Chapter 608 - 611: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Chapter 608: Chapter 611: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

They set down the box, then bowed and saluted Lu Kai.

Lu Kai looked at the large box and asked.

"Are the heads inside?"

Yue Niang nodded yes.

Lu Kai dangled the Jade Pendant in his hand. "You got this from them, too?"

Yue Niang nodded again and slowly recounted what had happened.

"The young gentleman got drunk and took out this Jade Pendant to show off to me.

"He said it was a family heirloom and was very important to him.

"He even tried to sweet-talk me, saying that if I became his, he would give me the Jade Pendant to play with.

"When I saw the Yu Royal Mansion’s insignia on the Jade Pendant, I suspected he might have stolen it from there, so I made a mental note of it.

"After I poisoned them, I took the Jade Pendant and brought it here for your inspection, Second Master."

Lu Kai couldn’t help but smile. "You’ve done well."

’If what Yue Niang says is true, then the person she poisoned is very likely Lu Man.’

At this thought, a thrill of excitement went through Lu Kai.

’If Lu Man is dead, I’ll have one less powerful rival. Everything in the Yu Royal Mansion will be mine!’

Lu Kai tightened his grip on the Jade Pendant. "Open the box. I want to see."

Li Liao bent down and opened the box.

A thick, metallic stench of blood billowed out.

Lu Kai couldn’t help but frown. Covering his mouth and nose with his hand, he fought back his disgust and walked over, intending to get a closer look at the two heads.

The heads hadn’t been cleaned after being severed. Their hair was matted and their faces were caked with blood.

Their features were completely obscured.

Just as Lu Kai was about to order someone to take the heads out and wash them, Li Ji and Li Liao whipped out blades hidden in a false bottom of the box and slashed viciously at him!

Their movements were identical, their speed, astonishing.

But Lu Kai reacted quickly.

He dodged back swiftly.

But the blades still sliced across his chest and arm, blood streaming from the wounds.

Lu Kai’s face went white with pain as he screamed.

"Assassins!"

He kept a number of Death Warriors on his payroll, who protected him from the shadows.

At his cry, dozens of Death Warriors burst through the doors.

They engaged Li Ji, Li Liao, and Hua Manman in a fierce battle.

Lu Kai tried to slip away amidst the chaos.

But Li Ji gave him no such chance.

With a single slash, he cut down the Death Warrior in his path. Then, with lightning speed, Li Ji rushed before Lu Kai, his blade flashing with a cold light as it aimed for his neck.

A cold sweat broke out on Lu Kai’s skin, but he didn’t dodge. He even quirked his lips into a strange smile.

He raised his right hand and triggered a mechanism hidden in his sleeve.

A slender Crossbow Arrow shot out from his sleeve!

He had specially commissioned a master artisan to craft this crossbow mechanism for him. It was only the size of his palm and was usually worn on his right forearm, concealed by his wide sleeves. No one would ever suspect he was hiding such a deadly weapon.

The Crossbow Arrow was coated in a potent poison. A single scratch was enough to be fatal.

The distance between Lu Kai and Li Ji was perilously close.

The Crossbow Arrow shot out so suddenly that it was impossible for Li Ji to dodge.

Lu Kai was certain his opponent was a dead man!

But just then, Hua Manman suddenly charged from the side, tackling Li Ji to the ground.

The Crossbow Arrow grazed Hua Manman’s arm as it flew past and embedded itself in the floorboards.

She felt a sharp, stinging pain in her arm.

Seeing this, Lu Kai pressed the trigger again and again.

Three more Crossbow Arrows shot out in quick succession!

Li Ji held Hua Manman tight and rolled with her across the floor.

The next moment, three Crossbow Arrows thudded into the floor.

Their fletchings still quivered from the force of the impact.

Not ready to give up, Lu Kai pressed the trigger twice more.

Unfortunately, the mechanism could only hold four Crossbow Arrows at a time.

Now that all the arrows were spent, the mechanism gave no response, no matter how many times he pressed it.

Furious, Lu Kai swore.

He spun around to run.

But the moment he turned, Yue Niang, who had been hiding in the shadows, smashed a vase over his head!

CRACK! The vase shattered.

Lu Kai’s head was split open, and blood poured down his face.

His vision swam, and his body swayed.

He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay on his feet. When he looked at Yue Niang, his eyes filled with a savage glare.

"You wretched bitch! You’re asking for death!"

Yue Niang stumbled back in fear.

’I can’t believe his head is that hard! He took a whole vase to the skull and didn’t even pass out.’

Lu Kai lunged forward, grabbed Yue Niang’s arm, and raised his hand to strike her.

Suddenly, he felt a cold sensation in his chest.

He looked down to see a blade piercing through his chest.

An overwhelming wave of pain crashed over him.

Lu Kai’s eyes widened, his face a mask of disbelief.

Yue Niang seized the chance to break free from his grasp and scrambled toward Hua Manman and Li Ji.

It was Li Ji who had thrown his blade.

The blade had pierced straight through Lu Kai’s heart.

Clutching his bleeding chest, Lu Kai swayed and collapsed into a pool of his own blood.

His eyes remained wide, as if in defiance of death, but his breathing grew uncontrollably faint, and the warmth rapidly drained from his body.

Seeing this, the Death Warriors flew into a frenzy, attacking Li Liao and Li Ji with reckless abandon.

They focused only on offense, with no thought for defense—a suicidal style of fighting.

Even martial artists as skilled as Li Ji and Li Liao couldn’t withstand such a relentless assault.

Just as they were locked in a desperate struggle, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.

Someone was shouting.

"The Second Miss is back with her men! They’re fighting their way in! Go inform the Second Master, quick!"

...

Lu Wanqing had used a dagger to cut her bonds. She ambushed the guards when they were off-guard and, once successful, escaped the Yu Royal Mansion.

Just after leaving the Yu Royal Mansion, she ran into her subordinates, who had been lingering nearby.

When her subordinates learned that Lu Wanqing had been captured by the Yu Royal Mansion, they were frantic with worry. They had braved the dangers of entering the city, preparing to find an opportunity to storm the mansion and rescue her.

They never expected that before they could even act, Lu Wanqing would escape on her own.

Their unexpected reunion was, naturally, a joyous one.

Her subordinates urged her to leave Lingxi City, a place fraught with conflict, as soon as possible.

Lu Wanqing, however, intended to lead her people and storm the mansion.

She had seen a disguised Lu Man infiltrate the mansion earlier and guessed he was planning to assassinate Lu Kai.

Thus, a bold idea formed in Lu Wanqing’s mind—

’Once Lu Kai is attacked, the mansion is sure to fall into chaos.

’I can use the chaos to storm the Yu Royal Mansion and take down Lu Kai in one fell swoop!’

As the old saying goes: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lu Wanqing steeled her resolve, gathered her people, and forced her way into the Yu Royal Mansion.

And events unfolded just as she had predicted.

With Lu Kai attacked, the mansion was left without a leader and descended into utter chaos.

Lu Wanqing and her people charged in, meeting little resistance.

Hearing the commotion outside, the Death Warriors inside faltered for a moment.

Li Ji and Li Liao seized the opportunity. They grabbed the near-death Lu Kai from the floor and hurled him at the Death Warriors.

The Death Warriors scrambled to catch him.

Li Ji carried the injured Manman while Li Liao grabbed Yue Niang’s arm. The four of them crashed through a window to escape, only to run right into Lu Wanqing and her arriving troops.