Lin Zhaoyue's figure had just flashed past the old apricot tree south of the village when Su Qingxue's silver bell chimed, carried along by the night mist. The pearl hairpin in her hair cast a faint glow in the moonlight, and though the hem of her plain white dress was stained with bits of grass, she maintained her usual composure—except for her fingertips, which were unconsciously twisting the Twin Heart Pendant at her waist, betraying a trace of eagerness.
"Everyone's here," Chǔ Hóngzhuāng's laughter burst out right after. A Red Flame Scorpion raised its stinger on her shoulder, the flames at its tail looking like pulsing drops of blood in the dark. She shook a celadon vial at her waist, which held an antidote glowing with a faint blue light. "I tripled the dose of the Poison Sect's Thousand-Insect Powder. If those dark green poisoned blades dare to break any skin—" She tilted her head and smiled, her fingernails scraping a harsh sound against the bottle's mouth. "I'll make sure their wounds grow maggots before their bones rot away."
When Qín Wǎnshuāng emerged from behind the granary, her dark combat attire was still flecked with chaff. Her repeating crossbow was polished to a shine, and her left hand gripped half a broken piece of pottery—she had snapped it while drawing the defense lines on the wall just moments ago. "The hollow east of the village can hold thirty men, and the old well to the west can serve as a hidden post—" Her voice carried its customary crisp effici…
Chapter 387