“Miss, be careful…” Just as Wanqing was about to lift the carriage curtain to look outside, a flash of crimson swept in, an arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her through the window in a swift leap.
“Damn it, someone’s using hidden weapons! If you’ve got the guts, come out and face me one-on-one! Hiding in the shadows and ambushing us—what kind of hero is that? Stay close to me, miss. You think a bunch of cowards like you can take me down? Come and try!”
With Hongyan’s support, Wanqing landed gracefully on the ground just as the carriage was torn apart by hooked spikes from multiple directions, exploding into splinters with a deafening crash.
“Can’t even leave the city without trouble,” Hongyan muttered, her beautiful face icy with anger. One hand held Wanqing firmly, while the other wielded a longsword, deflecting arrows shot from both sides. She turned to Wanqing, who was clutching a box, and warned, “Stay close.”
As soon as they reached a safer spot, the arrows ceased, and over a dozen masked men leaped out from the surrounding woods.
Watching the assailants brandishing blades and swords, shouting as they closed in from both sides, Hongyan’s expression darkened further. Her lips pressed into a cold line as she tightened her grip on her sword, its gleaming edge tracing a deadly arc as she charged forward with Wanqing in tow.
“Hongyan-jie, be careful!” Despite Hongyan’s overwhelming aura of lethality and her flawless defense, Wanqing caught a glimpse of a sinister green glint on the enemies’ weapons under the fading sunlight—they were coated in poison.
Years of experience sent a jolt of alarm through her, and she instinctively dodged while urgently warning Hongyan.
“Relax, these minions aren’t worth my time. Even if there were ten more, they couldn’t touch me.”
Hongyan scoffed, her sword spinning effortlessly as she struck down those who dared approach. Weapons clattered to the ground, and arms were slashed—none could withstand her. With Wanqing by her side, she advanced fearlessly.
“Be careful!” Though Wanqing trusted Hongyan’s skill, the sight of those poison-laced blades made her heart race. She couldn’t help but cry out as they moved through the deadly green flashes.
“Don’t worry. If I weren’t capable, our master wouldn’t have sent me to protect you. Just stay close.”
Hongyan reassured her with a confident smirk, her expression growing colder as her strikes turned fiercer. By the time they broke through, half the masked men were disarmed or wounded, unable to fight.
“All together! We can’t let them escape!”
The leader, seeing half his men already incapacitated, roared in fury. His massive blade whistled through the air as he lunged at them again.
“Fools.” Hongyan sneered, spinning gracefully with Wanqing. Her sword flashed, sending the remaining attackers flying in all directions.
“Watch out—” Wanqing marveled at Hongyan’s effortless victory, resolving to learn swordsmanship from her someday. If she could master even a fraction of Hongyan’s skill, no one would dare threaten her again.
Just as Hongyan, her lips curled in disdain, turned to lead Wanqing away, a sharp whistling cut through the air. A dagger, its edge gleaming with the same deadly green, shot from the undergrowth.
“Die!” Hongyan reacted faster, yanking Wanqing aside and taking the blade in her shoulder. Without hesitation, she flicked a dagger from her waist, sending it flying into the bushes with a streak of light.
Her sword clattered to the ground as she clutched her shoulder. A rustling wave passed through the grass, followed by a pained scream.
“These bastards—using hidden weapons again. Ugh… my head—”
Hongyan’s face paled as she glared at the corpses littering the ground. But before she could finish, her brows furrowed, and she swayed, collapsing to the side.
“Hongyan-jie! Damn it—you’re poisoned? This is strong… I need to detoxify you now. Come on, I’ll carry you—”
Wanqing had assumed the poison wasn’t severe, but Hongyan’s sudden collapse terrified her. Ignoring her own injured arm, she tore a strip of cloth from a dead man’s clothes, bundling the box into a makeshift pack.
She wanted to treat Hongyan immediately, but unsure if more assassins lurked nearby, she gritted her teeth against the pain, hoisting both the box and Hongyan onto her back, staggering toward a distant hunter’s hut.
Inside, Wanqing swiftly inserted silver needles into Hongyan’s vital points to halt the poison’s spread. As she turned to leave, she noticed Hongyan’s eyelids twitch.
With a sigh, she added another needle before venturing out to gather herbs. Fortunately, the forest yielded some antidotes—common to most, but lifesaving treasures to her.
She poisoned the hut’s entrance and windows to deter intruders.
Night fell, and with the city gates surely closed by now, Wanqing resigned herself to staying. She lit a fire, even managing to catch two centipedes, storing them in a hollowed-out wooden tube.
By the firelight, she worked meticulously, using the needles to draw out the poison. Once satisfied, she prepared an herbal brew and forced it down Hongyan’s throat.
Just as she pondered how to endure the night, a voice called her name from the darkness.
“Qingfeng, I’m here!”
At first, she thought it a hallucination. But recognizing Qingfeng’s voice, she stumbled outside, clutching her reopened wound, and called back into the night.
“Wanwan! Thank heavens you’re here! I saw the bodies and the wrecked carriage—I thought something had happened to you! Are you hurt? What’s going on?”
Qingfeng emerged, his youthful face breaking into relief at the sight of her. But as he noticed her unsteady gait, his smile vanished. He rushed forward, gripping her arm in concern.
“What happened? Who did this to you?” His voice trembled with worry, his eyes scanning her injuries with frantic urgency.
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