Lu Xueqi Saves Someone

Interesting.

Truly very interesting.

She, Jin Ping'er, the Miao Gongzi of the Hehuan Sect, was never one to give up easily.

Back then, Lu Jiuyuan had saved her and watched over her for seven days.

Those seven days, she had remembered for a long time.

Now, she wanted to turn them into a lifetime.

As for the fact that he already had someone by his side, well then...

Jin Ping'er raised her eyes, looking at that slender figure in white as snow.

Then it would depend on who had the better skills.

She stood up, brushed off her skirt, and strolled slowly toward the two of them.

"Are you done chatting?" Jin Ping'er asked with a beaming smile. "If you're done, let's go. If we dawdle any longer, the main force of your Qingyun Sect will notice that three people are missing."

Lu Xueqi looked at her coldly, saying nothing.

Lu Jiuyuan looked at the faint scent of gunpowder between the two women and rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Let's go, then."

He released his arm from around Lu Xueqi's slender waist and took her hand instead.

Lu Xueqi was slightly startled; she looked down at the hand holding hers, and her expression finally softened a little.

Jin Ping'er glanced at them, her smile unchanging.

The three of them walked out of the forest together.

Wen Min followed at the very back, watching the strange trio in front of her, her heart pounding with unease.

One was Senior Sister Lu, cold as ice.

One was Jin Ping'er, smiling like a fox.

And Senior Brother...

Forget it, Senior Brother would know how to handle this.

When Lu Jiuyuan brought Jin Ping'er back to the group, the entire Qingyun Sect contingent fell silent.

Hundreds of gazes landed in unison on the woman in the goose-yellow dress, then shifted simultaneously to Lu Jiuyuan.

Those gazes held surprise, confusion, and a subtle, indescribable nuance.

Jin Ping'er, however, was completely composed. She followed behind Lu Jiuyuan with a lazy smile on her lips, her eyes sweeping carelessly over the faces of the Qingyun disciples.

The Qingyun disciples present were all intelligent people, and given her attire and the aura of seduction that seeped from her very bones, it was clear at a glance that this woman was not from the righteous path.

"How could Senior Brother Lu be mixed up with someone from the Demon Sect?"

"But Senior Brother Lu is truly amazing, he even knows people from the Demon Sect!"

The murmurs spread like ripples in water, but the voices were kept very low.

Xiao Yicai, who was leading the group, heard these words, frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, it is time for us to set off!"

The crowd stopped their whispering and resumed their journey.

Jin Ping'er followed half a step behind Lu Jiuyuan's side, while Lu Xueqi walked on his other side.

The three walked abreast, a scene that looked rather bizarre, yet no one dared to look for too long.

Wen Min walked behind them, looking at one and then the other, sighing silently in her heart.

This trip to the Southern Border, I fear, will not be peaceful.

This trip to the Southern Border, I fear, will not be peaceful.

After flying for half an hour, the landscape below gradually began to change.

Leaving the territory of the Qingyun Sect, the further south they traveled, the more desolate the scenery became.

The once lush forests began to thin out, the fields were overgrown with weeds, and the occasional thatched huts they saw were dilapidated, as if they hadn't been inhabited for a long time.

Flying further ahead, the group finally saw people.

On the main road, groups of commoners were dragging their families along, carrying bundles and pushing carts, struggling to head north.

Old men leaned on crutches, women held their children, and men carried what little belongings they had left.

Every face was etched with exhaustion and fear, their eyes hollow, as if all their strength had been drained away by something.

"Mom, I can't walk anymore..."

A little girl was being pulled by her mother, her face pale and her steps unsteady.

The woman crouched down to pick up the child, but nearly fell over herself.

She gritted her teeth, stood up, and continued to stagger forward.

Wen Min felt a sting in her nose as she watched, whispering, "How could it come to this..."

Jin Ping'er looked down, her smile fading at some point.

"The monsters in the Southern Border have been increasingly restless lately."

Her voice was soft, her tone indifferent, "Every few days they come out to harass villages, steal grain, eat livestock, and sometimes even..."

She did not continue, but everyone understood.

Lu Jiuyuan watched the fleeing commoners below in silence, saying nothing.

He recalled the plot from the original story.

Before the Beast God emerged, the monsters of the Southern Border were indeed active, but the large-scale attacks on humans should not have happened for some time yet.

It seemed now that the signs of the Beast God's emergence were appearing even earlier than he had anticipated.

However, he felt a faint sense of unease in his heart, a feeling that something was amiss.

The group continued forward.

The scenes below became increasingly shocking.

Passing by a village, everyone saw it.

The village had been burned to the ground, charred beams poking out crookedly like scorched bones.

Broken pottery and trampled clothing were scattered on the ground, along with dark red stains.

There was no one.

Not a single living soul remained.

The entire village was deathly quiet, save for the wailing of the wind through the ruins, sounding like someone weeping.

No one in the group spoke.

Even Wen Min, usually the most talkative, remained silent.

After flying for a while longer, a sudden disturbance erupted in the mountain forest below.

Everyone looked down to see several large trees in a dense thicket shaking violently, leaves and branches raining down.

A low, guttural roar drifted from the woods, a sound so rough and raspy, like stones grinding against each other, that it was unbearable to hear.

Immediately after—

"Help!"

A scream pierced the silence of the mountain forest.

It was the voice of a child, sharp, desperate, and tearful.

Following the sound, they saw a little girl of seven or eight running for her life in a clearing at the edge of the forest.

She was in rags, barefoot, her hair disheveled, her face smeared with mud and tears.

Behind her, a monster was closing in.

The monster was shaped like a giant wolf, but three or four times the size of an ordinary one, its entire body covered in pitch-black scales, its eyes glowing with a blood-red light. It opened its mouth to reveal ivory fangs, saliva dripping from its jowls as it moved with incredible speed.

The little girl was running too fast and tripped over a tree root, falling heavily to the ground.

She looked back to see that bloody maw lunging toward her, closing her eyes in terror and letting out one final scream.

At that very instant, a streak of white light tore across the sky.

The light was so fast that most people only saw a blur.

"Zheng!!!"

The sound of the Tianya Sword leaving its sheath was as clear as a dragon's roar.

Lu Xueqi descended from the air, her white robes fluttering, her sword light like a rainbow.

She stood before the little girl, the Tianya Sword held horizontally, the blue light flowing across the blade with breathtaking beauty.

The monster lunged close, but as the sword light shone upon it, a flicker of fear crossed its blood-red pupils.

Yet, unable to check its momentum, it could only press forward.

Lu Xueqi flicked her wrist.

The Tianya Sword traced a perfect arc, the blade light sweeping across like a bolt of silk.

"Awoo!!!"

With a miserable howl, the monster's massive body was cleaved in two by the sword light, foul-smelling blood spraying across the ground.

The two halves of the carcass slammed into the earth on either side, shaking the ground with the impact.