Chapter 5: 第四章 逃脱

Feng Feixuan was struck with great terror. She knew that this time, it wasn't just the previous four or five people returning, but the Copper-Faced Man himself.

In just a few seconds, the surroundings were engulfed in flames. Men in black landed one after another on the nearby trees, while the Copper-Faced Man now stood atop the rock leaning against Feng Feixuan's back.

A chill ran through Feng Feixuan. She instantly held her breath and stilled her body, becoming as rigid as a statue, not even daring to blink an eye.

She had undergone such professional training that she could hold her breath and remain motionless for about ten minutes. However, at this moment, she was afflicted by a potent poison; her heart was already heavy and stabbing with pain. Holding her breath now was nothing short of a torture akin to being sliced by knives.

A human voice rang out above her head. "Master, this subordinate deserves death." It was the leader of the men in black. He spoke through gritted teeth, filled with extreme fury, seemingly wishing he could tear this enchantress Feng Feixuan into ten thousand pieces.

"Search. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground and overturn the entire forest, you must find her for this Venerable One." The voice struck against the copper mask, cold as a machine. The internal energy accompanied by the sound of the wind pierced straight into the clouds, startling the surrounding crows into flight.

Even Feng Feixuan, lying on the ground, felt her face contort from the impact of the air current. One could see just how profound this devil's martial arts were. With this ancient form of internal energy, no matter how powerful and agile her killing techniques were, she would be no match for these people if she didn't practice it herself.

"Master, this forest is vast, and every time it provides an excellent place to hide. To overturn the entire mountain, I fear we lack the manpower. Furthermore, the miasma is constantly rising from underground; if this person hides below, she will likely expire from suffocation in less than fifteen minutes. How can we guarantee she is alive?"

Miasma? Could it be that her chest tightness and stabbing pain weren't caused by poison, but by inhaling the miasma in this forest? She remembered that when traveling through jungles in the modern era, one only prepared various medicines to prevent mosquitoes and venomous snakes; she had never heard of such a thing as miasma.

"Hmph! She has been struck by my Worrying Grass; the miasma cannot harm her. However, once the Worrying Grass takes effect, her whole body will lose strength and her heart will feel as if it is being carved by knives. She cannot run far. Search!" Every time the Copper-Faced Man spoke, Feng Feixuan's heart jumped to her throat. That metallic clashing sound would likely become a nightmare for the rest of her life.

Worrying Grass? It truly felt like her heart was being carved by knives. *Holy crap!!*

Even someone with a will as firm as hers could not endure these waves of pain. If it were any other girl, she would have been tortured to death long ago.

*This Copper-Faced Man... I really must not fall into his hands in the future. Otherwise, I have a hundred ways to interrogate a prisoner that would make him wish he were dead.*

*Hurry up and move. My breath-holding has reached its absolute limit. Just give me one second to take a breath.*

At this moment, Feng Feixuan only knew that a surge of blood-qi was pressing in her chest, as if it were about to burst out at any moment. The metallic taste of blood in her mouth made her stomach churn. Her lungs felt like they were about to explode. *Endure...*

But in the next moment, *pfft...*

She truly could not hold it. A small spray of fresh blood splattered onto the vines in front of her. She had tried her utmost to endure, but she still made a significant sound. Along with the spray of blood, a rush of air was violently sucked in, slamming into her lungs as if they were about to split open, dry and withered...

"Who is there?" With just that slight sound, the Copper-Faced Man had detected the anomaly below. He raised his hand, signaling the surrounding hidden guards to hold their breath, his eyes staring at the undergrowth below like lightning.

Feng Feixuan thought to herself, *This is bad.* Hiding beneath the lush bushes, she could clearly feel his piercing gaze.

*What should I do? If this devil flips these bushes over, I will have nowhere to hide.* At this thought, the breathless Feng Feixuan even felt a momentary urge to give up.

But she knew she would not give up easily. She had fought so hard to escape; how could she let all her efforts go to waste? If she were captured this time, there was no telling what kind of torture she would endure, and it would be impossible to escape again in the future.

As the footsteps drew closer, the pressure in the surroundings pressed down like a mountain. Feng Feixuan decisively gripped the vines beneath her. There was only one way: to gamble with her life. She had to push the vines aside and jump down.

She didn't know how deep it was below, nor did she know what lay there—be it venomous snakes and fierce beasts, volcanic magma, or an unfathomable cavern. One wrong move and she would be shattered to pieces. To gamble her life for this freedom—was it worth it?

In Feng Feixuan's eyes, it was worth it, because this was the dignity of a soldier. She was cruel to her enemies, and even more cruel to herself.

There was no time to lose. Just as Feng Feixuan was laboriously prying the vines apart with both hands, the Copper-Faced Man began to circulate his energy. The internal power in his palm, carrying the strength to destroy everything, swept across the entire patch of bushes.

The lightning-fast speed was like an eighteen-grade hurricane, sweeping up everything on the ground, even uprooting century-old trees. Wherever it passed, it looked like a disaster zone, leaving nothing but devastation.

Before Feng Feixuan could jump, the wooden ring on the thumb of her left hand suddenly became scorching hot! Two gusts of wind swept past her neck from left and right, and a palm strike hit her directly in the back. Her whole body jolted, and she was instantly slammed into the hole. She fell, and there was nothing left but the sensation of falling...

"Fuck..." This was the curse Feng Feixuan uttered with all her remaining strength as she tumbled into the black hole.

She did not know how long she fell. Feng Feixuan's last memory was hitting the water, her head striking a nearby rock, and then losing consciousness.

Time flowed, and dawn arrived. The pleasant chirping of birds drifted joyfully toward her, causing the unconscious Feng Feixuan to involuntarily open her eyes.

The sun was rising in the east, the sky was blue with a few scattered clouds, and the surroundings were tranquil. Occasional morning breezes brushed past, and the fresh air carried the scent of flowers, soothing the soul. *Where is this?*

Feng Feixuan tried to sit up, but she was currently in the middle of a lake, soaked to the bone. Her hands were clutching a piece of driftwood. The entire lake surface was clear and calm, shimmering with light, and she was spinning in circles following the wind.

The scenes from last night flashed through her mind. She had fallen into a cavern, hit her head on a rock, and merely passed out instead of being killed by the impact. Even more unexpectedly, she had been lucky enough to grab a piece of wood, which prevented her from drowning and allowed her to be washed out by the current.

Listening closely, there was no one around. Confirming that the Copper-Faced Man and his subordinates were gone, a surge of wild joy filled Feng Feixuan's heart. She had escaped; she had finally rid herself of that demon.

Ha! Heaven truly was fond of her. To let her escape like this—she really should burn incense, worship Buddha, and thank the heavens.

However, the poison in her body had not been neutralized, so she did not dare to be careless. Clutching her still-stifling and aching chest, Feng Feixuan used the driftwood to cautiously move toward the shore. She needed to find something to eat to replenish her strength, and then find a doctor to get an antidote.

As long as this poison was cleared, with her survival skills, it wouldn't be difficult to disguise herself and evade the Copper-Faced Man's pursuit. In the future, she would live a free and easy life, roaming this ancient world's martial arts realm as she pleased. Hmph, since when had she ever feared anyone?