Chapter 47: Nested Within a Nest

Just as they were about to clash, Han Li slightly twisted the blade in his hand, altering its angle by a mere fraction. This seemingly insignificant change, however, resulted in a monumental shift in Doctor Mo's perception.

Doctor Mo's vision suddenly brightened as more than a dozen dazzling white lights abruptly appeared. The intensely powerful light struck his eyes without any obstruction.

Realizing something was wrong, he cursed inwardly and quickly retreated, immediately closing his eyelids. But it was too late; the white light instantly penetrated his eyes, leaving him no chance to react.

Doctor Mo immediately felt a burning sensation in his eyes, followed by intense soreness in his eyeballs, and tears streamed out uncontrollably. Ignoring the tears, he endured the discomfort and struggled to open his eyes to look. But all he saw was a blinding white expanse. Not only could he not distinguish objects clearly, but even the outlines of things became multiple blurry phantoms.

At this moment, he was both startled and enraged, deeply regretting that he had inadvertently fallen for his opponent's trick once again.

However, Doctor Mo had traveled the jianghu for a long time and was very experienced in handling various dangers. He continuously retreated to create distance from his opponent, hoping to buy some time. Simultaneously, he retracted his palms, waving them ceaselessly in front of him, using his impervious Demon Silver Hands to shield the vital points of his upper body.

He had already made up his mind: until his vision returned to normal, he would absolutely not launch another attack. All offensives would have to wait until he could see clearly, to avoid falling into this cunning brat's trap again.

By now, Doctor Mo had long discarded his initial condescension. This struggle with Han Li was no less dangerous than several life-or-death battles he had fought against formidable rivals in his early years.

Although he couldn't see his opponent's movements, Doctor Mo pricked up his ears and listened intently, hoping to discern his opponent's next move from the sound.

He seemed to vaguely see a figure sway in front of him. Immediately afterward, a sharp whistling sound, accompanied by a cold gust of wind, assailed him directly from the front.

Regarding Han Li's assassination attempt, Doctor Mo felt not alarm, but a surge of delight.

His opponent's methods were indeed still somewhat naive. If Han Li had hidden quietly and launched a sneak attack, Doctor Mo might have genuinely worried. But a brazen frontal assault was nothing to fear. He had long perfected the skill of identifying sounds by the slightest disturbance; not to mention a direct stab from a short sword, even a fine embroidery needle attacking him would be clearly audible.

Doctor Mo heard it clearly, but intentionally slowed his hand, creating a small opening in front of him. As expected, the sound of the attack immediately shifted, piercing through that gap and heading straight for his throat.

Doctor Mo sneered. His right hand, which had been waiting, suddenly shot out, grabbing the blade like lightning and clamping down firmly, completely fearless of the short sword's sharp edge.

His opponent clearly knew something was wrong and vigorously tugged the short sword back several times. But under the control of the Demon Silver Hand, it couldn't budge an inch; it was merely a wasted effort.

Doctor Mo felt a hint of triumph, but he dared not be careless with his grip, fearing his opponent might realize the situation and let go, escaping. Ignoring that his vision hadn't returned to normal, he suddenly exerted full power with one hand, pulling the short sword towards him, intending to forcefully drag Han Li over from the opposite side and then personally subdue him. But he felt the blade was weightless in his hand, as if it were nothing.

He was greatly astonished. He was clearly still holding the blade, so how could it suddenly become so light? Even if Han Li had let go, it shouldn't feel so weightless.

Before Doctor Mo could figure out what was happening, he felt a sharp, air-rending sound erupt a few inches in front of his throat. It seemed as if a sharp, slender object was piercing towards him at an extraordinary speed. The object hadn't even arrived, yet the cutting air currents had already caused a slight stinging sensation at his Adam's apple.

He had no time to think. His body, with nerve-like reflexes, instinctively made an evasive move. His head sharply snapped to one side, desperately tilting that way, his neck twisted into an incredible angle, attempting to dodge the fatal blow.

The profound foundation he had cultivated through years of rigorous training finally proved its worth at this moment. Doctor Mo felt a chill on his neck as the sharp object grazed his neck and slid past, only slightly scratching his skin and causing no greater harm.

After dodging the attack, Doctor Mo, fearing his opponent had more tricks up his sleeve and without time to think, actually mimicked Han Li's initial life-saving escape move. He threw himself to the ground and rolled away like a lazy donkey. Only after getting far away from Han Li did he dare to stand up again.

After Doctor Mo stood upright, he felt a burning pain on his neck. He instinctively touched the wound, and his hand felt wet, indicating a considerable amount of blood.

He quickly used two fingers to seal off the nearby blood vessels, stopping the bleeding.

It was only then that he felt a surge of belated fear. He realized that he should not have been able to dodge that previous attack, but unexpectedly, his body's instincts had performed beyond their usual capacity, allowing him to miraculously escape a near-fatal blow.

Thinking this, Doctor Mo couldn't help but glance up at Han Li. It was only then that he noticed the things in his vision were clear again; his sight had returned to normal at some point.

He saw Han Li glaring at him with a look of unwillingness, clearly displeased that his opponent had escaped yet again.

In his hand, Han Li held a pointed weapon about an inch long. Its shape resembled an incredibly short awl, but the hilt was still the original sword hilt, making the overall appearance somewhat bizarre. There were also traces of blood on it; it was indeed the strange weapon that had wounded Doctor Mo.

Doctor Mo's expression turned grim, his eyes filled with fury. He had reached his limit with repeatedly coming close to death and was about to erupt, but then suddenly felt something still clutched in his right hand.

He looked down and saw a hiltless blade. It felt weightless. Upon closer inspection, he suddenly realized this blade was hollow. Judging by the size and shape of the cavity, the pointed awl he'd seen was hidden inside. This blade was merely an outer casing designed to deceive.

Instantly, his surging anger was extinguished by this unexpected discovery.