Chapter 19
Wolf seethed with secret anger as he watched the two act like a loving couple. While they were distracted, he covertly pulled a small, shell-like item from his sleeve and injected it with a bit of his spiritual Qi. The shell shook, signaling that the message had been sent. This item was given to him by his older brother for emergencies, and he knew his brother was more powerful than the woman. He had kept his brother a secret, wanting to catch them off guard.
After a few moments, a very powerful aura could be felt rapidly approaching. Shin Jiao was shocked to see a middle-stage Gold Core Realm cultivator rushing toward their location. Before they knew it, a bulky old man appeared next to Wolf.
"Big brother, I'm glad you came immediately. I found the people with a bounty of 1,000 low-level spiritual stones," Wolf said excitedly, looking at Shin Jiao and Cherry Lao as if they were already dead.
"Ho, ho! So this is the infamous couple," the man said. "I wanted to see your capabilities; they say you were able to kill a Level 4 Wind Wolf Beast King. Heh, that's a nice feat, but sometimes words are exaggerated. And looking at you, they truly are. But your beauty... for once, the rumors are true. Girl, if you promise to be my wife, I'll spare your life." The bulky old man's eyes shined as he looked at Cherry Lao's face and figure.
"Hmph, with your abilities, you think you can defeat me?" Cherry Lao sneered.
"Ha, ha! Young missy, my big brother is in the middle-stage Gold Core Realm, while you're just in the primary stage. Do you think you can beat him? Ha, ha!" Wolf jeered.
"Enough talk, let's just capture them. I want to take and enjoy this woman myself. To hell with the bounty they're offering," the old man said.
"But... but..." Wolf wanted to argue, but seeing the desire in his brother's eyes, he sighed in defeat. With no other choice, Wolf unsheathed his sword and looked at Shin Jiao, his killing intent bursting forth.
Shin Jiao gave Cherry Lao a meaningful look and nodded. With a tacit understanding, Cherry Lao took another sword from her ring and passed it to Shin Jiao. When the two men saw this, their eyes went wide in surprise.
"That... that's a... a spatial ring! Big brother, we've hit the jackpot!" Wolf shouted with glee, as if he had already won the battle, forgetting his recent defeat.
"Hmm... it is a storage ring indeed. Martial sister, this one is called Wolf Fang. If I may ask, what family or sect do you belong to?" the bulky old man asked, his attitude suddenly changing.
Cherry Lao sneered, knowing what the old man was thinking. He was a very calculating and shrewd person. Upon seeing her ring, she noticed the hesitation on his face. Wolf Fang knew that only people from major sects or powerful families possessed spatial rings, and he didn't want to get into trouble because of his greed. However, upon analyzing the situation and seeing their plain clothing and the presence of a mere mortal, his doubts wavered, and greed and lust clouded his judgment.
He squinted his eyes, looked sharply at Cherry Lao, and then nodded toward Wolf. He suddenly dashed toward Cherry Lao, intending to hack off the hand with the ring. He condensed his Qi, and it flowed into his sword, which began to shine bright yellow. He made a quick slash, and the sound of metal hitting each other rang out.
While Cherry Lao faced Wolf Fang, Shin Jiao stood calmly and unmoving. However, the danger of his situation was evident in his eyes, showing that he was powerless against his opponent. His gaze slowly shifted to despair as he looked at Wolf, who was now holding a sword.
"I don't know how strong you are, but if you think you can defeat me without the woman's help, you're mistaken. She's going to be my big brother's woman, so blame your unlucky stars." Although Wolf knew how fast Shin Jiao was, he saw the young man's fear and felt confident. His killing intent surged.
"Die!"
Wolf took a stance and executed his skills, not intending to give Shin Jiao a chance to run or call for help. He did not underestimate his opponent, even though he was just a mortal. Wolf raised his sword, used his spiritual Qi to condense a fire blade, and combined it with his martial skills, making him look like a Fire Blade God, brandishing his fire sword. This made it difficult for Shin Jiao to evade each attack, as the heat from the sword could burn him.
Seeing this, Shin Jiao's heart sank. While he could successfully evade cold weapons, it was a different story with enchanted ones. His anxiety showed on his face, which made Wolf attack even more fiercely. The sword would always almost hit Shin Jiao, making him sometimes wobble and lose his balance. Then, Wolf noticed his spiritual energy was almost depleted from powering up his sword. His expression suddenly changed, but it was too late.
"Huk, huk... gurgle..."
The only thing on Wolf's mind was how he would cut Shin Jiao in two. He didn't anticipate having his throat slit just like that. As he was attacking, he saw Shin Jiao's panicked expression, but when he noticed his spiritual energy was almost used up, he saw Shin Jiao's sneering smile. He felt it was a devil's ugly smile that would slowly devour his soul. But it was too late; without a word, he slumped to the ground and died, his blood continuously pouring from the slit in his neck.
"That was close. Luckily, he fell for it. If his spiritual energy was too high, this blade wouldn't have been able to cut through his skin. I guess he's still too inexperienced in battles," Shin Jiao murmured to himself.
He then looked at Cherry Lao and Wolf Fang, who were fighting with all their might. Even though Cherry Lao could evade Wolf Fang's attacks, she couldn't hurt him because of his spiritual Qi barrier, which sparked every now and then. If he didn't have that artifact, he would be dead already. The fight was at a standstill, but it was clear that Wolf Fang was at his limit, panting heavily.
"What kind of technique are you using? Even with my spiritual sense, I can't see your attacks... This is truly an eye-opener... But if you think you can kill me, you're mistaken." Wolf Fang smiled craftily and suddenly dashed toward Shin Jiao.
In Wolf Fang's mind, he would kill Shin Jiao first, as the young man was just a mortal. He had thought that Wolf was playing with him, but when he extended his spiritual sense, he was dumbfounded by what he saw. On the ground lay Wolf, face down in a pool of his own blood. Being stunned in a fight proved fatal; Wolf Fang suddenly felt numbness in his legs, and his body fell to the ground.
"Ahhhh... My legs!" a bloodcurdling shriek came from the bulky old man.
"You are both too ruthless! I can't accept this. How could a mere primary Gold Core Realm cultivator defeat me?" he shouted, unwilling to accept his fate.
Cherry Lao sneered as she condensed her spiritual Qi in her sword.
"Wait, I can still..."
Before Wolf Fang could say another word, Cherry Lao released multiple wind blades, cutting him into five parts. His blood and gore were all over the place. Although Cherry Lao had killed others in her cultivation journey, she had never done something so brutal. Seeing the gruesome scene, her stomach churned, and she vomited, almost emptying it.
"Geez, I know that having power and strength is satisfying, but you should remember to control yourself, okay?" Shin Jiao said as he walked over and patted her back.
She just nodded. Shin Jiao collected the bags, weapons, and remaining items from the broken-down carriages, then they burned them to ashes.
After walking all day, they found a secluded mountainside. Cherry Lao then made a small cave for them to stay for the night. After dinner, Cherry Lao poured out the contents of both Wolf and Wolf Fang's bags. Seeing the identity plates of the two dead men, they were both in shock: the brothers were top-class bounty hunters, especially Wolf, the younger one. No wonder he was able to find them so easily; he was a very skilled tracker. Wolf Fang was an elder of the Blood Moon Sect, a small sect known for its shady businesses.
They also found a lot of precious medicinal plants and some beast cores. The rest of the items in the bags were useless. As Shin Jiao was about to throw a bag into the fire, he felt something inside it. He found a small compartment where he discovered five pages of silver-colored paper made from an unknown material. When Cherry Lao saw them, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember what those papers were.
When Shin Jiao was about to pass them to her, he noticed something when he held them with both hands. His head began to buzz as tons of information imprinted itself inside his mind. Because of the sheer amount of information invading his brain, his consciousness blurred, and he fainted.
Meanwhile
In the mountain ranges bordering the Yi and San empires, a storm cloud was brewing. Inside a majestic palace atop the highest peaks, where one could see only boundless clouds, a blue-robed middle-aged man sat on a throne, his fiery gaze fixed on a couple of people kneeling on the ground. The insignia of disciplinary officers could be seen on their robes. Beside the blue-robed man stood a dignified and handsome man in his late thirties, also with anger in his stare.
"Sect master, we... we didn't chase Senior Sister Lao out of the sect. She is the one who escaped and hurt us, her juniors. We were just trying to enforce the sect rules," a handsome young man who seemed to be the leader of the group said, trying to explain their actions.
"Senior brother, my disciple is far too conceited," a rather beautiful woman said with an aggrieved tone as she entered the room. "These juniors were just trying to enforce the sect rules, but that ungrateful lass, Cherry Lao, hurt them and tried to escape. If you want, I will go out and try to find her."
If Cherry Lao were here, she would notice that this was her master, who had a suddenly younger appearance. This was due to a Beauty Pill that the First Elder had given to Cherry Lao, which she had kept in her room. Since she was still young, Cherry Lao didn't need the pill, so she had left it in one of her spatial bags when she was in a hurry to escape the sect.
The First Elder of the sect raised an eyebrow, and his expression changed when he saw the woman's appearance. A cold glint appeared in his eyes, and he felt furious. He hadn't expected the junior sister he treated like family to do something like this to her own disciple. Now, upon seeing her, he had an idea of what was going on. Because of her petty jealousy, the sect had lost a genius and a powerful bargaining chip. They had already arranged for her disciple to be married to Li Jiang Xi, the current Second Prince of the Xi Empire, who had his eyes on her when the royal family visited the sect.
"You... do you know what you have done? The royal family of the Xi Empire has decreed the marriage between your disciple, Cherry Lao, and the Second Prince, Li Jian Xi. How will we explain to the prince that his bride is missing?" the First Elder lashed out, shouting at the Third Elder.
"What?! I... I... I didn't know about this..." Cherry Lao's master, the Third Elder, stuttered as cold sweat trickled down her spine. If she could not resolve this dilemma, her life would be forfeited. She now truly blamed herself for being blind because of her jealousy. But still, deep in her heart, she didn't regret what she had done and prayed that her disciple was already dead. Although she was afraid of the consequences, she still believed the First Elder would protect her as his junior sister, especially now that she had regained her youthful face.
The sect leader, on the other hand, heaved a heavy sigh and stood up from his seat. He looked at the rest of the people. "She is still alive. Find her no matter what! Get her back to the sect. NOW!"