Tang Ya: Gū, Kill Me

Amid the forests of the Heaven Dou Empire's wilderness, a figure flickered across the treetops. With the lightest tap of his toes, he leaped from one canopy to the next, like a woodland sprite dancing gracefully through the trees.

It was naturally Lin Ran.

He gathered Soul Power at the tips of his feet, making his entire body light and swift as he darted through the forest.

This was one of the results of his training during this period. He had specifically practiced his control over Soul Power; climbing trees and treading on water were now as easy to him as walking on level ground.

The cool morning wind howled past his ears, while the trees beneath his feet flashed by in the blink of an eye.

Not long after, he spotted a young woman in the forest ahead. She wore a conical hat, its thin veil concealing her features. Dressed in fitted clothes, she had a well-proportioned, slender figure. Black thigh-high stockings tightly wrapped her pair of round, straight, long legs as she nimbly weaved through the woods.

Lin Ran could tell that the girl's footwork was clearly a Self-Created Soul Skill, so he watched with interest for a while longer.

Before long, the girl noticed someone following behind her. She glanced back, and her Soul Power abruptly erupted as she dashed into the distance at even greater speed, as though wild beasts were chasing her from behind.

Lin Ran fell silent.

The way she acted made him seem like some kind of bad guy. He was merely interested in her footwork, which looked somewhat like a martial arts manual. He definitely had not been staring at her straight, long legs.

Lin Ran continued onward at the same speed, and before long, he saw the girl again.

She had stopped amid the trees and parted the veil of her hat to either side, revealing a pretty oval face. Her nose was high and delicate, and her thin lips were pressed together, conveying stubbornness and resolve.

Her dark, lively eyes brimmed with murderous intent and hatred as she glared furiously at Lin Ran.

"Stop!"

The girl held a repeating crossbow in her hand, pointing it at Lin Ran.

"Speak! Why are you following me? Are you from the Iron Blood Sect?"

Lin Ran stopped ten meters away from her. His gaze first fell upon the coldly gleaming weapon, and he frowned.

Then his eyes moved upward to her face. It somehow seemed familiar. After racking his memory, he finally recalled her—wasn't she the girl who had been sneaking snacks outside the Tang Sect two years ago?

The only difference was that the girl from two years ago had seemed playful, lively, and carefree. Now, her pretty face was full of hostility, and beneath those clear eyes lay bone-deep sorrow and hatred.

"Tang Ya?"

Lin Ran confirmed the girl's identity.

So the Tang Sect had already been wiped out, Lin Ran realized.

Seeing that Lin Ran remained silent, Tang Ya furrowed her brows and shook the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow in her hand as she demanded sharply, "Talk!"

Lin Ran's brows relaxed. His legs suddenly exerted force, Soul Power erupting as the tree beneath his feet broke with a crack, and he shot forward like a cannonball.

Tang Ya was startled and was about to pull the trigger, but Lin Ran's hand had already seized her wrist.

He crossed ten meters in the blink of an eye!

With a slight exertion of force, the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow slipped from Tang Ya's hand and landed in his. He then twisted her wrist again, flipping Tang Ya around and restraining both her hands behind her back.

Tang Ya was subdued in an instant—cleanly and decisively, without any ability to resist.

Lin Ran looked down at the girl and said calmly, "I'm sorry, but I don't like people pointing weapons at me."

Especially when they clearly intended to attack.

Tang Ya struggled ceaselessly in his grip, glaring at him stubbornly with hatred in her eyes. Like a little wild cat with its fur standing on end, she gritted her teeth and said, "You really are from the Iron Blood Sect! Hmph, kill me, then! Even if I die, I'll become a vengeful ghost and come after all of you!"

Lin Ran said flatly, "Who said I'm from the Iron Blood Sect?"

"You're not from the Iron Blood Sect?" Tang Ya froze.

"I don't even know which way the Iron Blood Sect is. If you hadn't pointed a weapon at me, would I have needed to do this to you?"

Lin Ran pressed down on the girl's back, forcing her into a bent-over position.

Tang Ya's face reddened as she said quietly, "I-I misunderstood you. Can you let me go now?"

"No." Lin Ran said, "If someone threatened you with that Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, would you forgive them just because they apologized?"

"Hmph, then what do you want to do? I'm all alone now, and everything I own is on me. Take whatever you want!" Tang Ya could also tell that Lin Ran had no intention of killing her, so she simply turned her face aside and gave up. In any case, she no longer had anything valuable.

Lin Ran sized Tang Ya up and down.

There truly was nothing on Tang Ya's person that held any value for him. He had originally wanted to see whether he could find an item that met the standards for luck, but there was nothing.

In that case, he could hardly point the weapon back at her, could he?

With a release of his hand, Lin Ran let the girl go and said gently, "Forget it. You haven't had it easy either—alone at such a young age, and being hunted down besides. I'll let you off this time."

As he spoke, he stuffed the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow back into Tang Ya's hand. "Keep this for protection. Don't be so impulsive next time."

Tang Ya stood frozen in place. Looking at the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow in her hand and then at the young man before her, she suddenly felt a pang of sorrow.

Ever since her sect had been destroyed and she had narrowly escaped, she had traveled and hidden from pursuit all the way to the Clear Sky Sect near Heaven Dou City—a sect with deep ties to the Tang Sect.

She had pleaded desperately for the Clear Sky Sect to help avenge her, but all she received was the answer that the Clear Sky Sect had already withdrawn from the world and would no longer involve itself in worldly grudges. She was then escorted out of the Clear Sky Sect.

The Clear Sky Sect, which had been friends with the Tang Sect for generations, had been so cold and heartless. Yet this boy she had only just met was kinder than they were.

Seeing that Lin Ran was about to leave, Tang Ya quickly reined in her tangled emotions and chased after him.

"Wait, wait. My name is Tang Ya, from the Tang Sect in Heaven Dou City. What's your name?"

"Lin Ran. Lin as in 'the mountains are covered in red,' and Ran as in 'the woods are dyed through.'"

"Your name is really lovely! Where are you headed?"

"The Star Dou Great Forest."

"That works out—we're somewhat on the same route. I'm going to Shrek, so we can travel together. Are you heading to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a soul ring? By yourself? That's dangerous. You really shouldn't go alone. It's just a pity I have something important to do at Shrek, otherwise I'd go with you."

"..."

Tang Ya was a little too familiar too quickly, and Lin Ran did not quite know how to deal with her. He picked up his pace.

"Slow down! Wait for me! I can't catch up!" the girl panted as she chased after him.

Perhaps because she had been drifting from place to place for so long, her heart had remained restless and uncertain. She was wary of everything around her, like an abandoned kitten.

After finally encountering someone who posed no threat to her and was strong besides, she instinctively wanted to draw close, hoping to take a little comfort from his presence.

Lin Ran sighed, but in the end, he slowed down.

Though the girl's family had suddenly suffered a great calamity, she was still as kind and lively as ever. Along the way, she chattered nonstop.

By noon, the two stopped in the woods to eat. Lin Ran took out the delicious food Huo Yun'er had prepared long ago, while Tang Ya looked at the dry rations she had bought by the roadside and immediately found them tasteless as wax.

She swallowed, then edged up to Lin Ran with an eager look. Her bright, clear phoenix eyes stared straight at him, blinking again and again. She looked like a little dog waiting to be fed, only lacking a wagging tail.

Lin Ran: "..."

Tang Ya truly lived up to being a foodie—she had absolutely no resistance to delicious food.

With a faint sigh, he took out another portion of food.