A Pawn's Passage

The gunshot and the woman’s scream resounded one after another.

Qi Xuansu knew that he failed to hit the shadow.

With a startled glance, Qi Xuansu saw that the shadow was wearing a furry white fox face mask. The fox’s eyes were narrowed, and it had a mocking smile.

During the split second of the gunshot, the figure wearing the white fox face mask approached Qi Xuansu.

At such proximity, Qi Xuansu had no time to draw his sword, but he still had his fists.

The person wearing the white fox mask reached out and pointed a slender and pale index finger at Qi Xuansu. A cluster of misty light appeared on the person’s fingertip. It seemed to be sword qi.

Qi Xuansu did not dare to be careless, so he threw away the Divine Dragon Pistol and used a knifehand strike with the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique to block this attack.

The two instantly separated upon contact.

The person wearing the white fox mask slashed at Qi Xuansu diagonally with a knifehand strike. For a moment, Qi Xuansu could only focus on defense.

After a while, the person wearing the white fox mask struck Qi Xuansu’s outstretched palm. They both staggered back, but it was difficult to determine who was winning this fight.

However, when Qi Xuansu looked down at his palm, he saw a bloody hole in the middle of it that was slowly healing.

“The Wanhua Divine Sword Palm!” Qi Xuansu was flabbergasted.

This palm technique was derived from a sword technique. Sword qi was hidden in the palm, which was as sharp as a sword. Its moves were complex and enchanting. Feint moves were used to lure and disturb the opponent but could also be turned into actual moves in times of need. This was a palm technique passed down to all descendants of the Li family.

However, this palm technique was only easy to learn if one had good swordsmanship. Otherwise, it would be tough to master. Back then, the Holy Xuan relied on this palm technique to dominate the world, defeating countless masters.

The person in the white fox mask waved their arms. All Qi Xuansu could see were overlapping palm shadows in all directions around him.

Qi Xuansu was no match for this person in terms of technique. However, Qi Xuansu had rich combat experience, so he had already figured out a countermeasure in the blink of an eye.

He decided that there was no point in defending himself, as the chances of him getting injured were high either way. Thus, he decided to be on the offense.

Qi Xuansu raised his arms and used the Tantai Fist Intention. He willingly took the palm strikes while his fist aimed straight at the person’s face.

He would rather hurt that person as well.

The person in the white fox mask gasped softly, seemingly surprised. They retracted their palm shadows and took the initiative to meet Qi Xuansu’s fist.

The impact sounded like the clashing of swords.

The person wearing the white fox mask put their palms together and chopped down on Qi Xuansu like an ax.

In the meantime, Qi Xuansu embodied the essence of the Tantai Fist Intention, using it with all kinds of hand gestures, not just fists. The movements were extremely versatile.

The two fought faster, but not a single bit of qi strayed from their target. Even the floor of the corridor they were standing on was intact. Being able to retract and release energy freely without damaging external objects was the real mastery.

It seemed that the person in the white fox face mask was also in the Guizhen stage.

During the fierce fight, Qi Xuansu still had the energy to speak. “I have heard that the Taiping Sect is famous for its swordsmanship, but I didn’t expect such profound palm technique.”

The voice of the person wearing the white fox mask seemed distorted. “Your Tantai Fist Intention is quite rare too.”

The person in the white fox mask abruptly changed their move, aiming at Qi Xuansu’s face.

Qi Xuansu was startled and raised his left fist, intending to grab the white fox mask.

With a wave of their sleeves, the person in the white fox mask neutralized more than ten punches from Qi Xuansu. They even caught Qi Xuansu’s wrist.

Qi Xuansu felt pressure on his wrist and could not break free. He tried all methods but to no avail. This person was much better than him in hand-to-hand combat. Qi Xuansu lacked practice as he always chose weapons over his fists whenever possible.

However, Qi Xuansu had a countermeasure. His sleeves bulged, and a black mist spread to reveal the vengeful ghost he had captured in the Xuan Jade of Death.

Strictly speaking, this was no longer just a fistfight, as Qi Xuansu used spells. But it did not matter since this was not a proper fighting competition.

The person in the white fox mask had no choice but to let go of Qi Xuansu’s wrist. They flexed their index finger and wagged it to disperse the black mist.

Finally, Qi Xuansu could catch his breath. He circulated his innate qi and immediately regained his momentum. Then he punched the white fox mask again.

The person in the white fox mask pushed out one palm containing sword qi while catching Qi Xuansu’s fist.

Qi Xuansu was injured by the sword qi, but the person in the white fox face mask was also shocked as they felt the Tantai Fist Intention’s penetration through their palm.

With the Martial Arts Practitioner’s body-regenerative abilities, Qi Xuansu did not mind getting injured. He turned his fist into a knifehand strike to slash at the white fox mask.

At the same time, Qi Xuansu saw a bright, misty light shooting out from the person’s fingertips, pointing at Qi Xuansu’s wrist.

Qi Xuansu retracted his knifehand and turned it into a claw to grab his opponent’s wrist.

The two of them only exchanged hand movements, competing with each other for dozens of moves. In the end, Qi Xuansu was slightly inferior to his opponent and was hit on the wrist. However, Qi Xuansu was ruthless, injecting the force of his fist intention into the opponent’s body.

The person in the white fox mask had just neutralized Qi Xuansu’s power when a shadow suddenly flashed by.

Qi Xuansu was like a ghost, suddenly approaching the person in the white fox mask. The person in the white fox mask used the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm again, the palm shadows flickering. However, since they were in such proximity, Qi Xuansu saw an opening and jabbed the center of his opponent’s palm with a finger.

This move shocked the person in the white fox mask, who quickly took the opportunity to flee.

However, fleeing was just a feint because the person in the white fox mask was waiting for Qi Xuansu to pursue them so that they could slap him with concentrated bouts of sword qi.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to use his arms to block his opponent’s palm strike. However, the sword qi penetrated his body and reached his Qihai acupoint, causing him to stagnate.

During his momentary stagnation, the person in the white fox mask took the opportunity to climb over the railing and jumped down the Jade Tower, which was more than 30 meters tall.

By the time Qi Xuansu dispelled the sword qi in his body and looked down from the railing, his opponent was nowhere to be seen.

At the same time, the noise from their fight had alerted the guards, who rushed upstairs.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu did not want to give these guards a chance to suspect that he was the murderer. He quickly flashed his badge and ordered, “The murderer has escaped! Chase after the person wearing a white fox mask now!”

The guards were startled and flustered.

The frightened woman who led Qi Xuansu to Jade Tower finally came to her senses and shouted, “Didn’t you hear what this mage said? The murderer is the person who just came out of Miss Hua Qi’s room. Hurry, chase the murderer! What are you all still doing standing there in a daze?!”

The guards turned around and chased after the killer, the whole scene was a mess.

Qi Xuansu picked up his Divine Dragon Pistol, summoned the vengeful ghost, and stopped a few guards. “You guys, come in with me.”

The guards were intimidated by Qi Xuansu, so they followed him into Hua Qi’s room.

The woman accompanied them. The moment she lit the lamp, she gasped at the scene before her.

The famous courtesan was completely naked and left hanging in her room.

Seeing this naked body, the men present were not aroused in the slightest. They were fearful because, like the previous murders, this courtesan had her heart ripped out.

This accounted for the 14th case where the killer blatantly committed murder right under their noses and escaped unscathed.

Qi Xuansu was silent for a moment before he instructed, “Take the body down.”

Several guards looked at each other. They dared not disobey Qi Xuansu, so they stepped forward to put the body down.

Qi Xuansu took a candlestick and took a closer look at the corpse. Sure enough, there was a green tropical pitcher plant in the corpse’s chest cavity.

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