A Sacred Buddhist Sanctuary Had Become a Criminal Den

[Having tasted the rewards, Huijue grew increasingly bold. He even dared to contact certain people and have them pose as worshippers so they could come here to pick out prey they liked!

Eight or nine out of every ten people who had recently gone missing in Capital City had been captured by him. The Court of Judicial Review was investigating the case, but despite searching for so long, they had never imagined that a sacred Buddhist sanctuary had become a criminal den!]

The anger in Jiang Nuan's heart kept mounting. Even Chunhua Qiuyue could barely restrain their hands from killing someone.

They had been abducted by traffickers, then stumbled into the Assassin Organization, where they learned their skills. Later, enemies took revenge on the Assassin Organization, and their formidable martial arts had allowed them to escape with their lives.

With the shackles binding them gone, they had been considering how to live from then on when Jiang Yunsheng found them and asked them to protect Jiang Nuan. To gain the imperial family's protection and avoid being hunted down by their former enemies, they agreed.

It could be said that, if not for those traffickers, they might have been living in ordinary, happy families instead of spending their days licking blood off the edges of blades!

[Host, this is bad! I just discovered while digging up gossip that Huijue and his people came here to dispose of a woman who wouldn't obey them! She's barely clinging to her last breath now!]

Guagua's voice suddenly grew anxious.

[Then what should we do? Can I send Chunhua Qiuyue to save her?]

A life was at stake, and Jiang Nuan wanted to send Chunhua Qiuyue to rescue her first.

[Probably not. Although Chunhua Qiuyue are highly skilled, this is where You Fengzhe hides his stolen goods. He's also hired a group of people to guard them. They have strength in numbers, and Chunhua Qiuyue would have an injured woman with them. Their chances of winning are very slim.

Most likely, that woman would get caught in the fighting and die, and then Chunhua Qiuyue would escape with you. But that would beat the grass and startle the snake.

After Chunhua Qiuyue arrived, your imperial father withdrew the other Shadow Guards. Only Jiang Yi remains now. If we include him and take a gamble, we'd have about a fifty percent chance of winning.]

Guagua analyzed the situation calmly.

Those odds were not low, but Jiang Nuan still wanted to find a safer way.

If she had known, she would have brought more people. Afraid that too many would expose her whereabouts, she had brought only Chunhua Qiuyue. Now she regretted it bitterly.

[Host, that woman's injuries are getting worse. If she doesn't receive treatment soon, she definitely won't survive tonight.]

Guagua spoke to Jiang Nuan in her mind.

Fine. At least taking the gamble gives us a fifty percent chance. Knowing what was happening, Jiang Nuan could not simply watch a life slip away before her eyes.

"Chunhua Qiuyue, come inside with me to save—"

Before she could finish, the previously quiet temple suddenly filled with footsteps, and torchlight illuminated the whole of Pure Brahma Temple.

Before Jiang Nuan could work out what was happening, a familiar figure appeared before her.

Jiang Yehua had brought a crowd of torch-bearing soldiers and surrounded the secluded courtyard.

Jiang Nuan's eyes lit up. Just as she was worrying about not having enough people, her fourth brother had arrived!

With no time to think up an explanation for why she was here, Jiang Nuan stepped straight out in front of her fourth brother.

Having already heard Jiang Nuan's thoughts, Jiang Yehua pretended he had only just noticed her.

"Fourth Brother, hurry and come save someone with me!"

Jiang Nuan pointed into the side room as she spoke to Jiang Yehua.

"All right. Rong Yu, take some men inside and have a look!"

Jiang Nuan also instructed Chunhua Qiuyue to follow them in. Their martial arts were excellent, after all, and would be a great help inside.

After giving those instructions, Jiang Nuan instinctively tried to follow them. She had taken only two steps when someone caught her and lifted her into his arms.

"It's dangerous in there. What are you running inside for? Stay out here and behave."

For once, Jiang Yehua's expression turned stern.

Seeing his serious expression, Jiang Nuan knew he was concerned about her. Besides, she really would not be able to help inside and might even hold them back. With that thought, she obediently stayed outside.

Still, she kept craning her neck to peer inside, wanting to see what was happening.

After about a quarter of an hour, the sounds of fighting inside died down.

Qiuyue emerged carrying a woman covered in whip marks.

"Ninth Princess, this woman is badly injured. She needs treatment immediately."

Chunhua addressed Jiang Nuan.

[What should I do? To make room for more silver tonight, I kept nothing apart from the chests. If only I'd kept the medicine chest.]

Given the woman's current condition and the rough road down the mountain, she probably would not survive long enough to reach medical help.

"Fourth Brother, do you have a way to save her?"

Jiang Nuan turned to Jiang Yehua for help.

Jiang Yehua hesitated. He did have a pill, but it was meant to save his life. It was extremely precious, and he had only one. If it were for Jiang Nuan, he would not hesitate, but he was not particularly willing to use it on a stranger.

Jiang Yehua drew a clear distinction between those close to him and everyone else.

But looking into his little sister's expectant eyes, he did not know what to do.

"I do have a lifesaving pill. It's precious and rare, though, and I only obtained it by chance. I'll give it to you now."

Jiang Yehua simply handed the decision over to Jiang Nuan.

Without hesitation, Jiang Nuan pushed the pill into the woman's mouth.

The pill soon took effect. The woman's injuries stopped worsening and even showed faint signs of improvement.

"This pill can only stabilize her condition. To recover, she'll still need treatment from a physician."

Jiang Yehua explained.

Jiang Nuan nodded. A single pill restoring someone to perfect health was not something that could happen in this world.

Jiang Nuan then saw dozens of women being led out of the side room. They were trembling with fear, shaking like chaff in a sieve. Only when they saw the Great Xia military uniforms worn by the soldiers did they slowly relax.

Once their tension eased, they could no longer hold themselves together and began to sob.

Fortunately, these women had almost no injuries. Perhaps Huijue had thought injuries would spoil their appearance and lower their selling price.

Then they noticed Huijue and the people who had imprisoned them standing nearby. Fury blazed within them, and they picked up stones from the ground to vent their anger on those people.

"Chunhua Qiuyue, let's find some clean clothes and change her into them."

Looking at the woman's tattered clothes and the blood and grime covering her face and body, Jiang Nuan found the sight somewhat distressing.

After saying that, Jiang Nuan had Chunhua Qiuyue carry the woman into a clean side room first.

Once they had wiped the blood and grime from her face, Guagua suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

[Oh? Host, this woman seems to be linked to your fourth brother by a red thread of fate!]

Outside the door, Jiang Yehua's hand froze just as he was about to knock.

The woman lying there twitched her fingers after hearing those thoughts, but Jiang Nuan and the others did not notice.