couldn’t move. Her pupils shrank. So this was a Golden Core realm expert’s aura-truly terrifying.

A voice floated down, cool and scolding: “Looks like Immortal Zi Chan really is old. Each disciple she accepts is worse than the last; you don’t even know the most basic etiquette.”

Insulting her as ill-bred?

You Bing Yue had been a top figure in her former world; she knew fighters could crush others with sheer presence. Lower cultivators facing higher ones often lost the will to fight. If ordinary experts could suppress each other, true cultivators certainly could too. Realizing Yu Zhi Yi must be crumpling under suppression, she smiled.

With her hands clasped behind her back, she strolled to Yu Zhi Yi’s side. Staring at the woman’s pale face, her eyes brimmed with gloating delight: [Yu Zhi Yi, look who’s suffering now!]

“Official Yu,” she drawled, “your master is indeed a notable figure, but that doesn’t mean Immortal Qing Feng must favor you. He is an Elder of the Grand Void Sect, a true recluse above the world. When you see him, you should at least salute.”

Yu Zhi Yi’s face stayed cold. She did not answer.

You Bing Yue circled her and clicked her tongue: “You’ve stayed in your little well too long and think what you see is the whole sky. You don’t know there are people beyond people and skies beyond skies. Immortal Qing Feng is a sky you can’t touch.”

She added, voice bright with triumph: “His Majesty has decided to establish the Grand Preceptor’s Manor. By then, Immortal Qing Feng will serve as State Preceptor, and you can be the immortal attendant by his side.”

Immortal attendant-plainly put, a maid.

A flush rose on Yu Zhi Yi’s pretty face, as if rage had surged to her head.

Immortal Qing Feng looked at her coolly and said: “If not for Bing Yue pleading for you, I wouldn’t keep you by my side to serve.”

Yu Zhi Yi almost laughed from anger-and in truth, she did let out a laugh.

Once an assassin, You Bing Yue still had sharp instincts. The instant she heard the laugh, she sensed something was wrong. She spun to run-but it was already too late.

Because Yu Zhi Yi had her back to the crowd, no one saw the flash of gold that flickered in her eyes shortly after the suppression fell.

By the time Immortal Qing Feng sensed something off, You Bing Yue’s neck was already in Yu Zhi Yi’s hand. Yu Zhi Yi lifted her with ease and, raising her gaze to the dais, said coolly to Immortal Qing Feng: “Bullying the small with the big, the strong oppressing the weak-so this is the Grand Void Sect’s teaching. I’ve learned it well.”

“Let her go!” Immortal Qing Feng moved to strike.

You Bing Yue’s eyes rolled white-from being choked.

Yu Zhi Yi said lightly: “Go ahead and try it: will you kill me faster, or will I kill her faster?”

Immortal Qing Feng frowned: “Disciples of the Heavenly Secret Sect mostly walk the path of life. You cannot kill. If you harm her, you will sever your way forward.”

Yu Zhi Yi smiled: “If I’m about to lose my life, why would I care about a way forward?”

The calm mask on Immortal Qing Feng’s face cracked. He hadn’t expected a small secular disciple of the Heavenly Secret Sect to ignore him to this degree, shaming him in front of so many people. With his power, killing the little disciple would be as easy as crushing an ant-but the other side held a hostage.

If she had been from any other sect, he would have acted without fear. But the Heavenly Secret Sect is strange; even this Foundation Establishment realm novice had slipped free of a Golden Core realm expert’s suppression. He didn’t dare gamble. If he lost, Yue’er would die.

He drew a deep breath and said coldly: “You should know that cultivators who take life as their path must not kill.”

Of course Yu Zhi Yi knew. Her master’s first lesson was to cherish life. Those who walk the path of life care most about cause and effect. Once entangled in too much karma, the heavenly punishment they face is harsher than that of other cultivators.

But…

“There’s no need for you to teach me the Heavenly Secret Sect’s rules,” Yu Zhi Yi said with a mocking smile. “We don’t lightly step into others’ karma, that’s all-not that we can’t kill. In the Heavenly Secret Sect, we repay hate with hate and debt with debt.”

She added, crisp and unyielding: “If someone hits my left cheek, unless I make both of her cheeks swell, my dao heart won’t stay steady.”

Immortal Qing Feng: “…”

The emperor and the Empress Dowager: “…”

As for You Bing Yue… she was almost out of air.

Watching the woman who had more out-breaths than in-breaths, Yu Zhi Yi said, voice flat: “I, the official, was going to look for you anyway, but you walked right into my hand. The crime of framing a court official-you don’t think running away that day means it’s over, do you?”

[Crap! I was careless!] You Bing Yue cursed inside. She had thought she’d found a strong backer. How did she still end up falling?

Hoisting You Bing Yue like a rag, Yu Zhi Yi turned to the emperor and said: “Your Majesty, a few days ago this woman framed me for murder on Mount Ming. The heir apparent to Marquis Wu’an and the accompanying guards can all testify. Under Sheng law, framing a court official means at least three years in prison.”

The emperor choked. [Why does this drag me in too?] He glanced at Immortal Qing Feng, feeling gloomy. He was the worldly ruler, unmatched in Great Sheng, used to having the final word. But Immortal Qing Feng was an immortal. Even a human emperor must bow to an immortal.

For the first time, he blamed his mother. Why had she waded into this muddy water? When two masters of the mystic arts clash, aren’t mortals who intrude just offering themselves up as cannon fodder?