Chapter 51: To Kill Without Using a Knife

  That man, as soon as he saw Feng Xihui, rushed forward with a pounce, and in his fright, he immediately turned to flee. Although he ran very quickly, Feng Xihui's palm still touched his shoulder. The man stumbled forward, feeling like his shoulder had been branded with a hot iron, both hot and painful, and half of his arm was numb with no strength, and he couldn't help but be greatly frightened.

  He had known about Feng Xihui's martial arts skills for a long time, but it wasn't until they actually clashed that he realized Feng Xihui's skills were so advanced that he couldn't even face him head-on. He immediately gave up on the idea of continuing to provoke Feng Xihui into killing intent. "Ah" he cried out, pulling his feet back and sprinting away, his body bouncing around like a ball among the trees and holes in the ground, his speed surprisingly fast.

  Feng Xihui gritted his teeth and pursued closely, the other person seemed to be more familiar with the geography here, relying on the uneven terrain, there were often various trees or even roots that could hinder the pursuers, darting around like a rabbit, Feng Xihui was so angry that his teeth itched, but he couldn't catch him. The two of them shuttled back and forth in the forest, Feng Xihui gradually became enraged, his eyes fixed on the figure in front, only wanting to kill him with one blow, nothing else mattered.

  That man ran and ran, gradually feeling exhausted, not daring to circle around in the forest again, starting to flee towards the outside of the forest. Seeing a vast open space ahead with only a few trees standing alone, he rushed through it. Below the slope was a dilapidated residential area, if he escaped there, there would be many places to hide, and it would be as difficult to catch him as climbing to the sky. Feng Xihui couldn't help but feel anxious.

  That man seemed to have also discovered a glimmer of hope for escape, and with a sudden burst of speed, he laughed triumphantly: "Feng Zongqi, as long as I can escape, I'll expose your identity, haha..."

  Feng Zongqi heard the threatening tone in his words and saw a vast expanse of empty land ahead, a rare opportunity. With a sudden surge of energy, he let out a loud shout and employed his "Eight Steps Chasing Cicada" light body technique. His figure moved swiftly like a gust of wind or a flying bird, with a pair of iron palms slapping fiercely at the back of his opponent's heart.

  "Eight steps to catch cicadas" can be achieved in a short period of time, relying on the running skills and explosive power of martial artists. Within eight steps, his speed may indeed catch up with flying cicadas, but if you ask him to run at the same speed for eighty steps, he will collapse from exhaustion. This is like a strongman suddenly exerting force, can lift a thousand-pound boulder, but if you ask him to hold a three-catty iron sword horizontally, holding it for two hours, even if you kill him, he won't be able to do it.

  However, the explosive power in a short period of time was indeed astonishing. Under the faint moonlight, Feng Xihui's body almost became a virtual shadow, like an arrow off the string. The distance between the two quickly narrowed, and at this critical moment, a dull thud was heard. Feng Xihui, who was running wildly, had his head severed from his body. A large head hovered in mid-air for a moment before falling to the ground with a thud. His body, now only a flat shoulder, spewed out a mist of blood from the neck cavity, yet it still managed to charge forward by more than six feet, with both palms striking the back of the other person, before finally crashing to the ground with a thud.

  Although Feng Xihui's head and body were separated, his palm strength had already weakened. However, after being suddenly struck by him, the man's back was as if he had been hit with two iron hammers, and he let out a muffled groan as he fell forward. He rolled on the ground for several rounds, dissipated the remaining palm strength, and knelt down on one knee to prop himself up. All he felt was a sweet numbness in his throat, golden stars flashing wildly before his eyes, and a mouthful of fresh blood surging to the edge of his lips, which he tightly pursed.

  The wind comes, and the tree's shadow sways; everything returns to stillness.

  The man closed his mouth, took a few rapid breaths, and forced down the blood in his mouth. He slowly got up, gently removed the tile hat, and the faint moonlight shone obliquely on his face. Although he had a beard, the outline of his facial features was clearly that of Xia Xun.

  This man was Xia Jiao. He had previously surveyed the location and calculated the time, planning this murder a month ago.

  Xia Liu slowly walked to Feng Xihui's side, took out the token from his arms, examined it and put it back into his own waist bag. The function of this jade token was not only for entering the city, but also as a precaution in case the assassination attempt failed. By throwing the token to Feng Xihui beforehand, he had intended to clear himself of suspicion if things went wrong. Meanwhile, Feng Xihui would be left suspicious and afraid to speak out, possibly even fleeing in panic. Now, however, it seemed that this was no longer necessary.

  He didn't go see Feng Xihui's body, his head and body were already separated, what's the point of caring about him being dead or alive? Xia Jun's time was tight.

  He quickly bustled about in the woods, because considering Feng Xihui's high martial arts skills, it would be difficult to follow a predetermined route during the chase. Therefore, he prepared five steel wires and set up ambushes at five different locations. No matter where he lured Feng Xihui or was chased by him, he could ensure that Feng Xihui would lose his head.

  It took him some effort to retrieve the five steel wires, and after he finished everything, he looked up at the sky and quickly walked to a pit beside a huge stone. In an instant, he came out again, with something in his arms, holding Feng Xihui's head, dragging his body, and soon disappeared into the moonlight...

  In the dead of night, when the city's defenses were at their most lax, a figure slipped quietly

  He appeared on the city wall, a rope folded into two strands, with a clever buckle attached to the wall, and he flew out of the city wall, sliding down along the rope.

  The city wall was five zhang high, and the top was slightly inclined outward. Even if one had flying claws in hand, without specialized training and sufficient physical strength, standing at the foot of the wall would make it impossible to climb up, and after a long time, it would be easy to be discovered by the patrollers on the city head. However, going down was much easier. He slid down quickly, pausing slightly every zhang or so, and when he reached the bottom, he immediately dove into the grass thicket.

  Two patrolling soldiers carrying large guns walked by, yawning. He quietly stood up, lightly shook the rope, and the rope fell down. The man quickly pulled back the rope, carefully observed the surroundings, then with a strange motion like a snake crawling and a mouse scurrying, he left the city's surveillance area very stealthily and slipped into a small forest two miles away.

  In the woods, a black horse was tied up, its mouth restrained by a muzzle. Xia Yu untied the rope, tore off the whiskers and stuffed them into his bosom, then turned to look towards Qingzhou City. At this moment, in the city, a house was on fire, with flames licking at the eaves, casting a reddish glow over half the sky. Even from outside the city, Xia Yu could see it clearly, and he couldn't help but smile faintly.

  He returned to Feng Xihui's residence without conducting a thorough search, and the only thing he did was to dig up a jar of tung oil that had been buried in the wilderness beforehand, rush to Feng Xihui's home, and set a raging fire that could not be extinguished. Although he had confirmed that the original signed document was indeed in Feng Xihui's home, one person hid it, and thousands of people couldn't find it, and even if they wanted to search for it in the middle of the night, they wouldn't know when they would find it.

  Setting a fire is enough, even if the paper is hidden in an iron box and buried under the bed, it can't be burned directly, but it will still be scorched into ashes by the high temperature of the raging flames, as long as it can be destroyed.

  Xia Fu urged his horse on, flying like an arrow, hastening back to the small town where he was staying. The cool breeze hit him in the face, making his heart feel carefree. When he arrived at the inn, the sky had just revealed a sliver of white, and in that era, no one got up this early. Xia Fu dismounted before entering the town, leading his horse back to the stable, re-locking the back door, and tiptoeing back to his own quarters.

  His room and Peng Ziqi's room were adjacent, Xia Xun tiptoed to the window of Peng Ziqi's room, listened carefully for a while, and only heard faint breathing sounds inside, with no other movements. Xia Xun smiled slightly, turned around and returned to his own room. The things that needed to be disposed of had all been taken care of on the way, and the waist card had also been temporarily buried in a secret place, so there was nothing suspicious on him now.

  Xia Chou let out a long sigh and fell back onto the bed. After a night of rushing about, he was drenched in sweat and his clothes were heavy with it. At this moment, he felt extremely weak and had no desire to change into new clothes. As soon as he lay down, he began to feel waves of dull pain coming from his chest. Xia Chou couldn't help but secretly regret: "This is bad, looks like I underestimated the martial arts experts of this era. If those two palms had hit me squarely, even if I didn't die, I would have lost half my life. In that situation, it's unlikely I could have returned safely."

  Fortunately... everything went as expected. The steel wire has been retrieved, and the tung oil was secretly taken from the materials used for repairs in the mansion. The ivory waist card was also taken back by him. The people of the Qi Wang Fu entered the city at midnight, and according to normal reasoning, the patrol soldiers who let them pass would not mention it to anyone else, nor would they think that this matter is related to Feng Xi Hui's death after Feng Zong's death message spread. Even if those two men really went to report it, the government office would not connect this matter with the Qi Wang Fu and ask for verification...

  In short, although it was a thrilling and flawless plan, there were still two unknowns. Would An Liting and Liu Xu suspect him due to the strange deaths of Zhang Shisan and Feng Xihui? Even if these two minor characters harbored doubts, what could they do about it?

  Xia Zhan thought back and forth, carefully recalling tonight's actions from start to finish, confirming that he hadn't left any loose ends, before finally falling asleep with a peace of mind.

  Xia Yu had an injury on his body and was exhausted from running around all night. This sleep was truly sweet, he didn't know how long he slept, suddenly feeling like there was someone beside him. Yes, definitely someone, the back of his neck felt itchy, as if a strand of hair was gently teasing, even his face felt the gentle breath...

  Xia Xun suddenly opened his eyes, and as soon as he did, he saw a naturally beautiful face without any embellishments, like a lotus flower emerging from clear water. Xia Xun's sudden movement seemed to startle the other person, who hastily straightened up and pulled away, creating some distance between them. Bai Yu's pale face turned slightly red with embarrassment.

  Wow! Such a beautiful girl!

  Willow eyebrows, apricot eyes, powder-pink cheeks, a sharp nose, and a pair of autumn water-like clear pupils. The five senses are like carefully carved art pieces, with no place not being clever to the extreme, beautiful to the extreme. That one head of moist and shiny hair draped over her slender shoulders adds a few flavors of softness and charm, this girl is as clean and fresh as a newly washed fragrant pear.

  Xia Jing's eyes widened, just as she was about to take a closer look, and suddenly felt that this beauty was somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, her body involuntarily shrank back, and she cried out in surprise: "Ah, Peng... young master, what are you doing?"