Ya Fei, Alluring and Shrewd

In the nick of time.

The experience Lin Hao had gained from hunting magical beasts in the small forest over the past month came into play.

Lin Hao noticed it in time, and the first yellow Spirit Ring beneath his feet shone even brighter.

"First Spirit Skill: Mountain Moving!"

This time, the spirit skill was no longer purely defensive.

The Talisman he flung out rapidly rose into the air, gradually transforming into the phantom of a small mountain.

Heavy and towering, the mountain phantom carried an overwhelming sense of oppression as it crashed down viciously toward the middle-aged man attacking Ya Fei.

"Boom!"

The middle-aged man's face turned deathly pale. He tried to retreat and evade, but the pressure released by the mountain phantom locked him firmly in place, leaving him unable to move.

The mountain phantom thundered down and smashed brutally onto the middle-aged man.

Accompanied by the sharp crack of shattering bones, the Dou Qi around the middle-aged man instantly collapsed, and his body was pinned tightly beneath the mountain phantom.

His chest caved in violently, and his breath faded at a visible rate. Moments later, he stopped moving entirely, his life completely extinguished.

Lin Hao waved his hand, and both the mountain phantom and the light barrier around him dispersed. The yellow Spirit Ring beneath his feet slowly faded away.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping across all the fallen criminals on the ground. His expression remained calm, though a trace of coldness flashed through his eyes.

Ya Fei walked to his side. Looking at the grim scene on the ground, her body trembled slightly, but she was no longer as shaken as before. When she looked at Lin Hao, there was now a little more reliance and awe in her eyes.

"Miss!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man whose clothes had been dyed red with blood walked over to Ya Fei.

"Misty Cloud Sect!"

He rushed to Ya Fei's side and immediately noticed Lin Hao's attire, recognizing him as a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect. Only then did his gaze shift over the people lying on the ground.

After confirming that this middle-aged man would not attack him, Lin Hao walked over to the bandit leader's corpse and searched it, finding some valuables.

Besides valuables, the storage space also contained quite a bit of dry rations.

Apparently, this middle-aged man had already made thorough preparations.

After violating Ya Fei, he had planned to break out through the forest, then leave the Jia Ma Empire and flee far away.

After gathering the spoils from the five corpses, Lin Hao still did not find anything that could identify them.

"Tell me..." Lin Hao looked toward Ya Fei and asked, "Who are the people who wanted to harm you?"

"They're all grudges left behind by the previous generation!"

From Ya Fei's account, Lin Hao learned that these people had originally been members of the Mite'er Family as well.

The dead middle-aged man was, by relation, Ya Fei's cousin.

The middle-aged man himself was innocent, but his father was guilty.

His father was immoral and corrupt. Not only did he take kickbacks, but he also freely embezzled the family's assets and accepted bribes from his subordinates.

Once, he slept with his own stepmother and was caught by his father. Enraged, his father beat him, and in the struggle, he accidentally killed his father.

Ya Fei's father happened to witness it.

To protect himself, the bandit's father falsely accused Ya Fei's father. In self-defense, Ya Fei's father had no choice but to report and expose everything the bandit's father had done.

In the end, the branch to which the bandit's father belonged was expelled from the family for corruption and lawbreaking.

Coincidentally, after the bandit's father left Gama Holy City, word came that he had suddenly died not long afterward.

The bandit stubbornly blamed all of this on Ya Fei's father.

This time, Ya Fei had gone out with a procurement convoy, and the bandit learned of it. He struck them at the place closest to Gama Holy City, where they would be most likely to lower their guard.

The procurement convoy had guards as well. Unfortunately, the attackers had drugged them first, and some of the guards had even died in battle.

When the timing turned bad, someone told Ya Fei to flee first while they covered the rear. Ya Fei ran all the way, but seeing that she could not shake them off, she ran into the forest, hoping to use favorable terrain to lose the bandits.

Then Lin Hao appeared and saved Ya Fei.

"So that's what happened." Lin Hao looked at the guard beside Ya Fei.

The guard's clothes were stained with blood, and he had some wounds, though none were fatal.

Apparently, even if Lin Hao had not intervened, Ya Fei would not have been violated.

"White robes, and so young!" The guard's heart tightened as he probed, "Are you Lin Hao, disciple of Yun Shan, the former Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect?"

Lin Hao gave a slight nod.

White robes were the high-ranking attire of the Misty Cloud Sect. Only figures such as elders and sect masters were qualified to wear robes of that color.

At the same time, Lin Hao was too young to be an elder. Thus, it was easy for others to infer his identity.

Ya Fei's expression did not change much. Apparently, she had already guessed Lin Hao's identity when she first saw him. "Hello, my name is Ya Fei, Mittel Ya Fei!"

"Hello, my name is Lin Hao," Lin Hao said.

"You saved my life. How should I repay you?"

"How about... giving yourself to me?" Lin Hao smiled mischievously.

"Ah?" Ya Fei had an easygoing personality and was an open-minded beauty, but she had not expected Lin Hao to say something like that upon their first meeting.

"Isn't that how stories always go? When a man saves a beautiful woman, if the man is handsome, the beauty says she has no way to repay him except by giving herself to him. But if the man looks ordinary, she says she can never repay his life-saving grace and can only serve him as an ox or horse in her next life. I'm not bad-looking, am I? I'm worth you giving yourself to me, right?" As Lin Hao spoke, he winked his left eye.

Ya Fei was stunned for a moment, then covered her mouth and laughed softly. Her eyes curved into crescents, and all her restraint melted away.

Her tone was playful and teasing as she reached out and lightly patted Lin Hao's arm.

"You little rascal, you certainly know how to flatter yourself. I'll naturally remember your life-saving grace, but giving myself to you is out of the question—however, you are indeed rather handsome. If you ever want your big sister to find you a match, I'll certainly do my best to help. I won't let you save me for nothing."

Lin Hao grinned foolishly, silently thinking, What a Ya Fei.

With just a few words, she had not only smoothed things over and spared him embarrassment, but had also taken the opportunity to claim Lin Hao as her younger brother.

Who was Lin Hao?

He was the disciple of Yun Shan, the former Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, and the junior brother of Yun Yun, the current Sect Master.

His status within the Misty Cloud Sect was exceptionally important.

Especially now that Lin Hao was already a Dou Zhe, his future prospects were limitless.

Was this not just like Ya Fei, skilled at auctioning an item for a high price? Having seen Lin Hao's value, she cleverly and casually claimed him as her younger brother.

However, Lin Hao was not content with being only Ya Fei's younger brother.

"Lin Hao..." Ya Fei suddenly said seriously, "It's getting late, and Gama Holy City is just ahead. Come with me to the Mite'er Family so I can properly thank you. All right?"

"Sure."

Rarely having such an opportunity to spend time with Ya Fei, Lin Hao did not put on any false modesty and decisively accepted her invitation.

Among the women of Battle Through the Heavens, Gu Xun'er was elegant and otherworldly, Queen Medusa was domineering and icy, Yun Yun was graceful and strong-willed, Qing Lin was gentle and pure, while Ya Fei was alluring and shrewd!