She suddenly kicked off the ground, and “qi” burst through all obstacles in an instant, flooding straight into her legs.
The ground was left with a deep footprint where she stepped.
The emotion in Qu Weichen’s eyes gradually faded.
As she cast the Slowing Curse again, another dagger appeared in her hand and she fiercely clashed it against the masked man’s spear before he could react.
The scorching qi burned in her body like fire, and this flame could set the world ablaze.
It rushed straight into the dagger, making it searing hot.
Qu Weichen slashed down, striking the middle of the spear that blocked her, and split the weapon in two.
She darted and slid forward, her body moving on instinct.
Qu Weichen kicked off the ground and leapt up, quickly closing in on the man and slashing his throat with the dagger.
Blood splattered all over her.
With her left hand, Qu Weichen clenched her fist, gathered qi, and punched the man whose throat she’d just cut, knocking him down.
As her body tilted to the right, she slid again.
“Pingyuan General’s Residence?” This was the first time she spoke.
“You’re killing me for money? For your family? After all this time, they’ll silence you too.” Qu Weichen laughed, her blood-stained face looking terrifying.
The black-clad men clearly hesitated at this turn of events, but as soon as Qu Weichen spoke, they lunged at her again, clearly determined to kill her.
Five of them surrounded her.
Qu Weichen didn’t know if the mage had escaped or was preparing some big spell, but she didn’t have the energy to worry about anything else.
Number Nine, are you even useful at all?! [……I really haven’t loaded any other modules! ——] Number Nine was spinning in circles, frantically flipping through all sorts of “Host Training Manuals” and “Emergency Measures Explained” in the system space, but if it didn’t have a function, it just didn’t have it.
No matter how much it wanted to become corporeal and shield its host, it could only watch helplessly from the system space.
“Then you’ll have to find a new host.” The fire in Qu Weichen’s heart hadn’t gone out; it was only burning hotter.
She laughed, “Next time, pick someone with better talent.”
The five men were still hesitating, not daring to attack rashly, but Qu Weichen was the first to charge forward.
[Behind you, behind you!] Qu Weichen only targeted one person, leaving herself open all around.
But she couldn’t care about that now—if she could take one down with her, that was enough.
It’s a pity… a pity that when the undead attacked the village, she’d held back all her impulses and courage in the darkness.
A cold longsword stabbed into her back.
Qu Weichen drove her dagger into the black-clad man’s spleen in front of her, qi surging into the blade.
She forced her right hand upward, slicing all the way to his heart.
Blood covered her, making it almost impossible to grip the dagger.
At the same time, her left hand grabbed the longsword, refusing to let it move an inch further.
Qu Weichen kicked the man in front of her away, but then the black-clad man behind her caught her by the neck.
“Is this… all I can do?” The red markings on Qu Weichen’s face were now hidden by blood, making her look like a monster that had crawled out of a pool of gore.
And now, this monster was caught in someone else’s grip.
If the man behind her used a bit more force, her head would be off in an instant.
“……” [It’s okay, it’s okay!] Number Nine shouted excitedly in her mind.
Qu Weichen suddenly felt the man behind her go limp and collapse.
She’d been stabbed and strangled, so she fell down with him.
As her vision spun, she saw all the black-clad men lying dead.
A squad of prison guards in white uniforms had already sealed off the scene.
……
The prison guards arrived quickly.
When a magic barrier suddenly appeared in Uweino City, cutting off the outside world, and when Constance was waiting in Qu Weichen’s courtyard and realized her young disciple hadn’t returned from the academy, she immediately went to find the Hall Master.
After all, given how much Qu Weichen was looking forward to the trip to Beastcall Mountain, Constance figured she’d have rushed home the moment class ended.
In Constance’s eyes, Qu Weichen was still just a child.
The Hall Master was decisive, immediately leading people to the site of the magic barrier.
At that moment, Constance couldn’t believe her eyes: the blood everywhere, the two corpses, and Qu Weichen still holding her own against five people.
Constance noticed Qu Weichen seemed to be smiling.
She never would have thought her little disciple was even braver than she’d imagined.
A martial artist with nine rounds of body tempering? She was stunned for a moment, so she didn’t notice the flash of excitement on the Hall Master’s face.
“Get the best healing priest from the Church of Light, and anyone who knows healing magic, use it to keep her alive.” The Hall Master strode over, stepping through the blood to help Qu Weichen up, and pulled the longsword out of her with a flick of her wrist.
Qu Weichen collapsed against her, her body already growing cold.
The prison guards who could use magic immediately began chanting, casting spell after spell on Qu Weichen to stabilize her injuries for now.
But with so much blood lost, she’d need a lot of rest and nourishment.
Once Qu Weichen’s condition was stable, the Hall Master simply picked her up in her arms. Her pristine white robe was stained red, her boots soaked in blood, but she didn’t care.
“Constance, take people and surround the Pingyuan General’s Residence.
No one goes in or out, no matter who they are.
Ignore everyone.”
“Yes!” News spread fast in Uweino City.
When the magic barrier appeared, all the factions were suspicious.
Then the prison guards broke through the barrier and rescued someone, and the next moment, the Pingyuan General’s Residence was surrounded.
It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened.
The people at the General’s Residence were too arrogant.
Once the intelligence-dampening spell was lifted, their wits returned, but they were even less effective than before.
They really overestimated themselves.
A few desperate martial artists? A mage who only set up a barrier and ran? Did they think that if they killed someone and ran, and the people involved had no obvious connection to the General’s Residence, there’d be no evidence? The Hall Master carefully washed the blood from her hands, glanced at the still-unconscious Qu Weichen, and felt her mood improve.
Clearly, compared to Qu Weichen’s previous restraint and forbearance when provoked by He Muman, she appreciated this desperate, ferocious counterattack even more.
Fourteen years old, just fourteen.
She hummed an unknown tune and walked out of the room, heading straight for the Pingyuan General’s Residence.
Over there, the General’s guards were already facing off with the prison guards.
The General’s butler was still questioning Constance about why the residence was surrounded, demanding evidence if there was any wrongdoing.
“This is Uweino.
We’re the Prison Sanctuary—what evidence do we need?” The Hall Master walked over with a bright smile, her shadow stretched long by the setting sun.
The prison guards on both sides immediately made way, and Constance bowed.
“Everyone’s dead anyway, so I don’t need them as witnesses.
I’m just surrounding you to let you know…” The Hall Master’s voice grew softer, almost as gentle as water.
“Whatever you can do, I can do a thousand times cleaner.”
“Even the Third Prince has come to make peace with me.
Just a dog, biting people without its master’s orders.” The Hall Master tilted her head and smiled.
“I hope your Third Highness likes the gift I’ve prepared for him.”
“Let’s go.” She waved her hand casually.
The prison guards immediately assembled.
Constance hesitated, glanced at the Hall Master, but said nothing and just replied, “Yes.”
They came quickly and left just as fast.
But the butler was now cold with fear.
He’d dared to question Constance, but when the Hall Master arrived, he didn’t dare say a word.
Inside, the Pingyuan General’s face was dark as he glared at his kneeling son, gritting his teeth for a long time but saying nothing.
Just a first-rank martial artist, just a fourteen-year-old kid! Seven martial artists, some second-rank, some first-rank.
A mage set up a barrier and withdrew in time.
As long as they killed the target cleanly, the thugs would escape Uweino, and even if the Hall Master got angry and investigated, even if she caught the thugs, there’d be no evidence linking it to the General’s Residence.
His son was reckless and impulsive, but the plan was well laid out.
But now… the target wasn’t dead, and instead, the Hall Master had come to threaten them in person.
The armrest of his chair crumbled to dust in his rage.
The Pingyuan General closed his eyes.
“Chen Qingjue.”
That woman who’d appeared out of nowhere had suddenly won the heart of the previous Hall Master of the Prison Sanctuary, who’d wanted to give her everything! Then, in just a year, the Hall Master died in the Abyssal Invasion, and that woman took over the Prison Sanctuary, becoming the new Hall Master! No one knew her origins, her identity, or even her true strength! Yet she’d thwarted all the factions that wanted to carve up the Prison Sanctuary, and somehow won the absolute loyalty of the prison guards.
The entire Sanctuary followed her orders, stronger than ever.
A huge threat, a huge threat.
The Pingyuan General sighed inwardly.
But now, with all the factions having their own agendas, how could they unite to destroy the Prison Sanctuary? The Third Prince had clashed with her several times and never gained the upper hand.
Uweino had suffered two Abyssal Invasions, but both times the Prison Sanctuary was untouched, and that woman only grew more arrogant.
Infuriating! And now, she’d surrounded his residence for a mere refugee.
The Pingyuan General gritted his teeth, wishing he could gather his army and fight the Prison Sanctuary head-on.
But his army was under the Third Prince, who was far away in the capital and had written to him: “Don’t clash with the Prison Sanctuary.”
His thoughts in turmoil, he could only sigh and give up scolding his son, leaving with a flick of his sleeve.
……
Qu Weichen woke up hungry in the middle of the night.
Her external wounds had healed under the priest’s care, but she was still weak from blood loss.
As soon as she moved, the female guard by her bed stood up.
The room was brightly lit, and the guard helped her sit up.
“Do you want something to eat now?”
“Yeah, food.” Qu Weichen’s throat was still a bit dry.
As soon as she spoke, she saw the guard take a thermal box from her spatial ring, set up a small table, and then take out three dishes and a soup from the box—two meat, one vegetable, one soup, and rice.
“Eat up.
The Hall Master ordered all this.” The guard spoke softly.
After setting everything up, she stood aside.
“When you’re done, I’ll clean up and leave.”
“Don’t worry about the attack.
All those people are dead.”
After that, the guard said nothing more.
Qu Weichen was still groggy and had a headache, but she knew this was probably also the Hall Master’s instructions.
As for the attack, she’d rather ask Number Nine than the guards.
Qu Weichen didn’t think about it anymore.
She started asking Number Nine what happened after she passed out while wolfing down her food.
