Return of the 13th Zodiac

5: The Serpent and the Fox (1)

The carriage rolled to a halt in front of the Chen residence, located at Tian Village, in the southernmost part of Hou Xing Mountain. Xiao Ran hopped down and reached up for Shu Yue's hand to help her down. Once they entered the main gate of the Chen residence, Shu Yue bent over and coughed up blood, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Young Mistress!" Xiao Ran shrieked and immediately placed his hands on her shoulders, his brow furrowed with concern.

Shu Yue clenched her fists, one hand tightly gripping her bamboo sword. She gritted her teeth in pain. Her insides felt like they were on fire, merciless tongues of flames licking her internal organs and wanting to devour her alive. She had begun to feel this pain not long after they had parted ways with the Springbear warriors, and she had been trying hard to suppress it by keeping her mind calm, lest Xiao Ran freak out during the carriage ride.

She coughed again, spitting up blood. The bamboo sword slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground with a thud. She almost collapsed to the ground, but Xiao Ran got a hold of her. Shu Yue then leaned away from him and bent down to retrieve her sword, but instead found herself kneeling on the ground, as if losing what little strength she had. Xiao Ran got down on one knee and held her shoulders to steady her.

Silence lay between them for a moment.

"Young Mistress, of all techniques, why did you use that one?" Xiao Ran asked in a quiet voice, his eyes touched with worry and confusion.

Of course, he knew. Xiao Ran knew what caused her to end up like this. Even though he wasn't a practitioner of the Rasalhague Sutra, he was familiar with its techniques. The Ophiuchus Clan leader granted him permission to know about it--primarily to track Shu Yue's progress--but not to actually learn and cultivate it.

Hiss of the Charming Serpent was one of the killing strokes of the Rasalhague Sutra. It was the technique Shu Yue used to deal with the ten Springbear warriors. However, if the disciple was below S-rank, it could have its own downside. And Shu Yue was only a B-rank warrior.

This technique required a lot of internal energy to perform. Not only was this the fastest sword attack, but it was also lethal. It leaves no visible wounds or scars on the victims as it only causes internal damage to their bodies. Though Shu Yue did not go so far as to end the lives of the ten warriors or damage their dantian, using the skill still cost her a lot of chi and injured herself as a result.

"As I've said, I wanted to test my skill" Shu Yue muttered. "I've never used that technique on humans before, so that was a tempting situation I couldn't resist."

Shu Yue had only used that technique on low-level beasts that dwell in the forests, but it never satisfied her. So when she found herself in front of ten warriors, ten potential opponents, she wanted nothing more than to bring those humans to their knees with that powerful technique.

Furthermore, there was something about their leader, that valiant and bold woman. If it weren't for the wind, Shu Yue might have missed those small details. Something was strange about her aura. It was also the reason she resorted to using such a dangerous technique. If her assumption was correct, Shu Yue would need that woman's help in the future. But she couldn't discuss it now with Xiao Ran in her current state. She was well aware of how stubborn and worried her bodyguard could be when it came to her health.

"Young Mistress," Xiao Ran said in a rather small voice. "That technique..."

"Don't worry, they're not dead; I know that was a dangerous technique, but I used some magic to lessen the effect."

As a Mystic Warrior, a disciple who practiced both magic and martial arts, Shu Yue possessed a skill for wind magic aside from wielding the sword. Only demi-humans could take this path, as they were the only creature that could channel qi and elemental powers simultaneously. However, the method to train in this forbidden art had long been gone and forgotten in the empire after the reign of the Luo Dynasty, and all demi-humans who had knowledge of it were killed.