[The eighth form—Dragon Capturing Palm!]
The air seemed to resonate with the sound of dragons’ chanting, and in that moment, Chen Jie made a fierce palm strike towards Qiao Hongyan.
Qiao Hongyan was shocked; Chen Jiusi’s eighth form, the Dragon Capturing Palm, was a formidable presence in Mianshui County, and her own "Heavenly Mountain Broken Plum Hand" was no match for it!
Realizing this, Qiao Hongyan furrowed her brow and quickly threw a flying dagger.
Swish! The dagger shot straight towards Chen Jie, who, upon seeing it, waved his hand and slapped the flying dagger away, continuing his advance.
Witnessing this, Qiao Hongyan’s brow tightened further, and just then, she spotted the White Tiger Hall disciples holding torches.
With a frown, Qiao Hongyan decided to take a gamble and threw a flying dagger directly at one of the White Tiger Hall underlings.
The underling was alarmed, watching as the flying dagger approached, moments away from meeting his death, but just then someone stepped in front of him and slapped the dagger out of the air!
Qiao Hongyan laughed upon seeing this, "Hehe... Master Chen truly is a man of benevolence, treating your subordinates so well. The green hills will not change, the green waters will flow on forever; we shall meet again if fate decrees it in some year yet to come..."
With those words, Qiao Hongyan leaped up, grabbed the rope that was severed in mid-air, and swiftly soared onto the rooftop.
Chen Jie furrowed his brow upon seeing this and turned back to the disciple behind him: "Are you alright?"
The disciple responded, "Thanks to the Hall Master, I’m fine."
Chen Jie ordered, "Notify Xiao Hu, I need backup."
The disciple acknowledged the command, and Chen Jie charged out, following the direction of Qiao Hongyan’s escape, bursting out of the warehouse. He then scanned his surroundings and spotted the escaping Qiao Hongyan.
He immediately utilized his qinggong to pursue her.
His footsteps on the rooftop’s tiles were firm, thinking to himself, "I’ll see where you can run!"
In pursuit of Qiao Hongyan, there were two places she could potentially head to; one was the Yihong House.
But after thinking it over, Qiao Hongyan decided she couldn’t return to the Yihong House–that would be like walking into a trap; she was no match for Chen Jiusi at the moment.
So if not Yihong House, then where to?
To Brother Sun’s place!
Qiao Hongyan decisively made up her mind; if push came to shove, she would utilize the power of the blacksmith shop to lay an ambush for Chen Jie—Chen Jiusi knew too much!
With this thought, Qiao Hongyan led Chen Jiusi towards the Sun Family Blacksmith Shop.
Chen Jie’s frown deepened upon seeing this, figuring out she was going to Sun Tiechui, but even facing two Thirteen Grand Protectors, he wasn’t without means to escape unscathed; he decided to see for himself.
Chen Jie had strong confidence in his own martial skills.
Currently, Chen Jie was hot on the heels of Qiao Hongyan, and soon the two had reached East City.
Qiao Hongyan dove straight into the blacksmith shop.
Inside the Sun Family Blacksmith Shop, Sun Tiechui was taken aback to see Qiao Hongyan, who then warned, "Brother Sun, be careful, Chen Jiusi is on my tail!"
Right at that moment, Chen Jie landed inside the Sun Family Blacksmith Shop and looked at Sun Tiechui and Qiao Hongyan with a smile: "Hehe, Miss Hongyan, you truly are a runner!"
Sun Tiechui frowned at this and then narrowed his eyes.
"Master Chen, what brings you here in the dead of night?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie pointed at Qiao Hongyan and said, "I’m after her."
"You’re in league with her, aren’t you?"
Hearing that, Sun Tiechui answered with a frown, "I don’t understand what you’re saying. In league? Who is she?"
Chen Jie laughed in response, "Good, playing dumb, are we? Well, let me tell you, this person before you is from the Zoroastrian Sect."
"Ah, she’s actually from the Zoroastrian Sect."
Chen Jie smiled at Sun Tiechui’s reaction, "Master Sun, nice acting. Are you planning to trick me and then combine forces to kill me?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Tiechui retorted, "What are you talking about?"
Chen Jie chuckled and said, "Still not admitting it, huh? Well then, take a look at this."
Swish, as he spoke, Chen Jie threw something over. Sun Tiechui grabbed it with a frown and caught it with a snap in his hand and opened it.
His expression changed drastically!
Sun Tiechui looked at Qiao Hongyan, whose face also turned pale. What Chen Jie had thrown over was an arrowhead, and upon seeing this arrowhead, both understood instantly that their plan had been thoroughly exposed.
With that realization, they exchanged glances, then stood together and declared, "Chen Jiusi, since you know so much, we can’t let you leave so easily."
Chen Jie replied, "Oh, so you’re prepared to join forces and kill me?"
Sun Tiechui addressed Chen Jie, "Master Chen, you’re also a true hero; why must you oppose our Zoroastrian Sect?"
Chen Jie answered, "What do you mean ’oppose’? It was just a coincidence, and besides, you wounded Liu Song in the forest, which greatly affected me!"
Sun Tiechui angrily replied, "He deceived us with inferior metal; didn’t he deserve to die!"
Chen Jie responded, "He didn’t deserve to die at that particular moment."
"Brother Sun, why bother talking to him? Just kill him."
Upon hearing this, Sun Tiechui and Qiao Hongyan assumed their stances, readying for an attack, while Chen Jie also concentrated, preparing himself for a grave challenge against two Energy Transformation Masters.
Just when he was wholly focused, a swooshing sound suddenly erupted beside his ear, and Chen Jie, startled, quickly dodged to the side.
Swish! Right then, an assailant lunged out diagonally, nearly sealing Chen Jie’s throat with a sword!
Chen Jie hurriedly dodged and turned to look, shocked, "Qiao Hongyan?"
Yes, the person who had attempted to assassinate him was Qiao Hongyan.
Chen Jie stared sharply at the cloaked night walker, who at that moment gently removed the veil, revealing a face identical to Qiao Hongyan’s!