Chapter Sixty-Four: Cutting the Grass

“Aunt Yue!” At the sight of the familiar figure, Ye Feilan cried out in delight, her voice trembling with excitement.

Yue Zhe laughed heartily as he dismounted and walked over. “Well now, you look like you’ve lost quite a bit of weight lately, haven’t you?” Then he glanced at Ni Manxiu and the black-clad girl. “Thank you both for stepping in to help. But tell me, young lady—your voice sounds awfully familiar. Haven’t we met before?”

From the moment Yue Zhe appeared, the girl had looked somewhat ill at ease. Now, her cheeks flushed, she turned her face away and muttered, “No, you must be mistaken.”

Yue Zhe was about to pursue the matter, but the stout man nearby had already lost his patience.

He had been interrupted several times while demanding to hand over Ye Feilan, and now his pent-up fury was ready to explode.

“Hey, you little brat! I’m telling you for your own good, hand over those two girls—”

He got no further. Yue Zhe flicked his hand, and his conical hat spun through the air like a whirring top, slicing the wind. Even though it was just a hat, at such speed, no one doubted it could cut like a blade. The attack forced the fat man to shut up and focus on defending himself.

As the man raised his palm to meet the hat and caught it with his other hand, Yue Zhe’s fist was already whistling toward his fleshy face.

It happened in a flash. Although Yue Zhe was barely a step away, the punch was unexpectedly intercepted by two men beside the fat one.

With the first contact, Yue Zhe realized at once that these two possessed unusual strength, far beyond that of ordinary men. And this was only their physical power—they hadn’t even called upon their inner force. Had they done so, he would have been even more surprised.

After blocking Yue Zhe’s attack, two more men rushed in to join the fray. Yue Zhe was undaunted; he drew a breath, set his stance, and faced the four of them alone.

As the fight wore on, Yue Zhe became even more convinced these men were far from ordinary. Moreover, the four worked together with seamless coordination. Though they attacked as a group, their movements were fluid and unimpeded, their combined force greater than the sum of their parts. Even after several exchanges, Yue Zhe found himself hard-pressed to subdue them.

With little choice, Yue Zhe feinted twice, then used his extraordinary footwork to slip out of the encirclement in an unexpected maneuver, retreating to Ye Feilan’s side.

“Brother Yue, these men are no easy foes,” said Ni Manxiu, his expression grave.

He, too, was impressed by Yue Zhe’s prowess. With his insight, he could see that Yue Zhe’s martial power now surpassed that of Ye Pei. Stranger still, he could not divine any fortuitous encounters Yue Zhe might have had in recent months.

“Hmph, it doesn’t matter,” Yue Zhe replied indifferently. “Fists and feet were never my strong suit…” As he spoke, he strode to his mount, took down his twin blades, and slung them across his back. “All the better—let’s see if my blades are still sharp after these months.”

But the fat man was already at his limit.

“Brothers, get them! Finish off these two brats, tie up the girls, and slaughter that tiger to take back for stew!”

At his command, the dozen or so men drew their blades with wild shouts and charged.

“Hold!” Yue Zhe’s bellow rang out, this time imbued with inner force for good measure.

The men instinctively halted. The fat man was about to erupt in protest, but Yue Zhe, blades strapped to his back, walked out into the open. “Let’s fight outside the town.”

The teahouse sat at the town’s edge. Knowing the destruction he could unleash if he fought in earnest, Yue Zhe preferred to lead the men away from the settlement.

“You two stay here and protect her,” he instructed Ni Manxiu and the black-clad girl.

But the girl shook her head. “I’m coming with you.”

Ni Manxiu, relieved, quickly agreed, “No problem at all. Leave the young miss to me. Go on, both of you.”

Yue Zhe blinked at him, but found it pointless to argue, so he and the girl in black strode side by side toward the outskirts.

“Be careful, Aunt Yue!” Ye Feilan called after them. Truth be told, she had never witnessed such a scene in all her life, and had been rooted to the spot, unsure what to do during the chaos.

“Miss Leng,” Yue Zhe suddenly said, “I’m not mistaken, am I?”

The black-clad girl paused for a moment, then continued forward. “Yes, it’s me.”

She was none other than Leng Mujun, the assassin who, alongside Yue Zhe, had attempted to kill Emperor Xia Xun.

Yue Zhe wanted to say more, but the fat man and his gang were already catching up. With a grin, Yue Zhe drew his twin swords. “No matter. Let’s settle this first.”

The gang, blades raised, charged with renewed fury. Yue Zhe scoffed, “You fools think you can swing swords and shout in front of me?”

Before the words were out, his figure blurred, darting like a phantom into their ranks. Four of them immediately split off to surround Leng Mujun.

Leng Mujun, unruffled, produced a short sword from somewhere. She glanced up at the sky and muttered to herself, “What a fine day.” But no one else heard her soft murmur.

Seeing her stand motionless, the four attackers thought her paralyzed with fear. With an upturned blade, they lunged, intent on capturing her alive. But just as they were about to seize her, a cloud of black mist billowed around Leng Mujun. Her figure vanished, and the four men crashed into each other, one even ending up with a bloody nose.

In the next instant, Leng Mujun’s shadowy form appeared behind one of them, her short sword piercing his heart without hesitation.

With this swift victory, Leng Mujun established her dominance. Meanwhile, Yue Zhe held his own. With the full force of his internal energy, he wielded one sword in broad, sweeping arcs, the other in unpredictable, elusive strikes. His footwork was flawless, leaving his opponents reeling. Before long, their numbers began to dwindle.

In less time than it takes to drink three cups of tea, the ground was littered with the dead and dying, leaving only the fat man, shuddering in terror.

“P-please… young hero…” The fat man slumped to the ground, his bravado replaced by pure terror, sweat pouring down his face. “Have mercy…”

Yue Zhe rested his blades on his shoulder and laughed. “Mercy? And why should I show you mercy?”

The man was about to reply when a sudden gale swept down from Beishan. In an instant, all fear vanished from his eyes. He sprang to his feet, arms wide.

Yue Zhe was surprised to see him stand, the taunt dying on his lips. As the fat man’s arms spread, his clothing split open at the back, and a pair of massive wings—over twenty feet long and tinged purple-red—unfurled, catching the wind and lifting him swiftly into the sky.

“What in the world?!” Yue Zhe’s mind went blank.

Ni Manxiu shouted from nearby, “He’s a Starfolk! Yue Zhe, kill him!”

Yue Zhe snapped out of his daze, torn by internal conflict. The man was Starfolk… Had he just offended the Star God? Such a crime was unforgivable. But he had threatened Yezi’s daughter…

Ni Manxiu’s urgent cry rang out, “Yue Zhe! If you don’t kill him, do you want the Star Envoys coming after us for revenge?”

Ni Manxiu knew all too well the consequences of letting this man go. The Star Envoys hidden in Wangmai were numerous; to incur their wrath would be catastrophic, not for their power alone, but for the deep-rooted faith they inspired among the people.

Yue Zhe’s inner struggle reached its peak.

Wait—he almost forgot. Ye Feilan was the Starfolk princess. If that man dared threaten their princess, then killing him was only just!

With the decision made, Yue Zhe wasted no more time. His blades flashed, and with a surge of inner strength and a fierce cry, he shot through the air, faster than the fat man could glide on the wind.

At the same moment, among the villains on the ground, one with only minor wounds took advantage of the confusion to unfurl his own black wings and leap skyward in a desperate escape.

Leng Mujun, who had been watching nearby, hesitated only a second before dissolving into black mist. In a blink, she reappeared yards away, closed the distance in a few swift flickers, and struck him down with a decisive blow.

For her, the assassin’s path she’d walked since childhood was guided only by justice; it mattered little whom she killed.

When she returned, Yue Zhe had already dragged the fat man’s corpse back and was methodically finishing off any survivors.

This deadly spectacle sent the crowd of onlookers at the town’s edge into an uproar.

“They killed the Star God…”

“So Master Wang was a noble Starfolk all along. No wonder we paid him tribute.”

“Of course! It was an honor, really.”

“Hey! Let’s capture them! They’ve murdered a Star Envoy!”

“Capture them? You think you can take them on?”

“My apologies, everyone, but you’ll have to leave my teahouse now!”

In the end, the group had no choice but to leave the town, vanishing into the northern mountains.

None of them noticed that, as the crowd clamored against Yue Zhe and his companions, one man, bearing murderous intent, slipped quietly away.

As they walked aimlessly, Yue Zhe broke the silence. “Miss Leng, what brings you here?”

Leng Mujun replied, “I live alone in Beishan.”

Yue Zhe opened his mouth for another question, then thought better of it, muttering awkwardly, “Oh… I see.” After a moment, he turned to Ni Manxiu. “Brother, who are you?”

Ni Manxiu scratched his head. “My name’s Ni Manxiu. I’m a friend of Ye Pei’s.”

Yue Zhe’s gaze sharpened. “How come I’ve never heard of you?”

“I’m his friend from Yandi. By chance, I ended up in Wangmai.”

Yue Zhe’s face lit up. “He’s alive? In Yandi?”

Ni Manxiu nodded. “Yes, he’s in Yandi, and he’s doing well.”

Ye Feilan’s face blossomed into a smile, but then a thought seemed to strike her. “Then why didn’t he come back with you?”

Yue Zhe also looked at Ni Manxiu, puzzled.

Ni Manxiu smiled. “When I arrived in Wangmai by accident, I wasn’t with him.”

“So what’s my mother doing in Yandi?” Ye Feilan pressed.

Ni Manxiu’s smile grew. “Nothing much. Who knows—perhaps when she comes back, she’ll even bring your father with her.”

The meaning wasn’t immediately clear, but soon enough, Yue Zhe and Ye Feilan understood.

Ye Feilan pouted. “So that’s it—they’re off on some romantic journey, leaving their daughter here pale and thin in the mountains.”

Yue Zhe, on the other hand, was delighted. He knew that all the great families in Star City had once come to the Ye household to propose marriage for their young ladies, only to be coldly rejected. “Ha! I’d like to see what kind of girl finally caught his eye.”