The Road to Betrayal
Chapter 16: The Road to Betrayal
The air was thick with dampness as Ye Xian stepped onto the stone-paved road leading away from the Azure Wind Sect.
The sky was overcast, clouds rolling low over the mountains. The kind of sky that promised storms.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her, her mind already shifting ahead.
The journey to the Imperial Court had begun.
And with it—a new battlefield.
She had expected to leave quietly.
But of course—nothing in Jianghu was ever quiet.
Especially when Zhao Fengyun and Bai Zhen were traveling with her.
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A Journey With Hidden Daggers
The group was small—deliberately so.
Shen Liwei was not coming.
Instead, he had sent Bai Zhen as a representative. A move Ye Xian didn't entirely understand—was it trust, or a deeper test?
Alongside him was Zhao Fengyun, the Smiling Demon, his presence turning the air sharp, like a drawn blade hidden beneath silk.
The last two travelers were sect guards, nothing more than extra eyes to report back.
Ye Xian exhaled softly as she mounted her horse.
The road stretched before them—a path leading not just to the Imperial Court, but to something much larger.
And already—she could feel that they were not alone.
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A Presence in the Mist
They rode through the narrow valley roads, the mist curling around them like unseen fingers.
Ye Xian kept her posture relaxed, but her senses were sharp.
There.
A flicker of movement along the ridgeline—too far to be a wandering traveler, too still to be an animal.
Someone was watching.
She wasn't the only one who noticed.
Bai Zhen let out a soft, almost careless chuckle. "You feel it too, don't you?"
Zhao Fengyun, who had been riding just ahead, smiled without turning his head.
"Of course."
Ye Xian kept her gaze on the road. "And yet, we continue riding as if we don't."
Zhao Fengyun exhaled, amused. "It would be rude not to let our shadow play their game a little longer."
Ye Xian's fingers twitched slightly around the reins.
Zhao Fengyun was toying with their watcher.
And that meant he already had a plan.
---
An Ambush Without Sound
It happened just as they reached the old stone bridge.
No battle cries. No warnings.
Just a flicker of steel through the mist.
Ye Xian's horse reared sharply, nearly throwing her as an arrow sliced through the air, embedding itself into the ground where her foot had been a second ago.
Bai Zhen moved instantly—leaping from his horse as another arrow came, his sword flashing.
Zhao Fengyun barely looked surprised as he dismounted, his crimson robes untouched as he stepped onto the bridge.
Ye Xian exhaled, already slipping a needle from her sleeve.
Figures emerged from the mist—five, no, six assassins, dressed in gray robes, their movements precise.
Not bandits.
Killers.
Sent for them specifically.
Bai Zhen grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Ah, finally. I was getting bored."
Zhao Fengyun sighed. "You always get bored."
Ye Xian didn't speak.
She was already moving.
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The Dance of Blades
The first assassin lunged at Ye Xian—a blade flashing toward her ribs.
She stepped sideways, her movement smooth, letting the steel pass just inches from her.
Then, in a single motion, her fingers brushed the assassin's wrist—delicate, precise.
A single pressure point.
The assassin froze mid-motion, their body locking for half a second—just long enough.
Ye Xian twisted, slamming her palm against their chest, sending them stumbling back into the mist.
The next one came immediately.
But by then, Bai Zhen was already cutting through the fight, his sword dancing between bodies like it was all a game.
Zhao Fengyun barely moved, sidestepping a blade with ease, a dagger slipping into his hand as if it had always been there.
Ye Xian exhaled.
Whoever these assassins were—they had picked the wrong targets.
But even as she fought, one thought ran through her mind.
Who sent them?
And more importantly—
Who were they really here to kill?
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A Voice in the Dark
The fight ended quickly.
Too quickly.
The assassins—who had moved so precisely, so lethally—suddenly faltered.
As if they had lost their resolve.
As if… they had received a new order.
Ye Xian caught a final glimpse of a masked figure in the mist—watching.
Then—just as suddenly as they had appeared, the remaining assassins vanished.
Gone.
Zhao Fengyun clicked his tongue. "Ah, that was disappointing."
Bai Zhen wiped his blade clean. "They were testing us."
Ye Xian inhaled slowly, brushing a stray strand of hair back into place.
Then—
A sound.
Soft. Almost inaudible.
A whisper of movement just beyond the trees.
And then—a voice.
Low. Unfamiliar.
But speaking directly to her.
"You should not have come, Ye Xian."
Her blood turned cold.
Whoever it was—
They knew her name.
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End of Chapter 16