Three crisp clashes rang out in the quiet woods, knocking away the blade that was about to strike the man down.
"Who's there? Get out here!" the leader roared fiercely, his voice echoing through the forest.
"The Jinyuan Alliance is handling business! Who dares interfere?"
"Who's playing ghost tricks here? Show yourself!"
"Who has a death wish, daring to cross the Jinyuan Alliance?" the others shouted with clear threats in their voices.
This sudden turn of events shocked the men claiming to be from the Jinyuan Alliance.
Having victory well within their grasp, they never expected anyone else to be here, let alone someone bold enough to oppose the Jinyuan Alliance.
The Jinyuan Alliance men exchanged glances, gripping their swords and sabers tightly as they scanned their surroundings with vigilance, trying to flush out the newcomer.
Just then, a young girl carrying a sword emerged from the direction they had come.
She was around fifteen or sixteen, wearing her hair in double-ringed buns and dressed in light-colored martial attire that showed off her slender figure and pretty features.
The girl walked slowly closer, stopping a few yards away from the burly men. Though she looked frail, her presence was no less imposing than that of the armed men holding swords and sabers.
Her appearance stunned the Jinyuan Alliance thugs. They had never expected a frail young woman to show up, let alone that this yellow-haired girl would dare ruin their plans.
The man on the ground looked at the newcomer, a flash of joy and a brilliant light bursting in his eyes. He had never expected anyone to come to his rescue.
Then, a hint of disappointment washed over him, his expression dimming as he clearly did not believe such a delicate young woman could save him.
The leader frowned and demanded, "Who are you? How dare you meddle in the Jinyuan Alliance's affairs?"
The girl smiled, a teasing hook at the corner of her lips. "Ha! The Jinyuan Alliance? So impressive! Are members of the Jinyuan Alliance allowed to run amok? Aren't you afraid of the Sigu Sect coming after you? I've heard that Li Xiangyi has already arrived in nearby Anning Town."
"That's only if Li Xiangyi finds out about this!"
"Exactly, the dead can't talk. Who's going to know we did it? Hahaha!"
"Ha, a mere woman dares to cross the Jinyuan Alliance?"
The thugs laughed disdainfully, paying the girl no mind at all.
The man collapsed on the ground cried out anxiously, "Miss, run!" He tried to crawl up, but his injuries were too severe, and the moment he propped himself up, he collapsed heavily back to the ground.
The leader barked, "Brothers, get her! Show this little bitch a lesson she won't forget. Let's see if she regrets poking her nose into other people's business!" As the men raised their blades to charge at the girl, their bodies suddenly went limp, collapsing onto the ground.
At the same time, the girl's somewhat casual voice rang out. "Oh? Are you so certain you can take care of me today? Why don't you try and see if you can even stand up first?"
At these words, the thugs refused to accept it and struggled, writhing on the ground like worms, but they could not get up no matter what—even lifting their heads required immense effort.
Hiding up in a tree, Su Ci watched the turn of events with keen interest.
With the high vantage point from the tree, she had noticed the girl the moment she made her move, so she had simply halted her own rescue attempt to see what the girl would do.
She figured that anyone daring to travel alone and meddle in others' affairs would certainly have some self-preservation means up their sleeve.
Of course, she couldn't rule out the possibility that the girl was just a foolhardy novice. If that really was the case, it would simply mean saving one more person; she had the backing to handle it.
Even so, the girl's methods were quite unexpected.
Su Ci had assumed the girl was a swordsman who would engage in a fierce brawl to save someone, never expecting her to use poison to take down her enemies.
One of the thugs looked at the girl in terror and stammered, "Who… who are you? What did you do to us?"
Another threatened angrily, "Witch, let us go right now, or you'll face the full wrath of the Jinyuan Alliance!"
"You're courting death, daring to offend the Jinyuan Alliance! Let us go at once!"
The girl said with an indifferent expression, "Don't you know better than to yap so much when you're fighting?"
"Let you go? You look ugly, but you certainly have pretty thoughts. What if I let you go and you try to kill me? I'm not stupid; why would I invite trouble for myself?"
She stepped forward, bent down to pick up the saber from the ground, and swung it around casually in her hand, as if testing its weight and balance.
"If you don't want to suffer, keep your mouths clean. I have no interest in listening to your garbage," the girl said, flicking her wrist casually to point the chilling blade straight at the man.
"Tell me, whose orders are you following? To wipe out an entire family just for a manual."
The leader was secretly alarmed. Evidently, their conversation with the man surnamed Lin had been overheard by her, yet none of them had detected her presence—proving her martial arts were superior to theirs.
What he had thought was a sure thing had run into a formidable obstacle. They were likely going to take a fall today.
Still, he put up a stubborn front. "Hmph, we are following our Alliance Leader's orders, of course. The Jinyuan Alliance is not to be trifled with. You'd better let us go, or else—"
Unfazed, the girl swung the saber in her hand forward. The blade flashed quickly across his cheek, leaving a deep bloody gash.
"If you don't know how to speak properly, I won't be held responsible for where this blade lands next!" The girl's voice was filled with icy chill.
Feeling the burning pain on his face, the leader was gripped by fear. He knew that if he kept acting tough, this woman really would kill him, so he immediately begged for mercy.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! It was the Holy Maiden who gave the order! The Holy Maiden said the Alliance Leader had taken a fancy to the Lin family's manual and ordered us to retrieve it. The Lin family refused to hand it over, and that's why... We didn't kill anyone! Spare my life, Miss! We didn't kill anyone!"
The girl glared at him with murderous intent. "Ha! Do you take me for a fool? You still dare to lie to me!"
"Heroine, spare my life! This humble one really didn't kill anyone! The few of us arrived late; everyone was already dead by the time we reached the Lin estate, which is why we came out to chase after people. I'm not lying! Every word is true! Heroine, spare my life!" The leader begged in a panic.
The girl looked them over thoughtfully, as if pondering whether they were telling the truth.
The men cowered on the ground, not daring to make a single sound, wishing they could shrink into nothingness for fear of catching the girl's attention.
For a moment, the forest fell silent.
After a moment, the girl tossed the saber aside, turned toward the injured man, and checked his pulse. Seeing that he had merely fainted, she helped him up and propped him against a tree trunk.
The girl said, "I'll let you off tonight. When you go back, just say you didn't catch anyone, understand? Do not breathe a word about my existence. If you dare leak it..."
"We wouldn't dare! We won't say a word! We don't know anything!"
"We didn't find anyone, we didn't run into anyone!"
"Yes, yes, we won't say anything!"
Hearing that they could keep their lives, the thugs scrambled to offer guarantees.
The girl waved her hand impatiently. "Get lost!"
Hearing this, the men tried moving their limbs. Finding they could move again, they grabbed their swords and fled in a scramble, tumbling and crawling away.
"Friend up in the tree, do you not plan on coming down?"