The Star Luo Zhu Family Has No Face Here

Distant footsteps suddenly split.

One team of torches pressed down along the creek bed, while another team trod the mountain ridge, moving to encircle from above. The soles of their boots crushed dry branches, the crackling sound echoing one after another.

The leader was a tall, thin man, a Zhu Family crest hanging from his waist, and his hand covered in a layer of grey-black beast fur.

He stopped at a fork in the road, bending down to pick up a trace of blood from the mud.

"The blood is still warm."

He raised his hand and waved.

"Second Miss is injured, and her spirit power won't last much longer. Team One blocks the creek, Team Two presses the ridge. Don't let her get towards Soto."

A guard beside him hesitated, lowering his voice.

"Commander Zhu, are we really pushing this hard? If Second Miss is seriously injured, Eldest Miss will..."

Commander Zhu shot him a cold glance.

"Eldest Miss wants the person back, not for her to go to Shrek and settle accounts with Dai Mubai. The engagement ties the Zhu Family and the Dai Family together. Whoever messes up, their head will be the first to fall."

The guard dared not speak further, and the torches spread out to both sides.

Behind a tree, Zhu Zhuqing bit down on her short dagger, her Nether Civet spirit possessing her. She tapped her toes on the damp earth, her figure skimming through the bushes.

Just as the first beam of light swept over, she had already passed behind the opponent.

The guard felt a chill on the back of his neck. When he turned around, he only saw a leaf being swept up by the wind.

"She's over there!"

As the shout went up, Zhu Zhuqing kicked off a tree trunk, using the force to vault over the low slope.

Her shoulder wound was pulled, and the smell of blood spread out. Her steps faltered for half a beat, her knees nearly hitting a rock.

It had been too long.

Fleeing all the way from outside Star Luo City to here, her spirit power had been worn away bit by bit.

She bit her lip tightly and steadied herself again.

She couldn't stop.

Beside the Hunting Path wooden shed, the Seven Treasures caravan's torchlight was suppressed by the earthen wall, leaving only a dark red glow on the wheels.

Ning Rongrong squatted in front of a map, a charcoal pencil drawing lines across several forks in the road.

The hem of her clothes was stained with mud, though she hadn't noticed it herself. Her brow, however, furrowed tighter and tighter.

"The front carriage's fire has gone out."

She looked up at Ning Chuan.

"The rear carriage shouldn't stop by the shed. Go around behind this bend. Uncle Ning Chuan, take two men to a high vantage point. Don't chase too far, just watch the movement of the torches."

Ning Chuan held his horsewhip, his expression unusually serious.

"Miss, with this arrangement, we can retreat if attacked, but your position cannot be pushed any further forward."

Ning Rongrong slapped the Seven Treasures Token onto a corner of the map.

"I won't charge ahead, but I need to know which side has collapsed. The Seven Treasures need to see the road when doing business; we can't run blindly when saving someone."

Xiao Wu sat by the carriage window, her hand resting on the Concealment Talisman inside her collar. Her nose twitched.

"Blood smell."

Ning Rongrong immediately turned her head.

Xiao Wu didn't argue with her, her face extremely tense.

"There are many people. The blood smell is to the front left, not far away. There are also a few fast ones, their scent intermittent, like they're circling her."

Ning Chuan glanced at Xiao Wu, asking no further questions, and simply gestured to the guards.

Su Hang stood outside the carriage, looking up at the trajectory of the torches in the woods.

The torchlight wasn't searching randomly.

The flanks were pressing in steadily, leaving an opening in the middle, as if they were driving someone towards Broken Slope.

"Not ordinary guards."

Su Hang rolled up the map and stuffed it back into Ning Rongrong's hand.

"There are Agility System spirit masters inside, and their tracking experience is not bad. They aren't looking for Zhu Zhuqing; they are driving her."

Ning Rongrong's hand tightened, and the charcoal pencil almost snapped.

"Driving her where?"

Su Hang pointed to the dark shadow at the end of the mountain ridge.

"Broken Slope."

Xiao Wu immediately stood up, but was blocked by the carriage doorframe.

She looked down at the talisman tucked into her collar, her fingers slowly tightening.

"Brother Su Hang, I can smell her. She's really close."

Yet, that heavy gaze from the distance remained.

Tang Hao did not approach, but he kept hanging around outside the forest.

Su Hang glanced at her and pressed another Concealment Talisman onto her cuff.

"You stay in the carriage."

Xiao Wu looked up abruptly.

Su Hang's tone remained unhurried.

"It's not that I won't let you save her, it's that we can't let that person in the distance lock onto you right now. If you are exposed, we won't have saved Zhu Zhuqing, and we'll have added the trouble of a Title Douluo to our plate."

Xiao Wu bit her lip, tapping her toe against the carriage floor.

Ning Rongrong stepped forward, clutching the map.

"Then I'll go with you."

Su Hang pressed her back against the carriage.

"You go to a safe distance."

Ning Rongrong was immediately indignant, even pulling out her Seven Treasures Token.

"This Miss just finished mobilizing the men, and now you want me to hide in the back?"

Su Hang looked toward the torches in the forest and said indifferently, "If you get caught by the Zhu Family, tonight will turn from a rescue mission for Zhu Zhuqing into a negotiation between the Seven Treasures and Star Luo."

Ning Rongrong: "..."

Xiao Wu couldn't help but add a jab.

"See? He doesn't think you're weak; he thinks you're expensive."

Ning Rongrong was left speechless for a long time, finally hanging the Seven Treasures Token back at her waist.

"Fine, this Miss is expensive, so I'll stand in an expensive spot."

Ning Chuan nearly lost his composure, letting out a low cough.

Su Hang had already turned around.

"Ning Chuan, take two guards and follow me. Everyone else follows Rongrong's orders. Do not chase the torches; only guard the retreat route."

Ning Chuan followed immediately, his boot soles treading through the wet mud without further hesitation.

Ning Rongrong stood by the carriage, watching Su Hang's back disappear into the forest, the map in her hands crinkled from her grip.

Xiao Wu lifted a corner of the curtain, then quickly pressed it back down.

"Stop glaring; glaring won't reveal a path."

Ning Rongrong didn't turn around.

"Rabbit, you'd better keep the scent of blood locked in. If Su Hang comes back and goes off course, I'm using you as a road sign."

Xiao Wu huffed.

"Rest assured, I'm more accurate than your map."

In the forest, the torches drew closer.

Zhu Zhuqing was forced to the edge of the Broken Slope; behind her were slippery, jagged rocks, and the darkness below was too deep to see the bottom.

Blood from her shoulder dripped down her arm, and she held a short dagger horizontally before her.

Commander Zhu and his men stopped ten paces away.

He didn't rush to advance; instead, he stuck his torch into the mud, letting the light shine onto Zhu Zhuqing's face.

"Second Miss, stop running."

Zhu Zhuqing's breathing was shallow, her cat tail hanging low, yet she did not retreat.

Commander Zhu raised his hand, signaling the guards on both sides to surround her.

"The Eldest Miss said, the marriage contract isn't something you can just discard as you please. The Dai Family hasn't spoken, and the Zhu Family hasn't nodded; no matter where you run, it's all the same."

Zhu Zhuqing gripped her short dagger tighter.

"Then let her marry him herself."

As these words fell, the expressions of several guards shifted.

Commander Zhu's face darkened as well.

"Second Miss, if these words get back, the Eldest Miss won't leave you with any dignity."

A shadow flashed beneath Zhu Zhuqing's feet, and she suddenly lunged toward a weak point on the right.

Her short dagger sliced the cuff of the first guard, and she backhanded the second on the wrist bone, causing his torch to fall to the ground instantly.

She had charged out half a step.

She only managed to rush forward half a step.

Commander Zhu's figure flickered, gray-black beast fur covering his arms once more, his speed far surpassing that of the ordinary guards.

He intercepted her path with a horizontal palm strike, the wind from his hand grazing the wound on Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder.

A muffled thud echoed.

Zhu Zhuqing was forced back to the Broken Slope, her boot heels dislodging gravel that tumbled down into the abyss, leaving no sound for a long time.

Commander Zhu shook his wrists, his eyes showing a hint of impatience.

"Second Miss, you're injured like this, yet you still want to force your way through?"

Zhu Zhuqing swallowed the taste of blood in her mouth and raised her short dagger once again.

The torches closed in.

The guards pressed forward step by step.

"Take her back."

No sooner had Commander Zhu finished speaking than a flash of Dark Purple Lightning suddenly lit up from behind the woods.

Crack.

The outermost torch exploded into scattered sparks, mud and water splashing everywhere, causing several guards to instinctively step back.

The forest fell silent for a moment.

"Who is it?"

Commander Zhu spun around abruptly.

Behind the firelight, Su Hang stepped out from the shadows of the trees, his hem not stained by a single spark.

Ning Chuan and two Seven Treasures guards followed behind him, the Seven Treasures Pattern tokens flashing in the darkness.

Su Hang didn't even glance at Commander Zhu, looking only at Zhu Zhuqing by the edge of the Broken Slope.

"Can you still stand?"

The hand holding the dagger stiffened for a moment.

She didn't answer, merely straightening her back a little more.

Commander Zhu swept his gaze over the Seven Treasures Pattern tokens, his expression darkening.

"The Seven Treasures Glazed Sect? This is a private matter of the Star Luo Zhu Family; you would all do best not to interfere."

Ning Chuan stepped forward, about to speak according to protocol, but Su Hang raised a hand to stop him.

Su Hang looked at Commander Zhu, his tone as flat as if he were asking for directions.

"A private matter?"

He lifted his foot and crushed the scattered sparks on the ground.

"She said she isn't going back. Are you all incapable of understanding that?"