The Unbreakable Chasm

Either she would die, or she would watch another perish.

The choice lay starkly before her.

“I—”

Xia Qian barely managed to utter a sound.

She had no time to hesitate, much less to devise a negotiating tactic.

A faint glint of steel flickered ahead.

The black-clad woman’s golden-horned scimitar brutally gouged a chunk of flesh from the maiden’s shoulder.

Blood dripped onto her coarse clothes, which were akin to a sack made of hemp.

It stained the poor, non-absorbent fabric with mottled patches.

Yet, the maiden endured the searing pain without a sound.

She wished not to stir pity in the white-clad youth, not wanting him to be dragged down by compassion for her plight.

Her sole hope was for the one person who had ever offered her a piece of coarse wheat cake to escape this perilous situation.

She yearned to tell him to abandon her, to simply run.

But the maiden feared that if she opened her mouth, only a cry of pain would escape, so she dared not speak, only clenching her teeth in silent agony.

“What? No scream?”

The black-clad woman was thoroughly displeased.

Like a child toying with a broken clockwork mechanism, she poked her blade into the maiden’s collarbone several more times.

“Scream! An exquisite wail is the supreme melody! You may scream to your heart’s content, for I have set boundary runes around us; no busybodies will disturb you. So, why do you not cry out?”

“—Enough!”

Xia Qian roared.

“I’ll kill myself, alright?”

Having heard the black-clad assassin’s words, Xia Qian knew that even screaming until her throat burst would summon no one.

She had no other gamble to make.

She then picked up a knife, her face resolute.

Even though the moonlight was dim and indistinct tonight, the blade still gleamed with blinding intensity.

“Hey, if I die, you’ll let her go, right?”

“Hehehehehe, you’ll know once you’re dead.”

“Fine, consider me unlucky, then. So, I need to stab myself somewhere that allows for a slower death, you don’t mind that, do you? At least let me see the outcome with my own eyes.”

Xia Qian sighed in resignation.

Even if the black-clad woman broke her word, there was nothing she could do.

She tightened her grip on the knife’s tip.

Seeing the woman remain silent, she took it as her tacit agreement.

“No! Young Master!”

The maiden’s voice tore through the night sky.

Even though she knew it was almost certainly a futile plea, she couldn’t help but try to dissuade him, tears welling in her eyes.

“Young Master, run quickly… don’t mind me…”

“Ah, there’s no escaping anyway…”

Xia Qian shook her head nonchalantly.

For some reason, all her tension had vanished, replaced by a profound sense of acceptance regarding life and death.

Young Master must not sacrifice his life for a mere servant like me… Young Master…

The maiden shook her head frantically, sobbing uncontrollably.

She neither agreed with his decision nor understood it.

“You can’t say that. If it weren’t for you, I would have died just now. So, consider it my good fortune to have lived a little longer. And conversely, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been captured by her. Ultimately, you had no reason to be in danger or suffer… Alright, enough talk. I’m starting to find these kinds of lines too sappy myself.”

Xia Qian shrugged, explaining with a forced, easy smile, unsure if it would bring any comfort to the maiden.

While she prattled on, as if to catch herself off guard, she gripped the dagger’s hilt with both hands and casually plunged its tip into her chest.

“Young… Master?”

The maiden’s struggles ceased.

The pain that had almost robbed her of all sensation seemed to vanish entirely in that instant.

She stared at the chest easily pierced by the dagger.

She watched as blood bloomed across the white-clad man’s chest, his body staggering backward a few steps before collapsing heavily to the ground.

For a moment, the maiden lost the strength to scream.

Only the black-clad woman’s triumphant sneer echoed in her ears.

The shadowy figure didn’t stop her, letting her walk as if in a daze towards the white-clad youth lying on the ground.

The maiden stumbled to Xia Qian’s side.

“Why… Young Master…?”

She knelt, murmuring, trying to cradle his body.

“Don’t, don’t move me… It hurts so much. At least, let me catch my breath.”

Seeing the lingering expression on the youth’s face, the maiden instantly snapped back to reality.

Her eyes were filled with the astonishment of having just recognized the truth.

“You—Young Master? You…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the black-clad woman walked up behind her.

She looked down with disdain at the suicidal youth and the lowly maiden, as if enjoying a performance on a stage.

Feeling she had played enough, and her anger had mostly subsided, the assassin let out a sneer.

“As you can see, I have already released her.”

Her words paused for a moment, then her smiling eyes instantly overflowed with fierce, chilling malice.

“However, I never said that after releasing her once, I would guarantee not to kill her again—watch closely, I shall now send you both on your way together.”

The golden-horned scimitar slowly rose, aimed at the maiden’s back.

“Ha—I knew you stinking woman couldn’t be trusted!”

Suddenly, Xia Qian, who should have been at death’s door, widened her eyes.

She pulled out the dagger tucked under her armpit, and ignoring the searing pain from the wound on her side, she decisively hurled it straight at the black-clad woman’s face.

“What?”

The black-clad woman instinctively dodged, simultaneously swinging her blade to deflect the dagger.

“There’s more!”

Immediately after, Xia Qian flung a handful of sand and gravel, which she had already clutched while lying on the ground, haphazardly at the assassin’s face.

Blinded by the flying grit, by the time she could see clearly again, the white-clad youth had already risen and was running several steps away, pulling the maiden with him.

“Deceitful!”

The black-clad woman finally realized Xia Qian had been faking.

Using the indistinct night and a deliberate sidestep to create a visual diversion, the dagger had merely pierced her spacious robe, then created a superficial wound to feign bleeding.

She had actually been careless enough to fall for this brat’s acting.

Having been tricked twice, the black-clad assassin was furious.

However, her carelessness stemmed from her overwhelming strength.

With a single, light leap, the black-clad woman moved like a flying bat, flipping into the air and instantly closing the distance between herself and her prey.

No, is this woman even human?

Seeing the black-clad assassin, who had been behind them just moments ago, now blocking their path again in the blink of an eye, Xia Qian was utterly frantic.

She had used every trick she could think of: glib words, feigned defeat, playing dead, and dirty fighting tactics.

But absolute power was an insurmountable chasm; any struggle against it was futile.

Damn it, I have so few usable cards! If I knew some cultivation techniques or profound arts, I wouldn’t be in this situation!—Oh, right, men can’t cultivate in this messed-up world…

Xia Qian truly and deeply felt the profound powerlessness of being a man in such an unreasonable world.

This time, the black-clad woman was too lazy to waste any more words, refusing to give her any room to maneuver.

She raised her golden-horned scimitar and unleashed a single slash.

The light of the blade turned crimson, and blood splattered.

However, it did not land on Xia Qian’s body.

The maiden had stepped forward, shielding him with her own back.

“Young Master… run quickly…”

Her voice was faint, carrying the persistent hope that the man before her could still escape, as she collapsed into Xia Qian’s arms.