Beautiful Woman

From far away, faint voices drifted over.

Yue Yang had no time for further reflection. He ordered Bull Shadow to carry the demon's severed arm, then slipped away into the darkness. Bull Shadow followed close behind, thudding along with the demon arm still covered in traces of frozen frost. At the instant he vanished into the darkness, Yue Yang looked back at Bright-Eyed Thief, who still lay quietly on the ground, unconscious.

A white figure streaked across the night sky faster than lightning and appeared on the battlefield.

She was a beautiful woman in palace attire, a white veil lightly covering her jade-like face. Yet the gauze could not conceal the snowy skin and lovely features beneath.

Her particularly clear autumn-water eyes brimmed with wisdom, while beneath her long curling lashes flickered a delightful liveliness.

The moment she saw Bright-Eyed Thief lying motionless on the ground, she cried out in alarm. "How did he end up like this after I was gone for only a moment... Fortunately, he merely exhausted his mental strength. It's nothing serious!" The voices in the darkness drew closer, and countless footsteps sounded in the distance. The palace-clad beauty's soft black brows furrowed slightly. A lotus-white arm extended from her long sleeve, and with a tap of her slender jade finger, she summoned a Golden Codex.

As golden light flashed, a tiny fairy with butterfly wings floated out and plunged into the palace-clad beauty's fragrant body.

In an instant, enormous butterfly wings manifested behind her.

The palace-clad beauty gently picked up the unconscious Bright-Eyed Thief. With a flap of her wings, she rose into the air and drifted away like a fairy descending from the Ninth Heaven. After she had gone far away, Yue Yang, who had been silently concealing his presence in the darkness, slowly revealed himself. Before the chaotic footsteps approached, he turned and headed in the opposite direction, swiftly leaving as lightly as a civet and melting into the darkness.

Just after Yue Yang left, a mighty middle-aged man, as imposing as a golden lion, arrived at the battlefield amid a wild gale.

When he saw the main building of Happy Forest collapsed and engulfed in flames, he was so furious that he let out a series of enraged roars.

The battlefield was a complete mess.

A deep, horrifying gash ran across the ground, nearly cleaving the earth within a hundred meters in two. Scattered everywhere were tiny remnants of Hellfire that had yet to go out. Some corpses had already burned into charcoal, while others were reduced to severed limbs and heads. No one on the scene had survived; even the strongest guard captain had drawn his last breath.

The lion-like man's eyes nearly split with rage as he could not help but roar toward the sky, "Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

Several warriors arrived one after another. When they saw the scene before them, their legs nearly gave out from fright.

"What are you waiting for? Search for survivors and find every useful clue! I want to know who did this, immediately!" The lion-like man drew a thick-backed golden saber from behind him and hacked wildly at the ground in uncontrollable fury, making the already devastated earth even more battered.

"Golden Saber Tower Master, there's something here..." A thief-like man discovered suspicious traces beside the guard captain.

"Evil Fire? Sixth Prince?" Before dying, the guard captain had used his blood to write four blurred characters on the stone beside him. Upon close inspection, they could barely make out the words "Evil Fire, Sixth Prince." The lion-like man whom his subordinates respectfully called the Golden Saber Tower Master changed expression drastically after reading them. Then an uncontrollable rage rose within him, and his clenched fists crackled. "No matter who it is, we will settle this score with him!"

"There's an empty spot marked off by a Codex barrier here. It seems that a warrior with a Contract Tome survived..." Another subordinate made a new discovery.

"Find him! Offer a huge reward! Even if Happy Forest must exhaust all its wealth, we must uncover the truth! I absolutely will not allow followers of demons to run rampant throughout Great Xia, nor can I tolerate those damned scum using our people as living blood sacrifices!" The Golden Saber Tower Master was nearly bursting with rage as he roared without end.

Yue Yang's courtyard.

The beautiful woman arrived at the door in a panic, holding the little girl and accompanied by several servants.

Without caring that Yue Yang was still wearing his sleeping robe, she hurriedly handed the little girl over to him. "Third, White Stone City is in chaos. Perhaps the Black Mountain bandits have broken into the city. Uncle Nan went out to gather information just now, and he said the western part of the city has already become a sea of flames. Quickly, take Shuang'er and leave! Hurry, hurry!" Little Yue Shuang had been frightened into tears. At first, she stubbornly refused to leave her mother, but when she saw Yue Yang, she threw herself into his arms and began tearfully complaining. "Mama hit me! Brother Third, I didn't do anything wrong, but Mama hit me anyway... It hurts! Waaah!"

"Be good, Shuang'er. Don't cry, don't cry!"

One look at the beautiful woman's expression, and Yue Yang knew she had misunderstood.

She must have thought White Stone City was under attack by bandits. To protect her precious daughter, she had hurried over to ask him to take the little girl and flee before the bandits arrived.

What a wonderful Fourth Mother!

She had not considered her own safety at all. She cared only for her son and daughter!

A warm current rose in the transmigrator's heart, flowing through every limb before surging into his throat and choking him so badly he could barely speak.

Yue Yang took a deep breath and suppressed the emotion in his heart. Gently patting the little girl's back, he solemnly comforted the beautiful woman. "Fourth Mother, don't be afraid. Let alone the fact that there are no bandits, even if they really came, I would protect you and little sister Shuang'er! Fourth Mother, believe me. There are no bandits. It's just warriors from Happy Tower fighting outside. I looked out from the roof earlier. Other than the fire being a little large and burning down a few houses, nothing else seems to have happened!"

"It really isn't bandits?" Upon hearing that, the beautiful woman's expression eased considerably, though she still looked doubtful.

"Definitely not. The Black Mountain bandits are actually the private soldiers of White Stone City's Lord. They would never attack White Stone City," Yue Yang explained patiently.

"You frightened me to death just now!" The weight in the beautiful woman's heart finally lifted. Still shaken, she patted her chest gently, needing to calm her racing heart. The maids and male servants behind her also cried out in relief when they heard Yue Yang state so firmly that the city was not under attack by bandits. They rejoiced that disaster had passed unseen and their lives had been spared.

Great Xia had many mountains and dangerous regions, and bandits often occupied wilderness valleys as strongholds, plundering nearby villages.

Because the nation was weak, local governance ineffective, and outside forces offered support while spies operated within its borders, some city lords and territorial lords colluded with bandits and rogue soldiers. Thus, Great Xia's bandits were famously fierce. The nation repeatedly tried to suppress them, only for them to grow ever more savage. Other than towns protected by city walls, it was perfectly normal for villages that failed to pay protection money to the bandits to be massacred. Infamous and extraordinarily powerful bandit groups would often successfully capture small towns and occupy them for one or two months, leaving only after the national army arrived.

When bandits attacked a city and breached its defenses, it was customary for them to slaughter the city for one day and indulge in debauchery for three.

Anyone they disliked would be beheaded and displayed publicly, while beautiful young women would usually be seized for their pleasure, or even sold as slaves or prostitutes.

Therefore, every woman from a prominent family carried a Chaste Martyr Pill. Once trapped in desperate circumstances, the women of wealthy households would swallow the Chaste Martyr Pill and commit suicide by poison to preserve their reputation and chastity, ensuring they would not be violated by bandits.

There was such an emerald-green poison pill in the small pouch held by the beautiful woman. Afraid that she might do something foolish, Yue Yang quickly declared that the city was not under attack by bandits.

After Yue Yang reassured her again and again, the beautiful woman finally felt somewhat at ease.

Holding the little girl, who had cried herself to sleep, the beautiful woman sat in Yue Yang's room for the entire night. Only when Uncle Nan went out repeatedly to gather information and confirmed that the bandits had not attacked the city did she return to rest shortly before dawn. After being so badly frightened, the beautiful woman slept uneasily for the next several days. Sometimes, even during the day, she seemed absent-minded, always worrying that bandits would come.

Though she did not say it aloud, Yue Yang could tell at a glance that Fourth Mother had clearly been traumatized by the fright.

Seeing her slightly thinner face, Yue Yang secretly made a decision.

The next day, Uncle Nan ran back with great excitement to report, "Madam, Young Master, there's tremendous news! The bandits on Black Mountain somehow angered a powerful expert. They were wiped out overnight, every last one of them..."

Sure enough, the beautiful woman's worries vanished without medicine, and her jade-like face regained its usual smile.

The Lord of White Stone City was naturally furious, but he could only swallow this loss in silence. Nor could he find the culprit to avenge himself upon.

If Yue Bing in black had still been at home practicing summoning techniques with Yue Yang, she would have discovered that his Thorn Flower had become a Silver Rank One Ghost-Faced Saliva-Spitting Thorn Flower.

Although there were no particularly outstanding warriors among the Black Mountain bandits, there were many of them. After continuously devouring nearly a hundred people, the Saliva-Spitting Thorn Flower successfully mutated and evolved from Bronze Rank One to Silver Rank One. What Yue Yang found regrettable was that there had been no Rank Three Hero among the Black Mountain bandits. Otherwise, his Thorn Flower would likely have advanced into a Golden Thorn Flower by now.

After devouring a hundred people, the Thorn Flower was actually not far from the Gold rank.

Yue Yang practiced every day, and life gradually returned to peace.

Three more days passed. The beautiful woman entered Yue Yang's small training courtyard cheerfully, holding the little girl in one arm and waving a letter in her hand. "Third, Bing'er sent a letter back! I was worried that the incident at Happy Forest would affect the mail, but I didn't expect to receive Bing'er's reply early today!"

She happily unfolded the snow-white letter and began to read.

Yet after only one glance, her smile vanished, replaced by deep concern.

"What is it? Did something happen to Seventh Sister?" Yue Yang was alarmed. Could Yue Bing have encountered danger while training on the first floor of the Heaven-Piercing Tower? He quickly set down the little girl, who had climbed into his arms to act spoiled. "Fourth Mother, should I go bring little sister Bing'er back?"