15: Chapter 15 Murderous Intent in the Dark, Qingxue Makes Her Move

After leaving the Lin Residence, the night was already deep.

There were few people on the street; only the sound of the watchman's clapper came from afar, strike after strike, knocking into the silence.

Ye Chen didn't return directly to the South City Small Courtyard. He carried the "Cold Water Arts" in his robes, pondering Lin Qingxue's words.

"From the Meridian Opening Fourth Level to the Fifth Level involves the preliminary comprehension of 'Connecting the Four Extremities'..."

This was a new hurdle for him. His previous Breakthroughs had been achieved naturally, relying on the feedback from the Beauty Record and that cold energy.

But "Connecting the Four Extremities" sounded like it required a certain level of comprehension regarding the power of heaven and earth.

Ye Chen turned into a secluded alley, wanting to take a shortcut back and sort out his thoughts along the way.

The moonlight was blocked by high walls, making the alley very dark, with only a glimmer of light at the end.

Just as he reached the middle of the alley, several figures suddenly flashed out from both ends, blocking his path.

Ye Chen paused and came to a stop.

No need to count—three in front and three behind, six in total.

They were all dressed in black, faces masked, holding sabers, their eyes glinting coldly in the darkness.

Their auras weren't weak; the two leaders were at the Meridian Opening Fourth Level, and the remaining four were at the Third Level Peak.

No words were spoken.

The people in front and behind moved simultaneously, the saber light carving pale arcs in the darkness as they lunged straight at him.

Their movements were clean and efficient, their coordination seamless; these weren't street thugs, but professional assassins.

Ye Chen's heart sank.

The Wang Family? Or someone else?

There was no time to overthink.

He slammed his body violently to the side, his shoulder crashing hard against the nearby earthen wall. With a muffled "boom," soil rustled down.

He used the force to spring toward one side of the alley, narrowly avoiding the pincer attack of the blades.

Several sabers struck empty air, sending sparks flying off the bluestone pavement.

"A tough target, form the Formation!"

One of the leaders barked in a low voice. The six men immediately dispersed, forming two groups of three, surrounding him in a flanking position.

The saber light wove into a net, sealing off all of Ye Chen's paths of retreat.

The pressure increased sharply.

These men's combined attack Formation was exquisite, their auras linked, offense and defense as one.

Ye Chen deployed his movement technique, weaving through the saber light, cold energy flickering at his fingertips. Every collision produced a "hissing" sound.

A layer of white frost instantly condensed on the opponents' blades, causing their movements to stall.

But there were too many of them, and their coordination was too good. Although Ye Chen's movement was eerie and his cold energy tricky, he was, after all, only at the Meridian Opening Fourth Level Peak.

Facing the siege of six experts simultaneously, he soon fell into a disadvantage.

Several cuts were opened on his arms and back by the saber winds, stinging with burning pain.

More lethally, Ye Chen felt the True Qi in his Dantian being consumed extremely fast, and using that cold energy was also a great burden on his mind.

This couldn't go on!

Ye Chen's eyes turned sharp. Risking a direct hit from a saber on his side, he lunged forward, targeting the leader at the Meridian Opening Fourth Level.

He joined his right fingers like a sword, condensing most of his True Qi and cold energy at his fingertips. That speck of blue light suddenly brightened, carrying a bone-chilling cold as it pierced straight toward the opponent's heart!

Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!

This was the only chance!

The leader hadn't expected Ye Chen to be so fierce, disregarding his own safety to strike at the center.

His saber strike was already spent, and he couldn't pull back in time to defend, so he could only barely turn his body, holding his saber horizontally across his chest to block.

"Clang—Crack!"

Fingertips collided with the steel saber, actually producing the sound of clashing metal. Then, unable to withstand the condensed cold energy and finger strength, the steel saber shattered inch by inch!

Ye Chen's finger lost some momentum but still struck the left side of the opponent's chest.

"Puff!"

The leader felt as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer; a small section of his chest visibly collapsed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood containing ice shards.

He was sent flying back, crashing into the wall and sliding down limply, clearly not going to survive.

But Ye Chen also paid a price. The saber from the side slashed solidly into his left shoulder, deep enough to see the bone, and blood instantly dyed his clothes red.

Intense pain washed over him. He let out a muffled groan, his figure stumbling.

Seeing their leader dead, the remaining five didn't retreat; instead, their assault became more urgent and their eyes more ferocious, fighting with a completely suicidal style.

With his left shoulder in agonizing pain and his movements sluggish, Ye Chen was about to be hacked to pieces by the chaotic blades.

At this critical moment—

A cold, white figure, like moonlight pouring onto the ground, appeared silently at the alley entrance.

It was Lin Qingxue.

She seemed to have just left the Lin Residence, still carrying the slight chill of the night dew.

Seeing the scene in the alley, she frowned slightly. Without any nonsense, she pointed her fingers like a sword into the air.

A highly condensed white Sword Qi shot out like an icy thread, silent and faster than the eye could follow!

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Five soft sounds rang out almost simultaneously. The five black-clad men lunging at Ye Chen suddenly froze.

A tiny red dot appeared on each of their foreheads. Before the blood could flow out, it was frozen by a surge of extreme cold energy.

Without making a sound, the five men fell straight down, their life force completely gone.

The alley instantly returned to a deathly silence.

Only Ye Chen's heavy breathing and the "drip, drip" of blood falling onto the bluestone pavement remained.

Lin Qingxue walked over slowly, the moonlight shining on her, making her look as cold and elegant as an immortal.

Without even looking at the corpses on the ground, she walked straight to Ye Chen, her gaze falling on his heavily bleeding left shoulder.

"Can you walk?"

she asked, her voice still calm, but Ye Chen seemed to detect a hint of concern.

"I can." Ye Chen gritted his teeth, pressing his right hand against the wound on his left shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding.

But it had little effect.

The blood loss and intense pain made his face pale, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Lin Qingxue didn't say more. She extended her fingers and quickly tapped several points around his left shoulder, sealing his acupoints. The blood flow immediately slowed down.

Then, she tore off a piece of her clean sleeve. Her movements weren't very practiced, but she carefully helped him bandage the wound.

Lin Qingxue's fingers were icy cold. When they touched the wound, Ye Chen couldn't help but shiver.

"Endure it," Lin Qingxue said softly, her movements quickening slightly.

After bandaging him, she checked Ye Chen's condition and then looked at the deep alley.

"You can't go back like this."

As she spoke, she reached out to support Ye Chen's uninjured right arm.

"Follow me."

Ye Chen wanted to refuse, but his body was drained of strength, and the wound hurt terribly. He could only let her half-support, half-carry him as he stumbled along behind her.

She didn't return to the Lin Residence but instead turned into another even more secluded path. After several twists and turns, they arrived at the inconspicuous back door of a small courtyard.

She took out a key, opened the door, and helped Ye Chen inside.

The small courtyard was very clean, with only one main room where an oil lamp burned with a dim yellow light.

The furnishings were simple but complete, as if someone would occasionally come to stay for a short while.

Lin Qingxue helped Ye Chen sit on the bed, then went to the cupboard to search.

Soon, she brought out a medicine box and took out wound ointment and clean gauze.

"Take off your clothes."

Her tone was natural, as if she were saying something very ordinary.

Ye Chen was stunned and hesitated for a moment. Although practitioners didn't stick to trivialities, there was still a distinction between men and women.

"The wound needs to be cleaned and medicated again. It's inconvenient with only one hand."

Lin Qingxue looked at him, her eyes clear and without any Impurities.

"Or would you like me to call Scarface?"

"...I'll trouble you, Miss Lin."

Ye Chen stopped being difficult. Enduring the pain, he struggled to pull down the damaged clothing from his left shoulder with his right hand, revealing the gruesome wound and his sturdy upper body.

He had practiced martial arts for years, so his body was well-proportioned and solid, his skin a healthy bronze color, though it was somewhat pale now due to excessive blood loss.

Lin Qingxue's gaze swept over his wound, her eyes focused, without any hint of avoidance.

She first used clean water to carefully wash away the blood and dirt, then sprinkled on medicinal powder. Her movements were gentle, as if she were afraid of hurting him.

The powder stung the wound, causing Ye Chen to suck in a breath of cold air, his muscles tensing.

"It'll be better soon," Lin Qingxue said as she carefully re-bandaged him with gauze.

Her strands of hair would occasionally brush against Ye Chen's skin, carrying a faint, cool fragrance.

The two were very close; Ye Chen could even count her lowered eyelashes.

Once finished, Lin Qingxue poured a cup of water and handed it to him.

"You've lost a lot of blood. Drink some water."

"Thank you." Ye Chen took the cup and drank it all in one go. The warm water felt much better in his stomach.

Lin Qingxue sat on the chair by the bed and looked at him.

"Do you know whose people they were?"

"They seemed like professional assassins." Ye Chen shook his head.

"It could be the Wang Family, or... someone else who finds me an eyesore."

He thought of the City Lord's Mansion's attitude.

Lin Qingxue was silent for a moment.

"You've been in the spotlight too much lately. Defeating Wang Teng and being close to my Lin Family naturally invites wariness."

She paused.

"This was my oversight. I didn't expect them to dare strike so close to the Lin Residence."

"It's not Miss Lin's fault," Ye Chen said.

"I wasn't careful enough myself."

"This small courtyard is very safe. No one knows about it," Lin Qingxue said.

"Rest here tonight and go back at dawn tomorrow. There are internal Medicinal Pills in the medicine box that can heal injuries and recover Qi."

Ye Chen nodded, feeling grateful.

If she hadn't happened to appear tonight, he would likely have been in grave danger.

The two were silent for a moment. The glow of the oil lamp bathed them both, casting long shadows on the wall.

The atmosphere was somewhat subtly quiet.

After a while, Lin Qingxue suddenly spoke, her voice very soft.

"That finger strike of yours just now—condensing cold energy into a single point to break armor and shatter blades—already has the embryonic form of 'Intent'."

Ye Chen was startled. He hadn't expected her to mention this: "It was just Luck. In a moment of desperation, I had a sudden flash of inspiration."

"It wasn't Luck." Lin Qingxue looked at him.

"Your control over cold energy has improved a lot compared to ten days ago. It seems the 'Cold Water Arts' has indeed inspired you."

"I haven't had time to look at it closely yet," Ye Chen said honestly.

"I just felt that when using cold energy, it seemed... a bit more natural."

This was actually the effect of the Bond increasing and the affinity with the Profound Yin Body growing.

Lin Qingxue said thoughtfully, "Your Physique is indeed special. Perhaps you really can forge a different path."

In her tone, there was a trace of undetectable expectation.

After sitting for a while longer, Lin Qingxue stood up. "Rest now. I should head back."

"Miss Lin," Ye Chen called out to her, saying solemnly.

"Tonight, thank you for saving my life."

Lin Qingxue's footsteps paused. She didn't look back, only giving a soft "Mm" before pushing the door open and leaving silently.

Ye Chen sat alone on the bed, looking at his bandaged shoulder. The faint, cool fragrance from her body seemed to still linger around him.

Tonight's events were fraught with danger, yet for some reason, his heart was exceptionally calm at this moment.

He took out the "Cold Water Arts" and, by the dim yellow light of the lamp, slowly began to leaf through it.

Outside the window, the moonlight was as cool as water.