Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 441 Assassin at Imperial Banquet!
Previously on Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!...
The young woman returned the smile, a momentary spark of relief shining in her gaze.
As they swayed to the rhythm, their conversation flowed between them.
"What should I call you?" he inquired.
The performer paused for the tiniest instant.
"Xi," she answered with a gentle smile. "Xi Yu!"
Bai Zihan inclined his head, fixing the name firmly in his thoughts.
He couldn't tell if it was genuine or invented.
Bai Zihan posed several more queries—simple, innocuous ones.
Regarding meals.
Concerning the weather patterns.
On local traditions.
Bit by bit, with caution—He assembled the clues.
She could mimic the ways of an ordinary person.
Yet her mindset remained distant from theirs.
Her behaviors felt ingrained through practice.
Perhaps she resembled Luo Qing—a commoner bound to a mighty family—
Or maybe a cultivator feigning everyday life.
In any case, she exceeded the role of a mere performer in a dance group.
Laughter swelled around them.
Additional young masters approached the performers.
The melody persisted without pause.
It intensified further—drums blending with flutes, chuckles amplifying as goblets were topped up again.
And that's when the incident unfolded.
One of the performers, previously paired with a youthful cultivator, drifted nearer to Bai Zihan and Xi Yu.
At a glance, it appeared utterly routine.
After all, amid the swirling dance, partners often switched spots, though this performer seemed to select this path intentionally.
Given Bai Zihan's standing, who would risk drawing close to disrupt his movements?
Yet suddenly, the scene transformed.
The performer's aura erupted fiercely.
The young cultivator she'd been twirling with flew back, sliding several meters from the abrupt force of her power.
Great Ascension Realm!
The performers—including the young masters amid them—sensed the overwhelming force immediately, with many dropping to their knees while others toppled over completely.
They possessed far less strength, and the unexpected wave caught them off guard.
Nearly all the performers—everyone save Xi Yu—fainted away. Goblets of wine broke apart.
The tune stumbled in its melody.
Complexions paled sharply.
She launched into action.
Her form flickered, bridging the gap in an instant, her hand lashing out like a serpent's bite.
No sword.
No evident armament.
Merely digits slicked with a shadowy, gleaming substance. It was surely poison.
Her aim was obvious.
Bai Zihan stood exposed.
Encircled by regular folk.
No elders close enough to intervene.
From this range—
Even Immortal Realm powerhouses couldn't reach in time.
Chu Ziyan's features blanched.
"Zihan-!"
Others sprang into response too, rushing instinctively to shield Bai Zihan.
Still, the gap between Bai Zihan and the attacker measured just a few meters, while they lingered much farther off.
Even Bai Chu at maximum velocity would require longer than the assailant needed to land her blow on Bai Zihan.
The assailant's stare was icy, intent, without pity.
She obviously planned to sacrifice everything for Bai Zihan's death. With the powerhouses on site, escape was impossible.
Thus, it was plainly a suicide endeavor, to slay Bai Zihan ahead of the Bai Clan's Grand Elders.
Her sole purpose was his demise—and she poured all her might into it, withholding nothing.
Bai Zihan feigned tumbling to the floor, upholding his mortal facade.
The peril was immense—helpless against a Great Ascension Realm killer.
Yet by acting vulnerable, he embraced a deliberate gamble.
Death remained a possibility.
Nevertheless, thanks to his robust build and the concealed Heavenly-Grade protective treasure under his attire, Bai Zihan trusted he could endure.
Assassins typically depended on toxins, after all.
And from her tactics, she followed that pattern.
He could evade with ease.
He might swerve away, allowing the assault to fail, or even retaliate if desired.
But the instant he acted—
The deception he'd upheld—the pretense of disability—would crumble before the full Imperial Court.
Thus, he chose to absorb the hit undefended.
It would hurt terribly.
But not lethally.
Particularly not to him.
Bai Zihan settled on his course.
He adjusted his stance discreetly, bracing to absorb the impact while limiting vulnerability—
And then—
A figure interposed before him.
The move was so abrupt that Bai Zihan's eyes widened in shock.
Xi Yu!
She showed no sign of the assailant's aura affecting her.
(So she is indeed a formidable cultivator.)
Even Spirit Severing Realm experts struggled to remain upright, after all.
Xi Yu was unmistakably no ordinary human.
But the killer had exposed her hand.
Bai Zihan couldn't fathom Xi Yu's motives.
Was she a partner in the plot?
Or an entirely different force?
Xi Yu advanced.
No prior signal.
No flare of energy.
No grand unleashing of might.
She merely strode ahead.
To onlookers, it seemed she offered her life to safeguard Bai Zihan.
To the killer—
Xi Yu posed only a fleeting barrier.
Her venom-tipped fingers hovered mere breaths from Bai Zihan's torso when Xi Yu's sleeve grazed them.
A faint noise echoed.
Pa!
It lacked volume.
It held no spectacle.
But as Xi Yu's hand met the assailant's visage—
The surroundings appeared to sway.
The Great Ascension Realm killer hurtled backward.
Her frame contorted wildly in flight like a shattered puppet, crashing against a far-off stone column in the hall.
BOOM-!
The collision rattled the whole feast chamber.
Fissures spread like webs over the rock as the killer slumped along the surface, crimson spilling from her lips, fractures cracking audibly.
She struck the floor and lay still.
It was uncertain if she perished—or clung to faint life.
Silence descended!
Not the strained quiet of moments prior—
But a shocked, utter hush.
Cultivators halted where they stood.
A Great Ascension Realm killer had been dispatched with such ease.
Bai Zihan glanced upward at Xi Yu, true astonishment gleaming in his gaze.
She positioned herself steadily before him, stance at ease, breaths even—as though she'd swatted a mere pest.
Not one lock of hair strayed.
Behind, the crushing force dissipated as quickly as it had surged.
Those who had fallen started wheezing for air, bewilderment and dread marking their expressions.
Chu Ziyan arrived first at Bai Zihan's side.
"Bai Zihan!"
She seized his arm, fingers quivering as she examined him, gaze wild with worry.
Though aware Bai Zihan merely feigned his weakness, that awareness failed to quell her dread facing a near-fatal strike from a Great Ascension Realm foe.
Bai Clan elders materialized in a flash.
Bai Tianheng blurred to his son's location, face grim and frosty as his eyes scanned Bai Zihan then fixed on the killer lodged in the barrier.
Thankfully, she appeared to linger in life.
That allowed for interrogation.
A hint of ease passed through his eyes.
Then wariness took over. His stare turned—
And fastened on Xi Yu.
A dancer by appearance.
Untouched by Great Ascension Realm might. Able to fell such a threat with one offhand blow.
He couldn't pierce her cultivation level at all—but he sensed it eclipsed his.
Bai Tianheng cupped his hands, tone courteous yet wary.
He refused to drop his defenses.
Not following a murder attempt amid the Imperial feast.
Not with such a perilous stranger near his heir.
What her real aims might be remained unknown.
"Thank you for rescuing my son," he stated.
The sentiment rang true. Yet his eyes stayed alert. "May I inquire who you are?"
Xi Yu pivoted to meet him. Viewed closely, the disguise dissolved entirely.
No remnant of common timidity lingered in her gaze.
"May I respond after we relocate?"
She inquired.
Her eyes darted shortly to the crowd of stares upon them.
She evidently wished to disclose nothing amid the throng.
Bai Tianheng comprehended and agreed with a nod.
Her readiness to explain permitted him to ease his caution—only a touch. Across the chamber, elders of rival groups advanced at last, Immortal Realm force pressing down as they sealed the space.
Palace sentries poured inside, countenances ashen while eyeing the killer.
Murmurs burst forth.
"A Great Ascension Realm killer...?"
"That performer—who is she?"
"Tsk, tsk. Bai Zihan, who once slew Great Ascension Realm foes with ease, now falters even under their aura."
From Bai Zihan's sustained performance, the majority accepted his true debilitation.
After all, he concealed his strength amid mortal peril, and none imagined such resolve.
The Elders and Grand Elders offered regrets for the oversight and vowed to uncover the culprits behind it.
Bai Zihan assured them of his well-being and dismissed any cause for concern.
Then he rose gradually, sweeping nonexistent dirt from his garments.
His eyes fixed on Xi Yu.
"Looks like you lied to me," Bai Zihan remarked steadily.
Xi Yu held her silence at first.
"I apologize," she finally uttered. "I had my reasons for the deceit."
"Well, no matter, you saved my life. Thank you!"