The young girl stood beneath the moonlight, but the alley lay shrouded in the shadows of walls and buildings. She gently turned the Lost Jade Sword in her hand, then walked toward it.
When she reached the mouth of the alley, she stopped, the hairs on her body slowly rising.
In the deep darkness ahead, a pair of eyes seemed to have settled on her.
Li Piaoqing remained motionless. After standing quietly for a moment, she took another step forward.
A cold gleam seemed ready to flash out of the darkness at any moment. She knew it would be fast-perhaps by the time she noticed it, it would already be at her throat.
But she kept walking. She had to find that man; she could not let a patch of darkness frighten her into stopping here.
She ventured deeper, step by step. Her eyes gradually adjusted, and she pushed the darkness back little by little.
The sensation of being watched grew ever clearer, the sense of danger pricking her skin like needles. Another sensation was gradually beating against her mind, reminding her to pay attention. It was... the smell of blood.
The smell of blood was growing thick. And it was a little too thick.
This was clearly... its source!
She stepped forward, reaching the end of the alley. She pushed aside the last patch of darkness, her sword moving ahead of her to strike at the enemy first.
Then the sword stopped in midair, followed by the sight of her slightly parted lips.
At the end of the alley, beneath the faint light that filtered in from the bright moon, the black-robed seventh-growth cultivator lay on the ground, his blood gathering into a pool beneath him.
The covering over his face had been lifted away. This face almost never