Chapter 1849 - Brutal
The assassin struck once and fled without a moment's hesitation. By the time Enchantress recovered from the attack, he had vanished without leaving the slightest trace.
Liu Wuxie pressed a hand over his wound, but blood continued welling between his fingers and soaked his clothes crimson.
The commotion immediately alerted the three Spectral Envoys, who rushed to the bedchamber. The moment they appeared, all three dropped to their knees before Enchantress.
"Master, forgive us. Our negligence allowed the assassin to slip inside," they pleaded.
Had Liu Wuxie not reacted in time, Enchantress would have suffered grievous injuries even if she had survived the attack.
"Are you hurt?" Enchantress asked, ignoring the three spectral envoys as she helped Liu Wuxie stand, looking concerned.
"It's nothing. I'll survive," Liu Wuxie replied through a strained smile. Rather than using the Ancestral Tree to heal himself, he deliberately allowed blood to flow from the wound.
His unity with heaven and earth could mend the injury with a single thought. However, the wound offered him another chance to escape Enchantress' advances, and allowing it to recover so quickly would destroy that opportunity.
"Search! Find that assassin and drag him back to me, even if you have to dig three feet into the ground," Enchantress roared after confirming that Liu Wuxie would survive. Her murderous intent flooded the entire room, sending tremors through the three spectral envoys.
They knew Enchantress' temperament better than anyone. The slightest disagreement could drive her to kill, and no one knew how many people she had brutally slaughtered over the years.
"Understood," the three spectral envoys answered before disappearing at once.
As Liu Wuxie watched the spectral envoy in the middle, an enigmatic smile slowly curved across his lips.
Enchantress retrieved her finest pill and personally fed it to Liu Wuxie. She then sprinkled medicinal powder over his wound to staunch the bleeding.
"Why would you save me?" Enchantress asked as she put on her robe, her piercing gaze never leaving Liu Wuxie. "If I'd died, you would've gotten your freedom back."
As a ninth-level Origin Immortal, Enchantress could expose a lie through the smallest microexpression or shift in someone's gaze. Even the most carefully concealed deception would reveal itself through a person's eyes.
"If you die here, there's no guarantee I'll regain my freedom." Liu Wuxie paused, letting a bitter smile cross his face. "But one thing is certain. I won't leave this bedchamber alive."
He had spoken nothing but the truth. If Enchantress died inside her own bedchamber, her death would implicate everyone in the palace, and they would all be executed on the spot.
"You're clever," Enchantress replied, smiling as a flicker of admiration entered her eyes. "Congratulations. You made the right choice."
Liu Wuxie differed from every man she had encountered before. The others longed for her death and would never have saved her if they were in his position, but Liu Wuxie refused to judge the situation solely by its immediate gains and losses. He looked beyond the present, considered every possible future, and foresaw the consequences his decision might bring.
Enchantress deserved to die, but she could not die here or now. Those were Liu Wuxie's genuine thoughts.
Once the bleeding stopped, Liu Wuxie climbed down from the bed. He still needed to move carefully and avoid exerting himself.
"Someone, come in," Enchantress called from the bed.
The feminine man hurried into the bedchamber, only to halt abruptly at the gate, too frightened to venture another step closer.
"Prepare a secluded courtyard for him," Enchantress instructed. "From now on, he may move freely throughout the palace, provided he never leaves it."
"Understood," the feminine man replied, casting Liu Wuxie a vicious glare.
The men living in the palace constantly fought and schemed against one another to secure Enchantress' favor. Anyone who earned her trust gained the privilege of moving freely through the palace. Although the feminine man appeared to have won her favor, Enchantress would still kill him without hesitation if he committed a single mistake.
"Thank you, Guardian Enchantress," Liu Wuxie replied, bowing immediately.
In truth, receiving permission to move freely within the palace surprised him. Unfortunately, the order still forbade him from leaving, which meant he had no way to approach the Shadow Divination Gate's sect master.
Time was slipping away, and Liu Wuxie needed to accelerate his plan.
"You can leave now," Enchantress said, waving him away with her hand.
Liu Wuxie departed the bedchamber and followed the feminine man toward his new residence. Neither of them spoke along the way, but the hostility and murderous intent radiating from the feminine man remained unmistakable.
"You'd better learn your place. Otherwise, don't expect any mercy from me," the feminine man warned, stopping in a secluded corner and turning to confront Liu Wuxie.
"Is that so?" Liu Wuxie asked, a mocking smile playing across his lips. "Then tell me, whose orders am I supposed to obey?"
The feminine man's attempt to establish his authority could not have been more obvious.
"Aside from the three spectral envoys, I'm the one who commands this palace," the feminine man declared. "If you want to survive, you already know what to do."
His message left no room for misunderstanding. If Liu Wuxie wanted to leave alive, he would have to obey him. Should Liu Wuxie defy his commands, the feminine man would find an opportunity to murder him in secret, for he refused to let anyone threaten his standing within the palace.
The moment Liu Wuxie gained Enchantress' trust, the feminine man faced a strong possibility of becoming expendable. He had spent years clawing his way to his current position, and if Enchantress ever decided she no longer needed him, death would be his only fate.
"Is that a threat?" Liu Wuxie asked, his gaze turning glacial as murderous intent flowed from his body.
"You aren't important enough for me to threaten. But this is what happens to anyone who disobeys me," he replied. He seized a passing gardener by the throat and hoisted him off the ground.
A sickening crack split the silence as he snapped the gardener's neck before the victim could even cry out, flaunting his senseless brutality without restraint.
An icy aura erupted from Liu Wuxie. The two men faced each other in a lethal standoff, poised to spill blood over the slightest provocation.
Enchantress never concerned herself with the deaths of a few gardeners. If the palace ran out of them, she could simply buy more.
Liu Wuxie and the feminine man locked gazes while their murderous intent spread through the secluded corner.
Liu Wuxie silently gathered his strength. With his current power, the Divine Ninefold Step, and the Divine Tribulation Pupil, killing a ninth-level Spirit Immortal would not be difficult. Only his reason held him back.
He knew he could take the feminine man's life with ease, but doing so would bring severe consequences. Saving Enchantress did not mean she trusted him.
The Bloodthirst Blade materialized in Liu Wuxie's hand as overwhelming pressure rolled from his body. The suppression stiffened the feminine man's limbs, for he had never expected Liu Wuxie to possess the courage to attack him.
"Slash!"
Liu Wuxie struck without hesitation, executing the Mountain Blade as his blade intent descended upon the feminine man with crushing force.
The feminine man had clearly failed to anticipate such a sudden attack. Within the Shadow Divination Gate, anyone who exposed weakness would immediately become someone else's prey.
The Mountain Blade could not match Instant Flash in speed, but its destructive power far surpassed it. It swept forward with the unstoppable ferocity of a primordial beast.
Fury twisted the feminine man's expression. He had already warned Liu Wuxie, yet this newcomer still dared to raise a blade against him.
"You're desperate to die, brat, so I'll give you what you want. Even if I kill you here, I doubt the Master will blame me," the feminine man shot back.
In truth, Liu Wuxie's attack played directly into his hands. He raised one hand and summoned a longsword, releasing a powerful shockwave that swept up a turbulent curtain of dust.
Blade and sword collided with a deafening metallic shriek. Shockwaves tore through the surroundings, crushing flowers and trees in their path. The commotion drew the gardeners' attention, but every one of them retreated immediately, unwilling to venture any closer.
When the gardeners spotted their companion's corpse, anger burned in their eyes as they glared at the feminine man. This was far from the first time he had tormented them, and over the years, he had killed many gardeners merely for talking back to him.
The rebound force numbed Liu Wuxie's entire arm, proving that the feminine man truly possessed the strength expected of a high-level Spirit Immortal.
Liu Wuxie drew upon the Divine Tribulation Pupil, preparing to trap his opponent inside an illusion while secretly readying the Divine Mystic Yin Needle for a fatal strike. By combining the two, he felt ninety percent confident that he could grievously injure the feminine man.
"What exactly do you two think you're doing?" a frigid voice demanded as a spectral envoy appeared nearby.
"Greetings, Envoy Shen!" the feminine man said, instantly replacing his hostility with a fawning smile and servile tone.
Aside from Enchantress herself, the three spectral envoys held the highest status within the palace. Even if they made mistakes, Enchantress didn't punish them.
The moment Liu Wuxie's gaze settled on Envoy Shen, a faint, knowing smile touched his lips.
"Stand down. If Master learns about this, both of you will die," Envoy Shen ordered before turning away.
"Consider yourself lucky today," the feminine man said with a cold snort, glaring viciously at Liu Wuxie. "You'd better pray you never fall into my hands, or I'll make you wish you were dead."
"The feeling is mutual," Liu Wuxie replied, murderous light flickering through his eyes.
The feminine man immediately summoned another gardener and commanded him to escort Liu Wuxie to his courtyard.
Liu Wuxie followed the gardener through a maze of winding paths before arriving at a secluded courtyard. Quiet and spacious, it resembled paradise compared to his former cramped residence. The courtyard offered more than enough room for him to practice his martial techniques, while the adjoining room contained every necessary furnishing.
"If you have no further instructions, I'll take my leave," the gardener said quietly, remaining outside the courtyard, not daring to cross the threshold.
"Can you tell me where Envoy Shen's residence is?" Liu Wuxie asked.
"The three envoys rarely receive visitors," the gardener replied nervously, fearing that Liu Wuxie might kill him over the slightest disagreement.
"Just tell me where his residence is. I won't let anyone know the information came from you," Liu Wuxie assured him, deliberately softening his voice. Even so, the change startled the gardener into instinctively stepping backward.
"Follow this path until you see an old pear tree outside a courtyard," the gardener replied, pointing down the trail. "That's Envoy Shen's residence. You can't miss it."
The gardener gradually lowered his guard. Compared to the feminine man, Liu Wuxie seemed far more approachable.
"Thank you," Liu Wuxie replied with a nod, signaling that the gardener could leave.
Although Liu Wuxie had already memorized the palace's overall layout, he still did not know where the three envoys resided.
After entering the courtyard, Liu Wuxie sat cross-legged and examined his wound. He circulated the unity with heaven and earth, and the injury closed rapidly until it disappeared without leaving a single scar.
"I need to accelerate my plan. This injury can protect me for the next few days, but once I recover, Enchantress will undoubtedly come after me again," Liu Wuxie muttered.
He could tell that Enchantress had not abandoned her intentions toward him, and everything would change once he recovered.
Liu Wuxie made no immediate attempt to find Envoy Shen. An assassin had only just infiltrated Enchantress' bedchamber, so the three envoys would currently be searching every corner of the palace.
After hours of scouring the surrounding area without finding the assassin, Enchantress had flown into a rage.