Zhu Zhuqing

By then, Blue Silver Emperor had filled the clearing, looking from a distance like a sea of blue-and-gold flowers.

At that very instant, ferocity flashed in Jiang Che's eyes.

The Blue Silver Emperor on the ground swayed together. "Star Wheel Rotation!"

As he unleashed Star Wheel Rotation, Jiang Che slashed out five Water Blades with the Blue Silver Longsword in his hand.

"Awooo-!"

The wind ape was struck by all five Water Blades, then crashed heavily to the ground under the harassment of the Blue Silver Vines.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Che controlled the Blue Silver Emperor, closing in and wrapping the wind ape completely in one seamless motion!

"Die!"

Squelch-!

The chilling sound of flesh being churned rang clearly through the silent Star Dou Great Forest.

[Ding-!]

[Killed a 1,144-year-old mutated wind ape. Gained 15 skill points.]

[Current skill points: 2468]

Only after the system confirmed the wind ape's death did Jiang Che breathe a sigh of relief.

After using the plants grown through Profusion to recover some Soul Power, Jiang Che looked at the bloodstains on the grass and tree trunks. That was probably the direction the wind ape had come from.

Using his flight skill, Jiang Che followed the bloodstains to a cave.

"Could there still be someone inside?" Jiang Che's gaze turned cold.

Jiang Che deployed Qi Condensation Shield and ventured into the dark cave.

The light inside was dimmer than outside. Only a few fungi glowing pale purple provided faint illumination, and the air was thick with the smell of blood, medicinal herbs, and a barely perceptible trace of perfume that did not belong here.

The cave was dim, but that posed no problem for Jiang Che. True Qi could serve as his eyes.

Jiang Che walked extremely slowly, his True Qi exploring the cave's interior with the utmost care.

Scattered animal hides, and several recently dead corpses that still retained some warmth.

Moving closer, Jiang Che barely made out the clothing on the corpses.

"Hm?" Jiang Che was somewhat surprised.

He recognized their clothes. They were the uniforms of the Zhu Family's guards.

Judging by the wounds on their bodies, they had been killed by that wind ape just now.

Just as he was about to check whether they had anything valuable on them, Jiang Che's True Qi suddenly detected someone.

Something unexpected happened.

From a shadow covered in thick, luminous moss along the right-hand wall, a black figure suddenly sprang out without warning, swift as a phantom.

The figure moved so fast that she left a blurred afterimage in the darkness.

Her target was the center of Jiang Che's back, intending to take his life with a single strike.

Jiang Che had never let his guard down since entering the cave. The instant he detected someone else's presence, he activated Qi Condensation Shield to protect his entire body.

The shadow's attack stopped three centimeters from Jiang Che.

Slightly taken aback, the shadow moved to dart away.

"Trying to run?" A sharp gleam flashed through Jiang Che's eyes as he instantly counterattacked.

At that moment, Jiang Che got a clear look at the shadow's appearance.

It was a slender, graceful figure-a woman. His obstructed view kept him from making out her features, but Jiang Che already had a rough guess.

Blue Silver Vines erupted beneath his feet, sweeping viciously toward the woman behind him.

This woman had just tried to take his life. Whatever her purpose, Jiang Che absolutely would not show mercy.

Facing the vines sweeping toward her, she did not retreat. Instead, she gave a cold, sharp cry. "Second Soul Skill, Netherworld Hundred Claws!"

The eerie glow of her claws surged as the shadow spun rapidly, her entire body becoming a blurred afterimage.

In an instant, several sharp purple claw marks tore through the air, meeting the coiling vines with precision.

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft-!

Piercing sounds erupted in rapid succession as the Blue Silver Grass snapped apart, stem after stem.

The shadow's combat instincts were extremely keen. "First Soul Skill, Hell Stab!"

The claws on all ten fingers abruptly lengthened, and she became a pitch-black arrow, her speed surging as she shot straight toward Jiang Che's throat.

Upon seeing the Soul Skills the shadow used and her voluptuous figure, Jiang Che had already formed a judgment about her identity.

The corners of Jiang Che's mouth lifted slightly. If his guess was right, the person before him was Zhu Zhuqing, one of the future Shrek Seven Devils.

Jiang Che had quite a favorable impression of Zhu Zhuqing.

Among Shrek's main cast in the original story, Zhu Zhuqing was the one Jiang Che admired most. She was one of the few normal people among the Shrek Seven Devils. Though she had the least talent, she was the strongest and most hardworking. To fight against the fate imposed by her family, she had traveled alone from the Star Luo Empire to the Heaven Dou Empire to find Dai Mubai.

And Dai Mubai? Afraid to compete against the duo of Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun, he had simply abandoned Zhu Zhuqing without a care. He spent his days drinking and carousing, paying for high-class schoolgirls and twins every day, changing women every few days. What a carefree life he led.

Favorable impression or not, the Zhu Zhuqing before him was trying to take his life.

Zhu Zhuqing was an agility-attack-type Soul Master, and her attacks were not particularly powerful. With Jiang Che's current mastery of Qi Condensation Shield, he could handle them easily.

Just as Jiang Che expected, Qi Condensation Shield blocked Zhu Zhuqing's attack outright.

Zhu Zhuqing froze!

Jiang Che gave her no time to react, wrapping several Blue Silver Vines around her body.

The next second, Jiang Che closed in and kicked Zhu Zhuqing in the abdomen.

"Argh-!" Zhu Zhuqing let out a short cry of pain as she flew backward.

She collapsed to the ground as though her bones had gone soft, losing consciousness completely.

As Jiang Che approached, he noticed she was also wearing a face covering and reached out to pull it off.

A beautiful face appeared, its brows faintly furrowed in pain, with skin fairer than snow, exquisitely sculpted features, and long lashes covering her eyes. Just as Jiang Che expected, she was the Zhu Family's second young lady from the Star Luo Empire.

Jiang Che's gaze unconsciously drifted below her neck.

Jiang Che nodded in approval. As expected of Zhu Zhuqing-a ridge viewed head-on, a peak viewed from the side!

Zhu Zhuqing was probably being hunted by her dear elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun. The corpses inside were probably the people sent to kill her, but they had encountered the wind ape and been killed by it.

Judging by Zhu Zhuqing's current condition, she had most likely been injured by that wind ape as well.

Otherwise, the force of Jiang Che's kick would not have knocked Zhu Zhuqing unconscious so easily. It would only have left her unable to resist.

Only then did Jiang Che notice that Zhu Zhuqing's black clothes were covered in blood. The black fabric had been torn in places, and through the tears, he could vaguely make out a bloody gash on the pale skin below her neck.

"Poison?" Jiang Che looked at the darkened blood around Zhu Zhuqing's wound.

These injuries should all have been inflicted by the assassins Zhu Zhuyun had sent. But in the original story, Zhu Zhuqing had reached Shrek Academy safely, which meant the poison could not have harmed her at all.

It was just that Jiang Che's appearance had caused a slight deviation in the plot.

Now that Jiang Che had injured Zhu Zhuqing, she had no ability to remove the poison from her body.

If the poison were left to eat away at her, it would absolutely endanger Zhu Zhuqing's life.

Jiang Che first controlled the vines to tie Zhu Zhuqing up, preventing her from attacking him again after she woke.