At the same time, he pushed off his feet and lunged forward. The Spear Momentum he exuded made it look as if he were truly risking his life in a desperate gamble.

Jiang Bohong’s eyes sharpened, his full attention focused on Chen Qing’s spear thrust.

He floated back half a step, his withered Poison Palm simultaneously gathering power, poised to either block or counter Chen Qing’s next move.

However, in that split second!

Suddenly, the situation took a drastic turn!

Zhao Tieying, who had feigned a desperate joint attack, didn’t lunge forward for a pincer strike the moment Chen Qing’s spear shot out. Instead, he abruptly spun around, channeled the last of his True Qi into his legs, and bolted toward the rear flank like an arrow loosed from a bow. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

He had no intention of joining forces with Chen Qing at all. From the very beginning, his goal was to use Chen Qing to attract Jiang Bohong’s attention and create an opportunity for himself to escape!

"Hmph! What’s with the act? All that talk about righteousness, about living and dying together? As if I don’t know your true colors, Zhao Tieying?!"

Jiang Bohong seemed to have anticipated this. He didn’t even glance at the spear tip lunging toward his chest. Instead, he kicked off the ground and launched himself directly at Zhao Tieying’s fleeing figure!

"Stay behind!"

Jiang Bohong barked. While still in mid-air, he gave his sleeve a violent flick!

"WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!"

Three streaks of black light shot out with an ear-piercing shriek. Despite being thrown second, they arrived first, striking with unerring accuracy toward the vital points on Zhao Tieying’s back and the nape of his neck. They were the very same lethally poisoned Darts he had spent years perfecting!

Hearing the whistle of air behind him, Zhao Tieying’s blood ran cold. He tried to dodge, but gravely injured and already poisoned, his body refused to obey.

"THUNK! THUNK!"

The two muffled thuds of blades sinking into flesh sounded out at almost the same time.

One dart sank deep into his back, over his heart. The other, even more lethal, vanished completely into the nape of his neck.

"ARGH—!"

Zhao Tieying let out a short, shrill scream. His body toppled forward like a puppet with its strings cut, twitched violently a few times in the mud, and then went completely still.

Jiang Bohong landed lightly. He turned to Chen Qing, the only other person left, and said mockingly,

"See? That’s the human heart for you."

Chen Qing was silent.

’An abyss has a bottom, but the human heart is unfathomable. People wear a thousand masks, their minds ever-changing. The so-called unpredictability of the Jianghu is nothing but the unpredictability of the human heart.’

Jiang Bohong said slowly, "Chen Xiaoyou, you truly have terrible luck. If you hadn’t run into this mess, with your talent and your status in the Wutai Sect, you would have had a great future ahead of you and lived a long, peaceful life."

He shook his head slightly, as if he genuinely regretted Chen Qing’s misfortune.

Chen Qing’s face was still a shade pale, and the fine beads of sweat on his forehead glimmered faintly in the dim light.

"Is that so?"

Chen Qing took a deep breath and said, "Someone once read my fortune. He said... my Fate Plate is excellent. I can turn any misfortune into good fortune. It is the Fate Plate of one destined for great wealth and honor."

Jiang Bohong was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Hahaha... Fortune-telling? Oh, Chen Xiaoyou, Chen Xiaoyou, you actually believe that stuff? The one thing the Jianghu isn’t short on is swindlers! Out of ten fortune-tellers, nine and a half are just spouting nonsense, specifically to trick naive young men like you!"

His laughter gradually subsided, his eyes turning ice-cold. "Whether your fate is good or not isn’t up to some Jianghu swindler to decide. It’s up to me!"

"That remains to be seen," Chen Qing said, shaking his head.

"Oh?"

Jiang Bohong said coldly, "You’re very confident, Chen Xiaoyou? So what if your Cyan Wood Institute excels in the Alchemy Path and antidotes, and you weren’t hit by my Silk Binding? I have the Cultivation of a Late-stage Embracing Pill master. How could you possibly escape from the palm of my hand?"

The moment his words fell, it was as if all sound had been sucked out of the air.

Their gazes locked in midair, and the formless killing intent between them seemed to solidify, becoming tangible and bone-chillingly cold.

.......