Bai Chenxiang yanked hard on the reins, her fingertips nearly snapping them in two.
She heard it.
From the woods ahead came a woman's startled cry, followed by a man's low laugh.
The laugh was so greasy, so filthy, that her back stiffened at once.
Something was wrong.
They were already close to Spirit City. By rights, this should have been the safest place around.
The Spirit Hall's Soul Master patrols might not be dense, but ordinary Soul Masters wouldn't dare cause trouble nearby.
Besides, she'd been ordered to hurry to Spirit City with intelligence. The last thing she needed on the way was trouble.
But the moment she heard that cry, she knew she couldn't pretend she hadn't.
"Damn it."
Bai Chenxiang cursed under her breath, dismounted, and tied her horse behind a tree. Then she blurred forward, pushing the Speed Clan's swiftness to its limit.
She couldn't rush out blindly.
First, she had to see clearly.
At the very least, she needed to know who the other party was, how strong they were, and whether the woman could still be saved.
Bai Chenxiang darted along the shadows of the trees, her toes brushing over dead leaves without making a sound.
Her heart was racing—not from fear, but from urgency.
The intelligence she carried was important, but if someone really was being hurt before her eyes and she walked away, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
A flash of fire flickered up ahead.
It wasn't ordinary fire.
It was Evil Fire.
Bai Chenxiang's eyelid twitched violently. She pressed herself against an old tree and peered out.
Then she saw Ma Hongjun.
The fat man stood in a clearing, Evil Fire surging around him, his face twisted in a nauseating grin.
The flames had trapped a girl in