The next moment, a clear, bright voice entered his ears.
It sounded like an imperial decree; a command infused with immeasurable power. Despite having transformed into the Mountain Splitting Wild Elephant, Yuan Xiang found himself suddenly unable to move a muscle.
The spectators were confused and wondering what had happened to the Grandmaster. Yuan Xiang himself was both shocked and afraid.
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to move. It was because he couldn’t move.
It was as if he had suddenly lost control over his own body. He couldn’t even move his eyeballs, much less anything else.
Before he could think of a solution, the voice rang once more.
As soon as the word slipped into his ears, Yuan Xiang felt a magical, irresistible power invading his headspace. It was eroding his mind and extinguishing his consciousness!
The spectators did not know what Yuan Xiang was thinking or feeling. They only saw him skidding to a stop about halfway toward his target before the light in his eyes suddenly winked out, and his consciousness was no more.
To say that his death was abrupt and bizarre would be an understatement. It had happened so abruptly that they had no idea what just happened, and it was so bizarre that they could not believe their own eyes at all.
Then, one person turned around and started running away like a stray dog.
She was Green Daylily, of course.
When she showed up, she had been as arrogant as she could be. Now, she was running away with her tail between her legs.
Why was she running away? Because she was scared shitless, of course. Out of the three of them, Yuan Xiang was the strongest, and Wan Bo was the most cunning. Be it in terms of cultivation level or strength, they were much stronger than her.
However, the foxy Wan Bo had died without a peep, and the powerful Yuan Xiang had been killed in two words. Two words! It was as if he was no stronger than an insect!
At this point, it was clear that a champion was protecting Hundred Flowers Island. How strong was that champion? She didn’t know. What she did know that she was probably no stronger than an ant in the champion’s eyes.
That was why she could only run as quickly and as far away as possible.
That was why she could only pray that the champion really did think of her as an ant; that they would think her far too meek to garner their attention.
Green Daylily moved very quickly partially because she was really scared out of her wits, but also because she excelled in movement arts. Her Water Escape especially, a movement art called “Horizon Blue Wave”, allowed her to cross thousands and thousands of kilometers in an instant as long as she could enter the sea.
That was why she ran to the edge of Hundred Flowers Island in just the blink of an eye. The blue sea, freedom and safety was right in front of her.
However, the second she made contact with the sea water, she suddenly saw a lotus flower blooming inside her mind.
The lotus flower was pitch black in color, beautiful and mysterious. Green Daylily looked like she just saw a ghost though. She let out a high-pitched scream and attempted to dispel it.
It was futile. The black lotus began rotating and casting many dark rays throughout her headspace. Her consciousness immediately became muddied, chaotic, and unfocused.
The next moment, amidst everyone’s shocked gaze, Green Daylily turned away from the blue sea that would have been her salvation and walked back toward the island.
They could all see that her face was blank, and her movements were stiff like a puppet on strings. At that moment, confusion and terror gripped everyone’s heart.
Confusion led to worry, and terror led to panic. The first ones to break under the pressure were, of course, the Blue Wave Island invaders. When they first boarded the island, they were grinning from ear to ear and brimming with bloodthirst. But after witnessing their first island lord dying for seemingly no reason, and their third island lord turning into a puppet without any warning whatsoever, all that excitement had turned into sheer, unadulterated terror.
One man threw away his weapon and began begging at the top of his lungs. Another man shouted like a madman while running toward the sea. A woman just stood there with a dazed expression on her face…
The guests of Hundred Flowers Island wanted to follow their lead and leave this heavens-forsaken-place as well, but the same fear that spurred that impulse also rooted them in place. They were worried that the mysterious champion who protected Hundred Flowers Island would treat them as a co-conspirator and kill them should they try to escape at this time.
Luckily, their fears did not come true. Whoever the mysterious champion was, they did not seem to be too interested in the small fries from Blue Wave Island. More accurately, they didn’t care about the small fries at all. They allowed the invaders to escape, and that show of restraint calmed down the restless guests on Hundred flowers Island somewhat.
For obvious reasons, Lady Hundred Flowers was beyond speechless right now. What happened just now was so ludicrous, so unbelievable, that it almost felt like a fantastic dream.
An unknown amount of time later, Lady Hundred Flowers finally looked up and asked, “Qingyou, did you… did you do all that?”
If before she only thought of Feng Qingyou as a weak but polite junior of her old friend, then that impression had just undergone a complete transformation.
“Yes and no,” Feng Qingyou replied simply. She did kill Wan Bo and Yuan Xiang, but Ye Qing was the one who took control of Green Daylily.
“I don’t understand, Qingyou,” Lady Hundred Flowers expressed her confusion.
Instead of explaining, Feng Qingyou gave her a smile and said, “This isn’t a good place to speak, lady. And did you forget that you are still poisoned? Why don’t we return to the Hundred Flowers Palace and speak then?”
Ultimately, Lady Hundred Flowers was a Trueman with worldly experience. She quickly regained her cool, gave various instructions to her subordinates, and calmed down the masses in a short time. Once done, she allowed Feng Qingyou to take her to the Hundred Flowers Palace.
“Oh right, I almost forgot. What should we do with her, Qingyou?”
They had just taken a few steps when Lady Hundred Flowers recalled something and looked at Green Daylily. The woman had moved behind them and just stood there after she was turned into this.
“We’ll take her with us!” Feng Qingyou replied.
“Why?” Lady Hundred Flowers couldn’t quite put two and two together.
“Don’t you want to know why they attacked Hundred Flowers Island?” Feng Qingyou asked.
“Oh right. Of course,” Lady Hundred Flowers exclaimed in realization and ordered the man to carry Green Daylily back to Hundred Flowers Palace.
After returning to Hundred Flowers Palace and instructing the servants to give Feng Qingyou their highest treatment, she produced a pill from a secret room—she did not try to hide it from Feng Qingyou—and sat down on a strange flower in the courtyard.
The flower was as big as a millstone and did not possess any branches whatsoever. It was growing on the ground and had multiple layers of leaves and petals like a Buddhist’s lotus throne. The flower wasn’t pink in color though. It was inkish green and gave off a strange scent that made someone drowsy.
When Lady Hundred Flowers sat at the center of the flower, its petals and leaves started shaking like a cat who just caught a fishy scent. It slowly wrapped its petals around Lady Hundred Flowers.
Over time, the strange flower grew increasingly vibrant and sweet-smelling, though the scent didn’t spread like a normal scent would. It simply circulated around the flower.
At the side, an old woman saw Feng Qingyou watching the strange flower with curiosity and warned, “Be careful, miss. That scent has the power to put someone to sleep. It is best if we stay far away from it.”
Then, the old woman abruptly recalled that the woman she was trying to warn was a champion who could slaughter a Trueman like a dog. Panicking, she hurriedly added, “I’m sorry, miss. This old slave was being foolish. Please forgive this old slave.”