Chapter 23: A Desperate Escape

“Climb the wall?”

Lu Hongzhuang stumbled, nearly jostling Su Qinghan off her back.

She steadied herself, her voice rising in pitch.

“Have you lost your mind, Su Qinghan? Do you have any idea how high and thick the walls of Bluestone Town are? You think I’m some Transcendent Realm master who can achieve sainthood and ascend in the flesh?”

The walls were built from massive stones, standing several zhang high, and an ordinary martial artist wouldn’t be able to find a single foothold.

Su Qinghan lazily shifted into a more comfortable position on her back, her tone light and airy.

“If we can’t fly over it, then just cut it open with your sword.”

“…”

Lu Hongzhuang felt her breath catch in her throat.

She felt like she wasn’t carrying a person, but an outlandish, walking disaster.

Beneath the moonlight, their elongated shadows stretched far behind them as they moved swiftly through the empty streets.

Lu Hongzhuang’s lightness skill was superb.

With a mere tap of her toes on the stone slabs, she shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, her speed undiminished despite carrying another person.

“Wait, how were you so sure something would happen tonight? Why are we in such a hurry to leave?” Lu Hongzhuang asked, panting as she ran.

The town magistrate Wu Que’s final sword strike had been too shocking; even now, the memory sent a chill down her spine.

“I wasn’t certain anything would happen.”

Su Qinghan’s voice drifted eerily from behind her.

“But I do know that the person pulling the strings has grown impatient.”

“They forced the cat demon to flay human faces, to collect five of them—that in itself was a signal. Now they’re rushing to silence the cat demon, and to prevent any complications, they’re bound to do something desperate.”

Lu Hongzhuang’s heart sank.

Su Qinghan extended her slender fingers, making a few calculations in the air while muttering under her breath.

A moment later, she clicked her tongue.

“A terrible omen, a bloody calamity. If we don’t leave tonight, we’ll be hanging from the city gates like cured meat by tomorrow.”

Lu Hongzhuang’s pace slowed for an instant.

“But… if we run at a critical time like this, won’t that just scream to them that we have a guilty conscience? If we take the fall for this, we’ll become wanted criminals of the Demon Exorcism Division, forced to flee into the mountains and live like hermits.”

She might be reckless, but she wasn’t a fool.

She understood the stakes involved.

Just as Su Qinghan was about to persuade her further, she heard Lu Hongzhuang let out a carefree laugh from beneath her.

“Forget it! I trust you!”

As soon as the words left her lips, her speed surged once more.

She abandoned the main roads, instead ducking into deserted, remote alleyways.

“Let’s go! The worst that can happen is we roam the jianghu as righteous swordswomen, taking pleasure in our vengeance. That’s still better than putting up with all that crap from those people in the Demon Exorcism Division!”

Su Qinghan, resting on her back, was momentarily stunned.

‘That doesn’t sound like her. Has her body been possessed?’

The night wind lifted strands of her hair, brushing them against Lu Hongzhuang’s cheek.

She smiled softly.

“As expected of my Red Hare, you have truly won my heart. Don’t worry, from now on, I shall be your Bo Le.”

“Say one more word of nonsense and see if I don’t throw you right off my back!”

Lu Hongzhuang said through gritted teeth.

Su Qinghan immediately felt the body carrying her stiffen.

She quickly craned her neck to glance at the ground rushing past below, then at Lu Hongzhuang, who was traversing the rooftops as if they were level ground.

She decisively changed her tune, her voice brimming with sincerity.

“Swordswoman Lu, your divine skill is unmatched! A true heroine among women! This humble girl is prostrate with admiration. Ah, I am so far beneath you!”

“Nonsense!”

Lu Hongzhuang scoffed, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift into a slight smile.

The two of them soon arrived at an extremely remote corner of the city wall.

The area was overgrown with weeds and utterly desolate, without another soul in sight.

Lu Hongzhuang carefully set Su Qinghan down on a relatively clean stone before walking to the base of the towering city wall.

She drew her longsword, took a deep breath, and sank her qi into her dantian, channeling all her internal energy into the blade.

“Open!”

With a sharp cry, she flicked her wrist, and the longsword sliced through the air with a whistle, striking fiercely against the hard stone wall!

“Clang—!”

A piercing shriek of metal on stone rang out, sending sparks flying.

Lu Hongzhuang felt a massive shockwave travel up the blade.

The web of her thumb went numb, and she nearly lost her grip on the sword.

But on the wall, only a shallow white mark remained.

“Wow.”

Su Qinghan commented from her perch on the stone.

Lu Hongzhuang whipped her head around to glare at her. “What are you ‘wow’-ing about!”

“I thought with a strike like that, you were going to split the heavens and open a gate for us,” Su Qinghan said with a shrug.

“You useless thing, shut your mouth!”

Lu Hongzhuang stomped her foot in frustration, sheathed her sword, and began to carefully survey the surrounding terrain.

Soon, her gaze locked onto a three-story pavilion not far away.

The pavilion was old and in disrepair, looking as if it might collapse at any moment, but it was positioned right next to the city wall.

Without another word, she walked over and lifted Su Qinghan onto her back again.

“Hold on tight!”

Startled by the sudden movement, Su Qinghan instinctively wrapped her arms around Lu Hongzhuang’s neck.

“Hey, this building isn’t tall enough. Even if you get to the top, you won’t be able to clear a wall that high.”

Lu Hongzhuang didn’t respond.

She pushed off from the ground, her figure as nimble as a swallow, and in a few effortless leaps, she reached the top floor of the pavilion.

Standing on the slanted eaves of the third story, the night wind howled, causing their clothes to flap loudly.

Lu Hongzhuang bent her knees slightly as the qi and blood in her body surged wildly, a scorching internal energy rising from within her.

The next moment, she kicked off the eaves with explosive force, transforming into a red shadow that shot toward the city wall!

One step, two steps!

She actually managed to take two steps up the vertical surface of the wall, relying solely on her formidable leg strength!

Just as her upward momentum was about to fail and she began to fall, she twisted violently at the waist and hurled Su Qinghan from her back like a sack of grain, sending her flying toward the top of the wall!

“What in the—!”

Su Qinghan felt an immense force launch her through the air.

She flew uncontrollably, tracing a graceful parabola against the night sky.

After throwing her, Lu Hongzhuang’s body began to fall.

She tapped her toes against the wall once more for leverage, spinning like a top to dissipate the downward force while simultaneously striking the wall with her palm!

“Bang!”

Using the repulsive force from the blow, she shot upward again, executing a beautiful mid-air flip before landing steadily on top of the wall.

Su Qinghan was currently curled up on the ground like a cooked shrimp, unable to recover for a long moment.

Clutching her stomach, which felt like it had been thoroughly scrambled, she raised her head and glared at Lu Hongzhuang.

“Damn you, Lu Hongzhuang! You definitely put some personal grudge into that throw!”

Lu Hongzhuang coughed lightly, her gaze drifting elsewhere.

“I did not.”

She walked over to Su Qinghan and lifted her onto her back once more.

“Let’s go.”

With that, she leaped from the wall, which stood several zhang high.

In the instant of their descent, Lu Hongzhuang adjusted her posture in mid-air, performing a roll upon landing to disperse the immense impact.

However, she had forgotten about the person clinging to her back.

Su Qinghan’s world spun as she was pinned tightly beneath Lu Hongzhuang, rolling with her across the grassy ground several times.

By the time they stopped, the two of them were a tangled heap.

Su Qinghan furiously rolled over, pinning the still-grounded Lu Hongzhuang to the earth and straddling her waist.

“You damn well did that on purpose!”

The position made Lu Hongzhuang’s face flush crimson in an instant, a wave of heat spreading even to the tips of her ears.

She gave Su Qinghan a push.

“I didn’t… Just get up first… It was too high. If I hadn’t dispersed the force like that, we both would have broken our legs.”

Su Qinghan remained seated on top of her, tilting her head in thought.

“Really?”

“Really! Now get off!” Lu Hongzhuang insisted through gritted teeth, giving her another shove.

Only then did Su Qinghan huff and roll off to the side, allowing Lu Hongzhuang to get to her feet.

Lu Hongzhuang brushed the grass from her clothes and, without a word, crouched down, gesturing for Su Qinghan to get on.

As Su Qinghan settled onto her back, ready to offer a few more taunts, she suddenly caught sight of Lu Hongzhuang’s right sleeve.

The once-vibrant red fabric now showed a deeper, darker shade under the moonlight.

A trickle of blood was slowly seeping out, following the weave of the cloth.

“You’re injured,” Su Qinghan’s voice turned cold.

“It’s nothing,” Lu Hongzhuang’s voice was a bit strained. “Just a minor wound. We’ll talk after we get away from here.”

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