The black‑clad flower thief in front of her finally turned around slowly. She still couldn’t see his face clearly, but Fu Yan could feel the careless smile curling on his lips.
He stared at her like a cat toying with a mouse.
Fu Yan understood in an instant. This man had clearly sensed her presence long ago and had just been playing with her.
No wonder the flower thief hadn’t shown up for five or six days. The last time he’d been blocked by the formation on the attic, he must have shown signs of a breakthrough. During the time he vanished, he had successfully opened his qi sea and stepped into the early Kaiguang stage.
Probably because he had only just broken through, the true essence in his body was still unstable. Fu Yan could clearly sense the chaotic fluctuations of his aura.
But even so, early Kaiguang realm and the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment were worlds apart. Fu Yan knew there was no way she could get any advantage out of this. She might even die here.
She felt downright cursed. First job out of the gate and she ran straight into someone at the Kaiguang stage.
Remembering that Miss Lin was still lying on the bed, Fu Yan no longer hesitated. She couldn’t move freely inside the attic at all. She quickly released her grip on her sword, turned over, and jumped straight out the window.
Sure enough, the flower thief followed her out, unhurried, as if out for a stroll.
“Girl, you’re not taking your sword?”
The flower thief landed lazily on a tree branch in front of her, holding Fu Yan’s sword. Looking down at her, he acted as if she were already in his pocket.
Fu Yan hurriedly stopped and looked up at him. Then she suddenly put on a look of utter terror.
“You… you’re actually at the Kaiguang stage!”
The flower thief glanced at the fine iron sword in his hand and raised an eyebrow slightly.
“I only just broke through, but you should know full well the difference between Foundation Establishment and Kaiguang.”
At those words, Fu Yan seemed to be frightened silly. Panic covered her face, as though she had completely lost her wits.
“D‑don’t come over… Don’t come over! You’re here for Miss Lin, right? She’s in the attic. I’m a disciple of Shui Ling Sect—if you dare lay a finger on me, Shui Ling Sect will make sure there’s nothing left of you to bury!”
“Hahaha!”
The flower thief suddenly burst out laughing, sarcasm thick in his gaze.
“So this is what passes for a disciple of a ‘famous righteous sect.’ Pathetic.”
When he finished, his eyes drifted back to Fu Yan.
At some point, a thin layer of cloud had slid over the moon. The light spilling down into the courtyard turned hazy.
Fu Yan stood there in a maid’s teal belted dress. Her long hair, which had been tied up, had come loose when she jumped from the window, now falling like a waterfall and lifting in the wind.
The misty moonlight fell across her fair, translucent face. Her bright, lively eyes looked all the more pure and tempting.
Seeing this, the flower thief perched in the tree suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
“I can let you go. But…”
He hooked the corner of his lips and said slowly, word by word,
“You’ll have to satisfy me first.”
Down below, Fu Yan acted as if she had no idea what he meant. She blinked up at him, sounding completely naive.
“Really? You’re not lying to me?”
“Of course.”
“In that case, as long as you’re willing to spare me, I’ll do anything.”
She let out a soft breath of relief, then added while looking up at him,
“Then give me my sword back first.”
The flower thief couldn’t help but chuckle, then lightly dropped down to the ground.
Fu Yan looked every bit the timid coward, walking toward him in small, cautious steps. When she got close, she carefully reached out to touch the tip of her own fine iron sword.
Across from her, the flower thief clearly could not hold back any longer. His hand tightened around the hilt and gave a sharp tug.
Fu Yan felt her body lurch forward, tipping straight toward him.
She was about to fall right into his arms when the cowardly look on her face vanished. A faint smile touched her lips.
In that split second, Fu Yan twisted at the waist, planted her feet, and steadied herself. At the same time, a sharp dagger sprang from her sleeve, stabbing straight toward the flower thief’s throat.
The flower thief was startled and hurriedly gathered his true essence to guard his vital points. But he didn’t know this was exactly what Fu Yan had been waiting for.
Her wrist turned, and the sharp dagger suddenly changed direction, driving straight toward his left eye.
Blood sprayed in an instant.
Fu Yan gave him no chance to react. She grabbed his shoulder, used him as leverage to flip through the air, and kicked him hard in the back as she went over.
The flower thief was sent flying a full meter. Fu Yan also rolled far away with the borrowed momentum, opening a safe distance between them.
“Ahhh!!”
The flower thief clutched his ruined eye and howled in pain.
“You actually dared to hurt me!”
Fu Yan had no interest in his murderous fury. She climbed calmly to her feet, wiped the blood spattered on her face with one hand, and smiled.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you pretty women are trouble?”
“You bitch, you’re dead!”
The flower thief’s rage hit its peak. He ignored the blood streaming from his left eye and lunged at Fu Yan.
Fu Yan did not dare relax in the slightest. Even blinding one of his eyes did not count as a real injury to a cultivator.
A strike from someone at the Kaiguang stage was not something a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator could withstand. She had no intention of facing him head‑on.
She quickly tossed a pill into her mouth, swallowed, and vaulted up onto the nearby roof.
Without wasting a single breath, Fu Yan sprinted toward the outskirts of Black Spring Town.
As for Miss Lin in the Lin family attic, Fu Yan wasn’t worried. She had already enraged the flower thief. He would throw everything into catching her and wouldn’t bother making trouble for the Lin residence.
Sure enough, seeing Fu Yan flee, the flower thief didn’t hesitate. In just four or five breaths, he closed the distance.
“Bitch, go to hell!”
He appeared behind her, true essence surging. He swung his fist with all his might, aiming straight for the back of her head.
If that punch landed, Fu Yan had no doubt her skull would explode.
With nowhere left to retreat, she stopped holding back. She unleashed her final life‑saving trump card right into the face of the man behind her.
There was a deafening bang.
The flower thief, who had been right at her back a heartbeat ago, was blown away like a cut kite, slamming into the ground. His black clothes were torn apart and scattered by the shockwave.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Fu Yan was startled. She hadn’t expected the explosive talisman to be this powerful.
In truth, they had just been far too close. The flower thief had never imagined Fu Yan would still have a hidden card. He’d had no time to react and was forced to take the full brunt of a blast equivalent to a mid‑Kaiguang full‑power strike.
Fu Yan spared him only a glance, then turned and ran again.
She had no life‑saving methods left. Even though he was badly injured, she still couldn’t fight him head‑on.
This was the difference in cultivation.
In that moment, Fu Yan felt with painful clarity just how crucial strength really was.
“Ahhh!! You’ve completely pissed me off! Bitch, I’ll kill you tonight if it’s the last thing I do!”
The flower thief had never expected to be beaten bloody by someone at mere Foundation Establishment, an ant in his eyes. He nearly went insane.
He quickly swallowed a True Qi Pill, then once more charged after the direction Fu Yan had fled.
Seeing him close in on her yet again, Fu Yan felt true despair. Was she really going to die out here tonight?
This time, though he had caught up, the flower thief had learned his lesson from that terrifying blast. He no longer dared to rush her recklessly. If he suffered that kind of injury again, he would either die or be crippled.
The night grew darker. The two of them had already run far from Black Spring Town when Fu Yan suddenly spotted a dense forest ahead. She decided to dash straight in.
As if sensing her plan, the flower thief behind her finally regained some clarity. He seemed to think of something, and his expression changed. He reached into his robes, pulled something out, and flicked it toward her back.
Just before she reached the thick tree line, Fu Yan felt something strike her body and sink in. The next moment, her limbs went weak, and she collapsed face‑first to the ground.
Soft‑Bone Powder.
In the final instant before she blacked out, Fu Yan thought in despair that she was truly finished this time.
Seeing her fall completely, the flower thief let out a furious, gloating laugh.
“Hahaha, let’s see you run now!”
He walked toward her one slow step at a time.
But when he was still one step away from Fu Yan’s prone body, a sword suddenly whistled through the darkness and punched clean through his chest.
He hadn’t even had time to react.
When the flower thief’s corpse toppled to the ground, his eyes were still wide with disbelief.
