Chapter 87: Better? No!

　　Lu Mingshu grunted and stepped back. The edge of her mouth was bleeding. The impact from the hit on her shoulder was so big that it had hurt her internally.

　　Nonetheless, she felt pleased. She had managed to get the positioning correct; the sword had pierced right through the closed aperture on Zhou Yinru’s arm, destroying her mystic force.

　　The fragile, closed aperture which was yet to be filled with condensed energy was too weak, so it just shattered from Lu Mingshu’s attack.

　　Zhou Yinru’s hand had become paralyzed. It had been injured to the point where even an elixir wouldn’t be able to save it. Even if there was a solution to healing closed apertures somewhere in the world, it would definitely cost more than an arm or a leg! Was Zhou Yinru worth the cost?

　　“Oh my god! My arm!” Zhou Yinru screamed as she clutched onto her arm in pain

　　The wound wasn’t more than half an inch deep, but it was bleeding profusely. In the eyes of a martial artist, it was just a tiny cut, but Zhou Yinru couldn’t stop wailing.

　　Rui Xiang looked at the crying Zhou Yinru, in confusion.

　　“Miss?”

　　To Rui Xiang, the wound wasn’t a big deal and Zhou Yinru was overreacting. However, she wasn’t aware that the cut wasn’t just a normal wound—it was one that had shattered Zhou Yinru’s closed aperture. Zhou Yinru felt like her flesh had been torn apart. It was a pain that made one want to rather die than bear it.

　　“Pill! Quickly bring me a pill, you trash!”

　　Rui Xiang fished out a pill from her pocket and stuffed it into Zhou Yinru’s mouth. After a while, Zhou Yinru’s pain subsided. She stared at Lu Mingshu, with eyes full of hatred.

　　“Kill her!”

　　“Second miss?” The attendant seemed unwilling to move.

　　“Was my order unclear? Or do you only obey my sister?”

　　Zhou Yinru was clearly emotionally unstable.

　　“Get lost if you’re not going to follow my commands!”

　　After much consideration, the attendant stepped forward. His hesitation was not only because Zhou Yinru’s command was unreasonable, but also because he was also on the losing end. He had managed to hurt Lu Mingshu with his previous attack, but he had been injured as well. As for his teammates, Zhou Yinru could already be considered partially paralyzed, while Rui Xiang was more talk than actual skill.

　　Although it began as three versus one, and Zhou Yinru should have been on the winning side, after numerous attacks, they were all badly wounded while Lu Mingshu was still relatively fine. There wasn’t much of a gap between the two parties anymore.

　　However, the attendant couldn’t disobey Zhou Yinru. He gathered all his mystic light in his palm. The light started out golden, but it turned darker as time passed, finally ending up black. With a warcry, the attendant pushed the light towards Lu Mingshu.

　　After the previous attack, he became warier of Lu Mingshu. Neither her moves nor her strategy showed any signs of her being a newbie. Her skills were so powerful that even a master might not have been her match. Thus, the attendant gambled everything on this one attack.

　　The mystic light shot out with great speed. Lu Mingshu took out her sword to counterattack.

　　Is she trying to compete on who has better mystic force?

　　The attendant smirked. Competing in mystic force? That’s good! Having been in the Harmonization Realm for almost 7 years, it was impossible for his mystic force to lose to that of a newbie. Furthermore, his mystic force had a special quality.

　　Wait, what?

　　Suddenly, Lu Mingshu smiled at him, her sword shining with mystic light. The mystic light became so bright that it could blind someone. It was as if it had unexpectedly doubled, creating a net around the attendant that charged at Lu Mingshu.

　　Boom——

　　The mystic lights clashed, creating a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared up, Lu Mingshu was leaning against a tree. Her face was as pale as the moon, and she was coughing up blood.

　　“Ha!” Zhou Yinru laughed out loud when she saw Lu Mingshu in such a pathetic state. “Are you dead yet, little bastard?”

　　On the other hand, Rui Xiang’s face was filled with horror. She tried to call for Zhou Yinru while looking at the attendant.

　　The attendant was motionless and a pool of blood spread under his feet. Looking closely, his body was covered in deep cuts and the blood flowing out was unstoppable. He lowered his head to look at the cuts in disbelief, then dropped dead.

　　Lu Mingshu coughed again, but she was grinning from ear to ear. Thanks to her master teaching her some secret techniques, she had managed to win against the attendant. Only idiots compete with others directly with mystic force!

　　“So, do you still want me dead?” Lu Mingshu commented sarcastically. “Come at me then.”

　　Zhou Yinru shivered in pain and anger. Yes, she wanted Lu Mingshu dead, but she was unable to do anything since her arms weren’t acting the way she wanted them too.

　　“Rui Xiang!” Zhou Yinru shouted. “Kill her.”

　　“M-Miss…” Rui Xiang stammered.

　　Her ability was no better than Zhou Yinru—an average Harmonization Realm martial artist. If even the attendant sent to protect Zhou Yinru couldn’t win against Lu Mingshu, what made Zhou Yinru think that she could?

　　Zhou Yinru seemed to read Rui Xiang’s mind and she whispered, “Well, either she dies… or you do!”

　　Rui Xiang dashed forward, gritting her teeth.

　　Lu Mingshu recomposed herself and dashed forward as well.

　　As soon as Rui Xiang realized that they would be competing in skill instead of mystic force, she sighed in relief. Her energy had already been drained by the previous fight, so it would have been hard for her to fight with mystic force again.

　　Wait, something’s fishy.

　　Why was Lu Mingshu able to block all of her attacks, one after another?

　　After exchanging a few moves, Rui Xiang started panicking. She tried to stop fighting, but she was unable to do so. The whole fight fell under Lu Mingshu’s control. She was forcing Rui Xiang to attack according to her whims. Rui Xiang was just like a puppet, attacking however Lu Mingshu wanted, with absolutely no control over herself.

　　However, Zhou Yinru was oblivious to any of that, so she continued to rage at Rui Xiang, “What on Earth are you doing!? I asked you to kill her, not act like a sloth!”

　　Rui Xiang sighed. Can’t Miss tell that I totally have no control over the situation?

　　“Do you remember our first meeting?” Lu Mingshu’s voice cut Rui Xiang line of thoughts.

　　As their swords clashed, Lu Mingshu’s reflection appeared on the metal blade. Rui Xiang was taken aback. It was the child eight years ago.

　　Lu Qingyi, the name instantly appeared in Rui Xiang’s head.

　　Yes, she and her mother looked totally alike. Both bore the specific traits of Dong Yue women. However, one was soft, while the other one was cold.

　　“You said my mom was an embarrassment, and my grandpa tried to attack you while you were down, eh?”

　　The cold voice pulled Rui Xiang back to reality.

　　The child Rui Xiang and Zhou Yinru had looked down upon years ago had grown up into a beautiful woman, looking just like her mother. However, they had different auras—Lu Qingyi was gentle, while Lu Mingshu, on the other hand, was as cold as an iceberg.

　　Lu Mingshu abruptly turned her sword. Rui Xiang did not manage to react in time and got injured.

　　“A country bumpkin like my mother can’t compare to you?”

　　Lu Mingshu heavily hit Rui Xiang’s knees, forcing her to kneel down.

　　She then looked down at her mockingly, “What makes you think you’re actually better?”