The scar-faced man's ferocious grin froze on his face. Five bandits blocked the exit, their blades glinting coldly in the torchlight.
Su Lueying leaned against Li Tui's back, breathing heavily.
Li Tui said nothing, slipping his left hand into his robes. His fingertips touched the three stones he had dredged up from the bottom of the cold pool, icy enough to pierce the bone.
"Take them!" The scar-faced man pointed with his short blade.
The five bandits lunged at once!
Su Lueying moved. Instead of retreating, she charged straight at the nearest bandit. With a flick of her left hand, grayish-white powder spilled from her sleeve.
Caught off guard, the bandit got a faceful of powder and immediately clutched his eyes, screaming in agony.
Su Lueying's short dagger slit across his throat at that exact moment. Blood sprayed out, splattering half her face.
Without even looking at the falling corpse, Su Lueying crouched low and rolled toward the rock wall on the left. Then she pressed her right hand against an inconspicuous protruding stone.
Crack!
A loose slab of rock overhead came crashing down, striking the shoulder of the second bandit charging forward. The sound of shattering bone was painfully clear.
It was a trap she had taken the time to set up earlier.
The remaining three bandits abruptly halted, suspicion and alarm appearing on their faces as they hesitated to advance. The scar-faced man's expression turned livid, and he cursed through gritted teeth, "You useless trash! What are you standing around for? Get them together!"
But Li Tui's attention was not on Su Lueying.
The instant his fingertips touched those three stones—
A dense surge of Killing Intent erupted from them without warning and bored through his palm into his meridians!
The thread-thin spiritual energy within him, barely enough