"Worship Moon Pavilion, a Blood Hand Token—isn't that a kill order only the pavilion master can issue?"
Xuanyuan Xueluo froze for a moment, then spoke in astonishment.
"Not just that."
Her second sister set down the sheet of white paper bearing a bloody handprint.
"In the three hundred years since Worship Moon Pavilion was founded, they've issued only three Blood Hand Tokens. One was to hunt down Guifang's Great General Qingmian, one was to assassinate our Ningyuan Kingdom's ninth Martial Saint successor, and this is the third."
At this point, her second sister looked back at the Spirit Mirror on the table.
"Of all the people they could offend, why did these fellows have to offend the master of Worship Moon Pavilion?"
Beside her, Xuanyuan Xueluo looked deeply worried.
"Just how did you meet these outsiders?"
Her second sister looked at Xuanyuan Xueluo suspiciously.
"I... just ran into them on the street. They looked skilled, so I hired them as guards."
Xuanyuan Xueluo told a lie.
After all, she couldn't very well tell her second sister that they had met while soaking in a hot spring, could she?
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Xuanyuan Xueluo nodded emphatically.
"Have less to do with these Otherworlders in the future. However close they may be to you now, they'll become mere passersby in the end."
Her second sister finally stopped questioning Xuanyuan Xueluo and returned her gaze to the Spirit Mirror before her.
"Second Sister, these people helped me a great deal today. Can't we think of some way to help them?"
Watching Xu Taiping and Elder Zhang gradually walk into Worship Moon Pavilion's ambush in the Spirit Mirror, Xuanyuan Xueluo finally couldn't resist asking her second sister tentatively.
"Bang!"
She had barely finished speaking when the study doors shut on their own, and the