"What's the rush? You carry no bamboo token, nor do you bear any injuries."
Su Min's tone was indifferent as she regarded the panting messenger. The local chieftains ruled as petty kings—holding power over life, death, and even the so-called "first night rights" of young women. But to Su Min?
Meaningless.
"Not for those matters. The three chieftains humbly request your presence for urgent discussions."
The messenger spoke with deference. Everyone knew the bamboo tokens couldn't be faked—a visiting Daoist priest had once explained that the spiritual imprints on them were unmistakable. Fear and reverence kept his manners impeccable.
"All three chieftains? Interesting."
Su Min paused. These three governed the hundred-mile radius where she'd secluded herself, awaiting the treasure gourd's maturation. For them to summon her jointly suggested no trivial matter. A token of respect was warranted—she'd humor them with a visit.
At that moment, atop a village terrace, the three chieftains were gathered, their faces grim as they stared at the scene before them.
Despite each being powerful in their own right, they were surprisingly united — otherwise, they would have long been devoured by rival chieftains or swallowed up by the Great Wei to the north. Although they lived deep in the mountains, they were still close enough to the outside world to feel the pressure. Resources here were better, but so were the dangers. Sticking together was the only way they could survive.
But what lay before them now transcended territorial squabbles.
There was a corpse lying in front of them — one that looked utterly horrifying. The body's arms were splayed wide open. Its aged face was twisted in terror, the eyeballs bulging from their sockets, and the mouth gaping open far beyond what seemed physically possible. Yet this man had only been in his early twenties.
Now, overnight, he looked seventy or eighty years old — enough to make anyone's blood run cold. And this wasn't the first incident in the village. They had stationed guards all around last night, but recalling that strange, silent massacre still made their skin crawl.
With no other option, they thought of the "immortal lady" who had come to this land two years prior — Su Min. The shock she had brought upon her arrival was unforgettable. Even the chieftains, lords of their own territories, were cautious and deferential when speaking to her. It wasn't just fear — it was awe.
"Gentlemen. What troubles you?"
A voice, light as drifting snow. Su Min descended from the sky, her cyan robes fluttering. She certainly wasn't about to walk all the way here. After confirming the location, she had simply flown over. As for the poor messenger? Left far behind, probably still catching his breath somewhere.
"Greetings, Master."
Seeing her descend from the sky, all of them immediately bowed. Not just because of her overwhelming strength, but also because of her extraordinary healing skills. A person who could both kill and save lives was someone you respected — and feared.
One chieftain trembled slightly—the unfortunate soul Su Min had used to "establish her authority." Although Su Min had a special identity, her physical appearance was something she had personally crafted according to her own taste. She wasn't quite a devastating beauty, but she was breathtakingly ethereal.
When she first arrived, it was like a peacock strutting into a flock of plain white chickens. As the saying goes, "Trouble brews at a widow's door." Although Su Min wasn't a widow, the trouble she attracted was even worse.
To ensure at least ten years of peace, Su Min decided to make an example of someone — and the chieftain in front of her had foolishly volunteered by barging in with a mob, trying to forcibly marry her.
Su Min had promptly smashed his thighbone on the spot — and then gave the mob a collective beating, leaving them all battered and bruised.
But she didn't stop there.
After breaking his leg, she even kindly applied her own Black Jade Bone-Mending Paste, which miraculously healed him in under three weeks — a recovery so fast it was considered legendary even in this world. However, Su Min wasn't done sending her message.
Exactly thirty days later, she broke his leg again.
And applied her medicine again. Another thirty days, another broken leg. No matter where he hid, no matter how many guards he stationed, Su Min always found him and broke his leg without fail. Even when he once tried to conspire with other chieftains to come up with a plan, Su Min caught him right as he left the meeting and — crack — another broken leg.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
As for how she always found him? Very simple: she had left a spiritual mark on him. Normally, any cultivator worth their salt could dissolve such a mark easily — but unfortunately for this chieftain, neither he nor anyone else in his village had even the faintest bit of cultivation.
Eventually, the man broke down sobbing and begged for mercy on his knees. Only then did Su Min stop. Her display had been extremely effective. From then on, no one dared to provoke her, not even the other chieftains, who treated her with the utmost courtesy.
The only side effect was that the poor chieftain she had chosen as her example seemed to have developed PTSD. In his mind, Su Min's face had long since morphed from beautiful to something akin to a jade-faced demon.
"Tsk. The elderly often succumb to time's embrace. My skills won't— Wait. Spiritual residue? Demonic aura?"
Su Min's dismissive wave froze mid-air.
"He wasn't an elderly man — he was barely over twenty. He aged overnight! And this is already the fourth case in the village!"
Even the chieftain with PTSD forgot his fear for a moment. Whatever was happening here was a thousand times deadlier than Su Min's beatings.
"They've encountered something unclean. Their essence blood has been drained."
Su Min frowned after a quick inspection. Essence blood was a special, vital energy every human had, whether or not they practiced cultivation.
For a cultivator, losing a lot of essence blood could cripple their abilities — or worse, cause rapid aging.
For ordinary people, it was even more critical: their very lifespan was tied to it. Once drained, death came swiftly.
But extracting essence blood wasn't as simple as draining normal blood — even Su Min couldn't do it without special methods.