"Why did you choose this road?" Shen Qingchan sat astride her horse, both hands on the reins. Her strong legs only lightly gripped its flanks as she guided it forward at an unhurried pace.
"The bandits are doing evil. If we run into them, we might as well take care of them too," Mu Ye said.
Shen Qingchan gave an almost imperceptible nod, confirming that she had been thinking the same thing.
They could travel together without quarrels only if they were of one mind.
As they rode on, they saw no bandits, but more ragged refugees appeared along the roadside.
Some of these refugees had been displaced by war; others had lost their homes to demons and monsters and were wandering far and wide.
"I never expected that, after all this way, we'd find so many refugees instead of bandits..."
Shen Qingchan let out a soft sigh. "I imagine most of them are villagers from Chishui Village..."
At the end of a dynasty, such scenes were all too common.
Just then, two or three beggars crowded around them. Their faces were so blackened with soot that they were almost unrecognizable, and they begged and pleaded for food and money.
Mu Ye kept his expression neutral and first glanced at Shen Qingchan beside him.
There was a hint of pity in the Little Heroine's eyes, and she seemed to be struggling inwardly. After a moment, she didn't take out her purse. Instead, she handed over some of the dry rations she had brought.
Seeing this, Mu Ye couldn't help thinking, The Little Heroine may be simple and kind, but she isn't foolish.
Perhaps sensing her companion's gaze, Shen Qingchan turned to him and asked:
"What are you going to do?"
[1. Give them only dry rations.]
[2. Watch coldly.]
[3. ...]
Option 1 was the same as Shen Qingchan's choice. It seemed rather ordinary.
Option 2 would probably lower her Favorability.
The presence of option 3 meant he could choose freely.
This game offered a great deal of freedom to explore; many choices weren't fixed.
If he wanted to win over the Little Heroine, he often had to catch her off guard. If he followed the rules every time, how could he earn her Favorability?
So Mu Ye gave away all the money and dry rations he had with him.
"Why would you do that?" Shen Qingchan was greatly taken aback. "Even if you pity them, you don't have to go that far. Besides, those two who came over just now looked like roadside beggars, but their eyes kept darting around... Aunt Yun once told me that many beggars are forced to beg by people behind them, and that we mustn't pity them too much..."
The Little Heroine seemed to have a fair bit of Jianghu experience.
"Then why did you give them dry rations?" Mu Ye asked with a smile.
"...We shouldn't give them money... but if we give them some food, at least they can eat their fill..." Shen Qingchan said.
"You're right." Mu Ye nodded slightly. "But have you ever wondered who might be forcing them to beg?"
"You mean..." Shen Qingchan seemed thoughtful.
"Since we planned to deal with the bandits in this area along the way, and they've just seen two young heroes carrying a fortune, how could they resist reaching for their killing blades?"
"You wanted to draw them out?" Shen Qingchan suddenly understood. A trace of shame crossed her face. "I still have too little Jianghu experience... I didn't think that far..."
[Shen Qingchan's Favorability increased: 25/100]
At the same time, the moment she finished speaking—
A clatter of hurried footsteps rang out from up ahead.
Before long, dozens of bandits burst from the woods into the clearing, surrounding the two of them.
Their leader was a fat, big-eared man with steel hoops through his ears, a hideously ugly face, and eyes that fixed on them like a venomous snake.
"The scent of gold..."
"Delicious. So delicious!"
Mu Ye was about to draw his saber.
Beside him, Shen Qingchan lightly nudged her horse with her heels. Without a word, her azure sword sprang from its sheath.
In the next instant, she moved like a butterfly weaving through flowers, phantom images trailing from her feet as her sword flashed with a bone-chilling gleam. Frost spread around her as she darted among the dozens of bandits in the blink of an eye. Before their leader could say a word, his eyes were already wide as bells and his body had gone rigid.
From Mu Ye's perspective, Shen Qingchan became a blur. She weaved through the crowd several times, then returned to her horse and slid her sword back into its sheath.
The instant it was sheathed, the bandits crashed to the ground.
"..." Mu Ye.
The Little Heroine's strength had truly exceeded his expectations. Her decisive strikes and fierce techniques killed without spilling a drop of blood, and she didn't even blink. She was the most formidable woman Mu Ye had ever seen.
The villainous little boss hadn't even managed to get a single damn line out before he was dead.
Shen Qingchan wasn't even flushed or out of breath. The only change was a few loose strands of hair by her cheek.
She gently squeezed her horse's flanks and said:
"Brother Mu, let's go!"
Her heroic bearing at that moment was truly captivating.
As expected of the game's heroine. Her strength was absolutely top-notch.
He'd originally hoped for a chance to play the hero and save the beauty, but it looked like there wouldn't be one. Mu Ye could only shake his head.
"What sword technique was that?" Mu Ye didn't hurry on. Instead, he swung a few punches at the corpses. Only after flames spread over the bodies of the small fry did he follow Shen Qingchan onward.
"This?" Shen Qingchan tilted her head. "It's the Yunhai Sword Sect's exclusive sword technique, Cold Wave Eighteen Swords. Anyone struck by it has the organs throughout their body instantly shattered by the frigid force carried in the blade. They die without pain."
"Impressive."
"It's actually not that impressive..." Shen Qingchan's cheeks turned faintly red. "This isn't even what I'm best at..."
"Then what are you best at?"
"If we run into a demon later, I'll show you."
As she spoke, a hint of pride showed between Shen Qingchan's brows.
The Yunhai Sword Sect was a renowned great sect of the age. A Third Grade expert so young would surely be highly valued by the sect and have learned many secret arts.
Mu Ye didn't ask any more. After killing the bandits, Shen Qingchan was in high spirits and clearly in a very good mood.
Before long, Chishui Village came into view.
It was a small village near Taiping City, with only a little over a hundred households, and its people depended on the Chishui River for their livelihood.
But a demon had appeared in the river. Taiping City had dispatched Demon Sealers and summoned many heroes from the city to subdue it, only for them to return in defeat. Now, there was nothing more they could do.
The losses had been too great, so Chishui Village had been abandoned.
The sign above the village gate hung crookedly, as though it might fall at any moment. Eerie demon whispers sounded from within the village now and then. Several pitch-black birds perched on a nearby dead branch, cawing without end. Dark clouds filled the sky. Every sign pointed to the extreme danger of this place.
[Chishui Village: One-Star Demon Ground. Danger Level: High.]
[Description: You can faintly hear the wails of human infants who were devoured in the demon's belly...]
"This is an instance, isn't it?"
Mu Ye wondered.
But with his and Shen Qingchan's strength, why was the danger level still so high?
Considering that Hero Shen was also a Third Grade expert, and that many of the Demon Sealers who had accompanied him had perished, this demon had to be unusually powerful.
"Aunt Yun told me that the demon is called the Dragon Demon Fish. It usually lurks in the ancient well at the far end of Chishui Village. The well connects to the Chishui River. The villagers of Chishui Village were eaten one by one that way."
Shen Qingchan lowered her voice. "I'd like to see just how powerful this Dragon Demon Fish is..."
They dismounted and advanced warily. Along the way, they killed several minor demons, and soon reached the well in the center of the village.
"How should we lure out the Dragon Demon Fish...?" Shen Qingchan furrowed her brows slightly.
Mu Ye's mind stirred. He cut his fingertip and let two drops of blood fall into the well.
"My big brother is a Demon Sealer. He told me that demons in rivers often crave fresh human blood..."
Shen Qingchan blinked, then nodded slightly.
Sure enough, the blood reached the well, and bubbles gurgled up from below.
The ground began to shake. A column of water several yards high erupted from the well, and a huge red catfish with wings, as big as an elephant, flew out.
"A Qi Refining demon beast..." Mu Ye was startled as he looked at the monster.
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