A hero saving a beauty was, of course, a tired old trope. Besides, Butterfly Spirit was only two-thirds of a beauty. A beauty was an organic blend of three kinds of loveliness: a lovely face, a lovely figure, and a lovely heart. Butterfly Spirit had the delicate grace of a slender figure and the pure beauty of an innocent heart. Her face... had a beauty transformed beyond recognition. Unfortunately, Luo Qian could not appreciate that kind of beauty.
In fact, this trope was supposed to end with the hero winning the beauty's hand. If the hero was a dashing young gentleman, it would make a fine tale. The problem now was that they had the dashing gentleman, but not the beauty. What would happen after the rescue was anyone's guess.
Butterfly Spirit moved with astonishing speed. Without that advantage, and the Saint Market's crisscrossing streets and alleys, that gang would have caught her long ago. They were not from the Immortal Realm either. All their facial features were present, but their looks were nothing to write home about. Worse, they liked tattooing dark patterns on their faces, making themselves even more revolting.
Luo Qian directed his men to knock those local bullies flat in a few blows. They could push ordinary Saints around with ease, but against Seventh Rank Saints, they were children arm-wrestling adults. The Butterfly Spirit Boy lay on the ground, unconscious from whatever trick they had used. Luo Qian went over and patted him, but got no response.
The Butterfly Spirit Girl came back panting, drenched in fragrant sweat. That flight had clearly drained her strength. "They drugged my brother unconscious. It's a drug made specifically for us Butterfly Spirits. I never thought they'd have it in the Saint Realm too." Luo Qian looked at her in