Jiang Ye's figure was like a wisp of smoke melting into the night. He landed silently behind a massive tree thick enough to take two men to encircle.
Forget people—even the most alert wild beast would have struggled to detect his presence.
He leaned slightly to one side, using the mottled moonlight filtering through the branches to peer toward the source of the commotion.
His eyes narrowed, and the scene in his vision gradually came into focus.
Two figures, one pursuing and the other fleeing, fought fiercely in the wilderness.
The pursuer was a young woman dressed in a pale yellow martial outfit.
Her features were delicate and pretty, yet her brows carried a boldness and fierceness that belied her age.
Judging by her age, she was about the same as Liu Yiyi, but her figure...
Jiang Ye's gaze sharpened slightly.
The young woman had an exceptionally well-developed figure.
Her tight-fitting outfit outlined her graceful curves. Her chest was full, her waist slender as a willow, and the curve of her hips was even more breathtaking.
She was in the bloom of youth, yet there was an undercurrent of ripeness about her, like a juicy peach hanging from a branch, just shy of falling.
She held a long silver sword. Its blade was narrow and slender, gleaming with a chilly light beneath the moon.
Her swordplay was vicious and sharp. With every move, she unleashed a string of lethal strikes, her graceful form swaying along with them, carving dazzling arcs through the air.
It was a deadly dance, despite the fact that they were fighting for their lives.
What made Jiang Ye even more wary was her strength.
The aura surrounding the young woman as she attacked was astonishingly powerful, even stronger than his own and approaching Liu Qingshi's.
Clearly, she was likely a martial artist at the peak of Transformation Strength.
"So this is the strength of an Azure Sky Sect disciple..."
Jiang Ye nodded to himself.
The other figure, fleeing from her, was a man as round as a ball, with dark skin, a face full of brutish flesh, and so much body hair that his features were almost impossible to make out.
He wore ragged, bloodstained clothes and fought back as he ran. He looked every bit like a black wild boar that had gained sentience—ugly and savage.
Black Old Five fought as he fled, occasionally eyeing the young woman's graceful figure with his tiny, lecherous eyes. He sneered obscenely. "Heh heh, you little girl are really stubborn. Looks like you can't wait for me to capture you and play with you for three days and nights!!!"
"Outrageous!" the young woman shouted, her sword growing even more fierce. "You're on death's doorstep, and you're still spouting such filthy nonsense! I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to the dogs!"
The fight grew even more intense. Black Old Five continued hurling filthy insults, trying to provoke the young woman and disrupt her composure.
She truly was a true disciple of a great sect. Despite Black Old Five's verbal abuse, the only change was that the chill in her eyes deepened. Her attacks remained perfectly composed.
Dozens more exchanges passed.
Thrust! Thrust!
Black Old Five finally seemed to leave himself open.
His heavy black saber was half a beat too slow to block, and the young woman's long sword darted like a striking viper, stabbing him twice in quick succession.
The sword tips pierced flesh, and blood sprayed!
"Hmph! Die already!"
Seeing this, a flash of excitement crossed the young woman's eyes.
She drew a deep breath, unleashing all the force in her body and pouring it into her sword.
The blade hummed, its icy light flaring. She meant to seize this chance and finish Black Old Five in one fell swoop!
Facing this deadly strike, Black Old Five dared not show the slightest carelessness.
He, too, poured the force in his body into his saber. Black light flowed across the blade as he swung it toward the incoming silver sword.
Clang!
The crash of clashing metal exploded across the wilderness!
Sparks flew in every direction!
The silver sword had actually carved a notch into Black Old Five's saber!
The blade shuddered, nearly breaking apart!
It was clear that he had been utterly outmatched in that clash.
"I've won..."
Seeing this, the young woman's eyes shone with undisguised delight.
She had gone alone to eliminate this great menace. She had earned herself a considerable merit.
At that moment, rather than fear, Black Old Five's face showed a vicious look, as if his scheme had gone exactly as planned.
The young woman frowned, instinctively sensing that something was wrong.
The next instant.
A tiny black shadow suddenly shot out from Black Old Five's sleeve!
It was as fast as lightning, landing on the young woman's sword-wielding right hand in the blink of an eye.
"Oh no, this is..."
The young woman focused her eyes, her expression changing abruptly.
The tiny black shadow was a spider, black as soot, with strange markings faintly visible on its back. It was the infamous venomous Black Tooth Spider.
She whipped out her left hand as fast as lightning, trying to slap it dead.
But she was still a step too late.
Hiss.
The Black Tooth Spider bit her fair, jade-white wrist, then leapt away into the grass and vanished without a trace.
"Not good!!!"
The young woman looked at the wound on her wrist, where black blood was welling up, and felt her heart sink to the bottom.
A tingling numbness like an electric shock spread instantly from the wound, surging upward along her meridians.
Then came a burning, freezing pain, as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at her bones. Her entire arm grew stiff with the cold.
Clatter.
Her right hand had no strength left to even hold her sword. It fell heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
Seizing the opportunity, Black Old Five grinned and swung a heavy backhand punch into the young woman's shoulder.
Crack!
The crisp snap of breaking bone rang out, especially sharply in the silent night.
Her body flew like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily to the ground as a mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from her lips.
She lay on the ground, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelieving despair.
She had been so close to winning. Just one more strike...
"Hahahahaha! You don't even know what I'm capable of, Black Old Five, and you still dared come after me alone."
Black Old Five leered savagely. His pea-sized eyes roamed over the young woman's graceful figure, and he couldn't help sticking out his tongue to lick his dry lips.
Under his gaze, the young woman's hair stood on end, and goosebumps covered her skin.
A chill more terrifying than death shot up from the depths of her heart.
If so ugly a beast touched even one of her fingers, she would rather die a thousand, ten thousand times!
"You despicable, shameless beast! You ambushed me with a poisonous bug! If you've got the guts, kill me now!!!"
The young woman summoned all her strength to shout, but her voice was already as weak as a mosquito's buzz.
"Kill you? I couldn't bear to!" Black Old Five chuckled lewdly. "After I capture you, I'll have to play with you nonstop for three days and nights first! A true disciple of the Azure Sky Sect, tsk, tsk. I've never had a taste of one in my life!"
As he spoke, he actually stripped off his bloodstained clothes, revealing his bloated body covered in brutish flesh.
This man truly was a lecherous glutton. Despite the two sword wounds in his body, he still meant to have his way with her right there in the wilderness.
"You beast... if you dare touch me... you..."
The young woman despairingly realized she no longer even had the strength to curse him.
The Black Tooth Spider's venom had paralyzed most of her body in a matter of moments.
Grinning savagely, Black Old Five bent over her. He caught the faint, delicate scent on the young woman and immediately sucked in a huge breath, savoring it deeply as an intoxicated look spread across his face.
"Good, good, she's a virgin after all! Fifth Master loves virgins best!"
"Come! First, let Fifth Master have a taste of your lips!"
As Black Old Five drew closer, two streams of tears ran down the young woman's cheeks. She closed her eyes in despair.
Everyone knew that when a man was about to do something wicked, that was when he was most relaxed.
Black Old Five was just about to lower his head.
Whoosh!
A sound sharp enough to tear through the night's silence suddenly rang out.
It was a flash of saber light.
A saber light as beautiful as moonlight spilling from the sky, yet so cold it made one's blood run cold.
It swept out of the darkness, tracing a perfect arc before landing precisely on Black Old Five's neck.
A thin line of blood appeared.
The next instant.
Black Old Five's ugly head left his body.
Pfft!!!
Blood gushed from his severed neck like a fountain, splashing all over the young woman.
The head spun twice through the air, then landed on the grass beside her with a thud.
"Mm..."
The young woman, who had squeezed her eyes shut to face the great horror awaiting her, suddenly felt several drops of warm liquid land on her face.
She forced down her fear and despair and slowly cracked open her eyelids.
Then her eyes widened beyond her control.
What she saw was a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Black Old Five, who had been so wildly arrogant just a moment ago, had been decapitated.
His head lay beside her, his face still wearing the ferocious grin he'd had at the moment of death.
And the one responsible for all this was an old man, tall and lean, with graying hair and a hard, cold face.
He stood there holding a curved saber shaped like the moon. Blood dripped from its tip, one drop at a time.
The young woman's heart nearly stopped beating.
Seeing that Black Old Five was dead, the young woman felt a rush of relief, but the wariness in her eyes did not lessen in the slightest.
In this wilderness, it was impossible to know whether this sudden appearance of an old man was a blessing or a threat.
She knew very well how tempting her body was to men.
Back in the Azure Sky Sect, she had countless admirers.
Even if the other party was only an old man who looked advanced in years...
What if he couldn't control himself?
Still poisoned, she remained in danger.
The young woman stared at the old man before her, her heart in her throat.
But it seemed she had worried needlessly.
The old man merely glanced at her, then turned his attention back to Black Old Five's headless corpse and deftly began searching it.
He made no move to touch her.
Of course, he made no move to save her, either.
Before you continue