Shen Yiren ignored the people around her advising against her decision and furiously gave chase. Her qinggong was superior to Fu Xiang and Tang Ye's. Fu Xiang's leap just before was full of vigour, while hers was like a sparrow taking flight. She was light and had accurate control of the height of her leaps. Her slender waist and long-slender-snow-white legs were bared for all to see. It was now night-time. The floor was covered in snow, so Shen Yiren appeared even more like a tall-proud-white deer running across the field of snow. Her long-slender legs alternated. Her beauty had no equal.

Long Zaitian watched Shen Yiren chase after him. He came out of his fantasy after a while and thought to himself: "Oh shit! Miss Shen went all out at one stage after being poisoned so the poison went even deeper. She'll be screwed even if she does catch Fu Xiang!"

Shen Yiren carried the antidote for hemlock poison on her but she never took it in order to suppress the effects of thorn-tears. She had just consumed it now so she should be focusing on re-adjusting her qi to get rid of the poison. There was no worse time to be fighting. Long Zaitian was confused as well since Shen Yiren is usually calm and collected. So why was she so insistent on killing Fu Xiang? Was it because he insulted her?

But he didn't have time to spare on trying to decipher her reason.

"Brother Tang, you watch over this place. Qilin Guards, listen in. All of you are to listen to Tang Ye!"

Long Zaitian loudly repeated "shit, shit, shit…" and gave chase. But his qinggong was a far-cry from the two of them, not to mention he hadn't even rested for half-an-hour after consecutive tough battles, so he was tired. If the other two were flying, he was an old cow plodding along slowly, getting virtually nowhere.

After leaving the flying fish pavilion and travelling some distance, he suddenly realised something and quickly ran back. He ran back and shouted: "Motherfucker! What the fuck would you listen to Tang Ye for?! All of you come with me! I can't fucking beat him!!"

When he left the pavilion, he realised that his condition was worse than Shen Yiren's. Chasing them alone would be the equivalent of marching to his own death so he quickly ran back to call his comrades. Seeing all of his own men standing there like retards, he got even more pissed off: "If I die, none of you will ever get promoted, so hurry the fuck up over here! All who are good fighters, get your asses over here! I need at least twenty of you!"

Tang Ye knew he'd come back to get back-up so he had hand-picked a few already. His choices weren't just from the Qilin Guards though. There were members of the emperor's security detail and even a few from Liu Shan Men. Seeing that, Long Zaitian felt a little relieved.

However, by the time he had put a team together, Shen Yiren and Fu Xiang had gone far away, and he had no clue where to.

Fu Xiang ran with all he had, not daring to lose a moment.

He hadn't fully recovered yet. The damage Tang Ye dealt to him was fairly severe. But the worst ones were the burns the meridians on his palms and wrists suffered. His style relies on his palms after all, so his meridians on his hands were vital. Once damaged, his skills would immediately be diminished.

But from another perspective, he was lucky. If his palms weren't strong, there's no way he would've been able to exchange blows with Tang Ye for that long given the heat of Tang Ye's Yang Blood True Qi technique. If he wasn't, he would've suffered wounds that are impossible to heal from.

The vexing feeling in Fu Xiang's chest increased progressively with every step he took.

He was the brains in Mystery and was thereby greatly respected. Other than the leader of Mystery, Kuang Tian, others had no place questioning his martial arts skills either. Even the major figures in the League of Assassins thought well of him. But he virtually hit wall after wall since arriving in the palace. Nothing had gone his way at all. Not only did Long Zaitian shatter his expectation that he had a bright future in the orange prince's imperial court, even his plan he carefully crafted with much effort was seen through by Shen Yiren. And finally, he lost to a younger Tang Ye in a fight.

Now he was severely wounded and relegated to the role of a messenger. How did he fall this low?

Fu Xiang got angrier and angrier. His steps got heavier and heavier. His footsteps got louder and louder as the vexing feeling in him increased. The anger in him continued to grow.

Fuck! How the fuck am I supposed to accept this?!

Once the plan comes to fruition, I'll kill Long Zaitian and Tang Ye first. I'm going to fuck Shen Yiren until she admits she likes it. That's the only way I can vent!

Just as he was swimming in his thoughts, he suddenly heard the sound of another pair of footsteps. He turned his head around to look and he saw a slim, shapely and graceful silhouette was approaching him at fast speed. After looking more closely, he was even more terrified.

Shen Yiren was like a flying bird, easily closing the gap he went through much trouble to create. Her and her huge knockers approached him in the pitch-black night.

Shen Yiren pulled her beautiful eyebrows together. With immense murderous intent, she shouted: "Pay for Feizhen's life with your own, bastard!!"

Fu Xiang gave up continuing forwards when he saw her qinggong. He did have a lot of stamina, that was a fact, but he couldn't outrun her.

This bitch bullies people too much! You think I don't dare kill you?!

When he noticed that there was no one with her he decided that if he were to capture her, he would have another hostage, thereby increasing the chances of the success of their plan.

He then couldn't hold back his anger any further. He turned and prepared his palms for a fight: "I wouldn't have fallen like this if it wasn't for you messing my plans up! You asked for it! Don't blame me!"

The two of them had exchanged blows twice in the flying fish pavilion so they had a reasonable grasp of each other's skills. This next exchange would be with their lives on the line.

The aura of her sword and the winds blasted from his palms clashed in the snow, gradually creating a mass of qi. All the snowflakes within one-yard couldn't approach them. There was only one grey-coloured spot on the ground with everything else around white which stood out even in the dark night.

They had exchanged over a hundred moves in a short amount of time. There were countless brushes with death during their exchange. In several instances, if Shen Yiren didn't evade as quickly as she did, her head would've exploded from Fu Xiang's palm strike, while Fu Xiang missed chances to deal her a heavy blow since she fought like she was throwing her life away. If he didn't back off, her blade would've taken his life.

Shen Yiren knew that Fu Xiang hadn't undergone a complete recovery. She knew that there would be dire consequences if she didn't kill him now. She aimed and then swung her sword at him. Mid-way through her swing, she changed directions and in a semi-circular motion went toward his neck at breakneck speed. That was the ultimate technique of Liu Shan Men's Six-Shaped Swordplay, and also a technique Shen Yiren occasionally hit perfectly. It couldn't be replicated again.

Fu Xiang felt a cold breeze headed toward his neck and thought to himself: "Fuck me!"

She just had to mould energy and he'd be dead instantly. However, Shen Yiren was wobbling on her feet so it only cut the skin on his neck instead of piercing it.

Shen Yiren had no time to worry about things that had yet to happen. Her head was spinning right now. Everything before her eyes looked hazy and she couldn't maintain her balance. She dropped her sword onto the ground and grabbed her forehead while her eyelids felt exponentially heavier.

Despite knowing that she couldn't fall now, she couldn't fight her conscious that was slowly fading.

Fu Xiang laughed with absolute glee and then suddenly realised: Hemlock poison's venom is powerful. It expends a lot of energy even if one does have the antidote. You must rest after taking the antidote and you will naturally feel incomparably exhausted which meant sleep was setting in. This girl must've taken the antidote but not rested and chased after me without care for her own life. Hahaha, the heavens are with me!

Fu Xiang joy filled his body. His lust surged up once he saw Shen Yiren's beautiful eyes look drowsy and her voluptuous figure on display. He smiled hideously and said: "You just need a rest my dear beauty. What are you so anxious about? I shall sleep with you, and after some rocking and thumping, you'll naturally feel better. Don't worry!"

Fu Xiang rushed over and grabbed her two arms. He then jumped over into the flower-garden using his qinggong.

Shen Yiren smelt the strong smell of a wild-beast in heat. She extended her arms out to push him away. Fu Xiang didn't care about the details. He just grabbed her clothes with his large-rough hands and tore her clothes off, revealing her beautiful white skin underneath. Her clothes on her snow-white neck got torn off.

Her skin looked more pure than the snow under the moonlight. Her skin was smooth and supple like water. Her jade-back that was like a white wall was clear. It was virtually impossible to find a visible vein or blemish on her skin.

Shen Yiren showed her weak feminine side that she rarely showed. She moaned and she covered her body with her two slender snow-white-like arms without thought. Her torn clothes barely kept her huge jade-melons covered. A little bit of her luscious skin was revealed. It was like her shirt covered two snow-white pouches with premium wine in them. If there wasn't a canyon between the two snowy mountains, people would actually make that mistake.

Fu Xiang's gaze behaved like his hands, running themselves down and across her body. His eyes were virtually shooting beams of light. His voice trembled as he exclaimed: "Fucking sexy! And she's a virgin! How the fuck is she so sexy?!"

The cold breeze in the snowy night blew against them. Shen Yiren's body was weak, and her powerless hips made her look like a beauty that was caught in the wild. She desperately tried to wrestle with her desire to pass out using her determination. But because of that, she was aware that someone was harassing her.

Fu Xiang was drooling for Shen Yiren back at the flying fish pavilion, and it was even harder for him to suppress his lust now. He had stripped himself down leaving only his outer shirt on.

In her hazy state, Shen Yiren silently bit down on her tongue which helped her regain some alertness. She said to herself: "I can't die. I can't die! I can't let myself die before I avenge my father and mother!

Once Fu Xiang took his pants off, Shen Yiren's eyes started to look slightly sober again. She looked at his ugly rod swinging back and forth in front of her. Not only did it look ugly, the rough nature of it exuded from it. With that, she unleashed her Hurricane-Descendent-Destruction Kick upwards!

A man cried out in pain from the bottom of his heart in the pitch-black night which echoed in the winds……

Fu Xiang cried out in pain. He crouched down and grabbed onto his balls for a long time. He was bleeding from her ferocious kick! His lust then transformed into rage!

"I'm going to rape you three times first! Then I'll strangle you to death, so that you can become a beautiful-mesmerising corpse!"

Fu Xiang extended his hand out to grab the front part of her shirt. Shen Yiren managed to find the strength from somewhere to grab it to stop him from tearing it off. Fu Xiang was outraged. He didn't care whether she lived or died anymore. He therefore moulded energy and thrust a palm toward her!

Shen Yiren heard the wind whistle violently which indicated to her that it was going to take her life. She shut her eyes and waited for your young life to leave her body.

Dad, mom…… big brother. I'm going to die……

……

……

Nothing happened.

When she opened her eyes again, she witnessed an odd scene.

The one who was coughing up blood was Fu Xiang.

But look as she may, she couldn't see who wounded him.

Shock crept up onto Fu Xiang's face as well as a strange expression that couldn't possibly be any stranger.

Fu Xiang's body became distorted out of the blue.

There was none other around him aside from Shen Yiren in the flower-garden. However, there was a very clear palm mark on his neck. Then something even stranger suddenly happened.

Fu Xiang's lower abdomen sagged down shockingly. It was like an entire region sagged down, like somebody gave him one brutal palm strike. The crunchy sound of bones cracking then came from his chest. His shoulders snapped. And then the bones in his legs looked like they took a hit causing him to get sent flying. But there was nobody around the entire time as this took place.

Shen Yiren whose mind was foggy found it extremely odd. She couldn't even describe the odd scene she witnessed. It was as though there was someone invisible around giving him a thrashing.

For Fu Xiang, he was even more shocked because he knew that the attacks didn't come from outside or someone else. He knew that very well from the first palm strike.

It… it… it was Fu Xiang Divine Palms!

The Fu Xiang Divine Palms style he had diligently trained in his entire life hit him from some unknown location. He got struck heavily on his neck, then his abdomen, then his chest, then his thigh… and other places too. Every single palm strike was heavy and hard. He was the only one in Fu Xiang School who could hit like that. It was like it was his patented version that nobody could imitate.

It was his own strength that hit him.

He was hit with one palm after another. His body twisted, snapped and bent. It was extremely strange. He couldn't make sense of the situation. He'd never experienced this sort of pain in all his years as an assassin. He always acted with caution and therefore only fought when his win was certain.

Even when he did get hurt, none of his wounds were fatal. But he was hammered with strike after strike inside his body, and every single one of the strikes were lethal. He had never been so close to death.

However, what drove him madder than the pain was the horror in his heart. He had never been more scared than now at this situation he had no explanation for. His fear felt like it was going to crush him. It was so terrifying that the pain was frankly inconsequential.

What on Earth is going on…?

Who on Earth is it?

Why is this happening to me?

The questions filled his mind until he heard a voice he'd heard before.

"Fu Xiang."

The voice was clear. It didn't seem to be a memory or a voice-transmission technique. It was like somebody really was in his brain talking to him.

Wh-Who are you?! Where are you?!

Fu Xiang withstood the immense pain and searched around him, but he didn't even find a shadow.

"Speaking to you is the mental conscious I hid in your body. When we fought, I did something to your body. If you can hear my voice now, I assume that must mean you laid your hands on Shen Yiren as I thought you would."

It's you! How's this possible?!

Shen Yiren finally couldn't fight off the desire to sleep and her beautiful body collapsed. Her smooth and supple skin shook in the cold winds. The front of her shirt she grabbed tightly finally slowly slipped out of her hand as her grip loosened.

Shen Yiren's body suddenly felt a faint warm feeling like somebody princess carried her. A warm woollen feeling covered her body. It was soothing like sitting next to a fire. Shen Yiren curled up her body like a kitten. Her hands which could barely grab onto her snow-white parts rested themselves on his chest. He seemed to feel that it wasn't a good place for her hands to be but he couldn't help it.

Her nose was filled with the scent of young man that was warm as the sun.

The heroic and proud Shen Yiren felt a strange feeling rise up in her heart. It felt off with him having his arms wrapped around her waist that was numb and weak, but her body couldn't muster up any strength. She just wanted to lean on his body forever.

For a moment, the girl who was yet to be twenty with lofty ambitions and intended to rely on herself forever felt that her haven she could be in peace was in this man's arms.

She slept more soundly than ever now.

Fu Xiang was basically dumbfounded. He replayed the owner's voice repeatedly in his mind, but the owner appeared. He appeared without a sound like a ghost.

"You deserve it for being up to no good. But whatever the case, I need to ask you."

"Does the taste of being hit with your own palm strikes feel nice?"

The man's voice sounded lazy and yet like it was showing him pity. It was identical to the voice in Fu Xiang's mind. The image in his mind and the smile at the corner of the man's face were identical.

"It's you. It's you as I thought….."

Just before Shen Yiren completely passed out, she clearly heard Fu Xiang shout a name in his panicked and helpless tone.

"…… Ming Feizhen!!"

Glossary

*The part of the title "Maybe Real Maybe Not" is also a play on words. Ming Feizhen's name means "Clearly not real" for those who forgot. So you could also read the title as "Shen Yiren Gets Caught in a Pinch. She's not sure if she heard Ming Feizhen's name or if it was just her imagination." Could also be read as "… if Ming Feizhen was the one who came to her rescue." Told you this series was very challenging to translate.

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