Driving off the enemy, a jealous Tie Sanniang

Outside the carriage.

Li Dao's sudden attack made the dozen or so men in black freeze.

Once they recovered, their leader snapped, "What are you waiting for? Charge in, kill the man, and take the woman."

"Yes!"

The men in black came to their senses and readied their sabers to storm the carriage.

Two of them jumped up in front of the carriage curtain first, and one shot the other a meaningful glance.

The other nodded, holding his saber in one hand while cautiously reaching for the curtain with the other.

Bang!

The next instant, a thunderous crash rang out.

The carriage roof suddenly exploded, sending wood chips flying as two figures burst out from inside.

With one arm around Tie Sanniang's slender waist, Li Dao landed with her on an empty patch of ground nearby.

"Where do you think you're putting your hand?"

Tie Sanniang clenched her pearly teeth, her bright eyes glaring at Li Dao.

Li Dao looked down. His hand was wrapped around her waist, so slim it fit within his grasp, and he could feel the delicate skin beneath even through her long dress.

Faced with Tie Sanniang's challenge, he kept his hand exactly where it was and answered without a change in expression, "Then how do you expect me to protect you? Drag you by your hair? Carry you by your neck? Or hoist you up by one leg?"

Tie Sanniang pictured each of those possibilities, and her expression immediately darkened.

Li Dao glanced at the men in black closing in around them, then leaned down to whisper in Tie Sanniang's ear, "If you want to hide your martial arts, bear with it. You've endured all these years. Surely you can put up with this little bit of contact?"

The more Tie Sanniang listened, the uglier her expression became. His reasoning was sound, but she had never had physical contact with an unfamiliar man before and simply could not get used to it.

"Watch out."

Before Tie Sanniang could react, a sudden force pulled her straight into a solid chest.

"You..."

She looked up, about to speak, only to see two heads fly into the air beside them, blood still spraying through the air.

Only then did she realize that the man beside her had been protecting her.

"Stop hesitating! All of you, attack! I refuse to believe he can fight all of us alone."

Seeing his men stumble right out of the gate, the leader hurriedly issued an order.

The remaining men in black exchanged glances, then charged together in perfect unison.

"Be careful."

At the sight, Tie Sanniang could not help warning him.

"Don't worry!"

Li Dao smiled faintly. As long as these men were not Xiantian Martial Artists, they posed no threat to him. Even if there were Xiantian Martial Artists among them, an ordinary fighter in the Innate Realm could no longer do anything to him.

Holding Tie Sanniang around the waist, he darted back and forth among the men in black.

A dozen breaths later, Li Dao flicked the blood off the Black Iron Saber.

The system's notification sounded in his ears.

[Thirteen enemies killed. Attributes gained: 7.12]

These men in black did have some cultivation, to be fair. Unfortunately, they had faced an existence as utterly unreasonable as Li Dao.

"Useless trash!"

Seeing all his subordinates dead, the leader sounded thoroughly displeased.

He raised his head to look at Li Dao. "Boy, unfortunately for you, you're still going to die here today."

With that, the man's figure suddenly blurred.

"Black Sand Palm!"

By the time Li Dao and Tie Sanniang could clearly see him again, he was already right before them.

One palm, wreathed in black killing intent, shot straight toward Li Dao's chest, while his other hand reached to seize Tie Sanniang at his side.

It was a plan to kill two birds with one stone.

With Tie Sanniang in his arms, if Li Dao tried to dodge, she would surely be captured. But if he tried to keep her safe, that palm would certainly strike him.

Tie Sanniang saw the leader's movements too, and with her keen intelligence, instantly understood his intentions.

Her heart sank. Much as she wished to keep her martial arts hidden, she could not possibly allow herself to be captured now.

She thought this way because it had never crossed her mind that the man behind her would willingly take that palm strike for her.

His ability to project true qi clearly marked him as a Xiantian Martial Artist. Even another Xiantian Martial Artist would suffer from taking that blow; enduring it head-on would likely leave them dead or grievously injured. As mere strangers who had met by chance, there was no possibility of Li Dao risking his life for her.

So she could only rely on herself now.

"Mysterious Water..."

Tie Sanniang was just about to circulate the innate true qi within her and strike back when a hand clamped tightly around her waist.

Her bright eyes narrowed. Could he be...

Facing the palm already upon him, Li Dao frowned and quickly made his decision.

He tightened his left arm and turned sideways, evading the leader's attempt to seize Tie Sanniang.

Bang!

The next instant, that palm covered in black killing intent slammed squarely into his back.

"You..."

Once she clearly saw where the palm had landed, Tie Sanniang stared in stunned silence.

But Li Dao had no time to pay her any attention. Feeling the sting in his back, he retaliated without the slightest hesitation.

There were no flashy tricks, just a solid slap delivered straight at his opponent.

Across from him, the leader was also stunned by Li Dao's actions.

In his view, anyone would choose to protect themselves first.

When Li Dao raised his hand to attack him, a cold sneer flashed in his eyes.

A dying struggle?

Utterly useless!

Black Sand Palm!

He decisively raised his hand again to meet the blow head-on.

But when their hands collided in midair, the leader's expression abruptly changed.

Crack!

With a sharp snap, the leader's arm broke right through the middle.

Li Dao's palm still had force to spare and slammed heavily into the leader's chest.

Bang!

The man in black spewed a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground.

The leader climbed to his feet, his expression hideous as he looked at his broken right arm.

He also realized that his right shoulder blade had cracked. The strength behind that palm had been truly terrifying.

"Cough, cough!"

Suddenly, he broke into a violent coughing fit, coughing up blood. His internal organs had clearly been injured as well.

His gaze suddenly swept over the surroundings.

After the initial chaos, the Iron Family's guards had gradually regrouped and begun fighting back. The men he had sent out were slowly falling into a disadvantage.

Looking at the shameless pair nearby, the leader's eyes filled with fury. But his injuries would not allow him to continue his mission. After only a moment's hesitation, he turned and plunged into the mountain forest without looking back.

Seeing the leader leave and her guards gradually gain the upper hand, Tie Sanniang turned to the man beside her. "Are you all right?"

Although she showed no concern on the surface, she had already forgotten about the large hand on her waist.

When he did not answer, she thought something had happened to him and could not help murmuring, "You really didn't need to take that palm strike for me. You know I had the strength to handle it."

Suddenly, she felt herself released from his embrace.

Tie Sanniang instinctively looked up and saw a faint smile on a handsome face.

"You..."

Her bright eyes froze. Once she recovered, surprise appeared in them. "You're unharmed?"

Li Dao felt the spot on his back where the palm had struck. At first, there had been a slight numbness and a little stinging pain, but now he felt nothing.

It seemed most of the leader's palm force had been blocked by his transformed skin. Only a small portion had entered his body, where his blood and vital energy had dispersed it.

He had chosen to take that palm strike only after assessing it in his mind and determining that he was very likely to withstand it.

If that palm could truly have killed or gravely injured him, he would not have chosen to block it for a stranger, even an exceptionally beautiful woman.

"I'm fine."

With that, Li Dao looked around. Noticing that a few scattered men in black remained, he prepared to take his saber over and pick up some attributes.

"What are you planning to do?"

Tie Sanniang noticed his movement and asked.

"Go help them?"

"Help them?"

Looking at the disordered convoy, a trace of coldness appeared on Tie Sanniang's exquisite face. "No need. Let them clean up their own mess."

She had previously thought the minor problems in the Iron Family's convoy were nothing serious. Even when her personal maid reminded her, she had made excuses for these people and had no intention of holding them accountable.

But after witnessing today's events, she finally understood just how lax the people under the Iron Family had become.

When the convoy came under attack, its guards had been as good as useless.

Worst of all, even now, hardly any of them had noticed her, the owner of the convoy.

Li Dao paused at Tie Sanniang's words, but paid them no heed.

For others, this might be a thankless task, but it was different for him. These were ready-made attributes laid out before him. Every kill was a gain, and he would not give them up over a single remark from a woman.

As far as he was concerned right now, women would only slow the speed at which he drew his saber.

"You..."

Before Tie Sanniang could react, Li Dao had already charged into the crowd.

Seeing this, Tie Sanniang instinctively wanted to use her authority as family head to order around this man who refused to heed good advice. Then she remembered that he had only temporarily joined their convoy and was not a subordinate of the Iron Family.

More importantly, he held an enormous secret of hers in his hands.

"Sigh."

A complicated emotion flickered in Tie Sanniang's eyes.

"Miss! Miss!"

At some point, Bi You'er had climbed out of the chest and came running over with worry written all over her face.

Seeing her mistress unharmed, she threw her arms around her and said in a tearful voice, "Miss, thank goodness you're all right."

Bi You'er's appearance lifted Tie Sanniang's spirits a little. Although she had understood when Li Dao appeared that Bi You'er, who had been with him, should be safe, she still could not help worrying afterward.

Bi You'er seemed to remember something then. She craned her head to look around and asked cautiously, "Miss, where's the bad man? I told him to protect you."

"Dead."

Thinking of the man who had shown her not the slightest courtesy, Tie Sanniang could not help saying it.

"Ah!"

Bi You'er's expression froze, and her eyes unwittingly reddened. Then she fell silent.

Seeing her personal maid like this, Tie Sanniang sighed softly. "All right, I was joking. Your bad man is alive and well."

What she failed to notice was the hint of jealousy mixed into her words, though it was unclear just whom she was jealous of.

"Really?"

Bi You'er sniffled and asked softly.

"Really."

"That's good, then."

Hearing that Li Dao was fine, Bi You'er, who had been so sorrowful just a moment before, unconsciously broke into a goofy smile.

Elsewhere.

With Li Dao joining the fight, the assassins assisting the men in black were quickly dealt with.

Some were killed by Li Dao, while others were kept alive, apparently so they could be questioned.

Only after dealing with these men did the guards belatedly remember Tie Sanniang.

One after another, they suddenly panicked and ran to where she stood.

Seeing Tie Sanniang unharmed, the guards let out long breaths of relief.

They soon dropped to their knees in unison.

"Third Miss, we arrived late. Please punish us."

The guard captain and the guards spoke together.

Looking at her subordinates, a trace of coldness appeared in Tie Sanniang's bright eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

In a husky, richly resonant voice, she said slowly, "Get up. Gather everything first. We'll discuss this once we're back in the Imperial Capital."

One guard captain cautiously raised his head. "Third Miss, what should we do with the captured assassins?"

Tie Sanniang glanced at the terrified assassins nearby and said decisively, "Kill them all."

"Kill them all?"

The guard captain looked surprised.

Before anyone could react, a flash of saber light suddenly swept across the assassins' necks.

All the assassins abruptly fell dead.

Nearby, Li Dao smiled in satisfaction as he heard the system's notification. These attributes had practically fallen into his lap.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A guard captain suddenly stood and barked at him.

"Kneel!"

"Didn't you hear? Third Miss told you to kneel."

Tie Sanniang glanced at Li Dao, then turned back. "I told you to kneel."

"Huh?"

The guard captain looked bewildered.

Tie Sanniang said indifferently, "We wouldn't have gotten anything out of these people anyway, so killing them is no loss."

"Then are we giving up on the investigation?"

Hearing this, Tie Sanniang looked at the guards kneeling before her without saying a word, then turned to gaze toward the Imperial Capital again.

"We'll discuss everything once we're back."