Clang!
The clash of metal rang out, erupting from the silence.
The Evil Extermination Division's Prefecture Clerks drew their weapons as one and stared warily at the figure ahead.
The figure gradually came into focus.
Beneath the cover of night, a bare-skinned woman stepped delicately into view.
She had a voluptuous figure and peach-blossom eyes, their corners touched with faint pink. Her lashes fluttered like butterfly wings skimming spring water, while her shifting gaze glowed like a swaying palace lantern.
Waves of fragrance curled around her, captivating as a fox.
Qin An narrowed his eyes. Now he understood why the villagers had been so bewitched.
Any ordinary man facing her would have only one thing on his mind: bedding her.
"Attack."
Qin An did not wait for the woman to speak. He pointed his Black Blade at her, his voice cold as frost.
The Prefecture Clerks lunged at her without another word.
To the Evil Extermination Division, demons meant both achievement and reward.
So what if she was alluring? Beneath that painted skin were nothing but bones.
"You see me and immediately call for my death? How dreadfully unromantic."
The woman waved a pale hand, and fragrance bloomed like flowers.
Pink mist appeared in an instant and swept toward the Prefecture Clerks.
Those at the front breathed it in. Their minds reeled, their feet slipped as though they were treading sand, and they tumbled into a heap.
The clerks farther back broke into a sweat and struggled to resist by circulating the true Qi within them.
Women of the Fox Clan were ill-suited to head-on clashes, but their arts of enchantment were like a soft blade at the waist, able to cut a man down unseen.
Part of the mist swept toward Qin An.
He raised his Black Blade and stirred the air. The mist scattered on the wind.
Qin An used Azure Serpent Movement. Like a venomous snake lying in wait, he crossed the distance in a few swift leaps.
The gusts stirred by his movement blew the mist aside. His Black Blade came down from above, cleaving toward the woman's head.
The woman looked faintly surprised. "Blowing the mist away with wind? Clever. A pity you're about to die."
She thrust a pale palm toward the Black Blade.
Though she was only one of Hu Sanniang's doubles, Hu Sanniang had tempered her tail day and night. Her flesh had long since become as hard as iron.
She could take this strike head-on.
Clang!
The blade struck her palm with a clear ring.
Before the woman could react, a force of ice and fire surged along the Black Blade and into her hand.
As ice and fire intertwined, a ceaseless roar rose like a surging sea.
Pain shot through her palm. When she looked down, she found her right hand split in two.
Before she could react, Qin An swept the Black Blade across her pale neck.
Her head hit the ground.
The headless body rolled across the ground, but no blood sprayed as he had expected.
Qin An glanced at the Black Blade and frowned.
There was no blood on its edge. Something was wrong with the corpse.
As he thought this, the body twitched twice and dissolved into white fur scattered across the ground.
The pink mist vanished. The clerks who had been resisting it came to their senses, and their hearts jolted at the sight of the white fur.
Qin An gripped his Black Blade and turned away. "Move."
It was a terse order, but no one dared object.
The force of Qin An's strike had made it clear to them that he had not gained his position through connections.
His strength was real.
The Evil Extermination Division respected strength. With his rank as Bronze Captain besides, none of the Prefecture Clerks dared say a word.
The white fur on the ground told them what had happened.
The Fox Woman was not content to choose one cup from three thousand waters. She wanted them all.
Before long, the clerks followed Qin An with weapons in hand, hurrying toward Ma Rou.
In the clearing, many of the Evil Extermination Division's clerks were wounded.
Ma Rou flicked her wrist. The Life-Taking Rope returned to her palm as though it were alive.
White fur appeared across the ground, and Ma Rou's heart sank.
Just as Qin An said. We fell into a trap.
There had been only one double here. That meant at least one of the other two had encountered the Fox Woman herself.
"Come with me. We're going to rescue the other two captains."
Without waiting for a reply, Ma Rou set off with the wounded clerks.
Before she had taken more than a few steps, she heard footsteps.
She turned back on guard and saw Qin An approaching with his Black Blade in hand.
The wind whipped at his dark robes. His expression was as still as lake water.
For some reason, the sight of his calm face sent a chill through Ma Rou this time.
"The one you faced was a double too?" she asked, pushing the thought aside.
The fact that Qin An had come to find her proved he had dealt with his opponent.
She had only just defeated the Fox Woman she faced, yet Qin An had already reached her. He had been faster.
Ma Rou had assumed Qin An was merely a newly appointed Bronze Captain with shallow foundations.
Now, though, he seemed even stronger than she was.
Qin An walked past her. "Killing the demon comes first."
If the Fox Woman was not here, she could only be where Nie Hu was.
With a Blood Crystal to claim and Merits he could exchange for a Cultivation Method, Qin An had no intention of letting her go.
The Evil Extermination Division valued efficiency on missions. Qin An's words were brief, but Ma Rou thought nothing of it.
Soon, the two of them and the clerks disappeared into the night.
Hu Sanniang shook out her right hand.
Bloodstains flecked her pale skin, and she flicked the blood onto the ground.
"No wonder. A cultivator who's tempered his flesh is quite a rarity."
Hu Rong had taken the form of a tiger-headed man. His claws gleamed coldly like blades. "Nie Hu, your day has come. You'll pay for the blood of my Tiger Clan."
Nie Hu knelt on one knee, breathing hard. His muscles had been torn open in countless places, and blood streamed from them.
Behind him, many clerks lay dead or grievously wounded, unable to move.
There were two demons at Body-Nurturing Completion. One excelled at enchantment, the other at close combat.
In just a short time, they had wounded him severely.
If not for his formidable body, he would already have lost his head.
"You wretched demons won't take my life!"
Nie Hu struggled to stand.
Agony shot through his left leg, and blood poured from it.
He had barely risen before he collapsed back to the ground, strength draining from his whole body.
He was a lamp burned down to its last drop of oil. He could no longer fight; sheer will was all that kept him going.
"Kill him," Hu Sanniang said coldly. "Then kill the other two Bronze Captains, and the Tiger Clan's Secret Treasure will be ours."
Hu Rong nodded. Without another word, he pushed off with both feet and charged at Nie Hu.
Coldness and the thrill of vengeance shone in his eyes. All he wanted was to tear off Nie Hu's head.
Nie Hu sighed, but he still raised his fists and circulated the last trace of true Qi within him.
Even if his life ended in the next instant, he would tear a piece of flesh from this tiger demon.
Just as Hu Rong's claws were about to reach Nie Hu, something unexpected happened.
A sudden whistle cut through the air.
The Life-Taking Rope hooked around Nie Hu's legs and snapped taut.
Nie Hu flew in an arc and landed at Ma Rou's feet.
"You're here?"
Nie Hu's eyes widened, and relief washed over him.
Then he realized Qin An was nowhere in sight.
"Where's Qin An?" he asked.
Ma Rou lifted her chin slightly. "There."
Nie Hu followed her gaze, and his eyes widened further.
Not far away, Hu Rong had caught Qin An's Black Blade between his claws. The claws trembled faintly.
Qin An's expression remained unchanged, his tone leisurely.
"That's a fine head. The Blood Crystal inside must be huge."
"I'll take it."
Before you continue