On the other side, in a secluded alley, two men in black robes were facing each other in a stand - off.
"Bring out Her Majesty the Queen quickly," the man on one side said with a cold look in his eyes.
The man on the other side let out a cold laugh and flicked out all the arrows pinched between his fingers. There were nearly twenty of them, all emitting a faint blue light, presumably poisoned.
Even though Ru Yi had excellent light - footed skills, it was still extremely difficult for him to block all the hidden weapons in an instant. Although he tried his best to defend himself, one arrow still hit his shoulder.
First came a sharp pain, and then a feeling of dizziness washed over his mind. Even his vision became blurry with double images.
What a potent poison, he thought silently to himself. He tried hard to focus his eyes, but he could no longer clearly see the man in front of him.
Ye Kuang laughed and clapped his hands twice. Then, raising his eyebrows, he said, "Not bad, not bad. You're the first person I've ever met who can withstand the Twenty - Four Bridges. But even if you managed to dodge twenty - three of them, this last one will be your Naihe Bridge on the Yellow Springs Road."
It turned out that the hidden weapons had such an elegant name. There was a line in an ancient poem, "On the night of the bright moon over the Twenty - Four Bridges, where is the fair one teaching the flute to play?" This was supposed to be such an elegant scene. One could hardly associate it with the poisoned hidden weapons that took people's lives.
"Despicable!" Ru Yi shouted at the man in front of him, mustering his remaining strength.
His voice was filled with indignation and helplessness. Was he really going to die from such hidden weapons?
As he thought about it, his consciousness gradually became blurred. The scenery in front of him turned into a hazy silhouette. He couldn't withstand the erosion of the poison any longer and slumped to the ground with his neck tilted.
Ye Kuang sneered at the man on the ground in front of him, then turned around and left.
No one could resist the poison of the Twenty - Four Bridges. That was why he was invincible. Even if someone was more powerful than him in internal strength and martial arts, they would eventually die from his hidden weapons.
After thinking about this, he remembered the woman who was supposed to be locked up by him. She was his only mistake so far. He not only didn't expect her to disrupt his plan but also didn't anticipate that she would escape at this moment.
Thinking of this, he used his light - footed skills even faster. There was a hint of killing intent in his eyes. That woman was really too troublesome. If she continued to assist Helian Qi, the Dongsheng Kingdom would become even more indestructible. So he must capture her again.
On the other side, Dongfang Yi, who had escaped from the brothel, found the abandoned path according to Yun Niang's instructions.
As soon as she stepped on it, she clearly heard the crisp sound of the dry leaves on the ground being crushed. Looking up, the lush and overgrown trees almost blocked out the sky above the path. No wonder it was said to be the most secluded place.
But safety often came hand in hand with danger. The seclusion here not only provided good conditions for her escape, but if she was caught at this moment, she would be helpless. Thinking of this, she walked with a hint of caution.
The sound of the crushed dry branches and leaves in the air was especially clear, and the atmosphere was a bit eerie. Suddenly, there was a noise from behind, and then a group of dark birds flew past her.
Her heart skipped a beat. After seeing that the birds were just crows, she finally calmed down.
This path was so desolate. Could there be something unclean here? She thought to herself. At noon, she broke out in a cold sweat from her own scare.
"It's not suitable to stay here for long..."
She murmured in a low voice. Then, not caring about being cautious anymore, she immediately lifted her legs and ran towards the end of the alley.
She was quite superstitious. After all, even something like time - traveling had happened to her. It was not impossible for there to be ghosts and gods. She didn't want to escape her enemies only to attract ghosts.
She ran head - down at full speed. Finally, after about a quarter of an hour, she rushed out of the gloomy alley. But to her surprise, as soon as she came out, she saw the strong man she had knocked out. There was still a little blood on his forehead.
She quickly ducked back into the alley, holding her breath and observing silently. When he disappeared from her sight, she continued to look around, scolding herself for being too reckless.
Fortunately, he didn't see her just now. Otherwise, she would have been caught by him.
After looking around and finding no suspicious people, she tiptoed out and headed for another street.
After crossing one more street, she could reach the bottom of the city wall. Then she would be able to see Helian Qi. Just thinking about it made her heart flutter with joy, and she quickened her pace.
She didn't see anyone chasing her along the way. When she reached the end of the street, she could see from afar that there was a platform set up at the foot of the imperial city not far away.
The eldest prince of the Southern Neighboring Country, Shun, was being pressed to the ground on the platform. Helian Qi was sitting on the dragon throne at the highest position, looking down at the scene below with a majestic look, apparently not having noticed her yet.
After seeing this, her joy grew even stronger. Then, she stepped on the ground hard and wanted to run towards them.
But in an instant, she found her feet lifted off the ground. Looking back in panic, she saw Ye Kuang, who had grabbed her from behind. His eyes were full of annoyance and were now staring at her intently.
Dongfang Yi felt a shiver down her spine from his stare, but she still pretended to be calm and asked, "If you let me go, your elder brother can live. If he doesn't return to the Southern Neighboring Country alive, can you get out of this unscathed?"
There was an obvious threat in her words, aiming to intimidate the man in front of her.
But Ye Kuang seemed completely unmoved. He still raised his eyebrows playfully and replied contemptuously, "If this king were afraid, he would have handed you over long ago."
What he meant was that he didn't take Helian Qi's apparent deal seriously at all.
Seeing that it was useless to say more, Dongfang Yi struggled a few times, then turned her head and shouted at the foot of the city wall at the top of her lungs.
"Helian Qi!!!"
She used all her strength for this shout. After shouting, she felt her throat trembling.
Ye Kuang didn't expect her to suddenly shout like a shrew. He quickly reached out his hand to cover her mouth, afraid that she would shout again.
He tilted his body slightly to observe the man not far away. Seeing that he was just looking around but didn't seem to notice anything, he finally relaxed.