Blossom in Adversity

C24. Desperate Battle.

Chapter 24: Desperate Battle

Compared to the hairpin with insufficient attacking power, the knife was undoubtedly better. However, due to her lack of training, her target had been the major artery in his neck, but she missed by an inch.

“A hairpin? Hardly a weapon,” he scoffed, his voice laced with disdain. His neck throbbed from the missed strike, but he couldn’t help but admire her audacity. “A Hua clan young lady? Not bad. Courageous, even.”

He yanked the hairpin from his wound, a gesture both of frustration and a silent tribute to her daring.

At this point, he clearly knew that the lights in the house had been turned on, and their plan to lure him out had worked perfectly. He had fallen into their trap.

"Do you think you can escape with just these tricks?" The man's face was filled with malice as he advanced towards Hua Zhi step by step.

Hua Zhi’s heart pounded in her chest as she realized the futility of their plan. The man, his eyes glinting with a predatory hunger, was closing in.

She retreated, her movements graceful yet purposeful, drawing him deeper into the courtyard.

She had guessed that the man was injured before she even saw him face-to-face, and her suspicions were confirmed.

The rain, while obscuring her vision, also hastened the man's bleeding. It was a cruel irony that nature's tempest. Yet, she saw a glimmer of hope in the man's weakening. If she could delay him just a little longer, until his strength faltered, she could summon the three guards, perhaps turning the tide of battle.

But before that, she needed to ensure her own survival.

The man, driven by a relentless fury, launched an assault. His strikes were swift and merciless, each one a testament to his formidable strength. She dared not meet him directly, for her fragile frame would be crushed beneath his might.

She couldn't afford to take his hits.

She needed to find a way to disarm him. She had only learned close combat techniques, but she needed to get in close to use them. However, her strength was limited, and each attack was a struggle, often at the cost of her own well-being.

But the man clearly had no intention of giving her any opportunities to live longer. Despite her desperate attempts to evade his strikes, her agility was no match for his precision. Each thrust of his dagger was a calculated dance of death, imbued with a deadly purpose that chilled her to the bone.

Hua Zhi fought with a ferocity born of desperation, her defenses crumbling under the relentless onslaught. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she struggled to keep her footing, her strength dwindling with every passing moment.

Her delicate form, unaccustomed to the rigors of combat, and her movements unable to keep up with her mind's commands. After the dagger cut her arm, she gritted her teeth and, despite the fresh injury, launched another attack towards his face. As he instinctively used the dagger in defense, she used all her force to stab the silver hairpin hidden in her other hand into the wound on his waist.

The man cried out in pain.

Hua Zhi, with a calculated cruelty, reversed her previous attack, plunging the knife deep into his wound and twisting it with a force that seemed to defy human strength. The man’s eyes, wide with shock and pain, met hers. At the same time, without any resistance, the man's dagger also fell onto her shoulder. If she hadn't reacted quickly by moving slightly, the dagger would have pierced her throat.

Even so, as she stepped back, she remembered to pull out her own knife, leaving the man's dagger embedded in her. Finally, the man was disarmed.

She had always been ruthless towards herself. Seizing the moment while the man was still dazed, she quickly wrapped her torn clothes into a bundle and stuffed it into her mouth. With a firm grip on the knife, she forcefully pulled it out, causing blood to splatter.