Adrian Night’s arrival definitely gave everyone a glimmer of hope, but only Ivy Shen knew the real score: every new ally was just another body on the chopping block. Silver Consort’s martial arts were neck and neck with Ivy’s—if this were a normal day, Ivy would actually have a shot at beating her. But now, after soaking up way too much poison gas, Ivy’s body was getting weaker by the second. Was this all just fate trolling her?
“Ivy, the antidote—!” Right now, everyone was obsessing over the antidote, because she still hadn’t taken it.
But Silver Consort wasn’t about to give them that chance. She kept trading blows with Ivy while calling Black Ink to join the fray.
The moment Black Ink pulled back, Lucian Vane started whipping at the seven or eight black-clad henchmen nonstop. Every strike was lethal—he was buying time for Ivy, no matter what.
"Lucian!" Liam Willow hurried over to support him. "Are you alright?"
Lucian nodded, "I'm fine," then shot a look at the Butterfly Rogue lying sprawled on the ground. "How is he?"
“Not good!” Liam said, worry written all over his face.
"Help me over," Lucian said, voice tense. Liam immediately helped him, half-carrying him step by step across the battlefield.
Kneeling beside Butterfly Rogue, Lucian slowly checked his pulse, then whipped a pill from his sleeve and gently pressed it into the thief’s mouth. He had Liam lift Butterfly Rogue up, took a shaky breath, and started channeling his own qi into him, face grim with effort.
"Stop!" Colin Kerr barked, blocking Lucian’s move. "You’re hurt bad too—if you use your qi now, you’ll just wreck yourself even worse!"
“Cough, cough, cough—” That was when Butterfly Rogue, having swallowed the pill, finally caught his breath and cracked his eyes open. Even before he fully woke up, he heard Colin’s words. Still facing away from Lucian, Butterfly Rogue gave a bitter little laugh. “Wow… Didn’t think someone who hates my guts would actually save me!”
“Exactly because I hate you, that’s why I’m saving you! When Ivy gets mad later, I’ll have someone to take it out on. If you die, who am I supposed to yell at?”
Hearing that, Butterfly Rogue couldn’t help but smile. He knew Lucian was just saying that to avoid making him feel like he owed a favor.
“Colin, hurry up and save Butterfly Rogue!” Liam Willow urged, panicked.
“But… but I need to save my strength to protect you!” Colin finally blurted out the real reason he was hesitating.
Liam was so anxious he shouted, “If you really want to help me, then save him! If Butterfly Rogue dies, then you can just get lost after this!” For the first time ever, the bunny snapped—seeing Butterfly Rogue’s face getting paler by the second was too much.
That got Colin’s attention. He’d never seen Liam like this before. Fine, fine—if he didn’t save him, Liam would probably hate him forever. So he told Lucian to move aside and started channeling his own qi into Butterfly Rogue.
A moment later, Colin let out a deep breath and grumbled, “Alright, he can’t move, but as long as you protect him, he won’t die—at least for now!”
“Ivy, look out—!” Just as things were calming down, a scream rang out from above—it was Adrian Night. In a flash, he was by Ivy’s side, pulling her into his arms as Silver Consort’s palm strike slammed straight into his shoulder.
“Adrian!” Ivy’s voice was full of worry as she looked at him. “Are you okay? How bad is it?”
“I’m fine… the antidote…” Adrian tried to pull out the antidote, but—
“Move!” The second he had the antidote out, Ivy shoved Adrian aside. A heartbeat later, her palm met Silver Consort’s in midair—both women staggered back several steps.
Silver Consort’s eyes went wide. How the hell was Ivy’s inner strength still that strong?!
“Adrian, take everyone and get out of here—now!” Ivy shouted. She knew she couldn’t last much longer. If she could just keep Silver Consort busy, the others might have a shot at escaping.
“We’re not leaving!” For the first time, everyone yelled in unison.
“Ha! What a bunch of idiots!” Silver Consort sneered. She seriously couldn’t figure out why they’d risk death for some pretty boy?!
“I told you to get lost, didn’t you hear me?!” Ivy yelled at them for the first time ever.
Her outburst stunned them for a second, but only for a second. Then everyone shouted in perfect sync: “If you go, we go! If you stay, we stay—even if it means dying here!”
Silver Consort snorted. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you all die together.” With that, she lunged at Ivy again. Her real target was always Ivy—only if Ivy died would Zhijue finally be satisfied!
Ivy had no time for the antidote—she had to keep fighting. She just couldn’t go all cold-blooded and watch these idiots throw themselves in harm’s way. If she slacked off for even a second, their lives would be at risk.
Call her soft-hearted or call her a sucker for drama—bottom line, there was no way she’d let them get hurt.
“Go stop Lucian!” Silver Consort barked, seeing her black-clad minions dropping like flies. Lucian was about to swoop in, so she ordered Black Ink to ditch Adrian and block Lucian.
Ivy seized the split-second opening when Silver Consort was distracted and slammed a palm right into her chest. Silver Consort crashed to the ground.
But that window lasted all of one second. Silver Consort instantly changed course, charging straight at Lucian and Butterfly Rogue, shouting, “Kill them first!”
Colin Kerr jumped in front of Liam Willow, but even Ivy’s epic palm strike was way weaker than usual thanks to the poison. Silver Consort switched targets just to mess with Ivy and stop her from taking the antidote—she could see how much Ivy cared about them.
“Know your limits!” Silver Consort sent a blast of energy that knocked Colin aside. Lucian tried to shield Butterfly Rogue and Liam, but then—plot twist! Liam suddenly shoved Lucian out of the way. In that split second, Lucian dodged death, but Liam took Silver Consort’s palm full-force to the back.
This chapter’s not done yet~.~ Click next page for more drama!
With a thud, Liam Willow collapsed straight to the ground!
“Liam!” Ivy and Adrian shouted together as they raced forward. But Silver Consort was closer, and faster—they couldn’t stop her in time.
“If you’ve got beef, come at me!” Ivy snapped, flying forward. Silver Consort’s lips curled into an evil grin—this was exactly what she wanted.
Meanwhile, Adrian could clearly see the wicked smile on Silver Consort’s face. He knew she was up to something sneaky.
Sure enough, just as Ivy was raging, Silver Consort whipped out a bunch of poison-tipped silver needles and launched them at her. But Ivy’s white fan snapped open, and the needles all landed harmlessly on it.
Not that Silver Consort cared—she’d only done it to distract Ivy. The instant Ivy blocked the needles, Silver Consort went all-in with another full-powered attack.
“Ivy…” Adrian spun around and hugged her tight, taking Silver Consort’s palm strike full-force on his back.
Spurt—Adrian’s blood splattered all over Ivy’s clothes.
“Adrian!” Ivy screamed.
“I’ll send you all to hell together!” Silver Consort snarled, seeing Ivy clutching Adrian in despair. She tried to strike again, but at that exact moment, Caleb Miles dove in front of them, blocking the attack with his own body.
Silver Consort instantly pulled her palm back, barking, “What do you think you’re doing? That last hit could’ve killed you!”
“If you want to kill someone, kill me first!” Caleb glared at her, totally fearless.
Silver Consort glanced at the collapsed Black Ink, then shot Caleb a cold look. “You’ve really let your aunt down!” she snapped, switching to another palm strike that hit Caleb’s shoulder—not super hard, but it locked up all his meridians. She then tossed him to Black Ink. “Keep an eye on him!”
“Let me go! Let me go!” Caleb yelled, struggling against his restraints.
“Adrian…” Silver Consort’s palm was so powerful that Adrian couldn’t take it. He’d been injured before, and now he was even shakier, barely able to stay upright.
Silver Consort turned to look at them, a sly smile curling her lips. It was like fate was helping her out. In the next instant, she gathered all her inner strength and unleashed her long-trained Flame Palm at them. This move would burn up all her energy, but she had to do it—she wasn’t going to drag this out any longer, not with Ivy’s insane inner power.
Faced with that murderous intent, Ivy shoved Adrian away, sending him crashing to the ground. But that split second cost her—she couldn’t dodge in time and took the attack head-on. Instantly, her body dropped like a broken kite, hair spilling loose as she fell.
“Ivy!” Everyone screamed. Adrian, flattened on the ground, started crawling toward her, leaving a long trail of blood behind—a scene impossible to ignore.
Silver Consort landed gracefully and looked down at them, suddenly realizing: Ivy wasn’t a man, she was a woman. She glanced at Adrian, still coughing blood and dragging himself toward Ivy, and at Lucian Vane, the poison doctor, who was also crawling and reaching out, calling, “Ivy, Ivy…”
For a moment, Silver Consort was genuinely shocked. She’d never imagined people would risk their lives for Ivy like this. What kind of woman was she, to inspire such devotion?
But even shaken, Silver Consort couldn’t afford to go soft. If she did, her son Song Zhijue would end up just like Ivy. She had to stay ruthless.
He wanted so badly to be emperor—he’d worked so hard, fought so desperately. Everything about him tugged at her heart. She’d lost the right to raise him once, and she still regretted it. This time, she wasn’t letting herself slip. No regrets. No second chances.
“Didn’t think you actually had some moves,” Ivy wiped blood from her mouth and managed to stand, throwing a taunt at Silver Consort.
Silver Consort stared at her, stunned—after taking such a brutal hit, Ivy was still standing? And after absorbing so much poison, how was she even upright?
Ivy caught Silver Consort’s shocked look and just kept smirking. Nobody knew her insides were already churning, her energy in chaos, and the pain in her lower belly getting worse by the second. If Silver Consort weren’t here, she’d be down for the count, vomiting blood and passing out. But she couldn’t let herself drop—if she died, the others were toast too.
No way. She’d promised to protect them—they couldn’t die for her!
Silver Consort drew her sword, blocking Adrian’s path and glaring at Ivy. “So what’s it gonna be—are you dying, or is he?”
“Enough!” Caleb, pinned to the ground by Black Ink, shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Aunt, please let them go, I’m begging you! Ivy’s just a girl—she’s never done anything to hurt Song Zhijue, so why are you so hell-bent on hunting her down?”
Silver Consort turned to him, face totally blank. “Shut up!”
“Aunt, don’t! Please, just let us go—we’re just ordinary people. All we want is to live quietly with Ivy…”
“Ridiculous. Do you even know who you are? You want to share this woman with a bunch of rough men? You really must be under her spell!” Silver Consort glared at her nephew, even angrier now.
“No—!” Ivy suddenly screamed.
Silver Consort looked down in surprise. Her sword was planted upright in the ground, positioned at Adrian’s shoulder—just a step from his neck. It was meant to block him from crawling forward, not to kill him outright, since they were all still her chess pieces. But she hadn’t expected this—
Adrian let the sword pierce right through his shoulder and kept crawling forward anyway, eyes locked on Ivy’s face. “Don’t be scared… I’m here… I came to stay with you…” Every inch he crawled, he forced out the words.
Seeing this, Ivy finally couldn’t hold out—she collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. “No, Adrian, don’t…”
“Don’t be scared… wait for me, wait for the antidote…”