"Ha ha ha!"
When a trace of anger appeared on Tang Qian'er's pretty face, the men grew even more brazen, especially the one she had just been chasing.
Yang Bin grinned sinisterly, looking Tang Qian'er over as he licked his lips.
"Well, weren't you having fun chasing me just now? Where are those two who were backing you up?"
"Did they see my boss, lose their nerve, and abandon you?"
"Why don't you stay and show us a good time? Then we'll let you off. If you do well, we'll even give you a share when we divide the loot."
Tang Qian'er's face turned pale with fury at the filthy words coming from across from her.
But she also understood that she lacked the strength to vent her anger. Trying would only make her a laughingstock and get her caught as well.
Tang Qian'er took a deep breath and suppressed her anger. Holding her sword in her right hand, she watched the men warily and slowly backed away.
"Heh, trying to run?"
Their leader sneered at the sight.
He immediately prepared to move and seize Tang Qian'er. For someone at the early stage of the Divine Soul Realm, capturing a girl at the middle stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm would be as easy as turning his hand.
However.
Just as he took his first step, a pillar of lightning struck down from the ninth heaven, bearing the force of heavenly punishment!
Boom!
Compendium of the Way of Magic: Divine Thunder!
Su Qing's gaze had darkened the moment that man began spewing obscenities. He paid no attention to whatever else they said afterward.
After all, he was nothing but a cripple now. Heh.
The lightning Su Qing summoned after reciting the complete talismanic text struck straight into the crowd. Pale purple arcs scattered across the scorched ground.
The smell of charred flesh drifted into their leader's nose.
Hearing the screams behind him, his expression darkened as he shouted toward the treetops.
"I am Yang Gong! Who's skulking around and attacking my Yang Gang? Do you dare show yourself?"
"If you don't come out, I can't guarantee what I'll do to this girl next."
A vicious gleam appeared in Yang Gong's eyes as he spoke. He looked fierce, but he was no different from a street thug, his skull stuffed with nothing but rotten cotton.
As though he had heard nothing, Su Qing rode his sword into a streak of clear light and swept out of the trees to one side, heading straight for the members of the Yang Gang scattered by the lightning strike.
Yang Gong gritted his teeth at the sight. Ignoring Su Qing, he lunged straight at Tang Qian'er, intending to take her hostage and bargain with him.
Tang Qian'er retreated swiftly, but her Spirit Wheel Realm cultivation was not enough to escape Yang Gong's grasping hand.
At that moment, Mu Chen sprang out from behind and to her side. With a furious shout, he caught Yang Gong off guard and kicked him in the flank.
Yang Gong reacted swiftly as well. Enduring the pain, he withdrew his hand, turned his arm, and chopped his palm toward Mu Chen's chest.
Mu Chen paid it no heed. Twisting his body, he thrust a glint of cold light from his fingertips toward Yang Gong's throat.
While Mu Chen and Yang Gong fought fiercely, the situation on Su Qing's side was entirely one-sided.
Flames wreathed Su Qing's sword, and lightning shimmered beneath his steps. His cold eyes held an equally cold fury.
And that icy fury poured onto these men as though it had taken tangible form.
Wielding the Kunwu Sword, Su Qing repeated the same few movements over and over.
Sometimes, he shattered the mark on a forehead with a single slash.
Sometimes, he stabbed into a dantian, shredded the sea of spiritual energy, pulled out his blade, and shattered the mark.
Sometimes, he severed the limbs, stabbed into the dantian, shredded the sea of spiritual energy, pulled out his blade, and shattered the mark.
There was no hesitation or wasted motion. His movements were clean and efficient, like those of a butcher slaughtering pigs.
As the saying went, even if they were fifty thousand pigs, he couldn't catch them all in three days.
The Yang Gang had dozens of members. Even if Su Qing simply went down the line stabbing each one, it would still take some time.
While Su Qing was still crippling their cultivation, the fight between Mu Chen and Yang Gong reached its conclusion.
More precisely, it was the fight between Tang Qian'er and Mu Chen on one side and Yang Gong on the other.
Mu Chen's strength already surpassed that of an ordinary early-stage Divine Soul Realm cultivator. Against Yang Gong, victory was merely a matter of time.
Tang Qian'er's entry into the fight only hastened Yang Gong's defeat.
Yang Gong faced the two of them, panting heavily. Several wounds on his body were in particularly nasty places, and a few had nearly sliced into his manhood.
Tang Qian'er had shown no mercy with her attacks.
"I admit defeat. Tell me, what will it take for you to let me go?"
Yang Gong had been too busy fending off the pair to see the miserable state of his gang. Otherwise, he would never have stayed there waiting to die.
I'm waiting for Su Qing. What are you waiting for? Death?
Yang Gong drew several ragged breaths, swallowed, and opened his mouth as though he wanted to say more.
Unfortunately, he would never speak again.
A sharp blade pierced his dantian with practiced ease. It twisted and withdrew, then swept across his mouth, gouging out his tongue.
The blade did not stop after removing his tongue. It turned again and severed at the shoulder the arm he had just used to make obscene gestures at Tang Qian'er.
Yang Gong raised his remaining arm, unsure which wound to cover. Pained rasps escaped his throat, but he could no longer say anything.
None of the three felt the slightest pity for him. Had Su Qing and Mu Chen not been there today, there was no telling what would have happened to Tang Qian'er.
With her current cultivation, she would likely have been unable to escape him. If her chastity had been violated, slaughtering his entire family might not have quenched Su Qing's fury.
After all, Su Qing was fiercely protective of his own.
If we're merely strangers crossing paths, I don't care whether you live or die.
But if you're someone close to me, whoever dares hurt or humiliate you will face my pursuit to the ends of the earth. I'll scour the heavens above and the Yellow Springs below to win you "justice."
Had killing not been forbidden in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy's trial, these Yang Gang scum would probably have died.
Judging by their behavior, what they had intended to do to Tang Qian'er was likely as routine to them as an everyday meal.
If scum like this had appeared in the Mu Domain, Su Qing would have skinned them, stuffed their hides with straw, and hung them from the city walls long ago.
Even the Mu Domain and the Liu Domain, despite their years of conflict, had never resorted to such despicable methods.
Tang Qian'er looked at Su Qing with a question in her eyes.
Su Qing nodded.
Tang Qian'er immediately strode up to Yang Gong on her long, straight legs, flicked a finger to shatter the mark on his forehead, and took his spiritual energy.
As their marks shattered, Yang Gong and the members of his gang were enveloped in golden light and swept away.
"Are you angry?"
Su Qing asked.
"Yes."
Tang Qian'er replied.
"If the two of us hadn't been here, would you have been helpless?"
Su Qing continued.
"Yes."
Tang Qian'er bit her lip as she answered.
"Then work hard. I'm not asking you to catch up with me, but at least be able to protect yourself. I don't want to find out one day that something has happened to you."
Su Qing sighed, walked up to Tang Qian'er, and spoke gently.
Tang Qian'er leaned forward into his arms.
"Bastard!"
Tang Qian'er cursed softly against his chest.
Su Qing smiled without saying anything. He merely rubbed her head through her hair and tilted his face toward the bright moon overhead.
A glimmer of moonlight reflected in Su Qing's eyes, concealing the countless thoughts hidden beneath.