Chapter 51: The Waning Heat of July – Swinging the Sword to Defeat the Foolish Man

In the world of martial arts, one is at the mercy of circumstances; love and hatred are hard to avoid, and grudges know no end. (Gu Long)
…
Over the course of a few days, Shui Er’s wounds gradually healed, and with the help of silver needles, her internal injuries were almost fully restored. Yet, the Great Sword King remained in a coma, never opening his eyes!
It was only by asking the Wolf King that Shui Er learned the Great Sword King’s injuries were too severe—he had lost too much blood, and it would take at least half a month for him to wake up. For now, his life could only be sustained with golden needles…
The Wolf King waved his folding fan and turned to say, “Why are there only the two of you?”
Shui Er replied, “There’s also Young Master Liu, but he ran away first. I don’t know what happened to him.”
The Wolf King snapped his folding fan shut and said, “Damn it, that fool…” He had a badpremonition—that Liu Yi might be in an even worse situation than the Great Sword King…
That day, as soon as Liu Yi realized the situation was dire, he decided to split up. After shaking off the assassins, he would meet at an abandoned temple thirty miles away. Without hesitation, he used the “Speed” technique from the “Hidden Spin Nine Shadows” and started running.
In his haste, he didn’t pay attention to direction. After running for a while, Liu Yi realized he had returned to Snowfall Town. Looking back, he saw the six assassins closely following him.
Slamming his folding fan, Liu Yi thought, “This is terrible! How did they chase me this far?” Without further thought, he used the “Speed” technique and rushed into the town… Although it was late at night, there were still quite a few people around—Snowfall Town seemed truly prosperous.
The six assassins also sped up to follow…
As he ran, Liu Yi shouted, “Move aside! Sorry, move aside!” Chaos reigned as people stumbled and fell. Taking advantage of the confusion, Liu Yi headed straight for the “New Xiyue Restaurant,” thinking, “Snowfall Town is so big. I’ll just find a room to hide in—let’s see how you find me.”
Though he thought this, Liu Yi kept running, heading straight for a room on the third floor. He pushed several doors along the corridor, but they were all locked. In desperation, he stopped pushing the doors and pushed open a window, jumping in…
It smelled so good… The room was filled with the scent of flower petals. At that moment, voices came from below: “Search every room. I saw that kid run in just now.”
Panicked, Liu Yi looked around—beds, tables, cabinets, screens… Yes, behind the screen! Without hesitation, he rushed behind it. In front of him was a large wooden tub steaming with heat—used for bathing.
He ran over and jumped in…
With a splash, Liu Yi felt something emerge from the water behind him. A cold female voice asked, “Who are you?”
It turned out there was someone in the tub—someone who had stayed submerged without coming up. The foolish Liu Yi thought it was empty and rushed in.
Liu Yi quickly turned around and tried to explain, “I…” But after that word, he seemed to lose his train of thought. It wasn’t that he couldn’t speak—it was that he had completely forgotten what he wanted to say. In fact, he couldn’t breathe.

The woman across from him appeared completely naked before Liu Yi’s eyes—arched eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a high nose bridge, round cheeks, rosy cheeks, slightly dark skin, but a body with well-defined curves; calling it a “demonic figure” would not be an exaggeration. The girl exuded a youthful and lively aura, but that aura was somewhat suppressed by her cold gaze.

The dark-skinned girl sized up Liu Yi from head to toe, her almond eyes narrowed in anger. “Are you done looking?” she asked.

Liu Yi instinctively shook his head. “Not yet.”

Suddenly, someone outside the room shouted, “Only this room hasn’t been searched. Go take a look.”

At that moment, a girl appeared beside the dark-skinned girl—wearing a green robe, carrying a long sword, with long hair flowing over her shoulders and a beautiful face. When she saw Liu Yi in the bathtub as well, she was extremely surprised, but then asked another question, “My lord, those people outside are assassins from the Hidden Sect. It seems they’re here to kill… him.”

The dark-skinned girl examined Liu Yi again and said, “A scholar being pursued by the Hidden Sect? It seems he’s not an ordinary scholar after all. Shuangrou, go kill those six people outside.”

The girl named Shuangrou nodded. “Yes, my lord.” Then she headed outside…

Liu Yi quickly regained his senses and said, “Thank you, thank you, really thank you, miss.”

The dark-skinned girl glanced at Liu Yi, her tone calm but extremely cold. “Are you done looking? What do you plan to do?”

Liu Yi shook his head, then suddenly nodded. “I’m done, I’m done. Please turn away.”

There was a splash of water, followed by silence. Liu Yi was confused when he suddenly heard several screams of “Ah…”. He thought to himself, “Could it be that Shuangrou really killed those six people? So powerful… What exactly are they?”

As Liu Yi pondered, he heard the dark-skinned girl’s voice behind him. “Now you can turn around. By the way, the girl you were looking at just now can be called July.”

Liu Yi slowly turned his head… His eyes lit up. In his panic earlier, he hadn’t paid attention to her appearance. The girl had wet black hair with droplets still on it, wearing dark red form-fitting clothing that revealed her delicate curves. The dark red tight clothes didn’t have long sleeves, but she used purple wrist guards instead. Although it was considered clothing, it only covered the most essential parts.

A purple long sword hung at her waist, a one-shoulder cloak draped from her right shoulder down to under her left arm, and her slender legs were completely exposed, wearing only knee-high calf leather boots. Though her skin was somewhat dark, her outfit had an indescribable charm. Thankfully, the cloak covered her body.

Judging from her equipment, she wasn’t from the Central Plains… But Liu Yi thought she looked very beautiful in that outfit, even though most people would consider her indecent!

July watched Liu Yi standing there in shock. Suddenly, she moved her right hand, drew out her long sword, and a purple light flashed as the wooden tub was split in two… With a splash, water spilled everywhere. Liu Yi snapped out of his daze and shouted, “You could kill someone like that!”

July slowly sheathed her purple sword at her waist and casually said, “I just wanted to wake you up. I thought you were stupid.”

Liu Yi quickly took out his folding fan and bowed, saying, “Apologies, apologies. Thank you, Miss July, for saving me. I’m Liu Yi. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I must take my leave.” The moment Liu Yi turned around, a purple light flashed across his throat. He felt a chill and a slight pain. Reaching out to touch it, he found a shallow wound on his neck. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep; otherwise, if it had cut his throat, his life would have been at risk. Liu Yi quickly turned back and saw Miss July wiping the blood from her sword with a gray cloth. She said softly, “Leaving so suddenly? Is this your home? Won’t you leave something as a token after seeing me?” Liu Yi shook his head quickly and said, “Miss July, I only have some small coins on me. All my money is with my brother.” Suddenly, Miss July’s purple sword was once again placed across Liu Yi’s throat. “I want your life,” she said, then swung her sword downward…