88. Holding Back for Fear of Collateral Damage

Xiao Zhenfen was shaken to the core. What he feared most was that Bai Xuehua would one day come after his children and grandchildren for revenge, and the thought of it unnerved him.

He knew that with the strength of the three of them, they could never keep Bai Xuehua here today. If one failed to kill a serpent, endless trouble would follow. Yet if they let Bai Xuehua go now, would she ever spare his descendants later?

He had deceived her before in just this way, trying to drive her to her death. Would she not bear a grudge? Between them there was no room left for retreat. It was either her death or his. But last time, even with Zhao Wuying at his side, they had still failed to wipe her out. What confidence could he have now? Xiao Zhenfen felt his heart pound with unease and no certainty at all.

At that moment, the clever man beside him, the Tang clan expert who had launched the earlier hidden-weapon attack, said, "Old Xiao, don't let that demoness frighten you with a few words. Look at her face, all flushed red. She was fooling around with that pretty little boy just now, so her limbs must be weak and soft. This is exactly the right time for us to finish her off."

His words reminded Xiao Zhenfen. He was an experienced man, and when he saw the dazed look in Bai Xuehua's eyes, he knew she had not yet shaken off the lingering tenderness from before. Indeed, it was the perfect moment to destroy her.

He smiled and said, "Brother Tang's eye for things is truly remarkable. No wonder you're called Wild Cat Tang."

Wild Cat Tang Mao was one of the three great experts of the Tang clan. Rumor in the martial world said he was a filthy, lecherous man. He gave a sleazy grin and said, "Old Xiao, didn't you see how disheveled that demoness is? Her undergarments are in complete disorder, and there are handprints all over her white robe. Her chest bindings are especially obvious; clearly her heart is all aflutter. It seems that pretty boy of hers knows very well how to arouse a woman..."

Tang Mao was spewing filthy talk precisely to unsettle Bai Xuehua's composure. Then he turned to the youth in his twenties and said, "Brother Zhao, we are in for quite a treat today. Who would have thought we'd see a demoness sneaking around with a man..."

That young man in his twenties was Zhao Wuying's younger brother, Zhao Wuzong. Seeing Bai Xuehua, so beautiful she seemed descended from the heavens, held in the arms of an unknown boy, he was consumed by jealousy. That only made him hate Xiao Yun'er even more. As for Bai Xuehua, he even wished to conquer her himself, to satisfy some inner craving.

Faced with their obscene and filthy remarks, Bai Xuehua wanted nothing more than to teach them a proper lesson. But after Xiao Yun'er had groped and teased her in a frenzy just now, she still felt weak and tingling all over, unable to gather her inner force.

But Tang Mao and Xiao Zhenfen were old hands and would not give her time to regain her breath. The two exchanged a glance and attacked at once.

Originally, Tang Mao had intended to use hidden weapons. The Tang clan's hidden weapons were unrivaled in the martial world, but Bai Xuehua's martial skill was nearly equally unmatched, so ordinary hidden weapons could not injure her. If they were to use such things, they would need the Tang clan's deadliest weapons.

At that time, the Tang clan's craftsmanship had declined, and their most formidable hidden weapons had dwindled to only two kinds: the thunder pearl, whose power was immense, and the exquisitely made butterfly thorn. Because the butterfly thorn required such delicate workmanship, so many processes, and such fine materials, it was extremely precious and would not be used lightly.

The thunder pearl was tremendously powerful and deadly, but its fatal flaw was instability. It was difficult to control, and often either wounded its own user or failed to explode at the critical moment. For that reason, it too was seldom used.

So Tang Mao launched his attack with the Tang clan sword technique.

The Tang clan swordsmanship was not especially famous in the martial world. Their experts mostly relied on hidden weapons and seldom used swords, though their sword art had its own peculiar strengths.

Now, with Xiao Zhenfen's Seven-Star Treasure Blade added to the fray, Bai Xuehua found it no easy matter to deal with them. In particular, although Zhao Wuzong's skills were far inferior to Zhao Wuying's, he was not attacking Bai Xuehua at all; he was focusing entirely on Xiao Yun'er.

If not for Xiao Yun'er, Bai Xuehua could have faced the three of them alone and still had a very good chance of winning, or at the very least moved in and out as she pleased. But now she had to protect Xiao Yun'er, and that tied up her hands and feet, leaving her in a terribly awkward position.

Bai Xuehua wanted to concentrate her strength and wound one of them first, but the moment she moved away, Zhao Wuzong would attack Xiao Yun'er. She would then have to rush back to protect him. Prolonged stalemate would work against her.

Tang Mao gave a sinister chuckle. "Brother Zhao, when you strike that pretty boy, try to injure him badly, but don't kill him outright. If that boy dies too quickly, the demoness will have no worries left and will come at us with everything she has. That will be harder to handle."

Xiao Zhenfen said, "Brother Tang's insight is excellent. That demoness is now in a panic protecting her pretty boy. This is our best chance to eliminate her. As long as time drags on, she is bound to get hurt, and then we may have our opening to kill her."

Seeing Bai Xuehua struggle so desperately to protect him, Xiao Yun'er felt deeply guilty. More than once she had nearly been wounded because of him.

He said miserably, "Sister Xue, don't worry about me. If I die, just avenge me afterward."

Bai Xuehua said, "No, Yun'er. Even if I were to die here today, I would never let them hurt you."

Tang Mao smiled wickedly. "How touching. Even with death at hand, you're still whispering sweet nothings to each other."

With that, his sword stabbed once more toward Xiao Yun'er. By now they understood that attacking Xiao Yun'er was more effective than attacking Bai Xuehua. Given their skill, Bai Xuehua could defend against direct assaults on herself without much trouble, but when they took turns attacking Xiao Yun'er, her need to shield him left her at a great disadvantage.

Being attacked in this way also wearied Bai Xuehua. Though her mind was gradually settling and her skill was beginning to flow again, such a drawn-out struggle exhausted her. Worse still, she faintly sensed there was another master lurking nearby.

She did not know whether that person was friend or foe. She did know, however, that the person was certainly not from the Bai family. If it had been one of her own people, they would already have come out to help her. Besides, she did not believe the Bai family possessed anyone of such extraordinary skill.

Her heart grew even more unsettled. And just as she was worrying about the hidden master, an even more dangerous development occurred.

A woman's voice sighed, "How lively. Three grown men joining forces against a girl. What an odd spectacle for the martial world."

How she appeared, none of them knew except Bai Xuehua, which only showed that her skill surpassed theirs by far.

Everyone was astonished at her arrival. When Xiao Yun'er heard that voice, it sounded strangely familiar. Ah—it was his Sister Yue!

For this was none other than Long Lengyue, the Ninth Miss of the Long family. Bai Xuehua's heart jolted when she saw her, because Long Lengyue was a member of the enemy Long family. If she joined the fight, Bai Xuehua would have no chance of survival.

With Bai Xuehua's eye, she could already tell that Long Lengyue was far superior to the three men before her.

Xiao Zhenfen and the others were overjoyed to see Long Lengyue. "Ninth Miss, please come and help us destroy this demoness!"