Chapter 295: Wan Qing's Holding.

"Psst." One of the guards tried to get her attention.

  Wan Qing looked over at him in confusion. He didn't look that much older than herself. She didn't recognize his appearance. With a defensive glare, she prepared herself for a terrible possibility that she would fight with every fiber of her being. Wan doubted the second guard next to him would step in to stop him either. Knowing this sect, he'd probably just join in.

"I'm not really supposed to talk about this without her approval but, I think she'll forgive me." He smiled at her as the other guard continued to keep watch outside her cell. As if he couldn't hear a thing.

"..." Wan Qing kept her guard up despite his friendly demeanor.

"That guy you killed back there was just one of my duplicates. So, you don't have to feel bad about what you did. It wasn't a test from Her or anything like that. She also wouldn't waste her subordinates' lives in such a way either. This guy is another one of my duplicates too, so don't worry about him caring about our conversation." He explained.

"???" Now Wan Qing was genuinely confused.

  Then she remembered that look that Lei Zhi gave her after she killed the boy... This guard's words were starting to make sense but was it really possible to create such realistic clones? Splitting that person's head open felt too real for it to just have been a fake... The blood, brain matter, and the expression on his face as he fell to the ground dead. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to get that look out of her head.

"Let's just say I'm really good at playing dead." He grinned. "I've died over a thousand times by now, I'm pretty sure."

"You're immortal...?" Wan Qing asked.

  Did Jing really have someone this powerful already in their group? No wonder she never told them about him. Wan Qing still felt a little hurt about the secret member in their group but understood why Jing did so. In her heart, she simply gritted her teeth and promised to become reliable enough to trust with such a secret.

"Not in the way you're thinking!" He rapidly shook his hands back and forth. "I'm nowhere near that powerful. But yeah, just wanted to let you know you had nothing to fret over. Including being sent here. You'll be out in no time." He smirked before turning around and resuming his duty as a motionless guard.

"Thank you..." Wan Qing felt relief wash over her body as she muttered the words.

  It wasn't that Wan had an issue with killing people. It was just that, it was a different matter entirely when it was about killing someone that didn't wrong or insult her. She also thought that the guy was in Heaven's Angels at the time and the only angel she could even bear thinking about killing was Hu Tao. And even that wasn't out of some hatred or anything but pure annoyance!

  Well, whatever. Wan Qing relaxed for the first time since she's been brought here and rested against the wall. Her eyelashes slowly fluttered as she drifted off to sleep. Completely unaware of the softly smiling guards and the unknown third hidden presence hiding in the room.

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"Your technique is quite impressive." Guard 1 spoke.

"I sure hope you didn't overhear anything, you shouldn't have." Guard 2 fiddled with his spear.

"Because if you had, I can't picture anything but a horrific sudden misfortunate accident happening in the very near future." Guard 1 continued.

"So, while you still have the ability to move and talk. You might as well tell us under whose orders you're following and their purpose for sending you to watch a subdued prisoner." Guard 2 followed up.

"..."

  No response. Not even a hint of someone other than themselves and the soft breathing of Wan Qing resting in her cell. Guard 1 pulled out two talismans. One was placed in front of Wan Qing's cell and the other was attached around one of the bars of her cell. The first one was to silence any noises from passing behind them while the second one created a barrier as extra protection for her.

"Hmm, which martial art should I go with to take out this guy?" Guard 1 questioned.

"We don't have that many spear arts. Plus, this guy looks a little talented. They haven't panicked and tried to escape even though they've been caught." Guard 2 didn't answer but rambled instead.

"Nothing wrong with going with the bare basics, I suppose. But does any of the angels even use a staff or spear?" Guard 1 asked.

"One of the newest additions might. You remember how it was for Hu Tao's disciple? Don't forget his girlfriend just recently got a weapon tailored for herself and she's been around for a while too." Guard 2 spun his spear.

  Both duplicates suddenly disappeared and with fierce grins on their faces stabbed an empty part of the wall. The sound of metal tearing flesh flowed into their ears as blood snapped across their faces from the surprise attack. An injured figure gritted their teeth as she looked at the two who managed to not only find her but also injure her in one fell swoop. She held her hand over her deeply slashed waist.

"Ooh, a masked beauty." Guard 1 whistled.

"Didn't expect to see that." Guard 2 smirked in amusement.

"Do you think she was sent by Head Elder Ru?" Guard 1 wondered.

"She does got the faint smell of herbs on her..." Guard 2 didn't disagree.

"..!" The masked woman decided to cut her losses.

  In just that first exchange, she knew she wouldn't be able to easily deal with these two duplicates as they called themselves. It also seemed like the longer she stayed, the more chances they had of discovering her identity and background instead of her finding out more about Heaven's Angels. Her initial mission was to try and recruit Wan Qing to her master's side but if she couldn't do that then make sure to try and make a deal with her. Reducing the punishment she would receive after the Grand Tournament and in return, Wan Qing would tell her useful information about Heaven's Angels. The masked woman held no doubt that Wan Qing would take her up on her offer. After all, the punishment she was going to receive was no doubt going to be severe simply because of the timing she decided to act and her blatant disrespect for the elders.

"She's planning to escape." Guard 1 noticed.

"Oh, She will definitely not forgive us if we let her go with such important information about our technique." Guard 2 shivered at the thought of being punished by Her.

"Sorry, pretty lady. You picked a horrible time to overhear us talking to our ally." Guard 1 rushed at the only exit.

"I mean honestly, couldn't you at least wait a few days before coming to do whatever to Wan Qing?" Guard 2 dashed straight at the masked lady.

  As the two guards moved at the same time, so did she. She tossed a pill in her mouth and a brief burst of qi flashed outward from her body. Neither guard was able to react to the sudden growth in power from the voyeur and she slipped past them. Dashing through the Punishment Hall, she did hear the footsteps of the two guards behind her.

"Oi, she's making this difficult, isn't she?"

"If I didn't know any better, she's really trying to get us killed by running away so quickly with such important information."

"We won't be able to relax in peace like we've done so far if this information gets out."

"Who knows if whoever is behind her is friendly or not? What if it's a dumbass that doesn't know the importance of holding secrets?"

"We better wrap this up quick then. If she gets any further ahead, we might run into a patrolling elder."

  The veiled woman felt a sharp intake of qi behind her and immediately dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way of what appeared to be... spear qi? The spear-shaped qi attack sliced apart the air and flashed down the hallway as she stared completely stunned. Now the value of this information was almost just as valuable as the other.

'There's no way I can allow myself to get captured now.' She resolved to push her body to its absolute limit.

  She tossed another pill in her mouth. Her blood shot out of her mouth and leaked from her body, however, she stood up filled with more power than she's ever had in her life. Using all this power rushing through her body, she focused all of it on one simple objective. Fleeing with her life intact.

"Why couldn't you make this easy for us?" Guard 1 appeared above her, swiping his spear in an attempt to decapitate her.

"I'm not one for putting my all into things. Despite how this looks, I'm actually quite the pacifist." Guard 2 appeared behind her with his spear poised to pierce through her back.

  The veiled woman avoided both attacks with the agility of a cat and the flexibility of a snake. She didn't bother turning her back to the two as she swiftly ran away with all the power she could. A burst of wind and sound blew behind her, blowing the hair and outfit of Guard 1 and 2. The two guards looked at each other.

"I think we might have a problem..."

"What are the odds that she encounters another one of our duplicates on the way out?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Welp, guess it's time to die."

"I really hate that the only way we can share information with other duplicates is by dying..."

"Dying is so painful!"

"Okay, okay. Let's kill each other at the same time. That way, we don't have to suffer."

"Alright, on the count of three." The two guards raised their spears.

  With an extremely fast countdown so that they didn't lose their nerves, the two soon decapitated themselves to relay the information with the rest of Wen's clones.