Loyal Guard

To be a beast, or to be worse than a beast?

This is a question worth pondering.

However, Li Yun did not have to rack his brains for long.

Because Yu Qingqing had woken up.

As soon as Yu Qingqing opened her eyes, she saw Li Yun standing shakily before her.

"Junior..."

Before she could finish, she was struck by a sudden shock, recalling the scene before she lost consciousness.

Blood surged through her body as she assumed the stance of the Tiger Subduing Fist.

Yet, looking around, she did not see the figure of Leng Yifeng.

"Junior Brother, where is that lecherous thief?"

"Lecherous thief?"

"Yes!"

Yu Qingqing nodded heavily, her breathing still somewhat rapid.

"That guy has defiled several maidens in the city.

It has long been spread throughout my circle of senior sisters.

We even pooled our resources to post a bounty at the Bounty Pavilion.

Where is he?"

"There."

Li Yun pointed toward the "hedgehog" not far away.

Yu Qingqing looked in the direction Li Yun pointed and saw a corpse riddled with arrows.

There were also guards who had been struck by several arrows.

Yu Qingqing raised an eyebrow, her pupils widening slightly, her tone filled with disbelief.

"He was shot to death by you?"

"It can't be considered entirely my own doing.

Fortunately, Miss Huang's guards risked their lives to pounce on him and hold Leng Yifeng tight, which gave me the chance to strike him."

Li Yun nodded first, then shook his head.

He explained what had happened after Yu Qingqing lost consciousness.

Upon hearing this, Yu Qingqing's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and her clenched fists slowly loosened.

That made more sense.

For her and the guards to be unable to take down Leng Yifeng, only for Li Yun to kill him alone, would have been truly implausible.

It was just a pity about such loyal guards.

"Mmm~"

"Ugh~"

Just as Yu Qingqing wanted to ask for more details about the shooting, she heard murmurs coming from the side.

Her heart tightened; unable to ask more, she rushed over to check on the two of them.

Their skin was flushed, and they were drenched in sweat.

Fortunately, after the flower-plucking robberies occurred in the city, she had preventatively learned some knowledge.

She knew that soaking in cold, flowing water could temporarily delay the onset of the drug's effects.

Yu Qingqing looked up at Li Yun, her tone urgent.

"Junior Brother, do you know where there is a water source nearby?

At least a pool deep enough for both of them to be submerged!"

Li Yun was a hunter by trade and naturally understood Crow Mountain, which provided his livelihood.

He pointed to a hill nearby and spoke.

"There is a mountain spring pool in the hollow over there."

Yu Qingqing did not doubt him; she lowered her center of gravity, exerted force, and wrapped her arms around the waists of Lin Biling and Huang Shengnan, half-carrying and half-supporting them.

She ran toward the hill Li Yun had mentioned.

After what Yu Qingqing said, Li Yun finally remembered.

He had seen Leng Yifeng's bounty at the Bounty Pavilion before.

He had never intended to participate in such a dangerous mission, but as it turned out, he had stumbled upon it by pure coincidence.

That being said, there was also the extra silver to gain.

But this guy had the Blood Blade Sect backing him.

A Bright Force martial artist, relying on his sword technique, was suppressing both another Bright Force and a Dark Force martial artist.

And there was the Bone Shifting Technique.

Leng Yifeng shouldn't be an ordinary person within the Blood Blade Sect.

Taking this silver might be a bit like holding a hot potato.

These wealthy young ladies actually dared to pool their money to place a bounty on someone from the Blood Blade Sect.

If they didn't know, that was one thing, but didn't the Bounty Pavilion verify the mission targets?

Or was it that the Bounty Pavilion simply didn't fear the Blood Blade Sect at all?

He didn't know if Leng Yifeng had been bragging, but if what he said was the truth.

Then the Blood Blade Sect should be considered a top-tier existence here in Red Maple Prefecture.

And if the Bounty Pavilion, open for business, could ignore the Blood Blade Sect like this, then at the very least...

Li Yun didn't continue his train of thought, instead walking over to clear the scene once more.

At the very least, he had to pull the arrows out of the guards' bodies.

Otherwise, if they came back and saw that the arrows had all pierced through from the front.

Then Li Yun's explanation would fall apart on its own.

There were also the long swords, the deerskin pouches...

Half an hour later.

By the spring water pool in the mountain hollow.

The pool water was a living spring seeping from underground, radiating a bone-chilling cold.

Soaking in the pool, the flushed look on Huang Shengnan and Lin Biling's faces had faded, though their lips still retained a hint of pallor.

Yu Qingqing sat on a bluestone slab by the pool, recounting the sequence of events to the two of them, sentence by sentence:

"And so, it went like this.

Leng Yifeng was aiming for us from the start; if the guards hadn't fought to the death to stall him.

And Junior Brother Li hadn't seized the gap created by the guards to shoot him down, I fear we would have truly fallen into the hands of that lecherous thief today."

After understanding the full story, Lin Biling's expression turned ugly.

Her tone carried a hint of guilt:

"Shengnan, I'm sorry. I didn't expect that even though recruiting at the Bounty Pavilion was fine last time, we would almost fall into a trap this time."

Huang Shengnan raised her hand to wipe the water from her face; since things had reached this point, blaming Lin Biling would be of no use.

Instead, she comforted her:

"It's fine. That guy was skilled at disguise; didn't we all fail to recognize him?

Regardless, we are all safe now and didn't end up in the worst-case scenario."

She paused:

"Besides, it can be considered ridding the people of a scourge; the sisters in the city who were targeted by this lecherous thief have one less major threat to worry about.

It's just a pity about the guards our families spent so much money to hire."

Lin Biling offered to pay the settlement money for the deceased guard.

Huang Shengnan refused outright.

Since she wasn't blaming her, she might as well do it thoroughly.

If she accepted Lin Biling's money, it would simply wipe out the debt of gratitude between them.

By refusing, Lin Biling's guilt would accumulate a little more.

In the future, if her family needed a helping hand, she would be more dedicated and less likely to shirk responsibility.

"It's just a bit of settlement money; I can still afford it.

Since the matter has passed, there's no need to mention it again, and you shouldn't keep dwelling on it."

Huang Shengnan turned to look at Yu Qingqing and said:

"This time, we really must thank your junior brother properly.

After we return, I will have someone give him a Blood Ginseng."

Blood Ginseng.

Not a Young Blood Ginseng.

Yu Qingqing heard it clearly.

The market price of a Young Blood Ginseng is no more than fifty taels of silver, whereas a proper Blood Ginseng, if the quality is even slightly decent, costs upwards of a hundred taels.

The difference in value between the two is as vast as clouds and mud.

She asked again as if to confirm, her tone carrying unconcealable astonishment:

"What you just mentioned, was it a proper Blood Ginseng, and not a Young Blood Ginseng?

Wouldn't that be too precious?

After all, Junior Brother Li also said that it was mainly because your guard fought to the death to stall them."

Upon hearing this, Huang Shengnan merely shook her head indifferently:

"Precious?

Not at all!

How could a Blood Ginseng worth a few hundred taels compare to the purity of the three of us?

As for the guard, you need not worry; the Huang Family will take good care of his family."

Once Huang Shengnan and Lin Biling had completely suppressed the medicinal effects, they left the pool, put on the clothes that Yu Qingqing had returned to fetch, and arrived at the scene of the incident.

After the three women arrived, they thanked Li Yun profusely.

Li Yun, however, pushed the credit onto the deceased guard, stating clearly that he had only provided assistance.

Two hundred taels of reward money were nice, but there was no need to leave behind such a massive hidden danger for the sake of it.

He still needed to reach an understanding with the three of them beforehand to avoid any slip-ups:

"Senior Sisters, have you ever heard of the Blood Blade Sect?"

The three of them frowned in unison and nodded, feeling somewhat puzzled as to why Li Yun would bring this up.

Li Yun did not beat around the bush and spoke directly:

"Before Leng Yifeng died, he said that he was a disciple of the Blood Blade Sect."