The shadows of the trees stirred, and a green robe settled.
Chen Qing Shan lay concealed in a tree, gazing toward the little pavilion, when she suddenly sensed something wrong.
She drew her gaze back to the deep grass several yards away and narrowed her eyes slightly...
There were people in the grass!
Seven or eight, by the look of it, creeping toward the pavilion.
Chen Qing Shan drew a throwing knife, only to hear movement to the west. She turned and saw a dense mass of barbarians rising from the grass!
For a moment, she could not even count them!
A tall young man wearing a tiger-striped, two-panel jacket, rather like a vest, stood at the front and made two gestures to either side. The barbarians bent low and sped past Xiao Shan's tree, treading the thick grass as though it were level ground.
Xiao Shan held her breath and lowered herself, her eyes fixed on the young man in the Tiger-Skin Jacket, her hand gripping her sword hilt.
She could never defeat so many people alone. Her only chance of protecting the Young Master was to seize their leader!
Once he passed the trunk and turned his back to her, she would have her best opening!
Xiao Shan's palms sweated with tension, but the young man in the Tiger-Skin Jacket stopped beneath the tree, then started walking back.
Xiao Shan's gaze followed him. After three steps, he suddenly turned and hurled something!
A cold gleam flashed along a short spear as it tore through branches and leaves like black lightning, shooting straight at Xiao Shan!
Xiao Shan twisted at the waist and sprang into the air, her sword scabbard sweeping sideways, her skirts whirling like butterfly wings!
The spearhead skimmed past her face. Xiao Shan flipped down from