The quiet at the alley entrance didn't last long.
"Hey girl, we meet again."
Shui Bing'er opened her eyes. Three men walked out from the other end of the alley. The one in the lead was the same man who had tried to pick her up on the street earlier but was rejected and driven away by her cold aura.
His two accomplices spread out to his left and right, completely blocking the alleyway. All three faces wore the same expression—not the frivolousness they had shown on the street, but the gloomy and triumphant look of those who had been following him for so long and had finally gotten their chance.
"You were pretty disrespectful to me on the street just now." The man stopped three steps away from her, raising his hand, still bearing the marks of frostbite, and shook it. "My hand still hurts. Tell me, how are we going to settle this score?"
Shui Bing'er stood up, her expression still calm, but her gaze had turned cold. She glanced at the alley entrance; Feng Xiaotian was still in that small shop. Through the window, she could see his back as he bent over, selecting items from the shelves. He was very focused and wouldn't be coming out anytime soon. These three people had deliberately waited until this moment.
"I was planning to teach you a lesson on the street," the man said, cracking his knuckles, his smile growing colder, "But there were too many people there, so it wasn't a good time to make a move. Now..."
As soon as he finished speaking, three Soul Ring rose simultaneously from beneath his feet. Two were yellow and one was purple, a three-ring Soul Elder. At the same time, his two accomplices behind him also released their Martial Soul.
The one on the left had two Yellow Soul Ring shining at his feet, and the one on the right had two yellow and one purple rings. There were three Soul Master, two Soul Elder, and one Soul Grandmaster. The eight Soul Ring shone brightly in the dim alley.
Shui Bing'er did not retreat. Soul Ring also lit up beneath her feet, and icy Soul Power spread around her, causing a thin layer of white frost to condense in the cracks of the stone slabs beneath her feet.
"Stop looking, your little boyfriend went into the store and won't be out for a while." The man chuckled, his Iron Hammer Martial Soul already coalescing in his hand. "Three against one, how long do you think you can last?"
Shui Bing'er withdrew her gaze and quietly looked at him, the frost in her palm already solidifying into a solid ice blade. "You can try."
The man sneered and said no more. The hammer whistled as it came down on Shui Bing'er's head. Shui Bing'er dodged to the side, and the hammer smashed into the wall behind her, sending shards of stone flying.
With a flick of her right hand, an ice wall rose up in front of her, layer upon layer. The man's second hammer slammed down immediately, shattering the ice wall. But Shui Bing'er had already used that half-second of delay to retreat deeper into the alley.
However, it was clear that this wasn't the first time the other side had engaged in such a fight where they outnumbered each other. The Soul Grandmaster approached from the side, his Martial Soul being a pair of short daggers, moving with incredible speed, Shui Bing'er's waist. Shui Bing'er countered with an ice spike, forcing him back, but another Soul Elder immediately followed up with an attack from the other side.
The three attacked in turns, their teamwork impeccable. Every time Shui Bing'er forced one of them back, another would fill the gap, giving her no chance to catch her breath.
One Ice Shield shattered, Shui Bing'er took a step back. Another Ice Shield shattered, and she took another step back. Her defense was impenetrable, and every parry was precise, but every parry consumed her Soul Power.
As the hammer slammed down again, Shui Bing'er gritted her teeth and raised her Ice Shield. Ice shards exploded in front of her, and her back slammed into a wall deep in the alley.
Just then, a figure blocked the sunlight at the alley entrance.
"You're asking for it."
Feng Xiaotian stood at the alley entrance, holding a light blue braided rope he had just picked out from a shop, adorned with a white jade stone.
Feng Xiaotian glanced at Shui Bing'er's posture leaning against the wall, then at the three men with glowing Soul Ring in front of her, his face as dark as the sky before a storm.
The leading man turned around, and upon seeing him, his expression changed. Before he could speak, an extremely sharp gust of wind pressure crashed down upon him. Feng Xiaotian hadn't released his Martial Soul, but the aura emanating from him froze the air in the entire alley.
" Bing'er, close your eyes."
Shui Bing'er obediently closed her eyes.
Feng Xiaotian's figure vanished from the spot. A sonic boom exploded in the alley, and his blue afterimage stretched into a straight line, bouncing twice along the narrow alley wall, too fast for the three men to keep up with.
The first wind blade grazed past the Iron Hammer Soul Master's ear, shaving off a patch of his hair and embedding itself deeply into the stone wall behind him. Before the second Soul Grandmaster could react, a gust of wind pressure slammed into his chest, sending him flying and crashing heavily into the alley wall.
The third Soul Elder was so frightened that he turned and ran. He had only taken two steps when a wall of cyan wind rose up in front of him, forcefully bouncing him back. He fell to the ground and rolled twice.
Feng Xiaotian stopped in front of the leading man. He didn't make a move, but just looked down at him, the killing intent in his eyes almost tangible, but he restrained himself. His right hand trembled slightly, not from exhaustion, but from the price of suppressing that killing intent.
The iron hammer Martial Soul in the man's hand had dissipated, and the Soul Ring beneath his feet had also vanished. His legs trembled so much he could barely stand, and his lips quivered as he managed to squeeze out a few words: "I was wrong... have mercy."
"Roll."
The three thugs, as if granted a pardon, helped each other and scrambled out of the alley, not daring to look back.
Feng Xiaotian didn't look at them again. He turned and walked to Shui Bing'er, his footsteps very light, as if afraid of startling her. His voice still carried a lingering chill, but he was trying to pull it back. " Bing'er, open your eyes, it's alright."
Shui Bing'er opened her eyes. The alley was empty, with only a few staggering footprints remaining. Feng Xiaotian stood in front of her, his right hand still trembling slightly.
Shui Bing'er looked at his hand and said softly, "I've never heard you speak like that before."
Feng Xiaotian paused for a moment. He knew perfectly well what tone he had just used; even he himself felt the killing intent he'd expressed was a bit excessive. He looked away somewhat embarrassedly, his voice lowering, "Did I scare you?"
"A little," Shui Bing'er said, "But I know you weren't being mean to me."
Feng Xiaotian was silent for a moment, then honestly replied, "Just a moment ago, I wanted to kill someone. I didn't want you to see that side of me, so I told you to close your eyes."
Shui Bing'er looked at Feng Xiaotian quietly, then reached out and gently grasped his still trembling hand. Shui Bing'er's hand was very cold; ice-attribute Soul Master always have cold hands, but when Feng Xiaotian felt that hand against him, it was as if he were wrapped in a warm ball of cotton.
"I believe you won't do that," Shui Bing'er said.
Feng Xiaotian lowered his head, looking at the hand she was holding, and his throat moved. He didn't pull away, nor did he speak; he simply turned his hand back and gently grasped her fingers, his fingertips touching her slightly cool fingertips, not daring to use too much force, afraid of hurting her.
"Let's go. This place isn't good," he said.
"Wait a minute." Shui Bing'er looked down at what he was still clutching in his other hand.
The pale blue braided rope and white jade gleamed warmly in the dim alley. Despite all that movement, the rope was still perfectly intact in his hand, not damaged at all.
Shui Bing'er couldn't help but laugh. She took the braided rope, examined it, and held it up to the light streaming in from the alleyway to examine it closely. "Not bad."
Feng Xiaotian's expression, which had been tense the whole way, finally cracked a little, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up. "That's right, I've always had a good eye."
Shui Bing'er tied the braided rope around her wrist, raised her wrist to look at it, then lowered her wrist, looked up at him, and had a faint smile in her eyes.
"You seem to care about me a lot, could it be that you like me?"
Feng Xiaotian froze for a moment at the question. He looked away, his ears turning red again, his lips moving as if he wanted to find an excuse to brush it off, but he swallowed the words back. He took a deep breath and looked at her again, his gaze almost too serious.
Yes. I like you.
Shui Bing'er's eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting him to admit it so readily.
Seeing her silence, Feng Xiaotian grew anxious and quickly added, "It's not that I think you're weak. I know your strength best. I just..." He paused, as if searching for the right word, his ears turning bright red, "I just want you to know that no matter what happens, you can rely on me. If you want to charge forward, I'll be with you. If you want to stop, I'll be there too. That's... that's it."
After he finished speaking, he was so embarrassed that he didn't know where to look. He pursed his lips and then relaxed them, wanting to add something but feeling that saying more would only make him look sillier.
Shui Bing'er looked at him and remained silent for a long while.
Then she smiled. Not the usual faint, fleeting smile, but a genuine smile, a smile that shone through her eyes.
"Do you know," she said, "That you were more nervous saying those words than when you were hitting someone?"
Feng Xiaotian opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found himself more nervous than before, so he could only resign himself to pursing his lips.
Shui Bing'er took a step forward. A faint blush rose on her cheeks, but her eyes were bright, and her voice carried an undisguised emotion. She pursed her lips, as if suppressing a smile, or perhaps encouraging herself, then raised her head and looked at him earnestly.
Will you be my boyfriend?
Feng Xiaotian was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, his movements so fast it was as if he was afraid she would change her mind.
"Yes! Of course I'm willing!"
Shui Bing'er couldn't help but laugh and reached out to take his hand. His hand was still trembling slightly, but this time, she felt that trembling was more reassuring than ever before.
They walked hand in hand, stepping through the dappled sunlight in the alley, toward the alley entrance.