Feral beast—or worse than a beast?
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It was a question worth pondering.
But Li Yun didn't have to rack his brains for long.
Yu Qingqing had woken up.
The moment Yu Qingqing opened her eyes, she saw Li Yun standing unsteadily in front of her.
"Senior..."
She hadn't finished speaking when she jolted in alarm, remembering what had happened before she passed out.
Her qi and blood surged as she assumed the stance of Tiger Subduing Fist.
But when she looked around, she didn't see Leng Yifeng anywhere.
"Junior brother, where's that lecher?"
"The lecher?"
"Yes!"
Yu Qingqing nodded emphatically, her breathing still somewhat ragged.
"That man defiled several unmarried girls in the city.
Word had spread throughout my circle of friends.
We even pooled our money and posted a bounty for him at the Bounty Pavilion.
Where is he?"
"Over there."
Li Yun pointed at the "porcupine" not far away.
Following his gesture, Yu Qingqing saw a body bristling with arrows.
There was also a guard with several arrows in him.
Yu Qingqing's brows lifted and her pupils widened. Her voice was tinged with disbelief.
"He... was he shot dead by you?"
"I can't take all the credit.
I was lucky the Huang family's guard risked his life to tackle Leng Yifeng and hold him tight. That gave me the chance to shoot him."
Li Yun nodded, then shook his head.
He explained what had happened after Yu Qingqing passed out.
When she heard the whole story, Yu Qingqing's tense shoulders eased a little, and her clenched fists slowly relaxed.
That made more sense.
She and the guard together hadn't been able to take down Leng Yifeng. It would've been a little unbelievable for Li Yun to kill him alone.
Still, what a pity to lose such a loyal guard.
"Mm~"
"Ah~"
Yu Qingqing had been about to ask for more details about the killing when she heard soft murmurs nearby.
Her heart tightened. She abandoned her questions and rushed over to check on the two women.
Their skin was flushed, and sweat covered their bodies.
Fortunately, after the flower-snatching cases had happened in the city, she had taken the precaution of learning a few things.
She knew that soaking in cold, flowing water could delay the drug's effects.
Yu Qingqing looked up at Li Yun, her voice urgent.
"Junior brother, do you know where there's water nearby?
At the very least, we need a pool deep enough to submerge them completely!"
Li Yun came from a family of hunters and knew Crow Mountain, the place that kept him fed, like the back of his hand.
He pointed to a nearby mountain and said, "There's a spring-fed pool in the hollow on that slope."
Without hesitation, Yu Qingqing bent her knees and braced herself, wrapping an arm around each of Lin Biling and Huang Shengnan's waists. She helped them to their feet, half carrying them as she hurried toward the mountain Li Yun had indicated.
Yu Qingqing's words jogged Li Yun's memory.
He'd seen Leng Yifeng's bounty at the Bounty Pavilion before.
He hadn't intended to get involved in such a dangerous job, but by a twist of fate, he'd run into him anyway.
That meant he'd get some extra silver, too.
But the man had the Blood Blade Sect behind him.
A Bright Force warrior who, with nothing but his swordsmanship, had kept another Bright Force warrior and a Dark Force warrior on the back foot.
And he knew the Bone Shifting Technique.
Leng Yifeng must have been someone of importance in the Blood Blade Sect.
The silver might burn a hole in his pocket.
Those wealthy young women had actually dared to pool their money and put a bounty on someone from the Blood Blade Sect.
Maybe they didn't know. But hadn't the Bounty Pavilion verified the target?
Or was the Bounty Pavilion simply unafraid of the Blood Blade Sect?
He didn't know whether Leng Yifeng had been bragging. If he'd been telling the truth, then the Blood Blade Sect was probably one of the most powerful forces in Red Maple Prefecture.
And if the Bounty Pavilion could do business while treating the Blood Blade Sect with such disregard, then at the very least...
Li Yun didn't pursue the thought. Instead, he went back to clean up the scene.
At the very least, he had to pull all the arrows from the guard's body.
Otherwise, when the women came back and saw that the arrows had gone straight through from the front, Li Yun's story would fall apart.
There were also the long saber and the deerskin pouch...
A little over half an hour later.
Beside the spring-fed pool in the mountain hollow.
The water seeped up from underground, sending up a bone-chilling cold.
Huang Shengnan and Lin Biling were soaking in the pool. The flush had faded from their faces, though their lips were still somewhat pale.
Yu Qingqing sat on a flat stone beside the pool and explained everything that had happened, step by step.
"Here's what happened. Leng Yifeng was targeting us from the start. If the guard hadn't fought to hold him off, Junior Brother Li wouldn't have had the chance to shoot him while he was distracted. We might really have fallen into that lecher's hands today."
After learning the whole story, Lin Biling's expression darkened. Guilt colored her voice.
"Shengnan, I'm sorry. I never thought this would happen. We hired people through the Bounty Pavilion last time, and nothing went wrong. This time, we nearly got killed."
Huang Shengnan wiped the water from her face. What had happened had happened; blaming Lin Biling wouldn't change anything.
Instead, she comforted her.
"It's all right. He was skilled at disguises. None of us recognized him, did we?
"At least we're all safe now. Things didn't come to the worst."
She paused.
"Besides, we did the people of the city a service. There's one less threat hanging over the women that lecher had his eye on.
"It's just a pity about the guard our families paid so much to hire."
Lin Biling offered to pay the dead guard's family a settlement.
Huang Shengnan refused outright.
Since she wasn't going to blame Lin Biling, she might as well go all the way.
If she accepted Lin Biling's money, it would wipe away the debt between them.
By refusing, she let Lin Biling's guilt grow a little deeper.
If the Huang family ever needed Lin Biling's help, she'd put in more effort and be less likely to make excuses.
"It's only a settlement. I can afford it.
"What's done is done. There's no need to bring it up again. Don't keep dwelling on it."
Huang Shengnan turned to Yu Qingqing.
"This time, we owe your junior brother a proper thank-you.
"Once we get back, I'll have someone give him a Blood Ginseng."
Blood Ginseng.
Not Young Blood Ginseng.
Yu Qingqing heard her clearly.
Young Blood Ginseng went for no more than fifty taels of silver, while a proper Blood Ginseng of decent quality cost over a hundred taels.
Their value was worlds apart.
She asked again to make sure, her voice full of undisguised surprise.
"You mean a proper Blood Ginseng, not a Young Blood Ginseng?
"Isn't that too generous? After all, Junior Brother Li said the main reason he managed it was that your guard risked his life to hold Leng Yifeng back."
Huang Shengnan merely shook her head.
"Too generous?
"Not at all! How could a Blood Ginseng worth a few hundred taels compare to the honor of the three of us?
"And don't worry about the guard. The Huang family will take good care of his family."
Once Huang Shengnan and Lin Biling had fully suppressed the drug's effects, they left the pool and put on the clothes Yu Qingqing had gone back to retrieve. Then they returned to the scene.
When the three women arrived, they thanked Li Yun.
Li Yun, however, gave the credit to the dead guard.
He said he had only assisted.
Two hundred taels of silver was a fine reward, but it wasn't worth inviting such a huge danger.
He needed to tell the three women beforehand, so no one would let the truth slip.
"Senior sister, have you heard of the Blood Blade Sect?"
All three frowned and nodded, puzzled as to why Li Yun had brought it up.
Li Yun didn't keep them guessing. He said it outright.
"Before he died, Leng Yifeng said he was a disciple of the Blood Blade Sect."
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